100 Things That Everyone Should Know

Please Read This & Be Informed

Do you ever feel like you missed a few things in school? You’re not alone, and watching these street interviews is often hilarious.

But we need to get on the same page. This list isn’t about showing off; it’s about leveling up. If you know and understand these 100 simple ideas, you’ll have a strong foundation to build on. Later, you can delve deeper into politics, sports, history, or just wanting to win your next trivia night.

Here are 100 facts that everyone should know:

1. H₂O is the chemical formula for water — made of two hydrogen atoms and one oxygen atom.
2. Water boils at 100°C or 212°F at sea level.
3. Water freezes at 0°C or 32°F at sea level.
4. The Earth revolves around the Sun once every 365.25 days.
5. The Moon orbits the Earth roughly every 27 days.
6. There are 24 hours in a day and 60 minutes in an hour.
7. The human body has 206 bones as an adult.
8. Humans have five basic senses: sight, hearing, touch, taste, and smell.
9. The average human body is about 60% water.
10. The Sun rises in the east and sets in the west.
11. An object in motion stays in motion unless acted upon by an outside force.
12. For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.
13. Gravity pulls objects toward one another; on Earth, it gives us weight.
14. Friction resists motion between two touching surfaces.
15. The speed of light is faster than the speed of sound.
16. Electricity flows through conductors like copper.
17. Magnets have north and south poles and attract iron and steel.
18. Hot air rises and cold air sinks — this is convection.
19. There are 7 continents: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Europe, North America, South America, and Australia.
20. There are 5 oceans: Pacific, Atlantic, Indian, Southern, and Arctic.
21. The Equator divides Earth into the Northern and Southern Hemispheres.
22. Mount Everest is the tallest mountain in the world.
23. The Nile River is the longest river in the world.
24. The Sahara is the largest hot desert on Earth.
25. Russia is the largest country by land area.
26. China has the largest population of any country.
27. The United States has 50 states.
28. Washington, D.C., is the capital of the United States — not a state.
29. George Washington was the first U.S. president.
30. Abraham Lincoln was president during the U.S. Civil War.
31. The Declaration of Independence was written by Thomas Jefferson and signed in 1776.
32. The U.S. Constitution was adopted in 1787.
33. World War I began in 1914 and ended in 1918.
34. World War II began in 1939 and ended in 1945.
35. The Holocaust resulted in the murder of 6 million Jews during WWII.
36. The Great Depression started in 1929 and lasted through the 1930s.
37. The Cold War lasted from about 1947 to 1991.
38. The Berlin Wall fell in 1989, symbolizing the end of the Cold War era.
39. There are 100 cents in a dollar.
40. A triangle’s angles always add up to 180°.
41. Pi (π) is about 3.14 and used to calculate properties of circles.
42. A square has four equal sides and four right angles.
43. A dozen = 12. A baker’s dozen = 13.
44. There are 52 weeks in a year.
45. A leap year happens every 4 years.
46. Percent means “per hundred.” 50% = 50 out of 100.
47. Negative numbers are less than zero.
48. Zero is neither positive nor negative.
49. The U.S. government has 3 branches: Legislative, Executive, and Judicial.
50. Congress makes laws, the President enforces them, and the Supreme Court interprets them.
51. A democracy is a system where power comes from the people.
52. The Electoral College officially elects the U.S. President.
53. The Bill of Rights includes the first 10 amendments to the Constitution.
54. The First Amendment protects freedom of speech, religion, and the press.
55. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the United States.
56. Presidents serve 4-year terms and can serve a maximum of 2 terms.
57. There are 100 U.S. Senators — 2 from each state.
58. The telephone was invented by Alexander Graham Bell.
59. The airplane was invented by the Wright brothers in 1903.
60. The light bulb was developed by Thomas Edison.
61. The first man landed on the moon in 1969.
62. Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone in 2007.
63. The Internet became widely available in the 1990s.
64. Email stands for “electronic mail.”
65. The capital of France is Paris.
66. The capital of Japan is Tokyo.
67. The capital of the UK is London.
68. The capital of China is Beijing.
69. The capital of India is New Delhi.
70. The capital of Canada is Ottawa.
71. The capital of Germany is Berlin.
72. The capital of Mexico is Mexico City.
73. Shakespeare wrote plays like Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.
74. The Bible is the most distributed book in human history.
75. The Mona Lisa was painted by Leonardo da Vinci.
76. The Beatles were a globally influential rock band from the UK.
77. The Oscars are awards for achievements in film / movies.
78. The Olympics are held every four years (Summer and Winter alternate).
79. J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter series.
80. The Star Wars franchise began in 1977, written by George Lucas.
81. The Louvre is the world’s most visited art museum, located in Paris.
82. There are 12 months in a year.
83. There are 365 days in a year (except leap years, which have 366).
84. 1 kilometer is 1,000 meters.
85. 1 mile is approximately 1.6 kilometers.
86. 1 inch is about 2.54 centimeters.
87. A century is 100 years; a decade is 10 years.
88. AM stands for “ante meridiem” (before noon), and PM for “post meridiem” (after noon).
89. There are 1,000 milliliters in a liter.
90. 1 kilogram is about 2.2 pounds.
91. Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) is the starting point for world time zones.
92. DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) carries genetic instructions in living organisms.
93. Whales are the largest animals on Earth — blue whales can reach over 100 feet long.
94. Birds are the only animals with feathers.
95. Your skin is the largest organ in your body.
96. Blood is red because of the iron in hemoglobin.
97. The Milky Way is the galaxy that contains our solar system.
98. The printing press, invented by Gutenberg in the 1400s, revolutionized communication.
99. A light-year is the distance light travels in one year — about 6 trillion miles!
100. You can’t hum while holding your nose.

You just tried it, didn’t you?