WTF Fun Fact 12776 – Swedish Banana Pizza

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The rumor about Swedes liking bananas on their pizza started in 2017. In fact, Snopes (cited below) traced it back to a Tweet on August 11 of that year from Curators of Sweden. In it, “a social media campaign initiated by the Swedish Institute and VisitSweden, the pineapple-banana-curry topping trifecta made up the ‘most Swedish pizza there is.'”

We know what you’re thinking.

Eww, why?

Well, to each their own. Maybe you’d like if it you tried it. As pizza purists, we’re just planning to let them be about the whole thing without venturing into dough-destroying territory.

Is Swedish banana pizza real?

As with all internet rumors that sound too weird to be true, the folks at Snopes did the research for the rest of us. And we give them props for being really good at it. Who even knows what’s we’d believe at this point if not for them.

In this case, the Snopes folks did us a public service by reviewing a bunch of Sewdish menus from pizzerias in Stockholm only to find that many really did offer some sort of banana pizza monstrosity…we mean, combination.

Banana pizza with…curry? And tomato?

Ok, so for the American palate (which is eclectic at best, we’re not claiming to be conniseurs of anything other than pizza here, trust us!), it sounds a little gross. But believe us when we say it actually gets worse.

According to Scopes: “Two such pizzerias were Corella Kungsholmen and Stockholm Pizza, both of which offered the ‘Tropicana’ pizza, described as topped with tomato sauce, cheese, ham, pineapple, curry, and — you guessed it — bananas. In the U.S., the Swedish-style food joint Viking Pizza, which is located in Glendale, California, included its version of ‘Tropicana’ pizza, complete with all of the above toppings and finished off with the addition of shrimp and peanuts.”

Ok, so leave it to the U.S. to take an already sketchy-sounding pizza and somehow make it worse. You took an already questionable Hawaiian pizza and added pizza AND curry? Astounding.

We kid though – it’s never nice to “yuck someone’s yum,” as they say.

How Swedish banana pizza came to be

Snopes did some more research and if it didn’t seem rude, we’d just copy and paste it all because they really went out of their way to add some context. In fact, Sweden really likes their bananas, and “this love affair dates back to the early 20th century when Caribbean-grown bananas were first introduced to the Scandinavian nation, according to historical records.”

Picture it. Sweden, the earth 20th century. Boats comes into the harbor weighed down with tons of bananas. The descendants of apes (aka humans) no longer even know how to enjoy a banana. In fact, they asked the age-old question about every new fruit humans encounter: which parts are edible.

If you think about it this way, maybe it’s no surprise that some confused Swedes eventually put it on a pizza. Sadly, there are no extant written accounts of early attempts to try to figure out what to do with bananas, but we hope there’s a history grad student out there combing Swedish archives to find them. It should add some levity to all the reading about colonial oppression that it probably took to get those bananas out of the Caribbean in the first place.

Of course, there’s a lot to unpack here, historically, about how foods travel around the world, but we’re left with knowing that the banana trade has obvious interruptions during war time. What’s interesting is that as far as Snopes can tell, the banana pizza (with curry) thing started in the 21st century.

We’re going to need a food anthropologist to unpack the rest. The best we can do is tell you it’s not a rumor.

– WTF fun facts

Source: “Do Swedes Really Put Bananas on Pizza?” — Snopes

WTF Fun Fact 12775 – The Ethiopian Calendar

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The U.S. uses the Gregorian calendar. For us, it’s 2022. But by the Ethiopian calendar, today is July 11, 2014.

When the rest of the world was partying because it was 1999, Ethiopia didn’t start the millennium until it was already 2008 for the rest of us (oh, and their New Year, or Enkutatash) falls on September 11 – or 12th if it’s a leap year).

How does the Ethiopian calendar work?

Ethiopia runs on the Ge’ez Calendar, which is based on the ancient Coptic calendar. And the reason it’s a few years behind the Gregorian schedule is that it has an alternate way of calculating the Annunciation of the birth of Jesus by the angel Gabriel.

Confused yet?

Well, there’s more.

The Ge’ez calendar has 12 months, each with 30 days, plus a 5-6 day “13th month” (called Pagumen) that catches it up to the solar cycle at the end of the year.

New year’s day can be anywhere from September 11th to October 10th.

What does Jesus have to do with it?

