20 Random Fun Facts You Won’t Forget

The world is full of strange, surprising, and downright delightful facts. I’ve put together a fascinating list of 20 random facts that you probably didn’t know — and definitely won’t forget!
Ready to become the star of your next trivia night? Let’s get started!

1. Vincent van Gogh only sold a single painting, Red Vineyards near Arsles, during his lifetime. The painting is in the Pushkin State Museum of Fine Arts in Moscow, Russia.

2. The only miniature book museum in the world is located in Baku, Azerbaijan. The Baku Museum of Miniature Books contains more than 6,500 books from 64 different countries.

3. The Atacama Desert in South America is the driest desert in the world. Studies conducted by NASA have concluded that there may not have been any significant rainfall from 1570 to 1971.

4. The first movable type printing press was invented by Johannes Gutenberg in 1440.

5. Some species of sharks drown when they stop swimming. These specific species do not have the muscles needed to pump oxygenated water over their gills, so they must constantly move to keep the water filtering through. If they stop swimming, they drown.

6. Over sixty percent of the world’s lakes are located in Canada.

7. Australia is wider than the moon. The moon is 3400 km in diameter, while Australia’s diameter from east to west is almost 4000 km.

8. Human teeth are the only part of the body that cannot heal themselves. That’s because teeth are coated in enamel, which is not a living tissue.

9. The first airplane flew on 17 December 1903. Wilbur and Orville Wright made four brief flights in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, with their powered aircraft.

10. Competitive art used to be an Olympic sport. Between 1912 and 1948, the international sporting event awarded medals for music, painting, sculpture, and architecture.

11. Sudan has more pryamids than Egypt. Sudan has between 200 and 250 pyramids compared to Egypt’s roughly 138, making it the country with the most pyramids.

12. In 2004, Neil Armstrong’s hair was sold without his permission for $3,000.

13. The shortest war in history was between Britain and Zanzibar in 1896 – it lasted 38 minutes.

14. Tomatoes have more genes than humans – about 31,000, compared to our 20,000-25,000.

15. Tug of war was in the Olympics from 1900 to 1920.

16. The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for Barcelona. The Spanish city thought it was too ugly, so Gustave Eiffel pitched it to Paris instead. French critics weren’t too thrilled either, but it’s one of the most famous landmarks in the world today.

17. Honey never spoils. Archaeologists have found pots of it in ancient Egyptian tombs, still edible.

18. Central Park in New York City is larger than the entire country of Monaco.

19. The Eiffel Tower was originally intended for Barcelona. The Spanish city thought it was too ugly, so Gustave Eiffel pitched it to Paris instead. French critics weren’t too thrilled either, but it’s one of the most famous landmarks in the world today.

20. Scotland has 421 words for “snow”, including “sneesl’” (to begin to rain or snow).