If you’ve ever wondered why a whisper or a gentle brush can send shivers down your spine, you’re about to explore the 10 spine tingling truths that make ASMR more than just a trend. From science to celebrity, money to the weirdest corners, this guide covers every angle of the phenomenon.

10 Spine Tingling Overview

10 ASMR Is A Physical Response—Not Just An Emotional One

Often referred to as “the tingles,” ASMR is a response producing a localized shiver-esque sensation starting in the back or crown of the scalp and moving down the spine. Despite its newness—the term “ASMR” was coined a mere decade ago—studies show that the phenomenon is a physical reaction to stimuli as opposed to an emotional experience (for example, getting amped up by a song you enjoy).

One study was particularly telling. An experiment was conducted in which 110 participants viewed ASMR videos while connected to biological feedback machinery. After people with ASMR watched the videos, their heart rates slowed by an average of more than three beats per minute. What’s more, their skin conductance levels—a measure of physiological arousal—were significantly increased compared to those in a non‑ASMR group.

In other words, ASMR is on one’s head rather than in it. Many swear by ASMR as a means of relaxation akin to “meditation with perks.” Additional scientific studies are currently being conducted to measure ASMR’s clinical potential to help alleviate a variety of ailments exacerbated by stress, including insomnia, depression, and anxiety disorders.

9 That Said, Nobody Really Knows Exactly What ASMR Is

The triggers that typically cause ASMR are well‑known, including soft vocalizations like whispering and tongue clicking as well as calming hand gestures often incorporating gentle scratching and crinkling. However, exactly what is physically occurring in someone while experiencing ASMR remains unclear. Even ASMR University, a site dedicated to substantiating the effect via education and research, can thus far only explain how ASMR “might” work.

These explanations are often parsed to consider the specific ASMR trigger involved. For example, someone experiencing ASMR from a video depicting whispered words vocalized softly, slowly, and in a caring way may be experiencing a surge of endorphins typically associated with parent‑infant bonding.

These endorphins then stimulate dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with desire and motivation, and can even bond with opioid receptors, creating mild euphoria without the need for prescription painkillers.

Another substance that comes into play with most ASMR experiences is oxytocin, a peptide hormone produced in the hypothalamus portion of the brain. Affectionately called the “cuddle hormone,” oxytocin facilitates comfort, relaxation, and decreased stress.

It also contributes to ASMR’s telltale tingles by increasing the sensitivity of endorphin receptors. Oxytocin and endorphins together are also known to diminish cortisol, a hormone released during chronic stress.

8 Whatever ASMR Is, It’s Huge—And It’s Diverse

Among the most popular ASMR artists—often shortened to ASMRtists—is the insistently named ASMR Darling. She has more than two million subscribers to her YouTube channel, with many of her individual videos garnering more than 30 million views. Other prominent ASMR YouTube forums, including FrivolousFox ASMR, Gibi ASMR, and the appropriately named Gentle Whispering ASMR, have over a million subscribers apiece.

But the title of Most Viewed ASMR video of all time is the “Crushing Crunchy & Soft Things by Car.” Featuring (you guessed it) a series of objects being backed over by an automobile, the video has generated an astounding 700 million views. Sorry, “Playing with 10000 Mini Magnetic Balls,” you’ll have to settle for a measly 54 million views.

Though ASMR videos certainly have tried‑and‑true themes that all prominent artists dabble in—tapping, microphone brushing, hand massage, and facial roleplays—content spans essentially anything that anyone could possibly find soothing. This includes eating, playing dominoes, typing, or just reading a book. A site called ASMR Academy lists more than 50 ASMR video ideas for aspiring artists.

There are even videos of people reacting to ASMR videos, one of which has been viewed over six million times.

7 ASMR Is A Real Moneymaker

The top ASMR artists are whispering all the way to the bank. The aforementioned Gibi ASMR earns nearly $500,000 per year in ad revenue—not too shabby for a 24‑year‑old whose real‑world skills include scratching, tapping, and, for some reason, pretending to camp out in Japan.

Gibi is far from alone—and she’s far from the youngest YouTuber earning money fluttering hand over fist. In addition to more than a million YouTube subscribers, Makenna Kelly has nearly half a million followers on Instagram. Her ASMR star power earns her about $900 every day—not bad for a 13‑year‑old.

Along with online gamers, ASMRtists are among the first cyber‑born niche to truly dispel the misconception that YouTube sensations can’t sufficiently monetize their stardom. In fact, many have blown that myth to smithereens.

It’s worth noting that the revenue made by many ASMRtists doesn’t come from online ad revenue alone. The personal nature of the experience leaves many viewers happy to donate to their favorite ASMRtists via PayPal or other online platforms. Some ASMR stars also sell albums (useful, for example, on an airplane with no Wi‑Fi), and several sell or endorse trigger items such as signature brushes.

