# Facts Which Sound Fake **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [September 29, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473 "2022-09-29T20:47:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/1 "2022-09-29T20:47:22Z")
Enjoyed this list of probably true stuff from Bored Panda. But you can do better. > **[Someone Asked People “What Is A True Fact That Sounds Fake?” And 40 Delivered...](https://www.boredpanda.com/true-facts-sound-fake/)** > > Welcome to a list of facts where people share plenty of staggering or downright surreal pieces of trivia that prove truth is stranger than fiction. ---
**Author:** ![Asuka](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/dec6dc/32.png) [@Asuka](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asuka)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 8:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/2 "2022-09-29T20:55:46Z")
More American soldiers died per year in the “peacetime” 1980s than in the heights of the Middle Eastern wars in the 2000s. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 29, 2022, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/3 "2022-09-29T22:36:13Z")
Have not personally verified these. 1. China used more concrete between 2011 and 2013 than the US did in the 20th century. (Repeated by Forbes and WashPo). 2. A typical cumulus cloud weighs more than a million pounds. (Though some physics and USGS websites say this is true.) 3. Anne Frank, Barbara Walters and Martin Luther King Jr. - who was born first? This question was asked recently on the comedy radio show with Fortune Feimster and Tom Papa. The answer was “They were all born in the same year”. I thought it was weak - since they were not all born in the same month! ---
**Author:** ![Bootb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e19b73/32.png) [@Bootb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bootb)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/4 "2022-09-30T00:00:01Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > More American soldiers died per year in the “peacetime” 1980s than in the heights of the Middle Eastern wars in the 2000s. No cite, but I’ve read that during the Korean war, more American soldiers died in traffic accidents on American roads than died in combat. ---
**Author:** ![Tabco](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tabco/32/7644_2.png) [@Tabco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tabco)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/5 "2022-09-30T00:55:15Z")
The opening of the first Pizza Hut is closer to Cleopatra’s lifetime than the construction of the pyramids at Giza. ---
**Author:** ![WildaBeast](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wildabeast/32/6_2.png) [@WildaBeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WildaBeast)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/6 "2022-09-30T00:59:32Z")
> [@Asuka](#): > > More American soldiers died per year in the “peacetime” 1980s than in the heights of the Middle Eastern wars in the 2000s. According to one of my college professors circa 2000 (this was pre-9/11, in other words), the majority of terrorist attacks against US interests occurred in Latin America, not the Middle East. Although I wonder if that might depend on how one defines “terrorist”, and if it might be lumping drug cartels in with them. On the other hand, the FARC was active in Colombia at the time; I’m not sure how many of their attacks could be considered to be against the US. ---
**Author:** ![bobot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bobot/32/21622_2.png) [@bobot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bobot)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/7 "2022-09-30T01:06:57Z")
I’m kind of sure I heard this as a fact, but that uncertainty is not going to stop me from repeating it here! If you were to add up the weight of all of the ants on this planet, it would be greater than the weight of all of the other living creatures combined. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/8 "2022-09-30T01:21:31Z")
[The problem with simple “facts”](https://www.sciencefocus.com/nature/what-animal-collectively-makes-up-the-largest-biomass-on-earth/). > You sometimes hear very large estimates for the biomass of certain animal groups, like ants or nematodes, but these consist of thousands of different, specialised species. The single species with the largest global biomass is likely to be amazingly prolific in one area, or extremely widespread. > > Among the most widespread animals are humans. 6.9 billion people averaging 50kg each equals roughly 350 million tonnes. Staggeringly, cow biomass exceeds 650 million tonnes (1.3 billion cattle conservatively weighing 500kg each). > > The only wild species in the running is Antarctic Krill. A 2009 global estimate gives 379 million tonnes fresh biomass, but unknown aspects of this shrimp’s ecology make it hard to be sure. By comparison, blue whales (with their krill-based diet) comprised about 35 million tonnes pre-whaling, and about half a million tonnes in 2001. Even if you lump all ants together, that claim wouldn’t be anywhere near true. They probably weigh less than just humans, let alone everything. > **[Are all the ants as heavy as all the humans?](https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-29281253)** > > A recent wildlife programme suggested that all the ants in the world weigh as much as all the people - but is that true? As for the OP, BoredPanda is fun as a timewaster, but I’ve learned never to believe any “facts” gathered there. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 2:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/9 "2022-09-30T02:18:43Z")
