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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.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
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
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#2
Female dragonflies drop out the sky and pretend to be dead to avoid unwanted male advances.
#3
Donald Trump was actually the US President at one time.
#4
In 1895 there were 2 cars out of the entire state of Ohio and they still managed to crash into each other
#5
There’s a penguin named Brigadier Sir Nils Olav III who is the ceremonial head of the Norwegian Royal Guard
#6
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.
Richard Campbell 3 years ago
Very difficult since they make an astounding number of products in any given grocery store. Like, a stupid amount of s**t is made by nestle
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Biofish23 3 years ago
They sent sales people dressed as nurses to new mothers, and gave out free samples to last just long enough for the mothers milk supply to dry up. Not to mention these were populations of people without access to reliably clean water to prepare the formula with. So even when the families managed to buy enough formula countless babies still died of diarrhea from the contaminated water.
Kitty White 3 years ago
Oh, but *surely* nestle paid a pittance for local “water rights,” drained aquifers in drought-stricken areas, and then bottles that water and sold it to people in need of potable water… oh, no wait- that was California; Flint, MI; and soon enough we will find out that they’re doing it in Jackson, Mississippi as well.
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Torza 3 years ago
Who the farq came up with that campaign idea? How did such a blatent human rights abuse get the greenlight? Why are big corps so soulless??
Channon Doughty 3 years ago
Kill one or two or three people, it's murder. Kill thousands to millions, it just the "cost of doing business".
K- THULU 3 years ago
As they say " one death is a tragedy, a thousand deaths is a statistic."
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RajunCajun 3 years ago
the sad part = this fact will not keep people from buying Nestle products.
Kathy Rayborn 3 years ago
It starts with one person, then another, and another.
Load More Replies... Emy Loves 3 years ago
I think the consumer has all the power. We need to stop buying nestle. I haven't bought their water for over 15 yrs.
Stacey Rae 3 years ago (edited)
Their water is just one tiny part. You'd have to shop with a file to avoid their many many many products. Nestle is a disgusting company.
Load More Replies... Kristin Gullard 3 years ago
When questioned about taking large quantities of water from drought stricken regions, the CEO replied that humans do not have a right to have access to water.
Kitty White 3 years ago
They also charged exorbitant prices for bottled water, a necessary ingredient for making formula from powdered, since there are very few areas in Africa that have a plentiful supply of potable water. In 2017, at the first WHO conference held during the trump administration, US delegates threatened to withhold military aid to Ecuador if they introduced a referendum declaring that ‘Breast is Best,’ and that governments worldwide should advertise such. Ecuador caved, and the other smaller countries who offered to introduce the resolution were similarly threatened. RUSSIA had to step in, and chastised the US for not doing the right thing, and for bullying small countries. RUSSIA held the moral high ground…
Stacy s 3 years ago
They are draining an aquifer dry in northern michigan and the people they have tried but are powerless to stop them, though they tried. Requested nestle simply take water at a slower rate to avoid environmental ruin. Nestle said, basically, 'we're rich, powerful, so f*** you'.
Winter 3 years ago
What's happening in the U.P. is heartbreaking. All of the abundant natural resources there are soon to be pillaged. The land, the culture, it's all going to be destroyed by the rich.
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SparkleFarts 3 years ago
This story is so dark. Aside from the exorbitant prices, there is also a lack of clean water to make the formula. Nestlé just loves Killin babies
Mia Granatello 3 years ago
What about pzifer that sold expired vaccines to Africa knowing what they were doing?
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 3 years ago
I'm sorry, I think I misunderstood the title of this post. So, are these all things that are going to make me want to puke and cry simultaneously? In the case of Trump, also shat?
Michael Largey 3 years ago
When people praise market capitalism, they never refer to things like this.
Jonny Chevalier 2 years ago
the CEO has also stated that water is not a right.... perhaps he thinks he created it..
Anne McKinney 3 years ago
Nestle is THE NUMBER ONE most EVIL company on the planet. They are the parent company of dozens of products and I try hard not to buy any of them. Nothing but greed and disregard for human life.
Peter Krois 3 years ago
What shits me is that also sell water! People working on the water plant have to pay for their water!
Susan Mercurio 3 years ago
I started boycotting Nestlé in 1976 for personal reasons and this was one of the things that made me keep it up! (There are others.)
Mary Marchione 3 years ago
This is not quite true. Yes, they told everyone in the world at that time that formula was better, and many people world wide believed it at that time. Nestle did not get them hooked and then raise the price. The mothers used the formula wrong, or with bad water. Many poor parents diluted the formula far more than the directions called for to save money, so their children died of malnutrition, but Nestle did not gouge them.
Private Squint 3 years ago
More persons and companies should be prosecuted with crime against humanity.
