Author: McKenzie Lynn Tozan

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911 Operators Describe The One Call That Haunts Them To This Day

WARNING: mentions of violence, suicide, death

Though many of us have difficult, exhausting jobs, most of us are fortunate enough to be able to say our work is not especially scarring.

Emergency dispatchers, on the other hand, have terrible stories they could tell.

Redditor Onatic420 asked: 

“911 Operators, what call scares you till this day?”

Some remembered being there for someone’s worst moment.

“My sister called 911 and while she was trying to do CPR, she was begging, ‘Daddy, please wake up!’ and that’s something that’s been branded into my mind ever since then.”

“I still think about that a lot, even though it was 4 1/2 years ago already.” – Enuke2003

“Every call where someone is reporting an unresponsive relative. Some will let you walk them through the CPR process if they don’t know it, some won’t.”

“Every one of them, you hear the caller at some point pleading with the patient to not leave them. Most times they do though.”

“Parents, spouses, children, I’ve had them all call. Never gets easier.” – RaisinBranCrunch

“My husband died of a sudden heart attack. I feel terrible for the 911 operator who took my call.”

“He had passed by the time paramedics got there, so the guy on the phone with me had to listen to me scream and cry and beg. I cannot imagine having to hear that at my job.” – LivingDeadCode

Others had gutwrenching stories about children and families.

“I was a 911 operator.”

“When I asked for the address, I got an angry man yelling, ‘Just get the f**kin’ ambulance here!’”

“When I asked what happened, the caller said, ‘You don’t need to f**kin’ know that!”’

“‘I just need to know what happened so I know who to send and what equipment to bring, sir’.”

“‘Just send a godd**n ambulance, my kid’s having a seizure! Don’t send any f**kin’ police’.”

“‘Don’t send police’ coming from a caller is basically them telling on themselves. Please send police, because the patient or the EMS crew or both could be in danger.”

“So I passed a note to my partner, who was dispatching: ‘Send PD. Extremely uncooperative caller’.”

“I tried my best to get through the rest of the questions (how old is the kid, are they conscious, are they breathing, has the seizing stopped, etc…). I got nothing but verbal abuse.”

“All I knew is that a pediatric patient had a seizure when the call started, there was yelling in the background, and there was some terrible yelling in the foreground.”

“‘PUT YOUR HANDS UP’.”

“‘HEY, WHAT THE F**K, B***H’.”

“And that was it. Police had the caller.”

“The patient ended up being a toddler, who had been beaten to within an inch of their life by that a**hole. That was terrifying and sad and I hugged my own kid a little tighter that night.” – insertcaffeine

“Not scary, but I think about them often.”

“Mother of 4 called in saying the trailer was on fire and her bedroom door was locked from the outside. I could hear her kids screaming and coughing in the background.”

“I asked her if she could open a window, but they were nailed shut for some reason. Then we had her shove blankets under the door to stop the smoke from coming in before the fire department gets out there.”

“After about 5 min the coughing dies down and she stops responding to me. Nothing at all.”

“Then the fire department comes over the line saying the homeowner came out and that no one else was inside so we could slow the ambulance. We kept telling them we’re on the phone with people inside but they assured us there was not.”

“Eventually, they pulled the people out, mother and 2 of the kids died. The man who came out was letting this family stay with him and he torched it and left them in there.”

“The second was a woman calling on her husband while they were fighting, she was screaming, saying he was in the room and had a gun and wasn’t sure if he was going to shoot her or himself.”

“Seconds later I hear a gunshot and blood curdling screaming. I asked who had been shot and she said he shot himself in the head.”

“Impossible to get that 1 minute of chaos out of my head and it was months ago” – raegirlheygirll

“Got a 911 call with just screaming. Nothing intelligible, just the loudest screaming you’ve ever heard. I started officers to the house.”

“Then a kid started yelling that her uncle was trying to kill her, her sister, and her grandmother. She started screaming again, there was a thud, and then no more sound.”

“Officers got there and a man walked out into the driveway and said, ‘I did it. I killed them’.”

“He was mentally ill and lived with his mother. She had been trying to get him committed, with doctors saying he wasn’t a danger to himself or others. His 9-year-old twin nieces were visiting from out of state.”

“He snapped that morning. Bludgeoned them all with blunt objects, including a large vase. His mom and one niece died. One twin survived with extensive injuries. It was a horrifying call.” – IWantALargeFarva

“A guy in my neighborhood killed his whole family, then called 911 and told them what he had done before killing himself.”

