random facts

WTF Fun Fact 12953 – Abraham Lincoln, Licensed Bartender and Wrestling Champ

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While U.S. President Abraham Lincoln was known for being a wrestling champ, it’s less well-known that he was also a licensed bartender. In fact, he co-owned a bar with a friend. Unfortunately, that story had a rather sad ending.

Abraham Lincoln is in the Wrestling Hall of Fame

While he grew up in a log cabin in the Kentucky wilderness and then moved to Illinois as a boy, much of Lincoln’s early life isn’t household knowledge. Take, for example, his wrestling “career.” According to the National Wrestling Hall of Fame:

“In the rough and ready style of the frontier, “catch as catch can” wrestling was more hand-to-hand combat than sport. Lincoln, an awesome physical specimen at 6-feet-4, was widely known for his wrestling skills and had only one recorded defeat in a dozen years.

At age 19, he defended his stepbrother’s river barge from Natchez thugs by throwing the hijackers overboard. Ten years later, Lincoln was a storekeeper at New Salem when his boss backed him to out-wrestle Jack Armstrong, local tough and county champion. From the start, Lincoln handed out a thrashing. When Armstrong began fouling, Lincoln picked up his opponent, dashed him to the ground and knocked him out.”

Lincoln’s bartending career

Lincoln went on to become a lawyer and, eventually, president of the United States. But before his law career took off, he was a shopkeeper and bartender. In fact, he’s the only president to have ever been a licensed bartender.

According to Chicagoist (cited below):

“In January 1833, he partnered with his friend from his militia days, William F. Berry, to purchase a small store, which they named Berry and Lincoln. Stores could sell alcohol in quantities greater than a pint for off-premises consumption, but it was illegal to sell single drinks to consume at the store without a license. In March 1833, Berry and Lincoln were issued a tavern, or liquor, license, which cost them $7 and was taken out in Berry’s name. Stores that sold liquor to consume on the premises were called groceries.”

Unfortunately, the store didn’t work out because of Berry’s alcoholism. He drank the store’s liquor, and the pair’s business fell into debt. “It wasn’t until 1848, when Lincoln was a congressman, that he was able to pay off the whole debt.”

Once Lincoln entered politics, he denied selling alcohol “by the drink,” but people knew. His opponents even poked fun at him over it during debates.

Alas, he’s remembered for other things now. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Bartender-In-Chief: Abraham Lincoln Owned A Tavern” — Chicagoist

WTF Fun Fact 12952 – Yeats and Crowley Fought Over Magic

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Aleister Crowley was an English magician. He founded a religion called Thelema and practiced what he called “Magick.” William Butler Yeats was an Irish poet who also dabbled in the occult. The two were bitter rivals – in fact, Yeats and Crowley fought over magic to the point of violence.

White magic vs black magic

In the late 19th/early 20th century, the British duo were equally interested in the mystical world, albeit from very different angles. According to Open Culture (cited below) Yeats “once passionately wrote that the study of magic was ‘the most important pursuit of my life….. The mystical life is the center of all that I do and all that I think and all that I write.'” And while “Crowley would surely say the same, but his magic was of a much darker, more obsessive variety, and his success as a poet insignificant next to Yeats.”

The pair was at the center of the fight between practitioners of white and black magic.

Crowley vs Yeats

Yeats was also outside of the mainstream of occult studies and was dismissed from the Theosophical Society for his experiments. After that, he joined Hermetic Order of the Golden Dawn, which later included writers like Bram Stoker. But Crowley was also part of the Order and the two butted heads because Yeats felt Crowley used his magic for evil.

As a result, Yeats made sure Crowley was never initiated into the Order’s inner circle. He later ensured Crowley was expelled altogether.

This happened in 1900 and Crowley reduced to accept the decision. According to Yeats biographer Richard Ellmann, Crowley launched “astral attacks” on Yeats and things finally deteriorated into physical violence:

.… in Highlander’s tartan, with a black Crusader’s cross on his breast… Crowley arrived at the Golden Dawn temple in London. Making the sign of the pentacle inverted and shouting menaces at the adepts, Crowley climbed the stairs. But Yeats and two other white magicians came resolutely forward to meet him, ready to protect the holy place at any cost. When Crowley came within range the forces of good struck out with their feet and kicked him downstairs.“

The Battle of Blythe Road

This moment became known as “the Battle of Blythe Road.”

Open Culture reports that after his ouster, “Crowley went looking for converts—or victims—in London, while Yeats attempted to stop him with ‘the requisite spells and exorcisms.’ One such spell supposedly sent a vampire that ‘bit and tore at his flesh’ as it lay beside Crowley all night.”

