The ancient Egyptians are known for many firsts. Hieroglyphics, papyrus, the calendar, and even bowling all come from the minds of the ancient people along the Nile. Egyptians were also some of the first to pay particular attention to oral care. Not only did they invent the first breath mint, but toothpicks have been found alongside mummies, and they created the oldest known formula for toothpaste. 

Teeth are considered bones.

fact

FIB

Ready to reveal?

Confirm your email to play the next question?

sign up!

Please enter valid email.

Sign up

Oops, incorrect!

It's a fib

Teeth and bones are the hardest materials in the human body, but they’re very different. Bones are made of living tissue, so they’re constantly growing or regenerating throughout your life. Teeth are not living tissue, and are the only part of the human body that doesn’t regenerate.

The Ebers Papyrus, one of the earliest medicinal texts, contains an astoundingly accurate understanding of the human circulatory system as well as an assortment of medicinal remedies. Written around 1550 BCE, this ancient text also describes an ancient form of toothpaste. This early dentifrice was likely made from ingredients such as ox hooves, ashes, burnt eggshells, and pumice (a type of volcanic rock), but by the fourth century CE, when Egypt was under Roman rule, the recipe evolved to include salt, pepper, mint, and dried iris flower, based on descriptions in another papyrus. Egyptians may have applied the paste with toothbrushes made from frayed twigs.

Although Egyptian toothpaste may seem unrecognizable compared to the formulas found in modern tubes of Colgate or Crest, these ancient toothpaste recipes essentially do the same thing. Modern toothpaste uses materials known as abrasives to remove gunk from teeth, lessening the potential for decay and cavities. While Egyptians used salt and pepper (or pumice) for this task, today we use hydrated silica for that same abrasive purpose — though thankfully it’s gentler on our gums. And the mint the Egyptians used helped freshen their breath, just as today’s mint-flavored toothpaste does. So while our tubes of toothpaste are a relatively modern creation, cleaning our teeth is a habit that goes back at least as far as the ancients.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Email

Throughout more than a century of publication, the Sears catalog was a go-to source for American shoppers seeking out standard home goods. But in addition to those traditional products, the catalog also offered some curious items for sale, including live chickens, 14-room mail-order houses, and even highly explosive dynamite. A 1902 edition of the catalog advertised dynamite as a tool for removing tree stumps, claiming it to be “far superior to any other agent.” The company also offered more powerful varieties that could be used for blasting into hard rock and even underwater. Sears sold dynamite for as little as 13 cents a pound — less than $5 today — along with all of the electric fuses, connecting wires, and blasting machines required for operation.

The former Sears Tower in Chicago used to be the world’s tallest building.

fact

FIB

Ready to reveal?

Confirm your email to play the next question?

sign up!

Please enter valid email.

Sign up

Oops, incorrect!

It's a fact

The Sears Tower (now the Willis Tower) stands 1,450 feet tall, making it the world’s tallest building from its completion in 1973 until 1996. It took the record from the North Tower of the World Trade Center (1,368 feet), and was surpassed by the Petronas Towers of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia (1,483 feet).

There were no prerequisites for purchasing this dynamite, despite the obvious safety risks associated with amateur use. Instead, Sears promised to “mail a booklet giving full information” to “those who are not familiar with handling dynamite,” hoping buyers would carefully follow the instructions. The dynamite could be found in the catalog’s “sporting goods” section, just a few pages away from comparatively mundane products such as baseball uniforms and hammocks. Eventually, however, dynamite and other more unusual items were phased out as Sears largely trended toward selling housewares. In future editions of the catalog, Sears noted that “to conform with the insurance laws,” it had been “forced to omit carbide from [its] stock,” which prevented it from selling explosives and combustibles. The traditional Sears catalog was discontinued in 1993.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Email

More than 200 years after the 10th president of the United States was born, one of his grandsons was still alive. As impossible as that may seem, the math — and biology — checks out. John Tyler, who was born in 1790 and became president in 1841 after William Henry Harrison died in office (possibly of pneumonia), had a son named Lyon Gardiner Tyler in 1853. This son was born to the then-60-something Tyler and his much younger second wife, Julia Gardiner. Lyon then had two sons of his own in his 70s (also with a younger second wife), one of whom — Harrison Ruffin Tyler, born in 1928 — lived to be 96 years old. He died in May 2025.

George H.W. Bush and George W. Bush were the only father and son to both become president.

fact

FIB

Ready to reveal?

Confirm your email to play the next question?

sign up!

Please enter valid email.

Sign up

Oops, incorrect!

It's a fib

The Bushes were preceded in this exceedingly rare feat by John Adams (1797–1801) and John Quincy Adams (1825–1829), the second and sixth presidents, respectively.

It may make this feat slightly less surprising to know that Tyler had 15 children, more than any other POTUS in U.S. history. Tyler’s actual presidency is less remarkable than this biographical oddity, alas — he was referred to as “His Accidency” upon assuming office and wasn’t renominated in the following election. (He was also an enslaver whose profitable plantation ran on the labor of 40 to 50 enslaved people.) Though his grandsons didn’t have major political aspirations, you might say it was in Tyler’s blood to seek office: His father, John Tyler Sr., was roommates with Thomas Jefferson at the College of William and Mary and later served as the 15th governor of Virginia.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Email

In 1954, Sir Hugh Beaver, the managing director of Guinness, thought up a way to reduce pub disputes so bartenders could focus on pouring his company’s signature beers. He suspected that every bar could benefit from a book filled with verified facts and stats about subjects that might arise mid-conversation over a drink. Two events in particular prompted his decision: Earlier in the decade, he and fellow guests at a hunt in Ireland memorably argued about Europe’s fastest game bird, which they had no means of identifying. Then, on May 6, 1954, English athlete Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in less than four minutes, causing public interest in records-related news to surge. Norris McWhirter had served as the stadium announcer during Bannister’s historic run, and Beaver hired both him and his identical twin, Ross McWhirter — another sports journalist — to assemble The Guinness Book of World Records. At the time, the pair had already begun working at a London-based agency that supplied facts to newspapers and advertisers.

The U.S. is the third-largest market for Guinness beer.

fact

FIB

Ready to reveal?

Confirm your email to play the next question?

sign up!

Please enter valid email.

Sign up

Oops, incorrect!

It's a fib

That claim belongs to Nigeria. The dark brew has been sold there since 1827, although in glass bottles rather than cans. The countries that drink more Guinness are the U.K. and Ireland.

The McWhirter twins spent about three months working feverishly on their 198-page compendium. Released in the U.K. on August 27, 1955, the book featured about 4,000 records, ranging from the world’s tallest man to the smallest pub. Eight pages of black-and-white photographs broke up the text, along with a few ink drawings. Although initially meant to be given out for free at bars to promote Guinness, the book became so popular that the company started selling it, soon to great success. To date, more than 150 million books from the series — eventually renamed Guinness World Records — have been purchased, educating readers in 40-plus languages. But the brand is no longer beverage-based: Diageo, the alcohol conglomerate that now owns Guinness, sold Guinness World Records in 2001, and it’s now owned by a Canadian conglomerate called the Jim Pattison Group.

• Share to Facebook
• Share to Twitter
• Share to Email