I Was Today Years Old When I Learned These 18 Dark, Disturbing Facts On The Internet

Recently, Redditor u/ShinyShayn2008 asked the good folks of Reddit, "What is the most horrifying piece of information you have to share?" Because you clicked into this article, I assume you — like me — simultaneously enjoy learning fun facts and scaring the absolute hell out of yourself. So, I went through the Reddit thread and pulled some of the most jaw-dropping answers, fact-checked them, and put them all together here for your horror and education. Let's get into it:

1. "The leading cause of death for pregnant women in America is murder."

2. In August of 1986, in Cameroon, West Africa, 1,700+ people were silently killed in the middle of the night by carbon dioxide. That night Lake Nyos, a volcanic crater lake, released nearly a quarter of a cubic mile of the gas, which travelled down the volcano at speeds of nearly 45 miles per hour, killing nearly everyone in Nyos and many in surrounding villages. Of nearly 850 people who survived and were hospitalized, the clinical findings were comparable to those of people who'd been exposed to an asphyxiant gas."

3. "On very rare occasions, a corpse can ‘give birth’. If a pregnant person dies, then certain results of decomposition like bloating and gas can force the fetus out of the womb, giving the illusion that the corpse has given birth."

4. "During the Challenger space shuttle disaster, the flight data shows that the astronauts turned on their internal oxygen supplies after the explosion occurred. So, it's likely that some of them were still alive when they hit the water."

5. "For many people, the first sign of cardiovascular disease is sudden death."

6. "Spiders have exoskeletons that they shed. When you see a dead spider, it might not actually be a dead spider. It could just be its old skin that it molted, and the spider is now somewhere else and bigger."

7. "The US military has lost several nuclear weapons and not all of them have been recovered."

8. "It is physically possible to be so constipated that your stool will back all the way up your digestive tract and you can vomit feces."

9. "The chainsaw was originally a medical tool used during birth. They cut your pelvis in half to help get the baby out. It was invented in the 1800s and was hand-powered."

10. "Pinky toes can auto amputate . It's exactly what it sounds like, and once it starts, you can't stop it."

11. "The CIA's 'Operation Northwoods' proposed that CIA operatives should commit acts of terrorism upon the US to blame Fidel Castro and justify a war against Cuba. This was rejected by JFK. We know about this because this got declassified."

12. "Supposedly global warming will cause spiders to slowly get bigger overtime."

13. "In 2005, medical staff at Memorial Medical Center in New Orleans were arrested on account of second-degree murder for reportedly euthanizing patients with a lethal dose of drugs in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. The four patients, too sick to move, were stranded in the soon-to-be evacuated hospital, which was left without power. Doctor Anna Pou publicly defended her decision , claiming that it was the only humane choice in an impossible situation and that her goal was simply to help the patients through their pain."

14. "Prions, aka a misfolded protein in the brain that causes other proteins to misfold. This literally causes " sponge brain " or small holes in the brain. Prion diseases are always fatal, and there is no known cure or treatment to slow the progression. They can be contagious or genetic. The contagious form cannot be killed by extreme heat, meaning when people with prion disease have to have surgery, those instruments used during the procedure are unable to be sterilized."

15. "On February 3, 1998, 20 people died when a cable car situated near the ski resort town of Cavalese, Italy, plummeted to the ground from 260 feet. It was caused by a United States Marine Corps EA-6B Prowler aircraft that was flying excessively fast and too low during a low-altitude training mission. The aircraft ultimately severed the cable supporting the cable car as it was descendi It was going roughly 540 mph at an altitude of 260 to 330 feet. The disaster has been named the " Strage del Cermis " (Massacre of Cermis) in Italy."

16. "Sometimes when an elderly person falls and ends up with a broken hip, it’s actually the hip breaking that causes the fall."

17. "There is a species of caterpillar out of Great Britain, I believe, that tricks ants into thinking it's an ant queen in distress. The ants take this caterpillar back to the nest, where the caterpillar continues acting like a queen, but devours all the ant larvae. This destroys the ant colony from the inside."

18. Lastly, "You are not immune to being brainwashed. People don't get sucked into cults because they are stupid. It could happen to you. Also, cults are not always religious, they just often are. Cults draw you in by making you feel smart and appreciated and loved, they douse you in affection and praise, and then they use your trust in them to isolate you from the voices of reason in your life."

Do you know of a dark fact like these? If so, tell us about it in the comments below or via this anonymous form.

Note: Reddit submissions have been edited for length, clarity, and factual accuracy.