The 31 Most Interesting Facts to Kick Off Any Trivia Game

Are you the person who likes to drop an odd fact here and there? 

If yes, then look no further. This collection of interesting facts is sure to contribute to your endless arsenal.

But if being the “cool fact friend” is simply not you, that’s okay. We’re betting you’ll find this collection useful, too. It’s time to get ready for trivia and make your friends jealous of how much you know!

Our collection of facts is just as long as it is awesome. Whatever you might be interested in—crypto, tech, phobias, melons, insects—we have it!

Some of the Most Random Facts (Editor’s Choice)

• Researchers trained bees to detect bombs using their antennae.
• Alexa likes to eavesdrop on your conversations—on all of them.
• Banks offer clients “wealth psychologists” to help them cope with their socioeconomic status and all it entails.
• Someone will mine the last existing Bitcoin no later than 2140.
• A can of Pringles stores the ashes of the brand’s founder.
• A meteor with the force of 10 atomic bombs exploded—and no one noticed.
• Wasps like to get drunk and take it out on humans.
• An Illinois-shaped cornflake sold on eBay for $1,350.

Cool Facts About Animals

Science has been around for a while now, right?

Yet, as of 2022, the human population has only explored about 5% of the whole universe. Scientists constantly try to demystify the wilds of the unknown and occasionally report back with their findings.

Let’s go over some of the most interesting stuff we know about the animal world today.

1. Researchers use bees for the detection of bombs.

(Source: BBC)

Landmines, bombs, explosives—it seems humakind is capable of creating anything in order to achieve mass destruction. Luckily, nature provides us with ways to redeem ourselves, but it’s up to us to discover how we can use them.

Using their antennae, bees are able to pick up the scent of explosives, and help researchers locate landmines. For the success of the mission, drones fly over the bees to show which area they concentrate on, which is the indication of a landmine’s position.

Interesting trivia: Bees are helping locate the remaining landmines of the Balkan Wars. Estimates suggest there are still 80,000 landmines in Bosnia and Herzegovina and as many as 30,000 in Croatia.

2. People don’t actually swallow eight spiders a year.

(Source: Scientific American)

Why would anyone even spread such a horrendous rumor? Yuck…

Anyway, the point is that what we’ve been told is a simple myth. It’s even unrealistic when you think about it. Don’t spiders get scared of humans?

We bet they do.

3. All swans in England are property of the Queen.

(Source: MyLondon)

Yep. All English swans belong to the Queen of England, and the tradition goes back to the 12th century. A bit random, but it’s a fun fact to share.

Swans used to be a feast dish served at the banquets of the wealthy elite. And is there anyone more elite than the monarch herself?

Due to their endangered status, no one eats swans nowadays, but they are still the Queen’s property. Well, most of them. Abbotsbury Swannery, the Vintners, and the Dyers are the only three organizations in the UK that have the right to own swans, too.

4. If you keep your goldfish in a dark room, it will turn white.

(Source: ThoughtCo)

Or at least significantly paler.

Still, quite an impressive fact for kids to know about their pet.

The golden color of goldfish is due to pigmentation produced by cells called chromatophores. They mostly feed off natural or artificial light.

If there is no light to illuminate your goldfish, then the pigmented cells will die, and the new ones will not be stimulated enough to produce any coloration.

5. It’s possible for a human to swim through a blue whale’s arteries.

(Source: WhaleFacts)

This is one of the best random facts ever. To sustain the animal’s enormous body, its heart needs to pump blood fast—and a lot of it.

Just so you can get an idea, a blue whale’s heart can be as big as a go kart.

6. Wasps get drunk… And yes, they get aggressive.

(Source: iNews)

You’ve probably noticed that wasps are angrier towards the end of summer?

Well, technically, they aren’t angry—they’re simply a little boozed.

Their diet mostly consists of fruit, which dries up with the higher temperatures. And—fun random fact—decaying fruit is similar to the fermented fruit we use for alcoholic beverages. So…

Once the queen stops laying eggs, wasps have nothing to do and obviously go out to have some fun.

