Another April Fools’ Day has come and gone. Like every other year, we saw people and corporations come up with elaborate April Fools’ pranks. Some were so well-thought out that many actually fell for them.

Some of these successful ruses were even unveiled before April Fools’ Day to make them look more truthful. Other pranks weren’t so good and reeked of April foolery from afar. Here are ten interesting April Fools’ Day pranks we saw this year.

10 Tinder Height Verification

April Fools’ Day jokes issued before April 1 are often more difficult to detect, so it’s little wonder that so many people fell for Tinder’s height verification hoax.

On March 29, Tinder published a blog post in which it informed users about its plan to introduce a Height Verification Badge (HVB) to end what it called “height fishing.” It said male users often claimed they were taller than they really were. The HVB would stop that.

Tinder said male users would input their height into the app and take a picture of themselves standing beside a commercial building. Then Tinder would use some undisclosed method to verify their real height. Users get the height verification badge if they are telling the truth.

Tinder said the update was targeted at people shorter than 183 centimeters (6′), since they were the most likely to overreport their height. It added that only 14.5 percent of American men are over 183 centimeters, so it expected an 80-percent reduction in the number of users claiming to be over 183 centimeters.^[1]

Several male users condemned the badge. One man even requested for a weight verification badge to identify women who used old pictures and lied about their weights. Another man tweeted that the badge was an attack on men and unacceptable. This continued until April Fools’ Day, when Tinder revealed the whole thing was a prank.

It is surprising that a lot of users fell for the prank, even though the blog post ended with, “Tinder’s HVB is coming soon to a phone near you.” This was probably because the post was published three days before April Fools’ Day. Tinder also went all out for the prank and even created a video tutorial explaining how the new height verification tool worked.

9 Roku Pet Remote

Roku also pulled an elaborate April Fools’ Day prank. Like Tinder, it also published a blog post three days before April 1.

On March 29, Roku introduced a new product it called the Roku Press Paws Remote for dogs. Roku said it created the product after a study revealed that users sometimes left their televisions on to entertain their dogs while they were away.

However, the dogs often got bored with watching whatever their owners forced them to watch. They could not switch channels because they cannot use the human remote. So Roku came up with a special dog remote with paw-shaped buttons. It has shortcut buttons that switch to preprogrammed channels like Animal Planet.

Roku also claimed the remote has a Bark Assistant Technology that allows dogs to pause, play, or mute the television. A third feature was a built-in Sub-WOOFer that produces high-frequency sounds for the dog. Roku mentioned the remote would go on sale on April 1, 2019, for “$€£19.99.”^[2]

8 Google Tulip Allows People Talk To Their Plants

On April Fools’ Day, Google revealed it would be adding a program it calls Google Tulip to Google Assistant. The new program would allow users talk to their plants, especially tulips, through the Google Assistant. The program also allows humans to understand whatever their tulips are saying. Google said Google Tulip was jointly developed by its engineers and a team from Wageningen University & Research, Netherlands.

Google claimed to have created the program after observing that tulips listened to human conversations and talked to other tulips and even humans. Google said the tulip plants often asked humans for sunlight and water. However, humans do not hear because we do not understand the tulips’ language, which Google calls Tulipish.^[3]

7 LEGO Find My Brick App

The LEGO Group is one company that has been creating April Fools’ pranks people wish were real. Last year, we mentioned that they claimed to have created the VacuSort, a vacuum cleaner that picks up LEGO bricks scattered on the floor. Many people fell for the prank but later asked LEGO to really create the vacuum when they realized it was a hoax.

This year, LEGO said it had created a Find My Brick app that allows users to find LEGO bricks by color. Users must open the app, click on any color of brick they want to find, and aim their phone’s camera at a pile of LEGO bricks. The app highlights every brick of the selected color in the pile.

People fell for the app, just as they did with VacuSort. Yet again, they asked the LEGO Group to create the app for real when it was revealed to be a hoax. An augmented reality (AR) engineer even offered to help build the app.^[4]

6 Google Maps Snake Game

Google added a Snake game to Google Maps for April Fools’ Day this year. Interestingly, it can actually be played. The game is available on the Google Maps app or on a standalone website Google set up for that purpose.

Players are required to navigate a snake through popular cities like London, Sydney, and Tokyo, without running outside the map. They can also pick up passengers to earn more points. The game has been available since the end of March, and Google says it will be available for a week.^[5]

5 Ant Financial’s Fraud-Busting Phone

Ant Financial is an affiliate of the Chinese Alibaba Group. It handles payments for the group and used to be called Alipay. It joined the April Fools’ Day fad this year when it announced the launching of the “Fraud-Busting intelli-Phone” (FBi-Phone). The initialism is clearly a pun on the FBI.

Ant Financial said the FBi-Phone allows users to identify scammers and counterfeit products. It claimed the phone could detect counterfeit products, including cooking oil, wine, and Swiss watches, using its infrared and smell sensors.

It also claimed that the phone could identify human and robot scammers using artificial intelligence, blockchain technology, cognitive computing, pattern recognition, and several other unnamed technologies. If the caller is a robot, a female Ant Financial robot will engage the offending robot in conversation while calling the police.

To remove doubts that the announcement was an April Fools’ Day prank, Ant Financial mentioned that it had created a real product while other companies were coming up with elaborate pranks for April Fools’ Day. However, it subtly indicated that it was a joke when it mentioned that the phone would be available for sale “someday.”^[6]

4 Google’s Screen Cleaner Update

Google had lots of April Fools’ Day pranks lined up for us this year. On April 1, it announced its plan to release an update called Screen Cleaner to its file manager app, Files by Google. The Screen Cleaner would allow users clean the physical screen of their phone with just the click of a button.

Google claimed the Screen Cleaner works by creating “haptic micromovement pulses” to displace grease, smudges, and dirt on phone screens. Thereafter, the app creates a magnetic field around the phone to prevent dust from gathering on its surface. It also has a pleasurable smell.^[7]

3 Adobe Smell Allows Users To Smell Your Logo

Adobe joined the April Fools’ Day bandwagon this year when it revealed that users of Adobe Capture could use the app to capture scents that could be added to logos. Just imagine smelling McDonald’s fries when you see the McDonald’s logo on your phone.

In a blog post published on April 1, Adobe claimed it had uploaded thousands of scents on the Adobe Capture app, using its Adobe Scent-sei technology. Users could mix these scents to create a unique smell for their logo.

Users willing to create a new scent are required to open the Adobe Capture app and click on Smells. Then they take a picture of the product containing the scent. They adjust a slider to control the intensity of the smell and click on the capture button when they were satisfied.

The app creates the smell by finding or mixing, if necessary, the scents preloaded by Adobe. Users can preview the scent by smelling their phone’s charging port. Adobe added that the scent could then be used in apps that supported scents.^[8]

2 T-Mobile BoothE

On April 1, T-Mobile published a blog post to introduce the T-Mobile BoothE, a soundproof phone booth exclusive to T-Mobile users. The phone booth allows users make calls in private and in total quiet. It also has charging facilities complete with charging cords for people wanting to juice up their batteries.

T-Mobile added that the booths also have a trademarked screen that can be connected to the phone. The screen can be used for browsing or video calling. It also has pictures of different locations that can be used as backgrounds for selfies.

The prank was promoted by John Legere, the CEO of T-Mobile US, who tweeted that T-Mobile will be rolling out sample booths soon. He added that AT&T and Verizon customers could try the sample booths even though it was supposed to be exclusive to T-Mobile users.

Many people fell for the elaborate prank. It was so successful that T-Mobile later mentioned it would also release the Mobile EditionE, a mobile portable version that could be worn over the head.^[9]

1 OnePlus Electric Car

OnePlus is a Chinese phone maker trying to break into the US phone market. So it’s no surprise that they joined the April Fools’ Day fun.

On March 29, OnePlus announced it was working on an electric car it called the Warp Car. It said the automobile could travel all day with just 20 minutes of charging. It was also 3-D printed, and users could print the whole car or just make parts with their 3-D printer.

OnePlus added that the car lacks any internal or external lights. Instead, users will switch on their phone’s flashlight and put it inside the phone holder, where several tunnels and mirrors will reflect the light inside and outside the vehicle.

OnePlus added that the steering can be replaced with a smartphone, and users will only need to swipe to control their car. The steering wheel also has a button that allows the driver to take selfies on the move.

OnePlus did not release full pictures of the car, just black, silhouette-like images that only showed its supposed curves. Some readers realized it was a prank after OnePlus recommended that the car only be used by people between 168 centimeters (5’6″) and 173 centimeters (5’8″) tall. It said the limitation was caused by the “positioning of the pedals.”^[10]

Long before we started giving cards to girls to let them know that we choo-choo-choose them, the Romans were celebrating love in their own way. Every February 15, they held Lupercalia—the original Valentine’s Day.

The holiday has gone through a few changes over the past few thousand years. But don’t worry—if you’re hoping to celebrate a truly traditional Valentine’s Day this year, has you covered. We’ll let you know everything you need to do.

10 The Murdering Of The Cute Puppies

On the original Valentine’s Day, the Romans kicked off the festivities by dragging two goats and a puppy into a cave and letting a group of cultish priests ritually slaughter them. The instructions were specific about the puppy part. It couldn’t be a mature dog—it had to be an adorable baby puppy.

Even the Romans didn’t really understand why they had to kill a puppy. The best sources we have on the holiday were written centuries after it began. By then, Lupercalia was just an old tradition and the Romans writing about it make it clear that they didn’t understand any of it.

Plutarch was pretty sure that they stole the puppy-killing thing from the Greeks. Based on how Plutarch described them, the Greeks were puppy-killing aficionados. He said that the Greeks killed puppies in rituals so often that they had a word for it: periskulakismoi (“purification by puppy”). This word has also been translated in some real academic papers that people with PhDs were paid to write as “pupprification.”

But even that’s just a theory. By the time Plutarch came around, nobody really knew why they were killing puppies—they were just following tradition. He had another theory, though. Pure spite. “Is it that the dogs bark at the Luperci [priests],” Plutarch theorized, “and annoy them?”

9 The Feigning Of Laughter Of The Blood-Soaked Boys

After the puppies and the goats were killed, two young noble boys were brought into the cave to do something that creeped the hell out of the Christians, who ended up banning this festival.

The priests would touch their knives to the heads of the boys, staining the boys’ heads with blood. Then the priests would dip wool in milk and rub it on the boys’ heads. That was kind of strange, but what really made this unnerving was what came next: With milk and blood streaking down their heads, the boys were required to feign laughter.

Again, the Romans had no idea why they were making creepy, blood-stained children laugh in a dark cave. The Romans believed that it was a purification ritual, but even that was just a theory. It was just a tradition that they’d been following for as long as they could remember, and they weren’t about to break it.

After this, though, came the main event. The priests would make leather thongs out of the goats, the boys would strip naked, and the real games would begin.

8 The Streaking Of The Thong-Carrying Men

“At this time, many of the noble youth and of the magistrates run up and down through the city naked,” Plutarch tells us, “striking those they meet with shaggy thongs.”

These naked men would be covered in oil first. The lower class wasn’t allowed to do this. These were the highest-ranking and most dignified men in the city. People like Mark Antony would strip naked, oil up, and run down the streets.

Once they were good and oily, they’d run around hitting people with shaggy thongs. In particular, they’d target women, who would pretend to run from it. But secretly, the women would try to get hit with the thongs. If you got hit with a thong, the Romans believed, you would become more fertile. So women would bare their backs and offer up their hands in the hopes that naked oily men would whip them.

Those thongs, by the way, were called februare—and they were named before the month. That’s right—the entire month of February is named after magical potency thongs.