According to Culture Trip, the Ge’ez calendar system “starts with the idea that Adam and Eve lived in the Garden of Eden for seven years before they were expelled for their sins. After they repented, the Bible says that God promised to save them after 5,500 years.”

Now, both the Ge’ez and Gregorian calendars use the birth year of Jesus as the start of their timeline. But the Catholic Church and the Ethiopian Orthodox Church have different ways of calculating that date. The latter believes Jesus Christ was born in 7 BC, which they say is exactly 5,500 years after God made the promise to Adam and Eve.

Then again, in 2012, even the pope came out and said that the calculations of the Eastern European monk named Dionysius Exiguus who suggested we make our calendar in this way are wrong.

So we’re not sure what year it is, but it’s becoming increasingly clear that the date is a purely social construct that isn’t rooted in anything we can factually in down. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Ethiopian Time” — Embassy of Ethiopia

WTF Fun Fact 12774 – A Tick Map for Public Health

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Scientists believe that releasing a “tick map” each year (or as often as needed) would be a great public health strategy to allow people to ward off tick-borne diseases. Now, researchers are trying to make it happen.

Why a tick map?

From hikers to vacationers, each summer and fall people head out to new locales without quite knowing the dangers that lurk in tall grasses and forests. These days, tick-borne diseases are spreading more rapidly than ever and it’s causing some big concerns for health professionals. Some of these diseases can be debilitating, and in many cases, a bit of Deet spray just isn’t enough to avoid the danger.

Enter the tick map. If a map of locations where ticks are common (and commonly associated with particular diseases) was available ahead of time, it would not only help raise awareness of the need to avoid ticks but help people take better precautions.

Knowledge is power, after all. But simply telling people there are risks out there does not lead to enough action to stop the spread of diseases that take major resources to treat.

How does a tick map work?

A tick map would involve some predictions, so researchers are still trying to come up with the ideal way of forecasting the locations. And it’s complicated.

According to Scientific American (cited below): “Many factors, not all of them well understood by scientists, shape where and when disease-carrying tick species will thrive—and if they are likely to carry a pathogen at all. Every year people are diagnosed with and treated for tick-borne illnesses such as Lyme disease, anaplasmosis, and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. For Lyme disease alone, the annual figure is nearly half a million, according to estimates from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. And that number is expected to rise as many tick species continue to expand their ranges.”

The only system we have now is relying on people to know where ticks may be a problem so that they can use tick repellant, wear long sleeves, cover their ankles, and perform tick checks on themselves and their pets.

But if we had a tick map, things might be different: “If hikers, for example, have a forecast indicating that the woods they are passing through are likely to have dangerous ticks, they can take extra steps to protect themselves with bug repellent, long sleeves and tight pant cuffs. Local health care providers can make sure they are looking out for symptoms of tick-borne illnesses. Local officials can advise citizens on how to take care outside during the danger season. But making accurate predictions is complicated. Many factors, not all of them well understood by scientists, shape where and when disease-carrying tick species will thrive—and if they are likely to carry a pathogen at all.”

The other cool thing about having a tick map is that it would show when risks are low, allowing people to relax some of those protocols when they aren’t necessary.

Why is it so hard to build the map?

Risk levels can be hard to gauge, however. Ticks need humid summers, enough animal hosts, and the right habitat, for starters. They don’t like cold winters and hot, dry summers. But there’s way more that goes into creating a predictive model that’s actually useful to people, including specific tick species that carry different diseases or thrive in slightly different environments.

To add to the complexity, we’re still learning about the other kinds of flora and fauna that are abundant in tick-heavy areas, such as a specific type of acorn that one type of tiny mouse feeds on – they’re common when ticks are abundant and they’re a reservoir for Lyme disease. All of those elements need to go into the model. And to top it off, we don’t entirely understand how Lyme disease works.

At the moment, the best data we have is only for one tiny area of the country. Other areas may need different predictive models. According to SciAm, “Data collection is one piece of that puzzle, but another is a better understanding of how ticks interact with host species, both human and nonhuman, and how the arthropods act as conduits for disease.”

So, in the meantime, cover up and check for ticks after a walk in the woods!

– WTF fun facts

Source: “The Quest for a ‘Tick Map’” — Scientific American

WTF Fun Fact 12773 – Lord Hailey’s Vampire Hunting Kit

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Does the buyer of an auctioned “vampire hunting kit” know something we don’t?

