Did you know that Alaska is the only state whose name is on one row on a keyboard? Or that the largest bill to go into circulation in the United States was a $10,000 note? How about the fact that the movie Toy Story helped sell the Etch-a-Sketch?
None of these facts have changed your life for the better (or for the worse). They're pretty useless, to be fair. And our brains are full of them. There's all sorts of information out there that doesn't help anyone... but there isn't any harm in knowing it, as we were so keenly reminded after Redditor AdventurousThing93 asked the online community,
"What's the one useless fact the world needs to know?"
"While length..."
"Barnacles can have penises up to 8 times their body length. While length doesn't vary significantly between populations, thickness does, with barnacles in more turbulent waters having girthier members to prevent them from snapping off in the current."
"My brother's girlfriend..."
"My brother's girlfriend had a pet bat. I learned that bats, or at least this species, purr somewhat like cats when petted."
This is probably the cutest thing I've ever heard... but I'm too much of a wuss to pet a random bat.
"In the early '80s..."
"In the early '80s, a Toyota Corolla trunk key could open any Corolla trunk."
That... doesn't sound like it was a sign of intelligent manufacturing.
And every cat can pretend it doesn't know how to retract its claws when you catch it clawing the sofa!
"There are roughly..."
"There are roughly 800 corn kernels arranged in 16 rows on a cob."
"The largest edible fruit..."
"The largest edible fruit native to North America is the pawpaw. The reason they're not more popular is because they go bad in a few days so they're not good for long term storage."
"If you open your eyes..."
"If you open your eyes in a pitch-black room, the color you'll see is called "eigengrau."
I have wondered this before when I've been falling asleep, so thank you!
"Anne Frank..."
"Anne Frank, Martin Luther King and Barbara Walters were all born the same year."
This really puts things into perspective, doesn't it? History is often a lot closer to you than you might think.
"Domestic rats..."
"Domestic rats are actually really into cleaning. Some will even use a certain area of a cage to store trash."
"There's more of a chance..."
"There's more of a chance you can die by getting hit by lightning than there is dying in a plane crash. And yet I'm still terrified to get on one."
Well, well, well... I'm not about to head out there and change the world with anything I learned here (and neither are you) but you can't deny that it might help you kick off an interesting conversation or two at your next dinner party.
Have some more facts of your own to share? Feel free to tell us all about them in the comments below!
Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.
