Have you ever had a conversation at a party in which you had no idea what the person was talking about? Or even played a game of Trivial Pursuit in which you’ve found yourself sitting in the corner quietly, not daring to answer anything for fear of embarrassment? We’ve all been there.
The world is a large and strange place, with so many things being discovered and re-discovered every single day. It’s no wonder that when it comes to facts, we often can’t keep up. However, with this list of facts, you’ll be able to dazzle anyone you talk to. Making you feel like the smartest person at any dinner table.
10. The biggest manufacturer of tyres is?
Is it Michelin? Dunlop? Pirelli? No. These tyre giants don’t even come close. Michelin reportedly produce 170 million tyres each year, which is a staggering amount. But with 320 million tyres produced, Lego has them all beat. The toy giants make and produce almost double the amount of tyres that the leading ‘tyre’ company does. Admittedly Lego’s tyres are a lot smaller and are not pumped full of air, but they are definitely rubber and used for vehicles.
It’s not just tyres that Lego leads the world in; with over 60 bricks per person in the world, they’ve mass produced over 400 billion bricks since 1958 making them world leaders in bricks too.
9. Diamonds Can Be Made From Peanut Butter
While trying to recreate conditions thousands of kilometres below the Earth’s surface, German scientists discovered interesting properties about Diamonds. Experimenting with crushing rocks at extremely high pressure, the scientists found some surprising ways to make diamonds. As all living things are made up from carbon, the scientists are able to push out the carbon dioxide (Which escapes from the substance at high pressure) leaving pure carbon. Then diamonds can then be ‘grown’ out of the substance. Making everyone’s favourite sandwich filler, sparkle.
Admittedly this is under extreme pressure, so don’t rush out to buy peanut butter in the hope of making a fortune!
8. There’s only been one day that the USA has been debt free
That day was 8th January 1835. When the US was founded it owed approximately $75 million, due to the war of independence. With the US,’s involvement in the Napoleonic wars that debt rose to $127 million. When Andrew Jackson took over as the seventh president of America, he was determined to get the country out of debt.
With business and capitalism booming, money and taxes came flooding in. The 1830’s proved a prosperous time for America. So by the start of 1835 Jackson was able to inform congress that America would be debt free. Unfortunately it didn’t last. With an estimated federal debt of $19 trillion, it’s looking likely that America will never be debt free. But for that one day in 1835, they were completely free.
7. The first silicone breast implant was performed on a dog.
In 1962 the first breast implant was successfully performed on a Human. Timmie Jean Lindsay was the woman in question. A mother and factory worker from Texas, Timmie was after a solution to an unwanted tattoo that she had. (Nothing shocking about that in today’s society, but in the 60’s it was a different story.) The tattoo was on her breast and the doctor suggested that she might also like ‘bigger’ breasts. So the most common plastic surgery procedure in America was born.
Before Timmie, the procedure needed a ‘Guinea Pig’ and that was a dog named Esmeralda. When Doctor Frank Gerow squeezed on a blood bag, he thought it resembled a woman’s breast so much, that he had the idea for implants. The implants were inserted under the skin of Esmeralda and lasted two weeks before the dog chewed the stiches.
6. Edison’s’ ‘last breath’ is owned by Ford.
That’s right; the last breath of Thomas Edison is on display in the Ford museum, Dearborn, Michigan.
One of Henry Ford’s first jobs was working for Edison’s illuminating company. Once Ford met his mentor, the two became close friends. When Edison died in 1931, Ford wanted to capture his friend’s last breath in a test tube. So he asked Edison’s son to do the dead for him. It must be stated that Ford didn’t want Edison’s breath as a gimmick or even a money making idea, Ford truly believed that the ‘soul’ left the body with its last dying breath. So there for Henry Ford held the ‘essence’ of the great inventor.
5. Who produces the largest amount of Bibles?
The answer may surprise you, that is until you really think about it and then it becomes obvious. Producing most of the world’s consumable goods; an estimated 90% in fact , China is now the leader in Bibles too. With a reported 70 million Christians in China already, the innovative Chinese have cornered the market on Bible mass production.
Producing 12 million Bibles annually, (That’s a million per month!) China sells their Bibles in 90 different languages and to 70 countries and regions around the world.
4. The word ‘Idiot’ means anyone who’s not a politician
The ancient Greeks gave us so much. Mathematics, philosophy, Music, arts, literature; The list goes on and on. The fact is that the ancient Greeks gave us so much and pretty much shaped the world as we know it. What they also gave us voting and in particular, parliament. The politician in ancient Greece was anyone that had an opinion and voice in public affairs. If you didn’t, you were therefore silent and called an ‘idiot.’ So anyone that didn’t represent themselves in public affairs were idiots. It somehow seems to be the reverse in today’s society!
Interestingly enough; in the Modern Greek language, the word ‘idiot’ has no negative connotations. It’s actually used to mean private. I.e. private property, private matters etc. It’s only the English speaking world that uses ‘idiot’ in a bad and demeaning way.
3. The founder of Match.com lost his girlfriend to a man she met on Match.com
That’s right, he did.
In the early nineties the dot com boom was beginning to take form and everybody wanted to get on board. With so many services available on the internet, it wasn’t long before dating would find a new home. Enter Gary Kremen. The American entrepreneur saw an opportunity to use the internet for meeting new people, so he compiled the Electric Classifieds and then in 1995 launched Match.com.
However, as the rest of the world hadn’t caught onto the online dating scene yet, no one would join. So Kremen told everyone he knew to join; friends, family and even his girlfriend. It wasn’t long before his girlfriend left him for a man she met on his site. Some may say that’s a sad twist, but then Kremen wasn’t only the ‘father’ of online dating but also the first person to register Sex.com as a website. So maybe she had a lucky escape!
2. Jimmy Carter almost destroyed the world!
The 39th president of America, who served his term from 1977 – 1981, came very close to ending life on Earth. With most of the world on tenterhooks at the threat of Nuclear war; USSR and the US in particular, both nations with their fingers on the ‘trigger’ ready and waiting. So when a President has the codes for all his nations’ firepower, who can he give them to? Where can he keep them? In his pocket of course. Many people may say that’s a smart move, keeping the most important item in the world on his person. That is until you need those clothes dry cleaned. This is exactly what happened. When Jimmy Carter sent his clothes off to be dry cleaned, he ‘forgot’ to remove the launch codes from his pocket. For the briefest of moments, all-out war could have taken place!
Jimmy shouldn’t feel too bad though as it’s also reported that similar incidents have happened to; Bill Clinton, Ronald Ragen and Richard Nixon. How are we all still alive?!
1. The world’s shortest war lasted 38 Minutes.
On the 27th August 1896 The United Kingdom and Zanzibar went to war. When the pro- British Sultan Hamad Bin Thuwaini died, the British favoured Hamud Bin Muhammed as Sultan. However, Khalid Bin Barghash was to be the successor. The treaty that was signed between the two stated that a Sultan must have permission from the British in order to take over and Barghash wasn’t approved by the British.
Annoyed by this, Barghash took arms against the British and called upon his palace guard to defend him. What followed was a 38 minute onslaught as the greatest Navy in the world at the time, took on Khalid Barghash and his men. 38 minutes later and Bargash had suffered an estimated 500 fatalities and injuries to his men while the British had one injury to a single sailor.
