Hiram Maxim, the inventor of the automatic machine gun, spent so much time test-firing his guns that he became completely deaf. His son Hiram Percy Maxim eventually invented the silencer, but too late to save his father’s hearing. – WTF Fun Facts
Source:
For Toy Story 4, instead of creating all of the individual cobwebs by hand in the antiques store, Pixar created AI spiders that were programmed to spin the webs wherever the cobwebs needed to be. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Pixar’s AI Spiders (kottke.org)
The winter solstice has the shortest amount of daylight but the “solar day” itself is actually the longest day of the year at roughly 24 hours and 29 seconds. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: EarthSky | Longest days accompany the December solstice
The 1934 mystery novel Cain’s Jawbone by Edward Powys Mathers is printed with its 100 pages out of order. To solve the mystery, readers must determine the correct page order as well the names of the 6 murderers and 6 victims. The mystery has only ever officially been solved by 3 people. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Cain’s Jawbone – Wikipedia
Anoka, Minnesota was the first U.S. city to put on a Halloween celebration. Beginning in 1920, they wanted to divert youngsters from Halloween pranks so they held a Halloween celebration. In 1937, Congress proclaimed Anoka as “The Halloween Capital of the World”. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: From Anoka child’s play to Minneapolis zombies: Halloween now generates billions | MinnPost
The practice of playing music to callers on hold was created by a factory owner who discovered that a loose wire in his factory’s phone lines made the building a giant receiver. The broadcast from a close radio station was transmitted through the wire and played when calls were put on hold. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Music on hold – Wikipedia
Vikings believed that there was a goat in Valhalla that supplied an endless supply of beer from its udders. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Dead Vikings Got Endless Beer from Goats | Food & Wine (foodandwine.com)
The Ibrahim Prize, a $5 million payout plus $200k per year, is given to African leaders who were democratically elected and willingly left office after their term limit was up. For 8 of the 14 years it was available, it was never awarded to anyone. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Ibrahim Prize – Wikipedia
Tic Tacs are allowed to be listed as having 0 grams of sugar by the FDA despite being approximately 90% sugar (depending on the flavor), because each individual Tic Tac contains less than half a gram of sugar. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Tic Tac – Wikipedia