Most people enjoy reading about strange facts. Seeing random bits of information that others may not know can be fun, and make a person feel smart or just provide a quick laugh. In that vein, to honor the start of Spring Break, enjoy these five weird but entirely true facts.
Tyromancy
Historically, practitioners of tyromancy predicted the future through cheese. This practice, which unfortunately died out in the Middle Ages, seems to be adjacent to a diviner and their crystal ball, but with cheese. The Mystica describes it as “an ancient method of divination based on the omens in cheese and other characteristics, specially the coagulation of the cheese. It is one of the most ancient methods of divination.”
The Apology Act
Canadians say “sorry” so much that they enacted a law in 2009 declaring that an apology can’t be used as evidence of admission to guilt. Dubbed the “Apology Act”, Canadians can no longer be prosecuted for saying “sorry” when being questioned by the Mounties, or Canadian police. According to Canadian law magazine Slaw, “[The law] allows the communication of expressions of sorrow or regret without worrying that the comments can later be used adversely in a civil court.” In a strange twist, at the time Slaw posted that story, 30 US states had enacted similar legislation.
Facebook’s Bilingual Bots
Two Facebook chatbots named Bob and Alice used a form of English that only the two of them understood to trade virtual objects between each other. Don’t worry, as the Independent writes, “Researchers did not shut down the programs because they were afraid of the results or had panicked, as has been suggested elsewhere, but because they were looking for them to behave differently.” Fortunately, a real-life computer takeover probably won’t happen soon.
Tesla’s Wi-Fi Statue
TeslaUniverse, a website dedicated to Nikola Tesla landmarks, says that the statue, “located at 260 Sheridan Avenue in Palo Alto, California….provides a free wi-fi signal and contains a time capsule to be opened on January 7, 2043.” If you find yourself in Palo Alto, honor Tesla’s legacy with a quick game of Animal Crossing.
Swedish Meatballs Don’t Exist
Don’t tell the lunch counter at IKEA, but Atlas Obscura says that the King Charles XII, known as the Swedish Meteor, and his followers, “likely encountered köfte, the spiced lamb and beef meatballs of Turkish cuisine”, and decided to bring them back home in 1714. As the Obscura continues, “A recipe for kötbullar, or Swedish meatballs, first appeared in print a few decades later.”
For more weird but true facts, check out The Fact Site and feel free to submit your thoughts to this Google Form.
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