Hence “probably true” in the original post. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 10:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/10 "2022-09-30T10:25:44Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > The opening of the first Pizza Hut is closer to Cleopatra’s lifetime than the construction of the pyramids at Giza. Isn’t that just like saying today is closer to last year than it is to ten years ago ? Which, imho, doesn’t sound fake. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 10:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/11 "2022-09-30T10:42:35Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Isn’t that just like saying today is closer to last year than it is to ten years ago ? > Which, imho, doesn’t sound fake. Yes but in the standard human mind, anything to do with ancient Egypt is associated with the same period of time. Even if (like the pyramids and Cleopatra) they were separated by millennia. ---
**Author:** ![pjd](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pjd/32/3009_2.png) [@pjd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pjd)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 10:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/12 "2022-09-30T10:49:57Z")
Yes. What **Tabco** probably meant to say is that Cleo’s lifetime is nearer to the first Pizza Hut than it was to the pyramidic construction. (or i suppose he could have added an “is” to the end !) ---
**Author:** ![themapleleaf](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/themapleleaf/32/14349_2.png) [@themapleleaf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/themapleleaf)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/13 "2022-09-30T10:51:34Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > > [@pjd](#): > > > > Isn’t that just like saying today is closer to last year than it is to ten years ago ? > > Which, imho, doesn’t sound fake. > > Yes but in the standard human mind, anything to do with ancient Egypt is associated with the same period of time. Even if (like the pyramids and Cleopatra) they were separated by millennia. Exactly. Egypt is the oldest extant country in the world, having existed in some form or other for roughly 5000 years, from the very dawn of human history. Cleopatra was of the Ptolemy dynasty, which came very late in Egypt’s history. When you consider this, the above fact, while interesting, is by no means difficult to fathom. ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 10:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/14 "2022-09-30T10:53:26Z")
> [@pjd](#): > > Yes. > What **Tabco** probably meant to say is that Cleo’s lifetime is nearer to > the first Pizza Hut than it was to the pyramidic construction. Oh I see, I now note the ambiguous construction of the original post. I understood the intended point but yes, as written, it can be taken in two different ways. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 11:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/15 "2022-09-30T11:24:56Z")
Julia Child invented shark repellent. ---
**Author:** ![AK84](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85e7bf/32.png) [@AK84](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AK84)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 11:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/16 "2022-09-30T11:44:13Z")
> [@Dr\_Paprika](#): > > Anne Frank, Barbara Walters and Martin Luther King Jr. - who was born first? This question was asked recently on the comedy radio show with Fortune Feimster and Tom Papa. The answer was “They were all born in the same year”. I thought it was weak - since they were not all born in the same month! Queen Elizabeth II was actually three years _older_ than Anne Frank and Anne not ony wrote abourt her in her diary, but had a picture of the young Princess in her hiding place. On the topic of Anne Frank, the SS officer who found the family was later prosecuted by a W German court and a star witness for the _defence_ was…Otto Frank. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/17 "2022-09-30T11:58:06Z")
> [@Tabco](#): > > The opening of the first Pizza Hut is closer to Cleopatra’s lifetime than the construction of the pyramids at Giza. This is the one I came in to mention, except I heard it as “The invention of the iPhone is closer to Cleopatra’s lifetime than the construction of the pyramids at Giza.” Either that or the moon landing. The contrast of technological achievements makes it sound even faker. (no diss to Pizza Hut, but it’s not like the first one was a huge breakthrough in Western science or culture 😉) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/18 "2022-09-30T12:05:04Z")
> [@solost](#): > > (no diss to Pizza Hut, but it’s not like the first one was a huge breakthrough in Western science or culture 😉) Mind you, one thing I remember very clearly about visiting Giza was that I could face one way and see the Sphynx and the pyramids, turn 180 degrees and see a Pizza Hut. It may still be there! (the Pizza Hut that is) ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/19 "2022-09-30T12:08:25Z")
> [@Novelty\_Bobble](#): > > Mind you, one thing I remember very clearly about visiting Giza was that I could face one way and see the Sphynx and the pyramids, turn 180 degrees and see a Pizza Hut. It may still be there! (the Pizza Hut that is) From this… [![](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/535f3cba-f8bb-4df2-b0c5-aaca16e9ff31/giza-plateau-pyramids.jpg) ](https://i.natgeofe.com/n/535f3cba-f8bb-4df2-b0c5-aaca16e9ff31/giza-plateau-pyramids.jpg) …to this in the span of 4500-ish years. Progress? 🙄 [![](https://www.wfxrtv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/pizzahutAP060206020442.jpg?w=1280) ](https://www.wfxrtv.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/20/2022/07/pizzahutAP060206020442.jpg?w=1280) ---
**Author:** ![Novelty\_Bobble](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/a3d4f5/32.png) [@Novelty\_Bobble](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Novelty_Bobble)\ **Post date:** [September 30, 2022, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473/20 "2022-09-30T12:12:00Z")
> [@solost](#): > > …to this in the span of 4500-ish years. Progress? 🙄 Well progress of a kind! When you consider what it took to complete that construction, the lives that were lost, the vision that it took to even conceive of it and the myriad eyes that have gazed on it in wonder over the many years since. Takes your breath away. Whereas the pyramids are just a big stack of rocks. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/facts-which-sound-fake/972473.md?page=2)