100 "WTF" Facts

There are weird facts, facts that are hard to believe, and then there are facts so strange all you can do is say, "huh?" In this episode full of odd facts, you'll learn about Russian space porn and CIA-bankrolled animated films.
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Getty Images:
Jaki Brown (Phillip Faraone)
Leah Daniels Butler (Araya Doheny)
Pumpkins (photo by Pam Susemiehl)
Shakespeare (brandstaetter images)
Michael Crichton (Leonardo Cendamo)
Michael Jordan (Paul Natkin)
King Harald (Print Collector)
Bluetooth quote (warodom changyencham)
Buried alive (Hulton Archive)
Talking to friend (Klaus Vedfelt)
Smoking (Oliver Helbig)
Lonely (Milamai)
Brahe (Apic)
Kepler (Hulton Archive)
Panty hose quote (Image Source)
Steve Young (Patrick Smith)
Brigham Young (Hulton Archive)
Joseph Smith (Library of Congress)
Garden of Eden (Francis G. Mayer)
Al Roker (Jamie McCarthy)
Kravitz (Gotham)
White House (Rudy Sulgan)
Commando quote (Win Nondakowit / EyeEm)
Blahnik (GP Images)
Shoe quote (Peter Dazely)
Perineum (Brandon Pack / EyeEm)
Frogs (Oxford Scientific)
Frog shed quote (Paul Starosta)
Kitten (fotograzia)
Maryland flag (Joseph Sohm; Visions of America)
Jousting (David Trood)
Henry VIII (Fine Art)
Potatoes (Massimo Rivera)
Poland (Paul Almasy)
Balloon (J Studios)
Stalinist Russia (Heritage Images)
Turkey (Thomas Fricke)
Turkey country (omersukrugoksu)
Mummy (Print Collector)
Rudyard Kipling (Hulton Deutsch)
Scotland unicorn (Pierre Longnus)
Bhutan flag (Jeremy Woodhouse)
Highsmith (Ulf Andersen)
Goodyear blimp (Mike Mulholland)
Manilow (United Archives)
Beyonce Lemonade (Dan MacMedan)
Mozart (Hulton Archive)
Mosquito (SCIEPRO/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY)
Sneeze (Trevor Williams)
Blink (Hans Neleman)
Tapeworm (Agency-Animal-Picture /)
Tapeworm2 (Agency-Animal-Picture /)
Dawson's Creek (Getty Images)
Scream (Noam Galai)
Johnny Cash (Hulton Archive)
Birthday (Prasit photo)
Whale (Daniel MacDonald / www.dmacphoto.com)
Smartfood (Bryan Bedder)
Rankin (Library of Congress)
Astana (SasinT Gallery)
Cannibalism (Paul Ganier)
Superdome (Mario Tama)
Jenga (Leong Thian Fu / EyeEm)
Hippo (Wolfgang Kaehler)
Hippo water (Wolfgang Kaehler)
Snail (Nugroho Ridho)
Ostrich kick (duncan1890)
Ostrich quote (Mary Ann McDonald)
Dandruff (Sirinate Kaewma / EyeEm)
Louis XIV (Photo Josse/Leemage)
Fistula quote (Paul Biris)
Steinman and Meatloaf (Michael Putland)
Food waste (Jose A. Bernat Bacete)
Pringles (Joe Raedle)
Pringles quote (SOPA imaes)
Breathalyzer (Finnbarr Webster)
Morton's toe (Veronique Beranger)
Solar system (Steve Allen)
Wikimedia Commons
Public Domain
Charleston Chew (Evan-Amos)
Safety coffin (Yomangani)
Adolf Frederik (Nationalmuseum (Sweden))
Sally Ride (NASA)
Animal Farm (Rezonansowy)
Burne Jones (PKM)
Shel Silverstein (Yeeno)
Seabrook (Walter Anton)
Scolds quote (Ealdgyth)
Cooper (Nonenmac)
Fillmore (MrNoobNub2)
Alcala (California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation)
Stump (Beyond my Ken)
"The She Wolves of Jülich", 1591 (Bayerisches National Museum Munich)
Borden (Scewing)
Condensed milk (Morgan Riley)
Felix (Ruthven)
Montespan (Guise)
Montvoisin (Guise)
Black mass (Mladifilozof)
Isabeau (British Library)
Ball fire (Gallica)
Christian VII (Frederiksborg Slot)
Christian quote (Villy Fink Isaksen)
CC 2.0
Semla (Frugan)
Sea slug (Bernard Dupont)
CC 3.0
Calderon (FDV)
Tectonic plates (Sting)
Requieum sharks (Pterantula)
Ghost slug (©Amgueddfa Cymru - National Museum Wales)
Scolds bridle (Anagoria)
Castoreum (H. Zell)
Beavers (Moxfyre)
CC 4.0
Elijah Jefferson Bond (Something Original)
Sloth (Daniella Maraschiello)
Nazarbayev (Elbasy.kz)
Polyakov (Mil.ru)
Pringles chips (Famartin)