That’s certainly one way to deal with your enemies! — WTF fun facts

Source: “Aleister Crowley & William Butler Yeats Get into an Occult Battle, Pitting White Magic Against Black Magic (1900)” — Open Culture

WTF Fun Fact 12951 – The Witwatersrand Gold Rush

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Around half of the gold in the world today comes from South Africa. And it wasn’t even discovered until the 1850s. The Witwatersrand gold field still produces gold to this day.

What and where is Witwatersrand?

The majority of the Witwatersrand Basin is underground, yet it holds the world’s largest gold reserves. It has produced around 88 million pounds of gold since it was discovered.

Located in South Africa, most of the basin is hidden away deep inside the earth. But there are outcrops that are more reachable, such as the one in Gauteng that forms the Witwatersrand ridge. The southern part of the ridge, which is roughly 3 miles west of modern Johannesburg, South Africa was discovered on a farm. Later, people realized that the Centra Rand Gold Field actually continued for 31 miles.

What is Witwatersrand’s history with gold?

In 1852, a Welch mineralogist named John Henry Davis discovered a gold deposit and brought his finding to President Andries Pretorius (who came from a Dutch settler family, was the leader of the Boers, and played a role in later forming the South African Republic). With the fear of what would happen if news got out, Davis was told to sell the gold he found to the Transvaal Treasury for £600 and leave the country.

Of course, news of a gold mine doesn’t stay quiet for long. Other foreigners went through the same thing. George Harrison and Pieter Jacob Marais also found gold and sold out their stakes.

But in September 1886 President Paul Kruger (a Boer who had successfully defended the territory the Dutch took over from the British) declared nine farms in the area open for digging to the public. This sparked the Witwatersrand Gold Rush.

The Witwatersrand Gold Rush

There were already small Dutch gold mines in the area before the late 1880s. But the gold rush meant signaled open season for wealthy men from around the world to start dynamiting the landscape.

Then, mining magnate Cecil Rhodes (founder of DeBeers) got involved. He had already wreaked havoc by displacing people and destroying land in modern Zambia and Zimbabwe. Then, he moved on to the south African cape to find diamonds before hearing about the gold.

The gold found in the region gave the British motivation to take the land the Dutch had claimed for themselves. Gold magnates sought to overthrow governments. They led bloody uprisings, staged raids, and built enormous sites for their workers to live on the land being plundered.

Modern-day effects of the gold rush

The gold rush is credited with the foundation of the modern city of Johannesburg. However, the city still suffers from tremors and other surface instabilities (like sinkholes) after being hollowed out by gold-seekers.

According to Atlas Obscura (cited below): “The mines in the Witwatersrand Basin are some of the deepest in the world, tunneling miles below the surface. The deepest mine, Mponeng, tunnels 2.5 miles below the surface, and houses the world’s tallest elevator, which can go down more than 7,000 feet in three minutes, traveling up to 40 miles per hour. As the gold is extracted, the mines had to be dug deeper to keep the supply up. In certain places, it can take miners two hours to get from the surface to the depths of the mine, where they face extraordinarily dangerous conditions. Gold mining has been on the decline since the 1980s, which has had a huge impact on the economic health of the region that has long glittered with gold. Today, there are just 120,000 remaining workers in the once immensely profitable gold industry in South Africa.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “Witwatersrand Basin: Hartbeespoort, South Africa” — Atlas Obscura

WTF Fun Fact 12950 – Anatidaephobia

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Anatidaephobia is the fear of being watched by ducks. And despite this existing as a fun fact for decades, it may not actually be a real thing. If it is, it originated in an awfully strange place for a real phobia.

Who’s afraid of a duck?

Ducks are probably only watching you if you get too close to them or their nests. But we don’t want to downplay phobias, because they’re very real and produce real physical symptoms. So, could someone fear that a duck is watching them? Sure.

The question is whether this fear rises to the level of anatidaephobia. That’s less likely since the word was coined by Gary Larson in his comic The Far Side. The idea of this particular phobia is a hoax.

Phobias and anatidaephobia

Phobias spawn feelings of intense fear and worry about object or situations. While there’s no formal duck phobia, the idea of anatidaephobia comes from the Greek word “anatidae,” meaning “swan, ducks, or geese,” and “phobos,” meaning “fear.”

According to PsychCentral (cited below, and which does eventually get around to the point of mentioning it’s a hoax): “People who experience this phobia may not necessarily be worried that a duck might attack them. Instead, their fear centers around the idea that somewhere, a duck could be watching them — constantly.”

