How much of this vast world do you really know? Knowledge is excellent, but some things are better left unknown because of how creepy or scary they are. No one is excited to know that Kim Jong Un and his supporters reportedly have squads of “pleasure women” as young as 13!
And isn’t it astonishing and worrisome that about 60% of all wildlife on earth has been wiped out since 1970? Well, now that you’re already in too deep, here are 50 more troubling facts like this.
Children Used To Die In Refrigerators
Get any of your great-grandparents alive before 1956 to confirm this fact. Apparently, you could only open refrigerators from the outside during their time. Unfortunately, the government only passed a Refrigerator Safety Act in 1956. And the act came after many children had died from getting stuck and suffocating in the refrigerator.
The new act required manufacturers to ensure fridge doors could open easily from the inside. So companies began using magnetic doors that helped make this possible. Refrigerator related deaths are now considerably lower.
A Patient Had 15 Minutes Additional Brain Activity After Death
Here’s a shocker: a person doesn't lose consciousness immediately after being declared dead. Studies suggest some additional brain activity for as much as 15 minutes, as recorded in one patient. Although one person isn't enough to conclude that everyone experiences something like that, it makes one wonder about the whole death process.
Life may indeed flash before our eyes at the point of death. Data showed brain waves associated with dreaming, meditation, and memory retrieval while recording the patient's brain waves at the exact time after the heart stopped.
Studies Have Reported Consciousness After Beheading
As a matter of fact, studies in rats have also led to the hypothesis that one may still be aware for a few seconds after being beheaded. Beheading is no longer a common practice today, but in the 16th century, onlookers claimed a condemned English queen moved her lips to speak after being beheaded.
A similar case happened with Charlotte Corday, a young French aristocrat who murdered a revolutionary leader. After the guillotine executed her, the executioner held and slapped her face. Onlookers claimed she appeared enraged.
The Last Guillotine Execution Happened In 1977
Speaking of beheadings, the death penalty for crimes has evolved over the years. At some point, those executions were carried out by guillotine. In 1792, French highwayman Nicolas Jacques Pelletier was the first person to be executed by this method for the crime of assault, robbery, and a still disputed murder.
At least 40,000 people have been killed by this method since then. But in 1977, France recorded its final guillotine execution. The last person the knife fell on was Hamida Djandoubi after he tortured and killed his girlfriend.
Brutal Execution Methods Were Carried Out By The Romans
While we’re celebrating the end of death by guillotine, that's not even the most brutal execution method the world has seen. If only you could ask the ancient Romans, you’d hear execution methods that would keep you up at night. One, for example, involved beating and then sewing a person into a bag.
But that was only the beginning of the execution. They would also put a live dog, monkey, chicken, and snake into the bag with the person and throw them all into the ocean.
The Alleged Worst Roman Execution Is Scaphism
Unfortunately, the previous disturbing execution method, as horrible as it may be, is not even the worst method the Romans have implemented to execute a person. They were very notorious for their gruesome methods of execution, and the worst yet may just be the ancient Persian method known as scaphism.
In this execution, the person is first fastened into a hollow boat, then force-fed with—and drenched in—honey and milk. Afterward, they are exposed to insects, worms, and other vermin, slowly eating them alive.
Some Tortures Involved Goats Licking Salt Off A Person’s Feet
Sometimes, the Romans won’t go as far as execution. They had methods of torture that would make one wish they executed them instead. Here’s one; they could carry out torture by having a goat lick a person's feet. Yes, that hardly sounds like torture, but here’s what happens in detail.
Because salt is an essential mineral for goats, the Romans would soak one’s feet in salt water for the goat to lick. The goat's tongue gets rough enough to erode the skin leaving a wound with salt seeping in.
A Man In Rome Had Firefighters Who Would Only Put Out A Fire If You Sold Him The Building
Have you ever heard of Marcus Licinius Crassus? He was a Roman general and politician, often regarded as the wealthiest man in Rome. But how he came about his wealth is an ethically disturbing story. Crassus owned a team of firefighters during his time, and there was no dedicated firefighter service then.
So whenever there was a fire, which was very common then, his team would only put it out if the building owner agreed to sell it. And, of course, he never offered a fair price.
Only 5% Of The Ocean Has Been Explored
Yes, only 5% of the vast ocean has been explored, which is pretty unbelievable considering the sea is about 70% of the earth's surface. One reason for this is the technology needed to carry out sea exploration. Many tools available can only study the surface effectively and do nothing significant for the deep.
That's why even space exploration has gone farther than the ocean. It isn't easy to see under the sea, unlike space. We won’t be surprised if mermen and mermaids are eventually discovered to be real.