[@TheNickPenney]

7 mins in, number 34... Sage Werbok aka The Great Nippulini is my swordsmith. He made my sword swallowing swords... which I use to break the world record for Most Swords Swallowed While Turning Cartwheels... 3 swords. Was also featured in the RipleysBelieveItOrNot book Eye Popping Oddities for this stunt!

[@V.Hansen.]

That sounds too outlandish to be made up. Incredible

[@TitularHeroine]

Frikkin rad

[@Dawg2005]

First of all, congrats. Second of all, WAT.

[@xbubblehead]

The most surprising thing I learned from this video is that there is a Society of Professional Obituary Writers.

[@erictaylor5462]

I once rescued a friend who had fallen if a cliff but was holding onto a small crack. He was too far down for me to reach him and I had nothing to lower him down other than my prosthetic leg. He held onto the foot as I held onto the strap. The strap broke but it held long enough for my friend to reach safety. The prosthetist who fixed it thought the story of how it broke was so epic, he fixed it for free. The word EPIC is the same as ERIC but with a missing leg. My name *IS* Eric, and I am missing a leg. It's not often that being an amputee has come in handy, but it has happened, and more than once.

[@joanhoffman3702]

More than once? How many friends have you had fall over cliffs? 🤣🤣🤣🤣 Still, your fake leg came in hand-y. 😁

[@erictaylor5462]

@@joanhoffman3702 Being an amputee has come in handy more than once. There was only one cliff rescue. Another time I stepped in a nail booby trap in a playground. Put a huge nail through my fake foot. But that is another story.

[@iagrams9100]

The term working the graveyard shift came from those people who were afraid they’d be buried alive. The graveyard shift listened for the ringing of bells indicating someone needed to dug up. And yes, people were buried alive. Being in a coma was one way to be buried too soon

[@jacobadams2670]

Yea. Being buried alive was a genuine enough concern. George Washington was so concerned about it that he deemed his body should rest for a few days before burial. We still send living people to the morgue today.

[@awlig]

Just happened again recently, lady woke up in a morgue

[@MentalFloss]

It's possible that's true, but we didn't see anything in the historical record to support it when we wrote this video kzbin.info/www/bejne/Z6XEaY2klquJedE It also seems odd that you would call any particular shift at a graveyard "the graveyard shift," since they're all, by definition, "graveyard shifts."

[@pumkin41297]

I still love a good cemetery picnic! I especially like to go to older cemeteries where I feel like they don’t get a lot of living relatives or ancestors who visit. I clean off the gravestones and the sites around them, bring flowers, speak to them, and let them enjoy a nice day with some friends. It’s lovely.

[@MeganBecnel]

Me too!

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@@MeganBecnel& @Sage Williams both of you are kind & thoughtful. Wish I could do that, ambulatory abilities are minimal rn.. but I loved visiting _really_ old cemeteries & reading the headstones.. pondering what their lives may have been like, or try to imagine what they may have looked like. It's humbling, in a way.

