Top 10 Most Shocking Facts About the United States of America

That's right. "The Great Lakes" is not an exaggeration at all. Lakes Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario collectively make more than one-fifth of the world's water supply. The largest of the Great Lakes, Lake Superior, hence its title, has enough water in it to cover both North America and South America in one foot of water.

We, the people of the United States, all know that the time to chill and grill, eat hot dogs and hamburgers, and watch fireworks is July 4th. But most Americans don't know this: The Continental Congress voted to declare our sovereignty on July 2nd, so we're always two days late with our nation's anniversary. Weird.

I have also heard that the Declaration is often described as having been signed on the 4th of July, but this is inaccurate. The majority of signatures were not added on any particular day.

While it is an honor to serve as the President of the United States, 4 out of 46 presidents have been assassinated. That's about 8.70% if I have my math right. This makes the presidency the most dangerous occupation in the United States.

You're probably thinking, "Oh, gee, you figured that out all by yourself?" But hear me out: Every year, Kansas produces enough wheat to feed the entire world for two weeks! Other wheat states, such as Texas, Oklahoma, Nebraska, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming, don't come anywhere near that. Kansas is the top state for wheat.

That is stating the obvious. The Hoover Dam actually competes with some of the Seven Wonders of the World, namely the Great Pyramid of Giza. It is superior in volume at 3,250,000 cubic yards to the Great Pyramid's 92,000,000 cubic feet. The Hoover Dam has enough concrete to create a two-lane highway that ultimately goes from coast to coast.

If you need to crash for the night, forget about Hotel California. Hotel Nevada is the way to go. Las Vegas is home to 150,000 hotel rooms and counting.

If you were to spend your life trying to go through every hotel room, one per night (and I strongly advise against that), it would take you well over 400 years to complete this task, so let's not get hasty with this endeavor.

Actually, Santa Claus is the title of three cities. While the fat man who brings presents to all the good boys and girls in one night originated in what we now call the nation of Turkey, Western civilization became so engulfed in this story that not only did we help complete this peculiar character through a Coca-Cola advertisement in the early 1900s, but the United States of America has three cities named Santa Claus. We have Santa Claus, Arizona. Santa Claus, Indiana. And Santa Claus, Georgia. Americans just love this character.

Jimmie Lueke is something special. This innovative farmer from Smithville, Texas, made a three-mile-long signature by cutting his trees so his surname can be spelled out and seen from space. Don't ask me how he knew it would look like that, but due to his last name being large enough to be seen from space, Lueke has the "largest signature in the world."

Living up to the title, the Library of Congress is what you'd expect it to be: a library, but a huge one. It was already off to a good start with roughly 6,400 books. Since 1800, it has gained more than 15,990,000 books, and it covers about eight hundred and thirty miles worth of bookshelves. That's long enough to make a path from San Antonio to Illinois, with room to spare.