Some folks just have a knack for remembering all sorts of random facts. They’re the stars at trivia nights, but sometimes, they come off as too much of a know-it-all.
Do you ever wonder why some people seem to be better at recalling random facts than others? Monica Thieu, a multi-time “Jeopardy!” contestant, studied the phenomenon and found that people who are great at trivia and remember random facts could also recall the situation and content when they first learned the fact.
So, someone who is excellent at remembering random facts won’t just remember that Grant is buried in Grant’s Tomb. They will also remember that they learned it on a sunny day while on a walking tour of Riverside, New York.
(President Ulysses Grant is buried in Grant’s Tomb, which is located in Riverside, New York.)
A Reddit user challenged people on the AskReddit subforum to share the most random facts they knew, and the responses were both educational and head-scratching. Many people shared facts that didn’t seem true at first, but after some thought (and Googling!), they really are true.
The most mind-blowing fact is about Reno, Nevada and Los Angeles. (Read more about it at #6.)
We looked at the responses and shared the 20 most interesting “random facts” shared on Reddit.
1. Match works too well
“The guy who started Match.com made his wife family friends and employees sign up to increase traffic to the site. His wife later divorced him for someone she met on match.com.” — Acrobatic_News_9986·
2. The world is buzzed
“On average, 0.7% of the world’s population is drunk at any given time.” — Maleficent_Nobody_75
3. Cold desert
“Antarctica is the world’s biggest desert.” — NarkOne
“I always have fun with people’s initial reactions to this one: What continent has the highest average IQ?” — Apple-Hair
Answer: Antarctica because of all the researchers.
4. Everyone pees (for the same amount of time)
“Almost all mammals pee for 22 seconds with a full bladder (I tell this to everyone I meet).” — ART_IS_IN_THE_SKY
“Not if you have a problem prostate.” — JohnKnightuk
5. The good side of eugenics
“Anni-Frid Synni Lyngstad, a founding member of Swedish pop band Abba, is the product of a Nazi breeding program where German men were sent to Norway to impregnate Norwegian women. She was one of the children that was resulted.” — Ov3rStt1mulate3d
6. The west is further west than the west coast
“Reno, Nevada is further west than Los Angeles.” — SeahawksWin43-8
“In the same vein, Seattle is further north than Toronto, as is Portland. And Salem. The southern tip of Canada is further south than the northern border of California. Maine is about 1000 miles closer to Africa than Florida is. The South American continent is east of Orlando, Florida.” — Drone30389
7. Laser facts
“The acronym for ‘LASER’ means light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation.” — FatCatLaundromat
8. Redundant names
“Not really a single fact, but just the concept of tautological place names for various features that are just the word for that type of feature in a different language. Some examples:
Gobi Desert (Desert Desert)
Lake Michigan (Lake Large Lake)
Mississippi River (Big River River)
The La Brea Tar Pits (The The Tar Tar Pits)
One of my favorites is The Los Angeles Angels baseball team, or The The Angels Angels.” — Locclo
9. We smell dirt
“Human’s ability smell petrichor (smell of wet earth from rain) is greater than a Shark’s ability to smell blood in water.” — ParticulaWR
10. The most terrifying word
“The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia.” — NemoTheOneTrueGod
11. Hell does freeze
“There’s a town in Norway called Hell’ and it freezes over every winter. Talk about a cold and hellish place to live.” — Unpredictablecutie
“The place name in evolved from the Norwegian word ‘heller,’ meaning a cave under a rock overhang. There are, however, several hundred places in Norway named Helvete, the Norwegian word for Hell.” — Apple-hair
12. Trees > Stars
“There are more trees (about 3 trillion) on Earth than stars (100-400 billion) in the Milky Way Galaxy.” — Moon_Jewel90
“I didn’t believe you, I had to Google it. You’re right! The idea of there being 3 trillion of anything on Earth, let alone something as big as trees in a world as deforested as it is, is incredible!” — _MrGullible
13. Forever honey
“Did you know that honey never spoils? It’s like the eternal optimist of the food world—forever sweet and never bitter, just like my outlook on life… well, most days.” — TheLatinaFemdom
14. Who killed the moose?
“One of The only predators of the Canadian moose is the orca; whilst there have been no sightings of a whale attacking a moose, there have been moose carcasses torn up in the ocean, and it is the only logical conclusion. Also, moose can swim.” — NegrosAmigos
15. Saturn floats
“50% of the sun’s mass is focused in just 2% of its volume and if you put the planet Saturn into a bag to keep it together, it would float in water (assuming a suitable body of water could be found).” — Ben_M31
16. Penguin hydration
“Penguins have an organ above their eyes that converts salt water into fresh water.” — DowntownFarmer2615
17. This gun’s for hire
“Someone made a ‘rent a hitman’ website that actually got people arrested.” — SolarVisor23
18. High 5
“That the ‘high 5’ was started accidentally during an LA Dodgers game in 1977 when a player raised his hand before another player crossed home plate. The runner slapped the raised hand without any thought. It became a dodgers ritual that permeated into popular culture.” — Swel403
19. Skeeter facts
“Only female mosquitoes bite. They are attracted to people with type o blood and those who release more carbon dioxide. The reason a mosquito bite itches is because they inject their saliva to clot the blood when they’re done.” — Fallowsong
20. Schizophrenia facts
“Schizophrenia can lie dormant in your body. It can be triggered by certain things. For example, if someone has done a specific drug and they say ‘I haven’t stopped tripping since.’ They’re no longer ‘tripping.’ Their schizophrenia was activated.” — Inner_Earth4710