Spain’s S-80 submarine program designed subs that were 70 tons too heavy and likely to sink when submerged. The cost to fix it is expected to be ~$9 billion. The problem was traced back to an engineer misplacing a decimal point. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://o.canada.com/news/spain-builds-submarine-70-tons-too-heavy
On the Northwest tip of New Zealand’s North island is 90 Mile Beach. The beach is officially a public highway but is only 55 miles long. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ninety_Mile_Beach,_New_Zealand
A mosquito’s proboscis has six needles, two of which have 47 sharp edges on their tips to help cut through skin and even protective layers of clothing in order to suck your blood. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://endmosquitoes.com/do-mosquitoes-have-teeth-number/
The Micronesian island of Yap is known for its stone money, known as Rai or Fei. They use large doughnut-shaped, carved disks of calcite, some as large as 13 ft in diameter. The rai is still used today for social transactions, such as marriage, inheritance, & political deals. – WTF Fun Facts
In 1920, candy-maker Harry Burt created the first “ice cream on a stick” in Youngstown, Ohio. His first candy invention was called the Jolly Boy Sucker. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/snapshot/good-humor-ice-cream-truck
The failure of the 1986 film “Howard the Duck” meant George Lucas had to sell some assets of Lucasfilm, including a computer-animated company Graphics Group to Steve Jobs. That company would go on to become Pixar. – WTF Fun Facts
In Ancient Rome, the punishment for killing one’s father (parricide) was poena cullei or “penalty of the sack.” This death penalty consisted of being sewn up in a sack along with a viper, a dog, and a cock, which was then thrown into water. – WTF Fun Facts
The world’s longest treadmill is 7 feet wide by 30 feet long and started operating on August 26, 2011 at the Wolf Science Center in Ernstbrunn, Austria. – WTF Fun Facts
Nelson Mandela’s African birth name was Rolihlahla. In Xhosa, this literally translates to “pulling the branch of a tree” but more commonly translates to “troublemaker.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.biography.com/political-figure/nelson-mandela