Weird

This is our weird but true facts category.  These may be a little odd and a little strange, but they are all most definitely true facts!  If you are looking for weird fun facts then start scrolling!

WTF Fun Fact 12577 – Catgut strings

by

While it may sound like many cats were harmed in the making of music, strings were once may from the entrails of animals (just probably not cats). The practice goes all the way back to Greek mythology (but later, was anything but a myth).

The Greek god Hermes was said to have strung his lyre with cow entrails. And in mythological fashion, he stole those cows from his brother Apollo who he then lulled into blissful acquiescence with his playing (to the point that Apollo gave him his entire herd).

Meanwhile (or, probably, prior), in Egypt, instruments strings were being strung with a material called catgut. The Egyptians loved their cats so much it’s unlikely they used cats (and that catgut is more than a bad translation), but the name stuck. And so did using animal intestines for string, especially later on for violins. Much later, a similar method of creating string from intestines was used for tennis rackets.

According to Encyclopedia Britannica, “catgut is tough cord made from the intestines of certain animals, particularly sheep, and used for surgical ligatures and sutures, for the strings of violins and related instruments, and for the strings of tennis rackets and archery bows.”

They continue with a little history lesson:

“The ancient Egyptians and Babylonians and the later Greeks and Romans used the intestines of herbivorous animals for much the same purposes. The origin of the term catgut is obscure; it is not known if the intestines of cats were ever put to such uses.”

Then some gruesome detail that animal lovers should probably skip:

“The intestinal tubes (called runners) of sheep are washed, cut in ribbons, and scraped free of mucous membrane and circular muscle tissue. The ribbons are placed in an alkaline bath for several hours and then stretched on frames. While still moist they are removed, sorted by size, and twisted into cords of varying thickness. A smoothing and polishing operation completes the process.“

Professional string players can still buy catgut strings and they have a lot of influence over sound quality. But the pros can “go vegan” with their strings, using ones with a synthetic core that sounds much like catgut strings and are also longer-lasting. – WTF fun facts

Source: “Are Violin Strings Really Made of Cat Guts?” — SHAR Music

WTF Fun Fact 12571 – The Myth of Early Alien Panic

by

The story goes that when H.G. Wells’ novel The War of the Worlds was turned into a radio play and broadcast by Orson Welles in 1938, millions of people around the country heard the altered opening line “Martians have invaded New Jersey!” and freaked out. In fact, we’ve long been told that it started “a panic” that night because many people had never heard a radio play and believed it was the news and that the alien invasion was true. It has even been reported that people ran from their homes in fear, caused stampedes, and even committed suicide!

Say what you want about New Jersey, but there was no great panic over it being invaded by extraterrestrials nearly 85 years ago.

We’ll grant you that it’s a believable story. In the radio era, with no way to see what was happening, some people were very likely freaked out. But did they panic, run from their homes, and cause a national hysteria?

Well, there’s no evidence of it if they did.

Numbers are thrown around with abandon when it comes to listeners, and there are some estimates that around 12 million people were listening to Welles’ broadcast that night. And even if 1 in every 12 people believed it, 1 million people freaking out would be a big deal, right? The newspapers reported it, but it’s quite likely that it belongs in that (increasingly overused) category of “fake news.”

Yet even Smithsonian Magazine, which can often be trusted to research the accuracy of historical events, propagated the myth of the panic, saying of Welles:

“He’d heard reports of mass stampedes, of suicides, and of angered listeners threatening to shoot him on sight. ‘If I’d planned to wreck my career,’ he told several people at the time, ‘I couldn’t have gone about it better.’ With his livelihood (and possibly even his freedom) on the line, Welles went before dozens of reporters, photographers, and newsreel cameramen at a hastily arranged press conference in the CBS building. Each journalist asked him some variation of the same basic question: Had he intended, or did he at all anticipate, that War of the Worlds would throw its audience into panic?”

The only proof offered up is some old script drafts from the days when Welles and his colleagues were trying to turn the novel into a play. There are links to newspapers, but no interrogation of the reporting and whether it could be trusted or backed up. And while the magazine does have a fascinating story on how the play came to be, Slate has poked holes in the rest of the story.

