The world is a place of endless wonder, filled with facts and stories that can surprise even the most knowledgeable among us. While it’s impossible to know everything, some pieces of trivia are so intriguing or significant that they deserve to be more widely known. In this article, we share a collection of fascinating facts about our planet that are both enlightening and unexpected, offering a fresh perspective on the world around us.
Octopuses Have Three Hearts
Octopuses are a type of intelligent marine mollusk with an intriguing anatomical feature: three hearts! The Natural History Museum reveals that two of these hearts pump blood to the gills, where oxygen is absorbed, while the third circulates oxygenated blood to the rest of the body. As if that’s not cool enough, they use copper instead of iron to transport oxygen, making their blood blue!
Alaska Is Both the Most Eastern and Western US State
Not many Brits realize that, due to a geographical quirk, Alaska is home to both the most easterly and westerly locations in the U.S. While it may appear to be in the far west, Alaska’s Aleutian Islands stretch so far to the west that they cross the 180-degree line of longitude, meaning they are technically further east than Japan!
Oxford University Is Older Than the Aztec Empire
The Smithsonian confirms that Oxford University, Britain’s most prestigious academic institution, has a history that predates the rise of South American civilizations. Founded in 1096 AD, Oxford University is 250 years older than the Aztecs, who first established their empire in the 15th century.
Koalas Aren’t Bears
Bears, like grizzlies, are typically large and carnivorous, so maybe it isn’t surprising that calling a eucalyptus-munching koala a ‘bear’ isn’t accurate. They are actually marsupials, an ancient Australian group of animals that includes kangaroos, opossums, and wombats.
Lightning Can Strike the Same Place Twice
Many of us have heard the old adage “lightning never strikes twice,” but meteorologists have since debunked this as a myth. Tall structures like skyscrapers, antennas, and lightning rods get struck multiple times during severe thunderstorms because their height and metal construction provide electricity with the ‘easiest’ route to Earth.
The Great Wall of China Isn’t Visible from Space
While this famous structure is often said to be seen from space, astronauts and satellite images confirm that it isn’t visible to the naked eye. Cosmonauts who’ve ventured into space say identifying the wall from low Earth orbit is almost impossible, and space agencies like NASA have confirmed this.
The Canary Islands Are Named After Dogs
The Canary Islands are a Spanish archipelago off the northwestern tip of Africa, which many people may suppose were named after a yellow songbird. In actuality, the islands get their name from a large breed of dog found living there when Europeans first arrived, prompting the settlers to name them after the Latin word for dog, Canaria.
Cleopatra Lived Closer to the Moon Landing Than the Building of the Pyramids
While most of us think of Cleopatra as an ancient Egyptian, she actually existed at the very end of the civilization’s immense lifespan. This means she lived roughly 20 centuries before the moon landings but a whopping 43 centuries after the first ancient Egyptians.
A Day on Venus Is Longer Than a Year on Venus
One day on Earth equates to one spin on its axis, whereas one year equates to an entire lap around the sun. The next closest planet to the sun, Venus, has such a slow rotation that it takes longer to spin once on its axis than it does to orbit the sun. As a result, a day on Venus lasts longer than a year!
The Sahara Isn’t the World’s Largest Desert
We often think of deserts as hot and dry—but we’re only half right! A desert is a place that receives less than 25cm of rain every year, but there are no temperature requirements for the classification. This means the largest desert on Earth is Antarctica because the water there is trapped as ice and snow, but rainfall is minimal.
There Are More Trees on Earth Than Stars in the Milky Way
Snopes validates that “Although both figures are rough, a recent estimate for the number of trees on Earth exceeds the highest estimates for the number of stars in the Milky Way.” Ecologists think there are over 3 trillion trees on our planet, yet astrologists estimate our galaxy has ‘only’ 100 to 400 billion stars.
The World’s Largest Organism Is a Fungus
You may be tempted to shout ‘whale’ or ‘giant sequoia’ when asked which organism is the largest on Earth, yet the title belongs to a gigantic fungus. Related to molds and mushrooms, the honey fungus Armillaria ostoyae has an underground web of filaments called a mycelium that can span over 2,385 acres (965 hectares)!
Most of Africa Lies North of the Equator
You may have noticed while using a world atlas that the massive continent of Africa is somewhat ‘top heavy,’ despite the fact that its tip extends quite far south. This contributes to the fact that its landmass is predominantly located in the Northern Hemisphere, including countries like Egypt, Sudan, and Morocco.
The Earth Is Mostly Water
Approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, primarily in the form of oceans, as confirmed by the USGS. Because we are land-based animals who often think of our planet in terms of countries we can live in or visit, many people fail to comprehend that these patches of land are really the ‘solid’ minority in a very watery world.
The Eiffel Tower Can Be Taller in the Summer
Err, what!? As metal warms up, it expands. So, given that the Eiffel Tower is made of ‘puddle’ iron, it undergoes a remarkable transformation throughout the year. As the temperature rises, thermal expansion increases the tower’s height by up to 6 inches (15 cm) in mid-summer, as detailed by La Tour Eiffel.
Bananas Are Berries, but Strawberries Aren’t
Oh dear, this is confusing. Live Science states that botanical classifications challenge our conventional labeling of fruits, saying, “The banana is a berry, scientifically speaking, as are eggplants, grapes, and oranges.” Yet, despite their misleading name, strawberries aren’t true berries—they’re actually “aggregate fruits” due to their unique structure.
Honey Never Spoils
Archeologists have uncovered pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs dating back thousands of years, and the honey was still perfectly edible, says Local Hive. A 3,000-year-old jar of honey found in King Tut’s tomb was still good, mainly due to its low water content and high acidity, creating an unsuitable place for microorganisms to grow.
Mount Everest Grows Taller Each Year
The Himalayan mountain range was formed when two continental tectonic plates (carrying Asia and India) crashed into each other billions of years ago, slowly buckling the plate edges into mountains. The plates are still moving toward each other and crumpling, meaning that Mount Everest increases in height by 0.04 inches (1.2 mm) each year!