“I always wondered what it was like for the person who took that call and the cops who showed up to find the scene.”

“I knew the son pretty well. I was on my way to school that morning when the cops were rolling in and blocking off the street.” – markitf**kinzero

There were awful break-ins.

“A family member worked as a police dispatcher and received a call from an elderly woman.”

“Her husband had just been killed in their garage by an intruder. She heard it happening. She’s wheelchair-bound but the phone was next to her.”

“She frantically begged my family member to help her. While he was on the phone with her, the criminal cut her throat. My family member stayed on the line three more minutes until the cops got there.”

“He could hear the sounds of the attack, her gasping and gurgling noises. He kept telling her help was coming and to hold on.”

“Amazingly, she survived.”

“The criminal was later caught. A 17-year-old who just wanted the thrill of killing someone and picked them at random. He’s on death row now.” – peeweemax

And there were tragedies.

“My neighbors when I was a kid, Mrs. C had dementia, possibly Alzheimer’s, and Mr. C was like a third grandfather to me.”

“We hadn’t seen him in a week so my mom went over to see if they were ok. Mrs. C told us Mr. C was still asleep, so my mom called 911.”

“I’m glad we didn’t go in there because apparently Mr. C had passed in his sleep a few days before and Mrs. C didn’t realize.”

“Very sad for us, but I’m very grateful for the police officers who were so kind and made sure a little kid like me didn’t have to see the details. Great memories of him, though! He taught me a lot about gardening that I still use today.” – ahw34

“Former 911 operator here.”

“Sometimes the calls that stick with you aren’t the most physically traumatic. I once had a call from a 17-year-old kid who came home from a sleepover to find that his mother had moved.”

“Just packed up his sister and everything in the house and left while he was gone with no forwarding address or information. She also turned off his cell phone that morning so literally, the only number he could call was 911.”

“He was trying so hard not to cry and his voice was shaking as he kept apologizing to me for calling 911. He just didn’t know what else to do and had no other family.”

“She also took everything so all he had was a couple of things that he had taken to the friend’s house. He told me his 18th birthday was in a couple of weeks and he literally had nothing.”

“The officers that responded took him to a shelter. I think about him often and I hope he’s ok. Even if he was a kid who got in trouble or had behavioral issues, I can’t imagine coming home to find your mother has abandoned you.” – gabbobbag

These stories will surely stay with us for a while—we can only imagine how the dispatchers felt.

These are the kinds of stories, whether horrible or heartbreaking, that make us want to hold onto our loved ones a little tighter.

If you or someone you know is struggling, you can contact the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).

To find help outside the United States, the International Association for Suicide Prevention has resources available at https://www.iasp.info/resources/Crisis_Centres/

 

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People Describe The Most Disrespectful Thing A Houseguest Has Ever Done In Their Home

Most of us have had a guest in our home from time to time, whether it was a quick coffee, a weekend party, a8 longtime stay or anything in-between.

But there are those of us who are lucky enough to say nothing particularly inappropriate happened during those visits.

For others of us… unfortunately, not so much.

Redditor xxHEYxx asked: 

“What’s the most disrespectful thing a guest ever did in your home?”

Some guests blatantly disrespected hobbies and collections.

“They decided to completely rearrange the bookshelf that I have categorized by author and genre. They wanted it to look more ‘cozy,’ so they added a bunch of stuff and took books out, rearranged them, etc.” – King1861

“Background, I love puzzles and own a decent collection of wooden ones that are used as decoration in the guest bedroom.”

“A guest who was sleeping over decided it would be a good idea to dismantle every single one of the puzzles, mix all of their pieces together, and leave them in a pile for me to find the next day.”

“This happened years ago and remembering it still gets me p**sed off…” – j0bs

“I had some friends in middle school come over and smash up all the Lego sets in my room then wondered why I didn’t want them to come over again.” – Hydrosimian

“I had a giant bucket of random assorted legos as a kid. One of my friends p**sed in it at a sleepover one night and let me tell you, you don’t really notice it at first until it gets real pungent, and by then it’s too late. Never found out who did it to this day, but I have my suspicions.” – kargu12

Others disregarded any sense of personal hygiene.

“Cut their toenails in my living room. They were just visiting for a few hours.” – PigCopsFatTits

“Oh man, my friend hosted a sleepover for some friends, and one of the guests apologized for their feet, because they’d just done one of those baby feet things and the soles of their feet were PEELING EVERYWHERE.”

