1500+ Weird, Wacky, and Fascinating Facts: A Fun Facts Book

By Jonny Katz and Meridith Berk

So many facts; so little time. If you're looking for a book of conversation starters, trying to find the perfect gift for a friend or loved-one, gathering knowledge for quiz night, or just enjoying a few quiet moments of fun-filled learning, this book is for you.

Divided into 37 Chapter, these facts cover everything from Alfred Hitchcock's cameo appearances to famous last words. You'll learn which sea creature 'speaks' with an accent, how much money Toto made during the filming of The Wizard of Oz, why the French like to step in dog poop, what graffiti was written on the walls of Pompeii, how postcards helped British Intelligence during WW II, the names of Popeye's nephews, a password that was used to protect U.S. nuclear missiles, why you should beware of "MyDoom", where the word "nerd" comes from, and much, much more.

In these pages you will discover facts your never even knew you wanted to know. 

Flip open to any page and find a fascinating fact. You'll find yourself opening conversation after conversation with, "Did you know….?" And listeners will be fascinated by what you have to say.

230 Pages with well over 1500 weird and fascinating facts.

Index in the back makes it easy to find that great bit of trivia you're looking for.

If you like weird, fun and fascinating facts grab you're copy now. While you're at it, buy one for a friend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meridith Berk
• Release date: Jun 7, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223896715

Book preview

1500+ Weird, Wacky, and

Fascinating Facts

By

Jonny Katz

––––––––

Special Thank to

Val Whalin &

Meridith Berk

––––––––

Copyright 2022

Jonny Katz

Old Town Publishing

Contents

Introduction

Animals

At the Movies

Classic Movies Mini Quiz Questions

Movie Quiz Answers

Did You Know!?

Computers, Technology, and the Internet

What Did You Say?

British English vs. American English

More Fun with English

The ocracies

More Word Facts

Finally, How About a Few Tom Swifties.

Entertainment

Some Wise and Witty Sayings from

Ben Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac

Alfred Hitchcock Cameos

Food, Glorious Food

Some Like it Hot; Some Like it Hotter

Hottest Sauces

Hottest (Spiciest) Foods in the World

For the Record

Freaky Fears

Fun and Funny

Weird Laws

A Collection of Health and Medicine Facts

Those Silly Humans

Say What? Idioms Explained

Interesting Science

Inventions and Discoveries

Numbers and Odds

Product Flops

Strange Jobs and Unusual Occupations

Unusual Modern Occupations

Superstitions and Where They Came From

More Superstitions from Around the World

That Happened (History)

A Dream That Might Have Changed History

We’ve All Quoted Shakespeare

This and That

What on Earth? Where on Earth?

Endings

Epitaphs

Last Words

Introduction

So many facts; so little time.

Divided into 37 Chapters, these facts cover everything from Alfred Hitchcock’s cameo appearances to famous last words.

You’ll learn which sea creature ‘speaks’ with an accent, how much money Toto made during the filming of The Wizard of Oz, why the French like to step in dog poop, what graffiti was written on the walls of Pompeii, how postcards helped British Intelligence during WW II, the names of Popeye’s nephews, a password that was used to protect U.S. nuclear missiles, why you should beware of MyDoom, where the word nerd comes from, and much, much more.

In these pages you will discover facts your never even knew you wanted to know. 

You’ll find yourself opening conversation after conversation with, Did you know....? And listeners will be fascinated by what you have to say.

230 Pages with well over 1500 weird and fascinating facts.

Animals

Dog The French Poodle is believed to have been originally bred in Germany, not in France. In fact, the word poodle comes from the German word pudelhund, a combination of words meaning dog and to splash.

Snails can sleep up to three years if the weather isn’t moist enough for them.

Turtle Turtles can breathe through their backsides.

Honeybees flap their wings 230 times every second.

Panda At birth, a panda cub is smaller than a mouse and weighs only four ounces.

Horses and cows can sleep standing up, but they only dream when lying down.

Squirrels have been known to adopt a baby squirrel if its parent is dies.

Whale Sperm whales in the Caribbean have a different accent than other whales in the ocean.

The Bagheera kiplingi is the only species of spider that is a vegetarian.

Cat A cat’s ear has 32 muscles, allowing a wide range of motion and sound detection.

The Swell Shark, which inhabits the area 1700 feet beneath the ocean’s surface, emits a fluorescent glow. Typically, the light is only visible to other swell sharks, but scientists have figured out a way to detect the light using special filters.

Frog In March 2019, three new species of incredibly tiny frogs were discovered in Madagascar. The largest of the frogs was 1.4 centimeters in length, while the tiniest is 0.8 centimeters. Scientists made up a new genus especially for these little critters: Mini. Specifically, the three types of these frogs have been named Mini mum, Mini scule, and Mini ature.  

Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards. For this reason, they are on the Australian coat of arms.

Nearly 80% of all animals on Earth have 6 legs.

Toto earned $125 per week while filming The Wizard of Oz.

Owl Animals are active at different times – usually when hunting is good. A diurnal animal is active during the day; nocturnal species are active at night; crepuscular animals are out and about around dawn or dusk. Owls and badgers are nocturnal. Most primates, turtles and most birds are diurnal and examples of crepuscular animals include house cats, hamsters, stray dogs, and rabbits.

