Surprising facts

Fact Republic is where curiosity meets clarity. Discover random, history, and uncommon facts about everyday life. Uncover the unbelievable and unknown

1. A man with a chronic ear infection cured himself with his own earwax. He was given a number of drugs by doctors, but nothing worked. In desperation, he took earwax from his good ear and placed it in his bad. Two days later he was fine.

1. The keys to the holiest site in Christianity (Church of the holy Sepulchre) are held by a Muslim family that opens the church every morning. Meant to keep the peace between the denominations, this arrangement has been in place since 1187 A.D.

1. Due to lack of sugar in their diet, the average person in the Middle Ages had teeth that were in a very good condition.

1. Barrow in Alaska remains in daylight for 84 days in Summer and dark for 67 days in Winter. It even experiences a midnight Sun.

1. For the film ‘Speed’, Joss Whedon was brought in a week before shooting began and he rewrote “98.9% of the dialogue”, added major plot points, and is credited with creating the “Pop quiz, hotshot” line.

1. A group of women called "The 9 Nanas" kept a secret for decades that not even their husbands knew about. For 30 years, they met at 4 am and anonymously paid bills and bought clothes for people in need. Each care package came with a homemade pound cake and a note that read "Somebody loves you."

1. Early in his stand-up career Steve Martin once took the entire audience next door to a McDonald's and ordered 300 hamburgers only to then change the order to 'one small fries.'