

Ask HN: In one sentence, tell me a random useless fact.  - andrewhillman


======
andrelaszlo
[http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/top-60-quick...](http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2013/08/top-60-quick-
facts-of-the-
summer/?utm_source=knowd.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=60-insane-facts-
from-the-summer)

------
msvan
Approximately 36 million people starved to death in China in 1958-61, during
peacetime and normal weather conditions. And yet it's not in Chinese history
books.

------
jamesbritt
Bennett Park, in the Washington Heights neighborhood in north Manhattan,
occupies the highest point of land in Manhattan, 265.05 feet above sea level.

Fun fact: I used to play there as a kid.

------
dingaling
Magpies are self-aware and in tests have used mirrors to assist in removing
stickers placed on their plumage.

They are also the only species of bird resident in every EU country.

------
pfortuny
There is a way to partition a sphere into six subsets such that, using only
isometries, you can build two spheres, identical to the first one, with those
six subsets.

~~~
holyjaw
I thought this was interesting so I googled it. "Oh, that's cool", I thought,
"I don't understand anything in the titles of the first 10 results."

[https://www.google.com/search?q=sphere+subset+isometric](https://www.google.com/search?q=sphere+subset+isometric)

------
ZeroGravitas
Monkeys open bananas from the end opposite the stem.

~~~
andrewhillman
This one made me laugh.

Not that I eat a lot of bananas, but I realize this years ago when dipping in
fondue. This way the stalk acts as a holder and it doesn't bruise the banana
when peeling. I guess monkeys know best.

------
BigTuna
When water converts to steam at 100 degrees Celsius it also expands in volume
by 1700%.

------
lukio
The U.S. Postal Service has lost more than 5 billion dollars over the past
year.

