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. – WTF Fun Facts
People
Fun facts about people in history and other weird celebrity facts!
WTF Fun Fact – Fosbury Flop
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. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Thelma Howard
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. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://people.com/archive/saving-grace-vol-42-no-21/
WTF Fun Fact – 9/11 Hero
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. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Apple Jacks Inventor
William G. Thilly, the inventor of Apple Jacks cereal, is now a professor of biological engineering at MIT and invented the cereal while he was a summer intern. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Delia Bacon
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. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://scandalouswoman.blogspot.com/2008/04/delia-bacon-woman-who-hated-shakespeare.html
WTF Fun Fact – Kurt Gödel Diet
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. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2005/02/28/time-bandits-2
WTF Fun Fact – World’s Biggest Family
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
WTF Fun Fact – Koumpounophobia
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. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/apples-steve-jobs-hates-buttons/
WTF Fun Fact – Gary Hart
Gary Hart was a Presidential candidate in 1988 and an alleged womanizer. He invited the media to follow him around to prove his innocence. The media accepted his invite and he was caught having an affair two weeks later. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2014/09/21/magazine/gary-hart-the-elusive-front-runner.html
WTF Fun Fact – Malcolm Doesn’t Remember
Frankie Muniz suffers from long-term memory loss and doesn’t even remember starring in the TV show Malcolm in the Middle. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Homemade Nuclear Reactor
A twelve-year-old from Memphis named Jackson Oswalt built a fusion nuclear reactor in his playroom and became the youngest person to do so, replacing the previous record which was 14 years of age. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://truththeory.com/2019/03/06/meet-a-12-year-old-who-built-a-nuclear-reactor-in-his-playroom/
WTF Fun Fact – Automatic Telephone Exchange
Almon Strowger invented the automatic telephone exchange, which eliminated the need for operators, after he learned he was losing business because the wife of his competitor was redirecting calls asking for Strowger to her husband. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Samurai Barber
Hairdresser Alberto Olmedo in Madrid, Spain was disappointed with normal scissors and inspired by medieval barbers, cuts hair with a samurai sword, a blow torch, and metal claws. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://abc7news.com/society/barber-in-spain-uses-samurai-swords-blow-torch-to-cut-hair/4988531/
WTF Fun Fact – Bell Breeds Sheep
Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, was also fascinated with breeding sheep with extra nipples after he purchased some land that came with a flock of sheep. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.producer.com/1997/10/telephone-inventor-researched-sheep-teats/
WTF Fun Fact – Why a Wookie?
Peter Mayhew had the option to play either Chewbacca or Darth Vader when they were casting Star Wars. He wanted to be a hero and chose to play the 200-year-old hairy, yelling, Wookie. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-48147012
WTF Fun Fact – Moondyne Joe
Joseph “Moondyne Joe” Johns escaped prison so often that a special prison was built for him. The jailer was so confident in the new jail he promised to set Joe free if he ever escaped. Joe escaped and was caught 2 years later, but the jailer kept his word and freed him. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Crazy Finnish Ski Soldier
Finnish soldier Aimo Koivunen overdosed on amphetamines while escaping Soviet forces during WWII. After regaining consciousness, he skied more than 250 miles, survived a land mine, and lay in a ditch for a week eating only pine buds and a raw bird. When he was rescued, his heart rate was still over 200 bpm and he weighed only 94 lbs. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/high-on-speed-and-delirious.html