7 The Eating Of The Entrails On A Stick

Lupercalia also involved a feast. Although when it came to food, it wasn’t exactly the best holiday. Even Roman poetry calls the feast of Lupercalia “scanty”—and with good cause. The priests would put the entrails of the sacrificed goats on willow spits, cook them up, and feed them to a crowd of people.

Splitting two goats between all the citizens of Rome probably didn’t extend that far, but that wasn’t all they got. Some vestal virgins would also burn salt cakes, which seem to have been something like ancient pancakes. But that was the feast—a tiny bit of goat entrail on a stick and some burned cakes.

None of that might seem particularly appealing, which is probably why the Romans served one more dish: copious amounts of alcohol. For the rest of the day, the people of Rome would be drunk out of their minds.

6 The Hooking Up Of The Swingers

In some parts of Rome, they would take the whole fertility ritual a bit further. Eligible young women hoping to get pregnant would write their names on clay tablets and place the tablets in a jar. Then the men would draw a name at random. Two completely random strangers would be hooked up and be together for the rest of the festival.

Some of the details on this are a bit vague and inconsistent, but it seems like these two weren’t just going on a blind date. The man was there to make the woman’s dream of having a baby a reality. Exactly how long they stuck together seems to vary. Some say they just spent the festival together. But according to others, those two would be sexual partners for the next year.

5 The Airing Of Grievances

Lupercalia had its own songs, too. The lyrics have been lost to time, but we have enough of a description to get a pretty good picture of them. For one thing, we don’t have any records that mention the songs without using the words “licentious” or “obscene.”

At least by the fifth century AD, people at the festival would break into filthy, vulgar songs that described every bad thing their neighbors had done. If you had an affair or got caught at a brothel, your neighbors would come out on Lupercalia and sing a song about your sexcapades for everyone to hear.

The idea was to shame people into good behavior. But as far as the Pope was concerned, the songs tended to come across more as celebrations than criticisms. When they got the chance to talk about what their neighbors had been up to, the Romans apparently got a bit carried away.

4 The Celebration Of The Horny God

Like any good festival, Lupercalia had its classic stories. One was the classic Lupercalia story of Faunus, which Ovid called “an old tale full of laughter.”

Faunus sees Hercules walking with his mistress and declares, “She will be my passion!” This, however, is Rome. So that doesn’t mean he is going to write her love notes and ask her on a date. Instead, he plans on waiting until she’s asleep, sneaking into her house, and going wild.

Faunus sneaks into the girl’s home, unaware that she had covered up Hercules with her own clothes before she went to sleep. So Faunus just starts groping the mound that looks like her clothes. He feels something strange and recoils. As Ovid describes it, someone “will draw back his foot on seeing a snake”—which is more or less what Faunus realized he was grabbing.

Hercules gets up, Faunus falls down, and everyone realizes that Faunus just tried to sexually assault Hercules’s mistress. But nobody gets the slightest bit upset. “Hercules laughed,” Ovid tells us, “as did all who saw him lying there, and the Lydian girl laughed, too.”

According to Ovid, men ran naked on Lupercalia to honor Faunus’s failed attempt at sexual assault. “So the god hates clothes that trick the eye!” Ovid wrote, “and calls the naked to his rites.”

3 The Uncertainty Over Whom You Are Worshiping

The Romans would spend Lupercalia telling stories about Faunus, but he wasn’t actually the god of the holiday. The holiday was called Lupercalia. It was held in Lupercal Cave by Luperci priests. So obviously, it was dedicated to the god Lupercus. The thing is, nobody—including the Luperci priests—actually knew who Lupercus was.

They had a whole cult dedicated to this god, but they didn’t know what he stood for. Lupercalia was an old farming religion. Nobody could remember when the holiday started, let alone why. They were just doing what their parents had done before them.

Their only hint was a statue of a naked man in a goatskin girdle outside Lupercal Cave. The Romans also figured that he probably had something to do with farmers. But that was it—that was all they knew. Lupercus wore a girdle, and that was enough for people to dedicate their lives to being his priests.

2 The Crowning Of Julius Caesar

A major moment in the life of Julius Caesar happened during Lupercalia. When Mark Antony put a wreath on Caesar’s head and offered him the throne, it wasn’t just any day—it was Lupercalia. When you realize that, you realize it went down a bit differently from how you’ve always pictured it.

History specifically states that Caesar was watching the festivities when it happened. But he wasn’t watching people eat; we’re specifically told that he was watching naked, oily, young men run down the streets when Mark Antony came over to offer Caesar the throne.

Unlike Caesar, though, Mark Antony wasn’t just a spectator. He was participating. Plutarch describes him as “one of the runners in the sacred race,” which means that he didn’t walk over to Julius Caesar wearing a tunic. Antony walked over completely naked, holding a shaggy thong in one hand and a laurel wreath in the other.

So, next time your local drama club puts on a production of Julius Caesar, you can make sure they get the costumes right.

1 The Killing Of People Named Valentine

The last Lupercalia was held at the end of the fifth century. By then, Christianity had taken over Rome, and Lupercalia was one of the few Roman holidays that was still being celebrated. Pope Gelasius ended it, though, declaring that it was a pagan ritual full of blood sacrifice that glorified sex.

Most of this ritual had been stopped anyway. Although we don’t know all the details of how it was celebrated in the fifth century, we do know that the Pope challenged the Romans who complained to actually do that “running around naked” part—and none were willing to do it.

The Romans weren’t too happy about losing a festival, though, so a new festival came into existence: St. Valentine’s Day. Well, technically, the Pope replaced Lupercalia with the slightly less popular “Feast of the Purification of The Blessed Virgin Mary,” but eventually, it became Valentine’s Day.

The holiday got the name St. Valentine’s Day because people named Valentine had a strange habit of dying on February 14. Two separate Valentines had already died on that date, so they created St. Valentine’s Day—a day to remember a saint who got beheaded.

Over the next 1,500 years, some things changed. Instead of putting their names in jars, women got cards. Instead of hitting women with girdles, men gave them flowers. But the holiday we celebrate today got its start here.

The Dolomites in Italy are a paradise for hikers and come complete with high peaks and vivid viewpoints. Each of the hikes here can be completed in a single day. Don’t worry about any special equipment since there are no via ferratas.  

Some of the less lengthy hikes can be hiked together and completed in one day. Unless otherwise noted, hike distances are round trip. The hiking season here in the Dolomites is from the month of June through the month of September, the trails are clear of snow. 

However, by the middle of October, the first snow can already start to fall, thus ending the hiking season. Having noted all that, get ready to take notes. Here are the 15 best day hikes in the Dolomites.

15 Best Day Hikes In The Dolomites

1. The Tofana Di Mezzo Hike

Tofana di Mezzo is one of the best places to get a view of the Dolomites from the shortest hiking trail. This easy trail is only 0.3 kilometers in length, still, it scales a cliff edge and includes a slippery ascent of 55 meters to the mountain’s peak. In order to reach the hiking trail, you will need to climb staircases that begin at the area’s highest cable car station, Cima Tofana.

You can scramble up the short but steep hill to Tofana di Mezzo from the hiking trail and enjoy incredible 360° views of the impressive Dolomites. Give yourself half an hour. Remember, if you have a fear of heights, you might want to forget this one. 

2. The Seceda Hike

Take the local cable car to Seceda, in Val Gardena to complete this 1.3-kilometer loop trail. You simply hike uphill to the viewpoint. The total ascent here is 110 meters.  

Hike down the trail along the ridgeline towards the peaks. When you arrive at the trail junction, head back to the station. You will need between half an hour to 45 minutes.

3. The Cinque Torri Hike

Take the convenient, quick chairlift in Cortina d’Ampezzo to the well-known hiking and rock climbing spot, Cinque Torri. Hike around in this open-air museum complete with bunkers and trenches from WWII. The chairlift and this educational area make it great for kids as it’s an easy, 1.9-kilometer loop with an ascent of 130 meters and everyone learns a bit about history here too.  Give yourself an hour for this one. If you have the time and energy, combine this hike with the Rifugio Averau and Rifugio Nuvolau hikes and make a day of it.

4. The Cadini Di Misurina Hike

This is a gorgeous, short, and easy hike not far from the Tre Cime Naturepark and Cortina d’Ampezzo. It begins at the well-known Rifugio Auronzo and ends at the popular Cadini di Misurina viewpoint. It has a length of 3.2 kilometers.  

Along with enjoying the view of the Cadini di Misurina, hiking this trail also allows you to see the beautiful “backside” of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. This trek has a total ascent of 210 meters. You will need between one and two hours to complete it. What’s more? If you enjoy short hikes but don’t like crowds, this is yet another reason to hit the trail here.

5. The Lago Di Braies Loop Hike

The lovely Lago di Braies is a lake located in Fanes-Sennes-Brais Nature Park, South Tyrol. It is nigh-famous for its majestic mountain backdrop and its clear aquamarine water. Camera bugs and hikers both enjoy this short, easy hike. 

This hike has a total ascent of 100 meters. It can be completed in between one and a half and two hours. The loop around the shimmering, aquamarine lake is also considered family-friendly. The distance of the loop is 3.7 kilometers and offers incredible views of the lake from all angles.

6. The Lagazuoi To Falzarego Pass Hike

This easy hike in Cortina d’Ampezzo starts with a cable car ride from the historic Falzarego Pass to the Lagazuoi, one of the many mountain peaks here. The view from the upper cable car station is phenomenal. There are a number of hiking trails that run through Lagazuoi.

You hike downhill from the mountain peak to your vehicle which you have hopefully parked at the Falzarego Pass. The distance is a total of four kilometers from point to point. The elevation loss is 650 meters.

Allow yourself between two to three hours to complete this attractive trek. From the trail, you will see Averau, the Cinque Torri, Croda da Lago, Gran Diedro, and Nuvolau. It’s family-friendly too. The best time to go is from June through September.

7. The Rifugio Averau And Rifugio Nuvolau Hike

If you’d enjoy a hike in Cortina d’Ampezzo that comes complete with a drink or meal with an unforgettable view, this hike is for you! The hike is 4 kilometers long and is rated easy. The total ascent is 335 meters and it takes about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete plus count on some additional time at the rifugios.

The hike starts at Rifugio Averau which reportedly serves some of the best pasta dishes in the Dolomites. From here, you hike past Rifugio Nuvolau which sits atop Mount Nuvolau. Here, at an impressive elevation of 2,575 meters, you can enjoy 360-degree views of the mountain peaks. Hopefully, you’re lucky enough to complete the hike on a clear day. Have lunch on the outdoor terrace, and make a meal a memory! 

8. The Piz Boe Hike

This hike in Val Gardena starts at Passo Pordoi. From there you ride the cable car to Sass Pordoi. From there, it is a comparatively short yet nevertheless moderately strenuous hike with a total ascent of 430 meters. Remember, this summit of Piz Boè is the highest peak in the Sella Group. Enjoy the panoramic views from here. They are said to be breathtaking and well worth the effort. Allow yourselves between two and four hours for this noteworthy hike.

The best time to take this hike is always early in the day when there are fewer chances of any crowds. The best time of the year to do it is between the end of June and the end of September. If you wish to avoid any remaining snow, wait until September, for sure!

9. The Cinque Torri And The Rifugio Averau And Rifugio Nuvolau Hikes

Combine two of arguably the best day hikes here into a slightly long but more epic hiking adventure. This combo hike in Cortina d’Ampezzo is an exceptionally good idea if you only have a single day here in the Dolomites. Despite the fact that you are combining two treks, the total distance is still relatively short at only six kilometers so it’s still workable.

