funny facts

WTF Fun Fact 12887 – The Reagan Astrology Connection

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Ronald and Nancy Reagan believed in astrology. And they never tried to hide that – in fact, the Reagan astrology connection was confirmed by the White House in 1988.

The Reagans’ astrology beliefs

A report in Newsweek after Reagan was president hinted that the first family were believers in astrology. This make some people skeptical since the belief in the alignment of planets and stars having influence on human affairs raises some questions about presidential decision making. And since the Reagans seemed so mainstream, people had a hard time believing that they might live their lives in a way that was decidedly outside of the mainstream.

But the Reagans never hid it. Presumably, it didn’t come up a lot outside of the White House. But inside, Nancy Reagan, in particular, was a follower of astrology (which doesn’t mean she wasn’t also Christian, of course). But it would be a likely be a mistake to assume her husband just went along for the ride to make her happy.

In fact, former (but current at the time) White House spokesman, Marlin Fitzwater, told the New York Times in 1988 that Mrs. Reagan’s beliefs influenced some decision-making, especially when it came to scheduling important events.

It’s hardly any reason for concern. For his part, Ronald Reagan had assured anyone who asked that astrology never influenced his policy-making decisions. (Scheduling things on a Tuesday instead of a Friday or at 3pm instead of 4pm doesn’t typically change the course of human affairs.)

In other words, it’s interesting and surprising, but it’s not that big of a deal to most people.

Was there controversy about the Reagans’ astrological beliefs?

No one watched the White House with the kind of scrutiny we do today. There were no 24-hour news stations or websites, after all.

You’ll find the majority of the information about the role astrology played in the White House in the memoirs of Donald T. Regan (no relation, especially considering the spelling of the name) in a memoir called Inauguration After Midnight.

The book’s title references Reagan’s inauguration as Governor of California in January 1967 which took place after midnight – at 12:10 A.M. “News reports at the time said the decision was made to take advantage of favorable astrological portents,” said the Times, referencing information from officials.

According to the NYT (cited below), Fitzwater said “Mr. Fitzwater said Mrs. Reagan is particularly worried about the impact astrological portents can have on her husband’s safety. But he declined to say exactly how Mrs. Reagan had used astrological information.”

Nancy Reagan’s concerns

We can’t say for sure what the president believed, but we do know it was Nancy Reagan who consulted astrologers for the most part. In the White House response to the controversy in 1988, he said: ”It’s true that Mrs. Reagan has an interest in astrology. She has for some time, particularly following the assassination attempt in March of 1981. She was very concerned for her husband’s welfare, and astrology has been part of her concern in terms of his activities.”

Of course, the California inauguration would indicate that her concerns went back further.

In any case, the couple was seemingly bothered that people made a big deal out of it. ”They both feel it’s unfortunate and a distraction and hardly relevant to the business of government,” Fitzwater said.

A former White House aid also downplayed the role of astrology, saying that Mrs. Reagan simply believed her husband needed more downtime in his schedule. Of course, both things might be true. Nancy Reagon was well-known to be interested in astrology and didn’t hide her own interest.

The Evening News

It’s no surprise that the former First Lady may have become more interested in astrology after the assassination attempt on her husband in 1981. The NYT notes that Ted Koppel reported on the ABC News show “Nightline” that “he had learned that before the President was shot on March 30, 1981, an astrologer warned Mrs. Reagan that something bad would happen that day. Mr. Koppel declined to identify the source of his information.

Tracking presidential astrology

Reagan was still president when this came out, but it never did any damage to his reputation. It was simply titillating to people because we have an innate desire to peek into people’s private lives and react to whatever seems most salacious.

Even before the reports there were people tracking the Reagans’ interest in astrology since it was so out-of-the-oridinary, especially for the Reagan “brand.” Most people doubted the president would have come to astrology on his own and was never an avid believer but that the knowledge did have some impact on him.

The White House made light of the story in 1988, with Mr. Fitzwater opened his briefing by saying, ”I’ll take your first question at exactly 12:33 and a half.”

In any case, the Reagans’ interest in astrology was right in line with their life as celebrities in 1930s and 40s California. And Ronald Reagan would not have been the first president interested in astrology – both Roosevelts were as well. – WTF fun facts

Source: “White House Confirms Reagans Follow Astrology, Up to a Point” — The New York Times

WTF Fun Fact 12886 – Forks Used To Be Seen As Sacrilegious

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Who knew a fork could be seen as offensive (unless you’re using it to poke someone)? But it turns out that while forks are ancient tools, using forks used to be seen as sacrilegious by the Church.