“Only after we were like, ‘Maybe put some socks on so you don’t leave a trail of dead skin everywhere?’ did she do something about it.” – haylmoll13

“A guy blew his nose on a tissue and then just threw it on the floor. The worst thing is, he expected me to pick it up for him.” – thunderfart_99

“The couple sat down at a table with a cake (which hadnt been served it) and each took a fork and started to eat it.”

“They did not cut the cake into a piece for themselves, but went back and forth with forks to mouths and to cake, smacking and slurping. Nobody else wanted any cake.” – fraubrennessel

Never mind basic house etiquette. 

“The neighbor’s kid came in with dirt all over his feet and then wiped them on the carpet. Never did get the stain out.” – kwaters1

“My son’s friend (middle school) opened all the yogurts in my refrigerator. Didn’t eat then, just opened all the tinfoil lids.” – lennybriscoforthewin

“My sister use to stop over, drink my beer, steal my wife’s clothes, make a mess, then leave.”

“We changed the locks, so she’d steal my parents key to get in, so we stopped giving them one and somehow she’d still get in, like a d**n cockroach.”

“We have since moved far out of her visiting range.” – jonsacreep

“My brother used to do this. He would eat all of my food, clog my toilet with his massive shits, and then veg out on the couch for hours playing COD on my PS3.”

“Talking to him about it did nothing. I eventually just had to change my locks and he started doing the same thing to my poor mom.” – gil_beard

Some went so far, they should have been arrested.

“When I was in college and living at my dad’s house still, he would go out of town every other week or so.”

“Had some friends over when I had the place to myself one night, and a friend of a friend put her cigarette out in the flower boxes (full of mulch/soil) hanging from the windows by the back porch.”

“It smoldered overnight and started a fire, and I woke up to the house filled with smoke and a charred up back door.” – Gandalf**kyourself

“I invited a friend to ‘predrink’ at my parents’ house (in our 20s so my parents were fine with it).”

“He showed up completely obliterated, while my parents were there and dropped a small baggie of cocaine in front of them. He then proceeded to ask where the washroom was.”

“Needless to say, that was a pretty tame night for me, as my parents sent him packing. I had no idea about his coke habit, just for the record.” – Gone_cognito

“My friend’s wife came out of our master bathroom and let us know she ‘borrowed’ some pain meds she found in the medicine cabinet. She then slept on the couch for most of the visit.” – KeepingBalance

“A ‘friend’ asked to stay with me for a few days because she was having relationship problems. Turns out the relationship problems were all down to the fact she had a massive coke habit and her boyfriend was fed up with her spending all their money on it.”

“The first night she invited 5 people who I didn’t know around after I’d gone to bed and I had work the next day. Then she just disappeared for 3 days and went on a bender, I had her boyfriend calling me worried sick and nobody knew where she was.”

“When she finally turned up, she called me a s**tty friend for not covering for her. She didn’t even ask me to! Yeah, we’re not friends anymore.” – dd2487

It might be really fun to have guests over, but according to these Redditors, there are some potential problems that come with guests who don’t understand boundaries or proper etiquette.

Though we’re likely see some strange behavior from a guest at some point, hopefully we won’t experience any of the more shocking instances described here.

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Doctors Share The Funniest ‘My Patient Googled Their Symptoms’ Stories

We’ve all heard the advice to “not Web MD” our symptoms, as in, to not do a deep-dive of our own symptoms on the internet before seeing a doctor.

We could easily become misinformed or even scare ourselves with a disease we don’t have.

Fortunately for doctors, some of the situations they find themselves in are pretty funny.

Redditor squishy0930 asked: 

“Doctors of Reddit, what was the dumbest ‘I read on the internet…’ moment you had with a patient?”

Some doctors took issue with homeopathy.

“I once had a lady come in who clearly didn’t believe in modern medicine, but had to see us for an official diagnosis for her disability application.”

“I remember she probably had fibromyalgia, admittedly a very difficult condition to manage. She presented me with a report written by a complete quack (and I use this term very rarely but it applies here).”

“This ‘practitioner’ had taken a strand of hair and run a ‘DNA’ test on it for some significant amount of money. The whole report went through all her symptoms and decided that because the patient had lived in a moldy house 10 years ago, all her symptoms were caused by residual mold in her body.”

