Captivating Facts That You Might Want to Know

After winter passes, you can see sunken ships at the bottom of Lake Michigan from the sky.

Here's a list of cities with the best quality of life in the world made by HR Consultancy firm Mercer. Mercer’s Quality of Living Survey was calculated for 2016 and includes data from 450 cities around the world. The survey takes into consideration safety, political and cultural environments, job opportunities, cleanliness, and some other factors.

Montreal, Canada.

Commerce. Finance. Technology. French accents. Montreal’s got it going on.

1

Perth, Australia.

Gorgeous beaches and a super low unemployment rate of 4.1% makes Perth ones of the best places to call home in Hugh Jackman-land.

2

Brussels, Belgium.

Safe, clean, loaded with amazing restaurants, museums and national parks, not to mention this place looks like a children’s story book town. The best part? This is where Jean Claude Van Damme is from. Sign. Me. Up.

3

Stockholm, Sweden.

Boasting a great work, life, safety, and environmental balance, Stockholm gives Sweden something else to boast about other than cheap furniture and horse-meatballs.

4

Luxemborg.

This little ass country borders France, Germany, and Belgium, so there’s the benefit of being exposed to a ton of different cultures. Crime is also super low, and the country’s extremely rich due to its hush-hush finance laws. So it’s basically like living in that scene from Wolf of Wall Street where Leo talks to that dude from The Artist.

5

Hamburg, Germany.

This city’s becoming a hotspot of growing media and industrial companies, and houses the world’s second oldest bank: Berenberg. It also is the root for the word, “Hamburger”, so there’s always that.

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#6

Ottawa, Canada.

This is Canada’s most educated city, which is saying something. It’s unemployment is also super low and is considered a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

7

Melbourne, Australia.

Yo Australia, look at you getting another city on the list? Melbourne has got itself mad education, healthcare, research, and development opportunities, not to mention a booming tourist and entertainment sector to keep the city flush with dough.

8

Toronto, Canada.

If only Canada didn’t get so damn cold, then I’d want to enjoy Toronto and all of its financial awesomeness: it’s a super, super rich city.

9

Bern, Switzerland.

With an unemployment rate of only 3.3%, a ranking of second safest city in the world, a burgeoning tech sector that’s constantly getting new talent, it might be worth heading over to the land of chocolate to feel the Bern.

10

Berlin, Germany.

Tons of job opportunities, a super high housing standard, safety out the wazoo, and more recreational activities than your lazy ass knows what to do with, Berlin’s got it going on.

11

Wellington, New Zealand.

Wellington isn’t just the name of a tasty beef pastry dish, it’s also a city with pretty much the best weather in the world all year round with a ridiculously awesome standard of living.

12

Amsterdam, Netherlands.

All right I know what you’re thinking: must be great to get stoned AF and ride bikes, right? Well true, you can do that in Amsterdam, but this city’s also a huge financial hub where you’ll enjoy a high standard of living and great job opportunities, along with a relaxing attitude.

13

Sydney, Australia.

This city accounts for 7% of the country’s total economy and 22% of all its workers. It’s cultural scene is growing every day, and it boasts a gorgeous environment that blends natural and urban elements.

14

Copenhagen, Denmark.

Want to live in the happiest place on earth? Fine, then move here, because in Copenhage, work-life balance is valued above all. Plus, awesome little boats. So freaking cool.

15

Geneva, Switzerland.

Geneva isn’t just a setting for late 1800s romance novels, it’s also home to some of the richest and most educated people in the world. It’s also hella safe, which is probably why people feel so comfortable doing crazy sh*t like in the photo above.

16

Frankfurt, Germany.

It’s all about the benjamins for Frankfurt: the city makes a crap load of money and is a world financial leader. Not to mention all the best trade shows take place there.

17

Dusseldorf, Germany.

A worldwide leader in the fashion and art industries, and scores high marks on all of Mercer’s important factors.

18

Vancouver, Canada.

Seriously, Canada, stop having so many awesome cities. It’s starting to make everyone look bad. Vancouver’s quality of life is through the roof, not to mention it’s super ethnically diverse: 52% of the population’s first language isn’t English.

19

Munich, Germany.

This list should just be called “Why Germany and Canada Are The Freaking Best.” Munich has super low unemployment rates and is quickly becoming a technology powerhouse.

20

Auckland, New Zealand.

Two large harbors. Well-balanced economy with a diverse number of industries. Pristine environment. Insanely safe. Why aren’t you living here yet?

21

Zurich, Switzerland.

