In the late 1600s, London was plagued by a sexual attacker, dubbed ‘Whipping Tom’, who would spank his victims with his hand or sometimes a rod and shout ‘Spanko!’ before running away. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whipping_Tom
In 1979, when the Skylab re-entry approached and headed for Australia, the San Francisco Examiner offered $10,000 to the first person to deliver a piece to them within 72 hours. A 17yr old Aussie collected a piece, jumped on a plane to SFO with no passport or luggage, and collected his prize. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/09/the-strange-tale-of-the-skylabs-fall-from-orbit/245332/
The word sarcasm can be traced back to the Greek verb sarkazein, which initially meant “to tear flesh like a dog.” – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/sarcasm
Studies have shown that removing lead from gasoline is one of the factors that lead to the drop in the violent crime rate in America in the 1990s. Individuals exposed to lead at young ages have numerous conditions and problems with impulse control, all of which may negatively impact decision making and lead to a life of violent crime as they reach adulthood. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis
Hygiene standards were so low that the official 2019 Yu-Gi-Oh tournament hosted by Konami instituted a hygiene clause to the rule book. This allows judges to penalize players with dirty clothing or terrible odor by giving them a loss. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2019/04/05/stnky_gamers_banned/
Penguin colonies generate so much poop that it stains the ice and allows scientists to track their movement and colony size using satellite imagery. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://io9.gizmodo.com/penguin-poop-can-be-seen-from-space-5898236
In 1964, when Bob Dylan first met The Beatles, he had misheard the lyrics to I Want to Hold Your Hand as “I get high” instead of “I can’t hide”, and showed up to meet them ready to smoke. He gave a joint to Ringo, who didn’t realize he was supposed to pass it and smoked the whole thing himself. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://liveforlivemusic.com/features/bob-dylan-beatles-marijuana-1964/
Esperanto is a constructed international auxiliary language based on a mix of English, German, French, and Spanish. It has just 16 rules and each letter has only one pronunciation. It was created in 1887 by the Polish doctor L. L. Zamenhof. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esperanto
Wellington boots were oddly enough designed by Germans, named by an Irishman, manufactured by an American in France and first worn by French peasants. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/men/the-filter/qi/8944718/QI-Quite-interesting-facts-about-rubber.html