[@MentalFloss]

Aw, that's very sweet. I spent a lot of time in a cemetery in Spring 2020, for the space (back when it felt like we knew nothing about a certain novel virus), but I mostly just appreciated the trees and cool grave markers. (I do believe food is banned in most U.S. cemeteries, nowadays).

[@pumkin41297]

@@MentalFloss I never knew food was banned! No one ever said anything to me, but maybe that’s because they also saw me cleaning the gravesites as well. That’s so sad. Death culture in America is so odd.

[@MeganBecnel]

@@St.Linguini_of_Pesto I hear that. There's a lovely historic one nearest me that has gorgeous live oaks. Those oaks have root systems that necessarily go above ground and in some areas pose a real motility challenge.

[@SlyPearTree]

I beat the 1% odd, I successfully reached 59 a month ago. It was a near thing, my left kidney did not make it. It's likely it would have brought me with it in the past.

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@SlyPearTree happy belated birthday to you, dear 🍐🌳. I'm kinda right behind you.. I will be 52 this May.

[@geekdivaherself]

@@St.Linguini_of_Pesto 53 in June!

[@russellspeight6125]

The word "Judo", a martial art consisting of mostly throws, chokeholds, jointlocks, and immobilization techniques is actually two words. "Ju" meaning gentle, and "do" meaning way or method.

[@californiagirl_77]

The safety coffin story is where the term “dead ringer” comes from and people employed to keep watch over the bells is where the term “graveyard shift” comes from.

[@erictaylor5462]

11:00 I think this is just a case of the body shutting down the pain receptors to allow the person to escape.. In an emergency your body can to some pretty amazing things.

[@SeptemberMeadows]

I suspect that the negative effects of not having friends mostly impacts extrovert types who for whatever reason can't make friends or find themselves isolated. Hormones would obviously have a big impact too. As a woman who is a total aroace, I am most definitely negatively impacted by people trying to be my friend. I never get lonely and solitude is a total joy.

[@jannetteberends8730]

The most amazing fact about Bluetooth is that it was invented in Emmen, The Netherlands. Part of my family is from that place and another part of my family moved to that place. So I’m familiar with the town. It’s really the last place you expect an invention like Bluetooth coming from.

[@reineh3477]

It was invented in Lund, Sweden by Ericsson Mobile.

[@jannetteberends8730]

@@reineh3477 Wikipedia: Jacobus "Jaap" Cornelis Haartsen is a Dutch electrical engineer, researcher, inventor and entrepreneur best known for being credited as the inventor of Bluetooth.

[@reineh3477]

@@jannetteberends8730 You forget that it was initiated in 1989 by Nils Rydbeck, CTO at Ericsson Mobile in Lund, Sweden. And Jaap didn't work alone, there were also Tord Wingren and Sven Mattisson (both Swedes). Project leader was Örjan Johansson (also a Swede). Read English Wikipedia and you will see that it all started in Sweden.

[@RicardoMorenoAlmeida]

I think it's WAY more WTF that you can fit all the other planets in the solar system between the Earth and the Moon.

[@firstcynic92]

13:08. Australia needs the info on fighting against ostriches in case they gave to fight a second emu war.

[@cafn8ed74]

Certainly gives "le royal with cheese" a new meaning

[@Velata]

Talking about a morbid WTF fact: bone dust smells just like ranch dressing. (And no, I don't eat ranch dressing anymore.)

[@St.Linguini_of_Pesto]

@Velata I'm not sure I want to know _how_ you know that fact. I've read that space smells like burnt steak.. talk about wtf (and I've never been a big fan of ranch, have always been more of a bleu cheese kinda gal.. my 2nd & 3rd is French & Russian.. also salsa dressing, and avocado dressing.. now I'm hungry for salad).

[@NYR14477]

2 wrongs don’t make a right but 3 rights make a left.

