Just when you thought you knew it all, here we are again with ANOTHER list of remarkable and verifiable real estate facts that are going to blow your mind.
I hope you're just as fascinated by these as I was!
1. The Real Super Mario
Super Mario was named after real-life businessman Mario Segale, who was renting a warehouse to Nintendo. When Nintendo fell behind on rent, Segale gave them another chance to come up with the money, which they did. Nintendo then named its main character in the game Donkey Kong after him.
Image: Mika Baumeister | Fact: Wikipedia
2. The Wild West?
Not only is Reno, Nevada, west of Los Angeles but so are six other state capitals.
Image: Getty Images | Fact: JohnFry.com via Reddit
3. The Bright Side of Depression
You are less likely to die during an economic depression, because of reduced traffic, cleaner air, and less money spent on tobacco and alcohol.
Image: Sonder Quest | Fact: Fortune
4. The Lost Continent of Zealandia
New Zealand is part of a hidden underwater continent called “Zealandia”.
Image: Casey Horner | Fact: Wikipedia
5. Cage Homes
Over 100,000 people in Hong Kong live in “cage homes”, which are 6ft x 2ft metal cages that cover a bed.
Image: Chaitanya Maheshwari| Fact: Vox
6. The Maine Down in Africa
Maine is the closest U.S. state to Africa.
Image: Google Earth | Fact: Google Earth
7. The Great Lake State
Michigan has over 10,000 lakes that are five acres or larger.
Image: Emma Harper | Fact: MichiganLakeInfo.com
8. Here Comes the Sun
As of 2017, San Francisco has required all new buildings to have solar panels.
Image: Vivint Solar | Fact: NPR
9. The Origin of the Word “Boycott”
An English land agent named Charles Boycott was so hated by his local community that his name became a verb.
Image: Matthew Brady | Fact: Wikipedia
10. Detroit's Packard Plant
The Packard Plant in Detroit is the largest abandoned industrial facility in the world.
Image: Daniel Lincoln | Fact: sometimes-interesting.com
11. Aloha, Land!
Hawaii is the only state that keeps adding square footage, because it's the home of the world’s most active volcano, Kilauea.
Image: Marc Szeglat | Fact: CBS News
12. Way Off the Mark
Six months after building a $680,000 custom home in Florida with an ocean view, the homeowners realized it had been built on the wrong lot.
Image: Gautier Salles | Fact: Fox News
13. The Land of (Artificial) Lakes
The state of Maryland has no natural lakes. Every single lake is man-made.
Image: Austin Kirk | Fact: The Washington Post
14. “We The North?”
About 60% of the Canadian population lives further south than Seattle, Washington.
Image: Kalen Emsley | Fact: EdwardTonia.blogspot.com
15. Baghdad's U.S. Embassy
The U.S. embassy in Baghdad, Iraq is the world's largest (nearly the size of the Vatican City). It has its own power station, water and sewage treatment, internet and phone network, gym, cinema, and sports facilities, and six apartment buildings for employees.
Image: Getty Images | Fact: Wikipedia
16. No Smell Like Home
Most people can't smell their own homes because of ‘olfactory adaptation.' The human brain is programmed to look for new, strange, changing smells as a sign of possible danger and ignores familiar scents.
Image: Getty Images | Fact: Wikipedia
17. Japan's Moving Castle
Japan is moving an entire 400-year-old castle 230 feet so they can fix its foundation. They'll move it back in 2021.
Image: Getty Images | Fact: Popular Mechanics via Reddit
18. Street Cred
Mapmakers used to plant fictitious streets in their maps, so if their maps were ever copied, they could easily point out the replication of fake streets to prove copyright infringement.
Image: Getty Images | Fact: Atlas Obscura via Reddit
19. Night Soil Contamination
Some have theorized that as many as three U.S. Presidents, and also Abraham Lincoln's son, died as a result of a contaminated water supply to the White House. Until 1850 there was no sewage system and a field of human excrement called “night soil” flowed freely into the water supply.
Image: Getty Images | Fact: The Saturday Evening Post via Reddit
20. The Saga of the Sagrada Familia
For 137 years, Spain's Sagrada Familia was constructed illegally. It finally got a building permit in 2019 when authorities found out it didn't have one in 2016.
Image: Getty Images | Fact: The Straits Times via Reddit
21. The $600 Million Rocks
Japan has spent $600 million protecting two rocks that are part of the coral reef of Okinotorishima because it gives Japan a 200 nautical mile (370.4 km) exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around the atoll. The atoll is the southernmost part of Japan and the only Japanese territory in the tropics.
Image: 国土交通省関東地方整備局 | Fact: Wikipedia via Reddit
22. Not Rocket Science
NASA's vehicle assembly building is so big that it needs over 10,000 tons of air conditioning equipment to control the moisture and prevent rain clouds from forming inside on humid days.
Image: USGS Photographic Library | Fact: Atlas Obscura
23. Mortar Combat
Ancient Inca architecture was built to be earthquake-resistant, with boulders that were carefully cut to fit tightly without mortar.
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