49+ Furniture Facts - Fact Directory 📚

In 1915 a man by the excellent of name Cecil Chubb went to an auction to buy some furniture for his wife. He came back as the owner of Stonehenge for £6600. According to local legend, his wife would’ve rather had the furniture. history.com/news/the-man-…

The mansion used on the ABC reality tv series, The Bachelor, is owned and lived in by a family. The family moves out and takes their furniture with them two times a year for 42 days of filming. This allows ABC to redecorate their house each season. housebeautiful.com/lifest…

Today I learned about Helga de la Brache. A woman who grew up in lower class circumstances but succesfully posed as a Swedish princess for years. Convincing even the Swedish royal family who gave her a pension and "furniture befitting a princess." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hel…

Today I learned about UNICOR, they a government company that uses federal prisoners paid between 23¢ and $1.15 an hour to produce almost all the furniture seen in federal buildings. businessreview.berkeley.e…

In 2015, police in Australia were called to a flat after neighbours were woken by the sounds of screaming, yelling, and destruction of furniture. It turned out to be a man trying to kill a spider. edition.cnn.com/2015/11/2…

Billy Joel battled depression for many years. In 1970 a career decline and personal tragedies worsened his moods. He left a suicide note and attempted to end his life by drinking furniture polish. Later he said, "I drank furniture polish. It looked tastier than bleach." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bil…

The reason Jonathan Frakes has a distinctive way of sitting (known as the Riker maneuver) on The Next Generation is because he injured his back working as a furniture mover. This is also why he leans on chairs and consoles, or has one leg propped up on something. themarysue.com/riker-sits…

Only 34 paintings are attributed to Johannes Vermeer and almost all of them are set in two smallish rooms in his house in Delft; they show the same furniture and decorations in various arrangements and they often portray the same people. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joh…

KFC's founder Colonel Sanders would pay unexpected visits to K.F.C. franchises in order to inspect them, and would often swear and bang his cane on whatever furniture was available if the gravy was't tasty enough. newyorker.com/magazine/19…

The early 20th century Marquess of Anglesey, Henry Cyril Paget, led an extremely lavish lifestyle. He travelled in a custom car with leather furniture, wooden fixtures, and a baroque carved ceiling. The exhaust pipe sprayed scent: sometimes violet, sometimes patchouli, sometimes l’eau d’Espagne thechap.co.uk/2013/12/18/…

There's a psychological bias called the IKEA effect in which consumers place a disproportionately high value on products they partially created. A 2011 study found that subjects were willing to pay 63% more for furniture they had assembled themselves, than for equivalent pre-assembled items. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IKE…

The Furniture Industry On Avg. Has A Markup Between 200% - 400% chairpickr.com/what-gamin…

Today I learned of Bear, a "koala detection dog". Wearing special boots to protect his paws from scorched ground, Bear sniffs out koala survivors of Australian bushfires. His previous owners couldn't handle him as he chewed furniture & walls out of boredom, but his need to work made him an ideal detection dog. 9news.com.au/national/que…

Today I learned of a program where shelter cats are cared for by prison inmates. Cats who formerly were in cages can roam freely in a refurbished prison office where inmates are allowed to care for the cats and learn to craft toys, furniture and even knit hats for the cats. youtube.com/watch?v=mpxHz…

Lars Larsen, late owner of Jysk (a Dutch furniture company) has sent a free copy of his self-published book to every Danish household, and thus, effectively made it the number one book in Denmark. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lar…

In 2011, it was discovered that a 25-year-old German woman who works for an online furniture company is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria and could have been Queen of England if it wasn't for a technicality that has now been fixed. telegraph.co.uk/news/ukne…

The Stazi used psychological warfare to intimidate opponents. This included moving furniture around, which often drove the victims crazy. fantasticfacts.net/644/

The USA long held the record for having the World's Tallest Chair --until 2014 when St. Florian, Austria's, great Lutz chair left much worldwide lesser giant furniture in the dust. XXXLutz and Holzleimbauwerk Wiehag GmbH worked together to build the epic seat that stands almost 100 feet tall. atlasobscura.com/articles…

Rich Ancient Romans would eat dinner from a reclined position, on a chaise lounge esque furniture they called "kline" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tri…

You have drastically less time to escape a fire in a newer house than an older house (due to newer furniture and structures burning faster). today.com/home/newer-home…

In 1963 the navy undertook an expensive project to create a personal bedroom and nursery for Jacqueline Kennedy if she went into labour with her son while she was in Cape Cod. President Kennedy found out and was irate about the cost and personally called to have the furniture returned youtu.be/NtLTmg2vCzY

Rolling Stones drummer Charlie Watts has sketched every hotel room he has stayed in, including the furniture en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cha…

The East German Stasi used psych warfare called Zersetzung against dissidents. Tactics involved breaking into homes and subtly manipulating the contents; moving furniture, altering alarms, removing pictures from walls. Many thought they were losing their minds, and had mental breakdowns. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zer…

Just after shooting “The Goonies,” Richard Donner desperately needed a break and flew to his Hawaii home to get away. In response, Spielberg flew the cast to Hawaii, and Donner eventually came home to discover the child actors had emptied their luggage and were lounging on his furniture youtube.com/watch?v=-SF_V…

In 2011, it was discovered that a 25-year-old German woman who works for an online furniture company is a direct descendant of Queen Victoria and could have been Queen of England if it wasn't for a technicality that has now been fixed. thewest.com.au/news/austr…

