Interesting Facts About Practically Everything

Random fun facts catch us off guard in the best possible way. They’re unexpected or unusual bits of knowledge from the worlds of science, history, and pop culture that delight and entertain us—and anyone we share them with. But these interesting facts aren’t just amusing pieces of information that will make you a whiz at answering trivia questions: They’re legitimately fascinating, and once you get started, you’ll want to keep reading until your curiosity is satisfied.

Whether you’re into weird facts that almost don’t sound true (but totally are), random trivia, science trivia, animal trivia, movie trivia, and/or book trivia, you’ll find plenty of new information here. And if you’re looking for trivia questions for kids to entertain them during a family dinner or a long road trip, we’ve got plenty of those, too!

Fact: The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been around for more than 5,000 years

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It was found in 2002, approximately 12 miles south of Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia, and is now housed in the city’s museum. Radiocarbon dating was used to determine the wheel’s age, which is somewhere between 5,100 and 5,350 years old.

Fact: Dead skin cells are a main ingredient in household dust

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Here’s an interesting science fact for you: According to researchers at Imperial College London, humans shed around 200 million skin cells each hour—and they have to go somewhere when we’re indoors. If the idea of skin dust isn’t sitting well with you, you should know that a report from the American Chemical Society found that a skin oil called squalene naturally helps reduce indoor ozone levels by up to 15 percent.

Fact: Sudan has more pyramids than any country in the world

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Not only does Sudan have more pyramids than Egypt, but the numbers aren’t even close. While 138 pyramids have been discovered in Egypt, Sudan boasts around 255.

Fact: The bumblebee bat is the world’s smallest mammal

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Weighing in at 0.05 to 0.07 ounces, with a head-to-body length of 1.14 to 1.29 inches and a wingspan of 5.1 to 5.7 inches, the bumblebee bat—also known as Kitti’s hog-nosed bat—is the smallest mammal in the world, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. To see this tiny bat for yourself, you’d have to visit one of a select few limestone caves on the Khwae Noi River in Kanchanaburi Province of southwest Thailand.

Fact: The circulatory system is more than 60,000 miles long

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If a child’s entire circulatory system—we’re talking veins, arteries, and capillaries—were laid out flat, it would stretch for more than 60,000 miles, according to the Franklin Institute. By the time we reach adulthood, our bodies have become home to approximately 100,000 miles of blood vessels.

Fact: There are parts of Africa in all four hemispheres

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For people whose education was largely focused on the Western world, it may be surprising to find out exactly how huge the continent of Africa is. For instance, it spans all four hemispheres and covers nearly 12 million square miles.

Fact: The cornea is one of only two parts of the human body without blood vessels

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The cornea is the clear part of the eye that covers the pupil and other parts of the eye. Cartilage and the cornea are the only types tissue in the human body that do not contain blood vessels, according to scientists at the Harvard Department of Ophthalmology’s Schepens Eye Research Institute. 

Fact: The world’s first animated feature film was made in Argentina

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Even if you know a lot of Disney trivia, you might assume that the honor of first animated feature film belongs to Walt Disney’s 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But 20 years earlier, a full-length animated feature film was made in Argentina. It was a political satire called El Apóstol made up of 58,000 drawings and had a running time of 70 minutes, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.

Fact: The Philippines consists of 7,641 islands

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The Philippines is an archipelago, which means it’s made up of a group of islands—7,641 islands, to be exact. That figure does not include the thousands of sandbars and other landforms that emerge during low tide.

Fact: A one-way trip on the Trans-Siberian Railway involves crossing 3,901 bridges

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Not only is the Trans-Siberian Railway the longest railroad in Russia, but it’s also the longest one in the world. The journey takes seven days, during which time passengers pass through eight different time zones and cross 3,901 bridges.