Skip to content
Search AI Powered

Latest Stories

People Share Facts That Sound Like BS But Are Completely True

People Share Facts That Sound Like BS But Are Completely True
Image by Tumisu from Pixabay

Make us preferred on Google

I'm certain I've mentioned this before, but did you know that Cleopatra lived closer in time to the Moon landing than to the construction of the Great Pyramid of Giza? If that doesn't do your head in, I don't know what will.

What if I told you that we were once this close to nuclear proliferation but that a courageous Soviet officer stopped things before they got too out of control? (That one really makes you realize how fleeting life is, doesn't it?

After Redditor Uwusnapmyneck (oh dear) asked the online community, "What fact sounds like BS but is actually true?" people shared the best ones that came to their minds.


"There is a fence in Australia..."

There is a fence in Australia that is longer than the distance from NYC to London.

And thats not like a 'trick statement'. It's a long fence.

zangor

"You can live for years..."

You can live for years with heart failure.

Elventroll

"The jet engine..."

The jet engine was actually invented before the ballpoint pen.

CrazedAviator

"For 40 years..."

For 40 years, hundreds of children were sent by their parents to a "boarding school" in Maine, USA that cost $50,000 a year.

It was actually an abusive cult that psychologically tortured them, including an actual fight club where staff would demand that one child be beaten by multiple other children, this was called "the Ring" and was called a therapeutic tool by the drug addicts who ran the place.

This "school" was only closed down in 2011.

secularaluces

"It's nearly impossible..."

It's nearly impossible to wipe out coyotes from an area. If you kill them the females will begin to have bigger litters to balance it out. In some instances even killing 70% of an area coyote population wasn't enough to stop them repopulating.

[deleted]

"This is especially noteworthy..."

One of the earliest humans we know of by name, Ea-Nasir, is known because he was a shady merchant who sold low quality copper... and had a special room in his house where he kept hate mail sent by people he'd swindled.

This is especially noteworthy since they were written on clay tablets, which were valuable at the time and therefore were usually wiped clean and reused by the recipient. He went out of his way to keep and store records of how hated he was.

Madhighlander1

"The great Danish astronomer..."

The great Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe died in 1601 from being too polite. He tried to hold in his pee for a long dinner one night and his bladder burst. He died from bladder poisoning a few days later.

Max27265

"If you see a picture..."

If you see a picture of a starving kid with a disproportionately large belly, it doesn't mean the kid's been recently fed or overfed or anything like that - most of the time it's abdominal edema caused by low protein intake.

csiczi00

"This is because in most creatures..."

Giraffes can only make low bleating sounds, because the path of evolution made it so that the vagus nerve (which controls the larynx) has to make a trip as long as 15 feet (!) from their brain, down around their heart, and back up again to the larynx.

This is because in most creatures with short or no necks the nerve only makes a very short detour to the heart and back. Evolution kept this setup, just lengthened the nerves, and now (it is believed) the trip is so long for giraffes that they have a small but noticeable delay in controlling parts of their head. So, even if they can make more sounds, they wouldn't be very good at it since intricate vocalizations require good muscle control.

LoneQuietus81

"There are more iterations..."

There are more iterations in a game of chess than there are atoms in the observable universe.

look_for_the_helpers

Want to "know" more? Never miss another big, odd, funny, or heartbreaking moment again. Sign up for the Knowable newsletter here.

More from Trending/best-of-reddit

Kim Kardashian; TikToker @wetsloppyswollen
Monica Schipper/Getty Images; @wetsloppyswollen/TikTok

SKIMS Issues Refunds For Advent Calendars After Outraged Customers Compare Them To Fyre Fest

There's no denying that Kim Kardashian and her SKIMS brand are popular, but like her undergarment line that included faux pubic hair, she's certainly had some misses along the way.

The latest in the line of SKIMS offenses was none other than the clothing brand's Christmas advent calendar, complete with 12 days of Christmas trinkets and priced at just under $150. Many SKIMS enthusiasts hurriedly ordered theirs for fear of the brand selling out, and some excited customers could not wait until Christmas season to open them.

Keep ReadingShow less
Erika Kirk
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images

Video Of Erika Kirk Talking About Charlie Kirk's Brand Of Hot Sauce Just Weeks After His Death Resurfaces—And It's A Big Yikes

A resurfaced video of Erika Kirk talking about how her late husband Charlie Kirk's brand of hot sauce reminded her of him has social media users raising their eyebrows.

The late Kirk, who was assassinated at a Utah campus event in September 2025, was a virulent white supremacist who aligned with the Christian right and advocated for Christian nationalism, promoting a nativist, fundamentalist Christian view of society. He openly attacked LGBTQ+ rights, backed the white genocide conspiracy theory, and was a major figure in the MAGA movement.

Keep ReadingShow less
JoJo Siwa
Paul Archuleta/Getty Images

JoJo Siwa Sparks 'Trad Wife' Comparisons After Debuting Her Conservative New Look

JoJo Siwa has been in the spotlight for most of her life, thanks initially to her partnership with her mother on Dance Moms, through which she became well-known for her cute and bubbly personality, constant smile, and of course, her bright blonde, slicked back, high ponytail.

It was only years later when her mother bragged about all of the "sacrifices" she made to be successful on Dance Moms that people discovered JoJo Siwa was not a blonde at all. She had naturally light brown hair, which she described as "brown woots" when she was little, and her mom started to bleach it blonde when JoJo was just 2 years old.

Keep ReadingShow less
Lucas Zelnick
@lucaszelnick/Instagram

Jewish Comedian Has Perfect Response After Heckler At His Show Claims That All Jews Are 'Evil'

You may have noticed that antisemitism has had a real resurgence in recent years, and it's not just on the far-right like usual.

The leftist movement in America has developed a virulent antisemitism problem as well, with devotees often routinely assuming Jewish identity equates to support for Israel's genocide in Gaza.

Keep ReadingShow less
Alanis Morissette
L. Busacca/Getty Images for Songwriters Hall Of Fame

LGBTQ+ Fans Celebrate After Alanis Morissette Comes Out As Pansexual: 'I Get Everything'

During a recent episode of Tig Notaro, Fortune Feimster, and Mae Martin's Handsome podcast, Canadian singer songwriter and actor Alanis Morissette came out as pansexual.

What is pansexual?

Keep ReadingShow less