Mind-Blowing Facts

Japan has over 21,000 businesses that are more than 100 years old, more than any other country. Among them is Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan, a hot spring hotel founded in 705 AD that holds the Guinness World Record for the oldest hotel in the world.

In 1986, federal prisoner Ronald J. McIntosh escaped during an unsupervised prisoner transfer. Eight days later, he returned in a stolen helicopter and broke out his girlfriend, bank robber Samantha Lopez, from federal prison in a daring daylight rescue.

The penis of a barnacle may reach up to eight to nine times its body size.

Dunkin' Donuts in South Korea started spraying coffee aroma into public buses every time their jingle played. Coffee sales increased 29%.

The largest nuclear bomb ever built, the Tsar Bomba, caused damage up to approximately 1,000km away.

The Sentinelese are a people who live on a tiny island in the Indian Ocean called North Sentinel Island. For thousands of years, they have refused all contact with the outside world. Using only stones and arrows, they have successfully repelled all invaders and remain one of the last uncontacted tribes in the world.

Nicholas Alkemade, a pilot during World War 2, survived falling 18,000 feet after jumping from a burning Lancaster bomber.

In 2005, paleontologist Mary Schweitzer dissolved a T. rex bone in acid and discovered preserved soft tissue, including blood vessels and collagen proteins—a finding that revolutionized our understanding of fossil preservation.

A natural gas vent in Iraq known as Baba Gurgur (The Eternal Fire) has been burning continuously for at least 2,500 years. Ancient writers including Plutarch described eternal flames in the region, and local tradition connects it to the 'fiery furnace' from the Book of Daniel.

The largest natural bridge on Earth, the 'Fairy Bridge', was virtually unknown to the rest of the world until it was observed on Google Earth.

In 585 BC, a solar eclipse occurred in the middle of a battle between the Lydians and the Medes. They promptly ceased fighting and signed a peace treaty.

The world’s largest swimming pool can be found at the San Alfonso del Mar resort in Chile. The pool is 1,013 m (3,324 ft) long, has a maximum depth of 35 m, and even has sailing boats.

The record for most passengers on an airplane was set in 1991 when 1086 Ethiopian Jews were evacuated on a Boeing 747 to Jerusalem. The plane landed with 1088 passengers as two babies were born during the flight.

In 1974, canned food from a boat that sank in 1865 was tested by chemists and was found to be still safe to eat.

During development at Pixar, Toy Story 2 was accidentally deleted, but was recovered by an employee who saved the movie to her computer at home while on maternal leave.

An Australian man was declared dead for 14 minutes and lived unscathed. To celebrate, he bought a scratch card and won a car worth $27,000. For a news report, he was asked to re-enact winning the scratch card, so he bought another card and won a $250,000 jackpot.

Sir Ranulph Fiennes, after having a heart attack and bypass operation, ran 7 marathons on 7 consecutive days in 7 continents. He has also hacked off his own frostbitten fingers with a power tool, discovered the lost city of Ubar, and, in his sixties, reached the peak of Mt. Everest.

In 1980, a 62-year-old man with impaired vision and hearing got struck by lightning. When he woke up the next day, he could see and hear fine!

In 1987, an 18-year-old freshman named Mike Hayes funded his education by asking 2.8 million people for one penny.

The TomTato is a plant that produces both potatoes and tomatoes!

Ching Shih, once a prostitute, became one of the most powerful pirates to have ever sailed. She commanded one of the most formidable pirate fleets in all of China during the early 1800s, with hundreds of ships under her command.

Thumbelina, the smallest horse in the world, is about the size of a dog.

There's a plant that has survived in a sealed bottle for over 65 years. It was watered just once in 55 years.

In 1963, a man found a mysterious room behind a wall in his home that lead to a huge underground city that once housed up to 20,000 people, complete with schools, livestock pens, and food stores, dating back over a millennium.