To be weird with the weirdness in the world that has been so for way too long is a joy that is different than the most. Being mildly deranged and obviously weird was never wrong, only a different kind of awesome. The world, as you will shortly discover, is an extremely weird place. So, here are some funny, strange, weird and probably a bit smelly facts about it to blow your minds.

1 Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein published a best-selling romance novel that spawned a twenty-episode TV series and a stage musical.

Saddam Hussein, the fifth president of Iraq, was considered a dictator in the political world. The man who was the most feared due to his invasion of Kuwait by claiming to help the Kuwaitis had written a best-selling romance novel. Yes, you read that right! Beyond the entirety of his negative political front, Hussein’s heart resided inside the novel of “Zabibah and the King”. Although the novel was published anonymously in the year 2000, it was later found that ghostwriters had written the book under the direct supervision of Saddam Hussein. The novel comprises of a romance between a powerful ruler and a common girl, Zabibah. Furthermore, the book is a metaphor describing real life issues where the ruler is portrayed to be Hussein and the girl represents the Iraqi people.(source)

2 When monkeys were taught the concept of money, it resulted in the first recorded incident of monkey prostitution.

A study was carried out on the Capuchin Monkey to teach them the concept of money and a little bit about Economics. They were taught to buy fruit and Jell-O by means of silver discs used as currency. The monkeys understood and followed this. They were observed budgeting and following the same laws of economics that we follow. During one chaotic incident, a researcher observed what appeared to be a monkey exchanging a disc for sex. The monkey that was paid for sex immediately traded the silver disc for a grape. Oh, how the Capuchins know their priorities!(source)

3 Rich Romans sometimes made a complicated meal that involved stuffing a chicken inside a duck, then the duck inside a goose, then the goose inside a pig, then the pig inside a cow, and cooking the whole thing together.

Romans weren’t a particularly rich population, but the ones who were rich didn’t back down from showing it off. The biggest way to do so was to organize lavish meals that were extremely difficult to prepare. They made their slaves prepare these fancy dinners and invited friends over to take note of the fanciness. Moreover, they would send slaves to the mountains to get snow to make slushies as refrigerators didn’t exist back then. One such meal consisted of peacock tongues whereas another one consisted of animals inside of animals. Now, doesn’t that sound like some weird animal-ception dish that would probably cause a lot of stomach troubles?(source)

4 There is a 500-year-old statue of a man eating a sack of babies in Bern, Switzerland, and nobody knows why.

Situated in the middle of the city of Bern, Switzerland is an unusually creepy fountain. The fountain has a statue known as the Kindlifresser or the “child eater”. This disturbing piece of art was built in 1546, and no one is sure why. It consists of a man with half of a baby in his mouth and three other distraught looking babies in his sack for possibly later. There are many theories as to what the statue represents but nobody is completely sure. Some believe that it is an expression of anti-Semitism, some believe that it is a representation of Kronos, the Greek Titan who was infamous for eating all six of his children while others believe that it is simply a statue to disciple children in Bern. Regardless of what the actual meaning is, this statue has continued to send shivers down tourist’s spines.(source)

5 Rainbows are called so because they reflect sunlight. There are different types of Rainbows such as the Moonbows, DewBows, and Glory Bows.

A rainbow is the result of reflection, refraction, and dispersion of sunlight forming a spectrum. There are certain variations in the formation of rainbows. The first one is the Moonbow, it is called so because instead of the sunlight being reflected by water droplets, the moonbow is formed by the moonlight. Another variation is the FogBow or the GloryBow. They are formed by a much smaller cloud and fog, and they diffract light extensively. Another one is the DewBow where drops of dew form the rainbow by dispersing light.(source)

6 The Kakapo bird has a strong, pleasant, and musty odor which allows predators to easily locate it. Hence, it is critically endangered.

The Kakapo is a nocturnal bird which has lost its ability to fly. This yellow-green bird, also known as the owl bird, is a unique bird from New Zealand. With its extremely strong sense of smell, this bird can discriminate between odors while foraging. The most striking feature of this bird is the pleasant, musty fragrance that it exudes. This may be a social chemosignal, and so it allows predators to locate this flightless bird. Now, that’s an unusual fact for you!(source)

7 There’s a chemical you can buy on Amazon called bismuth subgallate (brand name “Devrom”). It’s harmless and will make your feces and flatus odorless, or at least much less stinky.

On the subject of odor, what’s the smelliest thing you can think of? Feces? Farts? Well, there’s a chemical called bismuth subgallate that can solve all your poop problems. Devrom is known to deodorize flatulence and stools. This drug is used by people who have an irritable bowel or have had gastrointestinal surgeries. Other than its obviously weird uses, Devrom is used to treat Helicobacter Pylori and is used in wound therapy. Although it is mostly harmless, there are some side effects of consuming this chemical such as temporary darkening of tongue and stools.(source)

8 In rare instances, the gas created due to decomposition of the body after death has enough pressure to cause a decomposing pregnant woman to expel the fetus. This is known as Coffin Birth.

The postmortem fetal extrusion or “coffin birth” is a very rare phenomenon of something similar to a child birth due to the gasses created by the decomposing body of a dead woman. These intra-abdominal gasses are the by-products of metabolism due to the bacteria in the body. When these gasses swell the body up, the uterus of a woman turns inside out, and so if the woman was pregnant, the fetus is expelled out. In fact, this phenomenon isn’t too different from a normal delivery. However, it could not be recreated under experimental conditions. Therefore, the cause is somewhat unclear.(source)

9 There is a single mega-colony of ants that spans three continents, covering much of Europe, the west coast of the U.S., and the west coast of Japan.

If you didn’t already know, ants are awesome! Not only they collect their own food, fight wars, and bury their dead, ants also show the utmost levels of loyalty. Well, the Argentine ants have been found to be living in extensive areas in Europe, the US, and Japan. This colony is so huge that it is compared to only one other species’ population, i.e. humans. In fact, humans have introduced ants unknowingly to most of these parts. Well, it’s found that this specific species of ants refuses to fight each other, no matter where they are from, and that is something we could learn from these awesome ants.(source)

10 The Fairyfly, a type of parasitic wasp, is so absurdly small that its body length can be as small as 130 micrometers, smaller than many single-celled ameba.

The fairyfly (also known as fairy wasp or mymaridae) is a species of microscopic insects. They average at only 0.5 to 1.0 mm (0.020 to 0.039 in) long. They also include the world’s smallest known insect, with a body length of only 0.139 mm (0.0055 in), and the smallest known flying insect, only 0.15 mm (0.0059 in) long. That’s really really tiny!(source)

11 When frogs are swallowing their food, they blink. When they blink, their eyeballs go down to their mouth and push the food down its throat.

Some frogs that do not have tongues just stuff food in their mouth with their hands. In this case, the eyes retract through holes in the skull and push down the food down its throat. The food then moves through the oesophagus into the stomach where digestive enzymes are added, and it is churned up. Who knew eyes could do something like that? Well, good thing we have tongues!(source)

12 Male giraffes assess female fertility by tasting the female’s urine.

Well, this next one is a bit too weird. Since reproduction in giraffes is polygamous, male giraffes assess female fertility by tasting the female’s urine (ew?). The urine detects oestrus, and once it is detected, giraffes try to court the female giraffes by keeping his neck or head on her body, nudge her or lick her tail. Well, at least the courting part makes it better.(source)