Sometimes the internet makes it all too easy to fall into believing something that's simply not true. The Earth isn't flat. Pizzagate isn't a thing. There was no movie called "Shazam" starring Sinbad as a genie. However, there are those mindblowing facts you hear which sound false at first but a quick Google search reveals otherwise.
Reddit user, u/HashtagHashtag907, wanted to hear about:
What is a completely random fact that doesn't sound true but actually is?
Oh Good. We Should Be Next In The Biological Chain.
Animated GIFGiphyZombies exist. They are very real.
It's just that humans can't turn into zombies as far as we know. But ants, spiders, and other bugs have been known to get infected by certain types of fungi that mind-controls them. They basically kill them and just make their bodies move around to spread the fungus further.
This is what inspired the zombies from The Last of Us to be created.
Hop On, Everyone
If you fold a piece of paper around 42 times, it will reach the moon.
Hate Each Other Enough To Start, Enough To Keep Going For 2 Millenniums
At the end of the Third Punic War between Rome and Carthage, Rome invaded Carthage and destroyed it in 146 B.C.
The mayors of Rome and Carthage (modern-day Tunisia) signed a peace treaty February 5, 1985, "officially" ending The Punic Wars after 2,131 years.
Watching Someone Go Through Drachenfutter Gives You Schadenfreude
The Germans have a word, "drachenfutter," for which there no English counterpart. Literally, it's "feeding the dragon," but the meaning is to offer a gift of appeasement to a spouse who's mad at you.
Correction, in english it means I'm sleeping on the couch tonight.
Every Country Has Its Own Thing
In Japan, eating KFC is a Christmas tradition.
That was started by a huge marketing campaign in 1974.
This Is Why We're The Only Ones??
In 1793, the new United States needed a common measure system. So T. Jefferson wrote to France and they sent some continental measurements to establish new system in the States. Unfortunately, a big storm forced the ship way south and it was intercepted by British pirates. And that is a reason why the USA has imperial and not metric units
Checks Out
Iran arrested 14 squirrels for spying in 2007
proof: https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3425130,00.html
Those guys are nuts
Sometimes, The Universe Wants You To Die
World war 1 was started because of a sandwich
In 1914, gavrilo princip organized his pals from a serbian nationalist group called the black hand to straight up murder the archduke of austria-hungary. Gavrilo's fellow members were strapped with bomb vests and carried revolvers along with cyanide for themselves. Simply put, all of them failed. One of the members had ingested the cyanide while jumping into a nearby river. The cyanide ended up not working so he ended up puking it out and wasn't poisoned, he then tried to drown himself but the river was too shallow. Feeling utter defeat, gavrilo went to a local deli for a sandwich. Out of sheer coincidence, the archduke's car pulled up to the same sandwich shop that ya boy gavrilo happened to be at. Gavrilo walked out of the shop, took out a gun, and shot the archduke at point-blank range, killing him and his wife.
So yeah, a deviating war that lead to the deaths of 17 million people which historians claimed weakened the infrastructure of the European nations to the point where adolf hitler managed to take power 20 years later and kick off world war 2 which killed millions of more people and devastated europe even further.
All of that happened cuz a dude bought a sandwich.
You Want To Add Some Bee Vomit To Your Tea?
homer simpson GIFGiphyBees vomit the nectar in each others mouth multiple times until it beecomes honey
Honey = bee vomit. Got it. Lovely jubbly.
Now He'll Never Ride A T-Rex
George Washington died before the first dinosaur bone was ever discovered, he didn't know dinosaurs existed.
Hate Each Other Enough To Start, Not Enough To Keep Going
In 1896, Britain and Zanzibar fought in armed conflict for a max of 45 minutes.
It is the shortest recorded war in history.
Shake, Shake, Shake Señora
There's always an earthquake happening, it's just so small that people can't feel it, and only seismographs can detect them, usually Magnitude 0-2.
I'll Have Some Delicious Red-Yellow Juice
The colour orange was known as red-yellow until nearly the 1900s; the word referred exclusively to the fruit before that.