Ancient forks

Forks have been around for millennia, but they weren’t used as dining utensils until the Middle Ages. Then, only wealthy families owned such tools.

For much of human history, people have eaten with their fingers. Depending on the time period and part of the world you were in, it was appropriate to eat with all five fingers (spoons existed and were totally acceptable for soup lovers). Later on, it was seen as polite to eat with three fingers.

Touching your food was touching God’s creation (they didn’t have Twinkies back then, which are most decidedly not God’s creation). By using a technically unnecessary utensil, it was seen as blasphemous not to touch the food you were about to ingest.

Smithsonian Magazine (cited below) found old references to the inappropriateness of forks in the Middle Ages. For example:

“In 1004, the Greek niece of the Byzantine emperor used a golden fork at her wedding feast in Venice, where she married the doge’s son. At the time most Europeans still ate with their fingers and knives, so the Greek bride’s newfangled implement was seen as sinfully decadent by local clergy. ‘God in his wisdom has provided man with natural forks—his fingers,” one of the disdainful Venetians said. “Therefore it is an insult to him to substitute artificial metal forks for them when eating.’ When the bride died of the plague a few years later, Saint Peter Damian opined that it was God’s punishment for her hateful vanity.”

Harsh.

From blasphemous to ridiculous

Eventually, forks became less of a religious matter and simply socially unacceptable. Royalty and nobility – particularly in Italy – often had forks. but their use of the utensils was often used to mock them.

At this time, people were still using two-pronged forks. It would take at least a hundred more years for the third and fourth prongs to be added.

It wasn’t until the early 18th century that forks became acceptable and available in England (and a few decades after that in America).

As one 1887 book of manners noted, “The fork has now become the favorite and fashionable utensil for conveying food to the mouth. First it crowded out the knife, and now in its pride it has invaded the domain of the once powerful spoon. The spoon is now pretty well subdued also, and the fork, insolent and triumphant, has become a sumptuary tyrant. The true devotee of fashion does not dare to use a spoon except to stir his tea or to eat his soup with, and meekly eats his ice-cream with a fork and pretends to like it.”

Who knew forks had such a long and sordid history?! – WTF fun facts

Source: “A History of Western Eating Utensils, From the Scandalous Fork to the Incredible Spork” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12827 – The Urge to Cancel Plans

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The pandemic might have made us feel more FOMO, but when it comes to actually following up on getting out and about, we’re more eager than ever to cancel plans.

Canceling plans and dread

Doesn’t it seem like there was once a “Golden Age” of making plans with friends and following up on them with no drama? Well, these so-called golden ages tend to be overrated and misremembered. But even if it wasn’t and you’re the life of the party (or co-dependent), you’ve probably felt some dread as plans crept up at least once or twice.

Sometimes we agree to plans we didn’t really want to follow through on in the first place (like a play date for our kid whose parents we just can’t stand but have to make small talk with for a few hours, or a golf buddy who gets a bit too loud every time you hang out for a beer). We say “yes” just to be polite and keep the wheels of friendship moving.

Other times, the plans seem like a great idea in the moment (like hanging out with girlfriends, having one too many glasses of champagne, and deciding to take a road trip over Labor Day weekend). But when it’s time to follow through, it feels like more of a chore than a good time.

That dread can creep up slowly, making the plans seem more miserable to execute with each passing day or they can hit you on the day of the outing. All of a sudden you feel like your home is so comfy, your snacks are so good, you have a line-up of bad TV to watch or a great book to read, and going to bed early sounds like far more of a luxury than getting yourself together to spend time with friends or family.

I don’t wanna go

If you’ve felt this way, you’re not alone – over 30% of people want to cancel plans they’ve made. If you haven’t felt this way, it’s worth noting that a lot of people do, so you should probably high-five your friends when they do show up.

The totally unsurprising news comes not just from our personal experience but an actual YouGov survey (cited below) that found “one-third of Americans say they often agree to plans in advance only to realize closer to the date that they don’t want to participate, with 11% saying this happens to them very often.”

Frankly, we’re surprised it’s only 11%. Maybe people who participate in YouGov survey are very outgoing. (Or maybe we’re just lame.)

Interestingly, it’s the young folks who say this happens most often. According to YouGov:

“Americans under 30 are most likely to say this happens to them somewhat often or very often: 56% say so. About half of 30- to 44-year-olds (49%) say the same, as do just 31% of 45- to 64-year-olds (31%) and 12% of Americans 65 and older.”

