20 Random Fun Facts That Make Great Conversation Starters

In 20 years of Mental Floss history, we’ve come across some pretty offbeat facts from all spheres of study, from literature and science to behind-the-scenes secrets of major Hollywood productions.

And on this episode of The List Show, Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy is covering 20 of our favorite things we’ve learned. You’ll hear about how lobsters urinate (from their faces), why wombats have cube-shaped poop, and plenty of other tidbits that have nothing to do with animal waste.

Mary Shelley, for example, supposedly hung onto her husband’s heart for a while after he died, preserving the organ (which was somehow still intact after cremation) in a silk-wrapped poem. If you ask us, it’s the perfect type of romantic story to tell on a date, though you might want to save it for at least the third or fourth one.

Press play below to find out about Neil Armstrong’s little-known mirror selfie from the moon, Italy’s fleeting-yet-memorable crusade to ban pasta, and more random facts.

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