Image via Complex Original
What shape is the Earth? Flat? Spherical? Somewhere in between? For centuries arguments persisted. Not until the 16th century expedition led by Ferdinand Magellan was the Earth’s shape officially proven and the argument solved. Nowadays, though, there’s no need to spend three years circumnavigating the globe to settle an argument. Instead, just visit these 10 websites.
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Wikipedia
Using Wikipedia is like listening to “Call Me Maybe;” everyone pretends to be too good for it but secretly fiends for it. I blame Wikipedia’s bad rep on high school teachers who spend more time discouraging their students from using Wikipedia than, well, teaching. But how bad is Wikipedia, really? According to a study in Nature, Wikipedia “came close” to Encyclopedia Britannica in accuracy. Then again, I did get that information from Wikipedia.
Rap Genius
You’re at the club when “Pop That” comes on. The world is good—until French Montana drops this line: “Two drops, no mileage/Top off like Wallace.” Debate erupts. Friend 1 says the reference is to Rasheed Wallace’s bald spot. Friend 2 says the reference is to Wallace who got toe tagged at the end of the first season of The Wire. Friend 3 says it’s to Ben Wallace and his newly shaved head. Friend 4 says it’s to William Wallace (the bro from Braveheart) who had his dome chopped off. Friend 5 (you need to cut this guy loose, by the way) says it’s to Wallace from Wallace and Gromit. Fire up rapgenius.com on the smart phone and you can have this thing settled by the time Ross’s verse drops.
Sports Reference
Want to know which NBA team shot the highest three-point percentage in a season? Or who led the Negro League in batting average in 1938? Or get a list of Olympians who played in the NFL? You can find it all and more at sports-reference.com.
Snopes
You know that friend who thinks he knows everything? The one with so many fun facts they’re no longer fun? You can predict stock market trends, he says, from the winner of the Super Bowl. Thanks to Snopes—a site dedicated to verifying myths and urban legends—you can finally call him on his B.S. (Caution: Be prepared to lose a couple hours of productivity reading up on urban legends about everything from the Vatican’s pornography collection to the Lone Ranger’s death.)
WebMD
Does your friend have Meningococcal Meningitis or does he not have Meningococcal Meningitis? WebMD has got all the information you need—or at least the information to make you paranoid.
IMDb
Greatest movie ever made? Highest grossing movie of the year? Worst movie of all time? Answers can be found at IMDb—short for the Internet Movie Database. And what a database it is. As of January, IMDb had its fingers on over 2.5 million titles and 5.5 million personalities.
Gallup
Since 1935, Gallup has been conducting public opinion polls in the U.S. The organization rose to fame when it correctly predicted the outcome of the 1936 presidential election when FDR scored a big W. But Gallup can do more than answer questions about politics. Want to know the top five reasons Americans own guns? Want to see how religious identification has changed over time? Gallup.com is your spot.
Get Drunk Not Fat
Like politics or religion, arguments about the best brand of cheep beer usually end poorly. People tend to hold irrational, unshakable attachments to their choice brew. But getdrunknotfat.com takes a more analytical approach to distinguishing the Banquet Beer from Bud Heavy. Thanks to this site you can see a list of adult beverages sorted by price or calories per ounce of alcohol.
Numbeo
Everyone knows New York City is expensive. But how expensive? At numbeo.com you can compare cities across the globe on everything from the average cost of a one-bedroom apartment to a bottle of wine. So next time you try to argue that San Francisco is better than New York (or that Cleveland doesn’t suck as much as everyone thinks it does), get some numbers to back it up.
Google Trends
In the opening track on his latest album, Nothing Was The Same, Drake raps, “I’m just as famous as my mentor.” It turns out Drake is (gasp) being modest. According to Google Trends—which charts popularity over time based on Google Search data—Drake has been getting more attention than his mentor since July 2013. Google Trends can settle all sorts of arguments. Which city is home to Drake’s biggest fans? Just sort the data based on location (turns out it’s New York). When did Drake’s popularity peak? Chart the numbers back to 2004, and you’ll find he got the most headlines (no pun intended) in November 2011 when Take Care dropped.