Rated easy to moderate, this two-trek hike has a total ascent of 465 meters. Allow yourself between two and a half to three hours to complete this hike and don’t forget to plan on spending additional time at the popular rifugios. The views are no less than gorgeous, you get a great meal and can enjoy memorable views of the Dolomites.

10. The Alpe Di Siusi Hike

Alpe di Siusi in the Dolomites is Europe’s highest alpine meadow. It offers travelers wonderful views and plenty of natural beauty. With cabins, hotels, and rifugios scattered ‘cross the landscape, there are several options in terms of accommodations.

Perhaps the best way to enjoy the area is to take this hike from comfy Compatsch to striking Saltria. The total distance of this adventure is under seven kilometers. This easy, downhill hike includes a 260-meter descent.    

You will need between two and three hours here plus whatever time you wish to spend at the local rifugios. Saltria is the lowest point, and you can take a bus ride back to the starting point at Compatsch and avoid a lengthy, unnecessary hike up again. Need more? The hillsides here are rife with more biking and hiking trails.

11. The Tre Cime Di Lavaredo Hike

One of the best hikes in the Dolomites is the loop around the triple peaks of Tre Cime di Lavaredo. These peaks are the symbol of the Dolomites UNESCO World Heritage Site. The hike is an essential one in the Dolomites and is 8.8 kilometers long with a total ascent of 425 meters. It takes about 2.5 to five hours to complete and is rated as moderate in difficulty. The hike is located near Cortina d’Ampezzo.

This is a loop hike that takes you around the trio of huge rock pillars. What’s more, you can only see the nigh-iconic north faces from this specific hiking trail. Visit in the summer and you’ll also enjoy seeing a landscape carpeted with wildflowers. This trail also offers numerous detours to alpine lakes and additional viewpoints.

12. The Adolf Munkel Weg To Geisler Alm Hike

The Adolf Munkel Weg Trail is a point-to-point hiking trail in Val di Funes that runs right along the base of the awesome Odle-Geisler mountain group. The hike is actually almost 10 kilometers with a total ascent of 440 meters and is officially rated as moderate in difficulty. Give yourself between four and six hours for this one so you can take a break at the huts.  

To make the trek more manageable, some hikers have shortened it and actually turned it into a loop hike. They start and end the hike from one parking lot. While you will be privy to some incredible views of the mountains and can visit a couple of rifugios, some veteran visitors claim the major drawing point here is just enjoying lunch at a mountain hut.

13. The Lago Di Sorapis Hike

Also known as the Lake Sorapis hike, you will discover the trailhead just a short drive away from Cortina d’Ampezzo. However, if you plan to hike it in the summer, be prepared to deal with crowds. While most hikers go out and back on the popular main trail, you can actually make this a much quieter loop trail hike–Lago di Sorapis and Forcella Marcuoira–if you wish.  Thus, depending on your choice, the distance fluctuates between 11.6 to 12.7 kilometers and the total ascent of will be between 460 meters to 775 meters. Thus, the hike can be between moderate and strenuous and require between three to seven hours to complete.

14. The Lago Federa And Croda Dal Lago Circuit Hike

The Croda da Lago Circuit hike is possibly one of the most underrated and interesting hikes in all of the Dolomites. This loop trail in Cortina d’Ampezzo leads you around the Croda da Lago mountains, has a total distance of 12.8 kilometers and a total ascent of 900 meters. Pencil in between 4.5 and six hours for this moderate to strenuous trek.

The trail takes you through verdant woods and on your way to the alpine lake, Lago Federa, you will also enjoy both panoramic and close-up views of Croda da Lago. This hike is essentially a much less crowded hike that offers stunning views. During the summer months, the Dolomites can be a busy place to visit, but this trail is an exception.   

15. The Puez-Odle Altopiano Hike

This point-to-point hike has a total distance of 17 kilometers along some of the Dolomites’ highest mountain peaks. Your journey begins with a comfy cable car ride that takes you up into the mountains, shaving off a good portion of your climb. This hike in Val Gardena includes a total descent of 1,500 meters and 850 meters of climbing.  

Count on spending between six to nine hours on this one. It is rated as strenuous but some say that both the amount of climbing and the length of the trek are “just enough” to make the adventure welcomingly challenging. Additionally, the jaw-dropping panoramic views while you hike in these high peaks are an ample reward for the effort. Some hikers say this is not only one of the best day hikes in the Dolomites but in the entire country. 

]]> https://listorati.com/15-best-day-hikes-in-the-dolomites/feed/ 0 12221 https://listorati.com/top-10-movies-you-need-to-watch-if-having-a-bad-day/ https://listorati.com/top-10-movies-you-need-to-watch-if-having-a-bad-day/#respond Wed, 01 May 2024 04:30:24 +0000 https://listorati.com/top-10-movies-you-need-to-watch-if-having-a-bad-day/

Admit it, movies make life beautiful! But it also strongly depends on what kind of movies you watch. Movies can ruin your life too, if they are the wrong kind! Some movies leave an imprint on your mind forever and kind of stick along. Whenever you find your favorite movie being played on the television while scrolling through channels, you start watching it even if you had a hundred times before.

Why? Because that movie reminds you of the good stretch you had watching it the previous time- it kind of carries you away! Here are 10 of some hundreds of movies you need to watch if you’re having a bad day. Trust me, they Will do justice to your mood as they do to mine!

10- Hot Rod

Starring Andy Samberg and Isla Fisher, the First look to this movie could make you think what a cheesy flick, with the goofy teenage wannabees and their lame stunts going wrong. But as you proceed, it will clobber your inner critic until you get to love it.

You will learn to love all the weirdness of the wannabe stunt man with a mission who plays the lead and his bonding with the people around him with an utter sprinkle of stupidity. If you are looking for good-looking macho boys doing cool stuff, this movie could disappoint you! The boys in the movie teach that perfection is not needed in doing something cool.

See also; Top 10 Highest Grossing Hollywood Movies.

9- We Bought a Zoo

Based on a True Story, it is a Perfect Family movie starring Matt Damon and Scarlett Johansson in the lead. The story is all about Bonding, Love, Loss and Zoo Animals! If you are an animal lover, this movie is a huge go- and even if you are not, at least give it a try and it won’t disappoint you.

It will convince you that all things come at a right time and its never late to change what you can’t accept either accept what you can’t change. If the movie has to be defined in one word; Heartwarming!

See also; Top 10 Most Watched Movies of All Time.

8- Let’s be Cops

Now this movie might be PG rated but it’s a must watch. It’s about what best pals make you do- they make you impersonate a cop and it doesn’t even feel wrong- at least for a time being! This movie will give you goosebumps and chuckles, all at the same time.

Sometimes doing something wrong takes you to the right way where you stick forever, content and satisfied. Committing a felony rarely gets you somewhere safe but this movie had its own hilariously scary ways.

See Also; Top 10 Best Romantic Comedies Ever Made!

7- Little Miss Sunshine

A delightful and surprisingly moving movie with a great work form the entire cast which includes Greg Kinnear, Abigail Breslin and Steve Carell. Ever had an adventure travelling with the family?

Try this movie where the Hoover family will take you along their dysfunctional heights of quirks and epic problems which they face during the family road trip in a VW bus on their way to the pageant their daughter hopes to reach safe and sound!

6- The Internship

This movie handles the term Generation Gap in the best way. Starring Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn where the duo enter world of youngsters where they scatter some of their own old school magic while savoring some new school experience at their life as Interns at Google.

5- The Proposal

Being a fan of Ryan Reynolds made me watch this movie like a dozen times! It’s a predictable romantic comedy which gets alive by Reynold’s and Bullock’s performance.

The best thing about it was how a person doesn’t know what he wants until a couple of strangers make him realize who he is and what he actually wants from life. Don’t get it? Just go ahead and watch this movie. You are so going to love it.

4- Love Actually

Nine intertwined stories which explain the meaning of love, and it’s not just the love seen in the romantic movies or read about in Shakespearean love stories.

It is about the love of an actor for his manager, a sister’s love for her brother, a friend’s love for his best friend, a mother’s love for her children, a stepfather’s love for his stepson and all other many kinds of love being dealt by several reprising actors including Hugh Grant, Keira Knightley, Alan Rickman, Liam Neeson, Andrew Lincoln, Colin Firth . Its an R rated movie with a nice soundtrack.

See also; 10 Romantic Movies Featuring Holidays.

3- Blended

Starring Adam Sandler and Drew Barrymore in the main roles, this movie is a total joy! Though it’s a predictable comedy where the side roles are funnier than the leads, it’s a sweet movie which will change your mood with all the holiday ecstasy it provides. This movie genuinely portrays all the blending concepts and what it takes to really be there and blend in. I really wish for a sequel to this movie!

2- Storks

This movie is one adorable animated movie with a catchy storyline and a touching soundtrack. The storyline, the characters, their facial expressions- everything is just perfect. It’s a kids’ movie but it’s also somewhat about parenthood (I cried during the climax). Basically, it’s fueled by a series of powerful thought provoking messages for everyone in the audience no matter what age. Once you watch it, it really stays with you for a while!

See Also; 10 Must Watch Hollywood Movies Before You Get Old.

1- Diary of a Wimpy Kid (Trilogy)

Every movie in this list is a favorite and unique in its own way so putting one of them at number one was a tough call. Since it’s a Trilogy (the fourth part coming out soon!) and an adaptation to a book then why not! If you have a stomach for juvenile jokes, sibling torture and middle school anxiety wittily executed, then this is a delicious series to stick to.

The characters seem like they’re somehow originally related and you will picture yourself in either one of their situation therein. It’s a plenty of fun for the audience. And it’s not just a one-time watch, you would definitely want to watch it again because its light like a feather, a feather which will also tickle you in the tummy!

So, what are you waiting for? Grab some snacks and watch your favourite movies because they are supposed to make you feel lighter.

Related

Across cultures and throughout history, many specific features of the day have obtained significant importance. We carve out certain hours of our day to provide us with satisfaction, entertainment, or general peace of mind. Sometimes, we base our entire day on certain groups of hours. Even exact times appearing on the clock developed value to many. Some of these aspects of our day originated centuries ago, and some are much more recent. This list takes a look at ten of the most impactful.

SEE ALSO: 10 Bizarre Calendar Fixes That Made Us Add Or Skip Dates

10 Spanish Siesta

The Spanish Siesta found its way into the popular lexicon. Unfortunately, it is sometimes used derogatorily to imply laziness, when in fact, that could not be further from the truth.

The term “siesta” comes from the Latin for “sexta,” meaning “sixth hour.” Romans began their day at dawn, and used the sixth hour of the day for eating and resting. From there, the tradition for midday rest eventually crossed into other cultures, most notably that of the Spanish. Their siestas came about after the Spanish Civil War (1936-1939). Most people worked two jobs, thus splitting their work day into two parts: 9:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. This gave many the opportunity to have a nice rest if they so desired.

In today’s Spain, close to 60% of working age people have never taken a siesta. Yet, today’s Spaniards average only around 7 hours of sleep a night, a full hour below the recommended 8. It seems it is not just Americans that do not get enough sleep. We cannot all be like George Costanza and take a nap under our desk; we rely on coffee and energy drinks.

Spaniards are one the last European countries to turn in for the night. Midnight is the average bedtime in Spain, over an hour later than neighboring France. Vice President of the Spanish Society for Sleep Juan Jose Ortega believes there is still a place for the siesta in Spanish society. With the knowledge that his people are sleeping over an hour less than their grandparents, Ortega thinks “A brief siesta helps us to alleviate stress, strengthens the immune system and improves performance.”^[1]

9 Happy Hour

Everyone wants and deserves to be happy, even if it is only for about an hour a day. “Happy Hour” refers to the time of day, usually for more than an hour, when bars and restaurants offer discounts on certain foods and drinks. Show up after work, relax with colleagues, and enjoy half-off jalapeño poppers and beers. What a great way to end the work day. There is no clear reason how the term “Happy Hour” came to be used as it is today. But, we can piece together the history of the words involved and try to trace a path.

