John Von Neumann (December 28, 1903 – February 8, 1957) was a pure and applied mathematician, physicist, inventor, and polymath. He made major contributions to mathematics (foundations of mathematics, functional analysis, ergodic theory, […]
Daniel Tammett first came to worldwide prominence on March 14th, 2004 – otherwise known as Pi Day (3/14). To raise money for an epilepsy foundation, Tammett spent five straight hours reciting the […]
Victor Lustig was one of the most successful con men of all time.
MIT students derive great pleasure from tormenting their rivals at Harvard. Our favorite prank of theirs occurred during the 1982 Harvard-Yale football game when a weather balloon emblazoned with the letters “MIT” […]
New York City newspaper The Sun printed a series of six articles in 1835 about the discovery of civilization on the moon. The articles claimed that a British astronomer named John Herschel […]
In Switzerland, it is illegal to keep just one guinea pig. If you have one, you must have a second to go with it. Read about more strange laws. Read more fun […]
Grigori Rasputin, the Mad Monk, was poisoned, but he didn’t die. So he went after the guys who poisoned him, and they stabbed him. He still didn’t die and kept going after […]
In 1957 the BBC pulled an April Fools prank, duping hundreds of thousands of individuals into thinking spaghetti was annually harvested from “spaghetti trees” in Switzerland. Watch the video here. Read about […]
About 5,500 unexploded bombs left over from World War II are uncovered each year in Germany. source
In 2011 Granen, a small Spanish town on the brink of economic collapse, bet in the world’s largest lottery and won €700 million ($761,110,000). source
The most money ever paid for a cow in an auction was $1.3 million. source
Until the mid-1960s most American car horns were tuned to the musical notes of E-flat or C. Since then, many manufacturers have moved up on the scale to notes F-sharp and A-sharp. […]
Canadian researchers have found that Albert Einstein’s brain was 15% wider than normal.
Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least 6 feet (2 m) away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush. source
The word lethologica describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.
Commonplace Fun Facts 