Reportedly, a wave of angry, drunk wasps spread over England in 2018 due to the scorching weather.

Location-Specific Yet Random Weird Facts

The more random, the better, if you ask us.

Apparently, neither the world nor this section follows any norms.

7. A 20-year-long term: The cat mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska.

(Source: The Guardian)

Stubbs, the most honorable mayor of an Alaskan town (population: 900), held the governmental position for almost 20 years.

Elected in 1998, the cat quickly became the symbol and a big tourist attraction of Talkeetna. Unfortunately, he passed away in 2017, but his spirit remains with the people of the town.

8. A town in Nebraska has a population of one.

(Source: BBC Travel)

The smallest American town, Monowi, has only one resident: Elsi Eiler, 85 years old.

Cool things to know about her?

She’s a bartender, librarian, mayor, and treasurer. She does it all. Literally. She even pays taxes to herself and grants her own alcohol license.

9. Chewing gum was illegal in Singapore until 2004.

(Source: The Irish Times)

Many people like clean streets, but no one does as much as the Singaporean founding father, Lee Kuan Yew.

In 1992 he made the production, sale, and import of chewing gum illegal. The reason?

He didn’t like that chewing gum dirtied streets, buildings, and public transportation.

The government lifted the ban in 2004, but legal difficulties around gum possession were still in place.

10. Someone bought an Illinois-shaped cornflake for $1,350.

(Source: NBC News)

Let’s talk about eBay-level crazy facts.

Two sisters from Virginia found a cornflake, shaped like the state of Illinois. They decided to post it on eBay just for the fun of it, but the online auction continued for more than a week. The highest bidder was the owner of a trivia site who wanted to add the cornflake to an American pop culture collection.

Now, do you think selling a state-shaped edible on eBay is weird?

What about putting an actual town for sale twice?

Bridgeville, California could’ve been yours for a trifle $1.77 million back in 2002, but you missed your chance. Someone else bought it for $1.4 million in 2006.

11. A meteor exploded on Earth in December 2018, and barely anyone noticed.

(Source: NBC News)

Probably one of the most interesting facts hardly anyone talks about is the explosion over Earth of a meteor the size of a school bus. The location was far from inhabited land—over the Bering Sea, the waters between Russia and Alaska.

Regardless, the force it hit Earth with was equivalent to that of 10 atomic bombs. NASA considers the explosion as the second most serious meteor impact in 30 years.

12. Japanese square watermelons are not edible.

(Source: Japan Times)

A watermelon cube with a side of roughly 18 cm?

Looks intriguing—and that is its sole purpose.

Originally, the square design was intended to make it easier for us to store the fruit in the fridge. Alas, the optimization was for naught, given that you should generally refrain from eating them, but it definitely qualifies under the “interesting facts to talk about” category.

Nowadays, stores and restaurants mainly use them for decoration. In fact, it is such a popular ornament that the price for one cubic watermelon reached $90 in 2021.

13. El Salvador is the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

(Source: Yahoo! Finance)

There is only one country in the world that has legalized Bitcoin as a legitimate currency, and that is El Salvador. It happened quite recently, too, on September 7, 2021.

Experts suggest that other countries, such as Panama, Cuba, and Paraguay seem likely to follow El Salvador’s example.

Fun Facts about Money, Money, Money

While we are on the crypto theme, let’s explore a few other facts about Bitcoins.

We’ll also throw in some millionaire eccentricities, so keep reading!

14. There is a 21 million cap on the amount of Bitcoins available.

(Source: The Indian Express)

To control inflation, there is a limitation on the currency’s supply. In fact, more than 90% of it has already been mined, which is equivalent to more than 19 million Bitcoins.

This figure includes the 3.7 million blockchains that are lost forever (due to death or missing passwords).

Projections show that the remaining 10% of the supply will sustain until February 2140.

15. The first Bitcoin transaction was a payment for pizza.

(Source: Investopedia)

Random cool fact: May 22 is the official Bitcoin Pizza Day.