“Happy” comes from the Middle English hap which in turn is derived from the Old Norse happ meaning “good luck. “Hour” is from the Latin hora, which denotes 1/24 of a day, or one canonical hour. By the 19th century, “happy hour” was often used to refer to organized entertainment. It is possible that at some point, establishments appropriated that use of the term for the advertisement of their discounted offerings. Around World War I, the U.S. Navy used the term to let sailors know when they were allowed to participate in recreational activities. Sailors may have brought the term home with them and it further worked its way into popular culture.^[2]

8 Brahma Muhurta

In the Hindu religion, the last quarter of the night is the most important part of the day. This is approximately the 90 minutes prior to sunrise. Brahma Muhurta is time for the self, the only time of the day when one is fresh and aware. On this side of the world, many of us do not want to even look at the clock at this time of day, let alone get up and be active.

During Brahma Muhurta, it is believed the body benefits from such things as a boost to the immune system, increased energy levels, and relief of pain and soreness. To make this time the most advantageous, there are five recommended points of focus: meditation, reading, planning, introspect, and memory. Eating and engaging in a mentally stressful activity are not recommended.^[3]

7 Afternoon Tea

Despite what we might think, the English have not been tea drinkers for very long. The custom of drinking tea dates back to China circa the third millennium BC. Fast forward to the late 17th century and the reign of King Charles II. His new wife Catherine de Braganza came from Portugal, a tea drinking country. Catherine naturally brought some with her when she became England’s new Queen. Until this time, tea was mostly used medicinally in England, and was quite costly due taxation on importation. The aristocracy began to follow Catherine’s custom, but it would take a while yet before the general population became tea drinkers.

By the mid-1840s, dinner in England had moved to very late in the day. The Duchess of Bedford, Anna Russell, experienced hunger pangs around mid-afternoon and asked that a pot of tea and some light food items be brought to her chambers. Soon after, she began inviting friends to accompany her. Due to her friendship with and lady-in-waiting to Queen Victoria, Anna’s custom was adopted by the rest of the elites. More tea was imported and it became easier to purchase. The rest of England began to enjoy these get-togethers. People began sending announcements to friends and relatives stating the hour and day of the week in which they could all gather for tea and snacks.^[4]

6 Japanese Temporal Time

Japanese Temporal Time used animals to indicate each two hour block. This system came to Japan from China. Buddha’s observation of the animals under the Bho tree during his twelve years of meditation led to the order in which the animals are arranged. Each sign of the Zodiac corresponds to approximately two hours of the day.

These are the animals and the division of the day they each occupy:

The Rat: 11:00 p.m. to 1:00 a.m.
The Ox/Cow: 1:00 to 3:00 a.m.
The Tiger: 3:00 to 5:00 a.m.
The Rabbit: 5:00 to 7:00 a.m.
The Dragon: 7:00 to 9:00 a.m.
The Snake: 9:00 to 11:00 a.m.
The Horse: 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.
The Sheep: 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
The Monkey: 3:00 to 5:00 p.m.
The Rooster/Chicken: 5:00 to 7:00 p.m.
The Dog: 7:00 to 9:00 p.m.
The Pig: 9:00 to 11:00 p.m.

For almost 1000 years, water clocks were the norm in Japan. During the Edo Period (1603-1868), Japan began using Western clock-making techniques to manufacture devices to keep better track of their unique time system. Some clocks, like lantern clocks, were driven by a plumb bob. Others like the paper weight and the carriage clock were driven by a spring. Soon after the end of the Edo Period, these types of clocks began disappearing as Japan gradually phased out the use of the temporal time system.^[5]

5 Graveyard Shift

Whether we have worked a “graveyard shift” or not, we all know that it means working late into the night, usually into the next morning. A lot of places are open 24 hours and need staff at all times of the day. Some people’s jobs require them to work during according to the time standards of other countries, so they need to be wide awake when the rest of us are sleeping. But from where did the term actually originate?

First off, there is no evidence pointing to the phrase having anything to do with cemeteries. Some believed it came from people having to sit in a graveyard all night to listen for the ringing of bells connected to special coffins. There are conflicting reports as to exactly where and when it was first coined. There is evidence it was first seen the New Albany Evening Tribune in May 1895 which featured a story about the dismal nature of being on the graveyard shift while working in a mine. It may have originated in the Salt Lake Tribune in June 1897 in which it described policeman working the graveyard shift. In any case, if you are working the graveyard shift, it is likely you will be unfortunately working through the next time of day on our list.^[6]

4The Witching Hour

Those who have seen the film Paranormal Activity know that most of the bumps in the night in that film happen around 3:00 a.m. Purportedly, this is the start of the witching hour. However, evidence varies on the actual time, and on the era in which the term was conceived. Facts themselves are tough to substantiate with reputable sources, so take this knowledge with a grain of salt. Throw it over the shoulder if need be.

The phrase might stretch either to 1535, or to Pope Pius IV in 1560. In either case, the church soon began to forbid people (specifically women), from any activities between the hours of 3:00 and 4:00 a.m. Not long after, people known to be up at those hours were deemed to be possible witches. The paranoia spread and eventually made its way onto our shores in the form of the Salem Witch Trials.

Even Shakespeare himself is sometimes credited with coining the term in Hamlet referring to the witching hour beginning at midnight. Today, many still believe it does start around 3, but no longer due to anything to do with actual (or suspected) witches. Around 3:00 in the morning is the time when most people enter the deepest phase of sleep. All of the body’s functions slow way down, thus waking up at this time often brings on a state of confusion, and sometimes panic. If I wake up convinced someone is in the corner of my room, I tend not to check the time. Why get freaked out even further?^[7]

3 10:10

Do people still buy watches these days? Sadly, so many of us rely on our cellphones to give us the time rather than a cool watch on our wrist. One way watchmakers have always tried to show off their wares is by setting their watches and analog clocks to a specific time. The popular time of late is 10:10. Of the 100 top selling watches on Amazon in 2009, 97 were set to 10:10.

It turns out that aesthetics are the main reason manufacturers set their watches to read 10:10. By setting the hands to the 10 and 2, the logo is ideally framed. The 10:10 position is also symmetrical, pleasing the brain’s desire for things to be in proportion and order. For photographs, Rolex sets their watches to 10:10:31, whereas Timex sets every watch, including digitals, to 10:09:36.

Dating back to the 1920s and 1930s, watches were almost exclusively set at 8:20. Watchmakers began to realize that hands set to 8 and 4 resembled a frown, and that a smile at 10 and 2 would be much more appealing. The feeling buyers get from seeing a “smiling” watch is part of the subconscious clues advertisers use in print ads. “In advertising, we would never expect someone to look at a watch and say, ‘The watch is smiling,’” says Linda Kaplan Thaler, chief executive of the New York advertising agency Kaplan Thaler Group. “(I)t’s just a feeling you get.”^[8]

2 11:11

At some point during our lives, we have all seen 11:11 on a digital clock and noticed its uniqueness. What draws us to pay attention to this time on the clock as opposed to other random times?

There is no other time on the clock with quite the allure or symmetry of 11:11. It is pleasing to our eyes to see such uniformity; the sight stays with us longer than other glances at the clock. Maybe it is the result of Baader-Meinhof syndrome. It tells us that there are actually two psychological processes going on. Selective attention occurs when we perceive something new, and when we look for it thereafter, it seems to keep popping up.

Confirmation bias tells us that each time we see it, we further cement its importance. Some of us may even remember who originally told us that it is good luck to make four wishes when 11:11 is on the clock. It seems some people apply so much significance to something like the numbers on a clock, that they believe its possible association with wish-making to be true. ^[9]

1 Earth Hour

In 2007, Sydney, Australia, inspired by the WWF (World Wildlife Foundation), decided to have a “lights out event.” This is considered the first Earth Hour. As of 2019, more than 185 countries take part in Earth Hour.

Once a year, around the end of March (near the Spring/Autumn equinoxes depending on your hemisphere), people are asked to turn off all non-essential lights. WWF hopes this will motivate think bigger and take action regarding climate change, and a broader commitment to our planet. Perhaps, Earth Hour will eventually become known as the time when the most number of people in the world feel connected to each other at once.^[10]

About The Author: Hello everyone on the internet! A little about me: I have two degrees in film: my B.A. from UC Berkeley, and my M.F.A. from Academy of Art University. I worked for a little while in the production office on several films including Bee Season, and Milk. I transitioned to TV and spent a few years in the “bullpen” working on live games for Pac-12 Networks. Lately, I’ve found that writing is what really does it for me. I’ve been writing film reviews for almost five years for the Concord/Clayton Pioneer. Very recently I’ve decided to branch out into comic books and online writing. I have also been a swim coach for twenty years.

Over the last several years, summers have been increasingly brutal in many parts of the world. Cities in the Southwest United States have had to plan for droughts and water conservation initiatives. Nearly all parts of the United States have experienced at least some drought since the year 2000 and it’s a trend that is replicated all over the world. 

You would think that, given the prevalence of worldwide droughts, we might be more careful with water. You’d think that if you hadn’t experienced humans and their tendency to shoot themselves in the foot, at least. In reality, we waste water in ways that are almost hard to imagine. 

10. One Farming Family Uses More Water Than All of Las Vegas

Farms need water and most of us would accept this as a reasonable course of business. No matter what the farm produces, from lettuce to apples to beef, water has to be used to make that happen, and we place more value on the farmed product than the water itself. But can there be a point when a farm uses too much water? Is there a limit there?

A single family, who owns large amounts of farmland, was found to use more water than the entire Las Vegas Valley during a 2023 investigation. The Abbati family, whose farming empire is worth millions, used 260,000 acre-feet of water. That number is beyond anything you can imagine if you aren’t familiar with acre-feet.

One acre-foot, just one, is 326,000 gallons. So 260,000 acre-feet is 84,721,371,429 gallons. In contrast, the Las Vegas Valley used 200,000 acre-feet. 

Most of the water in that part of the world is used in the Imperial Irrigation District where 20 farming families use more water than a combined 300 others, totaling about 387 billion gallons in 2022. That district has the largest claim to water from the Colorado River, and one in seven drops goes to these farmers, many of whom don’t actually grow vegetables for human consumption. 

The bulk of their land is used to grow hay for livestock. Some of the hay is even sold to other countries in what critics have likened to essentially selling water abroad since the farmers only pay $20 per acre-foot.

Because water rights were guaranteed to local farmers nearly a century ago, and the current farmers are the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of those farmers, they still get to operate under the old agreements guaranteeing them all the water they want, even as reservoirs reach historically low levels. 

9. It Takes 3 Gallons of Water to Produce a Single Almond

Sometimes you feel like a nut, sometimes you don’t. But if you do, think long and hard about what that nut costs. Some of our favorite crops absolutely lay waste to water. A single almond requires over three gallons of water to grow. How does the math on that play out? 

One pound of almonds is about 400 nuts, give or take. A single tree can produce between 50 and 65 lbs of nuts. So, at 50 lbs, we’re looking at 20,000 nuts. So that’s 60,000 gallons per tree. If an orchard can produce 4,500 lbs of nuts, then it’s using 5.4 million gallons of water to do so. If there are 7,600 almond farms in California each growing about that much then that requires 41,040,000,000 gallons. This is all for almonds, 70% of which are exported. 

The amount of water used to grow all the almonds that California exports in a year could ensure water for everyone in Los Angeles for three years. Almonds use 10% of all of California’s water, more than Los Angeles and San Francisco combined. 