“Specifically named her kidneys, heart, nervous system, and brain as having mold in. Then recommended a homeopathic remedy to fix it. The patient had swallowed this story hook, line, and sinker, and nothing I could say would dissuade her.”

“It’s the only time I have tried to track down a therapist of any kind to try to report them. Funnily enough, they chose not to respond to my e-mails or telephone messages.” – clickygirl

“Not a doctor. As a transplant recipient, I have to take immunosuppressant medication for the rest of my life. There are studies that some people do come off them completely, but it’s such a huge risk to take that it may trigger organ rejection.”

“A family member of mine still can’t grasp how a life-saving surgery provided by western medicine which initially saved my life, is still keeping me back from living my life. He suggested that I get off my immune suppressants because I am a cash cow for big pharma.” – mango_invasion

“You’d be amazed at how many people tell me (type 1 diabetic) that I could get out from big pharma and my dependency on insulin if I just eat right…”

“I’m skinny and otherwise healthy. Type 1 is autoimmune disorder that must always take insulin due to the pancreas no longer creating any on its own…”

“These conversations are often met with a blank stare by me.” – BearXW

A few had experiences with Gout symptoms.

“Conversation I had with a doctor a few days ago:”

“Me: ‘So I was told that if I can identify what food I am eating that is giving me gout I can avoid it and won’t have as many flare-ups, is that right?’”

“Doctor: Literally laughs out loud ‘Aaaaaaaaaaa no. Evidence for dietary-based management of gout is very sketchy at best. Take the pills. Where did you even hear that?’”

“Me: ‘Your nurse said it to me…?’” – reverendmalerick

“I suffer from gout. I was diagnosed with it last summer and had to go through various combinations of pills to work out strength and dose I needed to manage it.”

“Anyway, my Mum tried telling me it was because I drank too much beer. I ate too much red meat. All stuff she’d googled.”

“Doctor told me that they don’t fully know the cause and that he knows professional athletes that have struggled with it. I’m not saying I’m a professional athlete. But it made me better knowing it can be literally anybody.”

“On the downside. The bouts I have had have been some of the worst most consistent pain I have ever endured. I literally wanted to chop my foot off to stop it. I wouldn’t wish it on anyone. Gout is horrific.” – highlander2189

There were stories about using medical products… wrong.

“Had a pt prescribed NuvaRing for birth control to be inserted vaginally. Ring lays around the cervix. She came in complaining it was too tight and needed a bigger one. Shows wrist, pulling on a tight ring to show how was cutting off blood supply to hand. “ – wereallmadh3r3

“Not a doc (nurse) but my doctor friend who works in the ER had a patient with a few garlic cloves stuck deep in her vagina because she had read on the internet it helps with certain infections and yeast.”

“(I realize garlic does have antibacterial properties but needs to be used appropriately and with caution.)” – Professional-Quote59

“As a general surgery resident on the colorectal surgery service, we do a lot of hemorrhoids, anal fissures, etc.”

“One of my colleagues prescribed a cream for a middle-aged woman and she later called back and asked if the cream would still work while she was on vacation in Hawaii.”

“Uh, yes it will, why? She replied, ‘Because I was told to apply it locally.’” – TypeADissection

Some instances were actually horrific. 

“I’m an RN. A patient with diabetic foot ulcers read on the internet that salt would dry them up.”

“He put his foot in two plastic shopping bags w/rock salt & turned his foot into prosciutto basically.”

“Had to ‘carve/amputate’ most of his foot. He has forever been nicknamed ‘hammy’ by me.” – scottylynn77

“Had a patient come in with horrid cellulitis because they thought they read that putting dirt in a cut would help stimulate their immune system. It did for all the wrong reasons.” – captainspalding232

There were also some interesting stories about alcohol.

“I’m not a doctor, but I did take my very elderly Nana to the hospital after I showed up to her house and found her slurring her words and behaving very strange overall.”

“Now, my Nana is a major hypochondriac, and when she was admitted the first thing she told the doctor is that she believed she was experiencing the beginning signs of Parkinson’s.”

“It turned out that she had mixed up a bottle of non-alcoholic wine with a bottle of regular wine, had drunk the entire bottle, and was completely hammered.” – Pygmalion335

“My grandmother was not an alcoholic, per se, but she was accustomed to having a glass of wine in the evening. As the years passed on, one glass turned to two, two glasses turned to three, probably to help her sleep.”