However, while “Anatidaephobia may seem like it could be a credible phobia, the fear of being constantly watched by a duck is actually a fictional phobia created for entertainment.”

In other words, you won’t find a fear of ducks in the Diagnostic Manual of Mental Disorders, fifth edition (DSM-5), though you will find diagnostic criteria for “Specific Phobia: Animal type.”

That doesn’t mean a fear of birds, in general, is fake though. “Ornithophobia, or the fear of birds, is an animal type of specific phobia. Some people with this type of phobia may fear all birds or just a specific type of bird, such as a duck. Although anatidaephobia may not be real, the fear of ducks is a very real phobia.”

In the end, PsychCentral explains that: “Anatidaephobia can be traced back to Gary Larson, creator of the ‘The Far Side’ comic. Larson’s cartoon comic depicted a paranoid office worker with the caption, ‘Anatidaephobia: The fear that somewhere, somehow, a duck is watching you.’ The comic showed a duck looking out a window from another building behind the office. The point of Larson’s cartoon was to illustrate that any object can be a source of fear. Since the fictional phobia debuted in 1988, anatidaephobia has gained popularity. This has led to the internet questioning the phobia’s veracity. While anatidaephobia is indeed a hoax and not a real phobia, fears and phobias are no laughing matter. Phobias can have serious affects on a person’s daily life.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “Fear of Ducks Watching You: Is Anatidaephobia a Real Condition?” — PsychCentral

WTF Fun Fact 12948 – Pumpkin Boat World Record

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Have you ever looked at a giant pumpkin and thought to yourself, “that looks seaworthy”? Well, plenty of folks do, which is where there’s a Guinness World Record for the longest journey in a pumpkin boat.

A 12-hour tour – in a pumpkin boat

On August 27, 2022, a Nebraska man named Duane Hansen took for the river in an 846-pound pumpkin and rode it 38 miles down the Missouri River. The S.S. Berta turned out to be seaworthy for the 12-hour tour from Bellevue Marina to Nebraska City’s Riverview Marina.

Hansen’s goal was to beat the previous Guinness World record for a journey by gourd set in 2016 by Rick Swenson. He sailed on the Red River between Minnesota and North Dakota.

Taking a risk

According to Smithsonian Magazine (cited below): “Hansen spent years on the project, eventually naming his prize pumpkin Berta, he told News Channel Nebraska’s Dan Swanson. He was inspired to break the record after attending a three-day pumpkin growing seminar in Portland, Oregon, five years ago, when he met a woman who at the time held the record he sought.”

Apparently, you can get some really unique ideas at pumpkin-growing seminars!

His water-worthy pumpkin was named the SS Berta and had a circumference of around 146 inches. And the trip was not without its challenges.

“Hansen hopped inside and took off for the day-long journey, with family members and friends cheering him on from along the banks. Throughout the next 12 hours, he fought to stay afloat as an array of obstacles—including rocks, sand bars and waves—threatened to tip him over.”

Of course, someone relatively objective had to witness the event, so Hansen brought along a larger entourage to witness the send-off and arrival.

Smithsonian Magazine notes that “To comply with the Guinness World Records’ rules, Hansen had asked non-family members to witness the event. Attendees included Bellevue City officials, who took photos and videos along the way to provide evidence.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “Nebraska Man Makes World’s Longest Journey by Pumpkin Boat” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12947 – Only Humans Have Chins

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We found this hard to believe at first, but it’s the little details that matter when it comes to anatomy. As an anatomical feature, only humans have chins.

That seems surprising if you’ve ever rubbed your pet under their little “chin.”

What’s a chin?

While we basically all call the bottom of the face a “chin,” a chin is technically a bone formed at the apex of the lower jaw. And a chin is a bony protrusion that juts out in a way that is only seen in human skulls.

According to Smithsonian Magazine (cited below): “Even chimpanzees and gorillas, our closest genetic cousins, lack chins. Instead of poking forward, their lower jaws slope down and back from their front teeth. Even other ancient hominids, like the Neanderthals, didn’t have chins…”

Ok, so maybe anatomical technicalities aren’t really that amazing, but what is interesting is that the chin protrusion doesn’t really serve a purpose. No one knows why humans even have chins.

Why do chins exist in humans?

Of course, once anthropologists and evolutionary biologists realized this bit of human uniqueness, they set about trying to explain why we evolved chins. Maybe it’s to help us chew food? Maybe it helps us speak?

Nope. Those ideas have all been largely debunked. The chin is in the wrong place to help reinforce the jaw for chewing. Our tongues don’t seem to generate enough force to require a chin to help us speak. If the chin developed to help us find mates, then it would only appear in one gender.

