OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #9

Did you know that "ough" can be pronounced TEN DIFFERENT WAYS? 

There's "cough" (which rhymes with "off"), "enough" (which rhymes with "stuff"), "dough" (which rhymes with "no"), "through" (which rhymes with "do"), "thought" (which sounds like "awe"), "plough" (an alternative spelling of "plow"), "hiccough" (an alternative spelling of "hiccup"), "hough" (an alternative spelling of "hock"), "lough" (an alternative spelling of "loch"), and "thorough" (which has a different pronunciation in the UK than it does in American English). 

Try this sentence: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

Source: http://omg-facts.com/

OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #8

In Japan they have square watermelons. 

They get square watermelons by growing them inside of square glass cases. That way they can fit easily into a refrigerator, and you can stack things on them. Square watermelons are expensive though (10,000 yen or about $82). Compare that to regular round watermelons which cost about $15-20 in Japan. 

Source: http://omg-facts.com/

OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #7

Yawning is contagious - even thinking about yawning is enough. After reading this fact, there is a 50% chance you will yawn. 

Research shows that 11-week-old fetuses yawn. Yawns become contagious to people between the first and second years of life. When one person in a group yawns, over half of the people in the group will yawn within 5 minutes, and the rest will at least be tempted to yawn. Even animals yawn when they see another animal yawn. The average duration of a yawn is about 6 seconds, and guys yawn for longer than girls.

Source: http://omg-facts.com/

OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #6

This October has 5 Fridays, 5 Saturdays, and 5 Sundays, which happens quite frequently (NOT every 823 years!).

This rumor has been all over the Internet recently, and we here at OMG-Facts would like to set the record straight. We've actually covered this before but this zombie "fact" will just not die. 

There are only 7 possible days on which a year can begin. The number of potential calendars doubles when you factor in leap years, but that is it – there are only 14 different calendar variations to choose from. Does it really seem possible that one of these 14 would cycle every 823 years?? 

In reality the 2010 calendar is identical to that of 1999. 1971 and 2004 also had the same October calendar, as will 2032! 

Thanks to GeekoSystem for explaining exactly why this "fact" makes no sense, and for providing evidence of past and future Octobers with exactly the same number of Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays.

Source: http://omg-facts.com/

OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #5

12% of people dream in black and white. 

According to a study published in 2008, people under the age of 25 reported rarely ever dreaming in black and white, while those over 55 claimed to dream in monochrome about a quarter of the time. This is largely attributable to the shift from black and white television to full color back in the 1940s! 

The New York Times explains more about the study that discovered this. No word yet on how many of the participants reported dreaming about penguins, which would likely affect the results.

Source: http://omg-facts.com/

OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #4

Facebook is blue because founder Mark Zuckerberg is colorblind. 

Zuckerberg is red-green colorblind, which means that the best color he can see is blue! We’re sure that it’s no coincidence that blue is the hue chosen to dominate the color palette of his ultra popular social networking website. 

In other Zuck news, the interests listed on his Facebook profile are: “Eliminating Desire, Minimalism, Making Things, Breaking Things, Information Flow, Revolutions, and Openness.” I don't even want to know what he means by "eliminating desire". 

Source: http://omg-facts.com/

top 10 richest man in the world.

1. Carlos Slim Helu

$53.5 billion

Telecom, Mexico.

Telecom tycoon who pounced on privatization of Mexico’s national telephone company in the 1990s becomes world’s richest person for first time after coming in third place last year. Net worth up $18.5 billion in a year. Recently received regulatory approval to merge his fixed-line assets into American Movil, Latin America’s biggest mobile phone company.

2. William Gates

$53 billion

Microsoft, U.S.

Software visionary is now the world’s second-richest man. Net worth still up $13 billion in a year as Microsoft shares rose 50% in 12 months, value of investment vehicle Cascade swelled. More than 60% of fortune held outside Microsoft; investments include Four Seasons hotels, Televisa, Auto Nation. Stepped down from day-to-day duties at Microsoft in 2008 to focus on philanthropy.

3. Warren Buffet

$47 billion

Investments, U.S.

