Data are everything — it’s a simple fact that holds a lot of truth. You know, those tidbits of factual information recorded and used for the purpose of analysis and creating reliable statistics?
It’s so easy to think of them as just a bunch of dry, boring numbers, but without trustworthy data and statistics, how would we measure progress? How would we make informed decisions? How would we understand the world and the people living in it? How would companies plan for the future? Statistics provide insights, patterns, and perspectives that would otherwise be impossible to discern. Without them, we wouldn’t have a clue about anything but the obvious.
Some of them, though, are more fascinating than others. Like, much more. With all the random facts shared by newspapers, documentaries, and your favorite sources of reliable information, you’ve surely come across surprising statistics that made you do a double take before.
If, like us, you’re also a numbers person, you’re aware of how many interesting facts can be found out there — and we’ve got so many of them to dive into right now! We’re about to let you in on a massive bunch of data about the world, straight from a Reddit thread where people from all walks of life shared their favorite interesting statistics. And rest assured, the results are nothing short of mind-blowing. Animals, people, society, sports — we covered enough of everything to make you feel like a know-it-all in the end!
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Cantbetoobad1953 said:
"There are more privately owned guns than people in the U.S."
Your_One_Lord replied:
"I should hope so. Privately owned people have been illegal for years."
Davecasa said:
"Of the 30 fastest 100-meter sprint times, 21 were run by athletes who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The other 9 were Usain Bolt."
Your_One_Lord replied:
"He's the combination of a lot of factors adding up right. Right genetics born to someone with the motivation and the right influences born in the right place."
scrubjays replied:
"And the right last name."
Usain Bolt making Jamaica and the Caribbean proud. The one thing we're really good at, sprint.
"That belly button bacteria study was wild. 60 belly buttons sampled. 2368 different species of bacteria were found. The study indicated that 1458 of them may be new to science. One had a rare bacteria found in Japanese soil and they had never been to Japan. Two had rare bacteria that thrived on ice caps and thermal vents. Not a single bacteria was common to all buttons."
SuvenPan said:
"34 percent of adults and 75 percent of children sleep with a stuffed animal or a blanket, or other sentimental objects as their comfort object."
Reddit user replied:
"I don't care if this is false or not. It's not harmful misinformation, it's just plain cute. One in every 3rd adults I see statistically sleeps with a stuffed animal. Awesome."
Mine is a baby blanket my Nana made for me. She’s gone now but it still makes be feel safe and comfortable ❤️
JESquirrel said:
"Dragonflies have a 95% hunt success rate. Making them the most effective hunters in the world."
supbros302 replied:
"It's because the dragonfly optic nerve connects directly to their wings allowing incredibly fast reaction times since the target finding isn't mediated by the nervous system."
loopywolf said:
"3 people are killed by sharks per year, 3 million sharks are killed by people per year."
SeaWaveGreg replied:
"I thought to myself "3 million sharks a year? That seems way too high to be true." So I googled sharks killed by people per year and the answer was 100 million."
Shark fin soup is nothing more than a status symbol, the sharks aren't even killed when they have their fins chopped off, they are thrown back in the sea where they drown. It makes this Shark Lady angry and sad in equal measure.
BlueCandyBars said:
"When tested by another agency, TSA failed to detect weapons, bombs, and other destructive materials 95% of the time."
TheBoulder_ replied:
"On top of that, they were told "today is the day we are going to be tested" ...and they STILL failed 95% of the time."
meanwhile SanFran, one of the few airports allowed to opt out of the TSA and use a private company had a 82% success rate, and that was without being told in advanced. Its the arguement some are making to phase out the TSA for private companies. Costs 30% less, workers are paid 10% more, and a way better success rate, with a major Airport like SanFran to model after.
Pleasant_Moose_5417 said:
"That 49.6% of Pakistanis marry a first cousin and 8.3% marry a second cousin. In rural areas of Pakistan, up to 80% of people marry a cousin."