Human Bites Are As Deadly As Other Dangerous Animals
We can think of many dangerous animals we would rather avoid biting us. A poisonous snake, yes. A rabies-infected dog, of course. But humans seem to pose just as much a threat as the others. You should definitely get yourself checked at the hospital if a human bites you. You must be wondering why.
Human bites are particularly dangerous because of the number of bacteria that saliva transmits. It's even more hazardous if you’re bitten by an infected person who could share the infection.
There’s A Trail Of Dead Bodies On Mount Everest
Mount Everest is the highest mountain above sea level, and many people have attempted to climb to the top—many still do. While you may be aware that many of them have died trying to climb the mountain, you may not know what usually becomes of their bodies and other belongings.
Over 300 people have died on Mount Everest, but their bodies remain on the mountain, preserved by the cold. You won't believe other climbers have used those bodies and belongings as trail markers.
One Climber Freezing To Death Was Ignored By 40 People
Dead bodies on Mount Everest are so common that climbers don't pay attention to them anymore. David Sharp, one climber, lost his life because no one paid attention to him as he was freezing to death close to another so-called landmark of a frozen body. Forty people passed Sharp without helping him.
It's not that they didn't want to help, but many of them possibly couldn't tell that he was still alive. And by the time someone noticed that the body was recently alive, it was already too late.
A Young Man’s Body Remains Stuck Inside The Cave He Died In 2009
It happens that mountains are not the only places where dead bodies are left to rot. Even those who die in caves may be left there, as was the case with the 26-year-old man John Edward Jones. In 2009, John got stuck in a cave in Utah called Nutty Putty.
It was difficult to remove his body, and he eventually lost his life there. He was trapped there for more than a day before he died, and his body has remained there for more than a decade.
The Sun Will Die
Not now, relax. But in about five billion years, the sun will get to its hottest temperature and transform into a giant red star when it cools down. That means that the sun will be so hot that all the water on earth could dry out before it dies naturally.
And even if the planet may survive, it will be uninhabitable. But the sun will completely destroy closer planets like mercury and venus in the process. So there may be a purpose in all the Mars expeditions.
Climate Change May Kill Earth Sooner
It's worrisome enough that the sun's death makes earth’s eventual demise inevitable, but climate change poses a similar and more urgent problem. With human overpopulation and a decline in biodiversity, humans may cause the planet to die much sooner. Global warming is currently one of the gravest threats to life on this planet.
Scientists even predict that between 2030 and 2050, about 250,000 additional deaths will be recorded per year. These deaths would result from different things associated with climate change, including heat stress.
Our World Could Actually End At Any Time
As if all the talk of our planet dying is not scary enough; it is a fact that our world could simply come to an end at any given moment. A vacuum decay could easily wipe out the entire universe in space, a nearby supernova, or a wandering black hole.
There are actually several things that could end our universe. And the scary part is that we have no control over whether they happen or not. The most likely theory, for now, is the Big Freeze.
There’s A Mind Controlling Fungus
All the fiction you must have watched and read would not prepare you for this. But actual mind control is the specialty of a particular fungus, “Ophiocordyceps unilateralis.” This organism has a pretty sinister method of multiplying itself. It takes over an ant's body and compels the insect to help it propagate.
In the process, the ant colony also gets infected and mind controlled. That's why the fungus is also nicknamed the zombie-ant fungus. Thankfully, they can't infect humans because our bodies have better immunity than ants.
Up To 30 Elevator and Escalator Deaths Happen Yearly
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health has estimated that about 30 people die from elevator and escalator-related incidents yearly. As many as 17,000 people are injured in those incidents yearly as well. Elevators are the biggest culprits in these statistics, accounting for almost 90% of the deaths.
So it is no surprise that some people have an inherent fear of being in elevators—especially people who are claustrophobic or agoraphobic. The latter is the fear of being trapped without a means to escape.
Cruise Ships Have Morgues Because Many People Die On Them
It's also troubling that many people die on ship cruises. Most of them are older people, which may sound strange, but these deaths happen so often that a website tracks the number of deaths reported. They even break them down by causes, ranging from natural causes to suicidal behavior and overdoses.
These deaths are why cruise ships have morgues that they are legally required to have and maintain, in addition to carrying body bags. Those who die are stored on board the vessel until it docks.
There Are Also Jails On Cruise Ships
Considering that these cruise ships can contain more than a thousand people at the same time, it is not unheard of that crime happens. Those suspected of breaking the law are held in these small jails, but the cells (also called brigs) are not located in areas guests can access.
