Fun facts by category
2,488 fact-checked facts, organized across 20 categories.
- Science & Nature (176)
- History (171)
- Food & Drink (162)
- Music (152)
- Geography (146)
- General Knowledge (145)
- Sports (143)
- Mythology (135)
- Movies & TV (134)
- Art & Culture (132)
- Pop Culture (127)
- Literature (116)
- Technology (113)
- Language (112)
- World Events (102)
- Business (98)
- TV Shows (94)
- Nature (85)
- Math (75)
- Travel (70)
Latest fun facts
- Movies & TV
For which 2010 film did Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross earn their first Oscar for Best Original Score, using no orchestral instrumentation at all?
Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross won an Oscar for The Social Network (2010) without writing a single orchestral piece—just electronic soundscapes.
Read the fact → - Movies & TV
Michael Giacchino won his first Academy Award for Best Original Score for composing which 2009 animated film?
Michael Giacchino was rejected from film scoring programs but landed Up (2009) through a Pixar connection, then won an Oscar.
Read the fact → - Movies & TV
Which director reportedly shot scenes on set to match Ennio Morricone's already-completed score for 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966)?
Ennio Morricone recorded The Good, The Bad and The Ugly's theme before the film was shot, forcing the director to edit scenes around existing music.
Read the fact → - Movies & TV
Which composer recorded the score for 'The Good, the Bad and the Ugly' (1966) before a single scene had been filmed?
Ennio Morricone recorded The Good, The Bad and The Ugly's theme before the film was shot, forcing the director to edit scenes around existing music.
Read the fact → - Movies & TV
Which composer built the recurring ticking clock motif in his 2014 Interstellar score from the mechanism of an actual pocket watch?
Hans Zimmer's Interstellar score includes a ticking clock representing time itself—he built the sound from an actual clock's mechanism.
Read the fact → - History
In medieval Europe, pepper became so prized that a single peppercorn could reportedly be handed over to settle what kind of payment?
Pepper was so valuable in medieval Europe that it functioned as currency. A single peppercorn could be used as rent or dowry payment.
Read the fact → - History
What primarily motivated the Central Asian middlemen who kept ancient Roman and Chinese silk traders from ever meeting each other directly?
Roman silk traders never met Chinese silk makers for centuries. Middlemen in Central Asia deliberately kept them apart to maintain monopoly profits.
Read the fact → - TV Shows
Rod Serling wrote or co-wrote 92 of The Twilight Zone's original episodes across how many seasons?
The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling wrote or co-wrote 92 of its 156 episodes across five seasons, often working 18-hour days while battling chain-smoking addiction.
Read the fact → - TV Shows
How many of The Twilight Zone's 156 original episodes did creator Rod Serling personally write or co-write?
The Twilight Zone's Rod Serling wrote or co-wrote 92 of its 156 episodes across five seasons, often working 18-hour days while battling chain-smoking addiction.
Read the fact → - TV Shows
Which writer, also the creator of Black Mirror, embedded a hidden ending in 'Bandersnatch' reachable only through a precise sequence of choices?
Black Mirror's 'Bandersnatch' let viewers choose the story's path, but writer Charlie Brooker hid a secret ending only accessible by making specific choices in exact sequence.
Read the fact → - TV Shows
Which 2018 interactive Black Mirror film let viewers make choices that determined the protagonist's fate?
Black Mirror's 'Bandersnatch' let viewers choose the story's path, but writer Charlie Brooker hid a secret ending only accessible by making specific choices in exact sequence.
Read the fact → - Travel
Which Canadian city is home to RESO, an underground network of tunnels, malls, and metro stations spanning roughly 20 miles?
Montreal built an underground city called RESO connecting 20 miles of tunnels, malls, and metros—residents can spend entire winters without seeing sunlight aboveground.
Read the fact → - Travel
In what year did the outside world first learn of Derinkuyu, Turkey's massive underground city?
Derinkuyu, Turkey's eight-story underground city, could shelter 20,000 people and remained completely unknown to the outside world until 1963.
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Beneath which European capital did squatters reportedly build an entire hidden neighborhood, complete with homes, churches, and a cinema, in its old underground quarries?
Paris's underground quarries once housed entire neighborhoods of squatters who built homes, churches, and even a cinema in the darkness beneath the city.