6 There’s Some Really Strange ASMR Stuff Out There

When a novel yet nascent practice like ASMR starts experimenting with other niches, the crossovers can be downright weird. A nod to ASMR’s often nerdgasmic fan base, many ASMRtists have produced sci‑fi role play videos. Some mix sci‑fi with profession role play—for example, a space travel agent. Here’s one that boldly goes where no ASMR content has gone before.

ASMR also is making inroads—sometimes via guerrilla marketing—into the online gaming community. ASMR trolling, as it is called, has occurred on a variety of interactive gaming platforms, including the widely popular Fortnite.

And what could be more disarming then whispering over warfare? Enter Call of Duty: ASMR. One online prankster who calls himself “Best in Class” makes a career out of ASMR trolling in various cyber settings, among other impression‑based gags.

Some of the strangeness defies genre. Apparently, more than 60,000 people found a video featuring a woman petting an oversized stuffed pig tingle‑worthy. And nothing says relaxation like a violent chiropractic adjustment.

Many more serious ASMRtists find such fringe content concerning. They fear that it hurts public perception of a cottage industry that could collapse in mockery if not nurtured correctly.

5 There’s An O.G. Of ASMR: Landscape Painter Bob Ross

The man credited with pioneering ASMR did so accidentally—and died 15 years before the phrase was even coined.

Over a period of about a decade starting in the mid‑1980s, Bob Ross filmed more than 30 seasons of his half‑hour program, The Joy of Painting. Attempting to appeal to aspiring amateur artists, the public television show taught a simplified painting technique. But thanks to Ross’s rhythmic, shush‑shush brushstrokes, gently scraping palate knife, and soothing narration, people began watching more for joy than for painting.

The show was an unexpected smash hit for surprising reasons. (What other painting show aired more than 400 episodes?) Viewers reported an inexplicable, tingly, euphoric sensation, a sort of blissful zoning out while Ross crafted his trademark majestic mountains and “happy little trees.”

Many reported that the show even sent them off into a peaceful sleep. The paintings, many of which were strikingly similar from show to show, seemed secondary.

To this day, the frizzy‑haired phenomenon—whose show only ended due to his death in 1995 from cancer at age 53—is helping people discover ASMR. As his shows are ubiquitous online, many people only realize that ASMR exists after watching The Joy of Painting. From there, they search for answers about the tingly, trancelike sensation it inspires.

4 Some ASMR Has Become Highly Sexualized

As it deals with the pleasure sensors of the brain, at least some correlation between ASMR and sexuality is inherent. Dr. Craig Richard, PhD, an ASMR researcher and founder of the aforementioned ASMR University, notes that the tingles caused by an ASMR video can make viewers feel they are fetishizing the person or object causing this pleasure.

“[ASMR] videos induce a sexual response, but it’s mostly due to the sexual stimuli, not the ASMR triggers,” he says. With conventional ASMR, it is believed that significant sexualization occurs infrequently. Craig says only about 10 percent of people report feeling aroused by ASMR.

Inevitably, though, some ASMR can become borderline porn. A niche segment known as “erotica ASMR” includes sexual imagery and behaviors combined with ASMR triggering behaviors and sounds designed to stimulate viewers’ brains while they stimulate, well, themselves.

For newcomers to ASMR, there are tells that typically reveal whether an ASMRtist is being intentionally sexual. Cleavage is often a big giveaway. One of the most popular erotica ASMR artists is Valeriya ASMR, a buxom blonde whose bosom is falling out all over the place as she teases viewers with feathers and not‑so‑subtle mouth sounds. Apparently, she’s quite effective as she’s amassed more than half a million subscribers on YouTube.

3 Hollywood Is Getting In On It

What fad would be complete without a roster of actors, musicians, and other celebrities glomming onto it? You haven’t experienced the full brilliance of the modern‑day James Dean that is Jake Gyllenhaal until you’ve seen him whisper about his day, play with an antique camera, and twist bubble wrap.

Some celebrity contributions to ASMR are, like the Super Bowl spot, sponsorship driven. The YouTube channel for fashion brand Miu Miu includes videos from a variety of actors who’ve created both individual and collaborative ASMR videos designed as 15‑second ad spots.

Highlights include former Big Love sister‑wife Chloe Sevigny whispering provocatively while wearing sparkly shoes and Ozark star Julia Garner having a whispered conversation with herself and then playing with a bow around her ankle.

Other prominent celebs are either fascinated with ASMR or producing their own videos. A‑list stars include Ashton Kutcher, Eva Longoria, and Russell Brand.

ASMR is starting to show up on the big screen, too.

In 2017, Battle of the Sexes, starring Emma Stone and Steve Carell depicting the legendary intergender 1973 tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, became the first major motion picture with a scene intentionally designed to induce ASMR. The scene features Stone at a hair salon with cameras and microphones focusing on hair touching, soft hand movements, gentle voices, and hypnotic scissor‑snipping.

