100 Interesting Facts We Learned in 2021

Tail-regenerating lizards and egg-breaking egg-sperts will want to watch. You’ll learn about a “Lost Golden City” in Egypt and the first recorded observation of a new state of matter.

Image Credits:

Getty Images
Lost city 1 & 2 (Mahmous Khaled)
Amonhotep (Heritage Images)
Artistic production (Mahmous Khaled)
Cemetery (Mahmous Khaled)
Mass grave (Richard Mikluski)
Herring (piola666)
Pie (kajakiki)
Lizard (lynnebeclu)
Airtag (James D. Morgan)
Musk (Pool)
Hummingbird (KenCanning)
Metal bridge (Adam Berry)
Einstein (Hulton Archive)
Mary drawing (Hulton Archive)
Mary rosary (RDImages/Epics)
Arundel (Chris Gorman)
Perilli (Kevin C. Cox)
San Marino (PeterHermesFurian)
Baker (Hulton Archive)
CryptoPunk (Dia Dipasupil)
Shiba (Artnivora Studio)
Arrow up (Vitalii Varida)
Gamestop (Justin Sullivan)
Einstein-Besso Paper (Chesnot)
Gavel (Alan Crowhurst)
Bronte writing (Hulton Archive)
Krasinski (Mike Coppola)
BTS (Theo Wargo)
Squid Game (Araya Doheny)
Jeremy Strong (Mike Coppola)
Robot (ThomasVogel)
Pacemaker (mshaphoto)
Crab (oleg7799)
Atacama (Stringer)
Benchley (Express Newspapers)
Shark (TORSTEN BLACKWOOD/AFP via Getty Images)
Beach (hmproudlove)
Period products (Ersudiostok)
White wall (Martin Barraud)
Math (Lisapics)
Cold (Wundervisuals)
Touch (Cecilie Arcurs)
Dollar Store (Mario Tama)
Charcuterie (Grandriver)
Koalas (JupiterImages)
Work bed (Pixelfit)
Fruit fly (Arlindo71)
Lonely (D. Anschutz)
Stilton (Nicolamargaret)
Cat (FatCamera)
Hummingbird (Nkbimages)
Bee (TommL)
Truffle pig (ilbusca)
Ketchup (tomch)
Blue Shepherd (Mario Tama)
Bezos (Joe Raedle)
Succession (Theo Wargo)
Branson (Spencer Platt)
VSS Unity (David Lienemann)
The Office (Gustavo Caballero)
Tubman (Keith Lance)
Horse (Marco Ramerini)

Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain

CC 2.0
Ramanujan (Auguel)
Vespa sorer (Jacopo Werther)

CC 3.0
Snow monkey (KKPCW)
Pong (Rauglothgor)

CC 4.0
Bernardinelli-Bernstein (Silva (Spaceengine)
Xenobot (Artem.G)

Perseverance Rover (NASA)
Astronauts (NASA)
DART (NASA)
Lucy Probe (NASA)

White Sands Footprints (NPS)

Shutterstock
Stilton 2 (Medvedeva Oxana)
LEGO bricks (3d_kot)

[miralcalugcugan]

I've always wondered how entire cities get buried underground. Prolly the most obvious answer is dust and sand piling up over hundreds of years?

[sunnyscott]

I learned in 2021 that I don't miss watching TV at all.

[DanA-pmhl]

I hate to say this but Erins voice is really soothing. I regularly binge watch these before bed.

[Jerakk]

Thing I learned in 2021 - The phrase "avoid like the plague" actually means "I'm really not going to do anything except ignore the problem and let it just get completely out of control to the point where I can normalize people dying from a completely preventable issue" for roughly half of the population of the US.

[MrSirGloomy]

I love the style that this video is in. The little chuckles and remarks here and there made it SO much more digestible than other channels. She’s so charismatic too while teaching us a lot! 💙

[retiredtom]

Although many new facts were rapidly offered, my most impressive part of this video was the young lady narrator. I'm sure it was not all completed in one session, however, some of the names and words she pronounced were very impressive to me. Good job!

[sclassicallyme]

Honestly, several of these discoveries sound like the beginning of a sci fi disaster film, not just the cellular robots. ಠ_ಠ

[diyeana]

The fact that Clippy is not actually coming back has ruined my entire 2022.

[TheButlerNZ]

26:09 I take it that Lego model is either the biggest currently in existance, or the biggest KIT produced by Lego, As James May' & team built a Lego house with 3.3 million bricks (which has since been demolished)

And any way the largest Kit is now the LEGO Art World Map at 11, 695 pieces.

[KeyserTheRedBeard]

wonderful upload Mental Floss. I crushed the thumbs up on your video. Continue to keep up the superb work.

[likenem]

Jack Kirby was drafted into the military for ww2 and because he was a cartoonist, they put him on the frontlines to draw maps

[Apophis]

So next time I can't find something and someone comments that the thing couldn't have just grown legs and walked off, I can remark that all things are technically always moving on a molecular level? A stellar come-back!

(Also, I never quite understood why people hated Clippy so much.. It's not like you couldn't turn him off, or turn him into one of his friends!)

[nmgg]

I just lost it at wardrobe turdunken lmao

[fredflintstoner]

Mrs Richards: "I paid for a room with a view !"
Basil: (pointing to the lovely view) "That is Torquay, Madam. "
Mrs Richards: "It's not good enough!"
Basil: "May I ask what you were expecting to see out of a Torquay hotel bedroom window? Sydney Opera House, perhaps? the Hanging Gardens of Babylon? Herds of wildebeest sweeping majestically past?..."
Mrs Richards: "Don't be silly! I expect to be able to see the sea!"
Basil: "You can see the sea, it's over there between the land and the sky."
Mrs Richards: "I'm not satisfied. But I shall stay. But I expect a reduction."
Basil: "Why?! Because Krakatoa's not erupting at the moment?"

[angelfingers]

You had me at flesh eating vulture bees!
You made my day!

[joewilson]

My favorite part of Alessandra Perilli's Olympic success was all the people on the internet mansplaining to her on how to use her pistols. I am confident she knows what she is doing.

[Longingtobesomeone]

I learned that 8% of 25 is the same as 25% of 8, but is easier to count. Mind blown.

[nebulan]

The probe named Lucy made me say aww.
Perforation is my vote!

[carlosvillanueva]

Hawaii has coastal seeps where freshwater flows out of the lava rock and flows over the surface of the saltwater, because freshwater is lighter in weight than saltwater. There are places where you can see koi, oscars, neon tetras and other freshwater fish swimming over the reef fish and saltwater reef animals.

[newfreenayshaun]

Thanks for casually mentioning New Mexico, making yourself sound as if youre fully aware that without a doubt, it is an actual state!