This may make you look at almonds negatively but remember that even corn uses a lot of water. It takes 110 gallons of water to make one pound of corn. America produced 346 million tons of corn in 2022-2023.

8. Golf Courses Use Billions of Gallons Per Day

If you’re a golfer, you may already be aware of the staggering water usage at most golf courses around the world. But there’s a good chance if you know they use a lot of water, you still don’t know what a lot means. It’s two billion gallons. And while that’s a huge number, it gets so much worse. That’s per day.

There are over 16,000 golf courses in America, more than half the world total, in fact. The average course will use 312,000 gallons per day but desert courses, like those in Palm Springs, can use a million all by themselves. 

7. Reverse Osmosis Systems Can Waste Gallons of Water For Every One They Clean

Everyone prefers drinking clean water to sloppy filth so, for some, a reverse osmosis system is the way to go. In your home, these systems force water through a membrane that separates H2O from other molecules and gives you snazzy, clean water in the end. They work as advertised and you will get the clean water you want. The problem is the waste. 

Different systems will have greater or lesser success but even the best systems can waste as much as 5 gallons of water for every clean gallon they produce. Some studies have shown that a reverse osmosis system can waste 20 times as much water as it can produce. Newer models claim to offer 1:1 technology but they are harder to find and definitely cost more.

6. Up to 37 Gallons Go Into Making a Single Roll of Toilet Paper

Toilet paper is one of the most bizarre products in the world. You pay good money for it, and these days you pay a lot, knowing full well exactly what’s going to happen to it sooner or later. While TP is king in North America, many places elsewhere choose bidets. Some Americans argue that’s a waste of water, but is it? Is there an upside to toilet paper?

Toilet paper use in America is the equivalent of pulping 15 million trees. Worse, it requires 473,587,500,000 gallons of water to make that paper, or about 37 gallons per roll. A bidet would not, in fact, take up 37 gallons to reach the equivalent cleaning power of one roll of toilet paper. 

You use about one-eighth of a gallon with a single bidet use, meaning 296 squirts before you reach the water used to make one roll of toilet paper. And, keep in mind you still need to flush the toilet paper which, even with a low-flow toilet is 1.6 gallons. You’ve just added 473 gallons to your toilet paper waste if you’re matching those 296 bidet uses. 

5. It Takes 17 Million Barrels of Oil To Make Bottled Water Bottles

The numbers behind how wasteful bottled water is are pretty remarkable. For people who have no access to clean water, bottled water is a literal lifesaver. But for the rest of us, it’s hard to make sense of the obsession when you break it down.

About 25% of bottled water is tap water, the company just bottles its own municipal supply. That doesn’t mean it’s poor quality, but it does mean you can save a lot of money just by drinking tap water. Coke and Pepsi both bottle tap water that has gone through some filters but there’s never been a study suggesting bottled water is healthier, safer, or even cleaner than most tap water. In fact, the filtering to make bottled water removes minerals like calcium and magnesium, making bottled water less healthy. 

Despite the fact it offers little, Americans bought nearly 16 billion gallons of bottled water in 2022. Ignoring the other facts, making bottles for water also uses 17 million barrels of oil per year. That figure was from back in 2006, too, and consumption has increased dramatically since that time so oil use likely has as well. 

4. Chocolate Requires More Water Than Nearly Any Other Crop

We touched on the water needed to grow almonds and corn and even make toilet paper, but what about chocolate? Surely chocolate hides no terrible, wasteful secrets. Alas. This one’s going to be ugly.

Everyone has heard that raising cattle is wasteful in terms of resources. It takes 1,910 gallons of water to produce a pound of beef. But chocolate? That requires 17,196 liters to produce a kilogram. That’s about 4,542 gallons per kilogram which works out to just over 2,000 gallons per pound. So a cow and a Hershey bar take roughly the same investment in terms of water.  One single chocolate bar is going to require up to 2,000 liters or 528 gallons.

3. Hand Washing Dishes Wastes More Than 5 Times The Water of a Dishwasher

How do you do your dishes? Your options are basically limited to handwashing in a sink or using a dishwasher. If you have a dishwasher, you’ll be happy to know it’s the far better option if you have an eye to water conservation. If you load it properly and make sure it’s full, your dishwasher uses 5 to 7 times less water than hand washing.

When you wash in the sink, you could be using up to 20 gallons. A good, energy-efficient dishwasher will only use four gallons. Other sources suggest hand washing can use as much as 27 gallons while a new model dishwasher may use as little as three. Obviously, there’s a lot of wiggle room here based on how you wash dishes and what kind of dishwasher you have. That said, over the course of a year, a good dishwasher can save 5,000 gallons.

2. Starbucks Used to Waste 6 Million Gallons a Day For No Reason

If you’re the type of person who already doesn’t like Starbucks then this one will hit home for you. Back in 2008, it was discovered that Starbucks was wasting six million gallons of water every day because they forced employees to keep a sink running non-stop as a time saver. 

The sink, called a dipper well, was the one employees used to rinse off utensils. The infinite wisdom of Starbucks management was that, if the sink never stopped running, it couldn’t build germs and was, therefore, more sanitary. Staff was literally forbidden from turning the water off. 

When a UK paper learned of the running tap, they started contacting various Starbucks branches to ask about it and many of them didn’t know what the sink was for and never even used it, but they all kept it running as per company policy. 

Experts were also quick to point out that keeping a sink running would have no impact on sanitation and there are countless ways to keep a place clean that don’t require wasting 6 million gallons of water. 

1. Cruise Ships Dump 150,000 Gallons of Sewage into the Ocean Daily

Who doesn’t love a cruise ship? Aside from the people who have had to poop in bags, or been stranded, or endured a viral outbreak? They have all the amenities of a hotel but they’re on the water and, you know, they also dump massive amounts of sewage into the ocean.

It’s been estimated that a 3,000-person ship will dump around 150,000 gallons of sewage into the ocean every week. One vessel managed to drop 74,000 gallons in a day. 

Governments often ban the dumping of waste, including sewage, in coastal waters but that’s just in coastal waters. These are cruise ships. They wait until they hit international waters and then the toilet gets flushed. It’s not just sewage, either. The vessels produce much larger amounts of gray water from showers and laundry facilities, as well as oily bilge water, all of which gets dumped into the sea.

Valentine’s Day is a day unlike any other that pops up in the calendar if you are lucky in love. Or perhaps even if you are unlucky in love and are unfairly reminded of your forever-single status. But we hope that’s not the case! We hope Valentine’s Day celebrations of the past and present have been good to you, and your spouse, or partner, or other loved one. They’ve certainly been good to many people.

Around the world, hundreds of millions of people celebrate Valentine’s Day with greeting cards, chocolate, flowers, little love notes, and other sweet gifts and trinkets meant for that special someone in their lives. But where does all this come from? Why do we do it like this? And how long has it been going on?

In this list, we’ll take a deep dive into the history and development of Valentine’s Day. From a pagan tradition that grew into a Christian-adjacent celebration, the day has been marked special on the calendars of a variety of cultures for several thousand years. In more recent times, of course, commercialization has come. And chocolate. Did we mention chocolate?! Yummy! Anyway, go grab a piece of candy or two and settle in for a long ride through the romantic realm of Valentine’s Day!

Related: 10 Real-Life, Romantic Love Stories from World War II

10 An Uncertain Pagan Origin

The origins of Valentine’s Day are, frankly, pretty hard to pin down. The day has been celebrated or at least acknowledged in one form or another for centuries and centuries. Many historians now believe that the day as we know it—or, at least, the foundation of what we have come to know it as—began as a Christian attempt to make a religious event out of a former pagan holiday and popular fertility festival called Lupercalia.

That festival occurred early in the spring every single year and turned out to be a great tradition. Some historians even acknowledge that the festival was a joint bash meant to celebrate and honor Faunus (the Roman god of agriculture) and Romulus and Remus (the founders of Rome itself).

Regardless, Lupercalia was always a big hit. And when the Christians slowly but surely swept into power during Rome’s reign, they pushed to Christianize the holiday festival and give it the fixed February 14 date to appeal to pagan believers—and help convince many of them to join up with the new Christian cause.^[1]

9 Made after a Martyr

The reason St. Valentine’s Day is named as such is thanks to a Christian martyr who died while trying to protect love nearly 2,000 years ago. Valentine was the name of a clergyman—history identifies him sometimes as a priest and sometimes as a bishop—who was mad that the Roman emperor Claudius II banned marriage.

Claudius did so after his reign began in AD 268 because he believed that unmarried men made for better soldiers. While he may have had a point about the aggression single, unmarried men could take out on the battlefield, he didn’t exactly make many friends in the realm of Rome when it came time to enact that position. And one of the people who hated the marriage ban the most was Valentine.

Valentine believed that it was unfair to prevent people from finding partners and falling into love. So he decided to break Claudius’s rules and perform secret marriage ceremonies anyway for couples who sought the commitment. Eventually, Claudius figured out what was going on, and Valentine was executed for going against the Roman emperor’s very strict and clear decree.

The Catholic Church officially canonized Valentine as a saint thanks to his martyrdom. Today, Saint Valentine is buried on the Via Flaminia—the same place where he was laid to rest on the date of February 14, 270, the year after his death. And we all now celebrate Saint Valentine’s Day, which has also historically been called the Feast of Saint Valentine, after it really took hold as a tradition beginning in about the eighth century.^[2]

8 But There Are More?

That story seems nice and simple, but it may not be the only one that influenced Valentine’s Day. As it turns out, there are actually multiple Saint Valentines floating out there in history. And their stories likely intertwined in bits and pieces to give us the Saint Valentine’s Day trajectory that we are familiar with today.

In addition to the Valentine, who was beheaded by Claudius II in 269 or 270, there were multiple other legends surrounding love. The Catholic Encyclopedia and other faith-based sources believe there are at least three former bishops, priests, or other individuals who have had stories of theirs tied up in the love-fest holiday.

Most notable was our aforementioned Roman priest killed by Claudius II. But also notable was a former bishop—officially, the Bishop of Interamna, which is the present-day city of Terni, Italy—who was martyred for backing love. He was also buried at Via Flaminia outside of Rome, just like the previously mentioned Valentine.

There was even a legend involving a supposed Patron Saint of Love named Valentine that popped up in the Middle Ages. According to lovely lore, Valentine was the patron saint of lovers—but also of beekeepers and epilepsy. It’s a weird combination, but one that crafted the holiday as we know it now.^[3]

7 Chaucer’s Chance at Love

If you aren’t a fan of Valentine’s Day, then we have for you the perfect person to blame: Geoffrey Chaucer. Good luck sending him a nasty email or a snarky tweet about it, though, because he has been dead for hundreds of years. Chaucer was, of course, a very famous 14th-century English poet.

While he may have most famously written The Canterbury Tales, he is also the person most widely credited for turning Saint Valentine’s Day into a celebration of romantic love. Ever since his push, then, we have all followed with roses, chocolates, heart-shaped candy, and all the rest. Oh, those sweet, sappy, and long-standing traditions!

As we’ve learned so far, Valentine’s Day has a bit of a grisly history, what with the beheadings and the martyrdom and all. But in the 1380s, Chaucer wrote a poem called “The Parliament of Fowls.” In that work, he referenced February 14 as being a day that was about love. Even though it had long been a day of feast for Catholics to celebrate and honor the martyrdom of Saint Valentine, Chaucer wrote about it being more than that.

