OMG Facts

I had a hard time making use of Twitter for the first few months. I didn’t care what Alyssa Milano was eating for breakfast, and I found myself questioning why I joined the site in the first place. I’ll spare you the drawn-out story of my coming around, but let me say this: the best use I’ve found for Twitter is the exchange of very interesting information.

There are a few people/companies I follow who share articles and pieces of work that are much more useful than your average “which celebrity is doing what” offering. There are articles on technology, psychology, parenting, politics, and every other conceivable topic. One of my favorites is an account called “OMG Facts”. If you’re on Twitter, follow them. If you’re not on Twitter, allow me to share some of their interesting little tidbits with you.

There are more bacteria in your mouth than there are people in the world.

The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra.

A car travelling at 100mph would take more than 29 million years to reach the sun.

On average, 100 people choke on ballpoint pens every year.

It’s estimated that millions of trees are accidentally planted by squirrels who bury nuts and then forget where they hid them.

All the gold ever mined in the world could be molded into a cube 60 feet high and 60 feet wide.

Until President Kennedy was killed, it wasn’t a federal crime to assassinate the President.

The Dallas/Ft. Worth Airport is larger than New York City’s Manhattan Island.

Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined.

Disney World generates about 120,000 pounds of garbage every day.

Canada has more lakes that the rest of the world combined.

The weight of a blue whale's tongue is greater than most elephants.

Every single US president has worn glasses.

The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise
their lower eyelids.

Vultures can fly for 6 hours without flapping their wings.

If you put a drop of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly go mad and sting itself to death.

J.K. Rowling is wealthier then the Queen of England.

There are 293 different ways to make change for a dollar.

You're 3 times more likely to be killed in a car accident while driving to buy a lottery ticket than you are to win the jackpot.

It took radio 38 years to hit 50 million users. The internet took 5 years.

India has a Bill of Rights for cows.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Abraham Lincoln, had a brother who once saved the life of Lincoln’s son.

Literate adults can usually udnretsnad any msseed up stnecene as lnog as the frsit and lsat lteetrs of wdros are in the crrcoet plaecs!

On the old Canadian two dollar bill, there was an American flag flying over the Parliament building.

There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes.

Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.

A female platypus sweats milk.

A first class (parlor suite) ticket on to the Titanic cost $4,350, which translates into $90,000 in 2009 USD.

Fred and Wilma Flintstone were the first couple to be shown in bed together on television, and it wasn't until 1960.

Baseball player Richie Ashburn, in August 1957, hit a fan with a foul ball. A few minutes later, he hit the same fan with another foul ball as she was being taken out on a stretcher.

Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks; otherwise it will digest itself.

If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

In 1945, a rooster by the name of Mike lived 18 months without a head.

Author Mark Twain was born on the day of the appearance of Halley's Comet in 1835. The comet is only visible to Earth every 76 years, and he vowed that he would not die until he saw the famous comet. He died the day after its next appearance in 1910.

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class.

It takes 12 bees their entire lifetime to make one tablespoon of honey.

And lastly, here’s a funny one: in Hong Kong, the wife of a husband who commits adultery is legally entitled to murder the mistress in any manner she sees fit.

You’re welcome, fellow trivia nerds!