random fact

WTF Fun Fact 12431 – The Disappearing Tuscan Village

by

Lake Vagli in Tuscany is a man-made reservoir created in 1946 when a dam was built nearby. At the time, the hydroelectric dam forced the 150 residents of the 12th-century medieval village to abandon it entirely and be relocated to the nearby town of Vagli Sotto.

However, when maintenance is done on the dam, the lake drains, and the village reemerges and becomes a popular tourist attraction. People have only seen the village four times since the dam was built – in 1958, 1974, 1983 and 1994. However, there will be another opportunity in 2023 when 34 million cubic meters of water are removed yet again.

In 1994, the last time the village was visible, nearly 1 million people came to see it, providing a significant tourism boon to the area. Visitors can see medieval homes, bridges, a cemetery, and a church.

If you’re planning a trip to Italy next year, plan to stop in Tuscany’s Lucca province for a look. But you may want to check on its progress first. The lake was supposed to be drained in 2021, and presumably, the pandemic stopped that. It takes an amazing amount of effort to reveal the village though, so the Italians are likely to make a big deal out of it. – WTF fun facts 

Source: “Italian village underwater since 1994 could resurface” — CNN

WTF Fact 12430 – The Truth About Sunflowers

by

Don’t you just love sunflower season? Ok, it might be a bit too hot for some of us, but these big, happy flowers are a fun way to bring some sunshine to your yard or home.

If you’ve seen the sunflower a lot these days, it’s because it’s also the national flower of Ukraine. Girls would weave smaller varieties into flower crowns, and they’re commonly found on traditional embroidery. But the sunflower originated on the North American continent, in what is not the Western United States. In fact, it’s the only flower used for seed that originated in the US.

It wasn’t until the 1550s that Spanish conquerors brought the sunflower to Europe. Sunflowers have many practical uses since they can be pressed for sunflower oil, and the seeds are edible. Ironically, it wasn’t until the flowers reached Russia that they were seen as beautiful for display.

But the more fascinating thing about the sunflower might just be that – biologically speaking – what we consider to be one flower is actually thousands of tiny flowers. Those little brown things we think of as…well, what do we call those?… Anyway, those are individual flowers! And so are the petals.

That means a sunflower contains thousands (usually between 1000 and 2000) of individual flowers all held together by that impressive receptible base. The brown flowers develop into seeds, while the yellow petals (or “ray flowers”) simply wither.

Another cool fact about sunflowers is that they are heliotropic, which means the flowering head (which we guess is technically the correct phrase for what we refer to as a flower) turns with the sun for maximum exposure.

So if you set a vase of sunflowers on a table near a window and notice them all “looking” outside during the day, don’t assume someone turned the vase! The flower did that all on its own. – WTF fun facts 

Source: “Sunflower: An American Native” — University of Missouri, Department of Agronomy

WTF Fun Fact 12429 – The Inspiration for Google Image Search

by

Now known as Google Images, the idea behind the Google Image Search feature was none other than the pop star and actress Jennifer Lopez. When she worse the deep v-cut Versace dress to the Grammys in February of 2000, people performed millions of Google searches to get a second look at it.

Searches for the dress continued at a surprising rate throughout the year and into 2001. As a result, Google made it possible to search images alone starting on July 12, 2001. Before this, you could only search text on websites.

The feature was created by engineer Huican Zhu and product manager Susan Wojcicki (who is now the current CEO of YouTube). In 2001, 250 million images were indexed in Image Search. By 2010, it contained 10 billion photos.

The story has been confirmed by Eric Schmidt, who was the executive chairman of Google at the time.

In an essay published on Project Syndicate, he wrote: “At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen. But we had no surefire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: J.Lo wearing that dress.” As a result, “Google Image Search was born.” – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “How Jennifer Lopez’s infamous 2000 Grammys dress — which was unretired this week — inspired Google image search” — Business Insider

WTF Fact 12428 – A Goldfish Can Hold a Grudge

by

Sorry, Ted Lasso, but “be a goldfish” might not be the best advice for those ready to hold a grudge. Despite the widespread belief that a goldfish has a memory of just a few seconds, it’s simply false.

