26 Facts That Just Seem Like There Is Absolutely No Way That They're True

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I love surprising/interesting facts, so much so that I've written many, many facts posts during my time here at BuzzFeed. One of my favorite facts is that the last surviving witness to President Abraham Lincoln's assassination in 1865, Samuel J. Seymour, lived long enough to appear on the TV game show I've Got a Secret in 1956, where he told his story.

Two men on a vintage TV show; one appears to be recounting his eyewitness account of Abraham Lincoln's shooting
CBS / Via youtube.com

And if that wasn't surprising enough, among the contestants trying to guess Samuel's secret was none other than the legendary Lucille Ball. This also means Samuel is probably the only person ever to have been in the same room with both Abraham Lincoln and Lucille Ball!

Lucille Ball wearing a floral hat and vintage hairstyle in a still from a classic TV show
CBS / Via youtube.com

Well, recently, my love of facts led me to stumble upon this Reddit thread where user I-eat-foot asked: "What is your 'oh f*ck off there is no way that’s true' fact/stat?"

Taylor Swift holding an award ecstatically with the caption "Mind blown!"

The thread went viral, getting over 8K comments. Below are some of the top and best facts that people shared:

1."There were only 25 episodes of the original Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! 1969 TV series."

Fred, Velma, Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, and Daphne stand by the Mystery Machine
Courtesy Everett Collection/ Warner Bros.

2."The lineup of the Beatles we love so much were only together for a little over seven years before breaking up. It's as long as it takes some bands to get their first record deal."

The Beatles posing together, wearing suits with flower patterns and ruffled shirts
Icon And Image / Getty Images

3."Ancient Egypt lasted so long that Ancient Egyptian archaeology was a career in Ancient Egypt."

The Great Sphinx of Giza with a pyramid in the background
Heritage Images / Heritage Images via Getty Images

4."A worm was frozen solid for over 46,000 years in Siberian permafrost, but some scientists revived it. So, it was actually not dead, just resting."

Microscopic view of transparent nematodes among small particles on a slide
Smith Collection / Getty Images

5."A full-size basketball court can fit inside a soccer penalty box. Still amazes me."

Aerial view of an empty basketball court with clear boundary lines and hoops at either end
Thianchai Sitthikongsak / Getty Images

6."We live closer in time to the Tyrannosaurus Rex than the Tyrannosaurus Rex lived to Stegosaurus."

A T-Rex from the film 'Jurassic Park' roars while other dinosaurs and lush vegetation are in the background
A T-Rex from the film 'Jurassic Park' roars while other dinosaurs and lush vegetation are in the background
Illustration of a Stegosaurus among other dinosaurs in a prehistoric forest setting
Illustration of a Stegosaurus among other dinosaurs in a prehistoric forest setting

Orla / Getty Images/iStockphoto, Warpaintcobra / Getty Images/iStockphoto

DrTenochtitlan

7."The last execution by guillotine in France occurred the same year Star Wars was released (1977)."

Illustration of an historical guillotine without people
Illustration of an historical guillotine without people

Ilbusca / Getty Images, 20thcentfox / ©20thCentFox/Courtesy Everett Collection

ActafianSeriactas

8."Sharks existed before trees did."

Fossilized fish embedded in a stone slab
Marcelc / Getty Images/iStockphoto

9."There are more trees on Earth than stars in the Milky Way."

Starry night sky viewed from a forest clearing
Adventure_photo / Getty Images

10."Humans are the ONLY animals to have a chin. Sounds fake right? Wrong. Monkeys? Nope. Give your dog's chin a scratch? Nope, you’re scratching its jaw. Only humans have chins."

Profile of a woman with a bun touching her chin, eyes closed, against a neutral background
Peopleimages / Getty Images

11."The last recipient of a Civil War pension died during the Trump administration (in 2020)."

A reenactment of a historical battle with soldiers in uniforms holding rifles, carrying an American flag
Denguy / Getty Images

12."We are as far away from the end of WWI as WWI was from the Napoleonic Wars."

