Anoka, Minnesota was the first U.S. city to put on a Halloween celebration. Beginning in 1920, they wanted to divert youngsters from Halloween pranks so they held a Halloween celebration. In 1937, Congress proclaimed Anoka as “The Halloween Capital of the World”. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: From Anoka child’s play to Minneapolis zombies: Halloween now generates billions | MinnPost
The practice of playing music to callers on hold was created by a factory owner who discovered that a loose wire in his factory’s phone lines made the building a giant receiver. The broadcast from a close radio station was transmitted through the wire and played when calls were put on hold. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Music on hold – Wikipedia
Vikings believed that there was a goat in Valhalla that supplied an endless supply of beer from its udders. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Dead Vikings Got Endless Beer from Goats | Food & Wine (foodandwine.com)
The Ibrahim Prize, a $5 million payout plus $200k per year, is given to African leaders who were democratically elected and willingly left office after their term limit was up. For 8 of the 14 years it was available, it was never awarded to anyone.–WTF Fun Facts
Source:Ibrahim Prize – Wikipedia
Tic Tacs are allowed to be listed as having 0 grams of sugar by the FDA despite being approximately 90% sugar (depending on the flavor), because each individual Tic Tac contains less than half a gram of sugar. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Tic Tac – Wikipedia
Carbon Robotics has created an autonomous laserweeder – a ~10,000 lbs. self-driving robot that can kill 100,000 weeds an hour using eight 150-watt lasers. – WTF Fun Facts
A study conducted at the University of Montreal showed that young people who played the 1996 game Super Mario 64 for just two months had increased spatial and episodic memory, which improves brain capacity and helps to prevent dementia. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Super Mario could help prevent dementia, scientists say (telegraph.co.uk)
When Dr. Joyce Brothers was a contestant on The $64,000 Question, the show’s sponsor Revlon tried to get rid of her because she didn’t wear makeup on air. She was asked increasingly obscure questions but was able to answer them all correctly and became the first woman to win the top prize. – WTF Fun Facts
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)