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Not everything that you read on the internet is true. In a similar vein, far from everything that sounds made up is fake. Fact is often stranger than fiction, and some truly bizarre things about life on Planet Earth are closer to reality than myth.

Reddit user u/Mmemyo sparked an interesting discussion on r/AskReddit. They invited everyone to share the “stupid facts” they knew which might sound suspicious and weird but are actually correct. We’ve collected the most intriguing ones to share with you, Pandas. Scroll down to check them out! Hopefully, you'll learn something new.

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#1

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real The vikings, who came from Scandinavia, used iron as their main ingredient for forging weaponry, but it was also common practice to add the bones of dead animals to the mix. The belief was that it would infuse the weapon with the spirit of the creature, making it stronger, but they ended up making a primitive version of steel because of the carbon in the bones mixing with the iron making the weapon stronger, just as they thought it would. 

Nameless_Chad , CC BY-SA 3.0 Report

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Adam S
Adam S
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That’s not a stupid fact, it’s really interesting!

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#2

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Cows have best friends and can become stressed when they're separated from them.

berrybandz_ , Pixabay Report

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#3

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real You can go the rest of your life without breathing.

Janube , Kelvin Valerio Report

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H Nunya
H Nunya
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Another one that makes the title of the list appropriate.

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Misinformation can spread just as quickly as—if not faster than!—legitimate info. So before you go sharing any random factoids or news snippets that you found in a dimly-lit corner of the digital realm, slow down and think about the claims. Double-checking every tiny little piece of info would be exhausting, so you need to consider the (un)reliability of the source.

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Legitimate news sources that employ fact-checkers and editors, and have high journalistic standards are far more trustworthy than those that don’t. So you’re better off relying on sources like AP, the BBC, Reuters, and The New York Times, rather than random tabloids that survive on gossip and manufactured drama. You should consider what the goal of an outlet is, whether it’s to report on the news or to generate outrage (and clicks!).

In the meantime, you can consult fact-checking websites like Snopes which do most of the heavy lifting for you when it comes to outlandish claims.
#4

When basketball was first invented, at every game, they would have a man who would go up a ladder to retrieve the ball after every basket. It took them around 20 years to figure out maybe it would be a good idea to cut the bottom of the basket out to make retrieving the ball a lot easier. 20 years!!!

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Pedantic Panda
Pedantic Panda
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I believe they first cut a down hole in the bottom so it could be poked out with a stick, the full hole only came later.

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#5

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real There are more planes in the ocean than boats in the sky

vexix , Wilfred Hdez Report

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Mayra
Mayra
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I can’t wait to text my dad this at 2 in the morning for no reason

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#6

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real For every single human being on Earth, there are 2.5 MILLION ants.

Yes, this means that there are about 20 QUADRILLION ants on this planet.

If the ants decide to take over, are you strong enough to handle the 2.5 million that you'll be responsible for killing? If you've got kids, you might have to kill more because a 2 year old isn't going to accomplish a god damn thing if millions of ants are marching towards them.

PM-ME-FOR-CATNIP , Jimmy Chan Report

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The core idea is that nobody should blindly accept anything as “fact” without a pinch of salt. According to the Macdonald-Kelce Library at the University of Tampa, readers should also check the author’s credentials. Not only should the author be well-versed in the topic they’re writing about but they should also have a history of legitimate reporting.

Of course, everyone makes factual mistakes from time to time. The best journalists admit theirs and correct them. The worst of the bunch, however, report on semi-legitimate hearsay with impunity and don’t bother to provide a broader context for their news stories.

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#7

Bald eagles are not actually bald. Balde is old english for white.

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#8

Redheads require more anesthesia than non-redheads.

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ThisIsMe
ThisIsMe
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Also pain meds. My husband is/was a redhead...still my husband, but the hair is not as much there now :-)

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#9

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Honey never spoils

willyw0nka_ , ROMAN ODINTSOV Report

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Mycroft1967
Mycroft1967
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Honey has anti-oxidant, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties as well. Ancient Egyptians used to put on wounds.

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The more dramatic and emotionally charged a fact, claim, or topic, the more careful you should be. If the author leans heavily toward a particular point of view, it’s likely that they’re biased and ignoring some of the nuances. Life is rarely black and white, and most stories have at least two sides. 