All we can say is apparently this gets better with time. When you’re 65, you’ll finally be ready for that night on the town with your besties!

–WTF fun facts

Source: “Ever agree to plans and later wish you hadn’t? According to this poll, you’re far from alone” — YouGov America

WTF Fun Fact 12825 – Cows With Names Are More Productive

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Well, it may not be a big difference, but it is one worth mentioning. It turns out cows with names produce more milk. But they need more than a name – they also like a little one-on-one attention.

Researching cows with names

According to LiveScience (cited below), a UK study of 516 dairy cows conducted by researchers Catherine Douglas and Peter Rowlinson of Newcastle University found that “on farms where each cow was called by her name the overallmilkyield was higher than on farms where the cattle were herded as a group.” But it was just 3.4% higher.

We don’t really know how cows feel about their names, but it’s the personal touch that seems to do the trick.

Happy cows

LiveScience quotes one of the researchers (Douglas) as saying: “Just as people respond better to the personal touch, cows also feel happier and more relaxed if they are given a bit more one-to-one attention. By placing more importance on the individual, such as calling a cow by her name or interacting with the animal more as it grows up, we can not only improve the animal’s welfare and her perception of humans, but also increase milk production.”

Frankly, we think that makes perfect sense. Animals seem to know when their well-being is a priority. And it may even be the case that the farmers who name their cows tend to spend more time caring for them or even value them more (though the study didn’t explore that).

Other things to know about the study include:

  • 46% of farmers in the study called their cows by name.
  • 66% said they “knew all the cows in the herd.”
  • 48% said they believed human contact was more likely to produce cows with a “good milking temperament.”
  • Fewer than 10% of farmers felt that cows who fear humans had poor milking temperaments.

–WTF fun facts

Source: “Cows with Names Make More Milk” — LiveScience

WTF Fun Fact 12823 – Rats are Ticklish

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We never really thought about tickling a rat, but apparently, it makes them pretty happy. And other than primates, they’re the only other creatures that seem to be able to be tickled.

Rat tickling

Some people hate to be tickled but rats seem to enjoy it to some extent.

According to Smithsonian Magazine (cited below), the little creatures “…break down in supersonic ‘giggles’ and ‘joy jumps’ when you gently ruffle their fur—but only if they’re in the mood.”

Now, you probably want to know how we know this. Here’s how:

“For a new study published today in the journal Science, a group of German scientists had the pleasure of tickling some rats to find out that—like humans—these rodents’ responses to tickles are mood-dependent. Stressful situations stifled the rats’ otherwise impulsive laughter, while a more relaxed atmosphere made for uninhibited giggles. The new research, led by animal physiologist Shimpei Ishiyama at Humboldt University in Berlin, offers a new insight into where exactly in the brain this ticklish laughter appears to come from.”

If rats are ticklish, why don’t we hear them laugh?

It turns out that few of us will ever get the pleasure of hearing a rat laugh.

Smithsonian notes that “Tickled rats emit high-pitched chirping and squeaking sounds, which are only audible through a special microphone. Researchers were able to observe this laughter by using the microphones, as well as by measuring behavior and neuron activity of rats that they tickled and gently touched in various regions of the body, including the back and belly.”

It sounds like you’re going to need some specialized equipment.

And if you’re wondering where to tickle a rat in order to make it happy – the answer is the belly. – WTF fun facts

Source: “What Tickling Giggly Rats Can Tell Us About the Brain” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12822 – How Do Lobsters Communicate?

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Apparently, thousands of people look up “how to lobsters communicate” – and we’re guessing it’s because they’ve heard the truth and it’s hard to believe.

When we heard that lobsters communicate with their bladders and that they can make things known to other lobsters by urinating at them, we thought it was a grossly creative form of expression. But it gets even better.

While it might not be the most exact description of what’s happening, no less an institution than the New England Aquarium has informed lobster learners that the creatures actually “pee out of their faces.”

Say what?

Ok, so let’s break this down a bit. First of all, lobsters use scent to communicate (as do humans, to be fair). You’ve heard of pheromones, right? The scented hormone we secrete?

Because this factoid ran rampant around the internet with such gusto, Snopes to it upon themselves to get the details (gotta love those professional fact-checkers!). They describe the scented face-peeing this way:

“Found within a lobster’s pee are a fair number of pheromones, which they disperse through theirnephropore rosette glands. The bladder of a lobster is located under its brain, and the rosette glands are connected to the urinary tract.”