According to British auction house Hansons: “A mysterious vampire-slaying kit containing objects reputed to ward off the blood-thirsty monsters sparked an international bidding battle – and smashed its auction estimate to smithereens.”

Ok, we’ll, it didn’t sell for millions, which is probably the kind of money we would want to find a way to scrape together if we thought vampires were real.

How much should a vampire hunting kit cost?

On June 30, 2022, the kit was estimated to sell for £2,000-£3,000 ($2,400 – $2,600). But it quickly saw a five-figure price tag after the bidding began. When the hammer dropped, the final bid price was £13,000 ($15,638 and some change by the July 10th exchange rate).

It’s pretty impressive for something to sell for six times its estimated worth. You really have to want to own that particular vampire hunting kit to pay that kind of money.

But, why?

Why this vampire hunting kit?

Charles Hanson, the owner of Hansons Auctioneers, explained that the odd item inspired headlines around the world and that attention likely pushed up the price. But he was still shocked at the final value.

According to the Hansons website, part of its mystery and allure is the kit’s original owner: “It originally belonged to Lord Hailey, a British peer and former administrator of British India. Whether through fear or fascination, it’s interesting to know a member of the highest aristocratic social order, a man with a place in the House of Lords, acquired this item. It reminds us that the vampire myth affects people from all walks of life. I think the aristocratic connection made this object even more desirable and, perhaps, helped it on its way to a particularly strong result.”

Charles Hanson also added “William Malcolm Hailey, 1st Baron Hailey (1872-1969) was recognised for his intellect. He was educated at Corpus Christi College, Oxford. He was Governor of the Punjab from 1924 to 1928 and Governor of the United Provinces from 1928 to 1934. And yet, amid his illustrious career, he was drawn to this vampire-slaying kit. That’s understandable. These objects are both curious and intriguing.”

So, what’s in a vampire hunting kit?

The 19th-century kit comes in a lockable box with Lord Hailey’s initials and address. The tools inside include “holy objects to ward off vampires,” including “two brass crucifixes on the lid which act as a sliding secret locking device. Inside are more crucifixes, a matching pair of pistols, brass powder flask, holy water, Gothic Bible, wooden mallet, stake, brass candlesticks, rosary beads and Metropolitan police paperwork from the period.”

Very comprehensive!

Vampires have long been a character in European folklore and two books only made them seem more real – John Polidori’s The Vampyre (1819) and Bram Stoker’s Dracula (1897).

“The task of killing a vampire was extremely serious and historical accounts suggested the need for particular methods and tools. Items of religious significance, such as crucifixes and Bibles, were said to repel these monsters, hence their presence in the kit,” Hanson said.

So, who bought it?

Sadly, we only know the new owner of the kit is from Derbyshire and they did not wish to be named.

The owner said: “I was stunned and delighted by the result. It’s a fascinating item, a conversation piece. I came across it in Southwell, Nottinghamshire, fairly recently. I liked it for its novelty and historical value. Interestingly, Lord Hailey has a memorial tablet in London’s Westminster Abbey which pays warm tribute to him.”

Maybe you will run across them if you walk around at night in Derbyshire – but you probably don’t want to run across someone so well-armed in the forest at night. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Mysterious vampire-slaying kit – owned by peer of the realm – stuns at auction” — Hansons

WTF Fun Fact 12772 – Real-Life Paw Patrol

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Remember McGruff the Crime Dog? Ever watch Paw Patrol with your kids? Well, it turns out dogs really do take a bite out of crime – just not in the way we expected.

The Pros of a Paw Patrol

Recent research in the journal Social Forces has found that neighborhoods that contain more dogs have lower levels of crime. But the paper, titled “Paws on the Street: Neighborhood-Level Concentration of Households with Dogs and Urban Crime,” found that it wasn’t the dogs themselves that deterred criminals.

Based on the work of Jane Jacobs, this research adds to the idea that “eyes on the street” can (but don’t always) help deter bad actors. That’s a plus for communities where people get out of their houses and are seen by neighbors. (But it’s obviously not that straightforward, and Jacobs failed to take into account race and class in much of her research.)

Eyes on the street

Nevertheless, the new research suggests that in many neighborhoods, the presence of community members makes a neighborhood less likely to seem like a target for crimes such as theft. Not only do neighbors get to know each other better and establish trust, but more eyes mean more potential reporters when people who see something wrong.

