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.