Read the fact → - Technology
How many keys does a stenotype machine typically have, letting court reporters chord multiple letters at once to exceed 300 words per minute?
Stenotype court reporters use 22-key keyboards hitting multiple keys simultaneously to reach 300+ words per minute—faster than any traditional typist.
Read the fact → - Technology
In what year was the Dvorak Simplified Keyboard first patented, decades after QWERTY had already become the industry standard?
Dvorak Simplified Keyboard reduces finger travel by 80% versus QWERTY, yet never gained mainstream adoption despite superior ergonomics.
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On 1870s Sholes & Glidden typewriters, which physical component swung upward to strike the ribbon and was prone to jamming when nearby keys were pressed too quickly?
The QWERTY layout was designed to prevent typewriter jams by separating frequently-used letter pairs, not for typing speed.
Read the fact → - Sports
The NHL rule limiting where goaltenders can legally handle the puck behind the goal line, created because of Martin Brodeur's skill, restricts play to a zone shaped like what four-sided figure?
Hockey's trapezoid rule (2004) was created solely because goaltender Martin Brodeur was too good at playing the puck behind the goal line.
Read the fact → - Sports
Which NHL goaltender's exceptional puck-handling behind his own net led the league to create the trapezoid rule restricting where goalies can play the puck?
Hockey's trapezoid rule (2004) was created solely because goaltender Martin Brodeur was too good at playing the puck behind the goal line.
Read the fact → - Science & Nature
For roughly 20 years, Soviet scientists used what alternate name for the element eventually called rutherfordium?
Rutherfordium was named after Ernest Rutherford despite fierce international debate—the Soviet Union called it 'kurchatovium' for 20 years before conceding.
Read the fact → - Science & Nature
Element 104 was officially named in 1997 to honor which physicist, after decades of Cold War-era naming disputes?
Rutherfordium was named after Ernest Rutherford despite fierce international debate—the Soviet Union called it 'kurchatovium' for 20 years before conceding.
Read the fact → - Science & Nature
About how many years after Enrico Fermi's 1954 death was the element fermium given its official name?
Fermium was named after Enrico Fermi just one year after his death in 1954, making it one of the fastest posthumous element honors.
Read the fact → - Science & Nature
Which chemical element was officially named in honor of physicist Enrico Fermi, just one year after his death in 1954?
Fermium was named after Enrico Fermi just one year after his death in 1954, making it one of the fastest posthumous element honors.
Read the fact → - Science & Nature
Which chemical element honors Johan Gadolin, a Finnish chemist who studied the mineral it was later named for but never isolated the element himself?
Gadolinium is named after Johan Gadolin, a Finnish chemist who never actually discovered it—he identified the mineral it came from.
Read the fact → - Science & Nature
Which scientist on the team that jokingly considered naming californium 'pandemonium' later had element 106 named after him?
Californium's discoverers wanted to name it 'pandemonium' as a joke about the chaos of creating new elements, but the scientific community rejected it.
Read the fact → - Pop Culture
The slang term 'on fleek,' which went viral in 2014, was originally used to describe which part of the body?
Millennials popularized 'on fleek' in 2014 via a single viral tweet about eyebrows, then Oxford Dictionaries named it 2014 Word of the Year—unusual for slang.
Read the fact → - Pop Culture
The slang acronym 'YOLO,' which became widespread after a 2011 Drake song, stands for which phrase?
YOLO ('You Only Live Once') wasn't invented by Drake; the phrase appeared in obscure 2000s hip-hop before Drake's 2011 song accidentally made it ubiquitous.
Read the fact → - Pop Culture
Before a 1982 hit song made them nationally famous, the slang terms 'like' and 'totally' originated among teenagers in which Southern California region?
Valley Girl slang 'like' and 'totally' originated in 1980s Southern California but became mainstream only after Frank Zappa's 1982 song mocking the dialect.
Read the fact → - Nature
Despite possessing lethal venom, what is typically described as a stonefish's primary means of defense?
The stonefish mimics rocks so perfectly that divers have stepped on them. Its venom is deadly, yet the camouflage remains its primary defense.
Read the fact → - Nature
According to researchers, why do Arctic hares keep the tips of their ears black rather than white in winter?
Arctic hares turn white in winter, but their ear tips stay black—not for warmth, but to absorb solar radiation for survival.
