Sure we learn about American history and how to divide fractions and annotate novels and write essays but what about the good stuff? The weird facts we never learn about? Like these…

Margins On Notebooks Are Due To Rats

Back when everything was physical documents, there was a major problem caused by rodents munching through people’s notes and other papers. Soon manufacturers added the blue horizontal lines along with the red lines going up and down near the edges. This made it to where rats had about an inch to chew off before actually destroying the person’s work. So the little space we use to draw and squiggle when the teacher is talking for a bit too long is all thanks to rats and mice. 

Don’t Feel Bad For Going Just A Bit Over The Limit, Martin Luther King Jr. Once Did Too

King went to jail a total of 29 times in his lifetime. The reasons vary – loitering and acts of civil disobedience – but he was once arrested for driving too fast. In reality he was going 30 miles an hour in a 25 limit zone. He was fingerprinted and photographed but was later bailed out. 

How Long Has The University Of Oxford Been Around

Students have been attending the University of Oxford since 1096, so it has been standing for around 928 years. Compare that to the Aztec empire which was founded by Montezuma I in 1325. Therefore, the University of Oxford is known to be the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the world’s second oldest university that is still functioning.

They Did What To The Alphabet?!

The first alphabetic writing system was created by Semitic-speaking people in Ancient Egypt. However, the letters as we know them weren’t invented in order. In fact, the letter ‘J’ was the last to be added and throughout time the alphabet was edited and modified to the one we use today. Any idea what the oldest letter is? The letter ‘O’ has actually remained untouched since 1300 B.C. making O the oldest. 

Woodpeckers Have Their Own Hardhats

Woodpeckers, the birds we see drilling their heads into trees 20 times in one second, have a special feature about their tongues. Their tongues can be up to one third of their total body length. With their really long tongues, they are able to wrap them around their brains to protect them from concussions while pecking at high speeds.

What About My Skin?

The average human sheds about 40 pounds of skin in their lifetime. This fact isn’t quite as crazy if you already knew that we lose around 35,000 dead skin cells every minute of every day. 

Deaf Whales Are Doomed

Whales make noises to communicate, and to find food and each other. However if a whale happens to be deaf, then they are more likely to struggle with hunting and staying in touch with their community. This makes survival very difficult for the whale. 

Ants Are Equal To Humans

Apparently the mass of all the ants on Earth is the same as the weight of all people. This doesn’t seem that out-of-this-world because according to a recent study there are about 2.5 million ants for every person. This gives us an estimate of 20 quadrillion ants roaming the Earth while there are only 8.1 billion of us. I’m surprised the ant apocalypse hasn’t happened yet.