50 unbelievable facts about the world to make you seem cultured

 

    Have you ever sat around the table with friends or family, enjoying a perfectly acceptable lunch or dinner, and listened – powerless – as the conversation slowly turned to the topic of     “culture” or “art” or “the world”?

    Don’t panic – instead, arm yourself with some unbelievable fact nuggets about the world that will make you seem thoroughly cultured. Facts that will leave everyone jaw-on-the-floor amazed.

Do you want to pull off this exquisite dinner-table trick?

Then read on.

First, you need to build a ‘presence’. Let me explain what I mean by this.

You have to make yourself look cultured like you know what you’re talking about. Then you’re ready to recite any of the 50 facts below and leave your company reeling in shock.

Master the body language of a seasoned academic with this simple 4 step technique:

1. Purse your lips (pout)
2. Raise an eyebrow (creating an aura of intrigue)
3. Lift your Coca-Cola and swill it around the glass for a moment (showing your sophistication)
4. Finally, lean back slightly in your chair (indicating you are at ease with yourself)

Now you’re ready for the facts.

• Category 1: Nature

1. - The deepest place on Earth is the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean, reaching a depth of 36,201 feet (11,034 meters), which is almost seven miles!
2. - The longest river in the world is the River Nile, measuring 6,853 kilometers in length. Its water resources are shared by 11 different countries.
3. - Lobsters are not “biologically immortal,” but they produce an enzyme that repairs their cells, allowing their DNA to replicate indefinitely. This is where the myth originates.
4. - Lake Baikal, located in Siberia, is the deepest freshwater lake in the world, plunging to a staggering depth of 5,315 feet (1,620 meters).
5. - Pineapples take two years to grow.
6. - Acacia trees in Africa communicate with one another by emitting gases to alert other trees to produce the toxin tannin, which protects them from hungry animals.
7. - Armadillos are bulletproof. (This is NOT an invitation to test this fact.)
8. - Niagara Falls never freezes.
9. - Each limestone or granite block that makes up the Great Pyramid of Giza weighs 2.5 tons. There are approximately 2.3 million of them. Yes, you read that correctly!
10. - Walking the entire length of The Great Wall of China would take you about 18 months, as it stretches over 5,000 miles.

 

• Category 2: History

1. - The national flag with the most colors is Belize's flag, which was adopted in 1981 and has 12 colors.
2. - The first hand-held mobile phone call was made on April 3, 1973, in New York City.
3. - Buzz Aldrin, the second man to step on the Moon in 1969, reportedly peed himself while walking on the surface.
4. - In Ancient Egypt, the word for "cat" was pronounced "mew" or "meow."
5. - The American Revolution (1765-1783) occurred before the French Revolution (1789-1799).
6. - The Anglo-Zanzibar War, fought in 1896, was the shortest war in history, lasting just 38 minutes!
7. - The printing press, which revolutionized the sharing of information, was invented by Johannes Gutenberg around the year 1440.
8. - The Mongol Empire, during the 13th and 14th centuries, was the largest contiguous land empire in history.
9. - Egypt is recognized as the oldest country in the world, dating back to 3100 BCE.
10. - Tim Berners-Lee created the first web browser (World Wide Web) in 1990.

• Category 3: Art & Culture

1. - In 2019, scientists discovered the world’s oldest known work of art on an island in Indonesia called Sulawesi, created 44,000 years ago.
2. - The name "sandwich" comes from an 18th-century aristocrat known as the 4th Earl of Sandwich.
3. - An astonishing 9,310 tweets are sent out every second.
4. - "Salvator Mundi," painted by Leonardo da Vinci, is the most expensive painting in the world, valued at $450.3 million.
5. - According to figures from the UNWTO in 2018, France is the most visited country in the world, attracting 90 million visitors. Spain takes the second spot.
6. - Approximately 92% of the world’s currency is now digital.
7. - "Avengers: Endgame" is the highest-grossing film of all time, earning over $2.7 billion!
8. - In 2020, the wealthiest company in the world was Saudi Aramco.
9. - The Statue of Unity in Gujarat, India, is the tallest statue in the world, standing at 579 feet (182 meters). In comparison, the Statue of Liberty is only 93 meters tall.
10. - Brazil has the most biodiversity of any country, boasting over 50,000 species of plants and trees.

• Category 4: People & Countries

1. - Scientists say that tears can indicate the reason for someone crying. If the first drop comes from the right eye, it's tears of joy; otherwise, it's tears of pain.
2. - In the UK in 2019, renewable energy generated more electricity than fossil fuels for the first time ever. Additionally, Norway sources 0% of its electricity from coal, while Germany has installed 1 kW of renewable capacity per person over the past decade. (Climate change is the biggest global issue of our time, but there are positive developments!)
3. - The longest reigning monarch in history was Louis XIV of France, who ruled for 72 years and 110 days—exhausting!
4. - Marie Curie was the first person to win two Nobel Prizes—one for physics in 1903 and another for chemistry in 1911 for her work on radioactivity.
5. - King Henry VIII of England had servants called "Grooms of Stool" who wiped him after he visited the toilet. Gross!
6. - Approximately 0.5% of the male population is descended from Genghis Khan, according to a 2003 study showing that around 16 million men share a Y chromosome with the famous emperor.
7. - Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Isle of Man all claim to have the oldest parliament in history, established in the 9th and 10th centuries.
8. - Russia is the most forested country in the world, covering 815 million hectares.
9. - China is the most populous country worldwide, with around 1.4 billion residents.
10. - The youngest individual ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is Malala Yousafzai, who received it at the age of 17 in 2014 for her advocacy for child rights and girls' education.

• Category 5: “No Way! Really?”

1. - Sunsets occur because Earth’s atmosphere acts as a prism for light, a phenomenon known as "scattering." Molecules and particles in the atmosphere, which are more abundant at sunset, scatter short-wavelength violet and blue light away from our eyes, allowing us to see other colors on the spectrum, such as yellow and orange.
2. - The most remote place in the world is Tristan da Cunha, located in the South Atlantic Ocean.

If you need any further edits or adjustments, just let me know!
That's 50 facts for you! Thank you for reading. I hope these "fact nuggets" will help you enhance your next conversation about culture and the world. Good luck!
Below, you will find a list of sources for some of the specific facts mentioned above.