A good rule of thumb is that you should be very skeptical about sensational news. Try to build a broader picture of what’s going on by reading a wide range of sources from outlets with different leanings. And if your gut tells you that something is far too good or bad to be true, then it probably is. 

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#10

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Male rhesus macaques will pay to see pictures of female monkey butts. Payment is in the form of trading their juice rewards.

WantAllMyGarmonbozia , Charles J. Sharp Report

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Xenon
Xenon
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Ok, that's just hilarious! Give 'em an issue of Playmonkey.

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#11

A man named Wilmer McLean owned a farm in Manassas, Virginia USA where the very first battle of the US Civil War was fought. After the battle he's like "I'm outta here" and bought a farm way out in the country at Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia...where Gen. Robert E. Lee surrendered to Gen. Ulysses Grant in McLeans living room four years later.

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Gin. No tonic
Gin. No tonic
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So the US Civil War started and ended on the property of Mr McLean

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#12

-40C and -40F are the same temperature.

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#13

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real The original name for the color orange was "geoluhread," which means "yellow-red" in Old English

willyw0nka_ , Sigrid Abalos Report

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#14

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real If you open your eyes in a completely dark room, the name of the color you will see is eigengrau, a kind of dark grey shade

Wisanbon , Ida Rizkha Report

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#15

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real A lot of averages.

Example: The average number of legs humans have is less than 2.

Uilamin , Dominika Roseclay Report

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tom
tom
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well I raise you, the average number of heads humans have is greater that one

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#16

Some invader (don't remember specifics) sent a letter to sparta saying that "If I invade Lakonia you will be destroyed, never to rise again" and the Spartans sent a letter back with a single word in it. "If" 

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troufaki13
troufaki13
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It was Philip II of Macedon. And Spartans were known for their laconic answers (Laconia is the region that Sparta is in)

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#17

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Bananas are berries, but strawberries are not true berries (in botanical terms berries are defined by their structure, and bananas fit the bill while strawberries don't)

willyw0nka_ , Kio Report

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Littlemiss
Littlemiss
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit. Wisdom is not putting it in a fruit salad.

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#18

The Eiffel Tower can be 15 centimeters taller during the summer due to thermal expansion.

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#19

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Pink is really just a light shade of red, but we think of it as a distinct color because we have a word for it that stuck. Not all languages have that. In Italian, they have a similar word for light blue, called “azzurro,” and it’s so common they actually think of it as a separate color from blue. We have the word “azure” in English, but it isn’t nearly as common, so we tend to think of that color as just a shade of blue.

Atheist_Alex_C , Juan Sauras Report

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#20

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Coffee is not a bean it is the pit of the coffee plant which is a fruit.

Chance-Personality50 , Daniel Reche Report

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Sue Denham
Sue Denham
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fruit, vegetable, aardvark . . . I don't really care, as long as I have a cup or two of it a day we're all good.

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#21

Racecar spelled backwards is racecar.

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#22

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real A man named John Young brought a corned beef sandwich to space illegally and shared it with his colleague on board and he would have gotten away with it if it weren’t for the recording of them talking about the sandwich.

Watermelonseeds8U , jeffreyw Report

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SCamp
SCamp
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He would have got away with it if it weren’t for those meddling kids!

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#23

Our planet will exist long after humans go extinct

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Mimi La Souris
Mimi La Souris
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

as Agent Smith said "Human beings are a disease, a cancer of this planet"

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#24

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real I’m closer to being a millionaire than Bill Gates is.

i_am_cullivan , Greg Rubenstein Report

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#25

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real - [ ] Of the few people who have top secret clearance at the White House one of them is the person who writes all of the party invitations.

Eejaypea14 , angela n. Report

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Nice Beast Ludo
Nice Beast Ludo
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1 year ago

This comment has been deleted.

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#26

Crows can be trained to bring you money

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#27

Pirates wear eye patches to see better in the dark (covered eye doesn't get used to sunlight and is more sensitive after uncovering).

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#28

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real 6X9+6+9=69

DushyantKhator , Louis Bauer Report

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#29

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Someone named the fear of long words hippopotomonstrosesquipedaliophobia.

Fynx_HD , cottonbro studio Report

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Hawkmoon
Hawkmoon
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And then he started singing "Ironic", by Alanis Morissette.

