Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Explain Which Completely True Facts Are The Hardest To Believe

People Explain Which Completely True Facts Are The Hardest To Believe
Photo by Michael Heise on Unsplash

Sometimes truth is stranger than fiction.

I can't tell you how many writers have looked at their whimsical works of fiction and thought "no one would ever think of this."

Only to turn on the news and see reality is crazier.

Ever since 2015 began the 2016 election cycle, the people at "The ONION" must nearly be out of ideas.

Certain facts sound wild but truth is truth.

And truth is a mess.

Redditor edder24 wanted to get into the details about some cold hard facts. So they asked:

"What 100% FACT is the hardest to believe?"

Any and every detail that comes out of our medical insurance system. Don't get me started...

WINNER!!

"An Australian man won the lottery, then on camera to re enact the winning for the news he bought another ticket... he won the lottery again on camera. https://youtu.be/6R5MqxcKdV8 "

YeahYeahButNah

Billions

"If a billion people from both China and India didn't exist, they would still be the #1 and #2 most populated nations in the world."

Handsprime

"The fact people think this is a bad thing is something I can’t believe. Though I would like to know the truth. If they are locked into factories living terrible lives. I hope if they where they would revolt. Maybe we should set a better example."

JRotten-Scoundrel

Kermit too?

"Tarantulas keep tiny frogs as pets."

JimminyBean

"This is a bit misleading. They don't keep them as 'pets.' they depend on one another. In nature, this is described as a symbiotic relationship (where both parties gain some sort of mutual benefit)."

Frogs will eat the smaller insects that are a nuisance to the tarantula (it's debated whether or not they protect their eggs, because Tarantula burrows are too deep and sticky for smaller insects to traverse). And in turn the tarantula will protect the frog. This is no different than other relationships in nature. Some bird species will frequently land in crocodile's open jaws to eat bits of stuck, leftover food which can be irritating to the crocodile. The crocodile in turn will just stay still for a bit."

TheGamingTitan12

Terrifying...

"That only 6 people have survived rabies. Rabies has a 99% Mortality rate. You can have rabies for an entire year without symptoms and once you have symptoms, it's already too late. You'll probably die in a couple of days if you have symptoms."

Strange-Listen8048

"More than a year, it can lay dormant for several years. You go on a camping trip and wake up noting you have a scratch on your arm. You put a band aid on and think no more about it. A couple of years later you feel unwell. You're already dead, there's nothing to save you. Rabies is terrifying."

zerbey

Deep

Summer Bike GIFGiphy

"There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover North and South America in water one foot deep."

Angry_Elk

Let's go swimming. The rains must fall hard there.

The Hunter

Bugs Dragonfly GIF by Ana MouyisGiphy

"Dragonflies accelerate at up to 4G and corner at up to 9G."

automatorsassemble

"Dragonflies are also the most efficient hunter, catching up to 95% of prey."

LuquidThunderPlus

“watchman”

"This relationship of the the pistol shrimp and watchman goby (fish). The pistol shrimp is nearly blind but an excellent digger, whereas the watchman goby has excellent eyesight with a nearly 360 range of vision, but lacks the ability to dig or fight for burrows to live in."

"So these two animals benefit from each other by living together. The pistol shrimp works on digging the burrow, and the 'watchman' goby stands guard outside. If there’s a threat approaching, the goby will dart into the burrow and simultaneously smack the pistol shrimp’s antenna to alert it of the danger."

dashiGO

Go Jimmy! Go!

"President Jimmy Carter rappelled into a nuclear reactor that was in partial meltdown to stop the meltdown and save Ottowa. Before he became President, of course."

thebyron

"My favorite Carter tidbit is a statement something to the effect of 'I hope the last Guinea worm dies before I do.' Dude dedicated his remaining life to bringing another organism to extinction, and he might well succeed. Metal AF."

BaltimoreAlchemist

"but I wore the juice!"

"In 1995, a man named MacArthur Wheeler robbed two banks at gunpoint, he was arrested mere hours later because he didn't wear a mask. instead, he decided to coat his face in lemon juice because he read that lemon juice can be used to make invisible ink. His logic, was that it would make his face invisible. And reportedly, he said to one of the tellers don't worry, I have a face, it's just invisible.'"

"The only thing he did when he was arrested was sigh dejectedly and say 'but I wore the juice!' His case is actually still in academic journals regarding the fact that people with low intelligence do in fact believe that they're smarter than everyone else."

AnnigidWilliams

Deadliest

"The Australian Funnel Web Spider is often regarded as the world's deadliest and hasn't had a confirmed kill in over 40 years since the antivenom was created."

Regnes

5%

"Very few mosquito species prefer human blood, but among those that do, only 5% are deadly to humans. Those 5% though, kill more people annually than humans do."

Punny-Aggron

"5% of mosquitoes are deadly to humans? Is this 100% due to other diseases or can a mosquito actually kill someone, kinda like if someone was allergic to bees and gets stung by one or something like that."

Eupion

Family Tree

"One of Joseph Stalin's granddaughters is a hipster/punk lady who runs a record shop in Portland."

TrumpsNeckSmegma

"One of Mussolini’s actual granddaughters was elected to the Rome council in 2021. One of his other granddaughters was on the European Parliament from 2014-2019 (this one also released some songs in Japan and had a stint as an actress and model)."

incoherentlex

"I wouldn’t be surprised, in terms of political beliefs, the granddaughter could be the same economically, but vastly different politically (being that punk culture is based on anarchy)."

cute-and-psycho

The Axis

"That a spy named Joan Pujol Garcia was awarded the highest honor of service from both the Allies and Axis in the Second World War."

