1

Driving barefoot

Image: Ashley Byrd

No federal or state law in the U.S. bans driving barefoot. Though sometimes discouraged for safety reasons, driving barefoot is legal in all 50 states (and in most countries worldwide as well).

While police might ask you to put your shoes on during a traffic stop, it’s merely a suggestion, not a legal requirement. In most modern cars, driving barefoot presents no significant safety risks, but it could affect insurance claims. If you’re involved in an accident while barefoot, you might face increased scrutiny from insurers.

2

Riding in the back of a pickup truck

Image: Richard Lu

This is a bit of a gray area. There is no federal law regulating the practice, but some states or local jurisdictions may impose restrictions, often including age limits.

In rural areas, most people won’t bat an eye if you ride in the bed. However, it can be considered a safety risk and may serve as an aggravating factor if you’re stopped for speeding or other traffic violations.

3

Cursing in public

Image: Kristina Flour

While it’s common courtesy not to go around hurling insults and profanity, the truth is no one can legally require you to stop if you are so inclined.

This is because profanity is generally protected speech. However, "generally" is doing some heavy lifting here, as depending on the context, it could be considered provocation or incitement to violence.

4

Sleeping in your car

Image: lucas Favre

It’s not illegal to sleep in your car unless local ordinances specifically prohibit it in certain areas, such as city streets or commercial lots.

Often, it has nothing to do with sleeping whatsoever, as in some places, all overnight parking at rest stops is prohibited or limited to just a few hours. Some Walmart lots might allow it, but that’s a private policy—not a law—and you should check with the local manager to be sure.

5

Eating while driving

Image: Dmitriy Frantsev

There’s no blanket law against eating while driving, though it can be considered a distraction. If it leads to unsafe driving, you could be cited.

Washington State’s distracted driving law bans holding electronic devices and allows extra fines for erratic driving caused by distractions , including eating or drinking . Some states, such as New Jersey, have considered banning it entirely, but most proposed laws are too vague to be enforced clearly.

6

Owning a flamethrower

Image: Tali Despins

Surprisingly, there’s no federal law in the U.S. that bans civilian flamethrower ownership. However, a few states do impose restrictions; California and Maryland have strict laws prohibiting or regulating them.

Some companies even market flamethrowers for agricultural use, like controlled burns or weed clearing. But misuse of a flamethrower can lead to serious legal charges—for instance, arson, reckless endangerment, or other criminal or civil liabilities.

7

Ignoring someone knocking at your door

Image: Aaron Burden

No law requires you to open your door to anyone, including police, unless they have a warrant.

If you're pulled over while driving or stopped on the street, you’re generally required to comply with police instructions. But if you're inside your home with the door closed—and ideally locked—you’re under no obligation to respond at all.

8

Selling homemade food without a license

Image: Museums of History New South Wales

Most states require permits or inspections to sell food commercially. However, many states have "cottage food laws" that allow limited sales of certain homemade goods without a license.

But if you scale up beyond small-batch home production, you’ll likely face a citation—and a hefty fine—from the authorities.

9

Backyard burials

Image: Jennifer Grismer

Believe it or not, there’s no federal law against burying human remains on private property. Many states allow it, provided you have the proper paperwork, such as a death certificate and burial permit. Local zoning laws may regulate factors like location, depth, and proximity to water sources or property lines.

Similarly, pet burials are generally permitted, but local ordinances can vary —so it’s important to check them first.

10

Using a fake name online

Image: Sander Sammy

Unless it’s used for fraud or to impersonate a real person, using an alias on social media or online forums isn’t a crime.

Some platforms may prohibit it in their terms of service, but that’s a civil matter—not a criminal one. Legal issues generally arise only if the alias is used to cause harm, deceive others, or commit financial fraud.

11

Flying the U.S. flag at night without lighting

Image: Shelley Pauls

The U.S. Flag Code suggests that the flag should be illuminated if flown at night, but this is just a general guideline, not a legally enforceable law.

Stricter requirements may apply to government buildings, but for private citizens, the code is purely advisory and symbolic.

1

Clean your lens

Image: Mika Baumeister

We’ll start with probably the most essential—and somehow most overlooked—tip: take a moment to clean your smartphone’s camera lens. Over time, it can accumulate dust and smudges, which can result in hazy or blurry photos.

Give it a quick wipe with a soft, lint-free cloth . It can make a significant difference in the clarity of your shots.

2

Investigate your camera app

Image: Brett Jordan

Almost every single smartphone comes with a default camera app that’s user-friendly and packed with features. Take some time to explore it , learn how to switch between photo and video modes, and familiarize yourself with settings like Portrait Mode, Night Mode for low-light shots, and Panorama Mode for landscapes.

