52 bite sized facts: Unveiling earth’s wonders

1. Norway is home to the world’s longest road tunnel, the Laerdal Tunnel, which stretches over 24 kilometres
2. The shortest war in history lasted just 38 to 45 minutes between Britain and Zanzibar on August 27, 1896.
3. Lake Baikal in Siberia is the world’s deepest freshwater lake, reaching a depth of about 5,387 feet (1,642 metres).
4. The Amazon Rainforest produces 20% of the world’s oxygen.
5. The city of Istanbul, Turkey, spans two continents: Europe and Asia.
6. The Pacific Ocean is the world’s largest and deepest ocean, covering an area larger than all the Earth’s landmass combined.
7. The country with the most time zones is France, with 12 time zones, including its territories.
8. The world’s largest flower, the Rafflesia arnoldii, can reach a diameter of up to 3 feet (0.91 metres).
9. Mount Everest, the world’s highest peak, is growing about 4 millimetres taller each year due to tectonic plate movement.
10. The Great Barrier Reef in Australia is the largest coral reef system in the world.
11. The Sahara Desert was not always a desert; ancient riverbeds suggest it was once a lush and green region.
12. Canada has the longest coastline of any country, stretching over 202,080 kilometres.
13. The Dead Sea is so salty that people can easily float on its surface without sinking.
14. Antarctica is the driest and windiest continent, and it’s also the coldest, with temperatures dropping as low as -128.6°F (-89.2°C).
15. The country of Monaco is smaller than Central Park in New York City.
16. The Maldives is the lowest country in the world, with an average ground level of 1.5 metres (4 feet 11 inches) above sea level.
17. The world’s largest iceberg, B-15, broke off from Antarctica in 2000 and was larger than the island of Jamaica.
18. The world’s oldest continuously inhabited city is Damascus, Syria.
19. The longest river in the world, the Nile, is approximately 6,650 kilometres (4,130 miles) long.
20. The Netherlands has more bicycles than residents.
21. The island nation of Japan experiences thousands of earthquakes each year.
22. The Pacific Ring of Fire is an area with a lot of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, encircling the basin of the Pacific Ocean.
23. The country of Mongolia is the least densely populated country in the world.
24. The city of Rome was the first city in the world to reach a population of one million.
25. The world’s largest sand island is Fraser Island in Australia.
26. The Zulu nation migrated from the Great Lakes region in East Africa eventually settling in southeastern Africa, where they established a kingdom in present day South Africa.
27. The Panama Canal generates approximately one-third of Panama’s entire economy.
28. The world’s largest iceberg, B-15, broke off from Antarctica in 2000 and was larger than the island of Jamaica.
29. Honey never goes off. Archaeologists have found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that are over 3,000 years old and still perfectly edible.
30. The world’s largest desert is not the Sahara but Antarctica.
31. Bananas are berries, but strawberries aren’t.
32. Cows have best mates and can become stressed when they are separated.
33. A group of flamingos is called a “flamboyance.”
34. Big Ben, the iconic clock tower in London, is leaning slightly to one side. The tilt is roughly 8 inches (20 centimetres) off-centre.
35. The longest English word without a vowel is “rhythms.”
36. The world’s largest known living organism is a fungus in Oregon that spans over 2,385 acres.
37. Wombat poo is cube-shaped.
38. Octopuses have three hearts: two pump blood to the gills, and one pumps it to the rest of the body.
39. The Second Boer War saw the use of “khaki” uniforms by the British, marking the first time the term was widely adopted to describe the colour of military clothing.
40. A group of owls is called a “parliament.”
41. The original name for the search engine Google was “Backrub.”
42. Honeybees can recognise human faces.
43. There are more possible iterations of a game of chess than there are atoms in the known universe.
44. A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time, equivalent to 1/100th of a second.
45. A “jiffy” is also a unit of measurement for the time it takes light to travel one centimetre in a vacuum.
46. Cows have regional accents.
47. The smell of freshly cut grass is actually a plant distress call.
48. The world’s largest pizza was made in 2012 and measured 1261.65 square metres.
49. A group of pugs is called a “grumble.”
50. The dot over the letter “i” is called a tittle.
51. The Great Wall of China is not visible from the moon without aid.
52. The world’s oldest known recipe is for beer.

Armed with fifty two random facts about this amazing planet and the history it holds, we hope you are able to use some of these the next time you are sitting around a braai or at a dinner party to show off your mental acuity.