Interesting Fact Selection Complete!

The Interesting Facts Group has finally completed the first fact selection of 2026! Thank you to everyone who submitted facts, and especially to those who went through and liked other people's facts as well! Here are the facts and quotes that were chosen to present to the Quizmaster for consideration:

Facts:

Big Bird almost joined the Challenger mission to influence kids to have an interest in space. If the plan followed through, millions of kids would have seen him explode with the ship. -Pontiac

One company, De La Rue, prints the money for over 140 countries. -Xtrordinary

Have you ever heard of Skadi Mons? The ten kilometre high peak was once thought to be the highest mountain on Venus. However, it was later discovered that the mountain never even existed at all. - Xtrordinary,

In the 1960s, jeans were so cheap and common in the US that they were often torn up and used as packing filler in packages. However, as they were much more expensive in Japan, people there would often pick out the denim scraps and sew them back into a new pair of jeans. -McKenzieFam

At Disney World in Florida, you are never more than 30 steps away from a trash can. This is due to Walt Disney conducting an experiment on how far someone would go without throwing their trash on the ground. The average was 30 steps. -Pontiac

King Farouk of Egypt was a kleptomaniac, meaning he could not resist the urge to steal items. In 1944, he stole a ceremonial sword from atop the coffin of Iran's Reva Shah Pavlavi during the funeral. -Xtrordinary

New Guinea is the only island larger than one square kilometre (0.4 square miles) that has never been controlled by one single entity. -MasterRocket

A second is called a second because it is the second division of the hour (the first being the minute). -McKenzieFam

All Olympic curling stones come from Aisla Craig, a single small island in Scotland, and can cost roughly $10,000 USD for a set. -Fianchetto

In Gilbertese, the language spoken in Kiribati, dogs are called "kamea". This is because the locals heard the British calling out to their dogs "come here" and started using the term to refer to the animals themselves. GeoPhilia

Quotes:

"If a man says he is not afraid of dying, then either he is lying or he is a Gurkha" -Nepalese adage (McKenzieFam)

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother always told me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'" -Fred Rogers (CambodianQuizzer)

Congratulations to Pontiac, Xtrordinary, McKenzieFam, MasterRocket, Fianchetto, GeoPhilia, and CambodianQuizzer for having their facts and quotes chosen in the selection!

If you submitted a fact that didn't make it this round, there is still a chance that it may be included in the next. Of course, you can also submit new ones at any time in the group!