We’re not sure who made it up or when, but the first sign that it’s a made-up “fact” is that the information changes based on where you are in the world. Some say the goldfish has a 10-second memory, while others say it’s just 3 seconds. Regardless, none of this has ever been proven by science.

However, scientists have studied goldfish and tried to ascertain how long their memories might be. And you might be alarmed to know that these ubiquitous fish retain can memories for days, months, and even years. There are 60 years worth of research to back up those facts.

Of course, we can’t know exactly what goldfish think, but it’s not all that challenging to test the memory of just about any creatures through experimentation.

Culum Brown is an expert in fish cognition at Macquarie University in Australia. He told Live Science: “We’ve known about the reasonably good memories of goldfish since the ’50s and ’60s. Despite what everybody thinks, they’re actually really intelligent.”

Brown believes that one of the reasons we are so ready to believe that goldfish have almost no memory span is the way we treat them. If a fish had a 3-second memory, that boring glass bowl wouldn’t be cruel. And assuming they’re unintelligent allows us to rest easy believing our scaly pets don’t need any stimulation. Unfortunately, that’s just not true.

According to Brown, goldfish are often used in fish cognition and memory experiments. Research has shown that goldfish can remember where their food comes from, how to manipulate situations to get rewards, and even make their way through mazes.

Maybe it’s time to upgrade that fishbowl. –WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Do goldfish really have a 3-second memory?” — LiveScience

WTF Fun Fact 12427 – A Wooly Plummet

by

In 2005, Turkish newspapers reported an incident in which over 400 sheep died. It happened when one fell off a 50-foot cliff – and the rest followed!

That’s what they mean when they say, “don’t be a sheep.”

There were over a thousand sheep on the cliff that day, with each family in the small Van province of Turkey owning about 20 apiece. However, 1,100 animals survived the plunge because the hundreds of sheep that jumped first cushioned their fall.

At the time, the entire flock of sheep was estimated to be worth anywhere from $55,000 to $100,000.

According to the BBC, one villager told the Aksam daily newspaper: “Every family had an average of 20 sheep. But now only a few families have sheep left. It’s going to be hard for us.” – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Turkish sheep die in ‘mass jump'” — BBC News

WTF Fun Fact 12426 – The Most Expensive Spice

by

Have you ever gone to the grocery store to pick up some saffron for a recipe only to find that they don’t even carry it?

Then, maybe you head to the specialty grocery store only to find that a mere pinch of the stuff is $10 or $20!

Well, there’s a reason for that. Saffron is a highly labor-intensive spice to produce. It’s made from the stigmata (those little bits at the end of the red pistils) of crocuses. Next time those tiny purple flowers start budding at the first sign of spring, take a look and see just how tiny those are – each flower has only 3 of them.

Amazingly, it takes around 75,000 crocus flowers to produce just one pound of saffron. That’s part of the expense, but if you look closely, you’ll see that there’s no way to get the saffron out except by lightly picking them out one by one and by hand. They’re just so delicate. So the labor that goes into this is also costly.

Despite its rarity, saffron has been used for thousands of years. The Greeks and Romans used it as perfume, while Indians used it for dye, and the Chinese have used it in medicine.

You’ll find it in many traditional recipes from the Middle East and parts of Europe. So next time you go to make a Moroccan tagine, make sure you prepare yourself for the sticker shock in the spice aisle. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Why Is Saffron So Expensive?” — Encyclopedia Britannica

WTF Fun Fact 12425 – Dolly Parton’s Graduation Gift

by

In 1991, actress and country music legend Dolly Parton and The Dollywood Foundation decided to address the high school dropout rate in her hometown of Sevierville, Tennessee.