Most important is the lack of a large enough audience to cause anything but a slight kerfuffle. Slate says:

“There’s only one problem: The supposed panic was so tiny as to be practically immeasurable on the night of the broadcast. Despite repeated assertions to the contrary in the PBS and NPR programs, almost nobody was fooled by Welles’ broadcast.“

It turns out that a poll taken that night showed that 98% of 5000 surveyed households were listening to something else, or nothing at all, on Oct. 30, 1938. “Welles’ program was scheduled against one of the most popular national programs at the time—ventriloquist Edgar Bergen’s Chase and Sanborn Hour, a comedy-variety show,” Slate notes. And to top it off “several important CBS affiliates (including Boston’s WEEI) pre-empted Welles’ broadcast in favor of local commercial programming.”

Even if people were turning the dial during musical interludes, as some have claimed, we have no way of reliably extrapolating that to 12 million people. No death has even been attributed to listening to the play and reports of people being treated for panic remain unsubstantiated.

So what’s the deal? It’s likely that newspapers weren’t so happy about radio cutting into their readership base. Slate put one final nail in the coffin, noting “Radio had siphoned off advertising revenue from print during the Depression, badly damaging the newspaper industry. So the papers seized the opportunity presented by Welles’ program to discredit radio as a source of news. The newspaper industry sensationalized the panic to prove to advertisers, and regulators, that radio management was irresponsible and not to be trusted.”

Over time, the myth grew and grew and old fake news was turned into historical evidence. But that still can’t make it true. – WTF Fun Fact

Source: “75 Years Ago, “War Of The Worlds’ Started A Panic. Or Did It?” — NPR

WTF Fun Fact 12564 – Flushing Facts

by

Toilet paper was invented in China around the 6th century but manufactured for the first time in the area now known as Zhejiang province in the 14th century.

In fact, the Farmer’s Almanac has a hole in the top left of each copy, a nod to the time when people would nail it to the outhouse wall for reading materials (and, yes, toilet paper).

Americans had to wait until the 19th century for a civilized way to wipe, which means there’s an awful lot of time to account for when people were…well, tidying up in the toilet with whatever was available.

Corncobs were a popular choice in rural areas, as was the Sears Roebuck catalog and the Farmer’s Almanac.

During the Civil War, Americans had J.C. Gayetty to thank for the first domestic toilet paper – “Gayetty’s Medicated Paper for the Water-Closet.”

Even after the advent of toilet paper, some outhouses were still stocked with a copy of the Farmer’s Almanac. It was so often hung in the structures for reading material (when it wasn’t be used…elsewhere) that the publishers designed it with a hole in the upper left-hand corner so it would be easier to tie it up to a hook for those who expected to spend some serious time out there.

Oh, and mark your calendars: May 6 is “Read Your Farmers’ Almanac in the Bathroom Day.”

– WTF Fun Fact

Source: “What Did People Do Before Toilet Paper?” — Farmer’s Almanac

WTF Fun Fact 12561 – Maureen O’Conner’s Big Bets

by

Maureen O’Connor was the first female mayor of San Diego, California, from 1986 to 1992. When her husband, Robert O. Paterson, founder of the fast-food chain Jack in the Box, passed away in 1994, she inherited his entire $50 million fortune since the couple had no children.

But O’Conner still ended up in debt. Specifically, it was gambling debt, but her addiction wasn’t something she could control.

Doctors determined that the grief brought on by her husband’s death and a brain tumor had changed her personality, allowing her to get hooked on video poker.

It turns out you can win and lose quite a bit of money by playing poker online. O’Conner’s “grief gambling” did bring her over $1 billion (yes, with a B) worth of good luck and winnings over the course of a decade. However, she lost so much that she wiped out her winnings AND her inherited fortune.

In the end, she was worth negative $13 million.

It was more than she could pay off, so O’Conner turned to money laundering and was convicted of the crime in 2013 after taking money from her late husband’s non-profit to cover the gambling debts.

She was given a deferred sentence and served no jail time under the health circumstances, but she was completely broke after paying court costs and restitution.

If you do the math, she would have needed to wager roughly $300,000 a day, seven days a week, to lose as much money as she did in such as short period of time. And yet she’s far from the biggest loser when it comes to gambling.

