WTF • Fun • Fact    ( /dʌb(ə)lˌju/  /ti/   /ef/ • /fʌn/ • /fækt/ )

     1. noun  A random, interesting, and overall fun fact that makes you scratch your head and think what the...

WTF Fun Fact 12419 – Stoffel the Honey Badger

First things first – Stoffel the honey badger was raised by humans from birth and does not know how to operate in the wild. So that’s why a South African animal sanctuary has adopted him long-term. And despite his penchant for mischief (and destruction), they’ve committed to making his life better in every way.

Stoffel lives at the Moholoholo Wildlife and Rehabilitation Center in South Africa. And it seems that no matter how well he is treated, the one thing he doesn’t like is living in an enclosure (regardless of how luxurious that enclosure is). The challenge is that every time Stoffel escapes his enclosure (which is always), he destroys property and fights (and sometimes kills) other animals.

In 2016, after building him a new enclosure, the facility wrote on Facebook:

“Stoffel Does it Again!!! Our charismatic honey badger otherwise known as Houdini proved his intelligence levels yet again last night. After recently extending his enclosure, Stoffel now has two new trees to climb, a new climbing frame to explore, and a puzzle block in which we hide yummy treats inside. Not content with his lavish new accommodation, Stoffel decided to check out neighboring facilities which just happened to be the student common room!!! He certainly had fun on his latest adventure. Destroying the cushions, moving furniture, marking his scent on the couch, knocking over the tea and coffee jars, and finally helping himself to last night’s dinner. Just a pity he couldn’t clean up after himself! After being safely returned and with a very full tummy, Stoffel watched as Brian and his team tried to work out he did it. ‘He must have been working on the plan overnight. He has broken the branches off the tree. He did something similar before but we thought these were stronger!’ Said Brian. ‘We think he used the broken branches as a ladder and climbed out!’ Stoffel, you are certainly one of a kind!”

One dangerous encounter with two lions put him in the vet clinic for two months. But immediately upon recovering from his injuries, he escaped his enclosure again to go back for Round 2.

According to Africa Geographic, which explained Stoffel’s background after a video of him escaping went viral:

“In the end, Moholoholo was sponsored by Rotary Club to build Stoffel a brick house. Yet, after only a few hours in his new home, he escaped again – in spite of the staff trying different measures to prevent his escape.

In short, a human-imprinted honey badger can be a problem in captivity. However, Stoffel the honey badger will remain loved by all at Moholoholo, and for all who come to visit the centre. He an ambassador for his species.”

Stoffel is still alive and roughly 25 years old. While he has slowed down a bit, he’s managed to pass on his mischief to his playmates. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “The story of Stoffel the honey badger” — Africa Geographic

WTF Fun Fact 12418 – FedEx’s Luck

Federal Express (now known as FedEx) was the first overnight delivery company. It was founded by Frederick Smith and based on an economics paper he wrote as a student at Yale. The term paper was written in the 1960s, but it argued that the world needed a way to deliver packages overnight in the new, computerized age of information. As Smith recalls, he got a “C” because his professor found the idea implausible.

But what’s even more implausible-yet-true is how FedEx survived in its early days while running a fleet of airplanes as gas prices skyrocketed. Smith had initially funded the company with his $4 million inheritance along with $80 million in loans and equity investments (in other words, it was no small start-up in his parents’ garage). However, those eight planes covering 35 cities drove the company into debt.

Smith tried to raise more funding but failed. The company’s funds reached a paltry $5,000 – not even enough to gas the planes and pay the pilots. Faced with potential ruin, Fred Smith made a questionable decision. Without consulting his partners, he took the company’s remaining money, hopped on a plane to Las Vegas, and headed to a casino to play blackjack.

When he returned to headquarters the next week, he had turned the $5,000 into $27,000. That wasn’t enough to keep things afloat for long, but they could stay open another week and had new motivation to keep trying for another round of funding.

