Someone Asked People “What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?” And 40 Delivered Illuminating Responses
In this modern world, where the amount of fake news, alternative facts, scams, and quasi-claims seem to be off the charts, it’s easy to doubt things. But despite our suspicions, many of us still enjoy and seek out good "truth is stranger than fiction" stories. Because life is weird. Science is crazy. Evolution is wild. And there are so many staggering or downright surreal things happening right under our noses we don't even notice.
Chances are, you've stumbled upon at least one piece of trivia that is so weird, it sounds totally made up. And you’re definitely not the only one. There’s an entire thread on 'Ask Reddit' where this subject matter takes center stage. "What is a true fact that sounds fake?" asked user TheMemeing and inspired hundreds of members to share their intriguing tidbits of knowledge immediately.
From snails having 14,000 teeth to Mantis shrimp generating light, just because something sounds a little bogus, it doesn’t mean it’s not real. We've gathered some of the most illuminating responses from the thread, so continue scrolling! Although remember that a little healthy skepticism goes a long way, so put your thinking caps on and take everything you read online with a pinch of salt. Then upvote the facts that surprised you most, and be sure to share your own nuggets of information with us in the comments.
Psst! When you've finished this list, take a look at our previous post filled with fake-sounding facts here.
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The oldest hotel in the world is The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Japan and has been in business since 705AD. The crazy thing is that it’s still a family business. For 52 generations
Female dragonflies drop out the sky and pretend to be dead to avoid unwanted male advances.
Donald Trump was actually the US President at one time.
In 1895 there were 2 cars out of the entire state of Ohio and they still managed to crash into each other
There’s a penguin named Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III who is the ceremonial head of the Norwegian Royal Guard
Nestle intentionally created a famine by giving put free formula in African countries and pushed a campaign that said it was healthier than breast milk. Then when most of the population had converted and dwindled the number of mothers capable of nursing, they began charging exorbitant prices for formula. this caused thousands of children to starve to death and they got away with it.
There are more slaves today than in any point in history
And there are still slaves in the United States. The 13th Amendment to the US Constitution allows "slavery or forced labor" as punishment for a crime. At this time, there are approximately 800,000 prisoners who are forced to work - including many who do manufacturing work for the 4,200 corporations that utilize prison labor. Source: American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), Captive Labor: Exploitation of Incarcerated Workers, June, 2022
Oxford University predates the Aztec Empire by 3.5 centuries.
Humans can smell geosmin (the chemical released when it rains or snows) at 5 parts per trillion. Which means that humans are 200,000 times more sensitive to smelling geosmin than sharks are at smelling blood.
Dinosaurs were around for so long that there were already dinosaur fossils while they were still alive.
Basically, as T-Rex was munching away on Triceratop steaks, Stegosaurus had already been dead and underground for millions of years by that point.
People were on the moon before they put wheels on suitcases.
In the Pompeii eruption, the extreme heat caused some victims' brain tissue to turn to glass.
Well then. That's a dark fact I'll be thinking about for a while now...
The Mantis shrimp punches so hard it generates light.
Johnny Cash was the first westerner to learn of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. He was a morse code operator at the time
From 1912 to 1948, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, alongside those for the athletic competitions.
The greenland shark, has a life expectancy of between 250-500 years. That means there could be a greenland shark swimming around, that swam the oceans when the Spanish conquistadors went to search Mexico for gold, which at that time, were inhabited by the Aztecs.
Bananas are berries and strawberries aren't.
TF... I think I've been lied to my whole life.... I think I need some time to think about this....
That's nothing. Halle Berry is human and won a raspberry for a film which was a turkey and because she turned up to collect her raspberry, she was lauded for not being a chicken. Which only proves the film industry is utterly bananas.
Then why the F**K do strawberries have the word BERRIES in their NAME?! Make it make sense!!!
Probably because they’re small, grow in clusters, and can be eaten without being peeled. I don’t know why apples and grapes aren’t considered berries then, but that’s the only reasoning I’ve got.
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The people who made up the botanical naming should have chosen a different word to categorise the small subsection of small fruits we generally call berries. The word has a meaning, they twisted the meaning, now we pretend they are "right" when they simply created a new botanical meaning, but the word had an original meaning. See also fruit, nut, herb.
Now you've gone too f*****g far. We're only just now grieving the banana.... too soon!
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One of my favorite weird facts: tomato soup and ketchup are technically smoothies X)
I suppose English naming of things predates the biologic, technical naming of Berries as defined as such and such. No-one ever tried to go back and rename strawberry to something else which didn't include the word 'berry'. "Do you fancy straws and cream' doesn't have quite the same ring to it!
And tomatoes 🍅 are fruits, so, technically, a bloody Mary is a smoothie.
Sure they do. They have one seed, at the very bottom. Or at least Cavendish bananas do. Other banana species still retain multiple seeds- i forget the name but there is one that has pink skin which peels itself when ripe, is edible but usually grown ornamentally. They have lots of seeds inside.
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Neither are blackberries or raspberries, they are what is known as an aggregate fruits.
A fruit is the seed containing structure formed from the carpels or ovaries of a single flower, for strawberries, the flower has many separate carpels embedded on the flower base or receptacle. The fleshy part of the bit we eat is made from receptacle tissue so it's actually a false fruit too.
Yea, strawberry seeds are on the outside. Berry seeds are on the inside, like tomatoes.
