Weird, Wild, And Downright Bizarre Facts About The World That Changed Our Perspectives
There is no doubt about it: the world we live in is a crazy place. There are so many interesting and strange things that happened or have happened in the past that it's impossible to wrap your head around it all.
These are some of the wildest facts about our world that left us speechless.
Well, This Is Terrifying
Anthropodermic bibliopegy—binding books with human skin—was a morbid practice occasionally performed in the 19th century and earlier. Some of the resulting books are now conserved in the library at Harvard University.
Glad We Don't Have Tongue-Print Readers Yet
While not widely in use yet, research on "tongue biometrics" has been done and proof-of-concept has been developed for systems verifying people's identities using their tongue. I hope I never have to lick my phone to unlock it.
Strut That Catwalk, Sir!
Ever since they were invented in the 10th century, high-heeled shoes have come in and out of fashion—for men, women, and sometimes for both. Men riding horses would wear high heels to ensure a good fastening on the straps of their seats, and noblemen would wear high heels to appear taller and have a more impressive posture.
I'm So Glad I Don't Have To Say "Ahoy!"
"Ahoy" could have been the first thing you said on the phone if Alexander Graham Bell got his way. However, “Hello” was preferred by Thomas Edison and printed in the How-To guides of many early telephone books.
In Case You Keep Calendars From Past Years...
For example, a 1992 calendar would be the exact same as a 2020 one—January started on a Wednesday and it was a leap year. You could also use a 1964 or 1936 calendar to match up with 2020.
Doctors Are Shaking In Their Boots
We know of more than 7,500 cultivars of apples. Some are good for eating, while others are better for making cider and jelly, and others still are just used for ornamentation.
In The Words Of Flo Rida, "Shawty Got Low"
Australian researchers compared recordings of women talking from the 1940s with recordings from the 1990s: the fundamental frequency of the voices dropped by an average of 23 Hz. Scientists think it's due to the rise of women in more authoritative roles in society.
Chickens And T-Rexes Are More Alike Than You Think
It's no secret that birds are the closest genetic descendants of the dinosaurs. In fact, it's widely believed in the scientific community that velociraptors were actually covered in feathers. Steven Spielberg knew this but opted to keep them scaly in Jurassic Park.
Nothing Like A Steak To Improve His Mood
A group of researchers found out that their subjects were more tolerant of actors reading a script when they were looking at pictures of meat even though they originally expected more aggression when the meat images would be shown.
I'm Checking The Clock The Next Time I Wake Up At Night
A study on the sleeping habits of 3,000 British citizens concluded, along with the fact that many have sleep troubles, that 3:44 in the morning was the most common time to wake up.
Honestly, I Wouldn't Mess With A Goose.
Geese have great hearing, exceptional eyesight, and are very territorial, aggressive, and loud, which is why some police stations in the Xinjiang Province of China have opted to use geese guards at night instead of dogs.
Thank You To The Person Who Wanted To Eat Warm Grapes
When grapes are put in a microwave, especially when cut in two, their shape and material refract the waves in a way that eventually ionizes the sodium and potassium content of the fruit and creates a plasma that ignites.
Not Hopper!
Rabbits can not only recognize the smell of feces of known predatory species, but they are also able to distinguish if the predator has specifically been eating other rabbits. This survival trait helps them avoid dangerous areas and evade predators.
This Is Why We Use Protection, Kids
Mrs. Vassilyeva was a Russian woman living in the 18th century. It is believed that she was the mum of 69 kids (16 pairs of twins, 7 sets of triplets, and 4 sets of quadruplets), all from the same dad.
Sounds A Bit Fishy To Me
Founded by Byung-Chull Lee in Taegu in Korea in 1938, Samsung was a food exporter, shipping products such as dried fish and flour to China. They also tried other activities like life insurance and textiles before 1969, when it started making TV sets.
A Super Way To Encourage Chores
In a study, kids aged four and six were asked to perform a repetitive task but offered the option to take breaks playing video games instead. Across both ages, they spent more time working when they were dressed as Batman.
I'm Feeling A Bit Moody
A researcher who studied a herd of cows for five months established that each cow was expressing themselves individually, voicing their emotions. By understanding the different moos, farmers can give their attention to the individual cows who need it.
This Sounds Like Something Out Of A Horror Film
Over 300 people have died on Mt. Everest since it was first climbed about a hundred years ago. Removing the bodies is a dangerous enterprise in itself—and a very expensive one—so they remain frozen on location.
I Don't Associate The Word "Peace" With Him Often
Don't worry, it was a joke. Erik Gottfrid Christian Brandt, an antifascist member of the Swedish parliament, nominated Adolf Hitler as a satirical comment on the nomination of Neville Chamberlain, the UK prime minister who had just declared war on Germany.
I Swear Some Dudes Produce A Lot More
A 1941 study called "The Quantity of Colonic Flatus Excreted by the 'Normal' Individual" that involved inserting rubber tubes and balloons into five volunteers, concluded that the subjects farted an average volume of 527 milliliters of gas per day.
Trees Talk To Each Other (Kind Of)
It sounds a bit farfetched, but plants can communicate with one another by emitting volatile organic chemicals or even sending electric signals. The messages can alert them to insects or advise nice directions for growing. Notably, "fresh cut grass" smell is a danger warning to other nearby grass.
That's It—I'm Bringing Reusables Everywhere
Every year, 57 billion pairs of disposable chopsticks are used in China alone. About 45% of them are made of cottonwood, birch, or spruce, and the rest are made from bamboo.
I'm Putting This On My Travel Bucket List
Located in the eastern part of the Netherlands, people commute through the village on barges and boats. It originally started as a result of floods in the 18th and 19th centuries and then became the main distinguishing feature of the village.
Skin Color Apparently Does Matter
Scientists analyzed the color and sociability of wild male giraffes in Namibia and found out that males with a darker coat were more dominant and also more solitary, while more subordinate or younger males had a lighter coat and stayed in groups more.
Oh My God!
From the outside, "The Manor" in Guelph, Ontario, could look like any other strip club, but it offers social housing to people who are recovering from addiction or live in poverty, and a Christian pastor has been hosting a weekly service there for the past six years.
In Case You Drop It In The Pool...
Due to different concentrations of sugar (about 39 grams per can for regular coke and less than a gram for diet coke), the two drinks have different density. Regular is denser than water, causing the can to sink.
Spellcheck Is Sometimes Just Not Enough
In 2017, Google released statistics about the most looked-up words in search queries starting with "how to spell…" within the United States. The most searched-for spellings are for “beautiful” (in California, Kentucky, Minnesota, New York, and Ohio) and “pneumonia” (in Alabama, Maine, Michigan, and Washington).
I Would Want The Sushi Emoji
A company in Queensland, Australia, specializes in novelty number plates. Drivers can choose between five designs with the emoji sitting on the right side of the plate, after the license number.
