The world is far stranger than we usually give it credit for.

Random Facts is an evolving archive of odd but true things — gathered not to explain the world away, but to make it feel newly unfamiliar.

The Archive

A numbered, permanent record of every published entry. Nothing is buried.

The Index

Browse by place, theme, era, or the particular ways humans tend to get things wrong.

Editorial Principles

How we decide what belongs here — and what does not.

Begin Anywhere

There is no correct path through the archive. Curiosity rarely works that way.

Featured Fact

🏺 The Sultan who tried to tear down the Pyramids

08 November 2025

In the late 12th century, the Egyptian Sultan Al-Aziz Uthman, the son of Saladin, ordered the demolition of Egypt’s ancient pyramids. The plan began with the Pyramid of Menkaure, the smallest of the three at Giza. Workers struggled for months, managing only to dislodge a few stones before giving up. His attempt, recorded by medieval […]