In 1524, a statue of the Virgin Mary at the Cathedral in Riga, Latvia, was accused of being a witch. They put it on trial by water and threw it in the Dvina river. Since the wooden statue floated, they declared it guilty and burned it. – WTF Fun Facts
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 – Pitcairn Island
Pitcairn island is a small volcanic island in the Pacific that was founded by mutineers from the HMS Bounty in 1789. Today it has a population of ~50. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Pitcairn Islands – Wikipedia
WTF Fun Fact – Clean Air = More Corn
Research has found cleaner air has boosted U.S. corn and soybean yields by an estimated 20% over the last 20 years. The reduction in pollution has resulted in an increase of ~$5 billion per year. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – The Bloop
In 1997, hydrophones captured the “Bloop,” which was one of the loudest underwater sounds ever recorded and could be heard more than 3,000 miles away. It’s origin was a mystery for years until scientists studied additional iceberg activity and now believe it was likely made by an ice quake. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The Bloop mystery has been solved: it was never a giant sea monster | WIRED UK
WTF Fun Fact – Percontation Point
The percontation point, a reversed question mark and later referred to as a rhetorical question mark, was proposed by Henry Denham in the 1580s and was used at the end of a question that does not require an answer. Its use died out in the 17th century. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Cucuteni-Trypillia Culture
The Cucuteni–Trypillia culture existed in Eastern Europe between 5,500 to 2,700 BC. They constructed sophisticated and densely-populated settlements and burned them to the ground every 60-80 years to then rebuild the same settlement as before. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Why Upper Case and Lower Case
The origin of upper case and lower case comes from printing presses which manually set letters. Small letters, which were used the majority of the time, were kept in the lower, easier to access case. Where as the large letters were kept in the upper case. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Why is it called upper and lower case? | Office for Science and Society – McGill University
WTF Fun Fact – Japanese Pillow Fighting
There’s a national pillow fighting tournament in Japan. The fighters start by pretending to sleep on futons and when the whistle sounds, they spring to their feet and race to get a pillow. A mix between dodgeball and chess, teams throw pillows at each other while protecting the ‘King’. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Japanese compete to qualify in national pillow fighting tournament | Euronews