Apart from those breaking the law, people acting recklessly or dangerously are also held in these brigs. The brigs may also be used to keep passengers with outstanding warrants from their hometown.
A Fatal Pandemic In Human History Killed Up To 200 Million People
The horror that was the bubonic plague of the 14th century is possibly the most fatal pandemic ever recorded in human history. Up to 200 million people lost their lives in medieval Europe. And the plague presented different symptoms in infected people, including fever, headache, and painful, swollen lesions that looked like they had blood underneath.
During that period, a fascinating report came from some of the infected, claiming they heard strange gurgling noises inside their lesions. It almost made it seem as if the illness were alive.
The Black Death Is Still Around
The bubonic plague, also known as the black death, is still around after several centuries. Although the mortality rate has been significantly reduced because of modern medicine, a few people still die from the illness. It is transmitted from the bite of an infected flea and is still highly contagious.
Right now, not too many people get infected with the plague, and it is treatable using antibiotics. But in the past, they assumed it was from supernatural causes, and many of their cures were ineffective.
Half Of The Murders Committed Go Unsolved
Unfortunately, the most recent data from the Federal Bureau of Intelligence as of 2022 says that half of the murders in the United States go unsolved. That means there’s just a fifty-fifty chance that someone who commits a brutal murder goes scot-free. So, many murderers are still free and among us.
And California, being largely populated, accounts for the country's highest number of cold cases and unsolved homicides. To date, issues such as the Ron Goldman/Nicole Brown double murder and Jack the Ripper remain unsolved.
Homicide Kills Pregnant Women More Than Obstetric Complications
And speaking of murders, it would shock most people that a pregnant woman is two times more likely to be murdered than she is to die of obstetric-related complications. Most of the murders usually result from intimate partner violence and firearms. Add to that, Black women are at a much higher risk.
In fact, simply conceiving a child increases a woman’s chances of death by homicide. And it happens so often that there’s now a requirement in all states to specify this in death certificates.
Way Too Many Children Go Missing Every Day
Up to 2,300 children are reported missing every day in the United States. The reasons could range from abductions to getting lost, stranded, or even running away. But every 40 seconds, approximately one child in the United States goes missing, making one wonder about the safety of kids in the country.
Interestingly, many children who are reported missing are usually taken by a non-custodial family member. Others could have just run away, but strangers are rarely culprits in missing children cases.
Abducted Children Are Killed Quickly, But More Often, They Are Found Safe
Many of these children who go missing eventually turn up safe and unharmed. Their chances of survival are actually pretty high. However, of those who did not survive, almost 90% of them were dead within 24 hours. An even more significant percentage of those dead within 24 hours must have already been dead within three.
Unfortunately, this means that if the intent of kidnapping a child is to harm them, there's little anyone can do to prevent it in such a short time. Most times, it's already too late.
Every 5 Seconds A Less Than 15-Year-Old Child Dies
Yup, that's correct. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) says a child under the age of 15 dies every five seconds across the world. And this happens due to very preventable and treatable conditions, such as pneumonia, neonatal sepsis, diarrhea, and malaria. But half of these deaths occur in newborns.
However, the rest of the kids who die and are not newborns usually die from unintentional injuries and accidents. In fact, these accidents are mostly the reason for lifelong disability in kids.
About 25,000 People Die Of Hunger Daily
As it happens, kids are not the only ones dying daily, although their numbers are significantly more than others. According to the United Nations, 25,000 people die each day. Among them, 10,000 or more are kids, and the primary cause of death is hunger and related causes like malnourishment.
Not everyone has enough food or can afford it. Further studies by the United Nations suggest that the high price of food may still drive 100 million more people into poverty and hunger.
Death From Hunger Is Not Because Food Is Not Enough
To make matters worse, death from hunger doesn't happen because there isn't enough food in the world. It's the way food is distributed that makes people die of hunger. Food distribution is poorly handled, and people don’t have equal access. Not everyone gets enough food; worse still, over a billion tons are wasted yearly.
Additionally, global warming as a result of climate change is making the matter worse. Food production is reducing while the population is rising, occupying land on which crops could be grown.
Babies Were Operated Without Anesthesia Until The ‘80s
You won't believe that the United States previously allowed babies to be operated on without anesthesia. The belief at the time was that the neonates could not feel pain until up to a year old. But that has been proven to be wrong. The consensus now is that the little ones feel even more pain than adults.
It’s still difficult to determine exactly how much pain a neonate is experiencing, but medical practice is working hard to improve the quality of pain relief in this group of people.