3

Use gridlines

Image: Jonathan Kemper

Gridlines allow you to center your focal points and enhance the visual appeal of your photos. Most mobile camera apps let you turn them on easily. These gridlines strategically divide your screen into thirds , both horizontally and vertically, adding balance and symmetry to your shot .

4

Focus and exposure control

Image: François Genon

Focus and exposure are two of the most important settings you can adjust in a manual camera to achieve different effects in photography. Fortunately, both functions are available on most modern smartphones.

By playing with different focus and exposure points, you can highlight a specific subject against a blurred background or ensure a well-balanced shot in difficult lighting conditions.

5

Lighting

Image: Ben White

Always try shooting in natural light, often referred to as available light, whenever the opportunity arises. Natural light gives a gentle, even illumination that can significantly enhance the quality of your photos.

Avoid harsh, direct sunlight, which can create intense and unflattering shadows, potentially leading to overexposed or underexposed areas. If you're shooting in low light, rest your phone on a flat surface to stabilize it for long exposures.

6

Play with composition

Image: Eaters Collective

Experiment with different angles and perspectives to enhance your subject. Don't be afraid to get low or high for a unique viewpoint. Also, pay attention to what’s in the background and eliminate any distractions that might detract from your subject.

7

Take pictures often

Image: Ferdinand Stöhr

Practice makes perfect. Since your phone is always with you, it’s easy to integrate photography into your daily routine. Whether you snap a selfie or take a few shots on your way to work, there’s no wrong way to be a smartphone photographer. Great photos often come from everyday life.

8

Take many shots

Image: The Free Birds

Long gone are the days when you had only 36 exposures in your camera and had to choose each shot carefully. One of the best things about smartphones is that you can take as many photos as you want, and there is no need to print them to see the results . This makes it much easier to learn and improve as you go.

9

Avoid digital zoom

Image: Redd Francisco

Digital zoom generally produces poor-quality images, even on the best smartphones. Avoiding it is one of the basic photography tips for taking better photos. Instead of using a digital zoom, simply move closer to your subject to maintain image quality.

10

Use HDR

Image: Kote Puerto

HDR stands for High Dynamic Range, and it’s a common feature on many smartphones. It enhances detail in both dark and light areas to provide a more balanced exposure . HDR prevents the sky from becoming too bright or the ground from appearing too dark, making it especially useful for landscape photography.

11

Set a high resolution

Image: TheRegisti

Simply put, the higher the resolution of your photo, the better quality it is . When taking pictures, try to get as close to the subject as possible, rather than zooming in. Take advantage of the higher pixel count.

12

Aspect ratio

Image: Alice Donovan Rouse

The aspect ratio determines the width and height of your photograph . The standard 4:3 ratio is versatile, but you can also choose widescreen 16:9 for a cinematic look or square 1:1 for Instagram-ready shots.

1

Highest vehicle mileage

Image: Max Andrey

Over 3 million miles in a Volvo bought in 1966. The registered number is 3,039,122 miles , to be precise. Irvin Gordon , from Brooklyn, New York City, broke the record in 2013 somewhere around Girdwood, a town near Anchorage, Alaska. The Guinness World Records indicate that his car’s mileage is the equivalent of 120 circumnavigations of the planet.

Gordon kept driving his car even after breaking the world record, so by the time he passed away in 2018, he’d reached 3,260,257 miles. And that wasn’t his only car, either–he had another car that Volvo gifted him after achieving one million miles on his first. Gordon sold that one after driving 450,000 miles on it.

2

Woman to win the most Grand Slam Singles

Image: Todd Trapani

Serena Williams won 23 Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era, marking over two decades of establishing herself as one of the best tennis players in history. Keep in mind that she was pregnant with her daughter, Alexis Olympia, when she won her 23rd title at the 2017 Australian Open. It was her sister, Venus Williams, whom she defeated in that final.

The athlete from Compton, California retired in 2022 after awing the world with an outstanding career. She won over 73 individual tournaments in her life, earning numerous world-class distinctions. For example, she is also the only person in history to have won career Golden Slams (the four Grand Slams plus an Olympic Gold Medal) both in singles and doubles tournaments.

3

Most Olympic Gold Medals won

Image: Guduru Ajay bhargav

No other Olympian athlete has been more decorated than legendary swimmer Michael Phelps . He retired in 2016 after an incredible career of breaking speed records and competing against the world’s best swimmers. Some consider "the Baltimore Bullet " one of the greatest athletes of all time. Spanning from the 2004 Athens Olympics to the 2016 Rio Olympics, Phelps earned 28 medals, 23 of which were gold.