ViolettaNoRegard replied:
"In Britain, Pakistanis make up 2% of the population but account for 30% of children with genetic diseases. That’s because on average 55% of them (but up to 70% in some areas) practice first cousin marriage."
transemacabre replied:
"It's the consequence of arranged marriage and families not wanting 'outsiders' to join their families. They want a bride for their son who they can control -- so a niece is preferred. One generation of cousin-marriage won't cause these problems, its cousins marrying, generation after generation, resulting in a very small gene pool with bad recessive genes getting combined."
The actually genetic issue rate for a one time first cousin marriage is an increase of 8%, a woman over 40 has a 10% increase in potential rate for genetic issues. However multiple generations of first cousin marriages increases that risk exponentially, which is where the issue is
Rudeboy67 said:
"90% of the Canadian population live within 100 miles of the US border. 90% of the Australian population live within 100 km of the Ocean."
lilskurt replied:
"100% of the Vatican population live within 100 km of Italy."
MinifridgeTF_ replied:
"There are 2.3 popes per square km in Vatican City."
"Gary Numan is 13 days older than Gary Oldman."
And Gary Mediumman claims he can speak to the dead. We still don’t know his age, though. Nobody can get close enough to tell. The last dead person he talked to was one of his victims. He is to be considered armed and dangerous.
cbandy said:
"Used to work as a meteorologist. More people die from flooding each year than from every other natural disaster added together. A good portion, at least, are people who think their cars can make it through the water when they obviously cannot."
BearsChief replied:
"If there's one thing I've taken away from survival shows and documentaries, it is: Never underestimate the power of moving water."
"Genghis Khan killed so many people that he cooled the earth by a bit."
That’s not the crazy part. The crazy part is that Genghis Khan bred so profusely during his time on Earth that one in 200 people alive today are related to him. 16 million descendants.
"A survey of Fortune 500 executives found that 93% agree that golf reflects life. 86% admit to cheating at golf."
Who would have guessed that over three-quarters of them were cheaters at golf? I wonder if this cheating bleeds into other areas of their lives.
Vaspion66 said:
"Only about 2% of Earth's population has naturally blonde hair. That's insane if you think about it."
nba123490 replied:
"Light colors on humans are just rare. 1% are red haired 2% are blonde haired 20% are brown haired The majority are black-haired in the world
For eyes same thing really: - green eyes 2% - blue eyes 8% - brown eyes (darker again being the majority) 55% to 79%."
debTG81007 said:
"That the remains found in Machu Picchu are 80% female."
zazzera replied:
"They don't think that's true anymore. George Eaton, one of the first archaeologists that studied the Machu Picchu skeletons, classified sex based on height. Like, if the skeleton was over 5'6" it must be a man, right? He didn't consider that the Inca population might not have the same genetics as his friends from back home. Turns out he was probably wrong."
monsem12 said:
"2/3 of the Australian population will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives."
Henry_Sadiq replied:
"Damn, even the SUN is dangerous in Australia."
kawcreek said:
"Motorcycles are 2% of all vehicles [USA]. Motorcycles account for 20% of all road fatalities. I don't ride anymore."
Kraagenskul replied:
"In the same vein, less than 10% of Americans do not wear seatbelts and account for 51% of car-related fatalities."
uncleleo_ said:
"Miscarriages are going up 1% each year and sperm count of men has gone down 50% since 1970 (US)."
Tanyaaahhh replied:
"I wonder if this is because more women will seek medical attention for a miscarriage now (and this be included in medical statistics) than say 20-50 years ago when it was almost a taboo subject and many women went without medical assistance."
The reason miscarriages appear more common is because modern technology/medicine is able to confirm pregnancy at an earlier and earlier stage. Women are likely miscarrying at the same rate as always, but, whereas in the past many women would've miscarried before even realising they were pregnant, women nowadays find out about their pregnancy almost straight away, so more miscarriages are recognised and registered as such
galacticality said:
"Though numbers have slightly inflated due to the pandemic, it remains that only about 4 in every 10 Americans wash their hands after using the bathroom. IIRC, about 60% of women and only 35% of men. Everyone got gross peepee poopoo hands."
werd5273 replied:
"I don’t understand how people can not wash after pooping. Maybe once in my life, I did not immediately wash due to necessity, but then immediately found a restroom to wash."