Read the fact → - Nature
Which body part of the Arctic hare stays black year-round even after its fur turns white for winter camouflage?
Arctic hares turn white in winter, but their ear tips stay black—not for warmth, but to absorb solar radiation for survival.
Read the fact → - Mythology
In Chinese mythology, how did the legendary flood hero Yu the Great ultimately bring an end to the catastrophic Great Flood?
Chinese mythology's Great Flood was stopped by Yu the Great with dikes, not an ark—a reversal where humans engineer salvation instead of receiving divine rescue.
Read the fact → - Mythology
In the flood story from the Epic of Gilgamesh, which bird did Utnapishtim release first to check whether the waters had receded?
The Sumerian flood myth predates Noah by over 1,000 years, yet the hero Utnapishtim builds an ark and releases a dove—nearly identical plot details.
Read the fact → - Literature
Which author deliberately built deceptive charm into a 1955 novel's narrator, a trick many early critics missed by taking his account at face value?
Nabokov intended readers to distrust Humbert Humbert in 'Lolita,' but many early reviewers believed his charm and took his narrative at face value, missing the unreliability entirely.
Read the fact → - Literature
In Vladimir Nabokov's 'Lolita,' what is the name of the narrator whose polished, persuasive prose led many early reviewers to mistake his charm for sincerity?
Nabokov intended readers to distrust Humbert Humbert in 'Lolita,' but many early reviewers believed his charm and took his narrative at face value, missing the unreliability entirely.
Read the fact → - Literature
Whose journal entries open the narrative of 'Dracula,' describing his journey to Castle Dracula in Transylvania?
Bram Stoker's 'Dracula' is told entirely through letters and journal entries, making every character potentially unreliable since we never verify whose accounts are accurate.
Read the fact → - Literature
What role does the unreliable narrator hold in Henry James's 'The Turn of the Screw,' whose grip on sanity fuels the novella's central mystery?
Henry James wrote 'The Turn of the Screw' so ambiguously that for over a century scholars debated whether the ghosts are real or the governess is mentally ill.
Read the fact → - Literature
Which Henry James novella centers on a governess narrator whose reliability is so ambiguous that scholars have debated for over a century whether the ghosts she sees are real?
Henry James wrote 'The Turn of the Screw' so ambiguously that for over a century scholars debated whether the ghosts are real or the governess is mentally ill.
Read the fact → - Language
English sailors and soldiers adopted the Sanskrit-derived word 'loot' while trading and serving in which region?
The nautical term 'loot' comes from Sanskrit 'luta' (plunder)—borrowed by English sailors trading with India, spreading piracy vocabulary across languages.
Read the fact → - Language
Beyond physical postures, what broader concept did the word 'yoga' originally express in its Sanskrit origin?
English speakers say 'yoga' daily, unaware it derives from Sanskrit 'yuj' (to yoke/join), originally meaning spiritual union, not just physical poses.
Read the fact → - Language
The English word 'yoga' descends directly from which Sanskrit root meaning 'to yoke' or 'join'?
English speakers say 'yoga' daily, unaware it derives from Sanskrit 'yuj' (to yoke/join), originally meaning spiritual union, not just physical poses.
Read the fact → - Language
Before its modern use for a digital persona, what did the Sanskrit-derived English word 'avatar' originally denote in Hindu religious thought?
The word 'avatar' entered English as a Hindu/Buddhist religious term but now means a video-game character—a spiritual concept inverted by technology.
Read the fact → - Language
Which English word, borrowed from the Sanskrit 'avatāra' meaning 'descent,' now commonly refers to a customizable character in a video game?
The word 'avatar' entered English as a Hindu/Buddhist religious term but now means a video-game character—a spiritual concept inverted by technology.
Read the fact → - Language
Which English word borrowed from Sanskrit now means nearly the opposite of its original sense of a dry wasteland?
English 'jungle' derives from Sanskrit 'jangala' (wasteland), yet became synonymous with dense forests—almost the opposite of its original meaning.
Read the fact → - Language
The English word 'jungle' derives from a Sanskrit term, 'jangala', that originally meant what?
English 'jungle' derives from Sanskrit 'jangala' (wasteland), yet became synonymous with dense forests—almost the opposite of its original meaning.