According to her website: “In the early 1990s, there was a dropout problem in Sevier County schools. Over 30% of all students never graduated a decision which not only crippled their own lives but made it increasingly difficult for Sevier County to prosper.”

Research from The Dollywood Foundation suggested that many students’ decisions about whether to graduate were rooted in their experiences in seventh and eighth grades. So it made sense to target these students for special encouragement. Parton herself suggested a monetary award.

The Buddy Program, as it came to be called, was announced to students that same year.

Her website explains: “In 1991, seventh and eighth-grade students were invited to a special assembly in the newly built Dolly Parton Celebrity Theatre at Dollywood…Dolly told the students that day she wanted each of them to choose a Buddy, and if they didn’t have a Buddy, she would find one for them. She went on to make a very special announcement: she offered to personally give $500 to each and every student in the seventh and eighth grades if they graduated from high school. However, there was one additional requirement: each student’s Buddy must graduate as well, and they had to sign a contract to pledge to do everything they could to make sure both graduated.”

The reward ensured that students would be both encouraged to graduate and stay accountable to one another in order to receive the money. And it worked!

The dropout rate went from 30% to 6%. – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Dolly launches ‘The Buddy Program’ in Sevier County, Tenn., to tackle local dropout rates” — DollyParton.com

WTF Fun Fact 12424 – Marilyn Monroe’s Drone Skills

by

At 18-years-old, Norma Jeane Dougherty was the wife of a U.S. merchant seaman who worked in a factory for Radioplane in Burbank, California. Founded by actor Reginald Denny, the company made remote-controlled, pilotless aircraft – also known as drones.

Of course, in the 1940s, the word “drone” didn’t carry the baggage it does today. These drones were used to perfect the targeting skills of U.S. soldiers in the Army and Navy. Then came D-Day and Operation Aphrodite, in which similar drones were packed with explosives and used to bomb Nazi sites after the pilots ejected.

Back on the homefront, Norma Jean Dougherty ignored advice to quit her 10 hour/day drone factory job (where she sprayed and inspected parachutes) for fear it would ruin her hair and skin. Already a beauty, she was later named “Queen” of the company picnic and awarded a $50 war bond. She continued to work.

A year later, Norma Jean was photographed in color film (rare at the time) while holding a Radioplane propeller to show the role of women in the war effort. It’s part of what helped turn her into a star. She would soon change her name to Marilyn Monroe and leave the factory for Hollywood. –WTF Fun Facts

Source: Marilyn Monroe’s World War II Drone Program — The New York Times

WTF Fun Fact 12423 – The Hebrew Hobbit

by

In 1970, ten Israeli Air Force pilots and their comrades were captured during the War of Attrition between Israel and Egypt, Jordan, the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO), and their allies. The conflict lasted from 1967 to 1970, but the POWs were not released until 1973.

While in captivity, the men were eventually allowed to spend time together, albeit in a cramped cell. One distraction from their years-long nightmare came in the form of a book that one of the pilots was carrying. Yitzchak Fir’s brother had sent him a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit: Or There and Back Again. However, the book was in English, and not all captives could read it.

That’s when four of the pilots who could read English decided to translate the book for their fellow captives. Avinoam Kaldes, Rami Harpaz, Menachem Eini, and Yitzchak Fir first translated select parts and expressions. But once they realized it gave them a sense of purpose and a means of distraction. So they decided to translate the entire book from beginning to end.

It was a difficult task (and if you’ve read The Hobbit, you know that the poems in the book make translation particularly difficult). But working in pairs and editing the final draft, they finally got it done in four months.

It’s by no means the best Hebrew translation of The Hobbit, but it has the most remarkable story behind it. Their translation was formally published in 1977 by Zmora Bitan Publishers (in part with funding from the Israeli Air Force). – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Translating “The Hobbit” in Captivity” — The Librarians