Curious Mind Blowing Facts -24
That might make you scratch your head and say "hmmm"
The Japanese government is planning to connect major cities with automated zero-emissions logistics links (possibly using conveyor belts or tunnel networks) that can quietly and efficiently move millions of tons of cargo, while getting tens of thousands of trucks off the road. There will simply not be enough people to move the freight in the coming decades
The number of emails sent and received worldwide per day in 2024 is 361.6 billion—a 4.1% increase from the previous year. And is expected to rise a similar amount next year. For every dollar you spend on email marketing, your return on that investment (ROI) is $40! (Omnisend, 2022).
Bangkok is the world’s most visited city. With 22.78 million international visitors.
We are born with only 2 natural fears: the fear of falling and the fear of loud sounds. All other fears and phobias are learned later in life, by our surroundings, parents, siblings, friends, and TV.
There are no MacDonalds in Antarctica. All other continents have them.
Dead people get goosebumps.
A snail can sleep for three years.
Four out of the ten largest statues in the world are of Buddhas.
Can he win the bet?
Benjamin Franklin is best known for being the only Founding Father who signed all three documents that freed America from Britain. Franklin is credited with drafting the Declaration of Independence and the American Constitution.
He was a polymath: a leading writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher, and political philosopher.
Plus, the Ben Franklin effect is a psychological phenomenon in which people like someone more after doing a favor for them.
There is also a sales strategy named after him called the “Ben Franklin Close”, where a salesperson builds a list of pros-and-cons together with a prospect about a specific offering. The salesman stops when the pro list is longer.
The boy whose exorcism inspired "The Exorcist" later became a NASA engineer, where his contributions significantly supported the Apollo missions during the 1960s.
The Cashew Tree of Pirangi is the world’s largest. It covers 90,000 square feet, is 1,600 ft around, and yields over 60,000 fruits each year. That’s nuts.
In 1800, nearly 40% of the world's population lived in the Qing empire in China. The Qing dynasty was founded by a northeast Asian people who called themselves Manchus.
Jason Kelce, the older brother of Travis, met his wife Kylie on the dating app Tinder. Travis has been going out with Taylor Swift for almost a year. Both brothers play in the NFL. Tinder made its first match in Antarctica in 2014. Where there are no MacDonalds restaurants.
By the time they have been retired for two years, 78 percent of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.
A small island in Italy is the home to 100 people and 600 goats and is named Alicudi. Alicudi is among the seven inhabited islands within the Aeolian Islands group, situated off the shores of Sicily and mainland Italy. The government is giving away the goats for free to the residents.
When birds collide with airplanes, their remains are sent to a special lab in Washington, DC. There, an elite team of avian detectives works to identify the exact type of bird—the better to prevent future catastrophes. (Smithsonian Institution’s Feather Identification Lab, an elite, five-person unit that’s the only full-time bird-strike identification lab in the world).
Do you watch Ted Talks videos? Ted is short for “The merging of Technology, Entertainment and Design”. (Example: https://www.ted.com/talks/laura_gassner_otting_why_doesn_t_success_bring_happiness)
7-Eleven is the world’s largest convenience store chain and started as an American company but is now owned by a Japanese company. And they are going to increase their food offerings, hot and cold - to add sales to declining gasoline and tobacco sales.
Salvador Dali illustrated a Vogue Hardcover book as well as illustrating the Magazine cover in June 1939. Dali would get out of paying at restaurants by drawing on the checks.
Our brain plays a big part in how we see things. When we look at something, only a tiny part of what we see is super clear—just the middle of our vision, which is about 10% of everything we can see around us. But even though most of our vision isn't super clear, our brain tricks us into thinking it all is. It makes the whole picture seem clear and focused, like a perfect image. This trick happens because our brain works together with our eyes to make sense of what we see.
Chat GPT loses $700,000 each day. (Good alternative AI news: Ed Zitron at https://www.wheresyoured.at/)
Microsoft claims to have something like 95% of the world's word processing market; over one billion people use Microsoft Word. There are 1.5 billion active Apple iPhone users in the world. On the other hand the number of people who remain “unconnected” to the internet has fallen to 2.66 billion, with the majority of these people living in Southern and Eastern Asia, and in Africa.
Canva, the free (and has a paid version) online graphic design tool, is valued at $40 billion, and is a privately held company. Canva is excellent for making graphics for your Substack posts, and any social media. It was started in Australia by Melanie Perkins -37 years young - (Net worth- $4.4 Billion USD), Cliff Obrecht (Net worth - $4.4 Billion USD) and Cameron Adams (Net worth - $2.2 Billion USD).
Canva is worth more than
TC Energy
Kraft Heinz
Estée Lauder
Qatar National Bank
Kroger
Lululemon
Imperial Oil
Loblaws
Dow Chemical
Kia
Yum Brands
Mitsubishi Electric
General Mills
Agnico Eagle
Sysco
HP
Deutsche Bank
…
About 10 years ago or so I sent a tweet to Gary Vaynerchuk, and asked him “Would it kill ya to follow me on Twitter?” He started following me on Twitter. Twitter used to be fun. Now it’s the opposite of that. (Is the feud ever going to resolve https://substack.com/@hamish)?
I’m not kidding you, but it’s harder to get into Clown College than it is Harvard. The Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Clown College only accepts about 50 applicants per year from a field of thousands of would-be students. The collective term for a group of clowns is an alley, bunch, mutiny, nest, pratfall, shudder, or a trunkload.
In 1947 the Texas City disaster happened. A ship explosion in Texas City was so large that it knocked 2 planes out of the sky, killed hundreds, and injured more than 5000 people and 1,784 admitted to 21 area hospitals. The seaport was destroyed, and many businesses and homes were flattened or burned. Over 1,100 vehicles were damaged and 362 freight cars were obliterated.
The estimated property damage including burned oil products is approximately 6.5 billion dollars.
80% of Buick’s new car sales were sold in China.
On April 23, 1960 The Nerk Twins played the first of 2 dates at a pub. The Nerk Twins were John Lennon and Paul McCartney. The pub was owned by Paul’s cousin. The future Beatles were visiting for a week during Easter holidays that year. They even worked behind the bar when they weren’t playing music.
Paul said “That spring of 1960, John and I went down to a pub in Reading, The Fox And Hound, run by my cousin Betty Robbins and her husband. We worked behind the bar. It was a lovely experience that came from John and I just hitching off down there. At the end of the week we played in the pub as The Nerk Twins. We even made our own posters”.
A few months later in July 1960, they billed themselves as the Silver Beatles, before finally settling on simply the Beatles, around August 16, 1960. According to the Beatles' publicist Derek Taylor, the name came from the 1953 movie “The Wild One,” starring Marlon Brando. Brando played Johnny Strabler, a member of a motorcycle gang whose rival gang, led by actor Lee Marvin, was the Beetles. The original fab ‘5’ Beatles were John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison, Pete Best and Stuart Sutcliffe.
When Chuck Norris was born, he drove his mom home from the hospital.
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Your favorite fact?
I had to look up that mondo cashew tree. Even without a ginormous tree, cashews are so weird the way they grow, yet so yummy. It’s one of those things where you wonder who was the first person who tried to eat one
My vote goes to Clown College. Now I can't help but ponder "How many of the Clown College rejects, graduated Harvard?"