The list of reasons the chin doesn’t need to exist goes on and on.

According to Duke University’s James Pampush, the chin may not actually serve a purpose at all. This would make it a “spandrel” – “an evolutionary byproduct left from another feature changing.”

“In the chin’s case, it could be the result of the human face shrinking over time as our posture changed and our faces shortened, or a remnant from a period of longer jaws.”

Of course, there’s really no way to prove the chin serves no function since you’d have to reject every possible hypothesis first.

It looks like we may just have to live with the mystery. — WTF fun facts

Source: “A Chin-Stroking Mystery: Why Are Humans the Only Animals With Chins?” — Smithsonian Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12946 – The Stone of Destiny

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Even if you’re a “royal watcher” and love the idea of real-life kings, queens, and princesses, you can still feel a little “icky” about the idea that royals often feel like they were chosen by the universe in some way to wield power and influence over others. Perhaps that’s why the so-called “Stone of Destiny” is making headlines before the coronation of King Charles III.

What is the Stone of Destiny?

Also called the Stone of Scone, this slab of red sandstone has been used in the UK since the 9th century when it was used to coronate Scottish kings. King Edward I stole it in 1296 after invading Scotland, and it was built into a throne in Westminster.

The Stony of Destiny long sat at Westminster Abbey and is still today what kings and queens of England sit upon during their coronations (with a cushion, of course, because royalty doesn’t want to be uncomfortable).

Stealing the stone

The stone was briefly stolen on Christmas Day in 1950 by students and a teacher making a statement about Scotland’s independence, but (while it was broken in the process) it was returned 4 weeks later. And the people who stole it were not charged – instead, a movie was made about the effort, aptly titled Stone of Destiny.

Soon, it will play a role in King Charles III’s rapidly-approaching coronation.

In 1996, the stone was returned to Scotland, but it will make the journey to England for the King’s coronation.

What’s so special about the stone?

The stone has some conflicting stories associated with it. The most common legend is that it was used by Jacob as a pillow in the Book of Genesis. It’s the pillow he laid his head upon when he had the dream of Jacob’s ladder.

That means it would have been mined in Palestine and the story goes that it made its way through Egypt, Spain, and to Ireland, courtesy of the prophet Jeremiah before the next part of the legend begins.

Later, the stone was brought from Ireland to Argyll, Scotland by Fergus the Great, the legendary first king of Scotland. (More accurately, he was the King of Dál Riada, a territory that spanned modern-day Scotland and Ireland.)

During the Viking raids on Scotland in the 9th century, the stone was moved to the Abbey at Scone (which is why it’s often called the Stone of Scone). It was moved there by Kenneth MacAlpin, which sounds like a modern name but is actually the name of a 9th-century king who began to consolidate the lands (and peoples, such as the Picts) into a separate country called Scotland.

Its biblical origins are unlikely, however, since geologists have proven that it’s “lower Old Red Sandstone” from a quarry very close to Scone. However, some insist the real Stone of Destiny still resides in Scotland because what was stolen by King Edward I and then repatriated had always been a replica of the original. — WTF fun facts

Source: “The “Stone Of Destiny” Is Returning To Westminster For The Coronation Of King Charles” — IFL Science

WTF Fun Fact 12944 – The Hallucinogenic Effects of Nutmeg

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When fall and winter come around each year, many of us are reminded of happy times by the smell of nutmeg (and the baked goods that act as a nutmeg vehicle). Well, it turns out we should all stick to the loaves of bread and cakes and stay away from nutmeg on its own. We weren’t aware until now of the hallucinogenic effects of nutmeg.

Don’t let your kids do nutmeg.

Nutmeg gets you high?

We all know the old saying by Galen that anything consumed in enough quantity is poisonous. But for nutmeg, that quantity is two tablespoons.

Of course, nutmeg toxicity probably isn’t going to get you if you eat a whole loaf of pumpkin bread or a whole pie (the stomach ache will be enough punishment). If that were true, we’d hear a lot more about it. But also, two teaspoons is over twice as much as anyone puts in a recipe (1/4 to 1/2 TEAspoon is usually the limit).

Sit down and eat two tablespoons of the stuff in one sitting and you’re in for a baaaad time thanks to a toxic compound called myristicin. Sure, it will give you hallucinations, but it will also make you yearn for better times as you lay on the bathroom floor and spend the rest of the day vomiting.

In other words, don’t try this at home. The risk far outweighs any interesting side effects.

Nutmeg has hallucinogenic effects if consumed in a high enough quantity. But toxicity begins at just two teaspoons (which you’d have to eat in one sitting). The compound myristicin is responsible for the effect, which can also lead to nausea and vomiting.