On May 22, 2010, Laszlo Hanyecs paid 10,000 Bitcoins for two Papa John’s large pizzas. At the time, the payment would have been equivalent to $41.

Nowadays, though, is a whole different story. Such a payment makes these two pizzas worth over $80 million.

16. One bitcoin transaction uses as much electricity as a typical household does for six weeks.

(Source: Fortune)

Modern technologies come at modern costs. And they are the source of many wild facts.

For instance, one simple Bitcoin transaction requires some 1,173 kilowatt hours of electricity. This comes at a bill of $176, assuming that we adopt the worldwide average kilowatt cost of $0.09.

Researchers claim that this is the amount of energy an ordinary home in the US consumes in about six weeks.

17. A can of Pringles acts as an urn.

(Source: npr)

We present you with our first place nominee for the weird facts list!

Some people get buried, others get cremated, but only Frederic Baur, the founder of Pringles, may choose to store his ashes in a can of the very thing that earned him billions. 

18. The Laney High School varsity basketball team rejected Michael Jordan.

(Source: Newsweek)

Crazy as it sounds, back when he was 15 years old and 5’10” tall, Michael Jordan didn’t get into the sophomore varsity basketball team.

As you probably know, he is now the richest sportsman in the world. In fact, he’s one of the seven Black billionaires in the United States.

19. If you can’t cope with how wealthy you are, you could hire a wealth psychologist.

(Source: Investopedia)

An odd fact—but a true one nonetheless—is that there are people whose job is to comfort the wealthy and help them cope with the trials and tribulations that come with having so much money.

And, hey, if we earned $383 million per day like Elon Musk does, we’d probably need help wrapping our minds around it, too.

If you’re looking to get into this field of expertise, you’d get to help wealthy people deal with the guilt of being ultra-rich and give them advice on how to raise their kids without spoiling them.

You could also help them deal with inheritance issues—though, this market isn’t as big as it once was, what with most millionaires being new money and all.

Techy Interesting Facts for 2022

Congrats, you’ve secured 19 awesome facts for your next trivia game! 

Now, let’s go over a few more.

20. YouTube was originally a dating site.

(Source: The Guardian)

Before the rise of modern dating apps, like Bumble or Grindr, YouTube was the place to meet your soulmate. At least, that was the idea.

All you had to do was upload a video of yourself talking about what your dream partner would be like. Believe it or not, there was even a slogan: “Tune in, Hook up!”

Unsurprisingly, the idea was not very popular, so the founders decided to change the strategy.

21. Introducing the Amish computer: “Made for the plain people by the plain people.”

(Source: Buzzfeed)

Does technology have any place in Amish culture?

To some extent, yes.

A little-known fact is that, as long as there are no third-party apps, internet, sound, or photographs, the Amish can use computers.

The small screen device mostly targets the efficiency of their businesses, not so much the pleasure technology offers to the ordinary modern person.

22. Until 1995, you could register a domain for free.

(Source: The Economic Times)

Buying a domain name is the first step for starting a website today. However, this tradition began in 1995, when the company Network Solutions received the right to charge people for domain registrations. The cost at the time was as high as $100 for two years.

Fun fact about today: You can still get a domain name for free (as long as you’re willing to make some sacrifices, of course), but you could also pay millions for one. LasVegas.com, for instance, is worth $90 million.

23. Automation and technology will probably displace 85 million jobs by 2025.

(Source: SHRM)

Hopefully, you didn’t panic when you read this enormous number. The introduction of robots has its benefits, too. Although the displaced positions will add up to about 85 million, the amount of jobs technology will bost should come at 97 million.

In fact, experts suggest that by 2025, 9% of all new jobs in the United States will be due to artificial intelligence.

A couple more fun facts: The word “robot” comes from Czech and means “forced to do labor.”

24. The speed of NASA’s internet reaches 11.375 GB per second.

(Source: Robot Powered Home)

For normal daily life activities, an internet speed of 500 MB per second is more than enough, as it allows you to surf the web without any delays. Netflix, for example, recommends 25 Mbps to watch a show in 4K resolution.