According to the New York Times in 2013, “Terry Watanabe, a businessman, lost more than $205 million in Las Vegas, including more than $120 million in 2007 alone. The British media mogul Robert Maxwell once lost £1.5 million, about $2.3 million, in less than three minutes at a London casino.” – WTF fun facts

Source: “San Diego Ex-Mayor Confronts $1 Billion Gambling Problem” — The New York Times

WTF Fun Fact 12555 – The London Bridge of Arizona

by

London Bridge is falling down
Falling down, falling down
London Bridge is falling down
My fair lady

Did you sing this song as a kid? We sure did, although we had no idea just how many more verses it had – there are lines about building it up with iron bars as well as gold and silver, but in the end, the bridge was simply taken down and replaced.

Originally built in the 1830s, it spanned the River Thames in London, England. But by 1968, it was up for sale. We can’t really relate to the desire to buy an old bridge that’s falling down, but apparently, millionaires can. American entrepreneur and chainsaw manufacturer Robert P. McCulloch (who also inherited a fortune from his grandfather) decided to buy the bridge to serve as a tourist attraction in the new community he was planning in Lake Havasu City, Arizona. He paid $2.5 million (but there wasn’t exactly a bidding war over it).

And what millionaires want, they tend to get. He bought the bridge, had it dismantled, and transported it to Arizona on a cargo ship. After sailing through the Panama Canal, it landed in Long Beach, California, and was trucked to Lake Havasu City. There, it was reassembled and opened in October 1971.

But you don’t have to worry about using a crumbling old bridge if you visit it. The masonry from the old bridge simply forms the outer structure of the new “London Bridge,” which includes reinforced concrete. It now connects an island in the Colorado River with the main part of Lake Havasu City.

Now, when we say it connects an island, we don’t mean that a bridge was needed there. In fact, a canal was dug to create the island after the bridge was built. But it had the intended effect. Interest in buying land in the area increased, and it did indeed become a tourist destination (and it still is to this day). –  WTF fun fact

Source: “Arizona’s London Bridge: A Brief History” — Arizona Highways

WTF Fun Fact 12452 – The 11 Fingers of Mel Brooks

by

Mel Brooks – what a gas! The comedian and director of Young Frankenstein decided to celebrate his memorialization at Hollywood’s Chinese Theatre by giving fans the finger. The 11th finger, that is.

It was back in 2014, but it’ll be with us (in cement, at least) forever.

It’s true; Mel Brooks had 11 fingers when he pressed his hands in the cement at the ceremony to celebrate the 40th anniversary of his film Young Frankenstein. But one was a prosthetic.

A mere 88 years young at the time, Brooks explained his shenanigans later that same day on Conan O’Brien’s Late Show:

“I wanted to do something just a little different, I didn’t know what,” he told O’Brien. “So I got another finger.”

At the time of the ceremony, he joked around with his son: “About time, huh,”Max Brooksreportedly said. “Comedians never get their fair share of recognition in Hollywood…”

At the time, Mel Brooks gave a heartfelt thanks to his fans, saying: “I want to thank you all for being here and being part of the wonderful charade. I really love it.”

The charade involved an extra finger, but it seems it was one of the polite ones.

Now age 95, we’re just happy Mel is around to keep us laughing. –WTF fun facts

Source: “Mel Brooks brings extra finger to Hollywood handprint ceremony” — CBS News

WTF Fun Fact 12451 – The Bishop of the Moon

by

Archbishop William D. Borders was the founding bishop of the Diocese of Orlando, established in 1968. It covered 13 counties and nearly 10,000 square miles of central Florida. And possibly the moon.

Now, the Catholic Church has made no claim at all to the moon, but Borders’ territory happened to include Brevard, Florida, home to Cape Canaveral and the Kennedy Space Center. If that sounds familiar, it’s because that is where the U.S. launches its space missions.

At the time of the moon landing in July of 1969, many religious leaders praised the space program, seeing it as proof that God’s creation was neverending.

But for Borders, the moon landing was a little more personal. According to the 1917 Code of Canon Law (aka The Pio-Benedictine Code), which was in effect until 1983, any newly discovered territory was to be placed under the jurisdiction of the diocese from which the expedition that discovered that territory originated.

