How I Find Facts and Links for "One Thing", and "Mind Blowing Facts"

Here's how...

I’ve been asked a bunch of times “Where and how do you find these mind blowing facts, and your “One Thing” links, Paul? 

Here’s a random “One Thing Generator”:

One Thing: 10/22/24

I have a bunch of go to sites which are kind of lists of internet sites, or indexes,- like the old blogrolls (may be before your time). 

When looking to put together the Curious Facts Newsletter I peruse sites:

• https://blogroll.org/

• https://bibliodyssey.blogspot.com/2007/07/link-list.html

• https://interconnected.org/home/blogroll

• https://kevquirk.com/blogroll/

• https://ooh.directory/

• https://ridiculouslyinteresting.com/browse-collection/

• https://bearblog.dev/discover/

• https://feedly.com/i/top/tumblr-blogs

• https://fs.blog/blog/

• Reddit.com,

• https://skimfeed.com

• https://www.ripleys.com/

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_common_misconceptions

• https://brutalist.report/

• https://www.mentalfloss.com/amazingfactgenerator

• http://www.technovelgy.com/

• Snopes.com

• https://www.urbandictionary.com/

• https://www.pewresearch.org/

• https://news.gallup.com/home.aspx

• https://www.psychologytoday.com/ca 

• https://www.amusingplanet.com/

• Data — Information is Beautiful

• 75 Mind Blowing Facts You'll Think Are Made Up (But Aren't)

• Lightning Myths

• Power Words: 150+ Words to Drive More Clicks and Conversions on Social Media

• The Art of Manliness | Men's Interests and Lifestyle

• Onym

• Different File Types and How to Open Them

• Turn Your Curiosity Into Discovery - Facts.net

• 99% Invisible

• USAFacts Editorial Guidelines | USAFacts

• National Geographic

• 52Things/index.html at main · TomWhitwell/52Things · GitHub

• (3) The [Tuesday] Media Diet with Tom Whitwell

• One Good Fact about Tornados | Britannica

• Information is Beautiful

• 8 most dangerous cities in the world - BBC Science Focus Magazine

• TopTenz: History, Mystery & the Bizarre

• Explain that Stuff

• Data — Information is Beautiful

• Common MythConceptions — Information is Beautiful

• May 1: Facts & Historical Events On This Day - The Fact Site

• ThisIsWhyImBroke :: The Internet's Mall

• 10 Misconceptions About Our Bodies That Many of Us Still Believe - Listverse

• Where the Wonders of Learning Never Cease | Wonderopolis

• List of musician and band name etymologies - Wikipedia

• View of The History and Significance of English Phrases Originating in China Coast Pidgin

• 11 of the Wildest Pre-Internet Rumors in American History

• Visual Capitalist

• Mapped: The Literal Translation of Every Country's Name

• Top 10 Lists - Listverse

• List of common misconceptions - Wikipedia

• Best Life: Jokes, Relationships, Health, Lifestyle & Travel

• Ripley's Believe It or Not! | Aquariums, Attractions, Museums

• 102 Historical Facts That Might Change Your Perspective On Things | Bored Panda

• What is a life-changing realization you wish you had sooner? (2017 ed.) - lifeadvice advice relationships | Ask MetaFilter

• 10 Ways to Find New Ideas - Killer Innovations with Phil McKinney

• Why Most Published Research Findings Are False - Wikipedia

• How to visualize the Olympics | The Flourish blog | Flourish | Data Visualization & Storytelling

• Pew Research Center

• Gallup News | Nonpartisan Analysis of Critical Global Issues

• Index Archive | Harper's Magazine

• 5 black hole facts to blow your mind | NSF - National Science Foundation

• Country Roads Japan - Home

• Science Illustrated - explore the world of science | scienceillustrated.com

• Popular Mechanics News

• Reddit - Damn That’s Interesting

• 14 Secret Code Words You Might Want to Know

• 100 Mind-Blowing Facts You've Never Heard Before — Best Life

• List25 - Consistently Conciliating Curiosity

• 10 Misconceptions About Our Bodies That Many of Us Still Believe - Listverse

Other online resources like dictionaries, encyclopedias, bibliographies, almanacs, directories and atlases are also research aids.

I read from my library of physical reference books like the Atlas Obscura, Boundless by Ben Greenfield, My College Advertising Textbook by Maurice Mandell. 

Other Substack writers and commenters send me ideas, and facts they have heard about, and I’ll link back to their newsletter after verifying. Send to @pau1 on Substack.

I subscribe to a literal figurative ton of newsletters. 

I find interesting things watching TV shows, movies, You Tube Videos, listening to podcasts, siriusxm programs, reading newspapers and so on. The ultimate goal is that I hope that you find this stuff interesting also!

The Process

I have a running note on my laptop titled Curious Mind Blowing Facts - 7 (or whatever the current number is). I cut and paste the info I find online. I write down what I’ve seen in real life (TV, etc) into this note. 

When I get 20 to 30 of these snippets, I spend some time and fact check them. I use Google, Snopes, Wikipedia, and other ways to verify accuracy. 

Then I copy and paste the fact dump into a blank post page on Substack. Lately I’ve been Bolding every other snippet for readability. 

I rewrite a lot of the copied clips for clarity and simplicity. After the text layout comes the illustrations which I make in Midjourney AI. I pay for the yearly option which allows me to use whatever pics I want for any purpose. (Until it doesn’t). You can use any of my pics for free. It would be nice to have a link back to Deplatformable, but not mandatory. 

When the illustrations are done, the post is ready to unleash into the world. The plan is to publish on a Monday once or twice a month.

• All the Curious Mind Blowing Facts