100 “WTF” Facts

You probably haven’t stopped to ponder who was taller: Michael Jordan or Michael Crichton? Luckily, we did. “His Airness” stands at around 6 feet and 6 inches tall, while the author of The Andromeda Strain was about 3 inches taller.

That bemusing fact his just one of a hundred strange pieces of information in our latest episode of The List Show. Mental Floss editor-in-chief Erin McCarthy shares them all, from how many Earths you could fit between the sun and Pluto, to how many Charleston Chews you’d need to equal the weight of all pumpkins produced in the U.S. each year. (The sum, in both cases, could be summarized as “a lot,” but if you want more specific numbers, you could ballpark it at 12.8 billion and 400,000, respectively.)

These “WTF” facts span the worlds of business and biology, history and hippopotamuses. On that last front, you’ll learn hippos’ surprising top-end speed (30 mph) and the upsetting number of human lives they take each year (hundreds). You’ll also learn the identity of the famous writer who left his wife his “second-best bed” and find out which legendary designer was temporarily in favor of “toe cleavage.”

Check out the full episode on YouTube for dozens of more facts that will make you say, “huh?” And subscribe to Mental Floss for new videos every week.