Interesting Facts - Page 166

826

Switzerland's head of state is not a single person, but a seven person Federal Council.

827

There is Disney animated movie named "Song of the South" which has never been released on any home video or streaming platform because some people consider it racist. A song from the movie, "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" won an Oscar in 1948 for Best Original Song.

828

The U.S. Air Force accidentally dropped a disarmed atomic bomb over South Carolina in 1958.

829

In 2020, Chinese and Indian soldiers fought a "Medieval" battle in the Himalayan mountains. With firearms being barred by an agreement of the two nations, soldiers fought for hours using sticks, stones, and other makeshift weapons. The Chinese soldiers did a lot of damage using nail-studded clubs. According to reports, four Chinese soldiers and twenty Indian soldiers were killed.

830

None of the countries that bordered Poland in 1989 exist today.

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Also see:

Level ∞

Feb 7, 2023

Credit @LuigiDood227 for #828 and @travislina for #830.

Level 67

Feb 23, 2023

0.999... = 1. Not "almost exactly," but absolutely exactly.

Level 61

Feb 23, 2023

never made sense to me

Level 67

Feb 23, 2023

Assume x = 0.999...

10x = 9.999... (Multiply by 10)

10x = 9 + 0.999... (Split off the integer)

10x = 9 + x (Define x)

9x = 9 (Subtract out x)

x = 1 (Divide by 9)

Level 61

Feb 24, 2023

Theres the math to prove it, but how can .9999999999 forever be 1 if it never reaches it? You've proved it with math, but it still doesn't make sense to me

Level 67

Feb 24, 2023

🤷‍♂️

Math is weird. I'm still on an early high school geometry course, so I couldn't tell you.

Level 67

Feb 26, 2023

Qy is right, 0.999... = 1, strictly. There are other ways to prove it, using the concept of limits for instance.

This equality is hard to accept because we can't really picture infinity. 0.9999... is not just "0 point too many 9s so you would get bored or die old before finishing speaking them", it's literally infinity. You wouldn't get even close to it if you were spelling this number from the Big Bang till now. It's just unreachable.

For the same reason, 0.3 = 0.2999..., 7500 = 7499.999..., etc.

Another mystery of infinity is the famous equality 1+2+3+... = -1/12, which has some physical applications like in the Casimir effect (related to vacuum energy), and which is also used in the strings theory.

Level 73

Mar 21, 2024

It's because there is no measurable number between 0.999... and 1, therefore they are the same number.

Level 56

Feb 23, 2023

0.22222... = 3 By the same logic

Level 67

Feb 23, 2023

No... that's not even close.

Level 56

Feb 24, 2023

Are you calling me a liar?

Level 67

Feb 24, 2023

I ain't callin' ya for dinner.

Level 63

Dec 25, 2023

Zz its 2.99999999.... that equals 3

Level 34

Feb 28, 2023

Incorrect

Level 84

Mar 10, 2023

The way I was taught that:

1/3 = 0.333...

3 (1/3) = 3 (0.333...)

3/3 = 0.999...

1 = 0.999...

Level 67

Mar 23, 2023

That's actually much simpler.

Level 64

Feb 23, 2023

Flat, Alaska has a population of 0. It still has its own ZIP code and everything, but nobody lives there.

Level 67

Feb 24, 2023

Wow… a ghost town.

Level 67

Feb 24, 2023

Zachary Taylor once proposed to split the Mexican cession into two, that is, a much larger New Mexico and California.

Level 67

Feb 24, 2023

Nunavut and Labrador technically share a border on Killiniq Island.

Level 61

Mar 8, 2023

also quebec

Level 83

Mar 22, 2024

Claimed by Quebec but disputed

Level 67

Feb 25, 2023

The city of Chicago registered its own license plates from 1903 to 1907.

Level 64

Feb 25, 2023

Belgium has a province called Luxembourg (it is usually referred to as Belgian Luxembourg) that is larger than the country of Luxembourg itself (and the province also borders the country)

Level 67

Feb 26, 2023

There's no way to verify we see the same colors.