Considering the tanks of data NASA uses, the normal WiFi speed is way too slow. So, they developed their own ESnet, which back in 2013, “traveled” at 91 gigabits (or 11.37 gigabytes) per second.

That’s 2,000 times faster than the average household internet speed!

25. Arachnophobia but make it modern: Technophobia is a thing.

(Source: Verywell mind)

It may seem like a silly fact, but it’s an actual fear. Does your anxiety skyrocket when thinking about technology? Complex computers and smartphones make you feel nervous? 

You might be suffering from technophobia.

It’s not officially in the DSM-5 yet, but technophobia is quite common. This strand of anxiety impacts people to different degrees, but about one-third of the population has developed technophobia to some extent.

Interesting fact: 40% of people are addicted to one thing or another online—gambling, gaming, porn, etc.—so perhaps people’s wariness over tech is warranted.

26. Keep your secrets safe when Alexa is around.

(Source: Wirecutter)

Okay—that was a bit dramatic.

Amazon’s Alexa might not be an actual eavesdropping creep, but it’s worth considering how much you share with her. The robot is supposedly off when waiting for a wake-word, but this might not actually be the case.

We know this doesn’t really qualify under “weird facts” anymore—it’s more likely on the “evidence of yet another breach of privacy by big corporations” list—but it’s still worth mentioning:

Just like your smartphone, Alexa gathers information about your conversations and internet habits to help Amazon offer you products that might interest you.

27. Blind people can now get a first touch of their baby thanks to 3D printing technology. 

(Source: CBS News)

While an ultrasound image will do for most people, blind parents are in need of innovative solutions.

Back in 1986, Kazunori Baba developed the first ancestor of a 3D ultrasound. Today, a printer can easily turn an ultrasound image into a relief sculpture to accommodate the needs of people with impaired vision.

Some More Commonly Unknown Facts 

Alright, we’re done with the lengthy stats.

These are the last quirky bits of truth that we at Web Tribunal have for you today.

Ready for a few more surprises?

28. Comic Sans is the most hated font in the world.

(Source: Huffpost)

Apparently, there’s collective hatred towards the Comic Sans font, with 58% of people automatically reacting negatively to it. 

The purpose of the font was to imitate the appearance of comics, but this idea simply didn’t go well with the average user.

However, here’s one of our favorite cool fun facts: Comic Sans is dyslexic-friendly. The font’s unusual curves help dyslexic people differentiate between letters easily.

29. There is a word for the scent in the air after rain.

(Source: BBC)

Don’t you just love a rainy summer afternoon?

When rain hits dry concrete, a type of bacteria produces geosmin, the molecule responsible for the nice smell after a rainshower. That scent has a name: petrichor.

It’s a great word to add to your vocab list.

Fun fact: Fragrance brands have been looking for ways to incorporate this specific smell into their perfumes. “Petrichor” by Demeter Fragrance is a successful example.

30. On average, 500–1,000 new words get into the Oxford dictionary a year.

(Source: The Fact Site)

Do you often use a made up word that only you and your friends understand?

Chances are that word is already in the dictionary.

Lexicographers are on a constant hunt for new words to add to the never-ending vocabulary list. There are so many new words recently that editors update the Oxford dictionary four times a year.

Ready for the last of the random facts in our list?

31. Identical twins’ children are technically cousins, but genetically siblings.

(Source: Today)

Identical twins Briana and Brittany married identical twins Josh and Jeremy. The result?

Jax and Jett—baby cousins who share as much genetic information as siblings do. 

Even if there was only one pair of identical twins involved in the equation, the children would still be genetically closer to half-siblings. Normally, cousins share 12.5% of genes, but those whose parents have a twin share 25%.

Wrap Up

The world is a weird place—one moment you use a bee to detect landmines, and another you get stung by a wasp. We guess the debate between bees and wasps is settled now.

Now, you can go and tell these 31 interesting facts to whomever you want, but don’t forget… Alexa is always listening.