Man, Babies Are Jerks
We've all kicked a pregnant lady
Took me a while to get this
Size And Scale
New York's Central Park is larger than the country of Monaco
Was in Monaco last month and was staying in Nice (bout 40 min drive I think) and had to get an Uber but Monaco doesn't have Uber. Had to run to the French border to get the Uber. I literally ran the entire length of the country and took me 13 minutes. Was a bizarre experience.
Just Another Reason To Fear Horses
Bears can run faster than horses.
So you're saying we should switch to bearpower as a unit of measurement?
And Every Single One Of Them Hates Mondays
The coast of France has had "Garfield" phones washing ashore since the 1980s.
Like, actual phones in the shape of Garfield the cat.
What? Why? 😂
From what I remember, a cargo container holding hundreds of these fell off a cargo ship, but someone may have to correct me on that
YOU STOP TALKING WITH YOUR FACTS
the simpsons dinosaurs GIFGiphyThe Tyrannosaurus Rex lived closer in time to the moon landing than it did to the Stegosaurus.
My disappointment is immeasurable and my day is ruined
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Those who work in different fields all have their respective anecdotes that are sure to keep listeners engaged.
But certain jobs that keep employees away from land are sure to have the most intriguing stories to share.
Seafarers shared their unique experiences bordering on hair-raising phenomena when Redditor tylo144 asked:
"For those who have careers that keep them out at sea for long periods of time, what is the creepiest thing you’ve seen out in the water?"
Mariners shared their wildest stories from their time out at sea.
Fierce Gale
"Not so much what I saw but what I experienced. I was once underway in the Gulf of Alaska during a November gale. Waves were up to 35 feet with some rollers hitting 45. An uncommon occurrence on the diesel electric ship I was on was a cyclo-converter tripping. When this happened the ship would temporarily completely lose power and propulsion until some electricians could reset everything. This happened during that gale. I simply can’t explain how strange it is for the boat you’re on to all of a sudden go so quiet, that you can clearly hear waves slapping the ship and metal bending and flexing. Knowing you’re completely at the mercy of the sea. Knowing that if the ship lost its bearing and went beam to there was a real possibility of capsizing. It’s easy to forget when you’re at sea that the only thing keeping you alive is a bunch of steel welded together. At that moment I was fully aware and it humbled me. Thankfully we trained frequently for this and had everything fired back up relatively quickly."
"Another time I recall was when the ship took a rogue wave. They are absolutely real and I believe they account for a massive number of shipwrecks. It was late at night and I was on the bridge. We were passing through a storm and we’re taking the waves off the bow with no visibility. As the ship moves there’s normally a pretty standard pattern. You ride up a wave for a bit and then you fall down the wave for a bit. Well we started riding up a wave and got to the point where we should have been starting or ride down…but we just kept climbing and climbing. And then it happened. We started our ride down the back of this massive wave. All of us braced ourselves and tried to find something to hold on to but we all fell to the deck any way. Anything that wasn’t secured for sea fell down all around us. Manuals, tables, computers, printers, you name it. Our captain who was sleeping called up to the bridge asking if we hit something. It woke the entire crew up. Rogue waves are real, and they’re terrifying. I can’t imagine being in a smaller boat or taking one of them broadside."
– red_pimp69
Series Of Bizarre Events
"I was in the US Navy for about 10 years, and have 10s of thousands of miles at sea in an aircraft carrier. Countless nights on the flight deck in the middle of the night and middle of the ocean..."
"Creepiest: A HUGE patch of the ocean glowing. Like nuclear waste in the Simpsons glowing. I've seen bioluminescent algae of a few kinds and this was nothing like it. I've never seen anything like it before or since."
"Weirdest thing: hundreds of mile out to sea from land and there was a MASSIVE fire on the water. It was like the top of a gas refinery, but on the water with nothing under it but water. Flame going a few stories into the air."
"Funniest: 2 flying fish collide mid-air. I was smoking when we were in the Persian Gulf and saw the fish fly from a pretty far distance towards each other. I remember thinking 'there's no f'kin way they're going to hit' them SPLAT SPLASH! I was in tears laughing but no one saw it. Everyone just thought I was a weirdo, but I got to see a miracle of nature lol"
– BBQQA
Lone Yacht
"Some 20 years ago..."
