In an age where the answer to almost any question rests right at our fingertips, it is quite humbling to discover there is still a demand for a bound compendium of strange (and slightly disturbing) information.
While scraping through the dregs of the internet researching my new book, "Attack of the Killer Facts: 1001 Terrifying Truths About Little Green Men, Government Mind-Control, Flesh-Eating Bacteria, and Goat-Sucking Vampires," (Adams Media, a division of F+W Media; May 2011) I learned two concrete things. First, never Google "alien sex experiments" unless you are fully prepared mentally for what you will see. Second, the world is a far weirder place than I could have ever possibly imagined.
Here you will find 17 of the strangest bits of trivia I unearthed from various books, magazines, websites, and general hearsay. Some are shocking, some are disgusting, and a few are both, but all of them offer a unique insight into the delightfully disturbing world of the weird:
Fact Attack: Worms invading your ass!
While scraping through the dregs of the internet researching my new book, "Attack of the Killer Facts: 1001 Terrifying Truths About Little Green Men, Government Mind-Control, Flesh-Eating Bacteria, and Goat-Sucking Vampires," (Adams Media, a division of F+W Media; May 2011) I learned two concrete things. First, never Google "alien sex experiments" unless you are fully prepared mentally for what you will see. Second, the world is a far weirder place than I could have ever possibly imagined.
Here you will find 17 of the strangest bits of trivia I unearthed from various books, magazines, websites, and general hearsay. Some are shocking, some are disgusting, and a few are both, but all of them offer a unique insight into the delightfully disturbing world of the weird:
Nearly all humans experience pinworms, a parasite that causes itching around the anus, at some point in their lives. To determine if you have an infestation, have a partner gently touch around your anus with tape while you sleep, when the worms are most active. They will stick to the tape and should be visible.
Fact Attack: Parasitic worm number 1 cause of grasshopper suicide!
The horsehair worm is a microscopic organism that invades the bodies of grasshoppers and steals nourishment from the insect. Once it matures, it takes over the mind of the grasshopper, compelling its host to jump into a body of water so the fully-developed worm can escape and reproduce.
Fact Attack: Termites fight with farts!
Some termites have discovered a way to weaponize flatulence. When confronted by an attacker, the termites pass gas so violently that their abdomens explode, spewing feces and noxious chemicals at the enemy.
Fact Attack: Restaurant serves up breast milk cheese!
For a brief time in 2010, the Klee Brasserie restaurant in New York City served cheese made from the owner's wife's breast milk.
Fact Attack: Man eats plane!
Between 1978 and 1980, performer Michel Lotito gradually consumed an entire Cessna 150 airplane. Lotito's stomach lining is twice as thick as a normal human's, which allows him to break down and eat all manner of strange objects ranging from television sets to bicycles.
Fact Attack: Deranged killer collects souvenirs!
When detectives entered the house of Ed Gein in November of 1957, they hoped to find evidence that would link him to the murder of a local hardware store clerk. Along with her body, they discovered a disturbing collection of human body parts, including a skull fashioned into a bowl, lamps upholstered with human skin, a shoebox containing nine female vaginas, and uncountable other atrocities.
Fact Attack: Babies poop human hair!
Meconium is the name given to an infants first defecation. It is a greenish-black substance composed of materials ingested while in the uterus, including bile, water, mucus, amniotic fluid, and hair.
Fact Attack: Pubic wig disguises STDs!
A merkin, or pubic wig, was a popular device employed by prostitutes in the 1600s. Women afflicted with sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis would use the merkin to disguise the outward signs of the disease, such as open sores or yellow discharge.
Fact Attack: Lamp runs on blood!
The Blood Lamp is a single-use device that requires the owner sacrifice a drop of blood in order to turn it on. The secret ingredient that fuels the lamp, aside from blood, is luminol, a chemical used by forensics experts that glows blue when it reacts with the iron in blood.
Fact Attack: Jersey Devil has a bounty on its head!
There is currently a $10,000 reward for the capture of the New Jersey Devil, a creature with bat-like wings, a horses head, hooves, and large glowing eyes that stalks the pine barrens of New Jersey. Although many have tried, no one has yet to claim the prize.
Fact Attack: Jellyfish species lives forever!
The Turritopsis nutricula is more commonly known as the immortal jellyfish, because as far as scientists can tell, the creature lives forever. Once the jellyfish matures and reproduces sexually, it reverts back to its juvenile state and begins the maturation process anew. There does not appear to be a limit as to the number of times it can repeat this process.
Fact Attack: Mathematicians solve zombie outbreak problem!
According to a mathematical study, if a zombie infestation breaks out in a city of 500,000 people, the zombies will outnumber survivors in 3 days. The authors of the study insist that the only effective method for containing the outbreak is immediate and systematic eradication of the infected.
Fact Attack: Insurance covers alien abduction!
For the bargain price of $150, you can purchase alien abduction insurance. The policy covers up to 1.5 million in damages if the claimant can prove he or she was actually abducted.
Fact Attack: Unbreakable glass fails, kills overconfident lawyer!
Garry Hoy, a lawyer working in the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower, crashed through a pane of glass and plunged 24 stories to his death while demonstrating the strength of the windows to a crowd of onlookers.
Fact Attack: CIA develops cutest espionage tool ever!
During the Cold War, CIA scientists created a unique biological weapon that outfitted a common house cat with advanced bugging equipment in the hopes they could use it to eavesdrop on Russian officials. Operation Acoustic Kitty (that's what it was actually called) came to a screeching halt when during the cat's first test run, it hopped out of the surveillance van and a taxi cab ran over it before it reached its target.