“Given that she was living alone, we didn’t actually know how many glasses she usually drank, except that it had been increasing over time.”

“She ended up at a nursing facility at one point, and it was pretty clear she was deteriorating and would pass away in the coming months. The nursing facility wouldn’t allow alcohol.”

“With the anger and stubbornness that sometimes shows itself with advanced age, my grandmother was livid and just refused to accept this.”

“My mom talked to the nursing home staff. My mom basically said that she’s really sorry but grandma is adamant, she’s at the end of her life so a 12-step program isn’t really in the plan, and given that no one really knows what her previous alcohol intake was, they also weren’t sure what would happen in terms of detoxing.”

“The nurses said it was against their policy and they didn’t really have a choice, unless it was prescribed from a doctor.”

“So, my mom talked to her doctor, and the doctor ended up writing a prescription for 1-2 glasses of sherry every evening, which she had for the rest of her days.” – longjumpcamel

Though it’s important for us to be informed about how we can better take care of ourselves and stay healthy, there are certain instances when it’s better to talk to a doctor instead of the internet.

Clearly from these stories, there are instances where research will cause more harm than good.

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People Who’ve Done Top Secret Work Finally Divulge What They Were Working On

Most of us will work a fairly wide variety of jobs over the course of our lives, and some of us walk away with some pretty interesting stories while trying to pay the bills.

The most fascinating jobs, though, have to be the ones that we’re not supposed to talk about.

Redditor Charcoals7 asked: 

“People who did super-secret work, what is something you can share now that you couldn’t before?”

Some had worked with dermatologists and plastic surgeons.

“Interned for a plastic surgeon who is very well known and does work on celebs. They sold their skincare line for hundreds of dollars and touted it as having highly advanced ingredients of the highest quality.”

“They bought most of it from a wholesale retailer who stuck their name on the bottle. The website looked sketchy tbh (to be honest).”

“They also had ’24k gold face masks’ that were purchased in bundles off of Amazon for cheap.”

“These fancy skincare lines are such a scam, don’t waste your money.” – monkeylioness

“Dermatologists do this too.”

‘A lot, if not all, don’t really formulate their own products. They buy it in bulk at a discounted price from pharma sales reps, repackage, and mark up by a ridiculous percentage.” – streakfolmlore

Others had experience with security.

“Friend had to get heaps of security clearance at one of his first jobs. Inventory reporting that fed into customs databases.”

“I had to speak to an FBI agent as part of his background check and the job really just amounts to tallying information almost like tick sheets.” – tdasnowman

“Worked at an engineering department at a university that had an aviation engine testing shop. We got military surplus stuff all the time through industry agreements.”

“Some stuff that got dropped off were cruise missile engines with pretty advanced thrust vectoring and some stealthy design features.”

“All the aviation geeks were like, ‘We didn’t know that those missiles had that on them.’”

“Then some serious-looking men came to the department and took them back, and kindly reminded us not to talk about whatever it was we thought we saw but actually didn’t see because it had never happened.”

“I saw some of it published a few years ago in the open so I figure I’m good.” – gunmedic15

“My grandpa worked for the NSA. Had to say he answered phones his entire life.”

“Went to the DC Spy Museum and they had his career on display. Wild. He cried a lot.” – EepEekim

A few challenged the history books. 

“Dad (died 2016) was in the Navy and on one of the ships in the blockade that was part of the Cuban Missile Crisis. The official story is that no American ship fired any shots.”

“A few months before he died, Dad said his ship was one of several that fired shots.” – xkulp8

“During the 1982 Falklands conflict, it was spread on the news that several British submarines were in the area, and this is likely what deterred the Argentine carrier Vientecinco de mayo from engaging the British fleet.”

“My father was a submariner at the time (didn’t go down there). When he was in the bar on base back home, it was announced on the radio that a certain British submarine was in the area. 

“The guy next to him said, ‘I hope not, I just walked off it an hour ago.’”

“Basically pulled the same trick the Royal Navy used against the Graf Spee in 1939.” – EmperorOfNipples

There were gamers in the mix. 

“I was a QA tester on Half Life 2. At the time it operated under multiple code names outside of the main testing room: the two I remember was Red Rooster and Dirty Butler.”

“Security was INSANE. They had us in a small corner office with PCs and draped-out windows. Our lead kept the office locked at all times, and when we got into work each day we had to hand over all bags, cell phones, and any storage media we had.”

