Interesting Facts

Latvia has the largest gender imbalance in Europe. Women outnumber men by over 130,000 — in a country of just 1.86 million people.

On very long, boring roads in Australia, they put up trivia signs to keep drivers alert. One sign asks a question, and a few kilometres later another sign gives the answer.

In Japan, there's a bar for people thinking of quitting their jobs. The drinks are free.

Your cornea has no blood supply at all — it gets its oxygen directly from the air, dissolved through your tears. It's one of the only tissues in the human body that is completely avascular. This is also why wearing contact lenses for too long can cause problems: they block oxygen from reaching the cornea.

Muhammad has been the most popular baby boy's name in England for two years running.

The mantis shrimp has 16 types of color receptors compared to humans' 3, but despite this they're actually terrible at distinguishing between similar shades. Scientists believe they use colors more like a barcode scanner than a camera.

The inventor of the Pringles can is buried in one. Fredric Baur was so proud of his creation that he requested part of his ashes be stored in a Pringles container after his death in 2008.

It’s not possible to create a folder named “con” on a Windows computer.

Research shows that verbal intelligence is positively correlated with worry and rumination. Brain scans reveal that both high intelligence and excessive worrying share similar patterns of neural activity in the brain's white matter.

Taking a nap after learning something can help your retention of it.

Iceland has no standing army and has been ranked the world's most peaceful country every year since the Global Peace Index began in 2008.

Depression-era bank robber "Pretty Boy" Charles Floyd reportedly destroyed mortgage documents during at least one or two heists. While the legend claims he freed hundreds from debt, FBI historians note this was likely occasional rather than routine—but the rumors helped cement his Robin Hood reputation among struggling Oklahoma farmers.

Sectoral heterochromia is an eye condition where one part of the iris appears different to the rest. It's generally a result of excessive pigment.

Happiness and stress are contagious; surrounding yourself with happier people will make you happier too.

Facebook is blue because Mark Zuckerberg is color-blind and best sees the shade of blue.

Nobody really knows where strawberries got their name.

Most Japanese schools don't have dedicated janitors. Instead, children do the daily cleaning, which originated from the Buddhist traditions that associate cleaning with morality.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

Research has found that you're more likely to have a creative epiphany when you're doing something monotonous, like fishing, exercising, or showering.

Dogs often turn in circles before lying down, a behavior inherited from wild ancestors who trampled grass to create comfortable beds and check for snakes or insects.

A 2012 UK study by NCP car parks found that women scored higher than men on a parking skills checklist, despite taking about 20 seconds longer to complete the maneuver.

Money can buy happiness, but researchers have found that its emotional well-being benefits max out at a salary of about 75K a year.

Listening to music while working can boost mood and productivity, but the effect depends on the type of task and music—lyrics can interfere with reading or writing, while instrumental music often helps with repetitive tasks.

WWOOF is an international program that allows you to travel the world, with food/accommodations covered, in exchange for volunteer work.