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In the past, when you craved a few amazing facts, I’m really not sure what you did. You probably had to read entire articles. Or skim, at least. And in our fast-paced, post-Y2K world, you don’t always have that kind of time.
But today that all changes. I’m proud to introduce The Amazing Fact Generator.
Need a few fascinating facts to get you through a meeting? IM chat going nowhere? Looking for a quirky email signature? We’ve got you covered.
• Elvis Presley’s hair was naturally a dirty blond color. He first dyed it in 1957, hoping to emulate his Hollywood idol, actor Tony Curtis.
• The longest jellyfish on record measured 160 feet, more than half the length of a football field.
• Pope John Paul II was the first papal Harlem Globetrotter. The team made him an honorary member in 2000 during a visit to the Vatican.
And hundreds more. While you’re getting your Amazing Fact fix, you can also share your own. Either use the ‘Submit A Fact’ button, or email factgenerator@mentalfloss.com. If your fact is deemed sufficiently Amazing (and true), we’ll add it to the generator, attributed to you. Just the kind of glory you want greeting ex-boyfriends and girlfriends when they’re Googling your name.
Now go play around with The Amazing Fact Generator, and let us know what you think.
Comments (26)
Comment
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Very addictive!
posted by Kathy on 2-6-2008 at 8:11 am
160 feet: not half of a football field
posted by Nick on 2-6-2008 at 8:52 am
They keep repeating on a loop of about 7 or so. What’s up wit dat?
posted by Jill on 2-6-2008 at 8:53 am
Being a teenager home sick when there is rarely anything actually good on tv, aside from that addictive Dora the Explorer or Jerry Springer, is quite boring. This serves as the perfect distraction! [especially when said sick teenager should be doing missed homework]
[my favorite so far: Opossums don’t “play dead” — when frightened, they become overexcited and actually pass out.]
posted by Panda on 2-6-2008 at 9:13 am
Loving this facts!
posted by beth on 2-6-2008 at 9:15 am
Hey Jill,
Thanks for pointing that out. We’re taking care of that right now so hopefully you won’t get repeats when you do it later.
We decided to put “Beta” up by the Fact Generator logo so we could have an excuse when you guys spotted problems early on.
If anyone else spots a problem, please let us know.
And please contribute your wonderful facts!
Thanks!
Will from Flossyland
posted by Will on 2-6-2008 at 9:23 am
I have totally decided that giving random facts to “Knowledge Junkies” is like giving an endless supply of heroin to a smack addict.
posted by Panda Again on 2-6-2008 at 9:24 am
I can only imagine how many cubicle-dwellers will welcome this tool for getting through another boring day at work.
posted by Jim on 2-6-2008 at 9:25 am
This is awesome! Love the facts and I feel smarter already!
posted by bailey on 2-6-2008 at 9:29 am
Best generator ever. Highly addictive, like meth.
posted by Tree on 2-6-2008 at 9:56 am
Hey I was gonna mention they keep going in a loop, too. I could change the web address manually to get different facts though. Also, you might want to find a way to limit an IP address to 1 vote per fact.
posted by TMo on 2-6-2008 at 10:03 am
Nick: 160 feet is “more than half a football field,” as we stated. (100 yards = 300 feet.)
posted by Jason on 2-6-2008 at 10:04 am
My new favorite past time: Random Fact Generator!!
posted by bas on 2-6-2008 at 10:46 am
I’m unclear on the ranking: are we ranking “Best”?
“Likablility”?
The “I-didn’t-know-that” factor?
Or how interesting we found the fact in question?
Does “Ewwieness” factor into the ranking?
posted by Karl on 2-6-2008 at 11:45 am
“The woman wearing nothing but desert topping on the cover of Herb Alpert’s classic album Whipped Cream and Other Delights was actually wearing shaving cream, because of the hot lights.”
Fact 767
“dessert”, not “desert”. Although, with the hot lights detail, both are kind of appropriate! :)
posted by kate on 2-6-2008 at 11:49 am
And I really like this, by the way! Too bad for my productivity…
posted by kate on 2-6-2008 at 11:50 am
Yes! I love it! I love it!
posted by cubicle-dweller on 2-6-2008 at 12:06 pm
The @ sign was very close to being eliminated from the standard keyboard until 1971, when Ray Tomlinson wrote it into the code used to send the first email.
VERY interesting… and now I’m dying to know, what was the @ used for before email?
posted by Kelly J on 2-6-2008 at 12:31 pm
“The highest and lowest points in the “Lower 48″ states aren’t just in the same state, they’re in the same county. The two spots, located in Inyo County, California, are about 100 miles apart.”
I had to look that one up!
posted by Erik on 2-6-2008 at 12:46 pm
I nominate this as a facebook application [you guys were looking for a truly grand one a few months back, were you not?]. This generator allows me to falsely believe my procrastination is somewhat productive.
posted by P.Bear on 2-6-2008 at 1:00 pm
Interesting, but a little frustrating — it states some things as facts (e.g. plague of Justinian = bubonic plague) that are really just speculation.
posted by Liza Jane on 2-6-2008 at 1:13 pm
The @ used to be accounting shorthand for “at a rate of”. Not sure how old it is…
posted by Jason! on 2-6-2008 at 4:24 pm
I hate the Random Fact Generator. Hate it. I just spent over an hour reading it and had to force myself to close the window in order to stop.
I’m never going to get any work done. I’m going to get fired, lose my home and end up living on a bench outside the library (so I can go inside when they’re open to get on the internet to read it some more.) And it will be the fault of that darn Random Fact Generator.
You have invented a new form of crack for nerds. I hope you’re proud of yourself, mental_floss! ;)
posted by bibli0phile on 2-6-2008 at 4:36 pm
Is there a way to receive these facts as an RSS feed or something? If not now, are you planning to release that in the short future?
posted by snappy karma on 2-6-2008 at 10:57 pm
Guess I’m the only one that misses Vocab Rehab…sigh.
posted by HunBun on 2-7-2008 at 7:30 am
Ok, you definitely need to make this a gadget for the iGoogle homepage… I want it up first thing automatically!
posted by Katie on 2-8-2008 at 1:02 am