[@christopherstanko2847]

I love Al Roker's poopy pants quote

[@BrianBattles]

11:08 correction: In 1976 I lived 2 rooms down in McConaughey Hall at UConn from Ken Meyers who invented Smartfood popcorn.

[@theupliftchannel]

“Hung up his nipples” is the weirdest phrase I’ve heard all day! Lol

[@Evanescence622]

In regards to #67, isn't "fully developed veal" just...beef? I'm a vegetarian, I'm sorry if that's a stupid question.

[@shadwhawk178]

$70 million in 1956 dollars (when Pringles started development; they didn't hit shelves for another 12 years) comes out to about $770 million in today's dollars, not $12 billion! I even used the CPI Inflation Calculator and didn't get anywhere near $12 billion.

[@dj-kq4fz]

Fun list, thanks!

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

Fun fact: When a hippo is born the animal has to eat or drink if you wish the polluted water in which there is a high concentration of his mother's manure... In that way, they are taking some microorganisms that they need in their stomach, and maybe some other things...

[@maxcelcat]

Darwin, Australia, is closer to Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, than it is to Canberra, the capital of Australia.

[@DarkElfDiva]

I already knew #90 thanks to Puppet History.

[@zhihuangxu6551]

This seems to be the third time in this week, from three independent sources, that I heard about the story of Adolf Frederick and 14 sweet rolls (which I have never heard of before in my life). Who can explain this phenomenon?

[@taylorboulton177]

Ita called the frequency illusion or Baader-Meinhof phenomenon

[@Cary1985]

Motown founder and music Mogal Berry Gordy and former President Jimmy Carter are Cousins

[@danielraiber3639]

Nothing beats: Lobsters pee from their eyes

[@kevinogracia1615]

Fact 101... You have the coolest hair bangs in the world. Peace on earth.

[@jmanj3917]

16:38 Hmmm. Now I'm rethinking that one particular scene in Pulp Fiction...lol

[@marvintpandroid2213]

Ok, who has been trying to drown Sloths ?

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

evil slothologists, I bet...

[@bobbob465]

Sloth's what? His Tshirt? His share of One-eye'd Willy's treasure? His guide to correct grammar?

[@marvintpandroid2213]

@@bobbob465 Isnt aoticorrect fin, Jist az fin az yu r @ partie's

[@FoxMacLeod2501]

5:48 ". . . done dirt cheap!" Or am I the only one who went there, after the "manly deeds. . ." part of that motto?

[@I_am_Allan]

WTF ... my right foot is a Morton's toe ... my left, I don't know, as my second toe is "hammered" under and hurts like an SOB.

[@danieldavis2292]

All my friends are smokers. Guess I'm doomed either way

[@dehydratedwater9806]

You had me at Russian space porn

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

Well, if two cosmonauts want to try that dangerous activity, they have to strap their bodies together because the typical movement which people make while having a good time will push those from each other. Simple physics, action-reaction. Nice pseudonym, by the way...interesting oxymoron.

[@CraftAero]

@@ozymandiasultor9480 Even under 9.8m/s² we tend to "strap" our bodies together. Especially on a water-bed, come to think of it. I'm gonna say, not a problem... would do !

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

@@CraftAero In the ISS or any body that is in orbit they don't feel gravity, they are in constant fall, that is the problem, nothing is holding them together, like for example people on the surface of Earth who are in bed. When I said strap, I mean they have to use some belts, or similar.

[@CraftAero]

@@ozymandiasultor9480 I get your point. I'm just sayin' 4 arms and 4 legs could get the job done. I'm up for the challenge if given a sponsor.

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

@@CraftAero Oh... English is not my first language, but I understand what are you saying now... A sponsor for the "experiment"? Well... I don't have the money for such an interesting experiment, but we always can ask Elon Musk and some beautiful model, for science, of course... What are people ready to indure for the sake of science...

[@martina5296]

Always learning on Mental Floss' YT. Uh, space make up?