America’s favorite investor up $10 billion in past 12 months on surging Berkshire Hathaway shares; says U.S. has survived economic "Pearl Harbor," but warns recovery will be slow. Shrewdly invested $5 billion in Goldman Sachs and $3 billion in General Electric amid 2008 market collapse. Recently acquired railroad giant Burlington Northern Santa Fe for $26 billion.

4. Mukesh Ambani

$29 billion

Petrochemicals, oil and gas, India.

Global ambitions: His Reliance Industries, already India’s most valuable company, recently bid $2 billion for 65% stake in troubled Canadian oil sands outfit Value Creations. Firm’s $14.5 billion offer to buy bankrupt petrochemicals maker LyondellBasell was rejected. Since September company has sold Treasury shares worth $2 billion to be used for acquisitions. Late father, Dhirubhai, founded Reliance and built it into a massive conglomerate.

5. Lakshmi Mittal

$28.7 billion

Steel, India.

London’s richest resident oversees ArcelorMittal, world’s largest steel maker. Net profits fell 75% in 2009. Mittal took 12% pay cut but improved outlook pushed stock up one-third in past year. Looking to expand in his native India; wants to build steel mills in Jharkhad and Orissa but has not received government approval. Earned $1.1 billion for selling his interest in a Kazakh refinery in December.

6. Lawrence Ellison

$28 billion

Oracle, U.S.

Oracle founder’s fortune continues to soar; shares up 70% in past 12 months. Database giant has bought 57 companies in the past five years. Completed $7.4 billion buyout of Sun Microsystems in January; acquired BEA Systems for $8.5 billion in 2008. Studied physics at U. of Chicago; didn’t graduate. Started Oracle 1977; took public a day before Microsoft in 1986.

7. Bernard Arnault

$27.5 billion

Luxury goods, France.

Bling is back, helping fashion icon grab title of richest European as shares of his luxury goods outfit LVMH–maker of Louis Vuitton, Moet & Chandon–surge 57%. LVMH is developing upscale Shanghai commercial property, L’Avenue Shanghai, with Macau billionaire Stanley Ho.

8. Eike Batista

$27 billion

Mining, oil, Brazil.

Vowing to become world’s richest man–and he may be on his way. This year’s biggest gainer added $19.5 billion to his personal balance sheet. Son of Brazil’s revered former mining minister who presided over mining giant Companhia Vale do Rio Doce got his start in gold trading and mining.

9. Amancio Ortega

$25 billion

Fashion retail, Spain.

Style maven lords over Inditex; fashion firm, which operates under several brand names including Zara, Massimo Dutti and Stradivarius, has 4,500 stores in 73 countries including new spots in Mexico and Syria. Set up joint venture with Tata Group subsidiary to enter India in 2010. Betting on Florida real estate: bought Coral Gables office tower that is currently home to
Bacardi USA.

10. Karl Albrecht

$23.5 billion

Supermarkets, Germany.

Owns discount supermarket giant Aldi Sud, one of Germany’s (and Europe’s) dominant grocers. Has 1,000 stores in U.S. across 29 states. Estimated sales: $37 billion. Plans to open New York City store this year. With younger brother, Theo, transformed mother’s corner grocery store into Aldi after World War II. Brothers split ownership in 1961; Karl took the stores in southern Germany, plus the rights to the brand in the U.K., Australia and the U.S. Theo got northern Germany and the rest of Europe.

Source: http://www.justsharethis.com/top-10-richest-person-in-the-world-2010who-is-the-richest-person-in-the-world-2010/

OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #3

The deadliest flu pandemic in history took more lives than World War II did. 


The “Spanish Flu,” as it has been nicknamed, struck worldwide from the spring of 1918 until the summer of 1919. It has been estimated that the flu killed 21,642,274 people worldwide, with a billion people been affected - that’s half of the Earth’s population at that time! 


This was the third worst epidemic in modern history - the likes of which humanity had not seen seen the bubonic plague during the Middle Ages!

OMG-and-mind-blowing-fact #2

There are more cells in the human body than there are people living on Earth.

Quite honestly, there are more cells than anyone could count, but a healthy estimate lies around one hundred trillion body cells – that’s 100,000,000,000,000! The population of the world doesn’t even come close. Earth boasts a meager 6,872,002,798 inhabitants, which rounds out to about 0.007% of the total cells in the human body!