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#30

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Less than 40% of great white sharks have filed their 2022 tax returns

Due_Essay447 , GEORGE DESIPRIS Report

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#31

The Earth is not round. It is an oblate spheroid.

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#32

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real There are 5.87 Popes per square mile in the Vatican City.

henfeathers , Aliona & Pasha Report

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Pieter LeGrande
Pieter LeGrande
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A year ago it was 11.74 per sq mile if you include pope's emeritus.

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#33

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real We thought to put wheels on luggage after we got to the moon.

The lighter the Roast the more caffeine coffee has.

A new car costs less than it's equal weight in Hamburgers.

Chance-Personality50 , Ketut Subiyanto Report

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#34

You have to kill about 400 people to get enough iron from their blood to make a sword

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#35

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real The longest place name in the world is Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu

x_Fairy_Daisy , foolfillment Report

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OmMi
OmMi
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Did they allow a cat to walk freely on a keyboard when naming it?

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#36

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Im always seeing my nose ..its just that my brain ignores it

PYROMANIA6 , Engin Akyurt Report

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#37

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real There are clouds of alcohol floating around in space.

Unexpected_Waffles , Pixabay Report

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Katie Lutesinger
Katie Lutesinger
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Time to launch the shipload of cocktail onions and olives on sticks. The crew will be a band specialising in light jazz.

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#38

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real There are more Hydrogen atoms in a single molecule of water than there are stars in the entire Solar System.

Wadsworth_McStumpy , Vlad Chețan Report

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PattyK
PattyK
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

There’s only one star, the Sun, in our solar system, so this is correct.

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#39

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Cleopatra is closer to the invention of the iPhone than the building of the Giza pyramids.

feedg , Louis le Grand Report

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troufaki13
troufaki13
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1 year ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's not Cleopatra though, that's Nefertiti. (edit: they changed the picture and now I look like a fool 🤣)

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#40

The Atari 2600's release date and the last execution by guillotine happened less than 24 hours apart.

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#41

The average number of skeletons in a human body is more than 1.

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Daniela Lavanza
Daniela Lavanza
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For those who wonder: because of pregnancy, when a human has two skeletons for nine months.

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#42

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real 18% of adult Americans claim they have seen or been in the presence of a ghost.

OJimmy , cottonbro studio Report

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Katie Lutesinger
Katie Lutesinger
Community Member
1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

A friend of mine died suddenly and I saw his ghost several times - in dreams and the odd occasion when I saw a guy vaguely resembling him and briefly thought it was him. Ghosts are your mind processing the trauma of losing someone you loved.

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#43

The plural of cul-de-sac is culs-de-sac

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Daniela Lavanza
Daniela Lavanza
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Even in French, we often wonder what's the plural for such expressions. :)

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#44

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real Sloths are most vulnerable to predators when pooping. They have to climb down to the trees to the floors floor, and it is a bit of a process for them to actually poop leaving them at risk of predators.

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#45

A species of frog, the African clawed frog, was the most reliable pregnancy test for a few decades before at-home tests were widely affordable and accessible.

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Kendra Felix
Kendra Felix
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"The experimental zoologist found that injecting the urine of a pregnant human into the frog's hind leg worked as an effective pregnancy test. If the woman who supplied the urine was pregnant, the frog would ovulate and produce eggs."

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#46

50 “Stupid Facts” That Sound Fake But Are Genuinely Real New Mexico (the state) got its name before Mexico (the country)

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Daniel Gómez
Daniel Gómez
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1 year ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yes and no. New Spain was unofficially called Mexico since before its independence from Spain in 1821, and the name itself was given to the Mexica capital: Mexico-Tenochtitlán by the Mexicas themselves, calling it sometimes just Mexico (obviously not the country which did not exist back then).

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#47

You are constantly clapping, but the claps are just spaced differently.

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#48

Dung beetles navigate using the Milky Way

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#49

Chip Wilson, the founder of Lululemon

created the name (Lululemon) to have many L's so that it would sound western to Japanese buyers, who often have difficulty pronouncing the letter. He later remarked that he found it "funny to watch (Japanese speakers) try and say it" and that "it was the only reason behind the name"

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#50

A bone “break” is the same as a “fracture.” Fracture is just the medical term. It does not have any correlation with the severity.

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