In other words, since the Apollo 11 mission launched from Cape Canaveral and that was in Borders’ territory, it was technically under his jurisdiction. A couple of other bishops joked that they might have dibs, but it was all in good fun.

In fact, to keep the joke going, Bishop Borders mentioned this to Pope Paul VI on a visit to the Vatican in late 1969. The pope had watched the moon landing with great interest (the Vatican has one of the best observatories in the world), but we’re not quite sure what he thought of the claim.

The story of their meeting comes to us via Renae Bennett, Orlando’s diocesan archivist, who wrote:

“During his visit, Bishop Borders mentioned to the pope that he was the ‘bishop of the moon.’ Responding to the pontiff’s perplexed reaction, Bishop Borders explained that according to the 1917 Code of Canon Law (in effect at that time), any newly discovered territory was placed under the jurisdiction of the diocese from which the expedition that discovered that territory originated. Since Cape Canaveral, launching site for the Apollo moon missions, was in Brevard County and part of the Diocese of Orlando, then in addition to being bishop of 13 counties, he was also bishop of the moon,” Bennett wrote. That would add more than 14.6 million square miles to the Diocese of Orlando, making that diocese the largest in the known universe.”

Of course, it all means very little, but that’s what makes it a fun fact.

Another fun fact: This would all make the current Bishop of Orlando, John G. Noonan, not only bishop of the moon but also of the International Space Station, which launched from Kennedy Space Center. – WTF fun facts

Source: “A Catholic bishop of the moon?” — The Catholic Weekly

WTF Fun Fact 12446 – Lady Gaga’s Ghost

by

While we don’t quite know when or why “Ryan” the ghost chose Lady Gaga to haunt, it seems plausible that rumors of her purchase of machinery to detect him is true based on past interviews.

Apparently, Ryan followed Gaga around wherever she went, which she found pretty “annoying.” She tried contacting a medium to stage a séance and communicate with him, but apparently, that wasn’t enough.

Now, granted, if we were convinced we had a pestering ghost, we’d probably try to get rid of it too. But we don’t exactly have Lady Gaga’s funds, so we’d have to pass on the $50,000 state-of-the-art Electro Magnetic Field meter. We’re not sure if that got rid of Ryan, but sources also told celebrity news magazines that she would have a team of paranormal investigators on hand to assess each concert venue she was about to perform in.

Frankly, we’d like to know more about what they thought they found. How many ghosts hang out at Madison Square Garden, for example?

Lady Gaga is also rumored to believe that she’s is the reincarnated spirit of a dead aunt.
– WTF fun facts

Source: “Lady GaGa calls in the ghostbusters” — Glamour

WTF Fun Fact 12445 – The Sprinkle Police

by

In what can only be described as an absurd abuse of the country’s emergency police services number, a woman called 999 (the English version of 911) to report her ice cream man.

He didn’t steal anything from her or harm her in any way. She was just really upset that he hadn’t given her enough sprinkles. Yes, she was a grown woman at the time.

The police declined to give her name but did release the audio from the absurd 999 call.

During her full minute of complaining, she told the operator: “It doesn’t seem like much of an emergency, but it is a little bit.” In fact, it is not.

In light of the call, police warned citizens of the dangers of abusing the emergency system.

There’s no word on whether the woman got justice following the grave insult of getting a mere sprinkle of sprinkles. –WTF fun facts

You can listen to the call here:

Source: “Woman Calls Police Because There Aren’t Enough Sprinkles on Her Ice Cream” — Time Magazine

WTF Fun Fact 12443 – Immortal Billionaires

by

You know what they say about money – “You can’t take it with you.” That saying is supposed to remind us to live our lives and discourage us from hoarding money since it won’t do any good after death.

But what if you have a fortune and you really can’t bear to think of the world without you? Well, if you’re a tech billionaire, you invest some of that money in your immortality.

There are multiple projects underway to study human immortality and extend life led by the likes of Jeff Bezos, Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and Russian Internet tycoon Dmitry Itskov. Now, not all of them want to live forever, exactly, but they do think that extending life by a decade or so sounds just about right.

