Facts You Never Knew

[01dragonslayer]

Oranges were originally green.​

The first oranges ever imported from to the West were from Southeast Asia and were tangerine-pomelo hybrids that were green in color.

In fact, oranges grown in warmer parts of the world such as Vietnam and Thailand stay green throughout their lifetime.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Going to work is more dangerous than going to war.​

Statistically, you are three times more likely to die travelling to or from work than you are if you were to be shipped out to a war these days.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Russia has more surface area than Pluto.​

With 6,601,668 square miles of land mass, Russia beats Pluto’s 6,427,805 square miles of surface area, and dwarfs the world’s second biggest country, Canada, which has a land mass of 3,855,103 square miles.

 

[01dragonslayer]

You can fire an arrow around an object to hit a target.​

Both English and Arabic historic sources have mentioned skilled archers curving arrows around objects.

It has become a practice among some modern-day archers who have proved it can be done.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The first ever 3D film was released in cinemas in 1922.​

Released in September of that year, The Power of Love was a silent film and was released in cinemas worldwide.

It even came with alternative ending that was decided by closing one eye or the other!



Sadly, the film is lost and hasn’t been found for decades!

 

[01dragonslayer]

here was a type of Pterodactyl with a bigger wingspan than a fighter jet.​

The remarkable beast’s remains were dug up in Romania.

Standing as tall as a giraffe, it’s believed the flying reptile would have weighed about half a ton.

With a wingspan of 39 foot, it would have been bigger than the roughly 33-foot wingspan of an F16 fighter jet.

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is no specific time zone at the South Pole.​

This is because all the longitude lines on the planet meet up there (because the planet isn’t flat, yo).



The stations on the South Pole use the time zone of the country that owns them, meaning two stations near each other could be using two different time zones.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Scientists genetically modified goats to spin spider silk from their udders.​

US Professor Randy Lewis transplanted a gene into the goats from a spider that allows the goats to produce milk containing an extra protein.

This is then extracted from the goat milk and spun into spider silk thread.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The Burj Khalifa is so tall you can see two sunsets from it in one day.​

You can see the sunset happen at ground level, and then if you get the elevator all the way up the building you can see it set again from the top.

 

[01dragonslayer]

The British Queen’s handbag is a body language communication device.​

It is used by her to relay secret and silent messages to her staff.

For example, if she is finished speaking to a guest she will move it from one arm to another and her aides will politely end the conversation, or if she wants to abruptly end a conversation she will put her bag on the ground.

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is a spacecraft graveyard in the South Pacific Ocean.​

Known as “Point Nemo”, it is the furthest place on the Earth from land.

It is home to over 300 spacecraft and associated space debris, including the MIR space station, the first ever object assembled in planetary orbit by Russian cosmonauts.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Broccoli is a “man-made” food.​

So human’s just engineered broccoli out of nowhere? Nope.

Well, not exactly.

Broccoli only came about after years and years of selective breeding between wild cabbage plants that started around the 6th century BC.

In fact, the word “broccoli” comes from the Italian for “the flowering crest of a cabbage”.

 

[01dragonslayer]

High heels were originally men’s shoes.​

High heels came into circulation on the shoe circuit in roughly 10 BC.


They were worn by men of the Persian Cavalry to help their boots stay in their stirrups when riding horses.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Bowler Hats were originally invented as safety hats.​

Bowler Hats were designed by London hatters Thomas and William Bowler (hence the name).

The hat was invented to keep horse riders’ heads safe from branches and other obstacles.

 

[01dragonslayer]

“OMG” was first used in writing in 1917.​

Although people might have said it before then, the popular acronym for “Oh My God” was first used in writing in a letter to Winston Churchill in 1917.

It was used by John Arbuthnot Fisher, a retired Admiral of the British Navy, who said in his letter “I hear that a new order of Knighthood is on the tapis, O.M.G. (Oh! My God!)”.

 

[01dragonslayer]

There is a smoke alarm for the deaf.​

Invented by a team of Japanese scientists and engineers, this lifesaving device works by spraying vaporized wasabi into the air, which notifies deaf people of a fire – it will even wake them up if they’re sleeping!

This invention won one of the IG Nobel Prizes in 2011, a spoof of the Nobel Prizes, for inventions that “first make people laugh, and then make them think”.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Peanuts, walnuts, almonds, cashews and pistachios aren’t nuts.​

They’re classed as seeds, because a nut is defined as “a hard-shelled dry fruit or seed with a separable rind or shell and interior kernel”.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Armadillos have shells so hard they can deflect a bullet.​

One poor Texan man learned this the hard way when he shot at an armadillo only to have the bullet ricochet off the indestructible beast, and back at him into his jaw! The man was airlifted to hospital.

Amazingly, the armadillo just walked off unscathed.

 

[01dragonslayer]

Only a quarter of the Sahara Desert is sandy.​

Most of this gargantuan desert is covered in gravel, although it also has its own mountain ranges and oases.

Also, it isn’t the world’s largest desert, because…

 

[01dragonslayer]

Only a quarter of the Sahara Desert is sandy.​

Most of this gargantuan desert is covered in gravel, although it also has its own mountain ranges and oases.

Also, it isn’t the world’s largest desert, because…