25 Mind-Blowing Facts That Are Stranger Than Fiction!

Posted by , Updated on November 24, 2023

Introducing a literally “insane” list: 25 mind-blowing facts that are stranger than fiction! Are you one of those peeps who love sci-fi films? Fantasy comics? Dystopian video games? Any form of entertainment that has nothing to do with reality? If the answer is yes, then you’re in the right place!

However, movies, comics and games aren’t the only source of amusing insanity. A lot of things happen every day that are as strange as those you see in fiction. Some of them are even stranger. Did you know for example that your bones are stronger than steel? Yep, in reality you’re stronger than “Man of Steel” a.k.a. Superman.

What if we told you that oranges are not even orange really? Would you believe us? You may think that our world is boring but that’s not true. I’m Mike with List25 and The following 25 mind-blowing facts that are stranger than fiction, will make you reconsider a thing or two.

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25

Some turtles use their butt to breathe

mediterranean-tortoise-turtle-priorat-107946-1024https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know/turtles-breathe-out-their-butt

The Scientific term that describes this weird phenomenon is called cloacal respiration. And trust us, it’s a complicated process. To put it simply, when turtles hibernate, they breathe through their butt.

Science suggests that turtles have to endure the cold winter by any means necessary. We believe them!

24

Toads were used as pregnancy tests 

toads-2545328_1280https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-47815960

Until the 1960s, pregnancy tests were done by sending a woman’s urine to a lab in Britain. There, the woman’s urine was injected into a toad. The scientists checked the toad a couple of hours later. If it had laid eggs, the woman was pregnant. If not, she wasn’t!

23

China has banned time travel in films

back-in-the-future-1143664_1280https://www.newyorker.com/culture/richard-brody/china-bans-time-travel

Time travel is not really popular in China. Apparently, the Chinese government decided to ban every film or show that is depicting time traveling in 2011. The reason? Such movies disrespect the historical facts according to the communist regime of China.

22

The shortest war in history lasted a little over 38 minutes

Marines_in_zanzibarhttps://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofBritain/The-Shortest-War-in-History/

The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between Britain and the Zanzibar Sultanate on 27 August 1896. According to modern historians, the war lasted anywhere between 38 and 45 minutes. It is to this day the shortest recorded war of all time.

21

Smoke enemas was a "life-saving" thing once

Tobacco_smoke_enemahttps://allthatsinteresting.com/blowing-smoke

Way before Baywatch surfaces, people believed that smoke enemas could save lives. To be more specific, the lives of drowning victims. Doctors encouraged the blow of tobacco to someone’s throat or anus, suggesting that this practice could stimulate the lungs to work properly again. So glad it’s not the 1700s anymore.

20

It rains diamonds on Saturn and Jupiter

Diamondshttps://nypost.com/2013/10/15/its-raining-diamonds-on-saturn-and-jupiter/

Researchers from NASA speculate that it’s raining diamonds on Jupiter and Saturn. New atmospheric data from the two planets have shown that carbon is plentiful in its glaring crystal form. Lightning storms transform methane into soot, which solidifies into bricks of graphite and then diamond as it falls.

19

A horse once became Rome’s senator

image-20170406-16603-clklxuhttps://www.history.com/news/did-caligula-really-make-his-horse-a-consul

Caligula was a Roman emperor, who is best remembered for his madness. All surviving historical accounts describe him as an extremely insane and ruthless individual. In one of his craziest moments, he decided to make his horse, Incitatus, a senator of Rome.

18

A woman can smell Parkinson disease

joymilne-e1553034327881https://www.telegraph.co.uk/health-fitness/body/meet-woman-can-smell-parkinsons-disease/

Even though there’s not a definitive diagnostic test for Parkinson, there’s someone who can smell it. A British woman named Joy Milne, can detect the brain disease with her nose before the symptoms even appear. Now science eat this!

17

Jurassic Park is a porn film technically

Jurassic_Park_Tyrannosaurushttps://www.vulture.com/2013/04/how-the-dino-sounds-in-jurassic-park-were-made.html

Jurassic Park is a 90s classic family movie that both adults and kids love to this day. What most of you don’t know though, is that Jurassic Park is not as innocent as it looks like. See, the dinosaur noises in the film are recordings of two tortoises having sex.

In an interview, Gary Rydstrom, the sound designer of the film, stated that “If people knew where the sounds in Jurassic Park came from, it’d be rated R!”

16

Your saliva can fill two swimming pools

SCIS-_Swimming_poolhttp://2il.org/during-your-lifetime-you-will-produce-enough-saliva-to-fill-two-swimming-pools/

The average person produces about 2 liters of saliva per day. Let’s say you live 80 to 85 years, you will be able to produce enough saliva to fill not one, but two swimming pools.

15

The octopus has three hearts

Octopus_at_Kelly_Tarlton'shttp://theterramarproject.org/dc-archive/an-octopus-has-3-hearts-9-brains-and-blue-blood/

Other than being extremely flexible, octopuses also have two more hearts than you. Than any human for that matter. An octopus has two hearts that pump blood to the gills, while a third circulates it to the rest of the body. Oh yes! Octopuses also have nine brains and blue blood.

14

Cleopatra wasn’t Egyptian

elizabeth-taylor-cleopatra1-e1397839433553https://www.thoughtco.com/was-cleopatra-black-biography-3528680

Cleopatra is arguably the most famous Egyptian personality of all time. The most admired queen of Egypt’s history as well. A pop culture icon of “Egyptomania” with her own Hollywood films and so on.

The thing is that Cleopatra wasn’t even Egyptian though. She was of Greek origin and her native language was Koine Greek. Be honest…Did you even know it?

