Facts You Probably don’t Need
- New Zealander Nigel Richards memorized the French Scrabble dictionary in just nine weeks and won the French-language Scrabble World Championship despite not knowing the language.
- Tokyo is protected from floods by a massive underground system of tunnels and water tanks with 13,000 horsepower turbines that can pump 200 tons of water per second.
- In Norse mythology, Valhalla is just one of the places that Viking warriors go to after death. Half of the fallen are chosen by Odin for Valhalla and the other half are chosen by Freyja for Folkvangr.
- In 2014, British scientists found three previously unknown species of mushrooms in a packet purchased from a small Chinese supermarket in London.
- Man o’ War, one of the greatest racehorses of all times, won 20 out of 21 races. His only loss was to a horse named “Upset.”
- In the year 1900, 38% of all cars in the United States were electric.
- New York City is home to more than 340,000 millionaires.
- In Malaysia, there is a restaurant with a discount system based on how thin you are.
Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.