Napoleon Bonaparte on horseback gesturing forward against a dramatic sky, depicted in Jacques-Louis David's painting
Napoleon Bonaparte on horseback gesturing forward against a dramatic sky, depicted in Jacques-Louis David's painting
Crowd of people celebrating with newspapers declaring the end of a war
Crowd of people celebrating with newspapers declaring the end of a war

Gwengoat / Getty Images, Bettmann / Getty Images

Rchardwithay

13."Wooly mammoths did not go extinct until 1,000 years after the Great Pyramids of Giza were built."

Illustration of three mammoths in a snowy landscape, evoking a sense of the Ice Age era
Daniel Eskridge / Getty Images/iStockphoto

14."Hannibal Lecter only has 16 minutes of screen time in The Silence of the Lambs."

Man in white T-shirt sitting, holding a toothpick, with a focused expression
Orion Pictures Corp / ©Orion Pictures Corp/Courtesy Everett Co / Everett Collection

15."If you're 7 feet tall you have a 1 in 6 chance of landing in the NBA."

Close-up of a textured basketball with the NBA commissioner's signature
Ronald Martinez / Getty Images

16."Nintendo was founded in 1889. They were a card game company."

Original Nintendo Entertainment System console with controller
Gamesmaster Magazine / Future via Getty Images

17."There were only two seasons of both The Munsters and The Addams Family. Given the number of times I watched reruns, that surprised me."

Cast of 'The Munsters' TV show posing in character outside their fictional home
Cast of 'The Munsters' TV show posing in character outside their fictional home
Cast of TV's
Cast of TV's

Courtesy Everett Collection

MilkChocolate21

18."German chocolate cake is not named for the country, it's named after chocolate maker Samuel German and was originally called German's Chocolate."

Chocolate cake with a slice cut out, on a stand, with plates and forks beside it
Dianebentleyraymond / Getty Images

19."It was only 66 years from the Wright brothers' first flight to Neil Armstrong walking on the moon."

Wright Brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk with one brother piloting and the other on the ground
Wright Brothers' first powered flight at Kitty Hawk with one brother piloting and the other on the ground
Astronaut in spacesuit standing on the moon's surface with visor reflecting the lunar module
Astronaut in spacesuit standing on the moon's surface with visor reflecting the lunar module

Bettmann / Getty Images, Heritage Images / NASA/Heritage Images via Getty Images

mattstuff09

20."President Joe Biden was born closer to Lincoln's assassination [77 years earlier] than his own inauguration [79 years later]."

Illustration of John Wilkes Booth shooting Abraham Lincoln at Ford's Theatre
Bettmann / Getty Images

21."John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, born in 1790, still has a living grandson: Harrison Ruffin Tyler."

Portrait of Samuel Morse with his telegraph. He's seated, wearing a formal black suit
Graphicaartis / Getty Images

22."Greenland sharks can live up to 500 years. They don’t reach sexual maturity until they are over 100 years old. When they get pregnant, gestation lasts up to 18 years."

Illustration of three Greenland sharks swimming, with the caption "Greenland Shark" below them
Bullet_chained / Getty Images/iStockphoto

23."During WWII, a bear fought in the Polish Army. He was enlisted as a private and later promoted to corporal. He carried ammunition to the front line, drank beer, and was taught to salute. His name was Wojtek."

Elderly person placing a Santa hat on a bear statue in a park
Janek Skarzynski / AFP via Getty Images

24."George H.W. Bush was almost eaten by cannibals during WWII."

Pilot in cockpit with headset and life jacket writing on a clipboard
Mpi / Getty Images

25."One of the reasons your puppy likes squeaky toys is because the sound reminds them of killing a small animal."

Brown puppy lies on floor biting a yellow rubber duck, looking at the camera
Saraidasilva / Getty Images

26.And lastly, "That Macaulay Culkin's middle name is Macaulay Culkin. His name is Macaulay Macaulay Culkin Culkin."

Man in suit holding a framed certificate with the name "Macaulay Culkin" on it, smiling and pointing at the text
Frederic J. Brown / AFP via Getty Images

You can read the original thread on Reddit.

Note: Some responses have been edited for length and/or clarity.