In late 2020, A North Korean gymnast defected to South Korea by vaulting himself over the three-meter high border barricades without triggering sensors. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: North Korean gymnast defects by vaulting fences (watoday.com.au)
Places
WTF Fun Fact – World’s Longest Yard Sale
Beginning in 1987, the “World’s Longest Yard Sale” is ~690 miles and runs through 6 different states. It runs along the scenic U.S. Route 127 from Michigan to Alabama for 4 days in August. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://www.127yardsale.com/
WTF Fun Fact – Hokkaido’s Monster Wolf Vs Brown Bears
The Hokkaido town of Naie has deployed a “monster wolf” robot that can roar and flash its eyes red to scare brown bears away from its residential areas. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Hokkaido city deploys ‘monster wolf’ robot to scare bears away from residential areas – The Mainichi
WTF Fun Fact – The Library Cave At Mogao
In 1900, a sealed cave (Mogao Caves) was discovered in China containing 1,100 scrolls and 15,000 Buddhist texts. It was sealed early in the 11th century and contained the earliest dated printed book, a copy of the Diamond Sutra printed in 868. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Mogao Caves – Wikipedia
WTF Fun Fact – First Robot With Citizenship
In 2017, social robot Sophia was given citizenship by Saudi Arabia – the first robot to be given legal personhood anywhere in the world. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Paint The Town Smurf Blue
To promote the Smurfs (2011) movie, Sony painted the traditional “pueblo blanco” town of Juzcar, Spain a bright blue. The residents were so happy with the increase in tourism afterwards that they elected to keep the change permanently. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Pico da Neblina (Fog Peak)
Due to its remoteness in the Amazon and virtually constant dense cloud cover, Brazil’s tallest mountain at 2,994m above sea level – Neblina Peak – remained undiscovered until the 1950s. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Neblina Peak : Climbing, Hiking & Mountaineering : SummitPost
WTF Fun Fact – China’s First Ever Olympic Medal
China didn’t win a medal in the Olympics until 1984. Their first ever medal was a gold medal and it was also the first to be awarded at the 1984 Olympics. Xu Haifeng won the 50 m pistol event. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Austrian Beer Pools
The 700-year-old Starkenberger brewery in Tarrenz, Austria, has seven swimming pools filled with beer. The brewery, which is housed in an ancient castle, converted the old vats in the fermentation room to pools. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: This Austrian Brewery Has Swimming Pools of Beer | Travel + Leisure (travelandleisure.com)
WTF Fun Fact – US Navy Forest Of Old White Oaks
The US Navy sustainably manages over 50,000 acres of forest in Indiana in order to have 150+ year old white oak trees to replace like for like on the 220-year-old wooden frigate USS Constitution. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Why the U.S. Navy Manages a Forest | The Sextant (archive.org)
WTF Fun Fact – NYC’s 3700 Year-Old Obelisk
In 1881 an Egyptian obelisk named Cleopatra’s Needle was erected in NYC’s Central Park. The 3700+ year-old obelisk was originally created around 1425 BCE near modern-day Cairo. It took over a year to move the 220-ton structure. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Obelisk (Cleopatra’s Needle) | Central Park Conservancy (centralparknyc.org)
WTF Fun Fact – World’s Smallest International Bridge
The world’s smallest international bridge is the El Marco bridge between Spain and Portugal. The bridge is just over 10 ft long by 4.75 ft wide and is used by motorcycles, pedestrians, and bicycles. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The smallest international bridge in the world is in Spain | Fascinating Spain
WTF Fun Fact -Rjukan’s Mirrors In The Mountains
The town of Rjukan, Norway installed 50 square meters of mirrors on a mountain so they can get some sun in the winter. The project cost $850,000 and uses computer-powered mirrors that shift every 10 seconds to track the sun during the day. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Norwegian town installs giant mirrors for winter sunlight | CNN Travel
WTF Fun Fact – The Bachelor(ette) Mansion
The mansion used on the ABC reality tv series, The Bachelor, is owned and lived in by a family. The family moves out and takes their furniture with them two times a year for 42 days of filming. It’s also available to rent on AirBnB and is over 200 years old. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Here’s How You Can Rent the Mansion Seen on ABC’s “The Bachelor” (housebeautiful.com)
WTF Fun Fact – Jam-Busting
In several Chinese cities, companies operate a “jam-busting” service. Drivers in traffic jams who need to get somewhere urgently call and 2 people show up on a motorbike. One stays with your car, and the other drives you on the back of the bike through the traffic jam. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – France And Spain’s Condominium
Pheasant Island is a condominium, an arrangement to share territory by assuming joint sovereignty, between France and Spain. Every February, France hands over ownership to Spain until August. This transfer has occurred over 700 times. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Pyramids of Meroe
Many pyramids were built in the Kingdom of Kush in modern day Sudan. However, an Italian treasure hunter obtained permission to perform “excavations” and blew up 40 pyramids with explosives ultimately destroying them. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Giuseppe Ferlini – Wikipedia
WTF Fun Fact – Balkan Sworn Virgin
In Albania, some women swear an oath to become “sworn virgins” in order to live life as a man, get the rights and privileges of a man and are, for the rest of their lives, never addressed as female again. – WTF Fun Facts