Fun Facts That’ll Actually Make Your Life Better

[01dragonslayer]

Ketchup was a medicine in the early 1800s.

In 1834, American Dr. John Cooke Bennet added tomatoes to ketchup, adding many vitamins and antioxidants to the sauce.

He then branded it as a medicine to cure Diarrhea, Indigestion, Jaundice and Rheumatism.

[01dragonslayer]

In 2017 more people were killed from injuries caused by taking a selfie than by shark attacks.

There was only 5 deaths due to shark attacks in 2017, which is lower than the average year.

The average amount of deaths caused by sharks is 6.

Worldwide, there was 35 deaths caused by taking selfies in 2017.

[01dragonslayer]

The word “emoji” comes from the Japanese words “e” and “moji”, which mean “picture” and “character”.

The link to the English words “emotion” and “emoticon” are purely coincidental.

[01dragonslayer]

Grapes are fatally toxic to cats and dogs – even in small amounts.

Despite lots of research into the matter, the exact agent in grapes that causes their toxicity to dogs and cats is still unknown.

All that is known is that they cause acute kidney failure quickly followed by death in dogs and cats.

[01dragonslayer]

The Louvre in Paris is so large that it would take 100 days to look at each piece.

It’s so large and full of so much art that it’d take a person 100 days to look at each individual piece for 30 seconds 24/7. Crazy stuff.

[01dragonslayer]

In the 18th Century Smallpox scars would get you a job.

By having Smallpox scars it showed that you had already had Smallpox so employers didn’t have to worry about you getting it and taking time off work.

[01dragonslayer]

Before 1913, you could legally mail a baby.

Mailing children became a common practice in rural America as the price of postage for a child was cheaper than the price of child’s train or bus ticket.

Thank God this one’s not legal anymore!

[01dragonslayer]

The inventor of the Frisbee was cremated and made into a Frisbee after he died.

Walter Frederick Morrison invented the Frisbee in 1948, which was originally called the Pluto Platter.

In 2010, at age 90 he died and his family cremated him and turned his ashes in to the Frisbee.

[01dragonslayer]

By 400BC, Persian engineers mastered the technique of storing ice in the middle of desert summers.

This was done through the use of subterranean storage space and thick, heat-resistant construction materials.

[01dragonslayer]

Kit Harrington is related to the man who invented the flush toilet, and one of the Gunpowder Plot perpetrators.

Kit Harrington (Jon Snow from Game of Thrones) is a descendent of Sir John Harrington (on his father’s side), inventor of the flushing toilet, and also Robert Catesby (on his mother’s side) who tried to blow up Parliament with Guido Fawkes.

[01dragonslayer]

The word “burrito” means “little donkey” in Spanish.

This is because a burrito can carry many things just like a donkey can.

[01dragonslayer]

Hawaiian pizza is a Canadian invention.

Retired Canadian cook Sam Panopoulos was the first person to put pineapple and ham on a pizza together, and marketed it as a Hawaiian pizza in the Satellite Restaurant in Chatham, Ontario.

[01dragonslayer]

Every year, the Netherlands sends Canada 20,000 tulip bulbs.

This is done as a way of thanking Canada for their role in liberating the Netherlands from Axis occupation during World War II.

[01dragonslayer]

Jupiter has a “lost” moon.

The planet’s outermost moon, S/2003 J 2, was discovered by scientists in 2003, but hasn’t been spotted since then and is considered as lost.

How embarrassing, to lose a moon!

[01dragonslayer]

Famous French painter Claude Monet was only rich because he won the lottery.

Like most other artists of his time, Monet was dirt poor. And, like most dirt-poor people, he played the lottery.

His luck changed when he won 100,000 Francs and lived a life of luxury and wealth after this.