“If I recall, screenshots were only allowed with permission, and had to be sent in an email to the lead, then scrubbed from the computer.”

‘This was also during the time Vivendi Universal Games (where I worked) was having tensions with Valve over the whole Steam thing, so for a while, it didn’t seem like we’d get credited either: we eventually did, but only on Gamasutra.”

“The entire team got printed shirts that read, ‘I survived Red Rooster,’ and I’ve still got mine kicking around. It’s itchy, thick, and uncomfortable to wear, but I refuse to get rid of it, since it’s a memento I’m fairly proud of.” – PatienceHero

“I worked at a printing company that made Magic The Gathering cards. It was insane.”

“There’s nothing quite like seeing uncut sheets of foil mythic rares stacked in a block 4 feet high 8 months before release.”

“I wasn’t allowed to play in tournaments during my tenure there and I had to sign an NDA.” – feverishdodo

“I worked similarly at Hasbro, the parent company for Wizards of the Coast which owns Magic and I was given a free uncut press sheet of Japanese Rise of Eldrazi foil mythic rares. They also gave me a full set of the employee-only holiday cards and a bunch of other stuff.”

“Basically one of the higher-ups found out that I loved Magic and made a call to get a huge package of free stuff sent to me. I barely knew the guy but it was such an incredible thing to do that my whole department came out to watch me open the stuff.”

‘It’s one of my most cherished memories honestly.”

‘It makes sense though that a company made up largely of adults who love toys and games would retain that childlike spark of just wanting to give your friend a gift to make them happy, no strings attached.”

“If anyone here reads this and gets the chance to work for Hasbro, I can’t recommend it enough, TAKE THAT JOB!”

“I wish I still had the press sheet, but life gets in the way sometimes and I had to sell it along with all the other rare cards I had to make sure my wife and I could survive. I miss them, but making sure my wife felt a little more secure that month about money was easily worth all of my cards.” – Itsfitzgames

There were wholesome secrets, too.

“Still secret: Sometimes I warn my dad about certain things and tell him how to react/ what to do (dad has autism so he can’t keep the truth from his expression) for my mom’s sake.”

“For example, my mom is older and got a shorter haircut and talked about how worried she was to show my dad because she knows he doesn’t like shorter hair on women.”

“I texted him to warn him and tell him to just smile and say it’s nice, DONT tell her you like it longer.”

“The next day, my mom couldn’t stop looking in the mirror because my dad said he really liked her haircut.”

“She doesn’t know it’s because I warn him about things and she will never know.”

“I love my dad but he is horrible at lying with his facial expressions. Same as instructing him to order flowers and a gift for my mom to send to grandma’s house for Valentine’s Day because she was visiting her mom and would be away.” – CorruptManatee

Some secrets are less interesting than the fact they were made to be kept secret at one point, but every once in a while, a person finds a gem.

The ones that make us question something basic about our lives, or that remind us to be thankful?

Those are the best kinds of secrets.

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People Share The Absolute Weirdest Facts They Know

In our primary school years, many of us took great pride in the weirdest, most fun facts we could spout out to our friends and family members on command.

Some of us, though, never lost that passion and continued collecting factoids about the world around us.

Redditor lovedump44 asked: 

“Reddit, what is the weirdest FACT you know?”

Some talked about the state of Maine.

“Maine is the closest U.S. state to Africa.” – Donald_Keyman

“[Maine] is also the only state with one syllable in its name.” – BatskyStarman

The state of Ohio had something going for it, too.

“Ohio is the only state to not share a letter with the word ‘mackerel.’” – hunter07100

There was quite the unexpected fact about sea cucumbers.

“I know that sea cucumbers, to protect themselves from enemies, will hurl their own internal organs at anything threatening them.”

“Pretty wild, I think, but it doesn’t hurt the critter none. The sea cucumber can regrow whatever organs he lost with ease.” – aintyourma

Penguins have an unexpected skill, too.

“Penguins have a gland above their noses that removes salt from seawater.” – Servb0t

Some Redditors loved sharing facts about otters.

“Otters have a secret pocket where they carry their favorite rock.” – theoldraven

“[Otters] also hold hands when they sleep.” – jellyshoes11

“[Otters hold hands]…so they don’t drift apart. We can’t forget the adorable reason!” – biospark02

LEGO was represented on a technicality. 

“LEGO is the world’s largest producer of tires.” – UncensoredChef

This inspired a piece of trivia from the first LEGO Movie.