Human Zoos Were A Thing In The United States And Other Countries
We’re sure many people like to visit the zoo to see and interact with wildlife. But did you know several countries, including the United States, had human zoos? Stuff like this was more prominent in the 19th and 20th centuries. People will be displayed to the public in a so-called primitive state.
In Tervuren, Belgium, the Royal Museum for Central Africa is right where the first Congolese human zoo once stood. Most of the people displayed in the human zoos were from African countries.
Many People Died In The Human Zoos
The human zoos were, in essence, the highlights of the park’s exhibitions. A small fake village was set up to try and mimic a mostly exaggerated version of their culture and country. Unfortunately, many of the people who spent their lives in these racist zoos also died in those villages.
Over 40,000 people visited these zoos daily during the 1897 World’s Fair. They were housed as one would accommodate animals in a petting zoo and put on display for the European public’s amusement.
The Zoo Even Put A Man On Exhibit Alongside An Orangutan
There were also times in human zoos when they would showcase people without their clothes. Once, they put a man named Ota Benga on an exhibit alongside an orangutan. He had been given a bow and arrow so that he could put on a show for people who were amused when he first made headlines.
The exhibit suggested that those of African descent were more closely evolutionarily linked to the apes than the white Europeans. And the exhibition received a lot of backlash from the black community.
Human Zoos Still Seem To Exist
Interestingly, these human zoos we talk about as ancient history still seem to exist today. For instance, the theme park near Kunming in China displays dwarfs in comic performances. The park is even known as the Kingdom of the Little People and has been criticized heavily for treating dwarfism as humorous.
The dwarf performers sing, dance for visiting tourists, and even act in plays and ballets. Their performance would often feature a Dwarf King wearing ceremonial attire and riding a motorcycle.
The Kingdom Of The Little People Is A Human Zoo With Only Dwarfs
Because this dwarf-themed exhibition park is similar to the human zoos of the past, there have been a lot of controversies. One of the critical differences supporters of this park claim is that the dwarfs are being paid, and employment is being provided for people who would otherwise not be employed.
And some of the dwarfs themselves have attested to enjoying being able to live with other short people. They claim that they feel less lonely at the park and couldn't even find work before it.
Europeans Once Used Medicines Made From Human Corpses
Around the 16th and 17th centuries, many Europeans used medicines that had been conjured up from deceased bodies and claimed to cure a number of illnesses. This practice, also known as medical cannibalism, stemmed from the belief that since the human body could heal itself, it should also heal others.
So, the theory of “like cures like” became a leading belief at the time. Whenever there was an ailment involving a particular part of the body, those parts from corpses were believed to hold the cure.
Medicines Were Made From Stolen Egyptian Mummies
For the medication to be made, the human corpses had to be sourced. Many of them were obtained from stolen Egyptian mummies, and others came from gravediggers who had stolen them from burial sites. The medicines were made into tinctures after the corpses were crumbled, and powders were made out of their skulls.
In fact, a prescription from Egypt called Mummia became a highly demanded drug in all of Europe in the 16th century, and it was believed to be the remedy to cure all ailments.
Ground Mummies Were Used For Paint Color Called Mummy Brown
Apart from crumbling the mummies for medicine, they also ground them for paint. The color became popularly known as mummy brown. The pigment was quite remarkable and stood out for its warm, rich pigment. It wasn't long before it became trendy in 16th-century European painting as it became loved by painters.
The paint is made by mixing white pitch and myrrh with the powdered mummy flesh. And the production of mummy brown paint color continued for centuries until the mid-'60s when the company ran out of mummies.
You Can Feel Impending Doom When Your Life Is Actually In Danger
You should not brush off the feeling that you’re about to die if it ever comes to you. It could actually be true that your life is in danger. That feeling or sense of impending doom is a symptom of some medical issues, including receiving an incompatible blood type during a blood transfusion.
This feeling that death is imminent can occur in other situations like exposure to toxins, mental health disorders, and heart attacks. Most people describe the feeling as a sense of urgency and an inability to settle down.
There Might Be An Aneurysm In Your Brain Right Now, And You Would Have No Idea
A brain aneurysm occurs when a blood vessel in the brain fills up with blood, which is pretty deadly. The scary thing about it is that it often shows no symptoms whatsoever until it bursts. When it does, it can cause a severe headache and lead to a deadly stroke.
So, you could have this unruptured aneurysm right now and not be aware of it. And it could rupture at any moment. The chances of surviving a ruptured aneurysm are not good in the long term.