In the book “Changing How the World Does Business: FedEx’s Incredible Journey to Success” former FedEx senior vice president of operations Roger Frock recalled his reaction to Smith’s antics: “I said, ‘You mean you took our last $5,000 — how could you do that? [Smith] shrugged his shoulders and said, ‘What difference does it make? Without the funds for the fuel companies, we couldn’t have flown anyway.'”

Soon after, FedEx got another injection of funding to the tune of $11 million, which helped stabilize the company and allow Smith to start a direct mail advertising campaign. The company took years to become profitable, but in 1976 it brought in $3.6 million. After going public a few years later, the company became a long-term success.

Of course, we can’t help but wonder about the professor who gave Smith a “C” on his economics paper at Yale. Was he right in thinking that it wasn’t really a viable business idea (after all, it took some serious luck to make it happen)? – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “The Founder Of FedEx Saved The Company From Bankruptcy With His Blackjack Winnings” — Business Insider

WTF Fun Fact 12417 – The Aussie Life-Saver

Much like the Golden Gate Bridge, “The Gap” has become a popular place for those with suicidal intentions to meet their end. While it’s a relatively secluded cliff, there is one important home nearby – the one that belonged to Don Ritchie before his death in 2012.

Over the 50 years Ritchie lived in his home, the Australian WWII Navy veteran struck up hundreds of conversations with nearly inconsolable people by asking, “Is there something I could do to help you?”.

Some say he likely saved around 500 lives simply for being there for people, though the official number is 160.

Interestingly, Ritchie was a life insurance salesman, and his choice of where to live was intentional.

He died in 2012 of natural causes but was recognized during his lifetime with a Medal of the Order of Australia. The so-called “Angel of the Gap” hoped that some kind soul would move into his house and take his place someday. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Australia mourns ‘Angel of the Gap’ Don Ritchie, the man who talked 160 out of suicide” — The Independent

WTF Fun Fact 12416 – The Dodge La Femme

In the 1950s, more and more women were driving, and car companies decided to manufacture cars that they thought would somehow meet more “feminine needs.”

Among the cars were:

  • Dodge La Femme
  • Chrysler La Comtesse
  • Pontiac Parisienne
  • Chevrolet Impala Martinique
  • Cadillac Eldorado Seville Baroness

They could all be purchased in pink (and some in lavender).

The La Femme, a car marketed for “the discriminating, modern woman,” even came with its own matching pink handbag, lighter, compact, lipstick, boots, and cape, along with places to hang or store them within the car.

Most of the cars were simply regular models with feminine trim options and floral interiors, but they were often marketed as easier to drive.

Car literature was careful to point out that nothing under the hood was pink (you know, just in case it might make a husband or mechanic feel less manly to work on it).

The cars were not a success, but that didn’t stop automakers from sending literature to dealers telling them to market the pink vehicles as wildly popular. Dodge tweaked the La Femme a bit to include gold interior elements, thinking that would make it sell better. It did not.

None of the cars were made for very long, and some think that the failures of the pink “lady” models led to more gender-neutral marketing for ubiquitous-but-pricey products such as automobiles. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Dodge’s LaFemme is the First Automobile with A Gender – It’s Female” — Popular Mechanics

WTF Fun Fact 12415 – Santa Cash

David Wayne Oliver has a bit of a bank-robbing problem. In 2019, at age 65, he walked into a Colorado Springs bank claiming to be armed, stole an undisclosed amount of money, and then took the bag out to the street and tossed the cash in the air while shouting “Merry Christmas.” Interestingly, many passersby took the money right back into the bank.

Dubbed the “Santa Claus Bank Robber,” Oliver then sauntered over to a Starbucks where he watched the commotion and waited for his inevitable arrest.

But the story doesn’t end there. Oliver was armed in 2021 when he brandished a gun in a bank at another robbery in Teller County, Colorado. This time, he also led police on a car chase before his arrest.

