12 Fascinating Random Facts

Amazing and Interesting Things, Activities and People can be found in the most surprising places, if we knew about them. Here are some that we have found that may fascinate and surprise you .

1. Bananas are curved because they grow towards the sun. Bananas go through a process called “negative geotropism.” Instead of growing towards the ground, they start growing towards the sun. The fruit grows against gravity, which gives the banana its familiar curved shape.

1. The Whale Shark, which usually grow up to at least 10 metres (33 feet) long and weigh 9 ton, is harmless to humans.  It eats plankton (small animals such as krill and fish eggs) which it strains from the ocean water.

1. Saint Lucia is the only country in the world named after a woman. Saint Lucia which in the Caribbean, was discovered by the French after they were shipwrecked on the island in 1660. They arrived on December 13^th which is the feast day of Saint Lucy, so that is why they named it Saint Lucia!

1. The top six foods that make your pass wind (fart) are beans, corn, bell peppers, cauliflower, cabbage and milk. Unfortunately, these may also be some of your favourite foods, but it’s probably best if you avoid eating any of these if you’re going on a date or going out with friends! Their effect on you will also depend on how much and what they are mixed with.

1. The custom of being clean shaven is said to date from the time of Alexander the Great, who had only a scanty beard which set the fashion.  A century later shaving entered the Roman world in the west, and the eastern world abandoned the custom.

1. The oldest “your mum” joke was discovered on a 3,500 year old Babylonian tablet. It was discovered in Iraq in 1976, however since then the tablet has been lost, but the text remains preserved.
2. The Swiss philanthropist Henri Dunant devoted so much of his money and energy to the establishment of the Red Cross that his textile business failed and he was reduced to being a pauper.  He was a co-winner of the first Nobel Prize, in 1901, and left the honourarium to charities, not his family.
3. The Eiffel Tower has a total of 1,710 steps. It is 108 stories tall, with 1,710 steps getting you to get to the top of the Eiffel Tower. Luckily, guests are only allowed to climb the stairs to the first platform, and from there they must take a lift to the top.
4. The character “Hermione” in the Harry Potter books was named by the author J.K. Rowling so that young girls wouldn’t be teased for being nerdy. The name Hermione came from Shakespeare’s “A Winter’s Tale.” Rowling says when she chose the name, she “didn’t want a lot of fairly hard-working little girls to be teased if ever the book was published.”
5. Octopuses have four pairs of arms. The six of an octopus’ tentacles serve as arms, while the other two are their “legs.” They use six tentacles just to eat!
6. A crocodile can’t poke its tongue out. That is because their tongues are attached to the roof of their mouths, not the floor of the mouth as in many other creatures. But alligators can poke it’s tongue out.
7. If you have a fear of being tickled by feathers, it is called Pteronophobia. Also it is a fear of feathers themselves. The word “ptero” is the Greek word for feather, and “phobia” is also Greek, meaning fear.

See more fascinating and amazing Facts on our web site.