Cucumbers are berries too. As is any citrus. Avocados are cherries are both stone fruits. On the other hand grass seeds are nuts, while a peanut, just like a pea is not a nut but it is a dry fruit. Which nuts are too.
The fruit of the strawberry is actually the little "seeds" on the skin.
Nope. Strawberries are pseudocarps. The 'seeds' are actually nuts.
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Strawberries aren't nuts, they're pseudocarps. The 'seeds' are technically nuts.
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Koalas are so dumb that they can't recognise a eucalyptus leaf if it isn't attached to a tree.
More people drown in the desert than die of dehydration.
Alligators will give manatees the right of way if they are swimming near each other
Placebo medicine is more effective if patient is told it's expensive.
The ancient Egyptian empire lasted more than 3000 years. It has been less time since the empire fell.
Snails have 14,000 teeth and eat bones and meat not just vegetables.
A fully loaded Amazon Kindle is a billionth of a billionth of a gram heavier than an empty one.
Here’s an 8-minute video on the mass of very small and very large things: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvM70MLiZY
Butterflies are fond of cow s**t, fresh blood, and corpses.
I have no right to judge the butterflies, but this is overwhelming. I thought they would love flowers and cotton candy.
There’s a type of mold that, as a single celled organism, can move around by itself, learn, recognise colours and solve mazes. there are many species of slime mold that can come in all colours such as banana yellow, hazard-jacket orange and, fittingly, slime green.
Australia has the largest amount of wild camels in the world.
There are more pet tigers in Texas than there are in the wild of the entire planet.
The one about Oz is understandable: we also have more sheep than people over here (3.3 sheep to every person- weird fact, right?), but the Texas one is slightly concerning...
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of big words.
Hot water freezes faster than cold water. Mpemba effect. The guy who discovered it (in modern times, since Aristotle wrote about it) was ridiculed by everybody including his own teacher, but 6 years later the results were published and is considered fact.
The creation of sticky notes was a result of glue that wasn’t sticky and deemed a failure( 3M)
The formula was put in the records as a failure and later a scientist found it to be useful to stick notes to his workbench.
Then we got sticky notes
King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia of Sweden were turned away from a German restaurant in 2011 since there were no free tables and they didn't have a reservation.
Cheetahs don't roar, they meow.
The chainsaw was invented to aid in childbirth. It was used and invented in the 1700s to cut through the woman's pelvic bone before C-sections became the commonplace way to deliver babies.
Modern medicine is one of the most important advances in human history. (which makes it even dumber to act against it)
When Joe Biden was born, he was closer to Abraham Lincoln's presidency than his own.
The day Michael Jackson's hair caught fire while filming a Pepsi commercial was the exact middle of his life.
Born: August 29, 1958
(9,281 days)
Pepsi incident: January 27, 1984
(9,281 days)
Died: June 25, 2009
I can hear some kid going, " he caught on fire doing a Pepsi commercial?" Yep. Thanks to fireworks plus hair products.
The Michelin Star system was developed by Michelin tires.
To encourage people to drive to the south of France and wear out their tyres. Seriously!
Note: this post originally had 77 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
Dear BP, we all know this list is going to get shortened to ~50. Why don't you just do that from the onset, and have TWO shorter lists?
Color photography was invented in the 1840s. But it didn’t become popular until the 1970s.
The camera was invented about 2,500 years ago. It required about 2,300 years of experimentation before cameras were able to record images.
In the USA, only about half of all homeless people have an addiction or mental health issue, and the ones that do developed them as a result of being homeless. Also, about 40% of homeless people nationwide have jobs, and this number is increasing in the last few years.
I work with the homeless and have for many years and that’s simply not true. To get a deeper understanding instead of posting inaccurate info you need to start volunteering. No disrespect but start doing the work. Most of what’s posted on BP regarding social justice is inaccurate. This is a Lithuanian listacle site that censors everything for a reason. It’s important to remember that. Down vote away!
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There was a US President who was elevated to President from Vice President and he was US President 20 years before Abraham Lincoln. John Tyler and he has 1 Grandson that is still alive :-o https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/11/29/president-john-tyler-grandson-harrison/
Fun fact: Brian, there's somebody watching you right now. No, not over there, don't look! It will only make him react. Just walk slowly out of your kitchen, and call the police.
Dear BP, we all know this list is going to get shortened to ~50. Why don't you just do that from the onset, and have TWO shorter lists?
Color photography was invented in the 1840s. But it didn’t become popular until the 1970s.
The camera was invented about 2,500 years ago. It required about 2,300 years of experimentation before cameras were able to record images.
In the USA, only about half of all homeless people have an addiction or mental health issue, and the ones that do developed them as a result of being homeless. Also, about 40% of homeless people nationwide have jobs, and this number is increasing in the last few years.
I work with the homeless and have for many years and that’s simply not true. To get a deeper understanding instead of posting inaccurate info you need to start volunteering. No disrespect but start doing the work. Most of what’s posted on BP regarding social justice is inaccurate. This is a Lithuanian listacle site that censors everything for a reason. It’s important to remember that. Down vote away!
Load More Replies... There was a US President who was elevated to President from Vice President and he was US President 20 years before Abraham Lincoln. John Tyler and he has 1 Grandson that is still alive :-o https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2020/11/29/president-john-tyler-grandson-harrison/
Fun fact: Brian, there's somebody watching you right now. No, not over there, don't look! It will only make him react. Just walk slowly out of your kitchen, and call the police.