Read the fact → - Language
Which English word for a hair-cleansing product derives from a Sanskrit term meaning 'to massage or knead'?
The word 'shampoo' comes from Sanskrit 'champo,' meaning to massage or knead—originally a full-body rubbing ritual, not just hair washing.
Read the fact → - Language
What does the Sanskrit word 'champo,' the root of the English word 'shampoo,' actually mean?
The word 'shampoo' comes from Sanskrit 'champo,' meaning to massage or knead—originally a full-body rubbing ritual, not just hair washing.
Read the fact → - Geography
Plymouth, once the capital of which Caribbean island, was buried by volcanic ash and mud in 1997?
Montserrat's Soufrière Hills volcano buried its capital city Plymouth in ash and mud in 1997, rendering two-thirds of the island uninhabitable overnight and displacing 8,000 people.
Read the fact → - Geography
How many people were killed when New Zealand's White Island volcano erupted while tourists explored its active crater in December 2019?
New Zealand's White Island volcano has hosted guided tourists walking into an active crater for over a century, until a deadly 2019 eruption killed 22 visitors and workers.
Read the fact → - Geography
Since its volcanic formation in 1963, access to Iceland's Surtsey island has been restricted to only which group of people?
Iceland's newest island, Surtsey, emerged from the sea in 1963 and was immediately declared off-limits to all visitors except scientists, making it Earth's youngest controlled nature reserve.
Read the fact → - Geography
Which volcanic island rose from the sea off Iceland's coast in 1963 and was immediately closed to everyone except scientists?
Iceland's newest island, Surtsey, emerged from the sea in 1963 and was immediately declared off-limits to all visitors except scientists, making it Earth's youngest controlled nature reserve.
Read the fact → - General Knowledge
Why did the original meter definition end up not exactly matching its intended one ten-millionth fraction of a quarter-meridian?
The meter was originally one ten-millionth the distance from Earth's equator to North Pole, but Earth's shape measurements were slightly wrong.
Read the fact → - General Knowledge
Which nautical unit of speed got its name from sailors counting knots tied at fixed intervals in a rope trailed behind the ship?
A knot measures ship speed because sailors tied knots in rope at fixed intervals, counting how many passed overboard in 28 seconds.
Read the fact → - General Knowledge
According to legend, what practical goal did Charlemagne aim to achieve by standardizing the foot measurement using his own shoe?
The foot originally equaled the length of Charlemagne's shoe, standardized across his empire to simplify trade and taxation.
Read the fact → - Food & Drink
Which tiny arthropods, used in aging certain cheeses, can multiply so fast that their collective activity heats up aging caves?
Cheese mites can reproduce so rapidly that they generate enough heat to spontaneously warm aging caves to dangerous temperatures without external heating.
Read the fact → - Business
In which U.S. state did 17-year-old Fred DeLuca open the tiny storefront sandwich shop funded by a $1,000 loan in 1965?
Subway's Fred DeLuca started his first sandwich shop at age 17 using a $1,000 loan from a family friend to pay for a tiny storefront in Connecticut.
Read the fact → - Business
What was the profession of Peter Buck, the family friend who lent Fred DeLuca the $1,000 to open his first sandwich shop in 1965?
Subway's Fred DeLuca started his first sandwich shop at age 17 using a $1,000 loan from a family friend to pay for a tiny storefront in Connecticut.
Read the fact → - Business
What kind of business arrangement did Ray Kroc secure with the McDonald brothers in 1954, rather than buying their restaurant outright?
McDonald's founder Ray Kroc was 52 years old, working as a milkshake machine salesman, when he discovered the McDonald brothers' restaurant and bought the franchise rights.
Read the fact → - Business
According to the well-known account of Ray Kroc's career, which two brothers had built and operated the original restaurant whose franchise rights he purchased in 1954?
McDonald's founder Ray Kroc was 52 years old, working as a milkshake machine salesman, when he discovered the McDonald brothers' restaurant and bought the franchise rights.
Read the fact → - Business
After nearly losing his pizza business to over-expansion in the 1960s, what operational shift did Tom Monaghan make to rebuild it into a national chain?
Domino's Pizza began when Tom Monaghan bought a single pizzeria with borrowed money, then lost it all trying to expand too fast before reinventing the delivery model.
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