Zurich’s an incredibly expensive city to visit…but it also offers a ridiculously high standard of living for its citizens. Jobs pay well. There’s tons of them and the government takes care of its people. Not to mention it’s absolutely gorgeous.

22

Vienna, Austria.

Ranked as the #1 city to live in 7 years in a row, Vienna’s clean, safe, offers amazing jobs, a high standard of living, and is just pretty much the best place in the world.

23

Paterson, NJ

LOL JUST KIDDING. Paterson’s a bleak-looking hell hole riddled with an ever-growing heroin trade, a laughably incompetent public school system, and all for a high cost of living without any real job growth unless you’re an aspiring drug dealer or business owner who earns the majority of their money through tax fraud.

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Benjamin Franklin He was allegedly such a troll that the other founding fathers had to proofread the constitution to make sure he didn’t include any jokes.

1

Andy Warhol He once pointed a camera at the Empire State Building for several days and released it as a movie called “Empire”.

2

Abbie Hoffman He took a tour of the FBI headquarters while being wanted by the FBI

3

Austrian That’s right, the entire country. Why? Because they managed to convince the world that Hitler was German and Beethoven was Austrian!

4

Basil Zaharoff A Greek arms dealer, he once sold a submarine to the Greek government. He then told the Turks that the Greeks had a submarine and sold them 2 submarines. Lastly, he went to the Russians and told them the Turks had 2 submarines so he sold them 2 as well. None of the submarines actually worked.

5

Count Victor Lustig One of the most successful con men in history, Victor tried selling the Eiffel Tower twice by posing as a government official and he actually managed to get some money for it! Furthermore, “lustig” means “comical” in German!

6

Diogenes of Sinope When Plato once defended a man as being a “featherless biped”, Diogenes left a plucked chicken on his doorstep with a note – “Behold! I have brought you a man!”. It is also said that Diogenes died from holding his breath.

7

Frank Abagnale Junior Possibly one of history’s greatest con men and the subject of the movie Catch Me If You Can, by the age of 21 Frank had used fake credentials to work as a pilot, doctor, and lawyer. He also wrote enough bad checks to go to jail for over a decade. He ended up serving only part of his sentence though when the FBI offered him a job in spotting forgeries. Today he is a millionaire.

8

Iceland and Greenland Or rather the person that named them. Greenland is covered in Ice and Iceland is…well, also covered in ice but its definitely greener than Greenland!

9

James Randi A retired Canadian magician, James would follow psychics around and expose them on national TV.

10

John Titor John Titor was a name used on several forums in 2000 and 2001 by someone claiming to be a time traveler from 2036. He made several “predictions” about the future and the crazy thing is that lots of people believed him!

11

Jonathan Swift Jonathan is well known for publishing “A Modest Proposal” in 1729, a satirical piece in which he suggested for poor Irish families to sell their children to rich families as a source of food. It went over the heads of many people though, and Jonathan was slammed in the press for suggesting that babies would make a good source of food.

12

Marcel Duchamp A French American artist, Marcel hated the modern/high art scene and so he once submitted a signed urinal to an art exhibit.

13

Mark Gubin A resident of Milwaukee that lives near the airport, Mark wrote “Welcome to Cleveland” in huge letters on the roof of his house.

14

Oliver “Porky” Bickar A resident of Alaska, Oliver decided to “ignite” Mt. Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano. He pulled it off on April Fools 1974 by dropping 70 tires on the summit and lighting them on fire. The prank worked like a charm and news of the rumbling volcano spread around the world.

15

Orson Wells Although it was unintentional, when Orson’s War of the World’s was broadcast on the radio, many people thought that Martians were actually invading.

16

Penn and Teller Like James Randi, these two American magicians have entire TV shows dedicated to exposing psychics, paranormal activists, conspiracy theorists, and others. Moreover, other magicians hate them because quite often they tell the audience how they do their tricks.

17

Piltdown Man So the troll wasn't actually the Piltdown Man. The Piltdown Man was the cave man that was found in a pit in England. For years scientists thought the cave man was the key to understanding human evolution until it was exposed as a hoax nearly 40 years later.

18

Juan Pujol Garcia Possibly one of the primary reasons for the Allies succeeding at Normandy, Juan was a double agent for both the Germans and the British. He managed to be awarded the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire for convincing the Germans that Normandy was a distraction to the real invasion. In spite of this, he was also awarded the Iron Cross from the Germans for his valiant efforts during the war.

19

Pablo Escobar and Son He took his son to see the White House while the DEA and Interpol were looking for him.

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