24 Unbelievably Amazing Random Facts

Here's a list of random facts on which some may sound unbelievable to you.

1. Light from the sun takes a full eight minutes to cross the 150 million km to Earth. It travels 5 hours longer to reach Pluto. After 4 years and 4 months it touches Alpha Centauri, our sun's nearest stellar neighbor, 40 trillion km, or 4.3 light-years away.
2. In an outlying arm our sun circles the galaxy's center about every 200 million years, traveling at 220 km/sec
3. At take off, the space shuttle weighs 2,000 tons. It burns almost all of its fuel in the first few minutes after launch then continues to coast into its orbit 300 km above the surface of the Earth.
4. There are at least 3,000,000,000 stars in the galaxy. And here is an idea of its size. For light from the middle of the galaxy to reach the sun, it takes about 27,000 years.
5. Pioneer 10 was the first manmade object to leave the Solar System. It carried messages about life on earth to be read by any extraterrestrial travelers who might find the probe.
6. The Trans-Siberian Railway offers the world's longest train journey. It takes about 7 days to travel the 5,580 miles or 9,000 km between Moscow and Vladivostok.
7. Matruschka (little mother) are traditional Russian toys. Each painted wooden dolls contains a series of smaller doll inside it.
8. Diamonds are believed to cure leprosy, insanity, and nightmares. Agate is believed to reduce fever. Amethyst is considered especially effective against headache and toothache. Sapphire, it was thought, gave protection from spirits of darkness.
9. In the US, each person unintentionally eats up to 1 pound of insects per year. Common foods such as tomato sauce, hot dogs, and chocolate all may contain insect eggs and parts. But don't worry: health codes allow only very low levels of these ingredients.
10. The worst earthquake in history with a magnitude of 8 in the Richter scale happened in 1976 in China killing 255,000 people
11. India's deadliest rail disaster happened on June 6, 1981 in Bihar, India when a train plunged off a bridge into the river killing more than 800 people
12. The worst industrial accident in history happened on December 3, 1984 in Bhopal, India when a pesticide factory explosion spread toxic gas killing more than 15,000 people
13. The worst airline disaster ever was the collision of two Boeing 747s on March 27, 1977 in Canary island killing 582 people
14. The greatest ship disaster happened on January 30, 1945 in Baltic Sea when Liner Wilhem Gustloff carrying German refugees and soldiers sunk by Soviet sub. It is the highest death toll for a single ship ranging from 6,000 - 7,000.
15. The highest known death toll from a flood was the vast flooding on the Huang He River in China on December 1931 with 3,700,000 casualties
16. There are 152 million Mother's day cards given every year, compared to only 95 million Father's day cards
17. 150 million hot dogs are eaten by Americans every Fourth of July
18. Odd Holidays: July 16 is National Ice Cream Day (a.k.a. Sundae Sunday) and July 22 is Rat-catchers Day.
19. The Manas, the Kyrgyz national epic, is thought to be the world's longest poem. The poem is more than half a million lines long.
20. More than 30 million trees are cut down to produce a year's supply of newspaper
21. It takes between 400 and 500 years for a Styrofoam cup to decompose
22. Using recycled glass uses 50% energy than making products from all new materials
23. The Rose River is the world's shortest river located in Montana, USA measuring 201 feet or 61 meters long only
24. The deadliest volcano in the world is Tambora Volcano in Indonesia - killing 92,000 people during its eruption in 1815