60 MIND BLOWING RANDOM WTF FUN FACTS

People in Medieval times accused of crimes could opt for a 'trial by ordeal' where they stick their hands in boiking water, if innocent, God would stop them burning. The priests who administered this would secretly cool the water

The masked birch caterpillar uses anal drumming to find friends to build a communal silken shelter. 

The British have a one in 300 chance of being related to a complete stranger they meet in their homeland.

Bruno’s casque-headed frog (Aparasphenodon brunoi) is so venomous that 1 gram of its venom could kill 80 people or 300,000 mice.

Coke has 20 different brands that generate more than a billion dollars in sales globally. – WTF Fun Facts

Contagious yawning, a common form of echophenomena (the automatic imitation of another’s words or actions), is a real thing but scientists don’t fully understand which part of the brain controls it. 

Researchers have developed an efficient and eco-friendly catalytic reactor that can convert the common air pollutant CO2 into high concentrations of pure formic acid, which can be used as a liquid fuel.

A dead gecko can stick to a surface for up to 30 minutes after its death. Research has shown their sticking force is passive and just as effective dead or alive.

Delia Bacon wrote a 682 page book backed by minimal research trying to prove that Shakespeare didn’t write his plays. She showed up night after night at the church where Francis Bacon was buried trying to get access to his tomb where she thought he hid proof of his authorship. 

There are hundreds of species of spiders that disguise themselves as ants by pretending their two front legs are antennae in order to hide from predators and hunt their prey. 

During WWII, British scientist R.V Jones figured out how the German’s ‘Wotan’ radar system worked by assuming it used a single beam since Wotan was a germanic god with a single eye.

The origin of Walt Disney’s last name is the anglicized word D’Isigny meaning “from Isigny”. Relatives in France created a cheese company and they’ve created collaborations making Mickey Mouse themed cheese. 

The Japanese word kamikaze, meaning ‘divine winds’, originally referred to the typhoon that nearly destroyed the entire Mongol fleet, effectively preventing the second and last Mongol invasion of Japan, in 1281. – WTF Fun Facts

Research done by the University of York has shown that dogs actually like the silly, high-pitched voice their owners use to talk to them. “Dog-speak” is important in building a bond between a dog and their owner say scientists.

Since the streets are often congested, Dubai has equipped some of their firefighters with a jet ski and water “jetpack” combo called the Dolphin which can be deployed from the many waterways

The language of the Ewok’s in Star Wars is Tibetan with some pieces of Nepalese.

Researchers have historically avoided using female animals in medical studies so they don’t need to account for influences of their hormonal cycles. This can result in medications that don’t work as well on females as males.

The modern high jump technique was created by Dick Fosbury and was dubbed the Fosbury Flop. Prior to the 1968 Olympics, the landing area was sand or low mats so jumpers needed to land on their feet or otherwise very carefully.

An Australian man and his two daughters found a gold nugget weighing 624 grams (worth ~$35,000) while walking their dog. – WTF Fun Facts

The aptly named Goliath frog, which can weigh over 6 lbs, use their muscles to lift rocks over half their bodyweight to build small nursery ponds for their spawn. 

UK researcher FitRated found that the free weights at the gym have 362 times more bacteria than a toilet seat and treadmills had 74 times more bacteria than a bathroom faucet.

Billy Ray Harris is a beggar who was accidentally given a $4000 engagement ring by a passing woman when she dropped it into his cup. He held on to it and two days later the woman came back for her ring and he gave it to her. In thanks, she set up a fund that raised over $185000 for him. 

There’s a small town in Washington named ‘George’. Each year, George, Washington celebrates July 4th by baking a massive cherry pie.

A study of 3,000 Brits found that 7:26 PM on Saturday is the happiest time of the week when they can finally unwind. The lowest time was during the commute at 7:29 AM Monday.

When faced with a life-or-death decision about choosing to move to a new hive, Honey Bees collectively fact-find and then decide democratically.

In a study done by British “sensory branding company” Condiment Junkie, 96% of people can tell the difference between cold and hot water being poured. 

In Shanghai, you can get Coffee mellow, which is a coffee served with a cloud of cotton candy. The coffee vapor rises and dissolves the cotton candy which rains sugar into the cup. 

Koumpounophobia is the fear of buttons. Steve Jobs was afraid of buttons and therefore wore turtlenecks and a number of Apple’s product designs are button-less because of his aversion.

A colleague of Albert Einstein, Kurt Gödel, who was a brilliant mathemetician and often cited as the greatest logician since Aristotle, survived on a diet of baby food, butter, and laxatives.

The St. Louis City Museum has the largest graphite pencil in the world. It is 76 feet long and weighs 18,000 pounds.

