10 Weird Facts You Won’t Believe Are True

Here are 10 fascinating but weird facts across history, from the oldest wine, and one of the most successful cars, to the flappy bird app and penguins, the real ones. Sit back, enjoy reading, and discover more at the end.

1. The Model T Became More Affordable Over Time

When Henry Ford the creator of the assembly line first introduced the Model T automobile in 1908, it had a price tag of $825 or about $28,000 in 2023, after adjustment for inflation. This is not a good or bad price, it is just right.

However, when the assembly line kept getting better along with technological advancements, they could now start the mass production of this vehicle. Since Henry Ford, also wanted to make these cars more affordable to more people, this is exactly where he led the company.

The use of mass production techniques ultimately made the price of the Model T cars to just about $260 new. That is equivalent to $4,500 today. Imagine buying a whole new car fresh off production for that price.

Source: Ford Corporate

2. Modern Penguins Are Not the Original Penguins

Did you know that one of the most famous birds, penguins is not actually the original penguin? This name actually belongs to the great auk, a flightless bird that thrives in the North Atlantic, but sadly, does not exist anymore.

Then explorers noticed a species of bird in the southern hemisphere that looked like the great auk with their black and white coats. So, knowing this, they applied the same name.

However, as we said, the true owners of the name penguin are now extinct, since the 19th century.

Source: Wikipedia

3. A WWII Pilot Without Legs Had a Combat Advantage

G-force refers to the force of acceleration that pilots experience during flight. This is measured by multiplying it by the earth’s gravity. so G or 1G refers to the normal force of gravity and then 2Gs refers to double, and so on.

So when fighter pilots often fly at very fast speeds with not only acceleration but change in directions, it is common for them to lose consciousness as forces lead their blood rushing to their legs.

One British pilot who had prosthetic legs after losing both his legs, Douglas Bader, was able to avoid this common problem, though not entirely. Since he does not have blood pooling into his lower limbs, he was able to stay conscious on average longer than the other pilots.

Source: Wikipedia

4. Hotel Ice Machines Became Popular Thanks to a Marketing Gimmick

If you have ever stayed in any American-owned hotels or American-branded hotels, you will notice that they have ice machines. Almost all of them now have those, but that is not always the case.

It was just introduced in the 1950s after Holiday Inn, tried to put ice machines to attract more guests to choose to stay with them. Little did they know, that other hotels could easily copy this amenity.

However, as hotel guests, I am sure most of us are thankful for other companies copying the Holiday Inn’s marketing stunt with the ice machines. What else do you think they all should make free while staying in hotels?

Source: Slate

5. Britain’s Mass Pet Euthanasia Before WWII

One of the most tragic consequences of war is the threat of food shortages leading to hunger and suffering. This is exactly what happened to Britain back in 1939 when they were bracing for the effects of World War 2.

From dogs to cats, they decided to euthanize over 400,000 pets to help conserve resources and prepare for air raids. This was all done in just about a month.

This is up to this day not known to most people, and remains one of the most heartbreaking consequences of war. Do you know any other facts such as this one, let us know in the comments!

Source: Wikipedia

6. The U.S. Government Can Keep Inventions Secret

Did you know that you can’t just patent and invent anything you want in the United States? Some examples are nuclear-related inventions, harmful drugs and chemicals, and so on.

The prevention of these types of patents getting into the public market is why the US government created the Invention Secrecy Act. Where they make inventors or patent makers, not sell or even share their ideas in public, especially if they deem it a national security risk or at least pose a threat of a similar kind.

What other US acts and laws do you know or find interesting? Share it with us in the comments!

Source: Wikipedia

7. Drinking Hot Water is the Norm in China

Most culture prefers drinking cold water instead of hot. However, China for various reasons, prefers hot water. Some of these reasons are the belief in the traditional Chinese medicine and sanitation process, which are true since boiling up the water often cleans it up and removes most germs.

However, up to this day, when water is already clean and sometimes too clean, they still prefer heating up their water and drinking it hot or warm. Most believe that it is now just because of the tradition and being used to drinking it that way rather than any scientific reasons.

Source: South China Morning Post

8. Flappy Bird’s Creator Removed the Game at Its Peak

One of the OG games, Flappy Bird, became a surprise hit for most in early 2014, earning the creator, Dong Nguyen, upwards of $50,000 every single month. However, due to his personal opinion and feelings that the app does more harm than good and that it is incredibly addictive, he deleted it.

That is why if you are wondering why it suddenly went away after that much success, that is the reason. Games like Clash of Clans, and Flappy Bird, are really addictive, which is why up to this day a lot of developers are trying to recreate their magic and get some of the success these games have achieved.

Source: Forbes

9. Burger and King Got Married—And Burger King Paid for It

Becoming viral was one of the best things back in 2015 because you can instantly get the attention of the biggest brands and companies in the world. That is exactly what happened with the couple Joel Burger and Ashley King.

After reading both of their names, you probably already have some idea which brand or company we are referring to. Yes, Burger King, offered to pay for all their wedding expenses as a marketing stunt, which simply means, to share some of that virality with their franchise.

Did you think it was a success? Was it worth it? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, because the fact that we are still talking about it, for us means their marketing stunt was a success.

Source: ABC News

10. The Oldest Barrel of Wine Has Only Been Tasted Three Times

The oldest wine in the world is more than 500 years old and it has been drunk only 3 times in the past half millennium. A barrel of Alsace white wine, dating back to 1472, is believed to be the oldest wine, and it is currently in the cellars of the Hospices de Strasbourg.

The three times it was drunk was in 1576 to celebrate a new alliance, in 1716 after surviving a great fire in the area, and most recently in 1944 when Strasbourg was liberated from Nazi occupation.

Do you think the top brass in Strasbourg have not opened and tasted it all this time? What do you think, let us know!

Source: Atlas Obscura

Author's Final Thoughts

This marks the end of the 10 weird facts we have curated for this article and we hope you learn something new today or at least have been entertained while reading them. If you want to explore similar interesting facts, you can head on to this page to find more.

Related: 10 Insanely Cool Facts You’ll Want to Share With Everyone