Ok, so the key here seems to be the anatomy – the bladder is right under their brain. There’s only so much room in a lobster, and those of us who have eaten them should probably be grateful that we don’t have to pick their bladders out of their tails.

As for the urine stream comes out of their face, Snopes explains further:

“Once these pheromones are produced, they are introduced into the urine stream. In the case of the American lobster, scientific name Homarus americanus, this pheromone-rich pee is released from nephropores at the base of the lobster’s large antennae and then injected into its gill current. According to the NEAQ, it has been determined that this urine stream can reach a length of seven times the lobster’s body.”

Wait, so how do lobsters communicate this way?

You probably still have some questions. Like, what’s a gill current? Well, according to The American Lobster:

“Water passes up through openings between the lobster’s legs, over the gills, and up towards the head.Every few minutes this current of water is reversed the other way so that debris can be flushed out of the chambers.An important part of this “gill current” is that when it is flowing forward towards the head, it can project urine forward.It is thought that the urine of the lobster contains important information about the sex of the lobster and its physiological state.”

Now that we know how lobsters pee out of their faces, we still need to know how and why it works this way. So, back to Snopes (which is cited below and which also has further reading at the bottom of the page for all your legit lobster urine research needs).

When male lobsters want to attract a mate, the females tend to come to him. But he needs to be in a defensive position. As Snopes says: “Their claws are located at the front, which enables the lobster to back into a shelter and face outward toward the entrance, setting up a first line of defense — and attracting a mate.”

Territorial lobster communication

Snopes also cites the conservation organization Oceana, which reports that a male lobster tends to dominate one piece of territory and females wait outside the den to mate with him. To let him know they’re out there, they pee in his direction out of the nozzles on their face.

Hey, who are we to judge?

Of course, the urine contains the pheromones that signal she’s ready to reproduce. So – and here’s another fun fact – she takes off her exoskeleton (basically stripping naked) once she gets into his den to mate. We are seriously not making this up.

Other lobster communication-by-urine tactics

Ok, so there’s one mating ritual out of the way. But females aren’t the only ones who urinate out of their faces to send a message. When males fight, the winner will do the same to signal to any nearby females that he’s the winner and ready to pass on his superior genes to any females nearby. “It’s thought that the winner of a match will also contain more serotonin and happy hormones, making him even more attractive to a would-be match.”

Snopes caps us off with yet another fun fact:

“How does a female return the favor? By peeing in his face, of course. Pheromones released in a female’s urine are thought to reduce the aggression of an embattled male and he’ll often allow the female to enter his burrow, where she might stay for up to two weeks. While the two shack up, the cohabitating female will also be urinating to ward off other ladies in the area — until it’s their turn.”

Lobsters – they’re just like us! – WTF fun facts

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnmnVqiy4-s

Source: “Lobsters ‘Pee’ Out of Their Faces. Here’s Why …” — Snopes

WTF Fun Fact 12819 – Jonathan the Tortoise

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Jonathan the tortoise is the oldest known land animal. And in order to fact-check that (since we feel like it would be an easy claim for people to make without much proof), we turned to Snopes.

An 1886 photo of Jonathan the Tortoise

The rumors about a 100+-year-old tortoise actually started in early 2022 when a website called MajesticAnimals.net posted a photo from what they said was the early 1900s claiming to show a tortoise named Jonathan who is still alive.

The photo was credited to the director of an NGO on Saint Helena Island where old tortoises are known to live.

Says Snopes: “Jonathan has been misidentified in viral photographs before. We have reached out to the government of Saint Helena Island, where the tortoise lives, to confirm the authenticity of the image.”

The image is real – but the site got one thing wrong. It’s actually OLDER than they claimed, and therefore so is Jonathan!

Jonathan is pushing 200!

One of the photos is from 1886! And Jonathan is already full grown. He’s been on Saint Helena for a very long time, and his age is estimated to be somewhere around 190 years old!

As you might imagine, he’s quite a tourist attraction. So if you’re ever in the South Atlantic, off the coast of Namibia, you can visit Jonathan at the governor’s residence “where he gets hand-fed fruit and vegetables and ‘frolics’ with female tortoises, according to an AFP News Agency video profile, even though he has lost his sight due to cataracts.”

It’s doubtful Jonathan would still be alive without human intervention at this point since a blind tortoise wouldn’t fare well out in the wild.

