In the early 1950’s, British company Fairey started to develop a helicopter-type aircraft for commercial passenger use. They eventually built the Rotodyne, which took off vertically using helicopter rotors with jets at their tips but was powered forward by turboprops on the wing. The aircraft never made it into commercial use. – WTF Fun Facts
random fact
WTF Fun Fact – Oldest Telephone Directory
The oldest known telephone directory was issued in February 1878 and consisted of a single piece of cardboard. It listed 50 individuals or businesses in New Haven, Connecticut that had telephones but not their numbers. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – A Horseracing Sham
A racehorse named Sham ran the Kentucky Derby with a time just under 2 minutes (1:59.90). His time was good enough to win any Kentucky Derby past or present except the one he was in. He lost to the legendary Secretariat by about 2 ½ lengths. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.liveabout.com/the-fastest-runnings-of-the-kentucky-derby-1880673
WTF Fun Fact – Oldest Freshwater Bony Fish
Scientist’s caught and radiocarbon dated a 112-year-old, female bigmouth buffalo in South Dakota, making it the world’s oldest age-validated freshwater bony fish. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Paralyzing Fart
The larvae of the beaded lacewing (Lomamyia latipennis) fart on the much larger termites to paralyze them before eating them. They can paralyze up to 6 termites with a single fart which paralyzes them for ~3 hours. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.wired.com/2015/06/silent-deadly-fatal-farts-immobilize-prey/
WTF Fun Fact – Brad Pitt Tried To Exit A Movie
Brad Pitt tried to buy himself out of the movie “Interview with the Vampire”. After hearing there was a $40 million exit clause, he was forced to shoot the rest of the movie. It went on to receive 2 Oscar nominations. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.digitalspy.com/movies/a340921/brad-pitt-interview-with-the-vampire-made-me-miserable/
WTF Fun Fact – An Eagle’s Travels
The map below shoes the movement of an eagle over a twenty year period. It had the tracker fitted in Russia and it died twenty years later in the “valley of the child” in Saudi Arabia. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – The Heat Under Antarctica
Scientists have found intense geothermal heat seeping up from Earth’s interior under Antarctica. The heat production there is nearly four times the global average and is warmer than 99% of the measurements taken around the rest of the world. – WTF Fun Facts
WTF Fun Fact – Spider Hydraulics
Small spiders don’t jump using muscles. Instead, they control the blood pressure in their legs like a hydraulic system to propel them upwards. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://asknature.org/strategy/leg-uses-hydraulics-and-muscle-flex/