His declaration of Saint Valentine’s Day being meant for love was the first of its kind ever written down. While English people possibly practiced that already before Chaucer wrote of it, of course, he was likely inspired by their tradition. But regardless, his writing spurred it on for all the rest of us. Now, here we are nearly 700 years later, and Valentine’s Day is going strong!^[4]

6 History WAY Before Hallmark

The first-ever known Valentine’s Day card was (probably) sent from a prisoner in the infamous Tower of London to his wife. The year was 1415, and Charles, the Duke of Orléans, was just 21 years old. He was married by then—well, 21 was kind of a ripe old age in the early 15th century—and he was also imprisoned in the Tower of London.

The duke’s story deals with a whole lot of wild royal family in-fighting and imprisonment that gets way off the beaten path here. But suffice it to say for our purposes today that while he was imprisoned, he fired off a handwritten Valentine’s Day card to his waiting wife on the outside of those impenetrable tower walls.

Sadly, historians don’t still have access to the card Charles (reportedly) sent his wife way back in 1415. But they do have something nearly that old! The oldest-surviving Valentine’s Day card comes in the form of a handwritten letter that is currently held in the British Library. The letter was a Valentine’s Day stanza written by a woman named Margery Brews and meant for her fiance, John Paston.

That it still survives today is a testament to the power of paper and ink, we suppose. But also to Margery’s apparently undying love for John! If she ever told him, “I love you forever” during their lives six centuries ago, well, she sure was right about it!^[5]

5 It All Gets Commercialized

To be fair, it took quite a while from Chaucer and Margery Brews before Valentine’s Day really became a commercial endeavor. The business side of the love-locked holiday began in 18th-century England. There, people began to make (or buy) and send Valentine’s Day cards to their loved ones. Most often, the targets of these cards were romantic interests. Still, they could also be reserved for friends and beloved family members.

Card senders also often sent out chocolates and other confectionery items along with the cards. And the most well-to-do had flowers sent, as well. From English roots, then, the tradition of sending out cards and gifts spread to the United States in the 19th century, and from there, the business side went in full-bore.

Today, Valentine’s Day represents a massive market moment for the greeting card industry. According to Hallmark and other lovesick companies in that realm, nearly 150 million Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually. And, it should be noted, those hundreds of millions of cards are only the messages that get sent through the mail.

The companies don’t include the cards kids traditionally send to each other in school and things of that nature. By sheer volume, that makes Valentine’s Day the second-largest greeting card holiday in the world behind Christmas. That’s some serious mail movement and post office power!^[6]

4 Roses Are Red…

Even if you don’t know anything else about Valentine’s Day, and you’re forever destined to live a single life without love and affection (sad!), you probably at least know that red roses are very commonly associated with it. That connection goes back a long, long way through history, too. See, red roses first became associated with Valentine’s Day due to their link to Venus, who was the Roman goddess of love.

Also known as Aphrodite in Greek mythology, the story goes that Venus found her lover Adonis mortally wounded one day. Adonis, who was the male god of beauty, was dying. Horrified at the sight, Venus sat over the body, and her tears began to fall. Those tears mixed with Adonis’s blood, and the combination of the two liquids amalgamated into a blossoming red rose bush.

Combine the female goddess of love and the male god of beauty, and it’s no wonder their resulting mythological rose bush would carry down through the ages. But while roses are the most popular flower (by far) to give out and receive on Valentine’s Day, they aren’t the only arrangement on deck. In recent years especially, less traditional floral arrangements have been made more popular on Valentine’s Day.

Other popular spring blooms like tulips, orchards, and lilies are now routinely exchanged by those wishing to show their love and affection for another person. And while they aren’t as traditional as roses, the bright colors and unique arrangements of these other flowers can make for exceptionally compelling gifts in their own right.^[7]

3 Strange Celebrations

Valentine’s Day, as we know it here in the United States, is celebrated similarly in many parts of the world. Still, not every nation on Earth carries out this same tradition. In fact, in several Asian countries, Valentine’s Day is done entirely differently. Take Japan, for example. In Tokyo and the rest of Japan’s cities, locals use Valentine’s Day as an opportunity for women to give chocolates to men. That tradition started in 1958 when a Japanese chocolate company urged women to make Valentine’s Day a time for women to tell the guys in their lives how they feel about them—with purchased chocolate, of course.

Be cynical about its corporate origins if you must, but the tradition stuck, and today, women in Japan give all kinds of chocolate to men on that holiday every year. It’s not even just their romantic partners, either. Japanese women hand out chocolate to their colleagues at work, their bosses, their male friends, and more to celebrate the big day.

Meanwhile, in South Korea, there is an entire day dedicated for men to receive gifts in response to Valentine’s Day. It comes one month after the February 14 holiday every year, and it is popularly known as “White Day” in Seoul and across South Korea. There, women turn the tables and give gifts to the men they love as a sort of “equal and opposite” response to the focus on female adoration in mid-February. The tables turn!

And then there’s China. While Valentine’s Day has caught on in parts of China and in ways that are somewhat comparable to the manner in which it is celebrated in the West, China has its own anti-Valentine’s Day, too. Every year on November 11, the Chinese people celebrate “Singles’ Day.”

That event is meant for unattached and unspoken-for individuals to spoil themselves. These single people treat themselves to all kinds of gifts and presents and revel in another year of, uh, not being in love. In turn, it has become one of the busiest shopping days of the year in China. Oh, and the chosen date is important, too. Think of it: November 11, as in 11/11. Lots of single digits there! Get it?^[8]

2 A Craving for Chocolate

In 1861, chocolate magnate Richard Cadbury came up with the first idea for a chocolate box that was heart-shaped and was specifically promoted to be sold on Valentine’s Day. Cadbury (yes, of Cadbury chocolate fame) was a marketing genius, and the heart-shaped box of delicious and chewy morsels stuck around, well, forever! Cadbury is obviously still a thing today.

Chocolate has a very close, very symbiotic relationship with Valentine’s Day overall. After Cadbury came up with this marketing ploy at the very beginning of the Civil War, Valentine’s Day quickly began to flourish as a commercial holiday in the United States. People bought box after box of chocolate—both Cadbury’s brand and from many other sources—and now the commercial aspects of the holiday are as we know them today.

Speaking of the commercial aspects of Valentine’s Day, when specifically considering chocolate, the amount people buy and eat in that second week of February is truly stunning. According to industry measurements of chocolate sales in the week leading up to February 14, Americans buy about 58 million pounds (26 million kilograms) of chocolate ahead of each Valentine’s Day. That’s in just seven days!

Just like Halloween in the fall, Valentine’s Day has become a major cash cow for Hershey’s and other chocolate companies seeking to profit from the yearly tradition. And to the tune of 58 million pounds annually, they sure are profiting. What do we get out of the deal? Oh, right, a toothache and a few added pounds around our waists!^[9]

1 Popping the Question!

Because Valentine’s Day is a romantic holiday centered on love and relationships, it naturally makes sense that it is a popular day on which many couples get engaged. And that number is in the millions every year—six million, in fact!

According to surveys, roughly six million couples get engaged to each other every single Valentine’s Day. And the day is broadly popular as the perfect time for a man to show love to the woman with whom he wants to commit. Surveys carried out consistently show that both men and women pick Valentine’s Day as the best day of the year to get engaged. Lovely!

In addition to engagements, Valentine’s Day is also a very popular time for love locks. If you’ve ever walked by a chain link fence in a high-end tourist section of a major urban center, you’ve probably seen at least a few of these. They are popular along the Seine River in Paris, where couples take to the bridges and lock a padlock onto a fence. Then, they often write their initials on the lock in Sharpie or some other marker. Now, many other couples have adopted the love-lock trend in cities around the world.

The lock is meant to commemorate the forever nature of their love. Since nobody who comes by the lock has the key, theoretically, their love will last as long as the lock does on that fence. The ritual has been around for a while now, with couples often throwing their keys into the river to ensure the padlocks can never be popped open.^[10]

Every day we run across things that are perplexing in some way. Maybe it’s a complex idea or a strange new gadget. Even if we don’t understand a thing, however, there’s always the hope that it makes sense to someone. That there’s a purpose behind it. It actually does something. 

Depending on your outlook you will either be disheartened or oddly comforted to find out that some things out there don’t actually do anything at all. Maybe they used to or maybe not but in the here and now they are totally pointless. And yet they still exist. 

10. Most Office Thermostats Control Nothing

This one’s for people who work in a building where they have access to the thermostat. Usually this happens in office buildings but sometimes retail operations have them out where employees can fiddle with them. So if it’s too cold one morning you can head to the thermostat and boost the temperature a few degrees hoping you’ll be more comfortable soon. 

You’ll probably be waiting a long time to warm up if you’re solely hoping for that thermostat to do the trick. Most office thermostats aren’t connected to anything. About 90% of these controls in large office buildings are completely fake. Some of them even connect to devices that make noise so you think you did something by adjusting them when, in fact, nothing happened. 

Fake thermostats are over half a century old at this point and the reason is what you probably suspect. It’s a money-saving feature. Landlords keep the environmental controls pretty static. They don’t want to waste money on heating and cooling. But tenants complain, so they install fake controls so you feel you’re doing something. It’s basically a temperature placebo. 

9. Close Door Buttons On Elevators Rarely Work

Surely if thermostats don’t work, most other buttons do, right? Not necessarily. For instance, have you ever tried to use the close door button in an elevator and felt it was awfully slow to respond? It probably wasn’t connected to anything.

Legally, an elevator door has to remain fully open for three seconds according to the Americans with Disabilities Act to allow someone who may have a disability time to enter. To accommodate this, some elevator manufacturers simply disconnected the door close button so it could never violate the law.  The act passed in 1990 so any elevator made since that time will probably not have a functional button. The only way you can use it is by having a key override, like the ones firefighters use. 

For what it’s worth, the button may still work on older elevators, even though it shouldn’t. Also, the open door button should be functional on any elevator. 

8. Citronella Candles Don’t Keep Mosquitoes Away

Depending on where you live and the time of year, mosquitoes can be a serious issue. No one enjoys being bitten by them, not to mention the many diseases you might catch. For that reason, keeping the little pests away is big business and there are tons of products you can buy to kill or repel them.

One of the old standbys that most campers know about is citronella candles. Those yellow candles with a vaguely lemony scent that produce an acrid smoke meant to force the bugs on to greener pastures. 

Citronella is a plant that has a citrus scent and the oil is sometimes touted as a good mosquito-repellent. But studies have shown citronella candles are no better than any other candle for keeping the bugs away. And they are definitely inferior when compared to actual repellants made with things like DEET. 

If you want to repel mosquitos, there are several methods that do actually work and have been proven to do so. If you want to waste money, invest in a sonic mosquito repeller or citronella, which do nothing. 

7. Crosswalk Buttons Rarely Do Anything

Did you think we were done with buttons? Not so fast. The world is just lousy with buttons that have no purpose other than to make you feel you’re doing something. Crosswalk buttons, for instance, are just like elevator door close buttons. Most of them are not connected to anything. 

Contrary to what you might think, the buttons that are connected don’t do what most people think. They won’t let you cross sooner at the expense of traffic, nor were they intended to. The purpose of the button is to indicate someone wants to cross. The system won’t necessarily indicate that a person is safe to cross unless the button has been pressed. The light will still turn green for traffic and a pedestrian can safely cross, but the crosswalk symbol won’t change.

During high traffic times of day, the entire system can be switched over to a default mode where pressing the button does nothing at all. This allows the lights and crosswalks to work on a set schedule no matter who may wait to cross. 

There have been cases where a city just disconnected the button altogether. In 2018, CNN reported that only about 100 of the city’s 1,000 crosswalk buttons did anything. That was down from 750 in 2004.