13

Cows have besties just like humans do

Two_cowshttps://www.barnsanctuary.org/blog/science-cow-friendship-cows-best-friends/

In case you thought that only humans have best friends, you better think twice. Cows have best friends too. At least that’s what a team of researchers from the Northampton University has proposed. The study found that cows felt more comfortable next to their best friends than cows they didn’t know.

How they figured out this? Their heart rates were significantly lower and they experienced less stress when they were around their besties.

12

Cows have regional accents like humans as well

animals-bovine-close-up-33550http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/5277090.stm

Having best friends isn’t the only human-like habit of cows. According to language specialists and experts cows “moo” with different accents depending on their place of origin. The study was conducted in 2006, after dairy farmers mentioned that their cows had different moos.

11

Newborns can’t shed tears

baby-boy-care-460538https://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/family/newborn-babies-dont-cry-tears-13483375

Contrary to popular belief, newborns can’t cry properly. A baby will shed his first teardrops when he’s between one and three months old. So, do you still wonder why newborns “cry” so loud? Because it’s their only way to complain or notify their parents.

10

Bees can detect bombs

honey-bees-326334_960_720https://www.technologyreview.com/s/406961/using-bees-to-detect-bombs/

Bees are awesome. This is what every entomologist will tell you. Other than detecting cancer before it becomes deadly to humans, they can also detect explosives. Thanks to their divine-like sense of smell, bees can detect odors that a human or even a dog nose can’t.

9

The human brain is the only brain shrinking

Human_Brain_Dissectedhttps://www.scientificamerican.com/article/why-have-our-brains-started-to-shrink/

Our brain is what makes us more civilized and overall superior to other animals. That’s what science has taught us and it seems to be true to a certain level.

Unfortunately, the human brain is the only brain that’s shrinking with age. In other words, humans are the only animals that get dumber as they get older.

8

The bananas you eat are not bananas really 

banana-2449019_960_720https://www.economist.com/feast-and-famine/2014/02/27/we-have-no-bananas-today

To begin with, commercially grown bananas have no seeds. Thus, they can’t reproduce. In other words, they are artificial or “mutants” if you prefer, destined to be consumed.

If you want to see how a real banana looks like, you need to grow banana plants from seed. However, keep in mind that what you may see, will look nothing like the bananas you know.

7

The highest paid entertainer of the 19th century was a farter

441pujolhttp://www.weirdhistorian.com/le-petomane/

Going by the nickname “Le Petomane”, Joseph Pujol was a French professional farter. To get an idea how popular Pujol was in Paris back then, he earned even more money than the likes of Pablo Picasso and Marcel Proust.

He was the “main event” at the Moulin Rouge, and toured the world for more than two decades with incredible success. What exactly was his talent? He seduced his audiences with his artistic and musical farts.

6

The longest gap between birth of twins is 87 days!!!

PAY-PROD-Elliott-Twins-School-17JPGhttps://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/first-day-school-record-breaking-11135177

Maria Jones-Elliott was carrying twin girls when her water broke. She was only 23 weeks pregnant, and the doctors worried about the survival of her babies. Miraculously, one of the baby girls was born on June 1, 2012. Little Amy was four months premature and weighed a little more than one pound.

The other baby stayed in the womb. Three months later, baby Katie was born on August 27. The gap between the twin sisters was an unbelievable 87 days.

5

Joseph Stalin used "Photoshop" way before its existence

stalin-composite-16x9http://www.openculture.com/2017/08/long-before-photoshop-the-soviets-mastered-the-art-of-erasing-people-from-photographs-and-history-too.html

Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin loved taking photos of himself. He loved photos so much, to the point he edited them way before Photoshop comes into existence.

Historians noticed that Stalin often retouched his photos in order to remove people who had died, or were removed (violently usually) from the Communist party.

4

High heels were designed for men originally

pair-of-golden-shoes-with-high-heelshttps://www.today.com/style/surprisingly-functional-reason-high-heels-were-invented-t100969

Women love to wear them nowadays and that’s a fact. However, high heels were originally designed for men and that’s a fact too. As early as the 10th century, Persian equestrians were wearing high heels, but not to become taller.

According to Elizabeth Semmelhack, a curator from the Bata Shoe Museum, “When a soldier stood up in his stirrups, the heel helped to secure his stance so that he could shoot his bow and arrow more easily.”

3

Eating polar bear’s liver will kill you

Polar_Bear_ANWR_1https://animals.howstuffworks.com/mammals/eat-polar-bear-liver.htm

Scientists warn that eating 30 to 90 grams of polar bear liver in one meal can kill you. How? It will cause a lethal vitamin A toxicity in your system. The polar bear’s liver contains extremely high levels of retinol, which can be deadly for the human organism.

2

The stewardess who survived a 33,000ft fall

black and white photo of Vesna Vulovichttps://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-38427411

Ever heard of Vesna Vulovic? No? Too bad, as this Serbian woman was a real superhero. She holds the world record for surviving the highest fall without a parachute.

Working as a flight attendant, she was the only survivor of JAT Airways plane crash in 1972. Believe it or not, she fell from 33,000 ft with no parachute and lived to tell her incredible story.

1

There’s a fish that lives outside water

Queensland_Lungfish_(Neoceratodus_forsteri)https://www.britannica.com/animal/lungfish

Have you ever heard the phrase “like a fish out of water?” It applies for like 99, 9% of the creatures of the sea except one. An ancient species of fish called lungfish can live outside water for an unlimited period of time.

Thanks to its very complicated breathing mechanism, lungfish can survive inside the water and out of it with no problems.