Level 60

Mar 3, 2023

I remember someone posted this on an earlier fact page, and someone did prove them wrong. Don’t really remember it though, and this is a pretty neat concept.

Level 67

Feb 26, 2023

There are no Red Robins in Mississippi.

Level 35

Feb 27, 2023

Fact: In the USA alone, all the combined parking spaces are as big as the state of West Virginia!

Level 56

Feb 27, 2023

??? This is not true at all

Level 61

Feb 27, 2023

yes it is. Research says 5% of US is parking spaces, which is much bigger than west virginia

Level 56

Feb 28, 2023

I think this is bait so I'm going to ignore it

Level 35

Mar 1, 2023

it is true

Level 60

Apr 29, 2024

It's 5% of all urban land in the United States. Not of all land in total. Major difference. (Source.) Supposably though, the parking lots of the United States could cover Connecticut.

Level 64

Mar 6, 2023

There are hundreds of different stadiums in the US, this wouldn't surprise me if it's true

Level 83

Mar 22, 2024

...and shopping malls and drive-ins etc. I really don't see why this fact would be surprising

Level 34

Feb 28, 2023

Fun fact: I LOVE FRUIT!!!!!!

Level 67

Feb 28, 2023

Hey, good for you. I prefer swine and poultry, myself.

Level 35

Mar 1, 2023

i like meat

Level 61

Feb 28, 2023

Kiribati can stretch from Alaska to Virginia, and Baffin island to the Kara Sea

Level 67

Feb 28, 2023

The latter's not true.

Level 61

Feb 28, 2023

Should say Cornwallis Island

https://www.thetruesize.com/#?borders=1~!MTc4OTI0NTE.ODc0OTAyMQ*MzYwMDAwMDA(MA~!KI*MTE4NDMxNzU.MTgzOTI5MDU)Mw

Level 61

Feb 28, 2023

Putting Banaba island in northwest Cornwallis Island, puts Kirimati in the Kara Sea

Level 27

Mar 10, 2023

Or from Ireland to Saudi Arabia! (While also just missing Georgia)

Level 61

Feb 28, 2023

Despite sharing the longest border in the world, the United States and Canada only share one border on an island: Currys Island in Lake of the Woods

There's places named Qaanaaq, Ee, Aa, Aa, Zzyzx, Oo, Ii, and U

Belgium has an enclave in The Netherlands that is 0.001 Square Miles. 51.448404, 4.836186

Level 35

Mar 1, 2023

there is also a place in indonesia called "Samina mina EE waka waka EE

Level 35

Mar 1, 2023

zzyzx is a word in wordle which is accepted

Level 67

Mar 1, 2023

Crazy fact: North Dakota is closer to Canada than Mexico.

Level 61

Mar 2, 2023

no way

Level 64

Mar 10, 2023

Really?!

Level 60

Apr 29, 2024

The real question is whether this is stating that North Dakota is closer to Canada than North Dakota is to Mexico, or that North Dakota is closer to Canada than Mexico is to Canada.

Level 35

Mar 2, 2023

Fact: If all ants were to pile up in 1 flat plain, it would be as big as the state of Minnesota! And also, if it were to pile up into 1 giant pall, it would be as wide and tall as 860 meters!

Level 56

Mar 2, 2023

Source?

Level 35

Mar 3, 2023

Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OPoMww9x378

By: Corridor Crew

Level 56

Mar 4, 2023

Probably unreliable. I would reject any sort of source that claims to give a definitive answer to how many ants there are.

Level 35

Mar 4, 2023

search it up, really, it is 20 quadrillion!

