Facts You Probably don’t Need
- Pinecones were originally called “pine apples.” The pineapple got its name because of its resemblance to them.
- Isaac Newton invented calculus in 1665 and 1666.
- The most complex eyes throughout the animal kingdom belong to the mantis shrimp, who can manipulate light polarization throughout its entire visible spectrum. That’s at least 10x as many colors in our visible spectrum.
- English words for livestock (cow, sheep, chicken) are Germanic-based and the words for meats (beef, mutton, poultry) are French-based.
- In the Philippines, there is an island called Luzon. On this island there is a lake called Taal Lake. In Taal Lake, there is an island called Volcano Island. On Volcano Island, there is a lake called Main Crater Lake. In Main Crater Lake there’s an island called Vulcan Point.
- Pineapples are not a single fruit, but a group of berries that are fused to the central stalk.
- In 1964, a patent on raising a sunken ship by pumping it full of buoyant balls was denied because the process had already been described in a 1949 Donald Duck comic.
Facts by Sean McVeigh, factologist.