[@DeliveryMcGee]

Morphine and whiskey for resuscitation ... I'm sure that went well.

[@pvtpain66k]

37: Do a whole video about things that the name incorrectly describes, please.

[@erraticonteuse]

5:50 Yes! My favorite fact about the state I live in!

[@HayTatsuko]

Y'all just had to bring up my favorite medical term ever. The condition it describes is almost always Really Bad but... "fistula" sounds like the name of a boxing vampire. "Innnn the RED corner, the Baron Wilhelm von Fistula! Weighing in at 157 pounds, this wiry gent will knock your socks off and leave you white as a sheet!" Got to find humor in it somehow; I got a 20mm (US dime-sized) oro-antral fistula from dental extractions and am dealing with the buccal-flap closure's aftermath a few days past.

[@jacobadams2670]

Being buried alive was a genuine enough concern. George Washington was so concerned about it that he deemed his body should rest for a few days before burial. We still send living people to the morgue today.

[@Hillers62]

At 1:48 ...This is where we got the term "Saved by the Bell"...

[@ZennExile]

It's not uncommon for many different species of bird to form sexual attractions to humans. There is even documented evidence of a humming bird performing courtship behaviors for humans. Emu, Ostrich, and Cassowary though are extreme examples. They very often will engage in sexual courtship behaviors with humans when in regular contact. More often than not it is because the human caretakers either isolate the birds during peak hormone events in their mating cycles or the human caretakers engage in what appears to be 'play' behavior but wasn't. Female birds of many different pet species cannot be handled incorrectly or it causes rapid egg development for example. In fact, not only birds but thousands of other animal species will very comfortably form permanent bonds with humans as if they were a mated pair. It's been documented in everything from birds and insects the reptiles and lions. We're all animals trying to figure out what this life thing is.

[@HayTatsuko]

And Maryland, as you kindly showed, has one of the most distinctive state flags out there. Love it or hate it, you darned sure won't forget the Calvert & Crossland! This most wonderful visual trainwreck of a flag combines the heraldry of the aforementioned families, ancestors of the Lord Baltimore, Cecil Calvert, founder of Maryland Colony -- who never actually ever set foot in Maryland itself. It was also a compromise to appease pro-Union and pro-Confederacy Marylanders; the black-and-gold of the Calverts for the former, and the red-and-white of the Crosslands for the latter, as they were used during the U.S. Civil War.

[@Anvilbanger]

I have Morton's Toe, as, reportedly, did HARRY A LONGABAUGH, "The Sundance Kid" (1867-1908)

[@BearZA_91]

It's late, I don't know why I thought I would be able to keep up being this tired. Will have to watch again tomorrow.

[@oneTOU3]

What happened to the original host?

[@Mr-Science-Stevens]

good one,

[@maxcelcat]

The Great Pyramid was the tallest building in the world for more than 4000 years.

[@benthere4380]

How long, thick and sharp are the swords. I'm going to try it.

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

Imagine people on a beach in a pose for sunning perineum....That would be surreal...

[@gryphonshire]

Have you never been to a nude beach?

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

@@gryphonshire I have been, but I never saw the scene I describe, all in one position...

[@ThePumpkinToad]

really brushed over that fact about a sloth being able to hold its breath for 40 minutes... I need to know why. Don't sloths spend their entire life in the tree canopy except to poop for some reason?

[@maxcelcat]

Never mind the Ostrich, look out for the Cassowary. AKA The Ancient Murder Bird.

[@petrastedman669]

Roald Dahl wrote the script for a James Bond film.

[@pgm3]

And Ian Fleming wrote a famous children's tale, "Chitty Chitty Bang Bang", about a car (not one with machine guns, in that particular case).

[@gjace26]

I feel like watching this video is like playing the game 2 truths and a lie.

[@brandonkennedy4160]

I’m curious, why is that?

[@hlcdriver]

Amother fun fact . . . biannual means twice a year, biennial means every second year.

