Interesting Facts - Page 246

i believe #1227 is credited to SonyVondern

Though many say gravitational force is the strongest as well as the weakest force, it's actually wrong- gravitational force IS the weakest force of the four fundamental forces in the universe. If you calculate precisely, the electromagnetic force is almost 10^36 times more than the gravitational force (for same bodies and distance), and electromagnetic force is still much weaker than the strong nuclear force!

Since the removal of Groups on JetPunk, the Interesting Facts Group is migrating to Discord. If you're interested in continuing to suggest and vote on facts, please join our server with this invite link.

This year (2026) is a semiprime followed by a prime (2027). This is a pattern that has not happened in the last 100 years.

(In the last 100 years I've checked, there has been a prime followed by a semiprime, but not the other way round. This pattern (semiprime followed by prime) last happened in 1906-1907. Same units digit. Coincidence?)

When he wasn't busy cooking up hoaxes, P.T. Barnum was a prominent abolitionist politician. He served brief terms in the Connecticut House of Representatives and as mayor of Bridgeport.

Barnum on the Reconstruction amendments: "I am no politician; I came to this legislature simply because I wish to have the honor of voting for the two constitutional amendments—one for driving slavery entirely out of our country; the other to allow men of education and good moral character to vote, regardless of the color of their skins."

Fact: The flag of Shuya (Ivanovo Oblast, Russia) depicts a bar of soap on its flag.

"Houston, we have a problem," was not the quote from the Apollo 13, or indeed any space, mission. The real quote is "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here."

"Smart Cars" aren't named "Smart" because they are intelligent. "Smart" is an acronym of "Swatch Mercedes Art"

The word “stereotype” originally referred to solid metal printing plates made from a mold of a page of text. The pressing of these plates made a “clink” or “cliche” sound, according to the French. This is where the word cliché comes from.

In 2019, Jonas Lauwiner proclaimed himself king 117,000 square meters in Switzerland due to a legal loophole. This land included roads which he would either sell back to the government or have them named after himself.

For some more facts:

1. Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender

2. Chewbacca in “Star Wars” is based on George Lucas’ dog, an Alaskan Malamute named “Indiana,” who also inspired “Indiana Jones.”

3. Including its territories, France has 12 time zones, the most of any other country.

4. The oldest living land animal on earth is named Jonathan.

5. Central Park in New York City is larger than the entire country of Monaco.

6. Allodoxaphobia is the fear of other people’s opinions.

7. Lemons float in water, but limes sink.

8. The tiny pocket in jeans was designed to store pocket watches.

9. No number before 1,000 contains the letter A.

10. McDonald’s once made bubblegum-flavored broccoli.

11. Finland has more saunas than cars.

12. NFL Super Bowl referees also get Super Bowl rings.

13. A group of hyenas is called a cackle.

14. Bananas glow blue under black lights.

The near crash of Emirates Flight 407 happened due to a typo. The actual weight of the aircraft was 362.9 tonnes, but the pilots mistyped it as 262.9 tonnes. The 100 tonne difference caused the EFB to incorrectly calculate the thrust needed to take off.

Chicago is further west than anywhere in mainland South America

There is a species of Mayfly that emerges, lays its eggs, and dies in the span of five minutes

Thou was the singular form of you.

The Great Pyramids of Giza are the most aligned structures on Earth with an error of 3/60 of a degree (99.94% accuracy). The second most aligned structure is the Paris Observatory, built in 1667, has an error of 6/60 of a degree, double that of the Pyramids.

As of May 2026, only one franchise picked two NFL Hall of Fame quarterbacks on the same draft.

In 1979, the Kansas City Royals picked both Dan Marino and John Elway.

The plot twist? The Royals belong to the MLB (baseball), not the NFL (football).

Fact #1228 is just a statistical error. If you take 1 response that has "goblins" in it and 199 responses that don't have "goblins" or "gremlins" in them, 0.5% contain "goblins". You could just be not looking at enough responses.

Next fact: Hawaii is bigger than New Jersey.

Next fact:

In the language of Czech, there are some words with zero syllables.

Florence Nightingale is called Florence because she was born in Florence. This naming system led to her sister getting the slightly more unusual name of Parthenope.

Next fact: All perfect squares end with either 00, 01, 04, 09, 16, 21, 24, 25, 29, 36, 41, 44, 49, 56, 61, 64, 69, 76, 81, 84, 89, or 96.

Next fact: There is a city in New York called Texas and a city in Texas called New York.

Next fact: There is a city in Texas called Mercury, there is a city in Texas called Venus, and there is a city in Texas called Earth.