We suppose being able to afford everything in life tends to make a person enjoy it more and want to keep the party going. But is it ethical? Will these billionaires share this tech with the rest of us, or will it only be for the rich?

Can the planet really handle a bunch of immortal billionaires? – WTF fun facts

Source: “The Men Who Want to Live Forever” — The New York Times

WTF Fun Fact 12439 – Alien Abduction Insurance

by

After noticing his homeowners insurance didn’t cover alien abduction, Florida insurance agent Mike St. Lawrence (of the St. Lawrence Agency)decided to offer it. You can purchase limited coverage for $19.95 or comprehensive alien abduction insurance for $24.95.

St. Lawrence has sold over 6000 policies to those who “want to believe.”

According to WFLA News, “Eachpolicy includes $10 millionworthof coverage as well as outpatient psychiatric care,sarcasm coverage,anddoubleidentity coverage.Policyholders can claim to be eligible for double the standard coverage, but that payout would be based on verifiable and extreme circumstances.”

“I take a very opened mind approach to this, whether it’s happening or not. But if you get one of our policies, show you have a sense of humor about it,” said St. Lawrence.

In order to start the process of filing a claim, a person will have to obtain a signature from an “authorized, on-board alien.”

“Some way, you have to be able to prove it, and I have had a couple exceptionswhere they didn’t get a signature,” St. Lawrence told WFLA.

Alas, there’s another downside hidden in the fine print. The payout to you or your beneficiaries comes in the form of $1.00/year for 10 million years.

Believe it or not, St. Lawrence has paid at least two claims. He told WFLA that apolicyholder submitted a Polaroidpicture with alleged aliens as proof.–WTF fun facts

Source: “Don’t sweat alien threat” — SF Gate

WTF Fun Fact 12429 – The Inspiration for Google Image Search

by

Now known as Google Images, the idea behind the Google Image Search feature was none other than the pop star and actress Jennifer Lopez. When she worse the deep v-cut Versace dress to the Grammys in February of 2000, people performed millions of Google searches to get a second look at it.

Searches for the dress continued at a surprising rate throughout the year and into 2001. As a result, Google made it possible to search images alone starting on July 12, 2001. Before this, you could only search text on websites.

The feature was created by engineer Huican Zhu and product manager Susan Wojcicki (who is now the current CEO of YouTube). In 2001, 250 million images were indexed in Image Search. By 2010, it contained 10 billion photos.

The story has been confirmed by Eric Schmidt, who was the executive chairman of Google at the time.

In an essay published on Project Syndicate, he wrote: “At the time, it was the most popular search query we had ever seen. But we had no surefire way of getting users exactly what they wanted: J.Lo wearing that dress.” As a result, “Google Image Search was born.” – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “How Jennifer Lopez’s infamous 2000 Grammys dress — which was unretired this week — inspired Google image search” — Business Insider

WTF Fun Fact 12427 – A Wooly Plummet

by

In 2005, Turkish newspapers reported an incident in which over 400 sheep died. It happened when one fell off a 50-foot cliff – and the rest followed!

That’s what they mean when they say, “don’t be a sheep.”

There were over a thousand sheep on the cliff that day, with each family in the small Van province of Turkey owning about 20 apiece. However, 1,100 animals survived the plunge because the hundreds of sheep that jumped first cushioned their fall.

At the time, the entire flock of sheep was estimated to be worth anywhere from $55,000 to $100,000.

According to the BBC, one villager told the Aksam daily newspaper: “Every family had an average of 20 sheep. But now only a few families have sheep left. It’s going to be hard for us.” – WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Turkish sheep die in ‘mass jump'” — BBC News

WTF Fun Fact 12415 – Santa Cash

by

David Wayne Oliver has a bit of a bank-robbing problem. In 2019, at age 65, he walked into a Colorado Springs bank claiming to be armed, stole an undisclosed amount of money, and then took the bag out to the street and tossed the cash in the air while shouting “Merry Christmas.” Interestingly, many passersby took the money right back into the bank.

Dubbed the “Santa Claus Bank Robber,”Oliver then sauntered over to a Starbucks where he watched the commotion and waited for his inevitable arrest.

But the story doesn’t end there. Oliver was armed in 2021 when he brandished a gun in a bank at another robbery in Teller County, Colorado. This time, he also led police on a car chase before his arrest.

