Be happy! 30 of the world’s cheeriest facts

Life can be tough sometimes. It is easy to get dragged down by depressing stats. If you are having one of those days, here are 30 weirdly wonderful facts guaranteed to make you smile.

Animal antics

1. Bunnies flop over when they feel safe around people.

2. The average 4 year-old child asks around 400 questions a day.

3. A cat version of the corgi exists, called the munchkin cat.

4. The dot that appears over a lowercase “i” is called a tittle.

5. A smile is understood by everyone, regardless of culture, race, or religion.

Royal and famous

6. Norway once knighted a penguin. Sir Nils Olav lives at the Edinburgh Zoo and is Colonel-in-Chief of the Norwegian Royal Guard. He was adopted by the Royal Guard in 1972 and has been promoted in rank each time they visit.

7. The voice actors for Mickey and Minnie Mouse were married in real life. Wayne Allwine, who voiced Mickey from 1977 to 2009, and Russi Taylor, the current voice of Minnie since 1986, tied the knot in 1991.

8. Cows have best friends.

9. Denmark is the country with the highest consumption of candy per capita, at an average of 36 pounds annually per person.

10. Baby puffins are called “pufflings”.

11. Scotland’s national animal is the unicorn.

12. JD and Turk from Scrubs (Zach Braff and Donald Faison) are best friends in real life.

History and nature

13. Liechtenstein invaded Italy in 1866 with 80 soldiers, none of whom were injured. 81 soldiers returned, including a new Italian “friend”.

14. Rats and mice are ticklish and will laugh when you tickle them.

15. Chef Boyardee was a real person. His real name was Ettore “Hector” Boiardi and he founded the company in 1928.

16. Kissing has been recorded in history for at least the last five millennia. It has been mentioned in the poetry of the earliest known literate culture, Sumer.

17. Some turtles can breathe through their butts.

18. Sean Connery’s younger brother, Neil Connery, starred in a Bond spoof film called Operation Kid Brother (1967). His character was a world-class plastic surgeon, hypnotist, and lip-reader.

19. Somewhere there is a tree growing because a squirrel forgot where it buried its nuts.

20. Scientists say that the ozone hole is on its way to recovery and will be back at 1980 levels by the year 2050.

Curious places

21. There is a town in Alaska that has a cat as their mayor. Stubbs has been the honorary mayor of Talkeetna, Alaska since 1997.

22. There are no ants in Iceland, Antarctica and Greenland.

23. The fur of the binturong, a mammal found in parts of Asia, smells like popcorn.

24. Contrary to popular belief, chocolate does not cause acne.

25. An average person laughs 15-20 times per day.

26. Recycling one ton of paper saves roughly 17 trees as well as 7,000 gallons of water, 3 cubic yards of landfill space, 2 barrels of oil, and 4,100 kilowatt-hours of electricity. This is enough energy to power the average American home for 6 months.

27. Studies suggest that the color blue has a calming effect. Places that use blue streetlights, such as certain areas in Glasgow, claim to see a decline in crime.

28. Ding Dong, Texas is a real place. The unincorporated community was named after two settlers, Zulis Bell and Bert Bell. They opened a store and made a sign with a picture of two bells and the words ding and dong underneath. The community then began to be known as Ding Dong.

29. The accent that Mike Myers used for the character Shrek came from the accent that his mother would use when she was telling him bedtime stories when he was a child.