Maggie Lesoing 3 years ago
Also, the women didn’t always have a clean source of water for the formula. New unnecessary problem.
Collin Lyle 3 years ago
The formula had to be mixed with water. Much of the water was contaminated. The mothers also over diluted the formula to save money, but no one told them how dangerous that was. Nestle also offered free architectural services to hospitals that were renovating or building new maternity/ baby care units if they pushed the formula. Disgusting.
Mosheh Wolf 3 years ago (edited)
The story was different, because this story would not work, and this person does not know much about breastfeeding. If the prices went too high, the mothers would move back to breast milk because there is only a short window between when a mother's milk dries up after converting to formula and when the baby can start eating solids. What Nestle did was far more insidious and underhand. They only gave a bit of free formula to mothers after the birth, but paid hospitals, doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers to heavily push the idea that formula is always healthier than breast milk. While formula was affordable, it was still an extra cost for poor families, so they figured that they could dilute the formula, being unaware that this is a problem. Moreover, they also made the formula with polluted milk, which, aside from issues of illness, also reduced absorption of nutrients. So babies were getting formula, but still dying of malnutrition without their parents understanding why.
Russell Tilling 3 years ago (edited)
Pleased to say I don't purchase any of their products, phew! Nasty, Swiss bar stewards. Maybe up there with Monsanto?
Nevin Christy 3 years ago
Nestlé is headquartered in Switzerland. Not the U.S. And America is not the cess pool of the world. If you think it's so bad, start studying other countries and look at some of the awful things going on outside the U S.
Load More Replies... #7
There are more slaves today than in any point in history
Waite Forit 3 years ago
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
#8
The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.
#9
Oxford University predates the Aztec Empire by 3.5 centuries.
#10
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.
#11
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.
#13
In the Pompeii eruption, the extreme heat caused some victims' brain tissue to turn to glass.
blobby_grrl 3 years ago
Well then. That's a dark fact I'll be thinking about for a while now...
#14
The Mantis shrimp punches so hard it generates light.
#15
Johnny Cash was the first westerner to learn of Joseph Stalin’s death in 1953. He was a morse code operator at the time
#16
From 1912 to 1948, the Olympics awarded official medals for painting, sculpture, architecture, literature and music, alongside those for the athletic competitions.
#17
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.
#18
Bananas are berries and strawberries aren't.
blobby_grrl 3 years ago
TF... I think I've been lied to my whole life.... I think I need some time to think about this....
#19
Koalas are so dumb that they can't recognise a eucalyptus leaf if it isn't attached to a tree.
#21
Alligators will give manatees the right of way if they are swimming near each other
#24
The ancient Egyptian empire lasted more than 3000 years. It has been less time since the empire fell.
#25
Snails have 14,000 teeth and eat bones and meat not just vegetables.
#26
A fully loaded Amazon Kindle is a billionth of a billionth of a gram heavier than an empty one.
sofacushionfort 3 years ago
Here’s an 8-minute video on the mass of very small and very large things: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=VYvM70MLiZY
#28
Butterflies are fond of cow s**t, fresh blood, and corpses.
Karen Grant 3 years ago
I have no right to judge the butterflies, but this is overwhelming. I thought they would love flowers and cotton candy.
#29
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.
#30
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.
blobby_grrl 3 years ago (edited)
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...
#31
Hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia is the fear of big words.
#32
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.
#33
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
#34
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.
#35
Cheetahs don't roar, they meow.
#36
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.
#37
When Joe Biden was born, he was closer to Abraham Lincoln's presidency than his own.
#39
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
Sheila Stamey 3 years ago
I can hear some kid going, " he caught on fire doing a Pepsi commercial?" Yep. Thanks to fireworks plus hair products.
#40
The Michelin Star system was developed by Michelin tires.
Elizabeth Elliot 3 years ago
To encourage people to drive to the south of France and wear out their tyres. Seriously!
#41
We are closer to the last ever dinosaur than the last dinosaur was to the first ever dinosaur.
#42
Cleopatra only had 2 pairs of great grandparents.
#43
President Jimmy Carter is a badass who once dove Into an active nuclear reactor to prevent a meltdown.
#45
The universe’s resources are finite and eventually the processes making new stars will be unable to continue. The universe will become a dark void intermittently filled with stellar bodies. We live in a glorious time where we can see beautiful pictures of the stars and enjoy them from our backyards. Count yourself lucky.
#46
John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died on the same day, the 50th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence being signed. Both of their last words were along the lines of “My friend Adams/Jefferson still lives”. They shared almost the same last words but had no idea one of them were already dead.
#47
A spider called the banana spider, can bite you and cause a painful Erection that last hours
#48
Apple seeds contain a substance that releases cyanide into your bloodstream
Rob Chapman 3 years ago
Unrelated to apples, but the same applies to all seeds (pits) of the genus "prunus" (cherries, plums, peaches, almonds). The almond (specifically, the sweet almond), which contains minute traces of cyanide, is the only edible seed in the entire genus. The bitter almond, which looks virtually identical, is deadly. Eating 10 bitter almonds is lethal to a child.
