A Reddit thread recently asked users to share their favorite pieces of useless trivia. The responses were indeed pretty useless — but also fascinating! Here are some of the best.
1. "Capybaras were once classified by the Catholic Church as 'fish' and may be eaten during Lent."
2. "The ZIP in zip code stands for Zone Improvement Plan."
4. "The grandson of the woman who designed Hitler's bunker designed Saddam Hussein's bunker."
5. "Yoda and Miss Piggy were both voiced by the same person."
6. "In 1989, the Soviet Union traded Pepsi Company 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer for Pepsi to be sold in the Soviet Union. This trade made Pepsi the sixth-largest military power in the world at the time."
7. "A penguin is the honorary colonel-in-chief of the Norwegian King's Guard. His name is Sir Nils Olav."
8. "The longest English word having only a single vowel is strengths."
10. "Arnold Schwarzenegger was the first civilian to own a Hummer."
11. "The Wachowskis asked for over $80 million to make The Matrix. They only got $10 million, so they just spent it all on the opening scene. When they showed the scene to Warner Bros., they got the original budget approved."
12. "Otters often have a favorite rock. They store it under their arm in a little pouch when not in use."
13. "When Ian Fleming was writing his now-famous spy stories, he wanted to give the main character the most boring name possible. The name was Bond, James Bond."
16. "The guy who sang 'You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch' is also the original voice of Tony the Tiger in Frosted Flakes commercials."
17. "Jimmy Carter was the first president to be born at a hospital."
19. "Sharks have been on the planet longer than trees."
20. "Wombats poop cubes."
21. "63 planet Earths can fit in Uranus."
23. "Everyone has a unique tongue print, just like fingerprints."
24. "It's estimated that there are more trees on Earth than there are stars in the Milky Way Galaxy (3 trillion versus 100–400 billion)."
25. "It's said that approximately 17% of the total surface of Sweden is covered by blueberry bushes."
26. "There are 119 ridges on the edge of a quarter."
27. "Some animal experts believe that there are more tigers held in captivity in Texas than in all of the world's wilderness combined."
28. "There was a Roman Emperor named Pupienus Maximus, pronounced 'poopy-anus.'"
29. "If you walk south from Detroit, you can end up in Canada."
Some responses have been edited for clarity and accuracy.