Level 60

Apr 29, 2024

"Not everything you see on the internet is true." -Julius Caesar

Level 57

Mar 2, 2023

NBA Legend Tim Duncan was caught up in a legal dispute a few years ago with his accountant and investor, Charles Banks, who embezzled $7.5 million from him. During the trial, fellow NBA big man Kevin Garnett showed up supporting Banks rather than Timmy even though Banks clearly stole the money, because Banks was one of his trusted men. Banks was found guilty of wire fraud and imprisoned. A few years after that, it was found that Banks had also stolen $77 million from Garnett.

Level 65

Mar 2, 2023

Crazy Fact:

Turkey is closer to Ireland than it is to getting a good economy.

Level 35

Mar 3, 2023

LOL

Level 61

Mar 4, 2023

let's see if this ages well

Russia is still the largest country in the world

Pakistan is the fifth most populated country

Level 67

Mar 5, 2023

Both the U.S. and Australia have issued Antarctic license plates. Here's a picture of the Australian issue.

Level 35

Mar 6, 2023

~~hello~~

Level 61

Mar 6, 2023

Poland only bordered 2 countries in 1948

Level 65

Mar 6, 2023

I'm guessing Czechoslovakia and the Soviet Union... correct?

Level 61

Mar 6, 2023

yes

Level 57

Mar 7, 2023

and only 3 until the communist regimes collapsed

Level 61

Mar 8, 2023

There's a national park named W in Benin

Level 56

Mar 8, 2023

w park

Level 48

Mar 8, 2023

W benin

Level 57

Mar 9, 2023

w rizz

Level 27

Mar 8, 2023

The closest country to the U.S. that it doesn’t border isn’t Russia, it is the UK, via the U.S. Virgin Islands to British Virgin Islands, a distance of less than 3000 feet, or less than 1000 meters.

Level 27

Mar 8, 2023

Togo has a panhandle that is less than 450 feet or less than 150 meters across at one point.

Level 61

Mar 8, 2023

Just used a few pages ago. Its not the thinnest panhandle

Level 27

Mar 8, 2023

Ah, what is?

Level 61

Mar 10, 2023

A panhandle I found in Serbia. The coordinates are in the first thread. However, it is the thinnest panhandle that is between two countries

Level 27

Mar 10, 2023

Oh wow! That’s cool!

Level 38

Mar 26, 2023

Here's the panhandle if you're curious.

https://www.google.com/maps/@43.5994724,19.2715066,16.17z

Level 83

Mar 22, 2024

There's another panhandle of Bosnia jutting into Croatia. Probably the thinnest on average as the Serbian one widens at the end.

Level 27

Mar 9, 2023

I think this is the closest country to another without bordering, but correct me if I’m wrong.

Level 61

Mar 10, 2023

Ghana and Burkina Faso border each other in another place, and Namibia and Zimbabwe are 0.5 km

Level 27

Mar 10, 2023

Ok, but they still border each other, the point im making is that they don’t border, but are very close.

Level 61

Mar 11, 2023

Huh? I'm confused

Level 60

Dec 4, 2023

Iggy1 is saying that US and UK are close without bordering. Ghana and Burkina Faso border.

Level 27

Mar 9, 2023

Although their mainlands are 358.8 kilometers (223 miles) apart, the Philippines and Taiwan are just 97.5 kilometers (60.6 miles) apart at one point.

Level 27

Mar 10, 2023

Paupa New Guinea and Australia are just 4.1 kilometers (2.55 miles) apart, although their mainlands are almost 160 kilometers (100 miles) apart. This makes Paupa New Guinea the closest country to Australia.

Level 65

Mar 8, 2023

The city of Regina in Saskatchewan used to be called the "Pile of Bones". Not a nickname, it was the actual name, since it came from the Cree word "Wascana".

Level 60

Mar 9, 2023

Yeah, I suggested this fact a little while back, but it didn’t get used

Level 61

Mar 8, 2023

Fun Fact: I think this fact page has more comments than any other page

Level 65

Mar 9, 2023

I think not, COTW has way more!

Level 61

Mar 9, 2023

I meant Interesting Facts Pages