1. Shonda Rhimes was inspired to create the show after watching surgeries on the Discovery Channel.

She thought it was interesting that surgeons discussed seemingly unimportant things while hacking away at someones body; thus, she was inspired to create Grey's Anatomy. (Oprah)

2. Every episode title is named after a song.

For example, "Crash into Me" and "Kung Fu Fighting" are both episodes named after popular songs. (Diply)

3. Meredith's childhood home is a real house.

The $1.3 million dollar house was built in 1905 is located in Queen Anne Hill. The address is 303 Comstock Street, Seattle, Washington. (Tripsavvy)

4. Isaiah Washington (Preston Burke) learned all his surgeries before he preformed them on TV.

Shonda said that he would follow surgeons around for up to 48 hours to learn how to do the surgeries for the show. She also said "Scarily enough, I think if he stopped at an accident on the street, he'd know exactly what to do." (Oprah)

5. Real organs are used on the show.

Real cow and lamb organs, that is. Most organs used on set came from the cow, and some of the brains used on set came from lambs. (YouTube)

6. A few characters auditioned for different roles.

Sandra Oh auditioned for Miranda Bailey, but ultimately fell in love with Christina Yang; Isaiah Washington auditioned for the part of Derek Shepard, before being cast as Preston Burke; and Jessica Capshaw auditioned for Derek's love interest, Nurse Rose (Lauren Stamile), Meredith's crazy friend, Sadie (Melissa George), and finally landed the part of Arizona Robbins. (TVGuide)

7. There's a book too...

Notes from the Nurse's Station was written by the producers of Grey's Anatomy and follows the lives of Joe the Bartender and Nurse Debbie. The novel gives background information on both Joe and Debbie, as well as information on some of the events and cases the surgeons deal with in the show. (Factinate)

8. The stories are real.

All of the medical story lines are ones that were found in journals by the writers or ones that viewers sent to them, because they found them interesting. The characters on the show are given plenty of material to understand how the procedure would be done in real life in order to make the show more realistic. (Factinate)

9. Patrick Dempsey was almost a different doctor.

Before landing the role as Dr. Derek Shepard, Patrick Dempsey had auditioned to be Dr. Gregory House from the show "House". (IMBD)

10. Ellen Pompeo was pregnant during season six.

Instead of making Meredith pregnant during season six, the writers decided that Meredith would give part of her liver to her father (Episode 4, Season Six "Tainted Obligation"), so that she could hide her pregnancy belly under the blankets while she was recovering from the surgery andwas on bed rest. (NYPost)