Ergonomists could show a relationship between the ergonomic characteristics of the educational furniture and the number of cognitive errors based on Stroop test. They found that an error percentage reduction using separated chair and desk against arm table student chair. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Str…

Ole Kirk Christiansen, a Danish carpenter, suffered huge losses after a fire broke out in his woodworking shop that made furniture. He descended into bankruptcy & decided to start making small wood items, including toys. He even renamed his company to 'leg godt' ('play well') or Lego. history.com/news/the-disa…

Ikea's founder, the late billionare Ingvar Kamprad, was incredibly frugal: He disciplines his employees for not using both sides of the paper. He was once turned away from Businessman Of The Year Award for arriving by bus, and assembled all his furniture himself. curbed.com/2013/3/29/1025…

The Agathis species of coniferous trees was mostly wiped out in the dinosaur extinction event, but 300M+ years from its start, is used to make furniture and ukeleles. oldest.org/nature/plants/

In 1952, President Truman gave the first televised tour of the White House. He explained its history, stopped in front of paintings and furniture to tell stories, and even played the Steinway piano in the East Room whitehousehistory.org/pho…

There was a Jack The Ripper themed club in Chicago in the late 1880s called the Whitechapel Club. It was decorated with weapons used in local murders, bloody blankets and a coffin being used as furniture. chicagomag.com/city-life/…

Billy Joel attempted to commit suicide in 1970, by drinking furniture polish en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bil…

Dogs can become afflicted by Happy Tail, a syndrome where the tail is wagged so hard that it hits walls, furniture, and people until it begins bleeding. Because of the wagging, that blood is then flicked onto walls, ceilings, and anything else in the vicinity. vetstreet.com/dr-marty-be…

Terry Crews has designed a line of furniture bernhardtdesign.com/desig…

Oliver Heaviside was an eccentric scientist who, among other things, replaced his furniture with blocks of granite, signed his letters W.O.R.M. for no particular reason and painted his fingernails pink. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oli…

Napalm killed more Japanese in World War II than did the two atomic bomb blasts. Invented in 1942, by Julius Fieser, a Harvard organic chemist, napalm was the ideal incendiary weapon: cheap, stable, and sticky—a burning gel that stuck to roofs, furniture, and skin. cstms.berkeley.edu/curren…

Billy Joel once tried to kill himself by drinking furniture polish instead of bleach b/c he thought the polish would "taste better" contactmusic.com/billy-jo…

British minister Alan Clark once dismissed his colleague Michael Heseltine as the kind of person "who bought his own furniture" (as opposed to someone with 'breeding' who inherits furniture). news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk_po…

In Sweden: if you want to sell your old IKEA furnitures on the swedish equivalent to Craigslist (called Blocket), IKEA will pay for your ad ww8.ikea.com/se/sv/ext/ik…

Ramsagar National Park in Bangladesh has no big trees; the park consists of a big lake surrounded by embankments. The plants are removed by local villagers for food, fodder, making furniture, medicine and fuel.There is a decrease in the indigenous fish species due to expolitation en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ram…

Brazilian Rosewood, outlawed in 1970 for guitars and furniture, was mostly used in France by perfume companies that would pulverize it. About 1% was furniture and far less guitars. Brazilian RW guitars are some of the most expensive on Earth. Chanel No. 5 was one of the biggest culprits. nytimes.com/2005/08/30/wo…

Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have created multiple 4-D printed objects made of plastic that fold themselves into predetermined shapes when heated, which they believe could scale up to create flat-pack furniture hipsthetic.com/researcher…

, that Little Miss Muffet sat on a stool. "A tuffet, pouf (pouffe), pooffer, or hassock is a piece of furniture used as a footstool or low seat. It is distinguished from a stool in that it is completely covered in cloth so that no legs are visible, and is essentially a large hard cushion that may en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuf…

A furniture store owner was honored for giving an undercover cop a job working alongside a murder suspect for 5 months. The officer befriended the suspect and got him to confess to killing his wife. The killer was tried and convicted. metronews.ca/news/kitchen…

BOA wrongfully foreclosed a couple, who sued and won a judgement for $2500 in Legal expenses. When BOA didn't pay the couple showed up at the bank with a moving company, a deputy, and a writ allowing them to start seizing furniture and cash. naplesnews.com/news/2011/…

The founder of IKEA, Ingvar Kamprad, was dyslexic. Most of his products were identifiable by a set of numbers, but Kamprad had trouble remembering the codes for each product due to his disease. The unique Swedish names of IKEA’s furnitures were his way of identifying his products. dyslexiahelp.umich.edu/su…

While all living dogs descend from domesticated wolves, the extinct Fuegian dog was domesticated from foxes by indigenous South Americans. They were described by European explorers as "ugly" and "only useful...as heating furniture". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fue…

Bank of America mistakenly foreclosed a couple (Warren and Maureen Nyerges), who sued and won a judgment for $2500 in Legal expenses. While bank didn't pay the couple showed up at the bank with a moving company, a deputy, and a writ allowing them to start seizing furniture and cash. cbsnews.com/news/couple-a…

In Germany, the city weighs your garbage and charges you $4 per kilogram (!) As a result, people recycle and compost almost *everything*. You need a permit to throw out furniture (once per year, max). When Germans come here, they are often shocked by our wastefulness.

I wonder if this creates a perverse incentive to go dump your junk in the woods at night.

EDIT: Different German states and cities (and other European countries) have different policies. Some places weigh the garbage, some charge a fixed fee for a bin of a certain volume. In either case, it's a lot more expensive to throw away in Europe than in most of North America. Thanks for the correction.