And the latest rumor about Jonathan is that he is also gay and has a male lover. Apparently, he was partnered with a tortoise named Fredrica back in 1991, and when the caretakers wondered why they weren’t producing any offspring despite their frequent mating, they realized she was a he.

Want one more fun fact to top you off? Saint Helena is the island where Napoleon died after his exile. His body is now in Paris, but you can still visit his original grave after you go to see Jonathan. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Yes, Jonathan the Tortoise Is the Oldest Known Land Animal” — Snopes

WTF Fun Fact 12818 – Does Viagra Make Flowers Last Longer?

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It might not be the most cost-efficient use of the medication, but the answer to “does viagra make flowers last longer?” is yes. It also makes the stand up straight.

How does viagra make flowers last longer?

According to a study in the British Medical Journal (cited below): “Viagra (sildenafil citrate) is good not only for treating male impotence. Israeli and Australian researchers have discovered that small concentrations of the drug dissolved in a vase of water can also double the shelf life of cut flowers, making them stand up straight for as long as a week beyond their natural life span.”

In fact, “1 mg of the drug (compared with 50 mg in one pill taken by impotent men) in a solution was enough to prevent two vases of cut flowers from wilting for as much as a week longer than might be expected.”

How does it work? Well, according to the study “Viagra increases the vase life of flowers by retarding the breakdown of cyclic guanosine monophosphate (cGMP) (the production of which is mediated by nitric oxide).”

Basically, that means flower wilting and erectile dysfunction involve the same enzyme, and Viagra helps slow down the breakdown of that enzyme. In men, this allows blood vessels to stay open longer, and in plants, it does the same to their vascular tissues.

No more flaccid flowers

Of course, you may not want to go through the trouble of getting a Viagra prescription (or raid anyone’s medicine cabinet) for the sake of your centerpieces. There are other ways of getting some flowers to spring to attention. For example, putting a few old pennies (that still have some copper component) in a vase of tulips will also make them stand up straight.

While all of this news came out in 1999, the Viagra method of flower preservation started trending again on TikTok in 2021. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Viagra makes flowers stand up straight” — BMJ

WTF Fun Fact 12814 – The Tarantula-Pet Frog Theory

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We don’t exactly get the warm fuzzies from tarantulas, but we know there are some spider fans out there who think the leggy creatures get a bad rap. And we’re open to reconsidering some of our terror. Especially when we find out cool things about them – like the tarantula-pet frog connection.

Communalism and “pet” frogs

According to a University of Michigan press release, a “team of biologists has documented 15 rare and disturbing predator-prey interactions in the Amazon rainforest including keep-you-up-at-night images of a dinner plate-size tarantula dragging a young opossum across the forest floor.”

Ok. That’s not the endearing part. But they continue…

…”the researchers also report on lethal parasite infections in lowland Amazonian frogs and commensal relationships between spiders and frogs. A commensal relationship is one in which one organism benefits and the other is not harmed.”

So, it turns out the circle of life takes a little side trip when it comes to these tiny frogs.

Now, other research shows that tarantulas tend to form communal relationships with frogs that just downright taste bad to them, so they could be why they don’t eat them. But one also has to wonder why they even let them hang around.

Does the tarantula keep frogs as pets or housekeepers?

The nature website Roaring Earth (cited below) gives us some more insight into the frogs:

“Measuring hardly more than half an inch in length, microhylids might seem like a pretty insignificant family of frogs. But they’ve crossed onto scientific radars in a big way. Many of these tiny, narrow-mouthed frogs have been observed in Sri Lanka, Peru, and India living in close proximity totarantulas.”

Now, when species have commensal symbiosis, that means one creature doesn’t get anything out of the interaction. But it’s possible that this relationship could be described as mutualism instead. In that case, both species would benefit.

And how do the spiders get anything out of this (besides a cute, slimy pet?). Well, some researchers have postulated that “the frogs may eat the small invertebrates attracted to the spider’s prey remains.” So frogs get a bodyguard while spiders get a housekeeper.

Tarantula – pet frogs, or tarantula – frog friendship?

Better yet, the small invertebrates that the tarantulas eat are the ones that may target a spider’s eggs. So, frankly, it seems like the spiders get more out of this than the frogs, but tarantulas probably have a hard time finding friends, so maybe it does all even out in the end!

What do you think about the tarantula-pet frog theory? –WTF fun facts

Source: “Giant Taranzulas and Tiny Frogs Are Friends with Benefits” — Roaring Eart