Fun Facts

Vatican Bank ATMs allow users to perform transactions in Latin. Source

The US military document specifying procedures and requirements for the production of chocolate brownies is 26 pages long. Source

Qatar Airways allows each economy class passenger to carry on one live falcon, up to a maximum of six total falcons in the cabin. Each falcon must remain hooded and chained to its handler for the duration of the flight. Source

President Woodrow Wilson's 1915 wedding was catered by Chef Boyardee. Source

Pope Stephen VI hated the policies of his predecessor, Pope Formosus, so much that he had Formosus's corpse exhumed, dressed up in papal vestments, and put on trial. Source

President Benjamin Harrison kept two pet possums named Mr. Reciprocity and Mr. Protection. Source

The last Civil War pension check was issued in 2003. Source

Clarence Thomas did not finish paying off his student loans until his third year as a Supreme Court Justice. Source

In 1943, the sale of sliced bread was banned in the United States. Source

Prior to leading the Nation of Islam, Louis Farrakhan recorded several albums of calypso music under the stage name The Charmer. Source

Martin Van Buren's autobiography (822 pages long) does not mention his wife at all. Source

The final scene of the movie Casablanca was filmed on a sound stage too small to fit a real airplane, so the filmmakers built a half-sized prop plane and hired midgets to play the flight crew to ensure proper perspective. Source

In 1961, the New York Museum of Modern Art mistakenly hung a work by Henri Matisse upside-down for 47 days until a visiting stockbroker pointed out the error to a security guard. Source

Saddam Hussein's official campaign song in the 2002 Iraqi presidential election was "I Will Always Love You" by Whitney Houston. Source

Miles Davis uses the word "motherfucker" 333 times in his autobiography. Source

From 1912-1948, the Olympics included medals for architecture, literature, music, painting, and sculpture. Source

About 10% of the electricity in the US comes from dismantled nuclear bombs. Source

24% of the laws passed by the 110th Congress concerned the renaming of post offices. Source

Former US President Gerald Ford was on the cover of Cosmopolitan magazine in 1942. Source

Elephants are typically right-tusked or left-tusked in the same way that humans are right-handed or left-handed. Source

The oath of office for the Kentucky General Assembly requires members to swear that they have never participated in a duel. Source

In 1996, FBI investigations into military surplus sales discovered that there were 23 privately owned Cobra attack helicopters in the U.S. Source

During the Cold War, every Minuteman long-range nuclear missile in the US was equipped with a launch code security device to prevent unauthorized or unintentional launches. However, due to concerns that real codes would interfere with wartime launch orders, the launch code for every missile was set to 00000000. Source

The first Democratic governor of Wyoming attended his inaugural ball in a pair of shoes made from the skin of a lynched cattle rustler. Source

West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd has quoted all 37 of Shakespeare's plays on the Senate floor. Source

Liechtenstein added a crown to its flag after discovering during the 1936 Summer Olympics that its flag was identical to Haiti's. Source

The US Department of Agriculture banned the use of the word "tornado" in weather forecasts until 1938. Source

Pokemon is banned from Saudi Arabia for Zionist content. Source

The last execution by guillotine in France was in 1977. Source

The film Willy Wonka & The Chocolate Factory was funded entirely by the Quaker Oats Company in order to promote the launch of their new chocolate bar. Source

The first American penny, designed by Benjamin Franklin, bore the motto "mind your business." Source

The USDA allows the use of "wyngz" in the name of a wing-shaped poultry product that contains no wing meat, provided the packaging meets three additional labeling requirements. No other spelling variations are permitted. Source

The lowest temperature ever recorded in Singapore is 66.9 degrees Fahrenheit. Source

In 2011, Libyan rebels discovered a photo album in Moammar Gadhafi's compound that consisted of nothing but photos of Condoleezza Rice. Source

During Boris Yeltsin's 1995 visit to the White House, the Secret Service found him drunk in his underwear on Pennsylvania Avenue in the middle of the night, attempting to hail a taxi so he could get a pizza. Source

Gary Kremen, the founder of Match.com, was left by his girlfriend for a man she met on Match.com. Source

NASA intern Thad Roberts was sentenced to eight years in prison after stealing a safe full of moon rocks from Johnson Space Center and having sex on top of them. Source, Source

Due to the rise in pro-democracy protests, the highest earner in South Korea in 1987 was the president of the country's only tear gas manufacturer. Source

In 1964, Mississippi's ABC affiliates protested the airing of the sitcom Bewitched, arguing that the depiction of a marriage between a man and a witch constituted a "veiled argument for racial intermarriage." Source

In 1963, a graduate student from the University of North Carolina unwittingly cut down the oldest tree on earth, a bristlecone pine tree in eastern Nevada. In 1973, a drunk driver crashed into and killed the most isolated tree on earth, an acacia tree in the Sahara desert located 120 miles from the next tree. Source, Source

There are more captive tigers in Texas than wild tigers in the entire world. Source