During the 2021 chase, Oliver held his gun outside his car window, alerting the police that he was armed and was not going back to jail. During the chase, he tossed the gun but kept driving. Strangely enough, the deputies chasing him decided not to pursue.

He eventually turned himself in, but not before becoming the star of a viral Tik Tok video of the encounter. In the clip, he can be heard saying: “I’m an outlaw and a renegade, ok? The sheriff is down there, and they’ve got a roadblock looking for my a**. Get on the radio, you mister, get on your smartphone. I surrender to you boys; I’m not surrendering to the sheriff. I’m surrendering to the Honeycutt boys. I’m the Santa Clause bank robber from last year!”

Oliver was eventually charged with felonies, including menacing, vehicular eluding, possession of a weapon, and a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. His bond was set at $2,000. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Bearded man robs bank, gifts money, then yells ‘Merry Christmas'” — BBC News

WTF Fun Fact 12414 – Betty Robinson Wins Again

You may not know the name Betty Robinson (or, perhaps, you do!), but she’s an Olympic success story for the ages – and a weird one at that.

Betty “Babe” Robinson grew up in a small town south of Chicago called Riverdale. She had many natural abilities, including running. She was fast.

Her Biology teacher, Charles Price, noticed how fast she was when he was her run down the hallway. He timed her, and after clocking her speed, he encouraged her to train with the boy’s track team a few towns over at Thornton Township High (there were no girl’s track teams in that area at the time).

She soon ran in regional events and kept pace with female US world record holders. After that, she was invited to join the Illinois Athletic Women’s Club. Then she beat the world record and moved on to the US Olympic trials.

In 1928, she was selected to represent the US in the Amsterdam Olympics, the first Olympics that allowed women to compete in track and field. She won gold in the 100m at the age of 16. At the time, she has only been running competitively for five months.

(A fun fact for those old enough to remember: Those were the same games in which swimmer Johnny Weissmuller competed. After that, he would go on to his iconic role as Tarzan!)

Babe Robinson returned to her country, state, and town a hero and continued to set records until one fateful day in 1931. Robinson wanted to cool off on a hot day, but her coach wouldn’t let her swim because he insisted it would interfere with her training. So she asked her cousin to take her flying in his small plane to get some reprieve from the heat. Then, disaster struck.

The plane took a nosedive into a field, and the wreckage indicated no survives among the mangled metal and bodies. The man who pulled her out assumed she was dead and put her in the back of his vehicle to drive her to the undertaker.

But she was alive (as was the pilot)! Unfortunately, Robinson suffered injuries to her head, hip, and arm – and badly broke a leg. She also had internal injuries and drifted in and out of a coma for days.

By all accounts, that should have ended her running career. After surgery to put a pin in her left leg, it was shorter than her right leg. She walked with a limp and was told her days of competition were over.

But Babe Robinson wasn’t about to let doctors tell her what was possible. She missed the 1932 Olympic Games but made the team again in 1936 when they were held in Berlin. She couldn’t run as fast, but it was still fast enough. The only problem was she was no longer physically able to crouch down in the starting position – something required of those running in the 100m race.

That’s when she decided to join the women’s 4x100m relay team, a race that didn’t require her to crouch. She was 24 years old and, at the time, the oldest member of the team. The Germans were heavily favored to win but got disqualified on a handover of the baton. Meanwhile, Robinson handed the baton off to Helen Stephens, who had just won the 100m (the race Robinson so dearly wanted to run in). The US team took the gold, and Robinson became a two-time gold medal winner after being assumed dead in that plane crash.

This time, her victory took a back seat to the amazing feats of runner Jesse Owens, who won an astonishing four gold medals. But Betty “Babe” Robinson would remain involved in the sport for decades, later being inducted into the USA National Track & Field Hall of Fame and even carrying the torch for a bit at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta when she was 84.

She passed away in 1999 at age 87 after suffering from cancer and Alzheimer’s, but she remains the youngest woman in history to win gold in the 100m.