Bma1500

"Wasn't actually the 'highest honour of service' but he was awarded for service both by Germany and the UK. It's not that he was actually playing both sides."

"It's that he intentionally set himself up as a double agent, working for the UK while pretending to work for Germany he did such a good job feeding a mixture of real and fake info to Germany that they never caught on that he was working against them, and ended up being instrumental in the British intelligence operation to mislead the Germans about where the D-day landings would take place."

AnonymousWritings

Planets

Ask The Storybots Planets GIF by StoryBotsGiphy

"From the time it was discovered to the time it lost its status as a planet, Pluto made it less than a third of the way around the sun."

SaturnRocket

Billions

"105 billion people have lived so far. 7.9 billion of us are currently alive."

Figurinitoutfornow

"Assuming that the average life expectancy at birth is at least a decade (hopefully an underestimate, given that the life expectancy at birth in the bronze age was about 25 years, that's including infant mortality), that's at least a trillion years experienced by humans, collectively."

TheMoniker

Empires

"Oxford university is older than the Aztec empire."

didijxk

"It's also about 74 years away from its millennium anniversary. The University of Bologna, founded in 1088, predating Oxford by just eight years, is 66 years away from its millennium anniversary. I don't think my lifespan will make it to Oxford's. And making it to Bologna's would be a close call for sure."

AlienBogeys

Evil Amongst us

"It’s estimated people on average come across almost a dozen murderers in their lifetime."

Forsaken_Oil_96

"I'll bet I've come across hundreds. Many of them appear to be decent people on the surface. I am a strong death penalty advocate."

redreddie

"A serial killer bought me a drink once. I wish I still had the picture someone snapped of us. It was a going away party I think, something for a mutual friend."

XmasDawne

Grounded

"There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way. Roughly by a factor of 10."

TyroneMings

"I think I heard somewhere that 150 years ago a squirrel could go tree to tree from the Mississippi River all the way to the East Coast without having to touch the ground."

tidder-emanresu

Scorched

Vintage Vhs GIF by vhspositiveGiphy

"Lightning bolts can reach temperatures 5 times hotter than the surface of the sun."

PretzylPower

I hate any and all facts pertaining to bugs and spiders. No thank you.

Want to "know" more?

Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

Never miss another big, odd, funny or heartbreaking moment again.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Scarlett Johansson and Colin Jost
Kevin Mazur/Kevin Mazur/Getty Images for Universal Pictures and Amblin Entertainment

Colin Jost Hilariously Reacts To Wife Scarlett Johansson Becoming World's Highest-Grossing Actor

Scarlett Johansson has been acting professionally since she was 9 years old, with her film debut in North in 1994. Since then, she's appeared in movies that span practically every genre and garnered two Academy Award nominations.

With such a long and diverse resume, it's not completely surprising that, at age 40, Johansson just became the highest-grossing actor at the worldwide box office ever, with $14.9 billion of box office revenue for her 68 films.

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshots of Stevie Wonder
@RNB_Radar/X

Stevie Wonder Epically Shuts Down Rumor That He's Not Really Blind In Powerful Viral Clip

Legendary musician Stevie Wonder spoke out during a stop on his Love, Light & Song mini-tour to address rumors that he is not really blind, telling those in attendance that his blindness—which has been the case since shortly after birth—has also been a "blessing."

The long-standing rumor that Stevie Wonder can actually see has circulated for decades and even been echoed by fellow celebrities including singer Lionel Richie, who said in a 2019 interview that he's "been spending my whole life with him [Wonder] thinking he can see."

Keep ReadingShow less
Screenshot of Dr. Mehmet Oz
Fox News

Dr. Oz Slammed For Tone Deaf Health Advice For Americans On Medicaid And Medicare

Dr. Mehmet Oz—now the administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services—was criticized after he offered Americans unsolicited health advice during a Fox News appearance, saying that Americans shouldn't "eat carrot cake" as millions face cuts to their government-funded health insurance.

The passage of President Donald Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" will cause 17 million people to lose valuable Medicare and Medicaid coverage. Under the bill, individuals earning just above the federal poverty line would be required to start paying out of pocket for certain Medicaid services, such as doctor visits and lab tests.

Keep ReadingShow less
A man and woman kissing with the woman's hat covering their faces.
woman in white hijab sitting on chair

The Biggest Lies People Told In Order To Sleep With Someone

When you meet someone you're attracted to, your first inclination is to try to impress them.

Sometimes, purely in hopes of getting them into bed.

Keep ReadingShow less
Adam Schiff; Donald Trump
Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images; Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images

Adam Schiff Calls Out The Real Reason Trump Is Accusing Him Of 'Fraud'—And Yeah, That Tracks

California Democratic Senator Adam Schiff fired back at President Donald Trump after Trump accused Schiff of "possible mortgage fraud" in a Truth Social post—prompting Schiff to point out that Trump's attack is another attempt to take attention away from Trump's association with the late financier, pedophile, and sex trafficker Jeffrey Epstein.

Trump, without citing evidence, said Fannie Mae’s financial crimes division found that Schiff had a “sustained pattern of possible Mortgage Fraud" that involved misstating which home Schiff used as a primary residence, allowing him to secure a cheaper mortgage.

Keep ReadingShow less