Funnily enough, "The Flying Fish" also holds a record in a completely unrelated sport: golf . He enjoys the sport in his free time, and before retiring from swimming, he implied that he might consider taking it up professionally. His odds aren’t bad: In 2012, he set the record for the longest televised putt in history (159 feet).

4

Oldest woman to fly in space

Image: Pixabay

For 23 years, this title had been held by astronaut John Glenn, who had returned to space at age 77 aboard NASA’s Space Shuttle Discovery. But Wally Funk made history in 2021 when she embarked on a rocket from Jeff Bezos’ Blue Origin company. She was 82 .

Funk had passed NASA’s rigorous astronaut training program for women, known as "Mercury 13," back in the ’60s and went on to lead an outstanding career as an American aviator following the program’s cancellation. Blue Origin’s New Shepard spacecraft took her on a suborbital flight, fulfilling her long-awaited dream. For a few months only, she was the oldest person to have flown in space, until Canadian William Shatner did it too—he was 90 years old.

5

Most prolific record-breaker

Image: absteress

In 1979, Ashrita Furman, from Brooklyn, New York, set out on an odd quest: to break as many world records as he possibly could. In doing so, he also earned the Guinness World Record for the most world records set by a single individual. As of today, he has broken around 700, with 200 still standing.

Some of the eccentric challenges in which he left his mark included pushing an orange with his nose for a mile and playing 434 hopscotch games in 24 hours. Why, though? Furman explained that his motivation relies on a desire for self-transcendence , and his philosophy that the mind can achieve anything it sets itself to. A strange coincidence: Furman was born exactly four days after the first Guinness Book of World Records was published.

6

Longest number counted aloud

Image: Skitterphoto

In 2007, it occurred to Jeremy Harper that he could film himself counting out loud from the number one to one million . So he did. It’s difficult to grasp the immensity of this feat until you learn that it took him 89 days. He spent 16 hours a day counting, without leaving his home, and viewers could stream live video of him counting.

You can watch the recording online of him pronouncing the final numbers and celebrating by doing a chicken dance . Through this feat, Harper, from Birmingham, Alabama, raised over $10,000 for his chosen charity, Push America, and was inscribed in the Guinness Book of World Records.

7

Best-selling musical album in history

Image: vaphotography .gr

In the early ‘80s, Michael Jackson set out to create an album where "every song was a killer," and he did not miss his mark. Thriller became the best-selling album of all time, with over 70 million copies sold worldwide. The nine-track album featured a star-studded lineup, including Paul McCartney, the first artist ever to be featured on a Michael Jackson album.

Quincy Jones was the producer of this record and had a relentless pursuit of perfection. Some of the songs, like "Billie Jean," had to be recorded over 30 times before the artists were satisfied. At the 1984 Grammy Awards, the album won a record-breaking eight awards in a single night. Santana’s Supernatural surpassed that record by winning nine awards in 1999.

8

Female Entertainer with the Longest TV Career

Image: Anna Tarazevich

The beloved Sue Ann from The Mary Tyler Moore Show and Rose from The Golden Girls were just a few of the iconic characters that Betty White gifted us. Betty White made her television debut in 1939 and remained active for over 80 years, giving her the longest career of any female television entertainer.

Apart from that, she was the first woman to produce a sitcom when the series Life with Elizabeth premiered in 1953, a show in which she also starred. Here’s another record Betty White broke: in 2010, after a Facebook campaign requested she host Saturday Night Live , she became the oldest person ever to do so, at the age of 88.

9

Crossing the U.S. in a wheelchair

Image: Marcus Aurelius

Matt Eddy crossed the country in his motorized wheelchair , starting in Lynn Beach, Massachusetts, and ending in Long Beach, California. No one had ever done this before. A survivor of a muscular dystrophy disease, Eddy, from Boston, controlled his chair with just two fingers.

The feat took him 126 days, that is, four months. He rode for five hours a day, sometimes enduring extreme desert temperatures that affected the functioning of his chair. Though this incredible journey was inscribed as an official record in 2010, Eddy had already done it before. Only two years prior, in 2008, he had successfully completed a first run of what he called the " Journey of a Million Smiles ."

10

Most surfers on a single surfboard

Image: Juan Samudio

On the first day of summer in 2015, 66 people hopped onto a super-scaled surfboard and rode one wave together at Huntington Beach, California. The massive orange board measured 42 feet long and 11 feet wide and had to be towed into the sea. They chose this beach to make history because of its 100-year-long love affair with surfing.

Thousands of spectators watched from the beach and the pier as the surfers rode the wave to shore, where it was immediately proclaimed an official Guinness World Record. They had surpassed the achievement of 47 surfers who had ridden on the same board in Queensland, Australia in 2005.