If you rub fresh garlic on the soles of your feet, about an hour later you can actually taste the garlic. This is because the molecule that causes garlic’s smell, allicin, is small enough to penetrate the skin and blood vessels, where it goes all the way up to your mouth and nose. – WTF Fun Facts
Food
These food facts are sure to satiate your weird and fun food fact appetite!
WTF Fun Fact – Viking’s Onion Soup
Vikings fed their wounded soldiers a strong onion soup to help gauge how deep a stomach wound was. After a few minutes, they would smell the wound and if they could smell the onion soup, they knew the wound was too deep and they could not be saved. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Why wounded viking warriors ate strong onion soup – We Are The Mighty
WTF Fun Fact – KFC Spacecraft
In 2017, a KFC “spacecraft” brought a Kentucky Fried Chicken Zinger sandwich into space aboard a high-altitude balloon, where it stayed for four days before returning to Earth. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: When KFC *actually* went to space: Before Zinger 1, there was ‘Chix in Space’ | collectSPACE
WTF Fun Fact – Eppsicles
The popsicle was invented in 1905 by 11-year old Frank Epperson after he inadvertently left a glass of soda water with a stirring stick outside overnight in freezing weather. He originally called them “Eppsicles” but later in life his kids called them “Pop’s ‘sicles” and the name stuck. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Barq’s Soviet Stuff
In 1992, Barq’s Root Beer ran a promotion giving away USSR memorabilia with a 12-pack proof of purchase as a “Communism is going out of business sale,” resulting in a 30% increase in sales. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Free Wrigley’s Gum
William Wrigley, founder of Wrigley’s Gum, invented direct mail marketing. In 1915, he mailed a pack of gum to every person in the phone directory in the United States (~1.5 million homes).–WTF Fun Facts
Source: “The Wrigley’s Story — Innovation Lessons From a Chewing Gum” — Medium
WTF Fun Fact – Italians Love Gelato
In Italy, there are more than 19,000 ice cream parlors, employing over 69,000 people, which are mostly small family businesses. Italy also manufactures ~600 million liters of ice cream, or nearly 20% of Europe’s total production. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Italian gelato is European market leader | RetailDetail
WTF Fun Fact – Cops & Doughnuts
There’s a donut shop in Clare, Michigan owned entirely by cops. ‘Cops & Doughnuts’ was a bakery purchased in 2009 by 9 local police officers to in order to save the local bakery that was opened in 1896. One of the cops then retired to operate the bakery. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Ship Bees
Growing almonds in California takes more than half of the commercial honeybee population in the US. Bee hives have to be shipped in by flatbed truck from other states in order to pollinate the almond blossoms. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Growing California almonds takes more than half of US honeybees – ABC News (go.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Flamingo Tongue
The tongue of the flamingo was considered a delicacy in Ancient Roman times. The birds themselves were considered a representation of the wealth of the owner and sacrificing a bird in the name of gods was a very fancy gesture too. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://owlcation.com/humanities/10-Weird-and-Fascinating-Ancient-Roman-Foods
WTF Fun Fact – Taco Liberty Bell
On April 1st, 1996 Taco Bell announced that they bought the Liberty Bell and renamed it the Taco Liberty Bell, causing large amounts of outrage. The PR stunt cost $300,000 but generated an estimated $25,000,000 worth of publicity, with a sales boost of over $1,000,000 for the first two days in April. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Taco Liberty Bell – Wikipedia
WTF Fun Fact – How Many Cows Does It Take To Make A Burger
The beef scraps that become hamburger meat are mixed communally during processing. A study in 1998 found the average fast-food burger contains meat from 55 different cows. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.thedailymeal.com/eat/11-burger-stats-will-blow-your-mind-slideshow/slide-8
WTF Fun Fact – McLobster Sandwich
McDonald’s restaurants on Canada’s east coast and the New England region have a seasonal “McLobster” sandwich. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – KFC Edible Nail Polish
In 2016, KFC released edible nail polishes in Hong Kong. They came in Hot & Spicy and Original flavor. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Chicken fingers: Trying out the KFC nail polish – BBC News
WTF Fun Fact – Vine-glo Grape Juice
During Prohibition, winemakers sold a grape juice concentrate product called Vine-glo which included a “warning” on it: “After dissolving the brick in a gallon of water, do not place the liquid in a jug away in the cupboard for 20 days, because then it would turn into wine.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Vine-Glo – Wikipedia
WTF Fun Fact – Smuggling Alcohol Via Underwater Pipeline
In 2013, border and customs officials in Kyrgyzstan discovered a makeshift underwater pipeline on the bed of the river Chu, which was used to smuggle alcohol into the country from neighboring Kazakhstan. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Kyrgyz-Kazakh ‘alcohol smuggling pipeline’ discovered – BBC News
WTF Fun Fact – Cocaine Covered Corn Flakes
In early 2021, CBP officers in Cincinnati intercepted a shipment of cereal coming from South America. The shipment contained ~44 pounds of cocaine-coated Corn Flakes, which could have a street value of nearly $3 million. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Federal agents seize $2.82 million worth of cocaine-coated corn flakes (wmbfnews.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Egg White Mortar & Egg Yolk Dessert
Filipino churches built during Spain’s colonial period used millions of egg whites in the mortar to make it more durable. This is also why Filipino desserts often use lots of egg yolks – many were developed to use up all the extra yolks from construction projects. – WTF Fun Facts