I thought it would be fun for everyone to post any random facts they know (or something you Googled or whatever). It can be about anything as long as it's HP-appropriate. One player posts one fact. I'll start:

The Icelandic word for computer is tölva. It was coined in the '60s and is a combination of the words tala (to count) and völva (prophetess).

The Florida Everglades are the only place on the planet where crocodiles and alligators live together.

There are actually NILE crocodiles in the Everglades, but scientists aren't exactly sure how they got there.

Tokyo is the second most expensive city in the world to live in.

The unicorn is the national animal of Scotland!

The roll(s) of skin over a bulldog's nose are called "rope."

Cookie Monster's real name is Sid

Aitutaki was the first of the Cook Islands to accept Christianity, after London Missionary Society (LMS) missionary John Williams visited in 1821.

Pigeons can't fart

Greenland Ranch, California, with 134°F on July 10, 1913, holds the record for the highest temperature ever officially recorded in the United States.

Austrocortilutein is an organic compound that also serves as an antibacterial metabolite found in the Dermocybe splendida mushroom.

Yes, you can smell rain:

Weather patterns produce distinct smells, and one of these is a lightly pungent scent of ozone that springs from fertilizers and natural sources and can be carried in a thunderstorm’s downdrafts from higher altitudes, alerting those with sensitive noses that the rain is about to fall.

Sharks have existed on earth for about 400-420 million years.

this is one of my favorite facts:

The present scientific consensus is that birds are a group of theropod dinosaurs that originated during the Mesozoic Era. A close relationship between birds and dinosaurs was first proposed in the nineteenth century after the discovery of the primitive bird Archaeopteryx in Germany.

Easter lilies are very toxic to cats.

Talking to yourself makes your brain work more efficiently

In his entire career, Shaquille O'Neill only ever made one three-point basket (in 1996).

My bf who is an avid basketball fan made a comment the other day about a really tall basketball player who played D1 college ball, but always made the 3 point shots as if it was a bad thing... apparently if you are a really tall basketball player, you should be putting up a lot of points closer to the basket. Not sure how accurate that is, but it surprised me.

for my actual fact:

the book green eggs and ham started out as a bet!

The Dr. Seuss classic grew out of a bet with his editor that he could not create a book using fewer than 50 different words. The editor, Bennett Cerf, founder of Random House, put—you guessed it—$50 on the line, and lost.

“Rhythm” is the longest English word without a vowel.

Ravens in captivity can learn to talk better than parrots (!!)

Nine-banded armadillos always give birth to identical quadruplets.

The most common name in the world is Mohammed