11 Romantic Partners Usually Share Traits
The idea that opposites attract is mostly a myth, according to a 2023 study that found romantic partners generally resembled one another across most measured traits. Researchers combined 480 partner correlations from 199 peer-reviewed studies with an analysis of 133 traits among as many as 79,074 male-female couples in the UK Biobank. Partners showed similarities in politics, religion, education, intelligence, age, smoking, and alcohol consumption. Across both analyses, positive correlations greatly outnumbered negative ones, making similarity the rule rather than the exception.
12 Jesus Grew Garlic In Japan
According to a little-known legend from Shingo in northern Japan, Jesus escaped crucifixion, settled there to grow garlic, married a farmer’s daughter named Miyuko, fathered three children, and died at age 106. The story claims that his younger brother Isukiri died on the cross in his place, while Jesus carried one of his brother’s ears and a lock of the Virgin Mary’s hair across Siberia and Alaska during a four-year, 6,000-mile journey back to Japan. He supposedly adopted the name Daitenku Taro Jurai, raised his family, and ministered to people in need before dying naturally. Shingo preserves two burial mounds associated with the legend, and its tourism bureau has staged an annual Christ Festival since 1964.
13 Arizona Red Ghost Was Camel
The Red Ghost legend began in 1883 after a demonic-looking creature allegedly roamed the Arizona frontier and trampled a rancher’s wife to death near Eagle Creek. Witnesses described a huge reddish beast carrying a decaying human skeleton strapped to its back. In 1893, a farmer named Mizoo Hastings shot the animal in his yard and discovered a camel scarred by tightly fastened leather straps, although no one learned why the corpse had been attached. The creature was likely connected to the U.S. Army’s Camel Corps experiment, approved in 1855 after Secretary of War Jefferson Davis proposed using camels for transportation in the arid West.
14 Caffeine Drinks Still Hydrate Bodies
The belief that caffeine automatically dehydrates you is largely a myth. The idea partly came from a 1928 study involving only three people, but later experiments did not reproduce its conclusion. A 2003 research review and a 2014 trial comparing coffee with water in 50 men found that caffeine acts as a mild diuretic mainly when people unaccustomed to it consume large amounts. At moderate levels, the fluid in coffee and tea offsets that effect, allowing caffeinated drinks to hydrate the body similarly to non-caffeinated beverages.
15 Porphyria Symptoms Resemble Vampire Traits
Some forms of porphyria, a rare group of disorders affecting hemoglobin production, can cause severe sun sensitivity, reddish-purple urine, unusual behavior, and skin damage that makes canine teeth appear more prominent. These similarities prompted speculation that porphyria helped inspire vampire folklore.
16 Lobster Prison Riot Story Collapses
The popular story that New England prisoners rioted over being served too much lobster, forcing contracts to limit indentured servants to three lobster meals per week, is a myth. MIT Sea Grant researchers found no colonial law, petition, bill, personal account, or contract containing such a restriction. Boston Gaol, opened in 1635, usually held fewer than 50 prisoners awaiting trial, while those unable to buy food received only bread and water, making an organized lobster revolt unlikely. The jail’s first recorded riot occurred in 1736 over poor living conditions, not lobster, and historians have found no archival evidence supporting any version of the famous tale.
17 Haitian Folklore Has Two Zombies
In Haitian rural folklore, zombies take two forms: the familiar corporeal zombie, which lacks its spirit, and the incorporeal “zombie astral,” which lacks its body. A bokor, or sorcerer, supposedly raises the bodily zombie through necromancy and controls it as a will-less slave. The bokor can instead capture a zombie astral, seal it inside a decorated bottle, and sell it to bring luck, healing, or business success. Together, the two zombies reflect a belief in soul dualism, with one retaining the body and the other retaining the spirit.
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18 Bats See Better Than Believed
Contrary to myth, bats are not blind. Studies have indicated that bats sometimes prefer sight to sound when they are hunting, depending on the situation. Many species do not echolocate at all and instead rely on particularly sharp vision, with some even able to see ultraviolet light.
19 Yule Cat Ate Unrewarded Workers
In Icelandic folklore, a huge cat called Jólaköttur, or the Yule Cat, lurks in the snowy countryside during the Christmas season and eats people who receive no new clothing before Christmas Eve. The threat traditionally encouraged farm workers to finish processing the autumn wool before Christmas. Workers who helped received new clothes, while those who did not became the monster’s supposed prey.
20 Mice Prefer Sweets Over Cheese
Contrary to the familiar myth, mice have no special appetite for cheese and eat it mainly when better options remain unavailable. Given a choice, they generally prefer sweet, high-calorie foods such as fruit and grains. No one knows exactly how the cheese-loving mouse stereotype began, but cheese makes poorer bait than the sugary foods mice favor.
RE: Fact #9 (Ellis Island Never Changed Names) – Many people chose to change their names. Even well into the 20th century, famous people would often switch to stage names to fit in better. Plenty of Jewish performers did this, like Stanley Lieber becoming Stan Lee, or Chaim Witz changing to Gene Simmons.
RE: Fact #38 (Yellowstone Eruption Is Not Overdue) – People say it’s overdue because it follows a schedule, but that timeline is already long gone. Not that it just takes a loud noise to set it off.
