Strange Facts: Enter the World of Weird and Improbable

Contrary to popular belief, improbable things happen much more often than you would think. While some consider strange facts to be the result of the stars aligning, society has created an illusion, masking how we perceive odds. We always think how likely it is to something strange to happen to us personally, but we never take under consideration, that we’re not the centre of the universe. Put shortly, improbable does not equal impossible. So, without further ado, let’s dive into our collection of strange but true facts.

The Science Behind Unbelievable Facts

Before we dive into our list of strange facts, let’s first expand on the science behind the probability of something weird happening. Take your birthday for example. You’re at a party with 30 people. What do you believe are the chances of someone having the same birthday? Most of you would say 30/365 or 8%. That’s because you automatically focus only on yourself and wonder if someone has the same birthday as you. However, the question actually means ‘what are the chances of any two people’ having the same birthday. This increases the odds to over 70%.

To conclude, we should always look at the broad picture. The odds of something unbelievable happening, are not that slim, in the grand scheme of things. It becomes very unlikely, only once you scale things down to a personal level. This perception commonly leads to people believing that strange facts aren’t true or that something is impossible. Once you shed that misconception and start looking at the facts, you’ll see more clearly and believe.

Strange but True – Unbelievable Facts

Now that we’ve cleared the air on the chances of something weird happening, let’s take a look at the list we’ve prepared. We decided to explore three different stories in detail, showing our readers that situations which at first, one might consider as highly improbable, aren’t actually that rare.

Solar Eclipses – What Are the Chances?

The first contender in our list of odd facts, something which we’ve all experienced at some point in our lives – solar eclipses. A few facts – the sun’s diameter is 400 times that of the Moon. The sun itself is also about 400 times further from the Earth than the Moon. When these celestial bodies align, roughly every 18 months, we experience a solar eclipse. The moon covers the sun almost fully. Out of all the stars and planets in the galaxy, what are the odds that we’d be able to experience solar eclipses? It turns out they’re not that slim. In our solar system, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Neptune can all experience solar eclipses. Of course, a mandatory condition is to first, have a moon. Interesting fact – Jupiter has a total of 79. Next, that moon needs to be the right size and the right distance, boxes which all these planets tick.

Winning the Lottery: Not Once, Twice! On The Same Day

In November 2017, a North Carolina woman and her husband were out and about. Having some spare change in their pocket, they decided to buy a Million Dollar Fever scratch-card. To their surprise, they won $10,000. On their way home, they decided to stop at a convenience store and try their luck once again. This time, they couldn’t believe their eyes. They had just won $1 million. According to USA today, when asked by the NC Education Lottery, the winner Michelle Shuffler said that they usually never play. Look at how the odds turned out for her and her family! Strange but true. If you’re eager to try your luck, you could easily do so, by checking out our online lottery review. Interesting fact – you’re more likely to be accepted to study at Harvard than you are to win the lottery. Even if you’re a subpar student and apply, your odds are still better than getting a hold of the jackpot.

Surviving One Atomic Bomb, Only to go Home and Survive the Second

Continuing with our collection of odd facts, we have Tsutomu Yamaguchi, the only Japanese government-certified survivor of both US atomic bombings. Born on March 16, 1916, Mr Yamaguchi began his career as a draftsman of oil tankers in 1930, working for Mitsubishi Heavy Industries. In the summer of 1945, he was in Hiroshima as part of a 3-month business trip. On August 6th, at roughly 8:15 AM he was walking to the docks as tragedy struck.

The ‘Little Boy’ atomic bomb was detonated and in a bright flash of light, Tsutomu Yamaguchi suffered temporary blindness and burns to the left side of the upper half of his body. The explosion also burst his eardrums. After recovering from the initial shock, he managed to crawl to safety. Having rested for a while, he set out to find his colleagues, which it turns out, also managed to survive. Next thing you know, he was travelling back to Nagasaki, his hometown, where he received treatment for his injuries.

Despite being heavily bandaged, on August 9th, 1945, he reported for work. While explaining to his supervisor the events that had transpired a few days earlier, at around 11 AM, the second ‘Fatman’ atomic bomb was launched upon Nagasaki. This time, Mr Yamaguchi didn’t sustain any immediate injuries as the bomb site was almost 2 miles away. He did, however, suffer from high fever and vomiting.

Despite all the tragic experiences, Tsutomu Yamaguchi lived to the age of 93 and became an advocate for nuclear disarmament.

Random Interesting Facts

Having explored a few strange facts, we would like to end on a high note. That is why we’ve prepared a list of random interesting facts. We hope that you’ve enjoyed our article and found it insightful. If you’d like to test your luck, we suggest checking out our detailed online casino reviews. Perhaps you could turn the odds in your favour?