The FAA recommends that pilots taking Viagra wait six hours before piloting an aircraft due to its side effect of blue-green colorblindness. Source

Dick Cheney has no pulse. Source

Sweden's TV1 airs a 1958 Donald Duck Christmas special every Christmas Eve at 3PM. It typically draws a viewing audience of between one third and one half of the entire Swedish population. Source

In 2002 the dictator of Turkmenistan renamed the month of April after his mother. Source

Johnny Carson's first three wives were named Joan, Joanne, and Joanna. Source

To join the central management of the Church of Scientology, you have to sign a one billion year membership contract. Source

President John F. Kennedy sent an aide out to buy him 1,000 Cuban cigars the night before he signed the Executive Order banning their sale in the United States. Source

In Brazil, the practice of forging land titles is known as "cricketing," because new documents are placed in a box full of crickets overnight to give them an aged appearance. Source

President Benjamin Harrison shuffled the statehood bills for North and South Dakota before and after signing them so that no one would ever know which one became a state first. Source

More collect calls are made on Father's Day than any other day of the year. Source

In Colorado, Snickers, Butterfinger, and Hershey bars are subject to state sales tax, but Kit-Kats and Twix bars are not. Source

The German term Kummerspeck, or "grief bacon," refers to the excess weight one gains from emotional overeating. Source

During the Great Depression, Code 348 of the National Recovery Administration stipulated that burlesque dancers could only perform four strip teases per evening in an effort to spread the work around to less successful dancers. Source

During his 8 years as president, Bill Clinton only sent two emails. Source

In 1969, the Army Corps of Engineers "turned off" Niagara Falls for six months in order to study erosion of the rock bed underneath. Source

In 1916, a circus elephant that killed its trainer was publicly executed by hanging from an industrial crane. Source

John Quincy Adams had a pet alligator that he kept in a White House bathroom. Source

John McCain was a contestant on Jeopardy! in 1965. Source, Source

After Buddy Holly's death, the coroner took $11.65 in coroner's fees from Holly's personal effects. Source

Lake Baikal contains 20% of the world's surface fresh water (as much as all the Great Lakes combined). Source

Article 222 of the Turkish Penal Code bans the use of the letters Q, W, and X. Source

Michael Jackson composed music for Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Source

In the US, it is legal to send queen honey bees via air mail, but not drones or worker bees. Source

In Japan, inflatable sex dolls are known as "Dutch wives." Source

Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son. Source

Charlie Chaplin once lost a Charlie Chaplin look-alike contest. Source

New York state resident astronauts who die in the line of duty are exempt from state income tax for the year of their death. Source, Source

On April 1, 1915, a French pilot flew over a German military camp and dropped a fake bomb with an April Fool's note attached. Source, Source

A kidnapped child can be claimed as a dependent for income tax purposes, but only if the child is presumed alive, the prime suspects in the kidnapping are not family members, and the child was a member of the household for more than half the portion of the tax year prior to the kidnapping. Source

On the day of his assassination, Martin Luther King, Jr. had a pillow fight in his motel room. Source

The music video for the Michael Jackson song "Bad" was directed by Martin Scorsese. Source

The Philippines flies its flag upside down during wartime. Source

René Descartes had a fetish for cross-eyed women. Source

The following songs were all written by Jews: "White Christmas," "Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree," "The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire)," "I'll Be Home For Christmas," "Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer," "Sleigh Ride," "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town," "Santa Baby," "Holly Jolly Christmas," "Winter Wonderland," "It's The Most Wonderful Time Of The Year," "Silver Bells," and "Let It Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" Source

In some cases, deaf-mute people with Tourette's Syndrome uncontrollably sign obscenities. Source, Source, Source

Centerpieces and other decorations at Amish weddings contain celery instead of flowers. Source

Abraham Lincoln signed the order creating the US Secret Service on the same day he was assassinated. Source

In Japan, fried chicken from KFC is a Christmas Eve tradition. Source

Playing with a laser pointer to distract a cat was patented in 1995. Source

Onions are the only commodity for which futures trading is banned. Source

A one-month-old orphan named Ernest was raffled off at the 1909 world's fair in Seattle. Source

After the surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, the US Secret Service needed a way to protect FDR from possible assassins on short notice while he rode to address Congress. Federal law prohibited the purchase of an automobile costing more than $750, so they drove him to the Capitol in Al Capone's confiscated bulletproof limousine. Source

During World War II, the Nazi propaganda apparatus produced the children's board game Hunt The Coal Thief to teach the importance of wartime energy conservation. Source

The grand champion goat from the 2011 Colorado State Fair was stripped of its title after failing a drug test. Source

In 1975, the Alaska Board of Geographic Names changed the official name of Mount McKinley to Denali, the traditional Alaska Native name for the peak. Since then, the congressional delegation from William McKinley's home state of Ohio has blocked the change at the federal level by regularly amending appropriations bills with a requirement that the mountain not be renamed. Source

By the end of World War II, every German spy sent to Britain had been turned into a double agent by the British. Source

