Hackers were prevented from stealing nearly $1 billion after misspelling the word “foundation” as “fandation” on a payment transfer. They were still able to steal roughly $80 million before the typo alerted the banks. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Hacker’s typo of the word ‘foundation’ helped stop billion-dollar bank heist | Daily Mail Online
During the 1967 Super Bowl I halftime show, there wasn’t a performance by a musician but rather two men flying around with rocket belts (a.k.a jetpacks). The spectacle was witnessed by the 60,000 in attendance and 50 million more watching at home. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The Super Bowl’s Love Affair With Jetpacks | History | Smithsonian Magazine
The first virtual reality headset was patented in 1960 by inventor Morton Heilig. The head-mounted display had two screens and was known as the “Telesphere Mask.” This device featured stereoscopic (3-D) TV, wide vision and true stereo sound. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: The History and Science of Virtual Reality Headsets (interestingengineering.com)
In the 1960’s, Chrysler produced a total of 55 Chrysler Turbine Cars, whose A-831 turbine engine could run on many alternative fuels including: kerosene, jet fuel, peanut oil, soybean oil, furnace oil, and even tequila. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: Chrysler Turbine Car – Wikipedia
In 2014, Sony created a new cassette tape capable of holding 185 terabytes, or 148 gigabits per square inch. That’s the equivalent of 11,840 16 gigabytes iPhone’s or about 3,700 Blu-ray discs. – WTF Fun Facts
The iconic startup sound for Microsoft’s Windows 95 aka “The Microsoft Sound” was made by ambient music artist Brian Eno on a Macintosh. The artist has never used a Windows PC. – WTF Fun Facts
In the 50-plus year history of the Japanese Shinkansen or bullet train system, carrying over 10 billion passengers, there has been not a single passenger fatality or injury due to train accidents. – WTF Fun Facts
In 1996, the search engine Google was known as “BackRub” alluding to how the program analyzed the internet’s “back links” to understand how popular and important a website was. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.businessinsider.com/the-true-story-behind-googles-first-name-backrub-2015-10?r=US&IR=T
In 2015, the world’s first holographic protest was held in Madrid outside of one of their parliament buildings. They were protesting a new law which organizers said criminalizes the right to protest. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://edition.cnn.com/2015/04/12/europe/spain-hologram-protest/
China has built the world’s largest single-dish radio observatory (FAST) at a cost of $171 million. The telescope, also known as the ‘Eye of Heaven’, took 5 years to build in a remote area in southwest China. Its 500m-wide dish is made up of ~4,400 individual, adjustable aluminum panels. – WTF Fun Facts
Paul Brown invented the upside-down squeeze bottle valve in 1991 after 111 failed prototypes. He then sold his product to everyone from shampoo companies to Heinz to NASA. Four years later he sold his company for $13 million. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://thepatentprofessor.com/this-plucky-inventor-turned-our-world-upside-down/
In 1984 at age 72, Jane Snowball was the first person to “shop online” from her home when she ordered groceries from Tesco supermarket via Videotex. – WTF Fun Facts
Three students from Miami have developed a simple straw that can test whether or not your drink has been spiked. The “smart straw” changes color when it comes into contact with three of the most common “date rape drugs”. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.intelligentliving.co/three-young-girls-invent-straw-to-detect-date-rape-drugs/
Ford Motor Company started using bioplastics back in the 1930’s. Ford’s 1941 biological car was made of soybean, wheat, hemp, flax and ramie fibers in a soy-based phenolic resin. It weighed 1,000 pounds less than a steel car. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://exclusive.multibriefs.com/content/back-to-the-future-with-ford-bioplastics/manufacturing
In 1989, NASA studied house plants as a means of providing clean and pure air for their space station. They found Peace Lilies and Florist’s Chrysanthemums to be the best all-around at filtering the air. – WTF Fun Facts
Scientists have developed a spray-on coating for toilets, which is slipperier than Teflon, and reduces adhesion of feces by up to 90%. It will require less water to flush feces away and help leave the toilet with less odor and bacteria. – WTF Fun Facts
Sierra Leonean Kelvin Doe built his own radio station by the age of 15 where he plays music and broadcasts news under the name ‘DJ Focus.’ He built working batteries, an FM transmitter, a sound amplifier, a three-channel mixer, and microphone receiver from scraps. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://weetracker.com/2018/12/24/kelvin-doe-sierra-leone-boy/
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