In the Middle Ages, the “shrew’s fiddle” or “neck violin” was used to punish those who were caught bickering. The “double fiddle” linked two people together face-to-face, forcing them to talk to each other. They were not released until the disagreement had been resolved. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Shrew’s fiddle – Wikipedia
In 2008, The Department of Developmental Biology at the Osaka Bioscience institute in Japan, discovered a new retinal protein and named it “Pikachurin.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2014/09/22/pikachurin-i-choose-you/
The actor who played the Xenomorph in “Alien” was a 6’10” man from Nigeria named Bolanji Badejo. He was discovered by a member of Ridley Scott’s casting team in a London pub in Soho. It was his only film credit. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/07/africa/bolaji-badejo-alien/index.html
Founded in 1516, the Fuggerei in Germany is the world’s oldest social housing complex still in use. The rent was and still is one Rhenish guilder per year (equivalent to 0.88 euros), as well as three daily prayers. – WTF Fun Facts
The US Navy has a tradition that no submarine is ever considered lost at sea. Subs that don’t return, including 52 lost during WWII, are considered “still on patrol.” Every year at Christmas sailors manning communications hubs send holiday greetings to those listed as still on patrol. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://seamussweeney.net/2018/10/18/still-on-patrol/
Goldfish can see more colors than we can. Human eyes can see only three primary colors: red, blue and green. All other colors are mixtures of these. A goldfish, however, can see four, making it a tetrachromate. – WTF Fun Facts
In 2014, Sony created a new cassette tape capable of holding 185 terabytes, or 148 gigabits per square inch. That’s the equivalent of 11,840 16 gigabytes iPhone’s or about 3,700 Blu-ray discs. – WTF Fun Facts
Ancient Roman artisans crafted a glass chalice, known as the Lycurgus Cup, using nanoparticles of gold and silver so that it would appear different based on the type of liquid in the cup. On display, it appears jade green when lit from the front but blood-red when lit from behind. – WTF Fun Facts
In Japan, “Ronald McDonald” is known as “Donald McDonald” or “Donarudo Makudonarudo,” because saying “Ronald McDonald” is difficult in Japanese. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://kotaku.com/why-ronald-mcdonalds-name-is-slightly-different-in-japa-1825232733