‘What is a fact that sounds like a shitpost but is 100 percent real?’ 21 unbelievably good examples
Fact, they say, is stranger than fiction. Now, we don’t know who ‘they’ might be, but after scanning through a few headlines, we have to agree.
The point was made beautifully by the responses to Eric Michael Garcia’s question to tweeters.
What is a fact that sounds like a shitpost but is 100 percent real?
He even threw in some examples –
I'll start with one: Johnny Cash was the first, if not one of the first, American to know that Stalin died.
— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) March 21, 2022
-George Washington kind of started the French and Indian War
-Three of the Beatles reunited for Eric Clapton's wedding to Pattie Boyd and John Lennon was the only one who didn't make it since he was based in the US at the time— Eric Michael Garcia (@EricMGarcia) March 21, 2022
Eric should go on QI, because he’s clearly a mine of quite interesting information, but other people had their own nuggets to share – and these were our favourites.
1.
Your mouth hurts after eating a lot of pineapple because there is an enzyme in pineapple that is a meat tenderizer. Eventually, pineapple starts eating YOU!
— Mara “Get Rid of the Nazis” Wilson (@MaraWilson) March 21, 2022
2.
Theoretically, between 1843 and 1867, a samurai could have sent a fax to Abraham Lincoln. https://t.co/mzyEttts5m
— The author, Séamas O'Reilly (@shockproofbeats) March 23, 2022
3.
My dad got into the charts and raised more than £1m for charity with a piece of music he improvised on his old piano in a couple of minutes in his sheltered accommodation when he was eighty and living with dementia. https://t.co/GoEMa5PGfk
— Nick Harvey (@mrnickharvey) March 22, 2022
4.
Barack Obama was elected President because the husband of the actress who played Seven of Nine on Star Trek: Voyager wanted to sleep with other women https://t.co/X2waDoYNlG
— Cooper Lund (@cooperlund) March 21, 2022
5.
One of the favourite shades of paint used by Pre-Raphaelite painters, Mummy Brown, was made by adding ground up remains of Egyptian mummies
— Classical Studies Memɘs for Hellenistic Teens (@CSMFHT) March 21, 2022
6.
South Yorkshire Police's headquarters are on Letsby Avenue https://t.co/7NEHmg6J8c
— Now I am become Dan, destroyer of crisps (@GrumpyGreyhead) March 22, 2022
7.
THEY ALMOST BLEW UP BIG BIRD IN THE CHALLENGER https://t.co/HxZaN21Naq pic.twitter.com/eAP8Vsxttr
— sean (@DilettanteryPod) March 21, 2022
8.
"Fallopian tubes" is a mistranslation, and the correct word is tubas. Fallopio actually called them tuba uteri ("uterus trumpets") because the end resembles a brass instrument. 🎺https://t.co/0CivvlS3HZ
— Vagina Museum (@vagina_museum) March 22, 2022
9.
FDR served hot dogs to the King of England, who LOVED them, which then set off whole frenzy of hot dog diplomacy (American embassies serving hot dogs to various world leaders, etc), which continues to this day.
— Doug Mack (@douglasmack) March 21, 2022
10.
In 2007, the Gardaí (Irish police) were looking for a notorious traffic offender called Prawo Jazdy who had clocked up dozens of speeding fines and parking tickets.
Then they found out "Prawo Jazdy" meant driving licence in Polish. https://t.co/NeKjeeA1Ev
— Darach Ó Séaghdha (@darachos) March 21, 2022
11.
The British and American comic characters called Dennis the Menace both first appeared in print on the exact same date with neither creator being aware of the other’s creation https://t.co/aBVf8DegCY
— Mx Wil Hodgson 🏳️⚧️ 🇺🇦 (@WilHodgson) March 21, 2022
