Did you know that cats can drink saltwater? Apparently, felines are more tolerant to highly salty foods than dogs and humans, although scientists are not exactly sure why… This makes me think, the more we learn about this world of ours, the more convinced we become that it’s one bizarre and unbelievable place. With authentic facts like these, who needs fiction?
1. Female dragonflies prefer to “drop dead” rather than deal with unwanted male attention. Lady dragonflies drop on the ground and pretend to be dead when approached by an unworthy male.
2. Theoretically, you are losing weight while eating celery because it takes more calories to digest than the vegetable contains.
3. Australia has the largest population of wild camels in the world. In 2008, there were more than 1 million feral camels in the country.
4. Between 1912 and 1948, the Olympics gave out medals for sculptures, painting, architecture, music, and literature in addition to sports competitions.
5. Botanically speaking, bananas are berries, but strawberries aren’t. The strawberry is a so-called “false fruit,” or a pseudocarp, which consists of a cluster of multiple tiny fruits surrounded by a fleshy receptacle.
6. The oldest continuously operational hotel in the world has been running since 705 AD. The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan has been owned by the same family for 52 generations!
7. The lighter was invented before matches. Admittedly, it was a close race. One Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner is credited with inventing the lighter in 1823, whereas the first match was discovered by John Walker, an English chemist, in 1826.
8. The ancient Egyptian civilization lasted for more than 3 millennia. Hence, less time passed ever since the empire fell.
9. People landed on the Moon before they figured out to put wheels on suitcases. Macy’s sold its first wheeled suitcases in October 1970, and you surely know that Neil Armstrong set foot on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
10. While monitoring Soviet Morse Code chatter as a Morse operator on March 5, 1953, Johnny Cash became the first American to learn of Joseph Stalin’s death
11. A study showed that placebo medicine is more effective when the patient is told it’s very expensive. They compared $100 and $1,500 placebos.
12. In 1895, there were only 2 cars in the entire state of Ohio. Still, they managed to crash into each other…
