If you read Bored Panda, you know we like data. If we're doing a story on a woman banning her mother-in-law from her house, we look at what experts have to say on family relationships. If we're writing about employees quitting on a demanding boss, we present surveys on worker needs.
Numbers help us humans to contextualize individual examples and show us how common or rare, loved or hated something is in a broader sense.
Interested in the big picture, they give us the big picture, Reddit user Awesomeguy256 posted a question to the platform, asking its users "What is the most interesting statistic?" Since then, people have left over 14,000 comments under it, many of which share fascinating information on everything from economics to the animal kingdom. Here are some of the best ones.
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More Vietnam vets [took their own lives] than [passed away] in the war.
The solution is to make the people who want to start a war do it themselves.
A black man in St. Louis is more likely to be killed by a police officer than the average US citizen is to get murdered at all.
Whether you think BLM is a bunch of horse s**t or not, Republican or Democrat, or whatever, this stat is pretty interesting. Mind you, a subset of the US population probably doesn't even believe that statistic is true.
80% of Orange Tabby cats are male.
Wearing a seatbelt correctly reduces chance of front seat passenger fatality due to front end collision by 45%. Seat belts save lives. For f***s sake people, wear them. Also airbags are more likely to cause injuries rather than prevent them when seat belts are not worn.
Hold up your hands and clap them together.
Wait one second, then do it again.
If you could plot the distance between the first clap and the second clap, it would be more than 800 kilometers.
This is because the Earth is moving around the sun, the sun is moving around the center of the galaxy, the galaxy is moving through the Virgo Supercluster, and the Virgo Supercluster is barreling through the universe. When you add up all the velocities and compare the result to the cosmic microwave background (which is the closest thing we have to a universal frame of reference), it comes out to about 800 kilometers per second.
In the time it took you to read this, you've traveled farther than you'll ever walk in your life.
Statistically speaking the average person is a 30 year old Chinese man.
Also, statistically speaking, his name would be "Mohammed Lee". ('Mohammed' is the most common first name, and "Lee' is the most common family (last) name.)
The tallest giraffe ever measured (George) was 19 feet (5.8m) tall.
The longest crocodile ever measured (Lolong) was 20.25 feet (6.17m) long
So take the tallest giraffe you've ever seen, and then add a little, and you've got the biggest crocodile ever measured reliably with a tape measure down its back.
Herpetologists agree that sightings of crocodiles up to 23 feet are not unreasonable, but they're very hard to capture when they're that big. Therefore, no absolutely reliable numbers.
Sharks are older than trees. Sharks are at least 400 million years old, trees are sitting at 350 million years.
Edit: Also another fun fact, sharks are so successful when it comes to evolution and long term survival because of a trait called "Adaptive Radiation", which is a huge increase of species diversity in a short period of time. Modern sharks stem from an adaptive radiation that happened during the Jurassic Period about 200 million years ago. One of the newest modern sharks is the hammerhead, coming in at around 50 million years.
holy c**p. i has no idea they were THAT old. and yet, now they’re endangered due to our stupid overfishing. beings that have lived that long, now at risk of going extinct. it’s just sad.
That by almost all important measures, the world is a better place to live today than at any other time in human history.
The richest 1% dudes in the world have more wealth than the rest of the planet.
The world's 8 richest men have as much money as the poorest half, 3,6 billions people.
The average cumulus cloud weighs more than the Statue of Liberty.
I've seen this one before and it still amazes me. I guess I never thought of a cloud having any weight at all. HHmmmmm
Britain had more planes at the end of the Battle of Britain than at the beginning, because they were being made at such an incredible rate that it surpassed the losses.
If you're in a group of twenty-three people, there's a 50% chance that two of them share a birthday.
If you're in a group of seventy people, that probability jumps to over 99%.
My uncle, great-uncle and I all share a birthday. I wonder what the stats are for family members having the same birthday are...
3-4 billion people on this planet earn $2.50 or less per day.
I found out at a conference last week that 5 billion people don't have access to safe surgery.
It really shocked me. That's 5 out of every 7 people in the world.
That is so sad, if every person was a day, the people that have access to it would only be weekends, sorry for the weird analogy, that was just how my ADHD brain processed it
25% of California’s air pollution is from China.
wait, that’s actually really interesting. i want to know more about how it’s able to travel that far and still be potent. also a little bit saddening, seeing as how widespread pollution can get
Til the world record for children born to one woman is 69. She had 16 sets of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets.
America has about 5% of the worlds population but about 25% of the worlds criminals.
South America is moving away from Africa at about the same speed your fingernails grow.
Omg imperial systen is using nail growth as a kind of measurment now??
It would take 1.2 million mosquitoes, each sucking once, to completely drain the average human of blood.
If all the humans alive right now lived in the same density per square mile as New York City, we could all live in the state of Texas.
Over 1 million earths could fit into the sun.
Size-wise, a particle of dust is halfway between a subatomic particle and the Earth.
86% of British people live within 8 miles from where they were born.
Fat leaves our body 86% through the breath. The other 14% leaves our body through water.
It takes roughly 170,000 years for photons from the Sun's core to reach the convection zone of the photosphere where it is released out into space. In other words, the Sun light you see is hundreds of thousands of years old.
The population of Ireland has not yet recovered half-way from the famine of 150 years ago.
The immediate effects of the famine saw a great many people [perished] from starvation or disease and others emigrate to avoid the same fate. The longer term effects created a breakdown in the social order which forced emigration and a consequent 100 year decline in the population. It's only in the last 50 years that the population has started to grow again.
