The “Status Quo” is an understanding among religious communities with respect to 9 shared religious sites in Jerusalem and Bethlehem. As a result, there’s an immovable ladder which was left behind by a mason in the 18th century at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Status_Quo_(Jerusalem_and_Bethlehem)
In 2016, the Australian city of Wangaratta dealt with a hairy tumbleweed invasion. Nicknamed “hairy panic”, the weed Panicum effusum flourished under the dry conditions and a local farmer’s field that was left unmanaged. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: What is the ‘hairy panic’ tumbleweed that has buried a small Australian city? (theconversation.com)
North Korea has their own scoring system for basketball: slam dunks are worth 3 points, field goals in the final 3 minutes of the game are worth 8 points, “3-pointers” are worth 4 if the ball doesn’t touch the rim, and a point is deducted for missed free throws. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.opencourt-basketball.com/north-korea-basketball-implemented-some-crazy-new-rules/
In 2012, General Mills sent professional basketball player Jeremy Lin a special jersey made entirely of Fruit Roll-Ups after he tweeted about his love for the fruit snack. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://blog.generalmills.com/2012/05/linsanity-over-fruit-snacks/
During the Islamic Golden Age, the medieval scholar Rhazes was tasked with choosing the location of a new hospital in Baghdad. He hung meat at points around the city and chose the location where it rotted the slowest. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Islamic Golden Age – Wikipedia
The Galápagos Tortoise spends roughly 16 hours a day napping and a very slow metabolism and large internal stores of water means they can survive for up to a year without eating or drinking. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/reptiles/g/galapagos-tortoise/
In the Middle Ages, the “shrew’s fiddle” or “neck violin” was used to punish those who were caught bickering. The “double fiddle” linked two people together face-to-face, forcing them to talk to each other. They were not released until the disagreement had been resolved. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Shrew’s fiddle – Wikipedia
In 2008, The Department of Developmental Biology at the Osaka Bioscience institute in Japan, discovered a new retinal protein and named it “Pikachurin.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://blogs.unimelb.edu.au/sciencecommunication/2014/09/22/pikachurin-i-choose-you/
The actor who played the Xenomorph in “Alien” was a 6’10” man from Nigeria named Bolanji Badejo. He was discovered by a member of Ridley Scott’s casting team in a London pub in Soho. It was his only film credit. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2016/03/07/africa/bolaji-badejo-alien/index.html