Interesting Facts - Page 91

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451

Fifty million years ago, the Earth was hot enough for palm trees to live in the polar regions. So what changed? Scientists think that a type of freshwater fern called Azolla bloomed in huge amounts around 49 million years ago. For nearly a million years, this "super-plant" soaked up carbon dioxide and then sank to the bottom of the sea, drastically lowering carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, and cooling the planet as a result.

452

The island of Timor has a name which means "East" in the Malay language. This means the country of East Timor is "East East".

453

The Icelandic phone book lists people by their first names.

454

In Iceland, you can't name your child whatever you want. You can only use a name that appears on an official list of approved Icelandic names.

455

30 December 2011 never existed on the island nation of Samoa. They skipped that day after switching their time zone to the other side of the International Date Line.

35 Comments

Level 73

Jul 3, 2020

I'd like to see some interesting facts about lightning - maybe like how often lightning strikes on Earth. The first two Google searches I (very briefly) looked at suggested an average of 44 times per second and ~100 times per second.

(Not so)-interesting fact: I'm probably interested in this at the moment because my sister introduced me to Real Time Lightening Map. When there's a storm in your area it's quite mesmerising to just watch the map, looking out for new strikes to appear and watching the sound wave move towards you, until.... yep - there it is

+22

Level 43

Jul 10, 2020

7% of American ADULTS think that chocolate milk comes from Brown cows

Level 63

Aug 6, 2020

lmao

Level 38

Feb 25, 2021

LMAO

Level 70

Apr 13, 2021

I was devastated when I found out that 8 years ago lol

Level 53

May 11, 2021

LOL. Does this mean we also have pink cows for Strawberry milk?

Level 44

Jun 19, 2021

Certified bruh moment

Level 39

Jul 27, 2022

LMUO - Laughing my udders off.

Level 82

Feb 5, 2025

LMTO!

Level 48

Nov 16, 2022

Did they went to school?

Level 63

Dec 2, 2023

You must be disappointed, given your username.

Level 82

Feb 5, 2025

But is it true that oat milk comes from vegan cows??

Level 41

Jan 25, 2026

Lol. Something went wrong inside those brains of theirs.

Level 59

Aug 19, 2020

When you want to vacation in the beautiful country of East East...

Level 37

Sep 11, 2020

East East... XD

Level 88

Mar 8, 2023

Also worth noting that 'leste' is Portuguese for east. In Tetum (the native language) the name is Timor-Lorosa'e, with Lorosa'e translated as 'where the sun rises,' so...east again!

Level 69

Oct 16, 2020

The Icelandic phone book also lists the person's profession.

+10

Level 70

Oct 24, 2020

452: The famous 'Pendle Hill' in England has a name deriving from the Cumbric 'pen' and Old English 'hull', which both mean "hill". The modern English "hill" was added later, So it is named 'Hill hill hill'

Level 77

Nov 2, 2020

The same rule about naming children applies for Austria, just that we don't have a list, but an Austrian citizen has to have had that name.

Level 77

Nov 2, 2020

I think this is a good thing actually, for it hinders people in calling their children weird shit that will have an impact on their child's life. In fact there have been studies, were the bias towards names such as Kevin or Karen, etc. were analysed. People applied for jobs under fake names such as the above and under a "trustworthy" name, like I don't know; Matthew or Sarah. And they found that people with unconventional names tend to not get the job whilst others with conventional names get the job, even though the two are equally qualified. Names that are especially "unlucky" are names that are "invented" (Jaxson), new (Liam) or a young famous person has it (Justin). If you want your children to have the best chances at getting a job give them "normal" names.

Level 53

Jun 9, 2021

Liam is an old name. It is the last half of William. Common name in Ireland. Liam Neeson, Irish actor.

Level 82

Apr 20, 2024

I feel like the problem in that case is less the names and more people's biases. Like, if you're refusing someone a job based on a name they didn't even pick out for themself, how is that remotely fair?

Level 38

Nov 29, 2025

That same rule applies in a lot of the countries over the world

Level 41

May 31, 2021

Guess there are no "Dweezil"s or "Moon Unit"s in Iceland...

Level 56

Sep 19, 2024

and probably no Zappa's ;)

Level 41

May 31, 2021

455: Sounds like a possible premise for a mystery or spy novel.

Level 22

Jun 10, 2021

The Approved Icelandic names is kinda complete opposite of approved Hairstyles in North Korea

Level 22

Jun 10, 2021

Also add a fact where North Koreans only get approved hairstyles

Level 41

Aug 18, 2021

Re No. 454: This is not an Icelandic specialty. Similar situation exists in other countries as well, inculding my own: In the Czech Republic, only parents who hold a foreign citizenship can choose first name that is not on the list without having to submit a speical application that may or may not be approved.

Level 70

Nov 12, 2021

Seems to me as an invasion of privacy issue. I think the naming of a child is nothing to do with the government as long as the name is not causing harm to others or rude. Talk about big-brother.

Level 32

Apr 17, 2023

And the reason as far as I know (which nobody's mentioned) is because of the Icelandic ALPHABET not because of some Icelandic cultural bureau holding up creativity.

Icelandic is an incredibly old language using a medieval alphabet, and has a lot fewer sounds than most languages. Therefore there is no "z" (very contentiously) and "c" "w" and "q" are only used for foreign words/foreign names.

Level 68

Sep 22, 2021

451 seems... useful.

Level 86

Dec 18, 2021

Scampi is Italian for shrimp (plural), so the dish shrimp scampi means shrimp shrimp.

Level 82

May 17, 2024

Do people say shrimp scampi? I've only ever seen it as 'scampi' in the UK, never 'shrimp scampi' or 'prawn scampi'.

Level 45

Dec 22, 2022

i already knew #452