31 Amazing Facts to Break Out During Dinner
Thanksgiving is here, which means unwanted questions from your relatives. Why aren't you seeing someone? What will you do with that major? But don't worry! When the conversation goes bad, just lob one of these amazing facts out there. You'll be discussing mailcats and nighttime rainbows in no time.
1. Deipnophobia is the fear of dinner party conversations.
2. If you're hungry, your stomach is technically not growling. It's wambling.
3. Charlie Brown’s Thanksgiving feast consists of buttered toast, pretzel sticks, jelly beans, and popcorn.
4. The most shoplifted food item in the U.S. is candy. In Europe, it's cheese.
5. The light emitted by 200,000 galaxies makes our universe a shade of beige. Scientists call the color "cosmic latte."
6. Mary Todd Lincoln was once asked if Abe had any hobbies. Her reply: “Cats.”
7. In 1726, Mary Toft convinced a number of prominent British doctors that she was giving birth to rabbits.
8. If you visit a waterfall at dusk, you may see moonbows—nighttime rainbows.
9. Yawning is so contagious that it can spread to dogs and monkeys.
10. In Japan, letting a sumo wrestler make your baby cry is considered good luck.
11. The gym on the Titanic had a mechanical camel.
12. At spas in Europe, you can literally bathe in beer as a physical and mental therapeutic treatment.
13. If you open your eyes in a pitch-black room, the color you'll see is called 'eigengrau.'
14. In a 2012 New Zealand study, people ranked sex as the most enjoyable activity. At the bottom were "recovering from sickness" and "Facebook."
15. In 1965, a Senate subcommittee predicted that by 2000, Americans would only be working 20 hours a week with seven weeks vacation.
16. The Clintons put a Twinkie in the Millennium Time Capsule, which is scheduled to be opened in 2100.
17. There are roughly 70 ingredients in the McRib.
18. The American Psychiatric Association’s DSM-V handbook classifies caffeine withdrawal as a mental disorder.
19. When asked why he chose the name Piggly Wiggly, founder Clarence Saunders said, "So people will ask that very question."
20. The G-spot was nearly named the Whipple Tickle, after professor Beverly Whipple.
21. The national animal of Scotland is the unicorn.
22. In 1916–four years before the Constitution recognized her right to vote–Jeannette Rankin was the first woman elected to Congress.
23. Hell-o? Hell no! In 1997, Kleberg County, Texas designated "Heaven-o" as its official new phone greeting.
24. In the 1870s, a Belgian village tried to train a fleet of 37 mail cats to deliver letters.
25. It didn't work.
26. The first sales pitch for the Nerf ball was: "Nerf: You can't hurt babies or old people!"
27. In Nevada, "none of the above" is an option on ballots.
28. President Nixon was speaking at Disney World when he famously declared, "I am not a crook."
29. In 1958, Larry King smashed into John F. Kennedy's car. JFK said he’d forget the whole thing if King promised to vote for him when he ran for president.
30. Before she wrote The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins was a writer for Clarissa Explains it All.
31. Sea otters hold hands when they sleep so they don't drift apart.
Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!