RE: Fact #9 (Ellis Island Never Changed Names) – All my Italian relatives came through Ellis Island and none of them changed their names there. But when the census taker showed up every ten years, it was a different family name every time, Milano, Milone, Melons… neither of my great-grandparents could read or write.
RE: Fact #10 (Vampires Counted Seeds Until Sunrise) – I recall Mulder escaping a vampire by knocking over a bowl of seeds or something similar.
RE: Fact #38 (Yellowstone Eruption Is Not Overdue) – I don’t see why those two points are mutually exclusive. Something can be overdue to happen while not actually being ready to happen. The idea that it could blow “at any moment” might be a myth, but that doesn’t really change whether the eruption itself is overdue.
RE: Fact #8 (Hartlepool Monkey Faced Spy Trial) – I’m not saying the event didn’t happen, but I find it hard to believe they actually thought a monkey was a Frenchman. It feels more like they might have hanged the monkey as a symbolic effigy for France. Just my take, though.
RE: Fact #42 (Green Candy Mocked Aphrodisiac Rumor) – >The rumor that these green candies are an aphrodisiac apparently started or first gained prominence in the 1970s, when students reportedly picked the green ones out of packages to feed to the objects of their desires.Why the green M&Ms were attributed with this power is unknown: perhaps it was because the color green has always been associated with healing and fertility.The same “powers” have also been claimed of other candies, such as green jelly beans and gummi bears. >M&M/MARS finally started using the mythical image associated with green M&Ms to its advantage by running an “Is it true what they say about green ones?” advertising campaign and introducing the vampy “Green” M&M character: >After decades of skirting urban myth, M&M/Mars is cashing in on the legendary aphrodisiac powers of green M&Ms. Boasting bedroom eyes and luscious lips, Green, the M&M character introduced in 1997, has been vamping across movie and TV screens and magazine pages for an ad campaign suggestively titled, “What is it about the Green Ones?” The spots, which will run through the fall, are accompanied by green M&Ms stamped with Green’s come-hither mug, tucked into M&M bags starting [in September 2001].
RE: Fact #3 (Fish Feel Pain And Suffer) – My black moor used to greet me when I came home. I’d put my hand in the tank and he’d rub against it just like a cat.
RE: Fact #1 (Simeulue Folklore Saved Island Residents) – This reminds me of a local mayor who was disgraced and nearly bankrupted his town to build a massive sea wall. He knew from childhood flood memories and hill markings exactly how high the water could get. After the 2011 tsunami, that wall actually saved the town and people started leaving flowers on his grave.
RE: Fact #49 (Televisions Do Not Ruin Eyesight) – Staring at anything up close for a long time is hard on your eyes. It’s definitely bad for kids, especially since they’re still developing. Some people argue this is why myopia correlates with higher intelligence, smart kids spend way more time reading.
RE: Fact #2 (Raymond Robinson Inspired Green Man) – Charlie No-Face. My dad grew up about 20 miles from him and said he’d always buy him a beer when he saw him. He said the guy was great.
RE: Fact #21 (Okiku Inspired The Ring Ghost) – The lesson here: don’t toss women who reject your advances down a well, not because it’s wrong, but because they might end up haunting your life forever.
RE: Fact #18 (Bats See Better Than Believed) – Actually, most mammals can see UV light. Unfortunately, UV light is so high-energy that it can cause cancer in the eye. Over time, humans and other mammals evolved a layer of skin that absorbs UV light before it hits the retina, which is why we don’t usually see it. People who have certain eye surgeries have this layer removed and can actually see UV light afterward.
RE: Fact #29 (Popeye Praised Spinach’s Vitamin A) – I always thought that was just a marketing ploy to get kids to eat their green vegetables.
RE: Fact #34 (Van Gogh Gave Maid Ear) – Also, contrary to popular belief, Van Gogh didn’t cut off his ear because of depression. He did it in a rage after a major fight with his friend and fellow painter, Paul Gauguin.
RE: Fact #47 (English Teeth Defy American Stereotype) – I think it’s just that British actors have a higher tolerance for natural imperfections than Hollywood does.
RE: Fact #40 (Nazi Army Depended On Horses) – I can see a Pixar movie here. A horse gets drafted into the German army after working on a Polish farm. At first, he’s scared, but he’s told it’s just like farm work. He starts off hauling food and medical supplies, which doesn’t seem too bad. Then he ends up on the front lines pulling a mortar. When his horse friends get hurt, he realizes he’s on the wrong side, bucks, and runs off. He tries to get back home while causing chaos for his handlers and dodging cavalry. He ends up helping some partisans, and in the climax, they cross a frozen lake where the cavalry falls through. By spring, he’s back with his farming family just in time for planting.
RE: Fact #19 (Yule Cat Ate Unrewarded Workers) – The Yule Cat is actually the pet of a family of trolls tied to Christmas. The mother, Gryla, eats naughty children. There are also 13 sons who visit on different days and leave presents, but each has an annoying personality reflected in their names, like Hurðaskellir (Door Slammer), Bjúgnakrækir (Sausage Swiper), and Gáttaþefur (Door Sniffer). It’s a fun set of traditions, though they involve a worrying amount of child-eating.
RE: Fact #11 (Romantic Partners Usually Share Traits) – It’s hard to imagine how this wouldn’t be the case, given how people generally meet one another. A more interesting question is whether successful couples tend to have distinct differences relative to their shared social circle.