Interesting Facts - Page 235

1171
During WWI, the British Army created special battalions of "Bantam" soldiers who were too short to meet the normal height minimum of 5'3" tall. Sadly they were mostly wiped out during the Battles of the Somme and the Cambrai.
1172
In the early 1800s, nearly 15% of people in Wales had the last name Jones. Today, it's "only" about 5.75%.
1173
If UN population estimates are accurate, then more babies are born in the Democratic Republic of the Congo than in the United States.
1174
Stalin's daughter defected to the U.S. in 1967, converted to Catholicism, and moved to rural Wisconsin where she died in relative obscurity in 2011.
1175
Bangkok and Kuala Lumpur were founded by Chinese people. Bangkok was majority Chinese as late as the 1950s.
39 Comments
+1
Level 68
Nov 30, 2025
Wow, more new facts!
+2
Level 36
Dec 1, 2025
Fact: The dot over the letters "i" and "j" is called a 'tittle'.
+1
Level 61
Dec 2, 2025
The "j" was also created before the "i"
+2
Level 37
Dec 1, 2025
Fact: In World War I, tanks have genders.
+2
Level 36
Dec 2, 2025
Fact: The correct phrase would be, "tanks *had* genders."
+1
Level 61
Dec 2, 2025
So do hoses and electrical cable ends

(Hoses have the Male and Female coupling while the electrical cables, more specifically extention cords, have the end that plugs into the wall has the male and the one that runs away as the female, this is for obvious reasons that may include parts of the body that are specific to either a male or a female)

+6
Level 27
Dec 1, 2025
"If UN populations estimates are accurate"

given how often QM criticizes UN population data's accuracy i'm surprised this fact made it in here

+5
Level 63
Dec 2, 2025
1173 aint surprising
+3
Level 61
Dec 2, 2025
agreed. African nations have an abnormally high birth rate with the DRC being a very populated African nation. Fact is that the less developed a nation is, their population gets higher faster.
+7
Level 63
Dec 3, 2025
the word abnormally is incorrect here i feat
+2
Level 61
Dec 4, 2025
How does someone 'feat'
+1
Level 68
Dec 4, 2025
*fear
+5
Level 81
Dec 7, 2025
Muphry's Law in action?
+5
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2025
The D.R. Congo hasn't conducted a census in decades. Growth rates are just extrapolations based on limited data. Satellite studies have supposedly demonstrated population levels about 50% lower than the official UN number, but this is considered "taboo" information since large amounts of international aid is dependent on the higher number.

Seriously, the group doing the satellite studies doesn't publish the raw numbers. You can, in theory, process the files yourself in some complicated way if you want to dig deeper. Not worth it for me.

+3
Level 74
Dec 2, 2025
The band Rednex, famous for the song "Cotton Eye Joe" are from Stockholm, Sweden.
+3
Level 65
Dec 2, 2025
doesn't everyone know that
+6
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2025
I didn't!
+2
Level 61
Dec 10, 2025
That is what my dad says
+1
Level 83
Dec 16, 2025
I think it’s somewhat well known. It’s hilarious to me that they couldn’t find an appropriate folk song to turn into a dance song to get a follow-up hit… so they made up their own song that merely sounded like an American folk song. Old Pop in an Oak was totally fabricated to seem American. Americans didn’t buy it, but it was a hit in Europe.
+3
Level 37
Dec 2, 2025
Fact: The town of Wallace has declared itself the "Center of the Universe",complete with a manhole cover marking the spot.
+3
Level 81
Dec 2, 2025
Add it to the list
+2
Level 65
Dec 5, 2025
Wheeling, Illinois, was named after Wheeling, West Virginia, the state's former largest city. Now, Wheeling, WV's population has heavily declined, and the Illinois city, a suburb of Chicago, is larger than it.
+3
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2025
Pasadena, Texas > Pasadena, California too.
+3
Level 52
Dec 5, 2025
#1171 is diabolical work 😭
+1
Level 64
Mar 16, 2026
I hated it.
+2
Level 65
Dec 5, 2025
All of Detroit and Philadelphia's Big Four sports teams (Pistons, Red Wings, Tigers, Lions for Detroit and Phillies, 76ers, Eagles, and Flyers for Philadelphia) are based within 1 kilometer of each other in their respective hometown
+7
Level 65
Dec 6, 2025
Brunei, Belarus, South Sudan, and Eritrea have only had one leader since independence
+2
Level 65
Dec 8, 2025
actually Belarus had a leader before Lukashenko but he was not president
+2
Level 65
Dec 6, 2025
Stephen Curry and LeBron James were both born in Akron, Ohio
+1
Level 65
Dec 8, 2025
West Virginia is the only state whose state capitol is its tallest building
+2
Level 81
Dec 8, 2025
North Dakota too…
+1
Level 65
Dec 9, 2025
Oh
+1
Level 65
Dec 9, 2025
Apparently Wyoming as well
+1
Level 81
Dec 9, 2025
Wyoming's capitol falls short by just two feet.
+2
Level 65
Dec 8, 2025
Florida, Illinois, and Louisiana are the only three states whose tallest building is higher than their natural highest point.
+3
Level ∞
Dec 9, 2025
+1
Level 63
Dec 10, 2025
1173 isnt surprising at all.
+2
Level 27
Dec 10, 2025
1175 makes complete sense, i’d always just assumed that tbh
+1
Level 67
Jan 30, 2026
Why is Wisconsin (other than Florida & Texas) always home to some of the most random quirks in America?