Kids see their parents as their superheroes and think that they know everything there is to know about the world. But being a parent to an inquisitive child is like living with the constant possibility of a pop-quiz coming up—you never know when they’ll ask you why the sun shines, whether aliens exist, or when they’ll want to hear random facts about the universe.
That’s exactly the challenge that Reddit user MoonBaboon was faced with. The redditor asked the online community what mind-blowing but simple facts would satisfy their 3-year-old son’s daily request for one fact before bedtime. And people delivered!
From facts like pink dolphins actually being real to interesting trivia tidbits like somebody having had the hiccups for 68 years, these bits of knowledge are fun for everyone, not just parents. We’ve collected the best mind-blowing facts, so scroll down and remember to upvote your faves. When you’re done with this list, have a look at Bored Panda’s earlier post about a father who asked strangers for interesting facts to tell his daughter.
#1
Cats can be allergic to people
Image credits: Break_Away_1776
#2
Manatees fart to sink deeper in the water, it's like letting the air out of a balloon.
Image credits: insertcaffeine
#3
Jelly fish don't have brains.
Image credits: xenobia92
MoonBabboon’s post got over 55.3k upvotes on r/AskReddit and the redditor received several awards for their wholesome question.
Sure, random facts are cool, but they’re more than just that—they actually help turn your child into a more capable person, preparing them for the future. UK researchers conducted a study about the link between how engaged parents were in their children’s learning and how well the kids did academically later on.
#4
If you lift a kangaroos tail of the ground it can't hop (but he will not be happy).
Image credits: xenobia92
#5
The average human produces enough saliva over their life to fill 2 swimming pools.
Image credits: xenobia92
#6
A baby octopus is about the size of a flea when it is born.
The researchers found that kids do well in school when their parents read to them, listen to them read aloud, help them learn their letters, numbers, songs, and nursery rhymes.
And when the kids got a bit older, they excelled in school when their parents remained active in their education.
So going with your kid on field trips, participating in the classroom, showing genuine interest in how they’re doing at school, and monitoring their progress with homework and tests all lead to better results in school. In other words, honest, dedicated care and attention pay off.
#7
Wombats poop in cubes.
Image credits: chcampb
#8
Before he became president, Abraham Lincoln was a wrestler.
Image credits: NakedOlsenTwins
#9
There are pink dolphins in the amazon river
Image credits: astroturtle1212
#10
You can hear a lion roar from up to 5 miles away.
Image credits: xenobia92
#11
Queen Elizabeth can’t sit on the Iron Throne from Game of Thrones. - the ruling monarch can’t sit on a foreign throne, even if it’s fictional.
Image credits: xenobia92
#12
Squids have doughnut shaped brains!
Image credits: Juturna_
#13
There are more plastic flamingos in the world than real flamingos.
Image credits: riano25
#14
Both boys and girls used to wear dresses. It was only when boys got older they started wearing pants.
Image credits: chcampb
#15
sea otters hold hands while they are sleeping to not drift apart
Image credits: gecko_007
#16
The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland.
Image credits: nyrmac2152
#17
It rains diamonds on Jupiter
Image credits: retreatedkeys
#18
A baby spider is called a spiderling.
Image credits: xenobia92
#19
A small child could swim through the veins of a blue whale.
Image credits: xenobia92
#20
Nutella was invented during WWII, when hazelnuts were mixed into chocolate to extend chocolate rations.
Image credits: xenobia92
#21
Squirrels forget where they hide about half of their nuts.
Image credits: xenobia92
#22
The male emu goes around and collects the eggs that the female lays, painstakingly moves them all to a nest, then sits on them until they hatch. After they hatch he is their only caretaker. The mother isn't involved at all.
Image credits: WifeofTech
#23
There once was a trade agreement between a pack of dolphins and fishermen that lasted several years.The fishermen would give the dolphins a fish that they wanted, and in return, the dolphins would give the fishermen a fish that they wanted!
Image credits: dragoninmyanus
#24
Most elephants weigh less than a blue whale’s tongue is my favorite
Image credits: MoonBaboon
#25
hippos excrete a red liquid that acts like a natural sunscreen
Image credits: bigdaeh
#26
scorpions can hold their breath for 6 days
Image credits: bigdaeh
#27
bananas are berries
Image credits: roterpuffle
#28
Termites in Australia by mass weigh more then humans on earth.