Of course, we’ve seen reporting of “something wrong” go sideways in many cases, especially when it comes to situations that involve race and class differences. We’ve also seen that a police response isn’t the best way to keep crime down. So this research just provides a general sense of how things might work for some neighborhoods.

So what’s the deal with dogs?

Dogs come into play because people need to walk them – and people do this at all hours of the day. Neighborhoods with dogs tend to have a lot more human activity out on the sidewalks. In general, the evidence showed that this was largely a good thing when it came to deterring crime.

The researchers found that neighborhoods with higher concentrations of dogs tended to report less robbery, homicide, and aggravated assault rates (as long as “eyes on the street” came with an increased level of trust).

As always, it’s important to note that the researchers found a correlation between dog ownership and less crime. This is not the same is causation – meaning we can’t say that owning dogs leads to less crime until there’s far more evidence. –WTF fun facts

Source: “Dogs Could Be Lowering Crime Levels in Your Neighborhood. Seriously” — ScienceAlert

WTF Fun Fact 12771 – The Saraha Desert Forest Mystery

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Ok, trigger warning: There’s a high chance of getting Toto’s “Africa” stuck in your head by reading this post. But, the truth is, there used to be plenty of rains down in Africa. Enough to have made the Saraha Desert a rainforest.

It’s not a huge shock, since we know the Earth has gone through different climatic periods, but this was one far more recent and accounts for a more radical change than scientists ever could have imagined. In other words, it really takes a lot to turn a vibrant forest into a bone-dry desert, and this happened a mere 6000ish years ago! It’s pretty interesting.

How did the Sahara go from forest to desert?

So, what’s the deal here? Well, since we don’t have a time machine, we can’t know for certain. It could have to do with the tilt of the Earth’s orbital axis changing, it could also be part of a longer, larger pattern of transition.

African Humid Periods in the distant past meant….you guessed it…more rains down in Africa. In particular, northern Africa (which is where the Sahara is, in case you don’t have a map handy). But at some point, those rains went away.

As Smithsonian Magazine (cited below) explains:

“With more rain, the region gets more greenery and rivers and lakes. All this has been known for decades. But between 8,000 and 4,500 years ago, something strange happened: The transition from humid to dry happened far more rapidly in some areas than could be explained by the orbital precession alone, resulting in the Sahara Desert as we know it today.”

Cool use of archaeological data

We can see from archaeological data (which is not perfect, but is overwhelmingly in favor of showing past water and trees in certain areas) that the area was once forest, and even rainforest. But what’s also interesting – and seals the deal for most people – is that in this period there is also evidence of pastoralists. That means people were raising and herding animals. And you definitely can’t do that in a desert.

Are humans to blame?

If it wasn’t solely an axial issue (regarding the Earth’s tilt), some scientists believe that humans could have played a big role in changing the climate due to overgrazing.

There have been suggestions that the end of the humid period in northern Africa could have been brought about by humans letting domesticated animals eat up all the moisture-loving plants. They would have probably had to use fire as a land management tool as well. And that may have been enough to trigger the big change that turned the forest into a desert.

It’s not that easy, of course, but that’s the general idea. There are also hypotheses that humans had nothing at all to do with it. And neither one of those would be related to whether or not humans are affecting the climate currently, so it’s not a political discussion (thankfully). – WTF fun facts

Source: “What Really Turned the Sahara Desert From a Green Oasis Into a Wasteland?” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12770 – Grapes In A Bottle Of Wine

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Have you ever wondered how many grapes are in a bottle of wine?

Well, it all depends on the type of wine you’re drinking, but typically it’s around 600-800. However, some bottles contain up to 1200 grapes.

Harvesting grapes for a bottle of wine

Protecting a vineyard from birds, bees, deer, and other pests that enjoy poking into and picking off grapes takes a lot of work. But if you’re able to get around ten good clusters, you’d be able to make at least one bottle of wine (although the wine-making process is pretty laborious for such a small payoff).

As grapes are harvested in the fall, imperfect clusters get tossed to the side. And many high-end vineyards will pick off each grape and try to inspect them individually to ensure they’re in good shape and free of pests that might change the taste of a wine (such as ladybugs).

The number of grapes in a bottle of wine may vary

You can’t make good wine out of just any old grapes. For example, concord grapes often get sold to big corporations such as Welch’s for grape juice (the non-fermented kind).

Wine grapes need extra help and aren’t sold at grocery stores. But if you want to get a sense of how many grapes are in a bottle of wine, think of it this way – most bags of grapes at the grocery store have about 3 – 4 clusters inside. So it would take at least three bags to make just one bottle of wine.

