15 Truly Wild Facts About Everything Under The Sun And Beyond
![15 Truly Wild Facts About Everything Under The Sun And Beyond](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/7/835687_320x180.jpg)
It is said that the human brain has a finite capacity to remember facts. That means if you're going to memorize a list of 100 facts about something or someone, then you'll forget 99 other facts. However, the following fifteen facts will be the only ones you need in your life. They are, simply put, true facts about everything under the sun and indeed beyond.
First, the sun itself: An ordinary star, it's actually a yellow dwarf that sits in a spiral arm that's kind of far from the center of the galaxy. It has been around for more than five billion years (since its formation in the very earliest days of our galaxy). If it was a human being, it would have a birthday on Saturday, July 19th, at 6:32 PM Eastern Time.
With that out of the way, we can now get started on facts about things under and beyond the sun.
Hummingbirds are like tiny helicopters.
![Hummingbirds are the only birds capable of flying backwards. CRACKED.COM The unique way in which hummingbirds fly allows them to move in any direction, even upside down, and even hover in place like a helicopter. There are no other birds that can do this.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/5/835695.jpg)
Spain's own “Stonehenge” is much older than England’s.
![A megalithic monument uncovered in Spain is 2,000 years older than Stonehenge. CRACKED.COM The Spanish Stonehenge, which was made 4,000-7,000 years ago, was hidden from view by the waters of Valdecañas Reservoir in 1963. Due to severe droughts, the waters receded.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/3/835693.jpg)
666 is more than just the mark of the Beast.
![The most expensive phone number was bought for $2.75 million. 321 A 8 9 0 CRACKED.COM The most amount of money paid for a mobile phone number is 10 million QAR ($2.75 million), by an anonymous Qatari bidder for the number 666-6666 during a charity auction.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/2/835702.jpg)
Lobsters follow the same naming conventions as poultry.
![Male and female lobsters are called cocks and hens. CRAGKED.COM A male lobster is called a cock and a female a hen or chicken (when it weighs about one pound). A one-clawed lobster is called a cull, and if it has no claws, it's called a pistol.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/0/835690.jpg)
This black cloud made all the sheep in Oxfordshire absolutely lose it.
![Thousands of sheep in Oxfordshire simultaneously lost their minds on two occasions. CRACKED.COM In 1888 and 1893, tens of thousands of sheep in England went berserk at the appearance of a large, low hanging black cloud with occasional flashes of lightning.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/0/835700.jpg)
“Trailers” used to follow movies, not come before them.
![Movie trailers used to run after the movie. CRACKED.COM The first trailer in 1913, for a play called The Pleasure Seekers, was made to create buzz and bolster publicity for the production between film screenings.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/8/835698.jpg)
A job so easy, a monkey could do it.
![A baboon named Jack worked as a signalman on a South African railroad. CRACKED.COM Jack spent nine years working on the railroad and providing companionship for his owner, a paraplegic man named Jumper, in the 1880s. Не earned $0.20 per day and half a bottle of beer per week.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/1/835691.jpg)
Professional foot ticklers were all the rage.
![Russian royalty employed professional foot ticklers to get them in the mood. CRACKED.COM Catherine the Great, and other nobel women, had girls and eunuchs as full-time foot ticklers to arouse them sexually. The ticklers would also read erotic stories to get the royal couples in the mood.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/6/835696.jpg)
Leeches did not make good weathermen.
![Someone tried to use leeches to forecast the weather in the 1800s. CRACKED.COM Nineteenth-century British surgeon George Merryweather believed leeches could predict the weather. His tempest prognosticator, displayed at the Great Exhibition in 1851, failed to catch on.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/9/835689.jpg)
“The Matrix” code leads to something delicious.
![The flowing, green code from The Matrix is made out of recipes. CRACKED.COM Simon Whiteley, who created the custom code for the Matrix, attributes the design to his wife, who is from Japan. Не said that the Matrix code is made out of Japanese sushi recipes.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/7/835697.jpg)
The blood of the recently headless was thought to have magic properties.
![People used to drink the blood of freshly beheaded corpses. CRACKED.COM People used to believe that the blood of the recently executed was a health tonic and would pay executioners a little money to let them drink it warm.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/9/835699.jpg)
"Executing Magic in the Modern Era: Criminal Bodies and the Gallows in Popular Medicine"
Saudi Arabia was no fan of Pokemon.
![The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia issued a fatwa against Pokemon. CRACKED.COM According to the Mufti the game encouraged Zionism. Apparently the cards included the star of David, which everyone knows is connected to international Zionism and is Israel's national emblem.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/7/0/1/835701.jpg)
One internet challenge was giving people frostbite.
![The salt and ice challenge sent kids to the hospital with third-degree burns. CRACKED.COM The internet challenge involved putting snow and table salt on your arms to see who could stand it the longest. The ice and salt formed a chemical reaction that induced frostbite.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/2/835692.jpg)
Live by the beard, die by the beard.
![A man tripped over his own beard and died in 1567. CRACKED.COM Hans Stieninger had the longest beard in the world, so long in fact that it was a safety hazard. Steininger died after tripping on his facial hair while running from a fire.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/9/4/835694.jpg)
“Sonic” is just a nickname – but “Hedgehog” is his actual surname.
![Sonic the Hedgehog's full name is Ogilvie Maurice Hedgehog. GRAGKED.COM Archie Sonic Miniseries #0 reveals Sonic's true name in a flashback that covers the first time he met Dr. Robotnik, when his beloved Uncle Chuck and dog Muttski were roboticized.](https://s3.crackedcdn.com/phpimages/imageset/6/8/8/835688.jpg)