In 1898, nearly 75% of Alabama’s entire annual state revenue came from convict leasing to private railways, mines, and large plantations. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Convict leasing – Wikipedia
WTF Fun Fact – World’s Longest Sausage
In 2014, retailer Carrefour Romania and local meat producer Aldis helped Romania set the Guinness World record for the longest sausage. The sausage, which was made of raw minced meat, was ~39 miles long (62.7 km) and weighed 45 tons. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Romania sets new world record for longest sausage | Romania Insider (romania-insider.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Masha The Hero Tabby Cat
In January 2015, a tabby cat named Masha helped save an abandoned baby in Russia from freezing to death by staying beside him to give him warmth while meowing to alert someone. It didn’t take long for someone to hear and bring the baby to a hospital. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Masha the heroic cat finds baby who was cruelly abandoned in Russia (honesttopaws.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Rum Bubber
Originating in the 16th century, a “rum bubber” was a thief who specialized in stealing silver tankards from inns and pubs. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Fraser’s Phrases: It’s A Rum Do | Anglophenia | BBC America
WTF Fun Fact – Skywalker Ranch Fire Department
George Lucas, the creator of Star Wars, has his own fire department with one fire truck. He originally had two, but donated one to a nearby volunteer fire department. There are ~10 firefighters in his department and they protect his Skywalker Ranch and surrounding areas from wild fires. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Skywalker Ranch’s fire department helped put out wildfire in Marin (sfgate.com)
WTF Fun Fact – The Mayor, Mimes, and Bogota
When Antonous Mockus, a mathematician and philosopher, became mayor of Bogotá, he hired 420 mimes to improve both traffic and citizens’ behavior. The mimes would ridicule bad drivers and also mock pedestrians who didn’t follow crossing rules. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Academic turns city into a social experiment – Harvard Gazette
WTF Fun Fact – Okinotorishima Reef
Japan has spent over $600 million fortifying two rocks that are part of the Okinotorishima coral reef so they can claim a 200 nautical mile exclusive economic zone (EEZ) around the atoll. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Okinotorishima – Wikipedia
WTF Fun Fact – Hozhizuna no Hama / Star Sand Beach
Hoshizuna no Hama (“star sand beach”) is a small beach located on a remote island in Japan. The grains of sand found here are shaped like tiny stars. It’s not really sand but the exoskeletons of tiny one-celled organisms, called Baclogypsina sphaerulata. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The Star Sand Beach of Hoshizuna-no-hama | Amusing Planet
WTF Fun Fact – Best Selling Toy
The world’s best selling toy is the Rubik’s Cube. Over 350 million cubes have been sold – 200 million between 1980 when it was first introduced and 1983. The patent expired in 2000 leading to a number of new cube concepts. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.considerable.com/entertainment/retronaut/rubiks-cube