After being ousted as Prime Minister of Somalia in June 2011, Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed returned to his previous job as a manager at the New York State Department of Transportation office in Buffalo, New York. Source

A single Wal-Mart grocery distribution center can store 4 million bananas. Source

Parking meters are illegal in North Dakota. Source

The US Navy proposed painting the Golden Gate Bridge with yellow and black stripes to improve visibility for ships. Source

Chicago Bears offensive lineman Herman Johnson weighed 15 pounds, 14 ounces at birth, making him the largest baby ever born in the state of Louisiana. Source

Scientists determine the age of blue and humpback whales by measuring the amount of accumulated earwax. Source

Moscow's subway station escalator repair department has 3,000 employees. Source

Rio de Janeiro was once the capital of Portugal. Source

In 1939, penicillin was in such short supply that patients on the drug had it filtered back out of their urine to be re-administered. Source

The common Japanese term for the uvula translates to "throat penis." Source

When a monkey with a bisected brain is given a nut, his two hands fight each other for it. Source

California's first state legislature was known as the "Legislature of a Thousand Drinks." Source

Eskimo hunters traveling alone are sometimes stricken by "kayak angst" - delusions that their boat is flooding or sinking. Source

Chicago and Oklahoma city both have airports named after people who died in plane crashes (Edward O'Hare and Will Rogers, respectively). Source, Source

The word Taser is an acronym for "Thomas A. Swift's Electric Rifle," a reference to a 1911 Tom Swift novel in which Swift invents an electric hunting rifle to take on safari. Source, Source

Matthew Vassar, the founder of Vassar College, died while delivering his farewell address to the Vassar College Board of Trustees. Source

In 1975, BP produced a board game called Offshore Oil Strike, in which players compete to build and manage deep-sea drilling platforms. The game includes "hazard cards" with events such as "Blow-out! Rig damaged. Oil slick clean-up costs. Pay $1 million." Source

In Tucson, Arizona east-west roads are called "streets," north-south roads are called "avenues," and diagonal roads that intersect both streets and avenues are called "stravenues." The official postal notation for a stravenue is STRA, but the US Postal Service also recognizes the abbreviations STRAV, STRAVEN, STRAVEN, STRVN, and STRVNUE. Source, Source

New Zealand has an official wizard. Source

The NCAA gets approximately 98% of its revenue from the NCAA men's basketball tournament. Source, Source

Florida State University and Illinois State University are the only two colleges in the U.S. to have their own circuses. Source, Source

Denver International Airport is more than twice as large as Manhattan. Source

The pilot for the TV show "Nash Bridges" was written by Hunter S. Thompson. Source

Jon Bon Jovi's first professional recording was a duet with R2-D2 on the Star Wars Christmas album, Christmas in the Stars (1980). Source

The Iroquois Indian nickname for George Washington, Conotocarius, translates as "Town Destroyer" or "Devourer of Villages." Source

On December 2, 2009, the day that Tiger Woods said in a statement that he regretted his "transgressions," the #1 and #5 top trending Google searches were "transgressions" and "transgression definition," respectively. Source

Morgan Stanley Vice Chairman Rob Kindler owns a Porsche Cayenne with the vanity license plate "2BG2FAIL". Source

As part of David Hasselhoff's divorce settlement, he received sole possession of the catchphrase "Don't Hassel the Hoff." Source

In 1911, Pablo Picasso was held and questioned by police for his suspected involvement in the theft of the Mona Lisa. Source

Article 249 of the Haitian penal code prohibits turning someone into a zombie. Source

Since 1958, only 2 of Argentina's 18 presidents have served a full term. Source

The name of Portland, Oregon was decided on a coin flip (the other option was Boston). Source

Tree snakes cause an average of 87 major power outages a year in Guam. Source

In the Dyirbal tribe of Australian Aboriginals, members are forbidden from ever speaking to their mothers-in-law. If speaking in the presence of one's mother-in-law, all normal words are taboo, and the speaker must instead use an entirely separate vocabulary. Source

John Adams's inaugural address included a sentence more than 700 words long. Source

Grover Cleveland paid a Polish immigrant $150 to replace him in the draft. Source

Bob Hawke, the Australian Prime Minister from 1983-1991, was previously the Guinness World Record holder for beer chugging (2.5 pints in 11 seconds). Source

The orange prison-issue sneakers at Rikers Island are known as Air Giulianis. Source

Syphilis was originally called "Spanish disease" by the Italians, "Italian disease" by the French, "French disease" by the English and the Turks, "Polish disease" by the Russians, "Portuguese disease" by the Indians and the Japanese, and "Haitian disease" by the Spanish. Source

The Queen Mother of Swaziland's title literally translates to "She-Elephant." Source

The official state sport of Maryland is jousting. Source

Tug-of-war was an Olympic sport until 1920. Source

Twice as many people were killed assembling V2 rockets as by being attacked with them. Source

The screenplay for the James Bond movie You Only Live Twice was written by Roald Dahl. Source