Pulse cannot guarantee the accuracy of the entries on this page, but they will make you sound smart at a cocktail party.

Mageirocophobia is a recognized phobia. It’s the fear of cooking. Lachanophobia is the fear of vegetables.

Peas are one of the most popular pizza toppings in Brazil. In Japan, it’s eel. Costa Ricans like coconut. And Russians like a combination of sardines, tuna and mackerel.

There’s a reason it’s called a “pound cake.” The original recipe called for a pound of butter, a pound of eggs, a pound of sugar and a pound of flour. Get your defibrillators ready!

Most people slept communally prior to the 19th century, meaning sleeping alone was nearly unheard-of.

Americans eat 350 slices of pizza each second of every day. The average person eats about 23 pounds of pizza per year.

French playwright Honoré de Balzac is rumored to have drunk upwards of 50 cups of coffee per day.

In 1830, doctors prescribed pills with tomato extract to treat jaundice or indigestion. The medicine was essentially ketchup.

There are 7,500 varieties of apples grown throughout the world. If you tried a new variety each day, it would take 20 years to try them all.

President Herbert Hoover instituted what were called “Medicine Ball Breakfasts,” in which a medicine ball was passed around the table while the day’s events were discussed.

New Jersey is known as the “Diner Capital of the World.”

Ripe cranberries bounce like rubber balls.

Americans eat 46 million turkeys each Thanksgiving.

The pilgrims made the decision to stop at Plymouth Rock because they were running low on supplies, particularly alcohol.