During the 2021 chase, Oliver held his gun outside his car window, alerting the police that he was armed and was not going back to jail. During the chase, he tossed the gun but kept driving. Strangely enough, the deputies chasing him decided not to pursue.

He eventually turned himself in, but not before becoming the star of a viral Tik Tok video of the encounter. In the clip, he can be heard saying: “I’m an outlaw and a renegade, ok? The sheriff is down there, and they’ve got a roadblock looking for my a**. Get on the radio, you mister, get on your smartphone. I surrender to you boys; I’m not surrendering to the sheriff. I’m surrendering to the Honeycutt boys. I’m the Santa Clause bank robber from last year!”

Oliver was eventually charged with felonies, including menacing, vehicular eluding, possession of a weapon, and a misdemeanor charge of driving under the influence of alcohol. His bond was set at $2,000. –WTF Fun Facts

Source: “Bearded man robs bank, gifts money, then yells ‘Merry Christmas'” — BBC News

WTF Fun Fact 12413 – Antarctic Antics

by

A Russian engineer working in Antarctica faced murder charges in 2018 after stabbing a colleague in the chest. According to news outlets Sergey Savitsky stabbed welder Oleg Beloguzov as was retribution for telling him the endings of all the books he was reading.

The stabbing took place at a Russian research station in the South Shetland Islands in Antarctica called Bellingshausen Station. Beloguzov’s life was not in danger from the wound, but he was evacuated to Chile for medical treatment. Savitsky was taken to St. Petersburg and arrested for the crime.

According to the LA Times, “Alexander Klepikov, the deputy director of the Arctic and Antarctic Research Institute, said of Savitsky and Beloguzov, ‘They are both professional scientists who have been working in our expeditions, spending yearlong seasons at the station. It is down to investigators to figure out what sparked the conflict, but both men are members of our team.'”

There were some rumors that alcohol was also involved in the conflict.

Some news outlets claimed the rumor about the books is untrue and that the engineer was suffering from the trauma of being at a remote location for so long.

Interestingly, the case never went to court since Savitsky and Beloguzov reconciled and the latter didn’t want to press charges. –WTF Fun Facts

Source: Antarctica scientist allegedly stabs colleague for spoiling the endings of books — LA Times

WTF Fun Fact 12407 – Stack of Snacks

by

Brendan Kelbie is a serial world record breaker who has once again entered the record books with his stack of 6 M&Ms. It doesn’t sound like a lot, but the previous record was 5 and we suggest you give it a try if you think you can do better.

Kelbie recaptured his title from co-champs from Britain and Italy who had done the five stack. His tower held unaided for 10 seconds at his home in Queensland,the Guinness World Records said.

“I’ve decided to break this record because I’m a serial record-breaker, and I am a versatile world record holder,” Kelbie told Guinness.

Kelbie’s other records are equally unique: he’s done the most drumstick flips in 1 minute (98), balanced a basketball on a pair of glasses the longest (29.67 seconds), built the tallest tower of dice on the back of a hand while blindfolded, and spun a basketball on his nose the longest (9.57 seconds).

We think these world records are getting a little silly but to each their own! We certainly can’t do any of those things. –WTF Fun Facts

Source: Australian man stacks six M&M’s, earns world record — UPI

WTF Fun Fact 12401 – World’s Tallest Fork

by

In what we hope is a mere formality, Fireview, Oregon is trying to confirm that the 37-foot-tall fork they’ve erected on the site of their new food truck plaza is the world’s largest. Their goal is to earn a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records with the decidedly non-utilitarian utensil.

The Fairview government’s official website reads:

“Tuesday, February 15, the World’s Tallest Fork, to be determined by Guinness Book of Work Record, will be arriving in Fairview to be erected in its new home between 9 AM and 11 AM. This 37-foot tall stainless steel “Fork” will be the art piece placed in the public plaza at the entrance to the new Fairview Food Plaza at the corner of Halsey Street and NE 223rd Ave. The “Fork” will be traveling from McMinnville, where it was created.