6. Most Cough Medicines Don’t Actually Work

As cold and flu season kicks in every year, sales of cough medicines will likewise increase. No one wants to spend all day coughing if they can avoid it. Cough medicine sales are a $3.6 billion market worldwide. That’s a lot of money and the fact that research has shown that medicines made with ingredients budesonide, fluticasone, salbutamol plus ipratropium, and montelukast don’t actually work makes it worse. 

That’s not to say these medicines have no effect. If they contain antihistamines or decongestants, you can still benefit from those products, usually. But not always, and the cough suppressant part is probably not doing anything for you either beyond placebo. If you want a cough to go away, you’ll just have to wait it out. 

5. Phenylephrine, Found in Decongestants, Does Nothing at All

Speaking of medicine, one of the big reveals in recent years was that phenylephrine is a completely useless product that people have been spending millions of dollars on. So what the heck is phenylephrine supposed to do? It’s touted as a decongestant and sold in over 260 kinds of medication from Mucinex to Tylenol and some Benadryl formulas. So many studies have concluded it has no effect at all that doctors have recommended to the FDA it be taken off the market.

Phenylephrine rose to fame on the coattails of pseudoephedrine. Pseudoephedrine is in medications like Sudafed, which used to be sold over the counter but now you need to ask for them. The reason for that is that people make meth out of it. Some stores stopped selling it and others give you the stink eye if you try to buy more than one box at a time. They make you show ID to buy it, too. 

If you have legit allergies, buying pseudoephedrine is a hassle you don’t need. In comes phenylephrine, which is advertised as having the same benefits minus the meth part. Except it doesn’t, and it never has. It’s no better than placebo despite how it’s advertised and the money drug companies make off of it. 

4. Sports Drinks are Pointless

Gatorade is a hugely recognized brand and the biggest in the sports drink segment. For decades now it’s been associated with athletes and sports, branding itself as a drink scientifically developed to help athletes hydrate better than even water can. 

Much of the research into how sports drinks work and help athletes perform was conducted by the companies that make the drinks. Thus, all the sciencey claims they make would be like Oreo scientists concluding Oreo gives you the vital cookie goodness you need to survive.

Even outside research is done using data originally collected by places like the Gatorade Sports Science Institute, who may be slightly biased. They based a lot of their conclusions on ideas like the human body can’t be trusted to know when it’s actually thirsty.

Independent research has shown that most of us never need to replenish our electrolytes after a workout because they didn’t go anywhere. One study on runners had them head out for a 45 minute run followed by a blood test which showed their blood sugar and electrolyte levels were fine and water was all they needed. In fact, drinking a Gatorade after a workout could make you less healthy overall thanks to the excess sugar and salt. 

3. Kinesiology Tape Has No Science Proving It Does Anything

If you’re an athlete, there’s a good chance you’ve endured an injury or two related to your sport of choice. For some, that means a trip to the kinesiologist to help get you back in peak condition. Just be careful about what products you’re using for this, especially if you decide to get some on your own. Things like kinesiology tape do nothing.

Sold in brightly colored rolls, kinesio tape has been around since the 70s and is supposed to stabilize muscles, promote blood flow and other performance enhancing things. It’s often used for things like hamstring injuries, tennis elbow and a handful of others. The problem is that there’s no scientific evidence it does anything at all. 

The tape is pseudoscience, a modern day elastic snake oil for athletes. You see it every four years at the Olympics adorning the bodies of competitors who clearly need a more skilled team of doctors. One major manufacturer was sued for bogus health claims and settled a class action suit while not admitting any wrongdoing as part of the deal. 

2. Foaming Agents in Soap Serve No Practical Purpose

Have you ever switched to a new brand of hand soap and tried to wash your hands only for it to barely lather? Chances are that, if you did, you tried to use more to work up more of a lather. In our minds, lathery bubbles means the soap is working. But in reality, that foam has nothing to do with the soap’s ability to clean. 

In the breakdown of what goes into something like shampoo, the cleaning is done by water and a surfactant. Companies add foaming agents to a shampoo so you get a good lather because customers expect a good lather. It’s not the part that does the cleaning though and the soap would work exactly the same without out. You feel like it’s doing something when it lathers, and so that’s why they make it that way.

Foam may actually be bad for you overall, in the sense that foaming soaps don’t even work as well as normal liquid soap. Foam soaps that come out of a pump already in foam form have been aerosolized. The cleaning power is actually reduced during this process. Something like an antibacterial hand soap will actually eliminate fewer bacteria if it’s in foam form than if you just used liquid soap. 

1. Pepsodent In Toothpaste Had No Purpose But Made People Feel Like It Did

Have you ever wondered why almost all toothpaste is minty? There have been attempts at other flavors but few were well received. It’s thanks to the fact that mint makes your mouth feel clean. They talk about this in toothpaste commercials a lot, the feeling of a minty fresh mouth or whatever. But there’s nothing inherently clean about mint in and of itself, is there?

Back in the early 1900s an inventor came up with a minty toothpaste he called Pepsodent. At this time oral hygiene in America was almost non-existent. Within 10 years of Pepsodent hitting the market, advertised by ad legend Claude C. Hopkins, half the country was brushing their teeth. 

Other companies wanted to recreate the success but had trouble until they realized Pepsodent was made with citric acid. That was part of what caused people’s mouths to tingle. This tingle became habit forming, people anticipated it as a sign that their mouths were clean and they looked better because of it. 

In reality, Pepsodent had nothing to do with cleanliness or the function of the toothpaste, but people felt it did. No toothpaste needs to tingle or even be minty. But it convinced generations to brush their teeth even though it had no actual purpose at all.

Florida gets a bad wrap, and no more so than the Florida man, known on an international level as an entertaining party game. You type “Florida Man” and your birth date, and voila! You laugh at the idiot in the article who attacked his daughter with pizza, the man who mistook the bank for a Taco Bell drive-thru, or even the guy who drove a Ferrari into a lake after Jesus told him to.

Like most places, Florida is not all bad, and the majority of its inhabitants are not idiots. So to counter the negativity, here are examples of ten “Florida Men” breaking through the stereotype and being the good guys for a change.

Related: 10 Most Thrilling Adventures Of Florida Man

10 Florida Man Mowed for Charity

Cutting the lawn on a Saturday morning is quite a tedious affair—the back and forth, the exertion, the time wasted—simply to be repeated week after week. The average American can spend anywhere from seven to forty-seven days of their life mowing their lawn. Imagine spending more than a quarter of that time in one spine-breaking sitting.

But that is what one Florida Man did. Chip Hawthorne drove his lawnmower from Titusville to Spring Hill, a trip of 130 Miles, clocking an estimated 15 hours on his garden automobile, all in the name of charity. The idea behind this “Mowathon” was to raise half a million dollars to support the West Orange Habitat for Humanity. Although he fell short of his financial mark, he definitely made a dent in the Florida Man landscape.^[1]

9 Florida Man Saves Bear

Does a bear crap in the woods? Sometimes. Other times, it meanders into a neighborhood where it’s either shot by one of the locals or takes the head off an old lady heading to Walmart. Either way, the result isn’t ideal. When a adult male black bear entered a residential area called Alligator Point, the local animal control was called out. They responded by darting the animal with a sleep-inducing concoction.

In a panic, the bear dove headfirst into the Gulf of Mexico and started swimming. Adam Warwick, a wildlife conservationist, did what any God-fearing Florida Man would have done. He dove after it, risking his own neck by intercepting its path and trying to turn him around toward land, thereby preventing it from drowning once the good stuff kicked in. He eventually had to help the bear keep its head above water and helped to float the bear back to the shore. A national treasure.^[2]

8 Florida Man Gives Up Riches

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

I’m sure you’d all agree—$20,000 dollars is a lot of money. Whether you are living under a bridge or managing a carwash and waxing business, making your way through life and saving for retirement, $20,000 can go far. James Stratford, who manages just such an enterprise, saved a local businessman a ton in damages and possibly his business.

Russell Mir arrived at the carwash to have his truck cleaned. Unfortunately, he had forgotten to deposit three bags of money in the bank and had further instructed the employees at the carwash that everything in the truck was to be discarded. After realizing his mistake, Mir notified Stratford and returned to the scene of the mistake. After an initial search with Stratford, a father of five, they found only one bag of cash in a dumpster. Stratford continued the search, managing to find the other two bags. For his efforts, he was awarded unlimited Slurpees for a year or anything else he desired at Mir’s service stations. He should have kept the dosh.^[3]

7 Florida Man Saves Manatee

When the attention of Florida Man Don Swartz was drawn by something floating on the surface of the water that resembled the last person left standing after a big night at the bar, he immediately sprang into action. The manatee, which was suspected of being poisoned by the red tide, was followed around the harbor until it flipped onto its back.

Knowing well that the turn meant likely drowning, Don jumped into the water and held the animal up, keeping its nostrils out of the water like an alligator in waiting. Now that is a man-to-a-tee. For forty minutes, Don held the distressed creature until the professionals took over. Apparently, the large aquatic bovine got into a generous helping of toxic red tide seagrass. Ha, is that what they are calling it these days?^[4]

6 Florida Man Saves Kids from Fire

If you have ever seen Zoolander, you know two things: (1) you can cheer someone up with Orange Mocha Frappucinos and (2) the devastating aftermath of a fire at a gas station. Tragedy struck when a fire erupted at the service station in Palm Harbor, leaving a woman in mortal danger and her two children to witness the tragedy.

Without a second thought and with nothing to gain, Jared Pierson, a local homeless Florida Man, dashed into the smoke and flames and pulled the two children to safety, risking his own life in the process. He later mentioned that had he known their mother was in danger, he would have likely done even more.^[5]

5 Florida Man Helps the Turtle Cross the Road

We all know the story of the rabbit and tortoise. The rabbit got cocky and took a nap while the slow and steady tortoise went home with the spoils. In the city of Naples, the scaly little guy was still running at full tilt. The problem was that he had a busy road to cross and no speedy legs to carry him across.

An anonymous Florida Man had other plans, hopping out of his truck and carrying Leonardo to safety on the other side of the road. Real heroes don’t have names. They simply live in the imagination and minds of others. This man will live on in the memories of all who witnessed him stop traffic simply to preserve nature. Send our regards to Master Splinter.^[6]

4 Florida Man Saves Person Having Seizure

Heroes don’t always have broad chests and legendary attire. They come in all shapes and sizes, and when the stars align, they wear steel-toed boots for protection from their day jobs. While mowing his lawn one morning, Tony Neil noticed a neighbor having a seizure while in his car.

With the car still in motion, Tony sprung to action as if taken straight from the pages of a comic book and attempted to stop the car, the vehicle almost crushing his foot if not for the steel boots of glory. Eventually, the car came to a halt against a tree, and with no way to get inside, Tony had someone call 911, who arrived and pulled the man to safety. The victim survived the ordeal and thanked Tony for saving his life. I imagine them sitting in the back of an ambulance, tying all loose ends before the credits start rolling. ^[7]

3 Florida Man Saves Drowning Child

Delray Beach, FL. Mother’s day almost turned into a nightmare for a mother of twins as one of her daughters was swept out to sea in a rip current. Working at a local resort, Logan Gaynor heard the screaming and went to see what was happening. Without hesitation, he broke into some Logan’s Run-style action and dashed right into the water to provide help.

Logan was able to pull the girl to safety without anybody getting hurt and was later commended by the local fire department with a lifesaving award, leaving the family with nothing but “what-ifs.” What if Logan wasn’t there? What if he also got caught in the rip current and was dragged out to see? What if they never ever enter the ocean again for any reason for the rest of their lives?^[8]

2 Florida Man Rescues People from Afghanistan

The U.S. Armed Forces have been fighting and working to maintain peace in the Middle East for as long as we can remember. A recent controversial exit from the country had left many Americans stranded in the process. In August of 2021, before the U.S. officially ended its campaign and the Taliban took back power, the U.S. began a mass evacuation of personnel and people on the ground.