Image credits: mcfear
#29
If you shave a tiger you’ll see striped skin.
Image credits: mixiship
#30
Coconts aren’t nuts at all, they’re fruit.
Image credits: mixiship
#31
Flamingos get their pink color from pigments in the organisms they eat.
Image credits: mixiship
#32
Aluminum cans are made from the ashes of exploding stars.(The element aluminum is only produced in the first few seconds of a supernova.)
Image credits: Lachwen
#33
You share 50-65% of DNA with bananas
Image credits: MrTiger23
#34
If you were 66 million light years away from Earth and had a telescope that could see Earth, you could still see the dinosaurs.
Image credits: DaKittyWhisperer
#35
Crows can see a color that we can't called ultraviolet. Their feathers have pretty patterns on them, like peacocks, but they're all colored ultraviolet, so even though they look black to us, they all look really fancy and colorful to each other.
Image credits: surt2
#36
Crows and Ravens can learn to imitate human speech.
Image credits: insertcaffeine
#37
Full-grown cats don't meow at each other. They only meow at humans.#38
Hummingbirds offer some cool facts:They're the only bird that can fly backwards or hover and this is due to their wings flapping in a figure 8 pattern.
They eat by sticking out their tongues which is covered in barbs.
They often hitch rides on bigger birds for migration.
They build their nests using gossamer (spider webs) so that the nest will expand with the babies as they grow, they always lay 2 eggs at a time.
When they rest, they go into this catatonia called torpor which lowers their heart rate to less than a quarter of beats per minute as when they're active so that they don't starve to death while they sleep.
#39
Babies don't have kneecaps! They form around two years of age.#40
There is a species of burrowing tarantula that lets tiny frogs live in their burrows. The frog eats pests that are too small for the spider to get, and in return, the frog is kept safe by the big ol' spider. This is pretty much how the domestication of cats went.Tiny frogs are tarantula housecats.
Image credits: The_First_Viking
#41
Only girl bees have stingers.
Image credits: mixiship
#42
Ants don’t have eyelids, so they can’t blink.
Image credits: mixiship
#43
A tortoise’s shell is joined to its back
Image credits: --TheSenate--
#44
Crows have the critical thinking skills of a 7 year old child… which is far superior to most animals#45
If you cut a hole into a net, there are less holes than there were to begin with.#46
Elephants think humans are cute like humans think puppies are cute#47
Giraffes fall about 1.8 meters when they are born. (To straighten out their necks)
Image credits: Pixel_221
#48
Blue whales have the loudest voices in the animal kingdom, up to 180 dB. (Jet engine is this loud). They have been known to modulate their calls so as to not hurt the ears of divers. Mothers and calves have also been discovered “whispering” to each other to avoid attracting predators.#49
By the time an Elk reaches adulthood it has shed more bone from losing its antlers that the bone contained in its entire skeleton!#50
It's debated what the largest flower on Earth is, but the two leading contenders Amorphophallus titanum, (Titan arum) and the rafflesia, both smell like rotting meat. This vile smell is used to attract flies and other insects that act as pollinators.#51
T-rex actually lived closer in time to us than it did to the stegosaurus.#52
There are more stars in the sky than there are grains of sand on the earth (approximately 10 times more)#53
The word "Arctic" doesn't mean "cold" but rather comes from the Greek word for "bear."Therefore, Arctic means Bear-place and Antarctic means Not-bear-place
#54
Platypus don't have stomachs.
Image credits: thuskindlyiscatter
#55
All of the other planets can fit in the space between the Earth and the Moon.#56
Flamingos eat with their heads upside down.#57
Baby whales drink milk from their mothers nipples, just like baby humans. Except they do it under water.#58
Pink use to be a boys color#59
Penguins have a small organ in their skull that desalinates water.#60
Mammoths were still wandering around somewhere whilst the Pyramids were being built#61
The average person farts over 500,000 times in their life.#62
The word buffalo eight times in a row is a real sentence.It means that there are buffalo from Buffalo that other buffalo from Buffalo intimidate, and they themselves also go on to intimidate other buffalo who are also from Buffalo.