6 Ford built a vehicle made of plant materials in 1941 which weighed 1,000 pounds less than a steel car.

Ford was light-years ahead of their time with regards to using sustainable and environment-friendly products for their cars.

They pioneered the bio-plastic awareness movement setting up gigantic exhibitions to demonstrate the potential of plant-based plastics. Cars built partially, (like glove box doors, steering wheels and dashboards) or entirely from these materials (soybean, wood pulp, cotton etc.) were on display.

These cars weighed significantly lesser than steel cars in addition to the dramatic reduction in cost for their production. It seemed Ford was highly successful in garnering a potential market for these bio-cars until petroleum entered the scene as a cheaper alternative. The rest is history.(source)

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7 There is a slum-like resort in South Africa designed to give rich people a taste of hard life.

Yes, this is true.

It is called Shanty Town and is located in a sprawling South African luxury resort that aims to provide its guests with the ‘slum experience’ for an expensive sum. The area was designed with meticulous attention to detail, complete with corrugated metal huts, haphazardly placed windows and outdoor fire-warmers.

Ironically, the actual experience was reported as anything but authentic – the shanties are equipped with running water, electricity and free Wi-Fi making the entire project a cruel mockery of the hardships faced by the poor.

As expected, the establishment received tremendous backlash for being ‘insensitive, tasteless and offensive’ to those below poverty line.(source)

8 Most successful of all the pirate captains was a Chinese prostitute with 80,000 sailors working for her

Her name was Cheng I Sao and she was just as badass as you think.

Thwarting social conventions, she agreed to marry her husband if and only if she was given an equal share in his financial and political power.  Cheng agreed and together they made one fearsome and beautiful pirating couple that struck terror on the high seas.

Cheng passed away in 1807 but his wife boldly took over the reins and somehow managed to amass the biggest fleet of pirate ships – 1,500 with 80,000 sailors to be precise. Within few more years, she had a veritable army of ruffians and unruly sailors under her command enough to put the world’s biggest navies to shame.

At that point in history, the Red Flag Fleet (as her banner was called) was responsible for almost all the piracy that took place in the Southern seas of Asia.(source)

9 The world’s oldest known creature, a mollusc, was 507 years old until scientists killed it by mistake.

You had one job guys.

Discovered on the frigid sea beds of Iceland, Ming, a rare clam species commonly found in the Arctic Isles was the oldest living creature at 507 years until scientists cracked its shell open killing it in the process.

Speculating that the rings inside the clam’s shell (which would be counted to determine its exact age) would have held up better over centuries than the rings outside (which were faint at best), scientists opened its shell and accidentally killed the ancient thing.

According to the team, Ming’s carcass still has a lot to offer to science – especially invaluable data on the changes in Icelandic sea temperatures over the last half-a-millennium.(source)

10 A woman has a blood vessel in her eye that spells out the word ‘Love’.

In an excellent demonstration of the human brain’s ability to recognize patterns in the most unlikeliest of places, Redditor LivingOaks shared an amusing find – a lone blood vessel in his mother’s eyes that literally spells the word ‘Love’. He clarified further that she had a thorough eye examination done and it was neither an anomaly nor a tattoo. The blood vessel is just more noticeable than normal.

The internet was thoroughly amused and contributed its mandatory share of puns like ‘Love at first sight’, after the often used phrase and ‘To write love on her eyes’, a line from Hawthorne Heights’ hit song.(1,2)