A total of 120,000 people were evacuated from the country, with many being aided by private organizations. In their efforts, the U.S. government found one sure way to do it: enter Florida Man. Zach Van Meter, a private equity investor from Naples, was roped in to assist after Uncle Sam—well, okay, it was a former U.S. commando—came knocking. His group, known as the Commercial Task Force, was directly responsible for evacuating at least 15,000 people. Talk about making a difference from afar.^[9

1 Florida Man Saves Puppy

If film and documentaries have taught us anything, it’s that the number one unforgivable sin is to let the dog (or cat) die—the biggest no-no in the civilized world. The mom can fall from a cliff, the dad shot, but if Rufus dies, then that’s that. One Florida Man lives and dies by that mantra.

Richard Willbanks, a Florida retiree, was walking his doggo, Gunner, when a gator attacked, dragging the little guy to the water. Alligators are well known for drowning their prey, and Gunner was no exception. Richard flew after the hungry gator and went looking for it underwater before lifting the reptile with the dog still in its jaws out of the lake. Eventually, Willbanks managed to wrestle the dog free only with minor scratches. And get this—he didn’t drop his cigar. All the commotion, the struggle for life and death, and his cigar remained in his mouth throughout the entire ordeal. We all hope that Richard lives forever. A true Florida Man.^[10]

You don’t have to be bitten by a radioactive spider, have super speed or strength, or have the ability to fly in order to be a hero. Being a hero simply means putting the needs of others before your own and relying on your own inner strength and courage, even in the face of danger or uncertainty.

Being a “hero” can span a variety of situations from paying for a person’s groceries when they come up short at the register, helping a new mother who’s struggling, granting a last wish to someone with a terminal illness, or just leaving a larger-than-usual tip for an employee in the service industry.

The ten pizza delivery drivers on this list had no idea the circumstances they were about to encounter as they made seemingly normal deliveries. However, rather than ignoring the situation or assuming they could not help, they heard the calls of those in need and chose to answer, ultimately saving the day and in some cases, the lives of their customers.

Related: 10 Times A Homeless Person Was A Hero (For Real)

10 Anson Lemmer

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Nineteen-year-old Anson Lemmer, a pizza delivery driver for Uncle Pizza in Denver, Colorado, headed out for his last delivery on June 15, 2015. However, when a standard pizza delivery quickly became a medical emergency, Lemmer sprang into action.

When Lemmer arrived at his destination, he saw a man on the ground turning blue and in need of help. While there were other bystanders at the residence, they did not know CPR. However, Lemmer had received CPR training as a pre-teen and put that training to good use until first responders could arrive. By that time, the unnamed man was in stable condition and transported to the hospital, where he was later released. While Lemmer doesn’t consider himself a “hero,” he was honored by The American Red Cross on July 17, 2015, and presented with the Lifesaver Award.^[1]

9 Sofia Furtado

Caryn Sullivan of West Island Fairhaven, Massachusetts, placed a pizza order on February 11, 2022, but because her husband was asleep, she decided to wait outside her home for the delivery. Unfortunately, while waiting, Sullivan’s knee gave out, causing her to fall down a set of stairs and injure her head on the way down.

When Sophia Furtdao, the DoorDash delivery driver, arrived and saw Sullivan bleeding and unresponsive, she immediately went inside to notify Sullivan’s husband and call 911. Thankfully, Furtado also had previous EMT training, so she wasn’t afraid to assist and could follow the dispatcher’s instructions until medics arrived at the home.

While Sullivan underwent emergency surgery and months of recovery, doctors stated that had it not been for Furtado arriving when she did and assisting dispatchers, Sullivan would not have made it. The Fairhaven Police Department honored Furtado with a lifesaving award, and DoorDash also granted her a $1,000 educational grant to help her pursue her dreams of becoming an EMT.^[2]

8 Alou Bathily

In March 2019, twenty-one-year-old Alou Bathily, a native of West Africa, had only been a resident of the United States for two months. However, on the evening of March 29, not only was Bathily on a mission to serve pizza to a New York customer, but he also served up some much-needed justice.

While en route to a delivery, Bathily witnessed a police chase. Manhattan police were in pursuit of a suspect who previously had been harassing a woman and stole her headphones. When the suspect, 17-year-old Lovell Ambrister, took off on foot, Bathily refused to let him get away and chased after the young man on his bicycle. Bathily was able to tackle him to the ground and then stated he “sat on him for good measure” until the police arrived.

On April 23, 2019, the New York Police Department presented Bathily with an award for being a “local neighborhood superhero.” Not only was Bathily able to assist police in apprehending the suspect and saving the day, but he was also able to deliver the customer’s pizza in well under 30 minutes.^[3]

7 Nicholas Bostic

When 25-year-old pizza delivery driver Nicholas Bostic of Lafayette, Indiana, noticed a house engulfed in flames on the evening of July 11, 2022, he jumped into action without any second thoughts or hesitation. Thankfully, Bostic was able to enter the residence through an unlocked back door, where he began calling out to anyone who might have been inside.

Bostic found four children upstairs; however, once he had gotten them to safety, he was told a six-year-old girl was still inside the home. He ran back into the flames and was able to locate the child. Unfortunately, due to the intense amount of smoke, Bostic couldn’t find his way back out, so he took the little girl and jumped out of the second-story window, landing on his side to ensure she wasn’t injured during the escape.

Four of the children Bostic rescued lived in the home; one was a friend staying the night. The parents of the four children, David and Tiera Barrett, had gone out for a date night, and the fire later was deemed to have started due to a bucket of ashes on the porch that had not been fully extinguished.

Bostic suffered from severe smoke inhalation, deep cuts on his arms, and blisters on his hands but was released from the hospital a few days later. He was simply happy to know all of the children were okay. Needless to say, the Barretts are incredibly grateful for Bostic’s quick thinking and heroic actions, and they now consider him family.^[4]

6 Gilad Zargari

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

Seventeen-year-old Gilad Zargari is a pizza delivery driver in Be’er Sheeva, Israel. However, when he arrived to make a delivery on February 5, 2022, he was met by a young father in desperate need of help.

The father, Ran, told Zargari that his daughter was suffering from a febrile convulsion, a seizure that is brought on when a child’s temperature gets too high. The family was waiting for an ambulance to arrive. Thankfully, aside from delivering pizzas, Zargari was also a Magen David Adom (MDA) volunteer, which provides training in first-aid and emergency care.

Zargari immediately began doing what he had been trained to do. He called for a MICU, a mobile intensive care unit ambulance specifically equipped to care for those requiring immediate, high-level treatment, and wrapped the baby in a damp towel to bring her temperature down. Thanks to Zargari’s actions, the little girl had been stabilized by the time medics arrived. The little girl’s parents were extremely grateful that Zargari was the one who arrived on the scene and when he did, saying, “We received a pizza with a life-saving side order.”^[5]

5 Oregon Domino’s

Forty-eight-year-old Kirk Alexander of Salem, Oregon, had been a loyal Domino’s customer for over 10 years, ordering almost every single day. However, never could he have imagined that his love for pizza would ultimately save his life.

When 11 days had passed without a single incoming order from Alexander, general manager Sarah Fuller knew something had to be wrong and sent driver Tracey Hamblen to Alexander’s home to check on him. Hamblen had become well acquainted with Alexander and knew of his medical conditions. However, when Hamblen arrived, the lights and TV were on, but he was unable to get Alexander to answer the door or his phone.

Hamblen returned to the Domino’s store, where he and Fuller then called 911. First responders arrived and were able to rescue Alexander, who was believed to have had a stroke, although no specific details were released regarding his medical condition. However, the care of the Domino’s staff didn’t end after Alexander was transported to the hospital. They continued to make visits to check on him during his recovery.^[6]

4 Brad Lane

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons

When pizza delivery driver Brad Lane received a phone call at Toppers Pizza in Clifton, Ohio, at 3:00 am on March 28, 2011, for a large order, something didn’t quite seem right. So rather than simply hanging up after the customer had finished his order, Lane continued to quietly listen to the man on the other end of the line. That’s when he overheard the plan to rob him during the delivery.

Lane and his manager then called 911. Between the efforts of 911 dispatchers and local police, they were able to set up a sting operation. They sent an undercover officer dressed as a pizza delivery man in Lane’s place. The criminals went through with their plan and attempted to grab the pizzas and flee, but the police already had the area surrounded and were waiting for them. Police arrested 19-year-old Kevon Whitfield and another 14-year-old who had also tried to rob a Pizza Hut the previous evening.^[7]

3 Karen Vogt

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Karen Vogt was a pizza delivery driver for Mezzaluna Pizzeria in Ormond Beach, Florida, and also a favorite among its customers. However, on August 4, 2016, when Vogt attempted to deliver an order to an elderly customer who frequently ordered, and there was no answer at the door or by phone, she knew something was amiss.

After Vogt heard what she believed was a crash, she was determined to check on the customer and found a way to access the home through a door next to the garage. That’s when she saw that the customer had fallen trying to answer the door and was unable to get up. Vogt then alerted the pizzeria, who called for an ambulance while she waited with the elderly woman.

While the customer was able to come back home the next day, Vogt still felt bad that she never got to enjoy her pizza, so she paid for another one and delivered it to the woman personally.^[8]

2 Kaylene White

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When a pizza order was made incorrectly on the evening of August 31, 2016, Domino’s driver Kaylene White was sent to deliver the corrected order to the Northside Senior Apartments in Angleton, Texas. However, little did she know that she was meant to be the one making the delivery that night.

Martha Norman, a resident at the complex, has a skin condition that often caused her to scratch herself, sometimes leading to bleeding. So when she called her daughter, Cheryl Stahl, saying she was bleeding, Stahl came to the complex to assess the situation. However, when she arrived, she saw her mother as well as the apartment covered in blood. After Norman was unable to explain what happened, Stahl panicked and was so hysterical she could not unlock her phone to call for assistance. That’s when she began screaming for help, and thankfully, White came running.

White had previous experience working in the medical field and immediately took charge of the situation by grabbing towels to form a tourniquet around Norman’s legs to stop the bleeding. When paramedics arrived on the scene, they confirmed that had it not been for White’s actions, Norman may have had a much different outcome.

Additionally, given her heroic efforts, one of the paramedics on call, Jason Albert, later went into the Domino’s store to inform White’s manager what had happened to ensure she did not face any consequences for returning late from the delivery. While White doesn’t consider herself a hero, both Norman and Stahl say that they will never forget her, and they consider her a “lifelong friend.”^[9]

1 Joey Grundl

Dean Hoffman forced his way into his ex-girlfriend’s home on the afternoon of September 27, 2018, where he proceeded to physically assault and hogtie her, holding her against her will. The woman naturally assumed she was going to die by Hoffman’s hand. However, Hoffman’s sinister plans were foiled when he made the mistake of ordering a pizza, which would be delivered by a very observant driver.

When Domino’s driver Joey Grundl arrived with the delivery order, the woman alerted Grundl to her black eye and mouthed the words “help me” and “call police.” Grundl kept his composure to not alert Hoffman that he knew something was wrong, and once he was back in his car, he called 911. Hoffman was arrested and charged with suspicion of kidnapping, false imprisonment, strangulation and suffocation, felony intimidation of a victim, and burglary.

Grundl was honored by Domino’s CEO and presented with the “Above and Beyond the Call of Duty” award. Additionally, when Grundl was spotted wearing a Taylor Swift sweatshirt during an interview, word spread to the pop star, and Swift invited him to meet her backstage after her concert in Arlington, Texas.^[10]