Latin had ~800 “dirty” words compared to the ~20 we have in modern English. – WTF Fun Facts

A Japanese chef prepared an egg noodle measuring 602 feet, 9 inches long to break the Guinness World Record. 

Han Van Meegeren was a Dutch painter and forger who became a national hero after WWII when it was revealed he sold fake paintings to Nazi leaders. After initially being accused of treason for selling Dutch cultural artifacts to the Nazi’s, he pleaded guilty to forgery and painted at his trial to prove he could replicate the famous Vermeer artwork. 

There is a small hopping insect known as Issus Coleoptratus which has toothed gears in its joints to precisely synchronize its legs while jumping. They are the only mechanical gears which have been found in nature. 

Medieval dentists had many of the same skill-sets as modern dentists. They could fill cavities, treat facial fractures, spot oral cancer, and whiten teeth. Additionally, they could make dentures out of cow bone and human teeth.

In 1844, there was a case of hysteria in a French convent of nuns. One started meowing and after a week all the nuns were meowing harmoniously in the afternoons. It didn’t stop until neighbors called soldiers.

A family taking a walk on a beach in Wales found a message in a bottle thrown into the ocean by a German couple 1,624 miles away and nearly four years earlier.

The Orca or Killer Whale is one of the few natural predators of a moose. They prey on moose swimming between islands on the Northwest coast of North America. 

The human brain is full of multi-dimensional geometrical structures operating in as many as 11 dimensions. – WTF Fun Facts 

NASA cleverly chose the name Juno for it’s Jupiter mission. Jupiter’s moons are named after the god’s many mistresses. The Juno space probe sent to monitor Jupiter is named after his wife.

There are five major American cities with water so pure it doesn’t require filtration: Boston, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, and NYC. 

The only place that can legally sell hard alcohol in Virginia are ABC Stores. They are owned and operated by the state, employing ~4000 employees in ~370 stores, generating hundreds of millions in revenue for VA.

A study of 2500 men found having an orgasm at least 3 times a week cuts in half the likelihood of coronary heart disease. – WTF Fun Facts

Over 50% of pilots surveyed in the U.K., Norway, and Sweden admitted to have fallen asleep while flying a passenger plane. A third of them stated that when they woke up, they discovered that their co-pilots had also fallen asleep.

Komodo dragons are protected from attack by an intricate chainmail armor made of tiny bones beneath their skin that develop in adulthood.

Rick Rescorla saved all but 6 of his 2700 employees during the 9/11 attacks by directing people down the stairs using a bullhorn and encouraging them by singing Cornish songs. 

A woman from Stockholm, Sweden, attempted to smuggle 75 live snakes onto an airplane by placing them in her bra. She also had six lizards under her shorts. 

Stone Man Syndrome is an extremely rare condition whereby any small damage to tissue is regrown into bone.

The Matrix production designer Simon Whiteley confirmed that the green falling code in the Matrix is loads of sushi recipes. – WTF Fun Facts

In 2016, the Swedish Tourist Association created a service where you could call a number and speak to a random Swede. It received nearly 200,000 calls over 79 days with an average duration of just under 3 min. 

After undergoing IVF treatment, a 74-year-old woman has given birth to twin girls in an Indian nursing home.

A sea turtle patrol on Hilton Island in South Carolina has recently turned up a rare double-headed (bicephalic) hatchling, which they named Squirt and Crush. 

There are elevators in Singapore which are equipped with Urine Detection Devices. If triggered, the elevator will stop and the police are called. 

In 2017, a woman who received a uterus transplant from a deceased donor was able to give birth to a healthy baby. 

In 1951, Walt Disney hired a maid named Thelma Howard. He gifted her shares of Disney stock each Christmas. When she died in 1994, she had 192,000 shares worth $9 million. She left the majority to her foundation supporting disadvantaged kids.

Sand wasps fly backwards out of their nest in order to be able to find their way back to it.

The webcam was invented because 3 faculty members at Cambridge University wanted to see the coffee levels in the break room so they didn’t waste a trip there to find an empty pot. 

The world’s “biggest family” belongs to a man with 39 wives, 94 children and 33 grandchildren. They live together in a 100-room mansion in India. – WTF Fun Facts

Two men in Indiana were wrongfully convicted of armed robbery in 1996. The lead detective that set them up eventually resigned in 2001, but the records detailing his resignation went missing ever since. 20 years later they were found and the inmates were finally exonerated and received a nearly $5 million settlement. 

Zootopia is the only movie without a human character to make over $1 billion in worldwide movie theater ticket sales. 

Source WTF Fun Facts