Cracking Your Neck Could Make You Have A Stroke
Did you know that one could have a stroke because of cracking or popping their neck? Although people could relieve neck pain by cracking their necks, a stroke could occur if an artery in the neck gets torn in the process. Thankfully, this occurrence is pretty rare, but it happens.
You could even further reduce this risk by following safe methods of correctly cracking your neck. For one, learn not to do it too forcefully. And also try not to do it too often.
There’s No Cure For Rabies Once The Virus Takes Hold
The fatal disease known as rabies can quickly spread to pets and people if a rabid animal scratches or bites them. But while there are now vaccines to prevent this viral disease, there is no cure if the condition gets established and starts producing symptoms. In the United States, bats, foxes, and skunks carry the disease.
The mortality rate for the disease is almost 100%, and it is one of the oldest infectious diseases known to man. It still causes the deaths of thousands of people globally.
One Rabies Symptom Is The Fear Of Water
Yikes! Imagine a disease that makes you scared of water and incredibly thirsty. Even if you try to ingest water or just think about doing so, you’ll have a spasm. People called rabies hydrophobia because of this fear of water it elicited. Eventually, dehydration would set in and complicate matters.
This fear of water, however, is not the only symptom. Other earlier symptoms are the usual fever and headache, but later into the disease progression, symptoms could include loss of muscle tone and excessive salivation.
The Cloudy Oysters People Eat Are Full Of Sperm
Are you a fan of oysters? Not all oysters are edible, but the edible ones have been made into some of the most delicious dishes. However, if you’ve eaten a cloudy oyster before, it likely was full of sperm. Male oysters release sperm in a continuous stream, and each batch could contain 2,000 sperm.
One mass oyster group intercourse involving dozens of carnally active oysters turned the water in the harbor where the incident occurred into a cloudy white color from the release of all that sperm.
Do You Know That A Layer Hen’s Male Chick Is Killed At One Day Old?
Layer hens are bred for just one thing: to lay eggs. If any of their eggs hatch into a male chick, those chicks never grow up to produce good chicken meat. So, once the gender of the chick is determined at one day old to be male, the chicks are killed.
The logic behind this is that since they can’t be raised for meat and are incapable of laying eggs, they are useless. They are usually shredded alive, electrocuted, or gassed.
Bestiality Is Legal In Four American States
Do you know what bestiality is? Simply put; it’s a human sleeping with an animal. Four states in America—Hawaii, New Mexico, West Virginia, and Wyoming—have no formal laws against it. It commonly precedes other serious offenses like interpersonal violence and child abuse. But thankfully, two of these states are taking steps to install prohibitory laws.
Both Hawaii and Wyoming have taken steps to outlaw bestiality through proposed measures by their lawmakers. The crime seems to now be punishable with up to five years of jail time.
More Than Half Of Pilots Have Slept Off In The Cockpit
Not the most comforting fact, we know. Sorry about that. But more than 50% of pilots have admitted to sleeping off while in the cockpit of a plane. Laws are being put in place to help avoid this occurrence, including changes to the schedules of pilots so they’re not tired too often.
Pilot tiredness is said to now be three times more threatening to flight safety than other threats. And many of the pilots who reported this tiredness worked for British-based airlines.
Some Co-Pilots Have Woken Up To See The Other Pilot Asleep
To make matters even worse, some pilots who reported falling asleep in the cockpit also said they woke up to find their co-pilot equally asleep. That means the plane was flying itself and no pilot was monitoring it. The situation is so troubling that new rules now say pilots can land an aircraft after being awake for 22 hours.
However, there was a recent case where an Ethiopian Airlines aircraft continued flying on autopilot after both pilots slept off and missed their landing. The pilots were suspended in August 2022.
Bayer Drug Company Created A Medicine That Gave People HIV
In the ‘80s, the famous drug company Bayer developed a blood-clotting drug for hemophilia patients. The drug utilized donated plasma when there was no test for HIV, so thousands of hemophilia patients got the infection. Many lawsuits were filed against Bayer and similar companies, who had to pay lawsuit settlements of up to $600 million.
At least the payment provided about $100k each to the thousands of hemophilia patients who contracted the virus as a result of Bayer’s deliberate negligence when getting blood products from high-risk groups.
Bayer Still Deliberately Sold Infected Drugs To Latin America And Asia
As if it wasn't bad enough that Bayer was deliberately negligent when acquiring donated blood products, they didn't learn any lesson from it. Even after creating a new version that had been treated with heat to kill the AIDS virus, they only sold it to the United States and Europe.
According to reports from the New York Times, they went ahead with selling the contaminated drugs to poor regions like Latin America and Asia for almost a year after a safer alternative was introduced.