If you want to know more, writer John Carroll wrote an incredible story about her in Runner’s World in 2019, and you can read it by clicking here. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Betty Robinson: how the fastest woman in the world came back from the dead” — Runner’s World

WTF Fun Fact 12413 – Antarctic Antics

A Russian engineer working in Antarctica faced murder charges in 2018 after stabbing a colleague in the chest. According to news outlets Sergey Savitsky stabbed welder Oleg Beloguzov as was retribution for telling him the endings of all the books he was reading.

The stabbing took place at a Russian research station in the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica called Bellingshausen Station. Beloguzov’s life was not in danger from the wound, but he was evacuated to Chile for medical treatment. Savitsky was taken to St. Petersburg and arrested for the crime.

According to the LA Times, “Alexander Klepikov, the deputy director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, said of Savitsky and Beloguzov, ‘They are both professional scientists who have been working in our expeditions, spending yearlong seasons at the station. It is down to investigators to figure out what sparked the conflict, but both men are members of our team.'”

There were some rumors that alcohol was also involved in the conflict.

Some news outlets claimed the rumor about the books is untrue and that the engineer was suffering from the trauma of being at a remote location for so long.

Interestingly, the case never went to court since Savitsky and Beloguzov reconciled and the latter didn’t want to press charges. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: Antarctica scientist allegedly stabs colleague for spoiling the endings of books — LA Times

WTF Fun Fact 12412 – The Wonderful Betty White

Not one to claim she was just a “product of her time” when it came to race, Betty White went to bat for a talented tap dancer back in 1954. Despite attempts by others to keep Black dancer and singer Arthur Duncan off of her variety show, White decided to fight back by inviting him on every chance she could.

When networks and viewers in the South threatened to boycott “The Betty White Show” because of Duncan’s skin color, White said she replied: “I’m sorry, but, you know, he stays…Live with it.”

White died on Friday, just a few weeks shy of her 100th birthday, news that prompted a look back on a career that included advocacy on many fronts.

Arthur Duncan also confirmed the story in 2017 on Steve Harvey’s “Little Big Shots: Forever Young,” where he recalled: “I was on the show, and they had some letters out of Mississippi and elsewhere that some of the stations would not carry the show if I was permitted to stay on there. Well, Betty wrote back and said, ‘Needless to say, we used Arthur Duncan every opportunity we could.”

Betty White continued to invite Duncan on her show until it was canceled in 1954. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: ‘He stays’: Betty White refused to remove Black dancer from her show in 1954 — USA Today

WTF Fun Fact 12411 – The Green Man

The urban legend of the Green Man, also known as “Charlie No-Face,” was partly made up to scare kids. But many people who tell the tale of a man without a face walking the highways at night have no idea that the story is based on a real man.

Raymond Robinson wasn’t green, but he was missing most of his face.

On June 18, 1919, the 9-year-old was playing with friends behind his parents’ home when the boys decided to climb the poles of some nearby railroad tracks. And you can probably imagine all of the horrible ways that could have ended.

Robinson had no idea the equipment was electrified. Alas, when he hit an electrical line, he was gravely injured. The boy survived, but not only was his face massively disfigured (he lost his nose and eyes), he also lost an arm.

He didn’t want to let the accident ruin his life, so he tried to live as normally as possible and enjoyed taking walks near his home in Western Pennsylvania along State Route 351. Some locals tried to get a peek at him, and people knew of his disfigurement, hence the stories.

Robinson took up weaving and continued to spend time with his family, even going out in the daytime (sometimes with and sometimes without big glasses).

His nephew said: “He never discussed his injuries or his problems at all. It was just a reality, and there was nothing he could do about it, so he never spoke about it. He never complained about anything.”

Some locals accepted him, but others would pick him up and drop him in random locales, beat him, and even hit him with their cars. But he never let that stop him from taking his beloved walks. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: The Legend Of The Green Man: Raymond Robinson Had No Face, Friends — History Daily