The Fairview Food Plaza is a public-private partnership between the Fairview Urban Renewal Agency, property owner Denise Arndt and Plaza operator Justin Hwang.  The Plaza is planning to open in April 2022 with 16 food carts featuring a vast variety of foods.  The dining hall courtyard and public plaza will be a destination for the community and cultural events for years to come. The development will include a farmers market anticipated to start at the end of June 2022.”

By way of explanation, Mayor Brian Cooper told KATU-TV: “So, the fork came about because we wanted something on the corner, whether it was a water tower or a windmill or some sort of piece that’s going to be on the corner, and then one of the design teams said, let’s just put a fork here and we’ll come back to it. And over the course of a couple months, it just kind of stuck in the brain…And you can come up with an entire marketing scheme of ‘Take a left at the fork,’ ‘The Fork in Fairview.”

The current record holder for the world’s tallest fork is Missouri, with a utensil that stands 35 feet tall. So, fingers crossed that no one has secretly erected a larger fork in the meantime! – WTF Fun Facts

Source: The Fork is Coming! — Fairview Oregon government homepage

WTF Fun Fact 12396 – Writer’s Block

by

In 1974, a legitimate, peer-reviewed academic journal titled Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis” published a zero-word article titled “The Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block'” as a joke. It was “authored” by Dennis Upper, a clinical psychologist at Harvard who was, at the time, suffering from writer’s block.

A joke review was published directly underneath his 1974 article, reading:

“I have studied this manuscript very carefully with lemon juice and X-rays and have not detected a single flaw in either design or writing style. I suggest it be published without revision. Clearly, it is the most concise manuscript I have ever seen-yet it contains sufficient detail to allow other investigators to replicate Dr. Upper’s failure. In comparison with the other manuscripts I get from you containing all that complicated detail, this one was a pleasure to examine. Surely we can find a place for this paper in the Journal-perhaps on the edge of a blank page.”

It also spawned the following copycat articles:

Artino, Anthony R. (2016).“The unsuccessful treatment of a case of ‘Writer’s Block’: A replication in medical education.”Medical Education.50(12): 1262–1263.

Ampatzidis, Georgios (November 24, 2021).“The Unsuccessful Self-treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block’: A Replication in Science Education.”Journal of Trial and Error.

Didden, Robert; Sigafoos, Jeff; O’Reilly, Mark F; Lancioni, Giulio E; Sturmey, Peter; LeBlanc, Linda (2007). “A Multisite Cross-Cultural Replication of Upper’s (1974) Unsuccessful Self-Treatment of Writer’s Block.” Journal of Applied Behavior Analysis. 40 (4): 773.

Hermann, Bruce P. (2016). “Unsuccessful Self-treatment of a Case of ‘Writer’s Block’: a Partial Failure to Replicate”. Perceptual and Motor Skills. 58 (2): 350.

Mclean, Derrick C.; Thomas, Benjamin R. (2014). “Unsuccessful Treatments of “writer’s Block”: A Meta-analysis.” Psychological Reports. 115 (1): 276–278.

Molloy, Geoffery N. (1983). “The Unsuccessful Self-treatment of a Case of “Writer’s Block”: a Replication” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 57 (2): 566.

Olsen, Kenneth R. (2016). “Unsuccessful Self-treatment of ‘Writer’s Block’: A Review of the Literature.” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 59 (1): 158.

Skinner, Nicholas F.; Perline, Arthur H. (2016). “The Unsuccessful Group Treatment of ‘Writer’s Block’: A Ten-year Follow-up.” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 82 (1): 138.

Skinner, Nicholas F.; Perlini, Arthur H.; Fric, Lawrence; Werstine, E. Paul; Calla, James (2016). “The Unsuccessful Group-treatment of “Writer’s Block.”” Perceptual and Motor Skills. 61 (1): 298. 

Upper passed away in 2018 after an accidental fall down the stairs. According to his obituary: In addition to being a professor and clinician, “Upper was an equally brilliant writer and poet. He edited twelve professional books, wrote more than thirty professional articles, and had his poems and short stories published in more than fifty literary journals. His 2007 memoir Long Story Short — a collection of one hundred vivid, thoughtful, funny, sad, and profound stories from his life — continues to captivate readers.”

Source: The unsuccessful self-treatment of a case of “writer’s block”– Journal of Applied Behavioral Research