Hamsters vary in size more than one might think. Some hamsters are as small as 2-4 inches; the largest ones can reach a length of 13 inches.

Male kangaroos will flex their biceps and wrestle other males to attract females.

Rabbits can see behind them without moving their heads.

Giraffe Giraffe’s tongues are so long, they can clean their own ears.

In the 1800s, Americans filled their parks with squirrels just for entertainment. Before then, the little creatures could only be found in forests. Who says people couldn’t entertain themselves before television and the Internet?!

Crocodile The smallest crocodile in the world is a dwarf crocodile. It grows 5.6’ long and weighs 13.2 pounds.

India reveres cows so much that they have a bill of rights in place to protect them!

When dogs are first born, they are completely deaf and remain so for about 2-3 weeks. A newborn pup also cannot see and its eyes remain closed for 7-14 days. The first sense they develop is the sense of touch.

Ants have two stomachs, one for digesting food for themselves and one for storing food to share with other hungry ants. (Now, that’s kind of disgusting, but nice.)

Rubber duck Duck quacks produce no echo - and no one knows why. Next time you’re visiting the Grand Canyon with a duck, check it out.

The color red doesn’t really make bulls angry; they’re color-blind. The bright color is there to entertain the fans.

If a Polar Bear and a Grizzly Bear mate, their offspring is called a Pizzy Bear.

Three dogs survived the sinking of the Titanic. (All were travelling in first-class cabins.)

Both U.S. and Soviet militaries have trained dolphins that help with rescuing lost naval swimmers and locating underwater mines.

Tyrannosaurus Rex Vegetarian dinosaurs such as the Triceratops had eyes on the sides of their heads, so they could more easily watch for danger as they ate.

All polar bears are left-handed.

At 20 inches long, the black-footed cat is the smallest wild cat.

The oldest Beware of Dog sign was discovered in the ruins of Pompeii. On a plaque, beneath the picture of a dog bearing its teeth, were the words Cave Canem (Beware the Dog.)

A camel can go about 2 weeks without water and then they can consume somewhere around 20 gallons at one sitting.

Giraffes can go up to 3 weeks without water. When they do finally take a drink, they can down 12 gallons at a time.

Flamingos can only eat with their heads upside down.

Beaver eyelids are transparent so that they can see through them as they swim underwater.

Chickens and ostriches are thought to be the closest living relatives of the Tyrannosaurus Rex. Scientists previously believed dinosaurs were giant reptiles. Now, it turns out they were just big chickens.

The Ancient Greeks invented the spiked collar to protect their dogs from wolf attacks.

Cat Cats can hear dog whistles and ultrasound.

California’s official state animal is the grizzly bear. However, no grizzlies have been spotted living there since 1922.

Vice President Dick Cheney’s dog was banned from Camp David because it attacked President Bush’s dog.

President Joe Biden’s dog, Major was asked to leave the White House after a few biting incidents. He was given to a family friend.

President Franklin Roosevelt also had a dog named Major who was a White House troublemaker. Not only was he (the dog) involved in at least three biting incidents, Major was also famous for ripping the pants of British Prime Minister, Ramsey MacDonald when he came to visit Roosevelt at the White House.

President Theodore Roosevelt’s Bulldog, Pete was once described as the naughtiest dog ever to call the White House home when he attacked Jean Jusserand, the French Prime Minister and chased him up a tree, ripping off the Prime Minister’s pants on the way.

If sharks stop swimming, they will drown. They need to have water passing through their gills continuously.

Koalas have extra-thick skulls, which act as helmets because they frequently fall from trees.

The mongoose is one of the few animals that are immune to a snake’s venom.

Baby horses can walk and run after just a few hours of being born.

If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will lose its color and become pale.

Herring fish communicate through farting.

In Australia, there are nearly twice as many kangaroos as there are humans.

Out of the 400 species of parrots, there is only one that can’t fly, called the Kakapo parrot.

The Greek name for mosquito is anopheles, which means good for nothing.

Sloths are extremely slow-moving animals. But did you know even a sloth’s digestion is slow? It takes this animal 2 weeks to digest its food.

Buddhists believed that cats were the temporary resting places of extremely spiritual people.

White-faced capuchin monkeys greet by sticking their fingers up each other’s noses.

In New York, stray cats are used to protect parts of the city from rats.

According to people who study our feline friends, when a cat looks you directly in the eye and blinks slowly, they are telling you they love you. (Blinking back tells the cat you feel the same.)

In 2009, Scottish scientists searching for the Loch Ness Monster found 100,000 golf balls instead.

Snake Saint Patrick never banished snakes from Ireland. Scientist believe the island has been snake-free since the Ice Age.

Polar bears are almost invisible to infrared cameras.

The fastest insect on earth is the Australian tiger beetle, Cincindela Hudsoni. Clocking in at 5.6 mph, this incredible insect runs so fast, it has to slow down to see anything. 

A cama is the hybrid offspring of a camel and a llama.

Crocodile Florida