26 Wild Statistics You Probably Didn't Know

The world is full of fascinating facts, you just have to know where to look.

Published 2 years ago in Ftw

The world is full of fascinating facts, you just have to know where to look.

1
The world is full of odd and interesting facts, and when you learn just how many Americans think they can fight a grizzly bear, or how many people actually have blonde hair, you'll see the world around you in an entirely new light. So forgive us if any of these aren't new for you, and if you see learn something new, be a good friend and share it with someone you know who loves to have their mind blown.

2
"Of the 30 fastest 100-meter sprint times, 21 were run by athletes who tested positive for performance-enhancing drugs. The other 9 were Usain Bolt."

3
"There are more privately owned guns than people in the U.S."
4
"Only about 2% of Earth's population has naturally blonde hair. That's insane if you think about it."

5
"That belly button bacteria study was wild. 60 belly buttons sampled. 2368 different species of bacteria were found. The study indicated that 1458 of them may be new to science. One had a rare bacteria found in Japanese soil and they had never been to Japan. Two had rare bacteria that thrived on ice caps and thermal vents. Not a single bacteria was common to all buttons."
6
"34 percent of adults and 75 percent of children sleep with a stuffed animal or a blanket, or other sentimental objects as their comfort object."
7
"90% of the Canadian population live within 100 miles of the US border. 90% of the Australian population live within 100 km of the Ocean."

8
"Gary Numan is 13 days older than Gary Oldman."
9
"3 people are killed by sharks per year, 3 million sharks are killed by people per year."
10
"Genghis Khan killed so many people that he cooled the earth by a bit."

11
"That 49.6% of Pakistanis marry a first cousin and 8.3% marry a second cousin. In rural areas of Pakistan, up to 80% of people marry a cousin."
12
"2/3 of the Australian population will develop skin cancer at some point in their lives."
13
"When tested by another agency, TSA failed to detect weapons, bombs, and other destructive materials 95% of the time."

14
"A survey of Fortune 500 executives found that 93% agree that golf reflects life. 86% admit to cheating at golf."
15
"Even in the 2022 Kentucky Derby, 19/22 entered horses can trace lineage to Secretariat."
16
"Used to work as a meteorologist. More people die from flooding each year than from every other natural disaster added together. A good portion, at least, are people who think their cars can make it through the water when they obviously cannot."

17
"Despite making up less than 4% of the population, Americans produce over 20% of the garbage in the world."
18
"Wayne Gretzky and his brother hold the record for most points by a brother pair in NHL history. His brother has four points."
19
"Motorcycles are 2% of all vehicles [USA]. Motorcycles account for 20% of all road fatalities. I don't ride anymore."

20
"That the remains found in Machu Picchu are 80% female."
21
"Though numbers have slightly inflated due to the pandemic, it remains that only about 4 in every 10 Americans wash their hands after using the bathroom. IIRC, about 60% of women and only 35% of men."
22
"Dragonflies have a 95% hunt success rate. Making them the most effective hunters in the world."

23
"That we are chronologically closer in time to the T-Rex than the T-Rex was to the Stegosaurus. We are about 66 million years after the t-rex, but the stegosaurus was about 85 million years before the t-rex, 20 million years longer. Dinosaurs were around for a VERY long time. Humans are just a drop in the bucket relatively evolved just a few hundred thousand years for Homo sapiens."
24
"20% of the mammal species on our planet are different types of bats. There are about 5000 species of mammals, and about 1000 of them are varieties of our little winged buddies."
25
"Miscarriages are going up 1% each year and sperm count of men has gone down 50% since 1970 (US)."

26
"The most obese state in the country in 1990 (Mississippi, 15%) was still far skinnier than the least obese state in the country in 2020 (Colorado, 24%). "
27
"If you made $295,000 every single day since the birth of Christ, you still wouldn't be worth what Elon Musk is.
28
"A full 6 percent of Americans reckon they could beat a grizzly bear in unarmed combat.

29
"The risk of a heart attack is about 20% greater on Mondays for adult men, and 15% greater for adult women."
30
"The birthday 'paradox', is the fact if you have 23 random people there is a 50% chance 2 have the same birthday."
31
"The amount of rodent and bug particles allowed by the FDA to be in your cereal is not zero."