In 1972, The Los Alamos National Laboratories patented a nuclear tunnel boring machine, claiming it could reach depths of 18+ miles. It uses molten lithium to melt through rock, leaving behind a tunnel with a glass-like finish. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR TUNNELING BY MELTING – ATOMIC ENERGY COMMISSION USA (freepatentsonline.com)
The Big Wind, a T-34 tank with two MiG 21 jet engines mounted to its roof, was invented in the cold-war era to mass decontaminate chemical or nuclear debris but is now used to put out oil fires. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: How Jet Engines on Tanks Put out Oil Fires – YouTube
In 2012, a Britain named Wesley Carrington bought a cheap metal detector and within 20 minutes found a “solidi” gold coin, which dated back more than 1600 years. He continued to dig and found 54 more of the 22 carat gold coins. The coins were estimated to be worth £100,000. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Beginner Detectorist Finds Gold Roman Coins Worth £100,000 – TheDetectorist
“Ouijazilla”, in Salem, MA ,holds the unofficial title of “World’s Largest Ouija Board” at 3,168 square feet and weighing ~9,000 lbs. The planchet itself is 400 lbs. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Ouija Look at That: ‘World’s Largest Ouija Board’ Unveiled in Salem, Mass. – NBC Boston
There’s a skate park an hour south of Seattle in Wilkeson, Washington which is shaped like bacon and eggs in a frying pan. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Skate Bacon and Eggs
80-year-old Tatsuo Horiuchi has created paintings in Microsoft Excel for over 15 years. He uses vector drawing tools developed primarily for graphs and simple shapes to make panoramic scenes of life in rural Japan. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Tatsuo HORIUCHI’s PASOKONGA-painting with Excel
In 2011, the British intelligence forces of MI6 hacked into the website of al Qaeda’s English-language magazine, Inspire, and replaced bombmaking instructions with a recipe for a mojito cupcake. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: An Increase in Cyber Warfare Leads to Operation Cupcake, of the Mojito Variety – ABC News (go.com)
In 2007 a man in a wheelchair was hit by a semi-truck. The wheelchair handles were ensnared within the grill of the truck and he was pushed at over 60 mph for several miles on the highway. Amazingly, he escaped without injury. – WTF Fun Facts
For over a year in the mid-2000s, members of the group Untergunther broke into the French Pantheon and repaired a clock which had been broken for 40 years. They were later taken to court for their efforts and eventually let off with a warning. In 2018, one of the members, clock restorer Jean-Baptiste Viot, was hired to repair it after it was further neglected. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Secret French illegal clock restorer gets the job (connexionfrance.com)