Interesting Facts - Page 240

1196
As of early 2026, nine of the ten most valuable companies in the world were founded on the West Coast of the United States. Eight of them are tech companies. The ninth is Aramco, the state oil company of Saudi Arabia, which was originally a subsidiary of Standard Oil of California.
1197
When signing certain types of business contracts in Germany, a notary has to read the contract aloud to all the parties signing it. This process can take several hours.
1198
The spiked tail of a stegosaurus is known as a "Thagomizer". It got its name from a 1982 "Far Side" comic, in which a caveman explains it was named in honor of the "late Thag Simmons".
1199
The word "dude" is thought to come from the song "Yankee Doodle".
1200
Latvian is more closely related to Hindi than to Estonian. Latvian and Hindi are both Indo-European languages whereas Estonian is a Uralic language.
78 Comments
+3
Level ∞
Feb 5, 2026
Source for #1196: https://www.astralcodexten.com/

Credit @Danny999 for #1200.

+5
Level 61
Feb 5, 2026
A new fact! Why does the West Coast have a monopoly on tech companies?
+7
Level 65
Feb 5, 2026
cause we are better like that
+3
Level 61
Feb 6, 2026
Okay, New Facts!
+2
Level 27
Feb 7, 2026
i mean plenty of them have moved to Texas and ruined Austin
+1
Level 64
Mar 17, 2026
California and part of Oregon were permanently cleared of occupants, so the land became $free
+4
Level 65
Feb 5, 2026
Diddy Daycare is a daycare in Liverpool, UK.

The Statue of Liberty is an enclave of New York found in New Jersey.

South Korea has a phone number, 113, to report suspected spies

License plates for people with a DUI conviction are a different color in Ohio

Calling men guys comes from Guy Fawkes

In 1998, the majority of Iceland's population believed in elves

IKEA stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd

Helen Keller's paternal grandfather was Robert E. Lee's second cousin.

Adult cats only meow at humans

The Bible has been translated to Klingon

Los Angeles was originally called El Pueblo de Nuestra Señora la Reina de los Ángeles de Porciúncula

ZIP code 99734 in northern Alaska is over 30000 square miles. The smallest is 00501, the IRS in Holtsville, New York. This area is millions of times smaller.

+2
Level 65
Feb 6, 2026
India's longest border is with Bangladesh
+3
Level 65
Feb 6, 2026
it is also the fifth longest international border in the world, despite Bangladesh not being very large.
+2
Level 36
Feb 6, 2026
Here are some I found:

-There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way

-Lee Harvey Oswald, suspected assassin of JFK, may or may not have been the one to kill him. Some people say that the shooter was not in the Texas Book Depository but in Grassy Knoll

-The CIA once tried to use cats at spies. The project was called "Acoustic Kitty."

+7
Level 65
Feb 6, 2026
The second one is just a conspiracy theory
+1
Level 55
Mar 22, 2026
It's a conspiracy fact
+1
Level 61
Feb 6, 2026
What we know about the second one is that Oswald was murdered in prison himself by another prisoner and he was lunatic.
+1
Level 27
Feb 7, 2026
what is with this recent Kennedy assassination obsession
+1
Level 55
Mar 22, 2026
Lbj must needs be brought to justice!
+1
Level 55
Mar 22, 2026
Unless he's dead already
+1
Level 69
Feb 6, 2026
Learnt this from a response by MsNuclearEnergy to a Hank Green short, so why not...

Coal power plants usually emit (expose people to) more radiation than nuclear power plants.

Nuclear power plants, of course, generate more highly radioactive waste (via waste products from fission of elements like Uranium or Thorium or contamination due to the process) than coal power plants. However, the latter generates/releases more radioactive waste (usually consisting of lower level radioactive particulates generated by burning coal - a naturally occurring radioactive material - that gets released as coal ash and accumulates in the environment over time) than nuclear power plants. Radioactive waste from nuclear power plants also often has more shielding compared to coal ash (so that means you'd get exposed to more radiation from coal ash than radioactive waste stored under water or lead lined boxes).

