The distance between Australia and New Zealand exceeds 2,... | funfact.wiki | funfact.wiki
The distance between Australia and New Zealand exceeds 2,200 km—farther than Seoul to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. The sea between the two countries is roughly large enough to fit India entirely.
In 1859, a British settler in Australia released 24 rabbits into the wild. With no predators and mild winters, they multiplied into billions. Australia tried continent-spanning fences, foxes, poison, disease, and the military—all failed. The rabbit war continues to this day.
New Zealand's Māori did not come from Australia but descend from people who left Taiwan. By canoe through the Philippines and Papua, they reached New Zealand around 1200–1300 CE. Before their arrival, the islands had no humans—and no mammals at all.
Alaska is both the westernmost and easternmost U.S. state. The Aleutian Islands cross the 180th meridian, so Amatignak Island lies near 179°W while Semisopochnoi Island reaches about 179°E.
In 1927, Australian physicist Thomas Parnell began an experiment: letting pitch (tar)—solid-looking, shattering when struck—drip from a funnel to prove it is liquid. The first drop took 8 years. Drops fall every 8–13 years, but no one has ever witnessed one fall.
In 1932, Australia waged war on emus — and lost. To stop ~20,000 emus wrecking crops, soldiers brought two machine guns and 10,000 rounds, but the birds split into small groups and outran the fire; one gun jammed. After two months, under 1,000 were killed — the war birds won.