So, if three bags of grapes costs you a few dollars, you know that wine you’re getting at the under $10 price point is probably not all that special (though it can still be tasty!).

Vineyard vines

A vineyard can produce anywhere from 2 to 10 tons of grapes per acre, depending on the farming methods they employ. For example, organic vineyards will produce close to 2 tons per acre.

According to VinePair (cited below): “The output level of a vineyard is where price and quality get determined. A vineyard that produces less grapes per acre results in grapes that are usually fuller in flavor and more concentrated, whereas a vineyard with a large output generally creates grapes whose juice is watery, which means it ultimately will take more grapes to create a flavorful wine.”

When we’re talking about grapes per bottle, we’re looking at around 700+ bottles per acre (or around half a million grapes).

So if you’re buying wine from a small estate, chances are they are producing far less wine and are typically charging more. Of course, if the vineyard had a famous brand name attached, you’re also paying for that. –WTF fun facts

Source: “How Many Grapes Are Inside Your Bottle Of Wine?” — VinePair

WTF Fun Fact 12769 – The Marriage of Mickey and Minnie Mouse

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Sometimes Disney love stories do come true. Just take the example of the real voice actors behind the classic characters Mickey and Minnie Mouse. Wayne Allwine and Russi Taylor were married from 1986 until Allwine’s death in 2009.

Are Mickey and Minnie Mouse married?

According to the Disney Parks Blog (cited below), everyone wanted to know if the two cartoon characters were meant to be married.

“In the September 30, 1933 issue of Film Pictorial magazine, Walt Disney was asked if his two stars were married. He explained, ‘A lot of people have written to him asking this question because sometimes he appears to be married to her in his films and other times still courting her. What it really amounts to is that Minnie is, for screen purposes, his leading lady. If the story calls for a romantic courtship, then Minnie is the girl; but when the story requires a married couple, then they appear as man and wife.'”

So, it was a marriage of convenience for the cartoon characters at least.

The real Mickey and Minnie Mouse

Taylor was the official voice of Minnie Mouse from 1986 to 2019, while Alwine voiced Mickey from 1977 to 2009.

But Allwine and Taylor kept their real-life marriage on the down low.

“When we got married, we kind of kept it quiet, because everybody was saying, ‘Oh, Mickey and Minnie got married. ‘It wasn’t Mickey and Minnie; it was Wayne and Russi. We wanted to keep it about us and not about the characters.'”

Of course, the creators of Mickey and Minnie Mouse were husband and wife as well – Walt and Lilly Disney!

It just goes to show that the Disney tradition has been a family affair from the get-go. It’s pretty sweet when you think about it.

–WTF fun facts

Source: “Disney Romance: Mickey and Minnie and Walt and Lilly” — Disney Parks Blog

WTF Fun Fact 12768 – English as a Second Language (ESL)

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Technically, English is the most commonly spoken language in the world. However, that’s only because of the number of non-native speakers who learn it as a SECOND language.

In fact, English is more popular as a second than it is as a first language.

If you count only native speakers then Mandarin Chinese is the spoken language in the world.

How many people speak ESL?

There are roughly 378 million people who speak English as their native language. That sounds like a lot, but compare that to the roughly 995 million people who speak some form of Mandarin Chinese as a native language (that’s about 71% of China’s population).

However, due to the number of people who learn ESL, including many Mandarin speakers, English has become the most widely spoken language in the world.

There are around 743 million non-native speakers who learn ESL in the world. So if you add those to the native speakers, that tops the number of Mandarin speakers.

In 2022, surveys found that 1.5 billion people worldwide spoke English either natively or as a second language. Mandarin dialects still come in a very close second.

Second-language speakers

Native English speakers, particularly in the U.S., tend to be less likely to become fluent in a second language (despite learning a bit in school).

In Europe, people are more likely to truly learn to speak a second language. An EU survey found that 56% of Europeans speak a second language. The number of Americans who are bilingual hovers around only 20%.

Interestingly, even though many people the world over speak some English, the country with the highest level of proficiency when it comes to ESL is The Netherlands. Their citizens are more likely to be fluent. They’re followed by Denmark, Sweden, and Norway.

In nearly every country surveyed, women had better ESL skills than men.

– WTF fun facts

Source: “Which countries are best at English as a second language?” – WE Forum