If you and your spouse both have a divorce under your belt , and one (or both) of you have MORE than one divorce under your belt, the failure rate of your marriage is 93%.
First marriage, 3 years. His 8 years. Our marriage, 25 years and still in love.
Funny how we're still considering divorce as a failed marriage... as I see it, a failed marriage has more to do with people who feel miserable within their marriage and still choose to keep in an unhappy relationship.
Good point. My parents are married for life - to the bitter end.
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This implies that remaining married is a success. In many cases, divorce is a much better solution. I understand the point, it's kinda weirdly worded though.
well, my parents divorced, then both got remarried, and both are happy now so….?
So congratulations, it would appear the 7 remaining percent would apply to them.
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Both my dad and stepmum got married at 18 (both forced to marry due to unplanned pregnancies in the 80s) both had terrible first marriages (abusive and cheating partners) both got divorced and became single parents by the time they were 22. They met each other aged 32 and got married within a year, creating a blended family with their 8 kids. They've been happily married for 26 years and have 14 grandkids and another 2 on the way.
What if you try to work through your difficulties and actually, you know, make good on your vows?
The way i see it is that if you've divorced before you know you won't tolerate just anything because of "marriage" and that it's still possible to walk away. I see it as a primary good thing. (Of course it could mean lack of motivation to work on a relationship long term as well)
My first after living together for 16 years and having 3 kids... lasted 8 months! My current with one step and 2 adopted is still going on at 25 years. Her first (my current) lasted 6 years.
My aunt and uncle were both married for about a year to other people. They’ve been happily married for 7 years and have a beautiful 2 year old rainbow daughter:)
So what does that say about my brother who just divorced wife number 4?
A former boss was divorced three times by his mid-thirties. He crapped on a man who had attended a marriage weekend workshop and then tried to get the boss to go to one: "When you have to take your wife to a weekend encounter to get closer to her, it's time to chuck the marriage."
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Bullsh*t. My husband & I have both been married twice (yeah, we're re-treads). We've been together 14 years. There's something to be said about later in life relationships - at that point you know what you can/will put up with & it makes everything SO much easier.
My first marriage ended in annulment at 6mo; wife's 1st marriage divorced at 12yrs; we're married 44 yrs now... Love? More like eternal agitated compromise. Two successful children, though!
Not happening here, 2 divorces for me, 1 failed relationship for him and we have been together for 38 years,.
Only one divorce. I took our wedding rings, had them melted down, and made necklaces for my girls. They were the only ones that benefited from our marriage and deserved the reminder.
I have one divorce, partner has 2 - we have been happily married now for over 15 years.
I wonder what people who discovered this statistic would feel about my parents. They divorced for a few years before remarrying, and are much happier for it.
Yeah if I would’ve not married my high school sweetheart and it lasted 12 years married not counting dating Got divorced and then met my future husband six months later we would’ve never met and been married for 27 years. I’ve always said I never regretted marrying my first husband but I never regretted divorcing him either…
My first marriage 3 1/2 years ,His first marriage 3 years. We've been together 26 years, married for 23 years. Raised 4 kids, became Grandparents a year ago.I think we are in it for the long haul :)
I'm avoiding divorce by never getting married. It's working! 41 and 0 divorces so far!
Like all institutions, marriage exists to control, not benefit, individuals. Now get back in your veal fattening pen and get paid for your time on pornhub.
LOL My younger sister has been married and divorced 5 times. She is a moron, and is getting worse, starting elder abuse to our old dad.
Wait, the marriage between you and your spouse, or your personal marital failure rate?
85% of all Americans live within 20 minutes of a Walmart.
There are more trees on planet Earth than there are stars in our galaxy.
Considering another fact "there are more star in the universe than the sand grain on beach" i'am not believing this one
80 per cent of 80 year old males or older will have suffered or will face prostate cancer at some point in his life.
Eighty. Percent.
Yes, and it is similar for breast cancer. However, there are many very slow growing types of cancer. Most of these people die of old age, not cancer. Misleading.
25% of the earths crust is actually made of iron like in your cereal.
Note: this post originally had 65 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
Can we pretty please include a link that supports that "fact"? Stuff like women talk more than man is BS: "A review of 56 studies conducted by linguistics researcher Deborah James and social psychologist Janice Drakich found only two studies showing that women talked more than men, while 34 studies found men talked more than women.[6] Sixteen of the studies found they talked the same and four showed no clear pattern." https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/marriage-equals/201910/do-women-really-talk-more-men
These are just Reddit posts. So take it with a grain of salt but it isn't BP's job to fact check them.
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This article had so many false posts. It actually bothers me even if it's for entertainment that posting falsehoods is such a flippant thing.
Huh, and here I was going around telling people it was 47.8%. Don't I just feel foolish now 😳
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Can we pretty please include a link that supports that "fact"? Stuff like women talk more than man is BS: "A review of 56 studies conducted by linguistics researcher Deborah James and social psychologist Janice Drakich found only two studies showing that women talked more than men, while 34 studies found men talked more than women.[6] Sixteen of the studies found they talked the same and four showed no clear pattern." https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/marriage-equals/201910/do-women-really-talk-more-men
These are just Reddit posts. So take it with a grain of salt but it isn't BP's job to fact check them.
Load More Replies... This article had so many false posts. It actually bothers me even if it's for entertainment that posting falsehoods is such a flippant thing.
Huh, and here I was going around telling people it was 47.8%. Don't I just feel foolish now 😳
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