"On the MV Explorer (since sunk) down near the Antarctic circle, sailing around the 'bergs and occasionally making landfall..."
"We rounded into a small bay area, and there, amongst the ice and coast was an unmarked sailing yacht. Which is odd as generally yachts have some identifying markings on them."
"To add to it, they didn't respond to any radio contact, and whilst I wasn't privy to the conversation (and it was a long time ago), some crew went across via Zodiac and were refused boarding."
"So basically a yacht, not a particularly large one, that was unmarked was hanging around in the inhospitable waters of the Antarctic and didn't want any help or contact."
"Proper weird."
– ThanklessTask
These Redditors have fearlessly plunged into darkness.
Dark Dive
"I used to be an oilfield diver in the Gulf of Mexico. I'd say about 80% of the dives I logged were at night. Mostly 500 ft and under DSV's."
"It's very eerie feeling sitting on the downline doing in water decompression in the middle of night. I'd always ask topside to turn off my headlight."
"Like a worm on a hook. Just bobbing in the darkness."
– Comrade_Fuzzybottoms
A Dark Calm
"Not even nearly as extreme as your story but it evoked a memory, I did a scuba diving open water course and then did the advanced course which included a night dive in a freshwater lake."
"I was only 5m underwater, pitch black darkness with two other guys, we were on a platform and we could either face the dam wall or the open water, and I turned to the open water while the other guys were behind me, I turned off my light (we did have little lights on our backs)"
"Just the deepest, calmest dark I’ve ever felt and seen. Not a single source of light anywhere, just immense darkness. Still remember that feeling and it was like 15 years ago"
– circleinsidecircle
Things get more interesting.
Water Glow
"The bioluminescent animals (or whatever they are) in the water is pretty amazing. Our toilet would fill up with seawater and if you took a piss in it in the middle of the night it would agitate the water and it would glow sometimes."
– Tub-a-guts
"Ominous Red Snow Angel"
"Always love the bio-luminescence flickering around the hull at night. They're almost like a cushion of little stars guiding you safely along. On those really dark, moonless nights, I'd almost beg for them to arrive."
"I sailed 70ft yacht around the world a few years back. Southern Ocean, Cape Horn, Good Hope, Roaring Forties, Furious Fifties, two equatorial crossings; the full deal. Plenty of terrifying moments, boring moments, funny moments and beautiful moments."
"A creepy moment that is burned into my memory involved a near catastrophe halfway between NZ and Cape Horn. We ended up hitting really bad weather and absolutely huge seas - 50ft swells with massive troughs in between. We were running with the swells for days as they grew, skidding down them like a bloated surfboard, always worrying that the next wave would break behind us and roll us over."
"At night it's pitch black down there in bad weather - the sky and sea just form a huge black mass. The most terrifying thing is the sound of an invisible wave breaking behind you. At night, you run red light to preserve night vision, so there's basically just an eerie red glow emanating from below deck."
"At about two in the morning, I was at the helm when a monster wave broke directly over the back of us without a seconds warning. Time slowed down like it does in those moments, and the last thing I saw was my own silhouette in the wall of water, lit up like an ominous red snow angel - and then nothing but cold blackness as the boat sunk into the sea."
"Fortunately, she popped straight back up like a cork after a few eternal seconds - almost like a submarine surfacing - and we were still in one piece. Still cant forget that glowing red apparition of myself though. The memory of it has woken me up in a cold sweat more than once."
– Le_Rat_Mort
Coming Up For Air
"Somewhere in the Atlantic, nice cold as f**k night, decided to step out and look at stars. About ten minutes on and a boats mast pops up, sits there a few minutes and then back under. No alarms, nothing. Just some sub boys getting a bit of late night o2 in the middle of nowhere next to some friends."
– MyMomsSecondSon
When I worked on cruise ships, I was always captivated by the green flash on the horizon.
The optical phenomenon occurs just as the sun goes down or before sunrise, with the tip of the sun barely visible.
