As someone who is obsessed with fun facts and trivia, I was all ears.
Here are 28 little-known facts, from the unexpected shape of raindrops to the serial killer who recorded popular audiobooks:
1."The nuke stockpile in Washington State is guarded by trained dolphins that seek out and clamp a balloon on unfamiliar divers." —u/Gothsalts
2."Raindrops don’t fall in the drip shape popularly conveyed. They fall in the shape of tiny parachutes or hamburger buns." —u/CBGville
3."American serial killer Edmund Kemper recorded over 5,000 hours of audiobook narration between 1977–87. If you're into audiobooks, you might've been read to by a 6'9" self-described 'bumblebutt' who killed eight people, including his mother." —u/SnowMiser26
4."Boanthropy is a psychological disorder in which a person believes they are a cow and try to live their life as one. Medical explanations suggest late-stage syphilis as one of the causes." —u/j451k4
5."The Dutch national color is orange, but the flag is red, white and blue striped, because the dye they used for orange faded fast at sea, while red did not." —u/3xTheSchwarm
6."Hans Zimmer was the keyboard player on 'Video Killed The Radio Star.'" —u/Kryodamus
7."Before being born, two of the four chambers of a baby's heart are not used, they're actually bypassed! There's no need to pump deoxygenated blood to the lungs when in the womb because the lungs aren't breathing air yet, and so are not supplying oxygen." —u/whomp1970
8."The sound used for a dolphin in nearly every single TV [show] and movie is actually the same Kookaburra bird recording." —u/HFXmer
9."The Jews were expelled from Spain in the 1400s. No Jewish children were born again in Spain until 1966." —u/RifleShower
10."Since 1969, there have been more Popes (five) than head coaches of the Pittsburgh Steelers (three)." — u/Marco_Escuandola
11."Of all the US States, Maine is the closest to Africa. Seriously look at a globe, not just that flat oval map you saw in every classroom growing up. Africa is further north than you think, and Maine is further east than you think." — u/slytherinprolly
12."The 'dog days of summer' refers to the time of the year when the dog star, Sirius, is brightest in the sky." — u/Personal_Return4940
13."Acronyms are things that you can pronounce like a word, like POTUS, NASA, [and] PETA. Initialisms include things like CIA, DEA, [and] ASPCA." —u/Gavman04
14."1.7 billion years before modern humans evolved, a natural nuclear fission reactor was active underneath what is modern Africa." —u/ProbablyABore
15."The Eiffel Tower can be 15 centimeters taller during the summer due to thermal expansion meaning the iron heats up, the particles gain kinetic energy, and take up more space." — u/_quinn_06
16."[It] takes 1,200 pounds of pressure to break a healthy femur." —u/diet_pepsi_lover
17."Carrots don’t improve your eyesight. That myth has its roots in a World War II propaganda campaign." —u/bookiebakermusic
18."The original red velvet cake didn’t use food coloring. The red color was a result of a chemical reaction between vinegar and dutch cocoa powder." —u/Dense_Calligrapher36
19."None of the Founding Fathers of America knew what the fuck a dinosaur was." —u/AmerisaurausRex
20."'Third World Countries' is a term taken from Cold War propaganda. The first world is America and her allies. The second world is the Soviets and their allies. The third world is everybody else. Over time it has been appropriated to mean 'poor countries,' but that’s not its original usage." — u/wheresmychin
21."It actually used to be called Duck Tape because the polyurethane coating was waterproof like a duck's feathers." —u/Judoka229
22."The British trained seagulls to poo on the periscopes of enemy submarines." —u/swallowyoursadness
23."The chainsaw was originally invented to cut open the pelvis to assist in childbirth if there was a breech." —u/SaintCaspian
24."There are more Subway restaurants than there are McDonald’s." —u/According-Pool3427
25."Sauerkraut wasn’t invented in Germany. It was a primary source of food by the Chinese while building the Great Wall of China." — u/Dovahkiing12
26."In Victorian England, they would clean chimneys by throwing a goose down it." —u/jordymills
27."The cigarette lighter was invented before the match." — u/golu_281105
28."The sun is actually white. At about 5,000K, it's brilliantly white, not yellow or red. The yellow sun is a product of atmospheric diffraction of light off of oxygen molecules, which also gives us a blue sky." —u/free_from_choice
Do you have any little-known facts that you wish more people knew? Share them in the comments!