The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia Quotes

“In 2014, a British woman sued her divorce lawyers, claiming that they had not warned her that getting a divorce would end her marriage.”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“Did you know that there is a rare condition called hyperthymesia that allows people to recall almost every single detail of their life? That’s right… every conversation, every date, every interaction… ingrained in their memory forever. Right now, there are an estimated 12-60 people in the entire world who have this condition and are able to remember each day of their lives.”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“there are several airlines that require the pilot and co-pilot to eat different meals. The reasoning is simple. If, for whatever reason, a meal causes food poisoning, one of the pilots will still be well enough to fly the plane.”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“Presidential Similarities All former presidents of the United States are bound together for life, but the similarities between two former presidents goes beyond what is normal. Have you ever heard about the Lincoln/Kennedy paradox? For starters, both Lincoln and Kennedy had previously been boat captains and were also the second children in their family. Both presidents were elected in the year ’60—Abraham Lincoln in 1860, and John F. Kennedy in 1960. They each had three children living with them in the White House and had one child pass away during their presidency. But that’s just the beginning. President Lincoln had a secretary with the last name Kennedy, while President Kennedy had a secretary with the last name Lincoln. Upon each of their deaths, they were succeeded by vice presidents with the last name Johnson (Andrew Johnson and Lyndon B. Johnson). Both John Wilkes Booth and Lee Harvey Oswald, the presidents’ assassins, have fifteen letters in their name. Booth shot President Lincoln in a theater and then fled to a warehouse, while Oswald shot President Kennedy from a warehouse, then fled to a theater. These similarities are a bit eerie, right?! It seems as though Lincoln and Kennedy were twins born a century apart.”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“you dilute one teaspoon of sugar in a million gallons of water, dogs would be able to detect it. While humans have about six million olfactory receptors in their noses, dogs have upwards of 300 million.”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“As of February 2017, there were 3.7 billion users of email services worldwide, and every day 269 billion emails are sent. Broken down, this equates to 2.5 million emails sent every second and trillions of emails sent each year. An estimated 49.7% of all emails are spam messages, and the average person who works in an office receives over 120 emails each day. The email system has been around since 1971, and the highest open rates of email take place on Saturdays. Out of all the companies that send emails to users, Groupon is the company that sends the most emails per user. Only 22.8% of people open political emails, while between 13 and 18% of marketing emails are opened in”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“The Greenbrier Bunker was one of America’s best-kept secrets for decades. Beneath the Greenbrier Resort in West Virginia, a bomb shelter was hidden from the general public. It was created for members of Congress in the event of an emergency, stocked with months’ worth of food and supplies. The bunker was kept a secret for over thirty years, and it was built alongside the Greenbrier Resort, in the town of White Sulphur Springs. Even the official historian of Greenbrier, Bob Conte, knew nothing about the bunker. Conte had all sorts of records and photos from the property, but nothing that revealed information about the bunker. It turns out that the bunker was built in case of an emergency during the Cold War. The space of the bunker has been compared to that of a Walmart store, with thick, concrete walls and an extensive air filtration system. Rows of metal bunkbeds line the walls, with enough beds for 1,100 people. The building of the bunker was called “Project Greek Island,” and hotel workers and locals were told the construction was for a new conference and exhibition center. It was even used for conferences by thousands of people who had no idea that it was actually designed to be a secret bunker. Down the hall from the sleeping quarters, there was a room designed to be the floor for the House of Representatives. A group of secret government employees disguised themselves as technicians, but they were really some of the only people in the world who knew about the bunker. It was their job to make sure there was a constant six-month supply of food, the most up-to-date pharmaceuticals, and everything that the members of Congress would need in the event of an emergency. The bunker was exposed to the public in 1992. Today, the Greenbrier property is home to not only the Greenbrier Resort, but also the Presidents’ Cottage Museum. As over twenty-five presidents have stayed there, the museum shows their experiences, the property’s history, and, now, part of the bunker. There is a new emergency shelter in place, but only a handful of people know its whereabouts.”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“Jacuzzi Doozy Ask anyone what comes to mind when they hear the word “jacuzzi and they’ll all say the same thing. It’s a luxury tub, a hot tub, or a jetted tub. But jacuzzi is one of those words that is often misused. Jacuzzi is actually the name of the most popular portable spa manufacturer. It’s like Post-It notes, Q-tips, or a Xerox machine, in that the brand name has since become a commonly-accepted name for the entire group of products. What most people think of as a jacuzzi is actually just a spa… unless, of course, it is actually made by the Jacuzzi brand.”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts

“Coffee Cups Every two minutes, people in the United Kingdom go through 10,000 coffee cups. However, what most do not realize is that these paper coffee cups are not recyclable. While most consumers assume that the paper cups are the more eco-friendly choice, most end up in landfills. Because the cups are not made from recyclable material, and they come in contact with the hot coffee or tea, they cannot be put with standard recycling. Technically, because the cups are lined with polyethylene, they”
― Bill O'Neill, The Fun Knowledge Encyclopedia: The Crazy Stories Behind the World's Most Interesting Facts