#50
Sharks who hang out on sandbars a lot can get a sun tan.
#51
Most common houseplants thrive on neglect. Most people kill their house plants by paying too much attention to them, by overwatering them or over fertilizing them.
third molar 3 years ago
Neglected them for couple of weeks . This theory is not correct i am afraid :(
#52
Betty White (1922) is older than packaged sliced bread (1928 in the USA and 1937 in the UK).
#53
Pineapple actually tries to eat you while you eat it. Bromelain extract is a mixture of protein-digesting (proteolytic) enzymes and several other substances in smaller quantities. The burning you feel when eating pineapple is its liquids trying to digest you. That's also the reason for the lingering feeling after eating it.
#54
Can you believe if a person who can completely see is blind almost 40 mins to an hour per day? This phenomenon is called Saccadic Masking and also known as (visual) Saccadic suppression. It is a visual illusion where the brain selectively blocks visual processing during our eye movements. A saccade is a quick, simultaneous movement of both eyes between two or more phases of fixation points in the same direction. Humans become effectively blind during a saccade.
#55
Hillary Clinton won a Grammy.
#56
Shaving your cat in the summer heat is bad and can actually cause overheating.
Pieter LeGrande 3 years ago
If you tried to shave my cat you'd die of overheating from trying to catch it.
#57
Sharks are older than the rings of Saturn
#59
Over 30 million people in china live in caves!
Pieter LeGrande 3 years ago
And occasionally an earthquake happens like the one in Haiyuan in 1920 that killed more than 200,000.
#60
Breathing out one nostril at a time naturally.
Ladedah 3 years ago
Randomly decided to self-check this one while sitting here on the sofa... and it ended up sounding like I let out a big sigh. My APBT (American Pit Bull Terrier) - who I thought was "sleeping" on my lap - immediately let out a loud empathy sigh in response. While it may be entirely unrelated to this fact, it was definitely adorable.
#61
Argentina occupied California in 1818 for a week.
#63
Insurance companies most years pay out more dollars in claims and loss expenses than they collect in premium dollars. They make all their money by investing the premium dollars before they have to pay them out. Edit: I’m talking about car and home insurance. Health insurance works differently and I never worked in that field so I don’t know.
#64
Killer Whales love Great White Shark liver. They are capable of extracting it with surgical precision, leaving the Great White to bleed out and die.
troufaki13 3 years ago
It's not really surgical precision if the patient bleeds to death, is it?
#65
“Tiffany” is a name from the Middle Ages
#67
Solid matter is made up of mostly empty space.
Phandom Apostolis 3 years ago
I think Quantum physics say otherwise. The electrons occupy ALL the space between the nucleus and their orbit at the same time.
#70
The last official execution by guillotine was 1977 September 10th at Baumetes Prison in Marseille, France.
#71
Both Stalin and Hitler were briefly in the same city as each other (Vienna) before they met (or knew about each other, at least).
#73
For one hour every year a part of Oregon and Florida will have the same time of day
#74
Salvador Dali was alive when the first Predator movie came out, so he might have watched it in the cinema
#75
The role of John McClane in Die Hard was originally offered to Frank Sinatra.
CWebby 3 years ago
It wasn't offered - he had contractual rights to play the character after filming a movie (based on books) many years before (same character, renamed). Since he was 70 at the time they were planning Die Hard, he was never approached because they knew he couldn't handle the physical activity needed (like crawling through vents).
#76
3 of my grandparents have the same birthday and two of them on the same year
Arliss Speace 3 years ago
I've read that in a group of 30 people there is a fifty-fifty chance that 2 will have the same birthday.
#77
I once read that if you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn white.
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WonderWoman 3 years ago
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?
Waite Forit 3 years ago
Color photography was invented in the 1840s. But it didn’t become popular until the 1970s.
Waite Forit 3 years ago
The camera was invented about 2,500 years ago. It required about 2,300 years of experimentation before cameras were able to record images.
Sean Sean 3 years ago
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.
Redemption Happens 3 years ago
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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Jhm Mke 3 years ago
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/
RafCo (he/him) 3 years ago
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.
WonderWoman 3 years ago
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?
Waite Forit 3 years ago
Color photography was invented in the 1840s. But it didn’t become popular until the 1970s.
Waite Forit 3 years ago
The camera was invented about 2,500 years ago. It required about 2,300 years of experimentation before cameras were able to record images.
Sean Sean 3 years ago
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.
Redemption Happens 3 years ago
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... Jhm Mke 3 years ago
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/
RafCo (he/him) 3 years ago
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.
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