21 Fun And Random World Facts That Sound Like Lies But Are 100% True

1. Parisian Syndrome Hotline

In case you’re a Japanese tourist in Paris who’s found that the magical city of lights just isn’t as magical as you expected, the Japanese embassy in Paris has a hotline for you to call. Dubbed “Paris Syndrome,” people have actually had to be flown back to Japan with a nurse on board because the shock of meeting rude Parisians was traumatizing.

2. Three Kidneys

When you have a kidney transplant, your original kidneys are left in the body and the transplant kidney is surgically attached lower in your body in the pelvis. So, you have three kidneys after the surgery. This is done because removing a kidney is dangerous so if there’s no reason no to remove the old ones then they don’t.

3. The Only Plant You Can Hear

You can hear rhubarb grow when it’s grown in the dark by candlelight.

4. The Effectiveness Of Match.com

The founder of Match.com, Gary Kremen, actually lost his girlfriend to a man she met on Match.com.

5. Whiners Get Placebos

In a 2008 study, nearly 50% of Chicago area doctors admitted they had given their patients placebos for their symptoms at some point, mostly because their patients were freaking out over nothing.

6. The Sweetest Flood Ever

In 1919, a large tank of molasses burst in the city of Boston. Dubbed the ‘Great Molasses Flood‘, “a wave of molasses rushed through the streets at an estimated 35 mph (56 km/h), killing 21 and injuring 150.”

7. The Murder Champion Of The World

Malaria is the biggest killer in the world in terms of disease. It’s estimated that of all the people who ever lived in the world, Malaria killed half of them. Even today, circa 2 million people die from the disease.

8. Dinos Too

Also, dinosaurs may have also had malaria.

9. Presidents Are Royalty

Every President of the United States is distantly related to every other President. All are descendants of King John of England of Robin Hood fame and are therefore descended from British royalty.

The video says that only 42 are related by upon further research it’s been found that Martin Van Buren was also descended from British royalty via Eleanor of Aquitaine, King John’s mother.

10. Not Cool

Former Prime Minister of Australia, Harold Holt, drown while swimming in the ocean in 1967. Among other memorials, a public swimming pool was then named after him.

11. This Seems Like A Bait And Switch By Nature

There’s a genetic disease called ‘Maple Syrup Disease‘ which causes the sufferers urine to smell exactly like maple syrup. That might sound nice but if left untreated the disease will lead to seizures, coma, and death.

12. A Very Uncomfortable Coincidence

The TV show ‘The Lone Gunmen’ was an X-Files spinoff also focusing on government conspiracies and the supernatural. The Pilot episode specifically had to do with a faction of the United States government planning to carry out an attack New York using a commercial airliner and then blaming Middle East terrorists for it all to drum arms sales. The episode’s air date was March 3rd, 2001. Only six months later, the September attacks targeted three sites including the World Trade Center towers and were carried out by Middle Eastern terrorists in a commercial airliner.

True and very creepy.

13. Oreos Are Older Than Sliced Bread

Oreos (known as Hydrox brand cookies) existed before sliced bread. The cookie was first introduced in 1908 while you couldn’t buy sliced bread until 1928.

14. Cans Pre-Date Can Openers

The can opener was invented long after food was already available in cans. Canned food first appeared in the late 1700s while the can opener wasn’t invented until 1855. The one that’s actually in your home and that you likely used wasn’t invented until the 1980s. Before the can openers invention people a chisel and a hammer to open cans.

15. Fun Fact

Kangaroos and Emus can’t walk backwards.

16. German Chocolate Cake

German chocolate cake is an American dessert, not a Germany one. It’s named after the first man to popularize the cake, American chocolate maker Samuel German. There’s nothing German about the cake at all.

17. When Fungus Ruled The World

Before plants evolved, fungus ruled the world. Circa 400 million years ago there were literally mushrooms twenty four feet tall all over the world.

18. The Most Dangerous Tigress Ever

The most deadly to humans tiger to ever live was a female Bengal Tiger known as the Champawat Tigress who lived in Nepal and India in the late 19th and early 20th century. All told, she killed 436 people. She was shot in 1907 by a British hunter after she had killed a 16-year-old girl. Upon examination of her teeth it was found that half of her canine teeth were broken which had likely kept her from pursuing her natural prey and pushed her towards hunting humans.

19. The Great Emu War Of 1932

Australia had an Emu War in 1932 that’s actually called the ‘Emu War‘. It started with 20,000 Emus eating wheat from the Australian fields and ended with the Australian army committing troops to an extermination effort. There were two attempts at this. The first resulted in only between 50-200 emus being killed while the army fired 2,500 rounds at them. The second attempt resulted in nearly 1,000 emus killed after the military fired nearly 10,000 rounds.

Don’t feel bad for the emu. While this was a crazy bit of history, today Australia is home 725,000 of them.

Here’s a retrospective of the Emu War done in the style of Ken Burns.

20. Hey, It’s Flat

There are only two escalators in the entire state of Wyoming.

21. Double Genius

Queen guitarist Brian May went on to get a PhD in astrophysics after leaving Queen and he was on the NASA team that managed the New Horizons mission to Pluto just a few months ago.