Random Facts That Sound Fake, But Are 100% True (14 items)

(#1) Millions Of Dollars Of Gold And Silver Flow Through Switzerland’s Sewers Every Year

A study carried out in July 2017 revealed that Switzerland’s sewers are filled with valuable materials. The research showed that somewhere in the region of $1.8 million worth of gold and $1.7 million of silver enters the country’s sewage system every year. That is the equivalent of almost 7,000 pounds of precious metal being pumped into wastewater.
Researchers believe that the material probably comes from the extensive gold refineries and pharmaceutical industry in Switzerland, both of which play a major part in the economy of the country. Unfortunately, there is no viable way to reclaim the gold and silver that is lost into the sewers.
(#8) The Surveyors Who First Measured Mount Everest Gave The Wrong Figure On Purpose

Measuring the exact height of Mount Everest was a difficult job, and the first official figure came in 1856, when the Great Trigonometric Survey was carried out by Sir Andrew Waugh. When the measurement was first calculated, the height was revealed to be exactly 29,000 feet. Waugh was so worried that this number would be considered a guess or a rounding-off of the actual height that he decided to add an extra two feet to the total to create a more believable figure. Bizarrely, this actually resulted in a more accurate total as most officials now consider the official height to be 29,029 feet.
(#12) The First Adult Film Was Screened In 1896

The history of cinema dates back to the 1880s, although proper films were not screened until 1895. The very first erotic film, which became known as "stag films," was the seven-minute-long French recording Le Coucher de la Mariée (Bedtime for the Bride). It is believed to be the very first adult film and was screened in Paris in 1896. Only two minutes of the original film have survived, which show the actress performing a striptease behind a screen.
(#9) Sharks Have Been Around Longer Than Trees

It's common knowledge that sharks have been around for a long time. In fact, they have managed to survive at least four mass extinction events and are pretty durable. Still, you might be surprised to learn that they are actually older than trees. The first recognized shark first emerged 400 million years ago. This is a full 50 million years before the earliest species of tree inhabited the land that is now the Sahara desert.
(#5) Russia And Pluto Are About The Same Size

Pluto has had a hard time recently. It was downgraded from its status as a planet because it was too small and hadn’t cleared out the debris in its surrounding area. To make matters worse, people have now realized that the dwarf planet is only around the same size as Russia. According to NASA’s New Horizons Mission, Pluto has a total surface area of 17,646,012 km2. As the biggest country in the world, Russia has a surface area that is roughly comparable to the former planet, with estimates putting the total at 17,125,200 km2.
(#2) There Are More Trees On Earth Than Stars In The Milky Way

The sheer scale of the universe that encompasses the Earth often makes it seem like space must be infinite, with an uncountable number of stars surrounding it in every direction. Yet, NASA scientists have come up with very good estimates for the number of stars in the Milky Way galaxy. This number stands at around 400 billion. While that is certainly a lot, it is dwarfed by the number of trees that are on the planet’s surface. Recent studies have concluded that there are around 3 trillion trees on Earth, almost 10 times the amount of stars in the galaxy.