+1
Level 69
Feb 6, 2026
I also should add that radiation exposure restrictions are more tight on nuclear power plants than coal ones. So your highest radiation-emitting operational coal power plant will emit more radiation than your highest radiation-emitting operational nuclear power plant (hence why converting decommissioned coal power plants into nuclear ones is extremely hard - you'd have to get the radiation left behind by the coal power plant to levels safe enough to adhere with the safe radiation level set for nuclear power plants!)
+3
Level 65
Feb 6, 2026
I’m sorry to tell you this but that one is already there (1188 I think)
+3
Level 69
Feb 7, 2026
Oh damn alright... I don't check this page often so didn't know that! (glad someone at least suggested and put up this fact XD)
+1
Level 36
Feb 6, 2026
Yes this fact has already been mentioned
+2
Level 23
Feb 6, 2026
The Russian BMP-3 is one of the few modern armored fighting vehicles to include bow-mounted machine guns, in the form of 2 PKTMs mounted next to the driver.
+6
Level 81
Feb 6, 2026
Former Equatoguinean dictator Francisco Macías Nguema was so brutal that, according to some estimates, up to 70% of the country's population had fled during his rule. In response, he had landmines buried in the only road out of the country.

His nephew, who overthrew him in 1979, is still in power today.

+3
Level 75
Feb 7, 2026
His family also fled to North Korea after the coup
+3
Level 36
Feb 6, 2026
One day, King Tamar sent a letter to Sultan Suleiman II. It offended him so much that Tamar's General smacked the king's courier unconscious.
+2
Level 55
Feb 7, 2026
Strengthlessnesses (meaning more than one state of being without power) is the longest English word with only one unique vowel.
+2
Level 75
Feb 13, 2026
False. Referencelessnesses, procolophonomorphs, some others.

You can also just coin words like hypersenescencelessnesses, protoprocolophonomorphs etc

+1
Level 76
Feb 18, 2026
Hypersenescencelessnesses wouldn't work here cos "y" is used as a vowel.
+1
Level 27
Feb 7, 2026
does QM use Polymarket/Kalshi
+4
Level 40
Feb 7, 2026
Idk if you added this, but cannibalism is actually allowed in the Netherlands, but only if you legally source the human flesh.
+1
Level 68
Feb 8, 2026
Philadelphia brand cream cheese is headquartered in Chicago (I think).
+2
Level 36
Feb 8, 2026
what do you mean by "i think"
+5
Level 63
Feb 8, 2026
they think it
+2
Level 36
Feb 9, 2026
okay.. so it might not be true? like i can submit a fact, "By the U.S. Constitution, it is completely legal to fly an aircraft into the 1WTC(I think)." ?

by the way does this comment come under usage of harassing, insulting or vulgar language??

+1
Level 61
Feb 9, 2026
A little dark of an example. I think it goes under a darker type of comment.

But it is good to fact check everything and to not say "I think)" when submitting the fact.

+2
Level 36
Feb 9, 2026
i agree
+1
Level 61
Feb 10, 2026
I would recommend factually.co to fact check information
+1
Level 61
Feb 9, 2026
The Philadelphia Cream Cheese company is headquartered in both Chicago and Pittsburgh. This is because it is owned by the Kraft Heinz Company which is headquartered in both of those cities.

Also the Philadelphia Cream Cheese company was also founded in upstate New York.

+1
Level 81
Feb 8, 2026
Under the Guano Islands Act of 1856, Americans are entitled to annex unclaimed islands with guano. This resulted in islands being claimed as far away as Japan, French Guiana, and the Seychelles. However, most of the claims have since been dropped.
+3
Level 36
Feb 9, 2026
"Everyone shall have the right to determine and declare his (her) nationality. Nobody shall be forced to determine his (her) nationality." This is actually mentioned in the Constitution of Russia, and you can choose your own nationality, real or not. For instance, some people have chosen Jedi and Hobbit as their official ethnicity.
+2
Level 61
Feb 9, 2026
Russia is having an identity crisis
+3
Level 36
Feb 9, 2026
Yes
+2
Level 65
Feb 10, 2026
In 2025 the #1 spot on the billboard hot 100 was held for 44 out of 52 weeks by 5 songs
+2
Level 55
Feb 10, 2026
In 2015, the (current) president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, starred in the film Servant of the People, where he played the role of...the president of Ukraine.
+3
Level 65
Feb 10, 2026
sorry bro that one is already on there
+1
Level 55
Feb 11, 2026
Fahhhhhhhhh
+1
Level 36
Feb 11, 2026
Not a fun fact, just in case anyone wanted to crack their brains a bit, they may try this quiz :)

https://www.jetpunk.com/user-quizzes/2505701/logical-reasoning-involving-mathematical-operations