Fact Attack: Babies launched from 50-foot tower!
Villagers in Solapur India gather every year to drop screaming babies from a fifty-foot-tall temple tower to a group of men on the ground below, holding a bed sheet to catch them. The event is said to bring good luck to the infants, and in the 500 years the tradition has existed, participants claim to have never lost a single child.
Fact Attack: Lawyer Scams Insurance Company, Self!
A North Carolina lawyer once took out an insurance policy for a box of expensive cigars to protect them in case of a fire. After consuming the box, he filed a claim stating the cigars had been lost in a series of small fires (read: he smoked them) and was awarded $15,000. Shortly after, his insurance company had him arrested for 24 counts of arson, using his own insurance policy as evidence. He was sentenced to two years in jail and a $24,000 fine.
Fact Attack: Parasitic worm number 1 cause of grasshopper suicide!
The horsehair worm is a microscopic organism that invades the bodies of grasshoppers and steals nourishment from the insect. Once it matures, it takes over the mind of the grasshopper, compelling its host to jump into a body of water so the fully-developed worm can escape and reproduce.
Fact Attack: Termites fight with farts!
Some termites have discovered a way to weaponize flatulence. When confronted by an attacker, the termites pass gas so violently that their abdomens explode, spewing feces and noxious chemicals at the enemy.
Fact Attack: Restaurant serves up breast milk cheese!
For a brief time in 2010, the Klee Brasserie restaurant in New York City served cheese made from the owner's wife's breast milk.
Fact Attack: Man eats plane!
Between 1978 and 1980, performer Michel Lotito gradually consumed an entire Cessna 150 airplane. Lotito's stomach lining is twice as thick as a normal human's, which allows him to break down and eat all manner of strange objects ranging from television sets to bicycles.
Fact Attack: Deranged killer collects souvenirs!
When detectives entered the house of Ed Gein in November of 1957, they hoped to find evidence that would link him to the murder of a local hardware store clerk. Along with her body, they discovered a disturbing collection of human body parts, including a skull fashioned into a bowl, lamps upholstered with human skin, a shoebox containing nine female vaginas, and uncountable other atrocities.
Fact Attack: Babies poop human hair!
Meconium is the name given to an infants first defecation. It is a greenish-black substance composed of materials ingested while in the uterus, including bile, water, mucus, amniotic fluid, and hair.
Fact Attack: Pubic wig disguises STDs!
A merkin, or pubic wig, was a popular device employed by prostitutes in the 1600s. Women afflicted with sexually transmitted diseases like gonorrhea and syphilis would use the merkin to disguise the outward signs of the disease, such as open sores or yellow discharge.
Fact Attack: Lamp runs on blood!
The Blood Lamp is a single-use device that requires the owner sacrifice a drop of blood in order to turn it on. The secret ingredient that fuels the lamp, aside from blood, is luminol, a chemical used by forensics experts that glows blue when it reacts with the iron in blood.
Fact Attack: Jersey Devil has a bounty on its head!
There is currently a $10,000 reward for the capture of the New Jersey Devil, a creature with bat-like wings, a horses head, hooves, and large glowing eyes that stalks the pine barrens of New Jersey. Although many have tried, no one has yet to claim the prize.
Fact Attack: Jellyfish species lives forever!
The Turritopsis nutricula is more commonly known as the immortal jellyfish, because as far as scientists can tell, the creature lives forever. Once the jellyfish matures and reproduces sexually, it reverts back to its juvenile state and begins the maturation process anew. There does not appear to be a limit as to the number of times it can repeat this process.
Fact Attack: Mathematicians solve zombie outbreak problem!
According to a mathematical study, if a zombie infestation breaks out in a city of 500,000 people, the zombies will outnumber survivors in 3 days. The authors of the study insist that the only effective method for containing the outbreak is immediate and systematic eradication of the infected.
Fact Attack: Insurance covers alien abduction!
For the bargain price of $150, you can purchase alien abduction insurance. The policy covers up to 1.5 million in damages if the claimant can prove he or she was actually abducted.
Fact Attack: Unbreakable glass fails, kills overconfident lawyer!
Garry Hoy, a lawyer working in the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower, crashed through a pane of glass and plunged 24 stories to his death while demonstrating the strength of the windows to a crowd of onlookers.
Fact Attack: CIA develops cutest espionage tool ever!
During the Cold War, CIA scientists created a unique biological weapon that outfitted a common house cat with advanced bugging equipment in the hopes they could use it to eavesdrop on Russian officials. Operation Acoustic Kitty (that's what it was actually called) came to a screeching halt when during the cat's first test run, it hopped out of the surveillance van and a taxi cab ran over it before it reached its target.
Fact Attack: Babies launched from 50-foot tower!
Villagers in Solapur India gather every year to drop screaming babies from a fifty-foot-tall temple tower to a group of men on the ground below, holding a bed sheet to catch them. The event is said to bring good luck to the infants, and in the 500 years the tradition has existed, participants claim to have never lost a single child.
Fact Attack: Lawyer Scams Insurance Company, Self!
A North Carolina lawyer once took out an insurance policy for a box of expensive cigars to protect them in case of a fire. After consuming the box, he filed a claim stating the cigars had been lost in a series of small fires (read: he smoked them) and was awarded $15,000. Shortly after, his insurance company had him arrested for 24 counts of arson, using his own insurance policy as evidence. He was sentenced to two years in jail and a $24,000 fine.
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