The chemical vinblastine which helps fight a number of different
cancers is made from the dried leaves of the Madagascar periwinkle. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/321726.php
The Mona Lisa at one point had eyebrows and eyelashes according to the analysis of a 240 megapixel scan done by a Parisian engineer who has studied the painting for more than 3,000 hours. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/3668700/Solved-Why-Mona-Lisa-doesnt-have-eyebrows.html
Until recently, the House of Lords Parliament building in England had a .22 rifle range in its basement, originally built for the Palace of Westminster Rifle Club in 1916.
– WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.spectator.co.uk/2015/02/why-did-the-house-of-lords-ever-have-a-rifle-range/
The richest game in sports is the English soccer playoff game to get promoted from the Championship to the Premier League. It is the most lucrative one-off game with a financial windfall for the winning team of nearly £170 million ($215m).
– WTF Fun Facts
Source: http://www.espn.co.uk/football/english-league-championship/0/blog/post/3860320/the-championship-playoff-final-get-ready-for-the-richest-game-in-sports
The 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic medals were the first to include recycled materials, including televisions, circuit boards, keyboards and other cables. – WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2010/feb/18/winter-olympics-vancouver-recycled-medals
In 2013, police in the Maldives arrested a coconut for loitering near a polling station for the presidential election. Locals feared the coconut may have been imbued with a black magic spell to influence the election as there was a Surah written on it.
During the Bronze Age, in a territory that is now Russia, there was a right of passage for boys to become warriors which involved killing their own dogs.
– WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2013/13/130514-dogs-sacrifice-initiation-rite-russia-archaeology-science/
A 2014 study found that for high-end, luxury brands, authentically snobby and rude sales staff resulted in higher sales.
– WTF Fun Facts
Source: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/04/140429085627.htm
Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt is allergic to moon dust.
Source: https://www.wired.com/2005/04/what-a-little-moon-dust-can-do/
In 2014, over 2.8 million dogs in America were on an antidepressant drug like Prozac.
Source: https://abcnews.go.com/Lifestyle/Pets/pets-prozac/story?id=24368051
Forest fires can be started by sunlight being focused through a water droplet onto a very dry leaf.
Source: https://www.livescience.com/6017-water-drops-magnify-sunlight-burn-leaves.html
Henry VIII built his servants a 14 seat toilet by the river Thames at Hampton Court called ‘The Great House Of Easement’.
Oxford University has been operating since (~1249 AD) before the founding of the Aztec Empire (1325 AD), and it’s not even the oldest known university (India’s Nalanda University was around for hundreds of year beforehand).
Every leaf in the world, no matter what latitude it’s at, has an internal temperature of 69.8°F or 21°C. This temperature allows them to photosynthesize effectively.
Source: https://www.nature.com/news/2008/080611/full/news.2008.884.html
In 1938, singer Frank Sinatra was arrested for seduction (the act of a man enticing,without the use of physical force, a previously chaste/unmarried woman to consent to sexual intercourse). The charge was later dropped after the woman revealed she was married.
Source: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2008/07/20/554172/-Frank-Sinatra-busted-for-seduction
How a teenager found a mistake in NASA’s data – WTF Fun Fact
