25 Counterintuitive Facts to Flip Your Brain Upside Down and Shake All the Change Out of It

Will you even believe us if we told you?
25 Counterintuitive Facts to Flip Your Brain Upside Down and Shake All the Change Out of It
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We didn’t believe these at first, so who are we to expect you to? We can sit here and tell you to trust us all we want, but these counterintuitive facts are so unbelievable that you’ll probably do your own research after this list. 

Being a trusting person will save you a ton of time, but we know you: You’d never want to be known as a Gullible Gus.

The Greatest Pirate Ever

Madame Ching was the greatest pirate ever. Shih Jang (A.K.A. Madame Ching) was the scourge of the China Seas in the early 1800s. At its height, her fleet numbered over 1,800 ships and 80,000 loyal scurvy dogs, which allowed her to take on entire nations' navies. In comparison, the fearsome Blackbeard commanded fourships. CRACKED.COM

Dating in High School

Not dating in high school can actually be good for you. A study followed 594 tenth-graders for seven years. Researchers found that wallflowers were less likely to be depressed, and were as good as their peers at personal relationships, if not better. A far cry from the sad loser stereotype. CRACKED.COM

Audio Jacks

The audio jack is 19th-century technology. The jack was invented for telephone switchboards in the late 1870s-and you're still using it today. It has barely changed since. A little bit of your smartphone is pretty much steampunk. (That is, unless you have an iPhone.) CRACKED.COM

The Alamo

CRACKED.COM The Alamo was a grocery store. Even after 1836's battle, the historical place was just a place. In the late 1870s, the building was remodeled to be used as a warehouse and store. Eventually, however, the Alamo was remembered. And preserved.

Country Music

Country music was popularized by a Nazi quack. Back in the 1930s, Doctor John Brinkley had a radio station where he pushed phony remedies, praised Hitler, and played country music. A lot of America was first exposed to the genre through Brinkley's unusually powerful airwaves. Many country acts got their big break on Brinkley's radio. CRACKED.COM

Bagpipes

THE BAGPIPE ORIGINATED IN SUMARIA. The most Scottish thing isn't Scottish at all. CRACKED.COM

Water

HALF THE EARTH'S WATER IS OLDER THAN THE SUN. The Earth is younger than the Sun but is believed to have gotten half of its water from the cloud of gas the Sun was born from. CRACKED.COM

Gold

WE EXCRETE GOLD THROUGH OUR SKIN AND HAIR. We consume nanoparticles of gold found in seawater and soil. Babies under three months old have more gold in their hair due to breast milk. CRACKED.COM

Tomato Genes

A TOMATO HAS ABOUT 7000 MORE GENES THAN A HUMAN. A tomato has 31,760 genes, while us humans only have a measly 20,000-25,000. CRACKED.COM

Vienna in 1913

IN 1913, HITLER, TROTSKY, TITO, FREUD, STALIN, AND ARCHDUKE FRANZ FERDINAND ALL LIVED IN VIENNA. Just A city really full of up-and-comers. CRACKED.COM

Chinese Checkers

CHINESE CHECKERS WAS INVENTED IN GERMANY. The nomenclature was a marketing ploy to capitalize on interest in Eastern culture. CRACKED.COM

Happy Meal Toys

MCDONALD'S IS THE LARGEST TOY DISTRIBUTOR IN THE WORLD. HAMBURGERS McDonald's ogethi Surprisingly, Subway is the largest restaurant chain in the world. CRACKED.COM

George Washington

GEORGE WASHINGTON ALMOST JOINED THE BRITISH NAVY. When he was 14, he would have signed up for the British Army, except his mother wanted him to stay and work on the farm. CRACKED.COM

Bones in Your Feet

MORE THAN A QUARTER YOUR FEET. OF YOUR BONES ARE IN CRACKED.COM Half of all your bones are in feet and hands. Each foot has 26 bones, and each hand has 27. Groope for Bradon Publis Talua Groope for tradine of Premium LANGO Artic with . beach Grooper for Sendon of PEROXATA PARKS Terra TENTICS BAKTIN Guseifire - from BORIAL INTERNSTCHE INTERNATIONS Body Hie EXT pour Body Pholenge EXTESSIRES IT BRAYT dead Ext MASSEY

Australia’s Width

AUSTRALIA IS WIDER THAN THE MOON. Australia is 4000 km wide, while the moon's diameter is 3,475 km. CRACKED.COM

The Weight of Clouds

A TYPICAL CLOUD WEIGHS 1.1 MILLION POUNDS. A reseacher estimated that a cumulus cloud that's about a kilometre across, long, and tall would weigh about that much. CRACKED.COM

Jerry Seinfeld

JERRY SEINFELD IS OLDER THAN RUBY BRIDGES. Seinfeld, the comedian, and Bridges, the first Black child to desegregate a school, were born in the same year. CRACKED.COM

Bacteria

BACTERIA MAKES UP 13% OF THE WORLD'S BIOMASS All humans only make up one ten-thousandth of the weight of life on Earth. CRACKED.COM

Oxford University

OXFORD UNIVERSITY IS OLDER THAN THE AZTEC EMPIRE. The Aztec Empire originated in 1325. The first class at Oxford was in 1095. CRACKED.COM

Detroit and Saddam Hussein

Detroit gave Saddam Hussein the key to the city. CRACKED.COM The newly minted President of Iraq threw a whole ton of cash at a Detroit church when its reverend simply publicly congratulated him on his electoral victory. That reverend made the understatement of the century, when asked in 2003 what's going on with his Iraqi bro: Money and power changed the person.

The Battle of Waterloo

The Battle of Waterloo was a windfall for the denture industry. CRACKED.COM Dentures were often made from dead people's real teeth - - often soldiers, specifically. Sadly, the Battle of Waterloo produced about 50,000 dead soldiers. Some chomper mogul saw piles of dead young men and said Hey! Free teeth!

Hitler’s Reputation

Hitler's reputation was tarnished by a GIF. CRACKED.COM A photographer snapped a series of pics of Hitler looking very goofy on a very serious occasion. A Scottish filmmaker cut them together to make him look like the Chancellor of the Department of Silly Walks. This went as viral as a GIF could in 1940, uniting many of the Allies in mocking this monumental doofus.

The Richest Human Ever

Jeff Bezos probably isn't richer than Augustus Caesar. CRACKED.COM It's often said that billionaire Bezos is the richest human ever to walk the planet. However, adjusted for inflation, several historical hoarders were probably trillionaires. Explains why Caesar could afford to get plugs.

Andrew Jackson’s Funeral

Andrew Jackson's pottymouthed parrot had to be escorted from his funeral. CRACKED.COM Someone thought it was a good idea to invite Jackson's parrot to his funeral. The bird got so worked up being around so many people that it started randomly screeching its lexicon, which included many a swear word.

A Pope and the Plague

A Pope may have caused the Plague. CRACKED.COM Pope Gregory IX ordered a mass extermination of cats in the 13th century, because he was pretty sure Satan was inhabiting them like some kind of evil Uber. Some historians think this caused the rat population to explode, paving the way for the flea-bearing rodents to spread the Black Death around the world.

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