It emits a flash of green light that I found absolutely thrilling to witness every time.
It's not necessarily creepy, but still a wonder for sure.
No matter how long ago we saw it, there are some scenes or images from movies that still send shivers down our spine or keep us awake at night to this very day.
Pennywise appearing in the sewer in It, Janet Leigh surprised in the shower in Psycho, Freddy Kreuger's tongue popping out of the telephone in A Nightmare on Elm Street.
Of course, some of the scariest, most disturbing, or most emotionally traumatizing scenes from films might have been featured in films outside of the horror genre.
Even more shockingly, some of these films were primarily marketed towards children!
Redditor alina_love was curious to hear which non-horror films the Reddit community saw as children still send shivers down their spines today, leading them to ask:
"What's a non horror movie that traumatized you as a kid?"
It Was Tim Burton, After All...
"'Pee Wee's big adventure'."
"Large Marge scared the crap out of little me."
"I was even scared of the fortune teller."- BlueStarrSilver·
With A Title Like "Temple Of Doom"...
"'Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom'."
"The scene where the guy gets his heart ripped out traumatized me for years."- Pbhf
That Funeral Scene Though...
"'My Girl'."
"Fear of death, fear of losing a friend, fear of bees, fear of puberty."- heidismiles
macaulay culkin kiss GIFGiphyJurassic Park's Got Nothing On This...
"'The Land Before Time'."
"Watching Little Foot’s mother die was awful."- HourglassSass
He'll Always Regret Not Bringing Her To The Museum...
"'Bridge to Terabithia'."- jumpstart-the-end
"Everything goes so well and it falls apart SO FAST and your left absolutely traumatized."- VortexDestroyer99
The Reason People Hold On To Their Appliances For As Long As They Do...
"The Brave Little Toaster'."- Catgurl
"The junkyard scene alone was responsible for so many nightmares."- ManChildMusician
brave little toaster animation GIF by Coolidge Corner TheatreGiphyAnd Let's Not Forget The Coachman's Smile...
"Disney’s version of 'Pinocchio'."
"The scene where kids are turned into donkeys and kept on the island and then resold was f*cking weird."
"You felt bad for that bully kid after he looked sad and nobody understood what he said because he was a donkey."- earnestlikehemingway
Few Things More Sad And Scary Than Deforestation
"'Ferngully: The Last Rainforest'."
"That evil tree scared me so bad."- slutsdotnet
Anything But "Truly Scrumptious"...
"The 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' Childcatcher guy!"
"I'm still scared of him!"- Jet_Maypen
child GIFGiphyOffing Children One By One...In A Children's Movie!
"'Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory' boat scene."
"Honorable mention of claustrophobia when Augustus gets stuck in the chocolate tube."
"UGH!"- looseseal-bluth
At Least We Know He Had A "Sole"...
"Who Framed Roger Rabbit."
"That poor shoe….."- dalalice5555
At Least The Song Is Catchy...
"Neverending Story."
"Not even Artax, which was awful, but the Rockbiter and his good strong hands."- marxychick1
Neverending Story 80S GIFGiphyDorothy Gettying Electro Shock Therapy Says it All...
"Return to Oz."- Jeff_Steelflexx
"Horrifying! What about the animated wig heads?"- weensfordayz
The Reigning King Of Childhood Trauma
"Old Yeller."- IceTech59
"I remember watching this on TV during, I think, Wonderful World of Disney (Sunday nights were Disney night on TV)."
"Cried and cried and cried."
"I've never been able to watch it again and I've never shown it to my kids!"- crowwitch
Not All Friendships Are Tenable... A Terrifying Thought
"'The Fox and the Hound'."
"Still makes me incredibly sad, lol."- mental_reincarnation
best friends friendship GIFGiphySometimes, writers and filmmakers simply overestimate what might go over a child's head.
Or, for that matter, they might underestimate their emotional capacity.
Regardless, ask any of Fairuza Balk's fans which is scarier, Return to Oz or The Craft, and their answer will be immediate...
(... and it won't be The Craft...)