"20% of the mammal species on our planet are different types of bats. There are about 5000 species of mammals, and about 1000 of them are varieties of our little winged buddies."
godofhorizons said:
"Wayne Gretzky and his brother hold the record for most points by a brother pair in NHL history. His brother has four points."
modestmandrakeman replied:
"Gretzky also holds the record for fastest to 1000 points, who’s in second? Wayne Gretzky again on his second 1000 points."
Saw a bumper sticker years ago that I loved: Jesus saves... Gretzky shoots and scores!
ConstantlySlippery said:
"That we are chronologically closer in time to the T-Rex than the T-Rex was to the Stegosaurus. We are about 66 million years after the t-rex, but the stegosaurus was about 85 million years before the t-rex, 20 million years longer. Dinosaurs were around for a VERY long time. Humans are just a drop in the bucket relatively evolved just a few hundred thousand years for Homo sapiens."
DangyDanger replied:
"I swear there must have been a highly technologically advanced species of dinosaurs, then came the World War Dino that resulted in one country chucking a huge asteroid at the planet while mass evacuating their population to Venus, where they abused their new home to no end until it became what it is today, which ultimately either drove them out of our system or they faced extinction due to the atmosphere that is no longer compatible with life."
"The most obese state in the country in 1990 (Mississippi, 15%) was still far skinnier than the least obese state in the country in 2020 (Colorado, 24%). This still blows my mind and I literally think about it every day."
We like to insult America for this as if it isn't happening right across the western world.
"Even in the 2022 Kentucky Derby, 19/22 entered horses can trace lineage to Secretariat."
You have to wonder how interbreeding of close relatives can be so good for horses and so drastic for Pakistanis.
Salohacin said:
"90% of people live in the northern hemisphere."
dxbigc replied:
"Primarily has to do with land mass. Just look at a map and that will explain most of it. Then, take into account the Sahara desert, Amazon rain forest, and that the majority of Australia is basically uninhabitable and you really see the reason."
"Despite making up less than 4% of the population, Americans produce over 20% of the garbage in the world."
Don't blame individuals only. Manufacturing adds quite a bit as well as certain packaging that is very hard to avoid.
"If you made $295,000 every single day since the birth of Christ, you still wouldn't be worth what Elon Musk is.
Edit: Let's put the same concept into seconds. If you were to do a conversion of dollars to seconds ($1 = 1 second), the median American gets 1 day and 10 hours (net worth of $121,760). Elon musk would get 6,910 YEARS."
Ok-Reputation9619 said:
"One in 8 men thinks they can win a point about Serena Willams."
LutherRaul replied:
"Just hoping for a double fault on her serve."
"A full 6 percent of Americans reckon they could beat a grizzly bear in unarmed combat.
Edit: And before another bear arm joke, just FYI bears already don’t have arms. So removing bear arms doesn’t improve your chances. Technically, all four are legs, with the front two called forelegs."
And they should encouraged to try before they procreate. Safety regulations has severely reduced the number of Darwin award participants
SebaZDK said:
"The birthday 'paradox', is the fact if you have 23 random people there is a 50% chance 2 have the same birthday."
fantasticdamage_ replied:
"I’ve always wondered, at a baseball game, in a stadium full of people, is it plausible to say that someone has a birthday on every single day of the year? This means everyone in that stadium could fill a calendar and the entire calendar would be 100% full of dates with everyone’s birthday on it. Am I too high, I’m not making sense am I?"
Ok so this actually came up a few years ago at a meeting, so I had the boffins work on it. The answer, believe it or not we got 2 answers. Answer 1: You would need around 7 Billion people to ensure you covered every day of the year because so few people are born on the 29th Feb. Answer 2: The maths is too long, but the answer is no.
Note: this post originally had 60 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
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