Amazing Facts archive

It is an interesting fact that in olden times, people were so superstitious and gullible that animals were often used to cure ailments and fix problems:

• after a fall, one had to drink the blood from a cat’s tail that had been chopped off
• a bad chest was cured by drinking blood from a cat’s ear mixed with red wine
• A field full of weed could be fixed by burying a dead cat in it
• in the middle ages, quacks believed that animals spoke in Latin and that their cries had significance
• a person with scarlet fever was cured by taking hair from the patient and feeding it to an ass, which was to contract the fever and thus curing the patient
• children with measles were treated by plucking hair from the nape of their necks and feeding it to dogs
• patients with rickets would be passed over the back and under the belly of an ass (donkey) nine times without uttering the word by successive numbers
• if you had fits, every morning you will need to chew on some grass and feed it to a jay. Once the bird died, you would be cured
• In Europe, epilepsy was cured by cutting the nose off a mole and letting 9 drops of blood fall on a cube of sugar which was then eaten by the patient
• In Shropshire, a toothache was treated by simply applying the amputated foot of a poor mole
• a person bitten by a dog was to eat the hair from the same dog
• eels were placed in the ears of deaf people to cure them

• Bugs Bunny was originally called ‘Happy Rabbit’
• The word ‘Bugs’ was actually a nickname for ‘crazy’
• The voice of Bugs Bunny, by Mel Blanc, is also shared with Tweety Bird, Sylvester the Cat and even Woody Woodpecker
• Some people say that Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was ironically allergic to carrots, but this is untrue
• In World War II, it is a true fact that Bugs Bunny was made an honorary Marine Master Sergeant by the U.S. Marine Corps
• Bugs was one of the few animations to receive his own star on the Walk of Fame
• In 1997, the Bugs Bunny stamps were even more popular than Mickey Mouse stamps

• There are over 400 known animals that engage in homosexual practices
• Male lions will engage in same sex practices until they encounter a mixed pride
• Many cheetah brotherhoods only allow male members
• Male Orang Utans can retract their penises to create a cavity for other males to penetrate
• Rhesus Macaques and the Big Horn Sheep are one of the few animals that has anal sex
• River dolphines are known to insert their penis into the blowhole of another male’s head

• The Honey badger is the most fearless animal in the world. It will approach and track animals much bigger than itself
• The honey badger has very loose skin that allows it to twist and turn even if bitten by a predator
• Honey badgers are not part of the badger subfamily but are more closely related to weasels
• The honey badger can withstand the venom of a snakebite that could kill an elephant
• Eventhough a badger cub might be 2-3 kg larger than their mother, they are still entirely dependent on her for food
• The honey badger has thick skin which is almost 6mm thick at the back of his neck
• This badger has a pair of anal glands can emit a profuse, unpleasant secretion, often used to mark out territory

• The Central American red-eyed tree frog slides a tertiary golden eyelid over its eyes when it sleeps during the day. This allows just enough light in to see predators.
• A single poison arrow frog has enough poison to kill 2,000 people
• Certain frogs can reguritate their stomachs, in order to clean them (with their feet)
• Some frogs use sugars as an antifreeze for vital organs
• Some frogs like the wood frog and some turtles can stop their heart and frost their tissues during winter and defrost after that
• Frogs cannot swallow with their eyes open
• Bullfrogs do not sleep

• The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year
• People who become blind after birth can see pictures in their dreams. People who are born blind dream in terms of smell, touch, sounds and emotion
• People who are snoring are not dreaming
• Robert Louis Stevenson wrote “Doctor Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde” after dreaming of the story
• Frankenstein was a character created from a dream
• The characters in your dreams are all people you have met in the past
• 1 in 10 people dream in black and white
• External factors influence your dreams. If your bladder is full, some people dream of going to the toilet
• Animals can have dreams

• A leech has 32 brains
• Leeches are used to treat some diseases. In the past, they were used to cure anything from a headache to gout
• The bite of a leech is actually painless
• Leeches can bite through a hippos hide
• A leech has three mouths and Millions of teeth

• Wonka’s chocolate room used enough fake chocolate to fill a swimming pool
• 1850 real chocolate bars were made by Nestle for the film- A special walk-in trailer was acquired to hold all the chocolate.  It was kept at a certain humidity to preserve and safe guard the chocolate.  All chocolate was made with real ingredients.
• Other real candy made for the film included:All the lollipops on the trees, the giant pink sugar canes, the giant humbugs and the red & white swirls of the sweeping tree were all real
• The Nut Room- Animal trainer Michael Alexander and his team spent 19 weeks training 40 squirrels for the squirrel room scene.  The squirrels were trained to sit on stools while they opened nut shells and dropped the nuts onto a conveyor belt

• Dolphins sleep with one eye open
• A dolphin has no jaw muscles for chewing
• A tablespoon of water in a dolphins lung could kill it (Catton, Chris. 1995. Dolphins. New York, NY: St. Martin’s Press)
• The dolphin brain has more folds than a human brain
• Dolphins do not have a sense of smell, but they can distinguish different tastes: sweet, sour, bitter, salty

• Millipedes that smell of almond can secrete a toxin similar to cyanide when threatened
• Millipedes can have up to 700 legs
• The milipede Polyxenus Fasciculatus, when attacked, will brush off tiny hook-like bristles in defence. There tiny hooks then snag on the assailant and start to entangle as the assailant tries to brush them off. Eventually, their feet and face would get tied up, and they are left to die.