Pluto is smaller than the United States.

 

Pluto is smaller than the United States. 

If you were to walk around the equator of Pluto it would be the same distance as walking from London to Denver (well, give or take 56 miles).

When Pluto was reclassified in 2006 from a planet to a dwarf planet, there was widespread outrage on behalf of the demoted planet. As the textbooks were updated, the internet spawned memes with Pluto going through a range of emotions, from anger to loneliness. But since the release of New Horizons images showing a very prominent heart-shaped feature on the surface, the sad Pluto meme has given way to a very content, loving Pluto that would like to once again be visited by a spacecraft.

The Disney cartoon character Pluto, Mickey's faithful dog, made his debut in 1930, the same year Tombaugh discovered the dwarf planet. There is speculation that Walt Disney named the animated dog after the recently discovered planet to capitalize on its popularity, but other accounts are less certain of a direct link. But either way, the joke connecting the two, as told in the 1987 Mel Brooks film "Spaceballs" remains:

We were lost. None of us knew where we were. Then Harry starts feeling around on all the trees, and he says, "I got it! We're on Pluto." I say, "Harry, how can ya tell?" And he says, "From the bark, you dummies. From the bark!"