[@DavidFMayerPhD]

Nitroglycerin was added to nitrocellulose based gunpowder to SLOW combustion. Look it up.

[@JasonHalversonjaydog]

i have that "morton's toe". my second one is the longest

[@jelyse14]

100 tampons for a ONE WEEK FLIGHT??? 😂😂😂

[@SenorFlaw]

Number 3 isn't so much a WTF as a bad conversion 😂

[@deveriecram7784]

I love John Green he's better narrator his voice is more easier to listen to and it's more soothing

[@yepperdeedooda]

Fun fact: You can read some fun facts in the comment section..

[@CraftAero]

Approximately 8.6% of statistics are made up on the spot... or 42.3%, depends on who you ask.

[@TitularHeroine]

And a recent study shows that three out of four people make up seventy-five percent of the population.

[@boomxmilizexpathacks9440]

Ecuador just had a lady pounding on the inside of her coffin at her funeral.

[@chadbovey]

Michael Jordan was in space jam. Which it is a sci-fi movie.

[@gavinrose1058]

I would die if I didn't know that factoid about Charleston Chews.

[@MentalFloss]

This is the reason we do what we do.

[@duaneperkins8329]

Who is Morton and why is my toe named after him? ;-p

[@theunspoke815]

In a town 20 minutes south of me there's a sign the just says SIDEWALK ENDS!!!! I FOUND IT YOU GUYS!!! I FOUND WHERE THE SIDEWALK ENDS!!! This is so cool!! 😜😜

[@dreamsinthree]

Only 400,000 Earths will line up between the Sun and Pluto? That sounds wrong. You don't mean 400 million?

[@newfreenayshaun6651]

Perenium tanning... 'taint a good feelin...😅

[@EssOh15]

😂 8:26

[@TiagoSeiler]

Lol, 70 million is absolutelly not 12 billion, adjusted for inflation.

[@DonJuanDecepticon]

Its strange that people are more willing to talk about murders than anything of a sexual nature. Most people have sex ,most do not commit murder.

[@gryphonshire]

And it's strange that the media blurs out images of nude people, yet often shows dead bodies.

[@htopherollem649]

@@gryphonshire it's probably because they are jealous and know that they look disgusting and or they feel like they have the right to tell others how to live (usually under the self delusion that they are "conservative and righteous)

[@sadib100]

Is le royale related to battle royale?

[@ozymandiasultor9480]

le royale is related to royale pain in the arse.

[@christianrivera2674]

I'm never going to look at my fingernails the same again.

[@graphosxp]

⭐⭐⭐⭐🌟

[@RavenFilms]

I was saved by a safety coffin.⚰️

[@nataliequilter1736]

Disappointed to see #17 included in this list. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a lot of unique beliefs about Jackson County, Missouri. Perhaps if the Mental Floss team had researched further to understand the context better, they wouldn't have included a religious belief here.

[@reppepper]

The t in christened is not pronounced.

[@withintheshyness]

Til I have Morton’s toe

[@stocktonjoans]

but who did he leave his best bed to?

[@TonyHammitt]

Gwyneth Paltrow, of course

[@RyanDCH]

Ticko Brah

[@EB01]

Huh?

[@bonelessdonutz]

I miss John Green, no offense to the new host.

[@stevevernon1978]

John's been gone a while... like 5 years

[@ssemo]

She’s fantastic. Plus John still does videos all the time.

[@typelogin]

The greatest basketball player of all time *LeBron James* is 6'9"

[@SPmbp111]

"Greatest basketball player of all time' - thought this was a fact video, dislike unsubscribe

[@glenjennett]

Interesting I guess, but they're all useless.

[@tonybrown3751]

New narrator

[@stevevernon1978]

been missing for a while? Hank's last one of these was in 2017

[@sirchadiusmaximusiii]

The Scold’s bridal was actually pretty smart.

[@JKnight]

Do you ever see an upload on your sub feed, click to watch and end up thinking "When did i even sub to this channel?"