+2
Level 61
Feb 11, 2026
If you were to take a standard piece of paper (0.1 mm thick) and fold it 42 times, the stack would be thick enough to reach the moon. Fold the paper 103 times, the stack would be thicker than the entire observable universe
+3
Level 61
Feb 11, 2026
Graham's Number is so massive that if your brain actually tried to hold all the digits of it at once, your head would contain so much information that it would collapse into a black hole.
+3
Level 61
Feb 11, 2026
No matter how many countries you have on a map, you will only need 4 colors to ensure that no two countries with the same colors border each other
+1
Level 81
Feb 12, 2026
(That is, not accounting for exclaves.)
+1
Level 61
Feb 13, 2026
What exclave is it not counting?
+1
Level 68
Feb 18, 2026
Not counting the mathematical existence of exclaves
+1
Level 61
Feb 18, 2026
I have created a map in this pattern and still don't see where a problem with an exclave can occur
+1
Level 63
Feb 18, 2026
math says no bro
+1
Level 61
Feb 19, 2026
The map says yeah dude.
+2
Level 42
Feb 13, 2026
Lolong, the world's largest saltwater crocodile in captivity, was initially captured in the Philippines because he was accused of killing local residents. However, no evidence of human consumption was found, and his massive size made him a tourist attraction until his death.
+3
Level 65
Feb 14, 2026
The clock on the Mecca Clock Tower is nearly half the height of Big Ben (the whole tower)
+2
Level 36
Feb 14, 2026
Dispossible
+1
Level 36
Feb 14, 2026
Fun fact: While every country accepts that whoever is mentioned in the Epstein files is a horrible person, expert politicians in our India justify by saying that although Epstein is a bad person because he did such deeds... let's focus on the fact that he was a power-breaker. Like how every person has a bad side, he has a good side too...

(It's like saying bin Laden was a bad guy, but let's focus on the fact that he had a good side too👍)

+1
Level 61
Feb 15, 2026
During the evacuation of Dunkirk during WW2, over 380k British and French soldiers were evacuated in 9 days. During the 9/11 boat lift in NYC, 500k people were evacuated in less than 9 hours by civilians and some coast guard members.
+1
Level 61
Feb 15, 2026
Sorry 338k French and British soldiers, not 380k
+1
Level 65
Feb 15, 2026
From Stamford, Connecticut, every cardinal direction leads to the state of New York
+1
Level 61
Feb 16, 2026
Ain't that already a fact?
+1
Level 65
Feb 16, 2026
I checked and it isnt
+1
Level 61
Feb 17, 2026
I think it was suggested and that is where I got mixed up.
+2
Level 65
Feb 15, 2026
California is the closest state to Hawaii, but Hawaii is the farthest state from California.
+2
Level 65
Feb 15, 2026
Palm trees grow at 53 degrees north in Ireland

Polar bears live at 55 degrees north in Canada

+2
Level 65
Feb 15, 2026
Azerbaijan once published the results of its presidential elections before they even took place....
+1
Level 65
Feb 16, 2026
Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are the same lake
+2
Level 36
Feb 17, 2026
The most copied link in history is "Never Gonna Give You Up" composed by Rick Astley.
+1
Level 61
Feb 18, 2026
DO NOT CLICK THE LINK!
+1
Level 36
Mar 6, 2026
Then I will make you
+1
Level 81
Feb 17, 2026
Karl Dönitz, last leader of Nazi Germany, only served ten years in prison after the war. He died a free man in 1980.
+1
Level 61
Feb 18, 2026
The song Bye Bye Bye (*NSYNC) and Baby One More Time (Britney Spears) was used by the CIA in their "Enhanced Interrogation" techniques.

Eminem and Metallica songs have also been found to have been used

+2
Level 76
Feb 18, 2026
On Nov. 3, 1874, African Americans were electing Republican candidates to office at polls near Eufaula, AL, but members of a paramilitary group supporting the Democratic Party called the White League weren't too happy about this. So, the White League used firearms to attack these African Americans at the polls. An estimated 15-40 African Americans died and 70 others were wounded in what is known as the Election Massacre of 1874 (aka Election Riot of 1874 or Coup of 1874). Following this event, many Democrats silenced witnesses by auctioning them off for up to $2 dollars a month to not say anything. When the events were brought to court, the rioters were not blamed by the grand jury, but rather the "militant" Black Republicans were blamed for the tense atmosphere.
+2
Level 65
Feb 18, 2026
From 1923 to 1969, the official language of Illinois was American.

Indiana tried to pass legislation to round pi up to 3.2

until 2003, the town of Strong, Maine, produced 90% of the country’s toothpick supply

In 1967, two different grizzly bears attacked and killed two women on the same night in Glacier National Park.

Nevada has far more slot machines than people

There are more vanity plates in Virginia than there are people in the state of Rhode Island.

Washington has more glaciers than the other 47 contiguous states combined.

+1
Level 53
Feb 26, 2026
#1200 reminds me of how, if the Ural-Altaic theory is correct (which is very controversial to believe), that the Finnish language would be more closley related to Japanese than it is to Swedish