Children Facts

In the 1990s, about 9 out of 10 American children visited a McDonald's restaurant at least once per month.

Osama bin Laden had four wives and fathered between 20 and 26 children, creating a sprawling family that has largely distanced itself from his legacy since his death in 2011.

Some British police cars carry a teddy bear to console children after an accident.

In 2005, a 12-year-old Ethiopian girl was kidnapped by seven men trying to force her into marriage. When police found her a week later, three lions were standing guard around her. The kidnappers were gone. The lions turned and walked back into the forest as the humans approached.

There's a children's book titled "Where Willy Went" detailing the adventures of a sperm.

When the 2013 government shutdown threatened the closing down of a national program giving medical attention and meals to children, John D. Arnold donated $10 million of his own money to keep it afloat.

In Japan, there are more pets than there are children.

Binti Jua, a gorilla at Brookfield Zoo, was carrying her own 17-month-old baby on her back. A 3-year-old boy fell 24 feet into her enclosure and landed unconscious. She crossed the pit and cradled the boy against her chest. Her infant still on her back, she carried him to the keeper door. Six other gorillas were in the enclosure. The boy made a full recovery.

A 7-year-old boy went over Niagara Falls with only a life jacket, and lived. In 1960, Roger Woodward, his 17-year-old sister and a family friend were in a small boat that lost power and flipped above the falls. Two tourists pulled his sister out 20 feet from the edge, but Roger and the friend went over, and the friend drowned. Below the falls, the Maid of the Mist crew got a life ring to Roger and hauled him aboard.

During an Easter egg hunt in Surrey in 2016, about 30 kids spotted two men sprinting across a field with a police helicopter circling overhead. Without being told, the children lay down in the dirt and formed a giant human arrow pointing the helicopter straight at the fleeing suspects. Both men were caught. The crew landed to thank the kids — and the children shared their own Easter chocolate with them.

Five train cars passed over Wesley Autrey while he shielded a stranger on the subway tracks. His two daughters, ages 4 and 6, watched from the platform. From under the train he shouted: "Let my daughters know their father's okay."

Austin Appelbee was 13 when his family's kayak flipped off Western Australia. His mother told him to swim for shore. He swam two hours with a life jacket. When it slowed him, he took it off. He swam two more hours without one. He reached shore and sprinted another mile to find a phone. His family was found 14 km out after 10 hours. Everyone survived.

A 9-year-old found a 15-million-year-old megalodon tooth on Christmas morning. She wants to be a paleontologist.

Eight-year-old Olivia Heid and her 4-year-old brother RJ sled off a ridge and vanish into a frozen New Jersey pond. Kieran Foley, 14, loses a boot in the mud and keeps going barefoot. His four friends link arms behind him on the ice. One by one, he hands both kids down the chain to shore.

A Florida mom posted on Facebook asking if anyone with a cool car could drive past for her son Kosta's 4th birthday. She expected maybe one or two cars. Ten supercars showed up - Porsches, Audi R8s, Mercedes-AMG GTs, and BMW M4s - escorted by the Winter Springs Police Department. Kosta got to sit in every single one.

Lesly Mucutuy was 13 when her plane crashed deep in the Colombian Amazon. Her mother died four days later. Lesly kept her three younger siblings alive for 40 days - including an 11-month-old - feeding the baby formula from the wreck, then plain water. Soldiers found them 3 miles from the crash site.

Dolly Parton's father was the smartest man she ever knew. He never learned to read or write. In 1995 she started mailing a free book every month to every child in her Tennessee county. Kids began calling her the Book Lady. Today it sends more than 3 million free books a month and has mailed over 300 million. Dolly died on August 25, 2026, at 80. The books are still going out.

A foul ball fell into the Philadelphia bleachers in 1923. Robert Cotter, age 11, caught it and pocketed it. Back then the ball belonged to the Phillies, so they pressed charges. He spent the night in a cell. Next morning a judge freed him, refusing to brand a boy a thief over a $1.50 ball. It was the first court ruling that a fan could keep one. Every foul ball in the seats tonight is yours.

Ryan Seacrest started in radio as a high school intern at an Atlanta station. Since 2010 he and his family have built real radio and TV studios inside children's hospitals, and the kids are the hosts. They run their own shows and interview the stars who visit, while other kids join in from their rooms. Kids in 14 hospitals still go on air.

Colorado farmer Nick Venetucci began handing free pumpkins to children from his truck in the 1950s. Soon school buses were pulling up to his farm, and every child went home with one. Over about 50 years he gave away more than a million. Local schoolchildren collected pennies to pay for a bronze statue of him. Children on field trips to the farm still go home with a free pumpkin every October.

A 5-year-old boy in Michigan spent over a year in foster care. When his adoption day came, he invited his entire kindergarten class to the courthouse. Every one showed up holding handmade heart signs. Each classmate told the judge why they loved Michael. When the judge asked how he felt, he turned to his new father and said: "I love my daddy." Then they slammed the gavel together.