“In the LEGO Movie, they put fingerprints and scratches on pieces to make the legos looked like they were well played with.” – hannakah_ham

Speaking of yellow characters, Pac-Man was also mentioned.

“If you put your finger in your ear and scratch, it sounds just like Pac-Man.” – Donald_Keyman

And while we’re on the subject of scratching…

“Bonus Fact: If your throat is itching, you can make it stop by scratching your ear.” – Rywell

Some startling timeline facts had to be shared, too.

“Cleopatra lived closer to the invention of the iPhone than she did to the building of the Great Pyramid.” – Donald_Keyman

“More time has passed between 9/11 and today, than 9/11 and the fall of the Berlin Wall.” – chicochic

“The Tyrannosaurus Rex was more likely to have gone to a Miley Cyrus concert than to have ever fought against a Stegosaurus (chronologically).” – Baldybeardy

Two Redditors enjoyed thinking of how we’re all connected.

“Astronomer here! If you look at the large-scale structure of the universe, it looks an awful lot like a brain cell.”

“I always thought that was really weird, but also a neat coincidence.” – Andromeda321

“We are more empty space than we are solid matter.” – its_the_peanutiest

Three Redditors considered how fantastically small some things are.

“There are more stars in space than there are grains of sand on every beach in the world…” – hotbuk**ke

“Russia has a larger surface area than Pluto.” – Swaily_P

“You can fit 3 Jupiters in the space between the Earth and our Moon.” – Question_4_you_guys

Two Redditors mentioned some surprising finds.

“A tomato plant was found on a 40-year-old volcanic island by the name of Surtsey. Scientists were baffled about how it got there.”

“Turns out a scientist took a dump which contained tomato seeds, and the plant grew.” – speeds_03

“Antarctica has two ATM machines. However, only 1 of them is working…” – Nebih

Three Redditors couldn’t choose just one factoid to share.

“Here are some interesting and odd facts:”

“Mammoths went extinct over 1000 years after the building of the great pyramid in Egypt.”

“A strawberry isn’t a berry, but an avocado is.”

“The can opener was invented 50 years after the can. They used bayonets or smashed them open with rocks in the intervening time. The rotating can opener that we’re familiar with took over 100 years to finalize.”

“The spikes on a stegosaurus’ tail are known by paleontologists as the thagomizer, which is a term coined by none other than Gary Larson in the Far Side cartoons.” – techniforus

“The world’s deepest postbox is in Susami Bay in Japan. It’s 10 meters underwater.”

“Light doesn’t necessarily travel at the speed of light. The slowest we’ve ever recorded light moving at is 38 mph (miles per hour).”

“In 1567, the man said to have the longest beard in the world died after he tripped over his beard while running away from a fire.”

“There are more fake flamingos in the world than real flamingos.”

“[Until 2016] the last time the Chicago Cubs won the baseball World Series, the Ottoman Empire still existed, and women did not have the right to vote in the United States.”

“John Tyler, the 10th president of the United States, has a grandson who’s still alive today.” – Donald_Keyman

“Abraham Lincoln created the Secret Service on the day he was fatally shot. At the time, it wasn’t charged with protecting the President, but still…”

“John Wilkes Booth’s brother once saved Lincoln’s son’s life.”

“Furbies are banned from the NSA’s offices — as they may be spies. (They’re not really spies, but the NSA is being extra-careful.)”

“If your name is Richard Parker, stay the hell away from boats.”

“In March of 1951, both the US and UK were introduced to Dennis the Menace comics. But the two Dennis [characters] were totally different and their creators didn’t know about the other one across the Atlantic.”

“The US Civil War started on Wilmer McLean’s farm. He left the area shortly thereafter but couldn’t avoid the war, as it ended at the home he fled to.”

“The code names of the beaches used for the D-Day landings appeared in crossword puzzles before the campaign.”

“The people who make government pens will never see the words those pens write because all those people are blind.”

“Mountain Dew once admitted that mice would dissolve into a jelly-like substance in order to win a lawsuit.”

“There’s a massive, burning pit of natural gas aflame in Turkmenistan which has been burning since the early 1970s.”

“The US once considered nuking the moon, and Carl Sagan worked on the project.” – MrDNL

From facts about space to the strangest finds on Earth, combined with animal oddities and surprising timeline overlaps, these facts left many a fellow Redditor stunned, as well as wondering what other odd trivia they could uncover.