Try GOLD - Free
FACT OR FICTION?
Reader's Digest India
|October 2020
21 TALL TALES THAT ARE IMPOSSIBLY TRUE … … AND 21 FACTS THAT ARE ACTUALLY MYTHS
’Strange but Impossibly TRUE
1 Dinosaurs had feathers. That’s what archaeologists have found in the fossil evidence of some species, including velociraptors. Whether bigger species such as Tyrannosaurus rex had them is under debate, but some scientists believe they had light feathering. In fact, researchers have long noted that chickens and other birds share skeletal similarities with T. rex and are its probable descendants.
2 McDonald’s once created bubble-gum-flavoured broccoli. Not surprisingly, the bizarre attempt to get kids to eat healthier did not go over well with the child testers.

3 You have a greater chance of dying on your birthday than on any other day of the year. In fact, the younger you are, the more likely you are to bite the bullet on your big day. So go ahead and party— but not too hard.

4 Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins can. Dolphins need air after 10 minutes, but a swimming sloth can hold its breath for up to 40 minutes. Their secret: Sloths can slow their heart rate at will, reducing the need for fresh oxygen.
This story is from the October 2020 edition of Reader's Digest India.
Subscribe to Magzter GOLD to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 10,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
MORE STORIES FROM Reader's Digest India
Reader's Digest India
EXTRAORDINARY INDIANS
Six ordinary people who turned concern into action, fixed what was broken—and made life fairer, safer, and kinder for all
16 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
STUDIO
Untitled (Native Man from Chotanagpur drawing Bow and Arrow)
1 min
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
Learning to FLY
A small act of rebellion on a cold Oxford night creates a moment of spontaneous joy
4 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
MY (RELUCTANT) TRIP TO THE TITANIC
In 2023, the submersible Titan imploded on its way to view the famous sunken ocean liner. A year earlier, our author—a sitcom writer— took the same trip. Here's what he saw
9 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
She Carried HOME the Blues
Tipriti Kharbangar has spent two decades carrying a music that refuses spectacle and chases truth. Now the blues singer is asking a deeper question: what does it mean to know your roots—and protect them?
9 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
A Year in France
My time in Aix-en-Provence as a student changed my outlook on life
3 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
A SISTERHOOD IN THE WILD
COMMUNITY In a city better known for traffic snarls than bird calls, a small but growing initiative is helping women slow down and look closer at the wild spaces around them.
3 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
How Famine and History Rewired Our Genes
What if India's current diabetes crisis began generations ago? Science reveals that food scarcity, colonial history, and epigenetics quietly shaped South Asia's metabolic fate
4 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
Tracing the Birth of Nations
In his latest book, Sam Dalrymple interlaces high political history with intimate human stories to examine the complex, often violent, foundations of modern west and south Asian countries
4 mins
February 2026
Reader's Digest India
The Case for Curiosity
Two trivia enthusiasts explore how wonder fades with age— and why asking questions might be the key to finding it again
3 mins
February 2026
