Ancient Babylonians used a sexagesimal (base-60) positional number system instead of base-10. That’s why we have 60 seconds in a minute and 360 degrees in a circle. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babylonian_cuneiform_numerals
History
Weird history facts all gathered right here under our history category. Once you have had your fill of history facts head over to our random fact generator to learn more random factoids!
WTF Fun Fact – Starved In A Room Full Of Seeds
During the siege of Leningrad, a group of Russian botanists from the Institute of Plant Industry locked themselves into a secret vault and starved to death rather than consume the large collection of seeds which they were guarding in case of an apocalypse. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.rbth.com/blogs/2014/05/12/the_men_who_starved_to_death_to_save_the_worlds_seeds_35135
WTF Fun Fact – FDA Official Frances Kelsey Vs Thalidomide
Frances Kelsey, and FDA official, saved the US from a generation of children with birth defects such as flipper-like arms and feet by repeatedly blocking the authorization of a drug, already approved in Europe, known as Thalidomide. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – French Royalty Public Birth
French royalty used to give birth in front of many other noble people, valets, and guards to ensure that the newborn child was not substituted for another. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://thisisversaillesmadame.blogspot.com/2013/12/giving-birth-in-public.html
WTF Fun Fact – Citizenship Cancelled After Marriage
Under the US act of March 2, 1907, all women acquired their husband’s nationality upon marriage, meaning U.S.-born citizen women could lose their citizenship by marriage to any non-citizen. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.archives.gov/publications/prologue/1998/summer/women-and-naturalization-1.html
WTF Fun Fact – Captain John Philip Cromwell
WWII submarine Captain John P. Cromwell went down with his crippled submarine Sculpin after surfacing and letting crewmembers abandon ship. Cpt Cromwell had knowledge of top secret Allied war plans that the Japanese may have extracted from him if captured. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – The Cadaver Synod
In January 897, Pope Formosus’s corpse was put on trial and found guilty in what became known as the Cadaver Synod. He had three fingers removed, was reburied, dug up once again, and then weighed down and tossed into the River Tiber. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Bioplastic Ford
Ford Motor Company started using bioplastics back in the 1930’s. Ford’s 1941 biological car was made of soybean, wheat, hemp, flax and ramie fibers in a soy-based phenolic resin. It weighed 1,000 pounds less than a steel car. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/back-to-the-future-with-ford-bioplastics/manufacturing
WTF Fun Fact – White Elephant Gift Exchange
The “white elephant” gift exchange gets its name from the legend of the King of Siam gifting rare albino elephants to those who displeased him in hopes that the upkeep costs would financially ruin them. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/White_elephant_gift_exchange
WTF Fun Fact – WW2 A Code Of Honor
During WW2, German fighter ace Franz Stigler noticed a US B-17 bomber was too damaged to fight back, and escorted it back to Britain instead of shooting it down, risking execution in the process. Many years after the war, both pilots reunited and became friends. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2013/03/09/living/higher-call-military-chivalry
WTF Fun Fact – Teach A Baby Chimp
In the 1930’s, two psychologists adopted a baby chimp named Gua to see if they could teach him human behavior alongside their baby. They stopped the experiment after 9 months because their son actually started behaving more like a chimp.–WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Baby Window Cage
In London in the 1930’s, some parents used to keep their babies in cages on their window sill in order to make sure they got enough air and sunshine in tall apartment buildings. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/life/news/a33058/hanging-baby-cages/
WTF Fun Fact – Douglas The Camel
Douglas the camel was killed by a Union sharpshooter at the Siege of Vicksburg. His unit was so angered by this that they assigned six snipers to avenge his death and they successfully shot the culprit. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Five Green Fingers Of Jupiter
Broccoli was first cultivated in ancient Roman times and its name is derived from the Latin word brachium, meaning “strong arm or branch”. Roman farmers called it the “five (green) fingers of Jupiter” because of its curative and preventative properties. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Disneyland’s Black Sunday
Disneyland had a disastrous opening day on July 17, 1955. Asphalt poured that morning melted in the 101 °F weather, over half the attendee’s got in with counterfeit tickets, a plumbers’ strike forced Walt to choose running toilets over drinking water fountains, vendors ran out of food, rides were hijacked, etc. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Ghost Tapes For War
During the Vietnam War, as part of operation “Wandering Soul”, the US Navy and Army made terrifying recordings of voices that were supposedly Viet Cong ghosts, then played those tapes from helicopters in the jungle at night.–WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Cork Beauty Tips
Cigarette filters were originally made of cork and known as “beauty tips”. The modern day filter pattern is meant to resemble the cork from the original filters. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/08/magazine/who-made-that-cigarette-filter.html
WTF Fun Fact – Victory Gardens Produced
The US Department of Agriculture estimated that more than 20 million “victory gardens” were planted during World War 2. The produce harvested in these gardens was estimated to be 9-10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh produce. – WTF Fun Facts