The hallucinogenic effects of nutmeg are not like visions of sugarplums

Let’s put it this way – if there were any sort of traditional high you could get from something as common as nutmeg, we’d be seeing a lot of bad TikToks of ill-conceived “nutmeg challenges.”

According to Healthline (cited below – and fact-checked by experts), the toxic compound in nutmeg can be found elsewhere. “Myristicin is a compound found naturally in the essential oils of certain plants, such as parsley, dill, and nutmeg,” but it’s found in the highest concentration in nutmeg.

The myristicin in nutmeg acts a bit like the compound in peyote (called mescaline) in that it acts on the central nervous system (CNS) and enhances the neurotransmitter called norepinephrine. But unlike peyote, there are no special nutmeg rituals…for a reason. That’s because myristicin also affects the sympathetic nervous system and that’s a system you really don’t want to mess with since overstimulation produces anxiety, panic attacks, insomnia, shortness of breath, heart palpitations, jitteriness, poor digestion, and even high blood pressure.

That’s not a fun time. And in that sense, it’s not at all going to be like a peyote trip. Besides, stimulating the CNS can also cause nausea, dizziness, and other side effects.

In other words, you’re just poisoning yourself if you try to take nutmeg to get “high.”

The history of nutmeg intoxication

There aren’t many studies on this phenomenon (thankfully, not many people have been misguided enough to do this to themselves). But some people didn’t know any better – like a woman who put FAR too much nutmeg in a milkshake and experienced “nausea, dizziness, heart palpitations, and dry mouth, among other symptoms. Although she didn’t report any hallucinations, she did mention feeling as if she was in a trance-like state,” according to Healthline.

More recently, a 37-year-old woman did try two tablespoons of nutmeg – she missed out on any hallucinations or trance-like states and just felt “dizziness, confusion, grogginess, and an extremely dry mouth” for about 10 hours. Not a great way to spend a day, if you ask us.

A 10-year review of cases from the Illinois Poison Center “revealed over 30 documented cases of nutmeg poisoning,” “both intentional and unintentional exposures, as well as drug interactions leading to toxicity.” 50% of those cases were from people trying to get high from nutmeg, mostly kids under 13. They experienced hallucinations, drowsiness, dizziness, dry mouth, confusion, and – in two cases – seizures. Oh, and then there was some respiratory, cardiovascular, and gastric distress.

If nutmeg seems like an easy way to get high, you might also want to know it can potentially cause organ failure, in some cases, and it can kill you when combined with other drugs.

Mind-bogglingly, some people have tried to smoke or inject nutmeg to get high. But “Like any other drugs, the dangers of nutmeg overdose can occur no matter the method of delivery.” — WTF fun facts

Source: “Can You Get High on Nutmeg? Why This Isn’t a Good Idea” — Healthline

WTF Fun Fact 12943 – A Conspiracy of Lemurs

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Lemurs are fascinating creatures. They’re also diverse – there are 113 types of lemur, all native to Madagascar. Lemurs are social creatures that are active during the day and live in groups of up to 30. These groups are called a conspiracy of lemurs (or alternately a troop).

Why is it called a conspiracy of lemurs?

According to LiveScience (cited below), “Lemurs’ main predators are fossas (Cryptoprocta ferox) — carnivores that looks a bit like a cat or weasel. Lemurs can also become prey for large snakes, birds, humans and animals humans have introduced to Madagascar, such as domestic cats.”

By living in groups, it’s easier for lemurs to alert each other to dangers. The reason a group of lemurs is also called a “conspiracy” is that they work together (or conspire) to outsmart predators and stay safe.

Unfortunately, they can’t conspire to stop habitat destruction. “In 2020, the IUCN(opens in new tab) announced that 98% of all lemurs are threatened with extinction. The main reasons lemur populations have declined so significantly is because of habitat loss due to deforestation(opens in new tab) and hunting in Madagascar. Their habitat is often destroyed so that it can be used for agriculture, and they are hunted for food,” reports LiveScience.

Lemur mobbing

After conspiring to outsmart the predators they have some control over, lemurs also use a technique called “mobbing” to attack predators all at once.

Lemurs can jump up to six times their body length, so they presumably seem like they come out of nowhere and predators hardly get a chance to know what hit them (literally – conspiracies of lemurs have been known to beat large snakes to death).

Cooperative attacking and harassing (aka mobbing) is not limited to lemurs. Many species use this technique to eliminate the threat of predators.

These furry creatures seem to have quite a few sophisticated anti-predator behaviors. — WTF fun facts

Source: “Lemurs: A diverse group of endangered primates” — LiveScience