2 ASMR Isn’t Limited To Videos

Though ASMR was largely born and made popular via video, fancy microphones and other specialized equipment are not necessary to produce its effects. ASMR experiences in everyday settings are often what inspire popular YouTube content.

In fact, a sensory stimulation that video can’t replicate—touch—can be a highly effective ASMR trigger. Touch‑centric ASMR generally involves the body’s more sensitive areas. As in the aforementioned movie scene, haircuts and ASMR go hand in h . . . well, scalp, and both the soles of the feet and palms of the hands can induce tingles atop one’s head.

Soothing hand motions and light flashes also can induce ASMR, and some feel that these visual triggers are more effective in person than on‑screen. Something as banal as watching a child at play can produce a tingly trance.

In‑person ASMR also is becoming trendy. One such live experience describes itself as an “intimately sized immersive theater performance, maintaining a one‑to‑one ratio between guides and guests.” One reviewer was less than impressed. Not surprisingly, ASMR providers are predominantly found in liberal‑leaning, high‑income areas like New York City, San Francisco, and Los Angeles.

1 Many People Have No Idea What We’re Talking About

Unfortunately, a sizable minority of folks must toil through an entirely tingle‑less existence. It’s become commonly accepted that many people are simply incapable of experiencing ASMR.

It is estimated that around 60 percent of people can experience ASMR—20 percent quite strongly, another 40 percent more mildly. That leaves a large portion of the population ASMR‑incapable. As ASMR is a physical response rather than an emotional feeling, this tingle‑less proclivity is seemingly as random among the greater populace as the inability to roll one’s tongue or wiggle one’s ears.

Though they may find a typically low‑key, soothing ASMR video somewhat relaxing, this unresponsive subset stops short of any physical response. They might feel calmer but don’t feel tingles.

And considering some common ASMR content—including role‑playing ranging from facial makeovers to bank tellers—many people who don’t experience ASMR might view it as just plain weird. One prominent British ASMR artist was mocked on a morning show, an incident whose backlash showed both the insensitivity of the host and the burgeoning popularity of ASMR.

Finally, some people are actually physically repulsed by ASMR. A tiny minority suffer from misophonia, also known as sound rage, and can be triggered into anger or panic by some ASMR sound effects.

Christopher Dale frequently writes on politics, society, and parenting. His work has appeared in NY Daily News, Daily Beast, and Salon, among other outlets. Follow him on Twitter at @ChrisDaleWriter.

When we think about our physicians, we picture competence, ethics, and cutting‑edge knowledge. Yet the reality is riddled with contradictions that make us uneasy. The very qualities we demand can clash, leaving us to wonder: does a brand‑new surgical technique truly work, or does it simply appear to? The only way to verify is through a clinical trial—sometimes involving a sham operation for the control group. That raises a troubling question: is it ethical?

10 Depressing Truths Unveiled

10 Doctors Can Be Deceived Or Make Mistakes

Medical journals keep physicians up‑to‑date, but they occasionally publish papers written by ghostwriters employed by drug companies. A notable case: in 2000, the New England Journal of Medicine featured an article praising Vioxx, a new painkiller. Some of the authors later turned out to have ties to the maker, downplaying the drug’s cardiac risks. Vioxx was withdrawn in 2004 after it was linked to serious heart problems.

Most treatments undergo clinical trials to confirm safety and efficacy. Yet a recent audit uncovered that over a third of these studies contained errors—from minor oversights to recommending therapies for the wrong patient groups. The flu antivirals Tamiflu and Relenza, for instance, were found to provide at best a half‑day reduction in illness duration, with no solid proof of preventing complications or hospital stays.

9 Advance Directives Can Let Dementia Patients In For Risky Research

Doctors won’t treat you without informed consent. But what happens if you’re unconscious? An advance directive can step in, and some people even file a research‑specific directive, agreeing to potentially risky studies for the sake of future patients. The dilemma intensifies when dementia strikes.

Alzheimer’s research has spanned a century, yet many gaps remain. Some scientists rely on advance directives signed before cognitive decline, but such consent is rare. Critics argue that demanding it stalls valuable research, while others warn of ethical pitfalls, recalling notorious human experiments of the past.

The Alzheimer’s Association proposes a middle path: permit low‑risk research without extra consent, seek surrogate approval for higher‑risk studies with possible benefits, and require explicit consent for risky investigations lacking clear advantage.

8 Incidental Findings Can Ruin Your Life

Modern medicine wields the most powerful diagnostic tools ever created, yet sometimes it reveals more than we bargained for. Imagine visiting the ER for depression, only to have routine scans uncover an adrenal mass—a so‑called “incidentaloma.” While most of these tumors are benign, confirming they aren’t cancerous often triggers a cascade of expensive tests.

Patients undergo a battery of investigations, only to learn the growth is harmless. Yet the financial burden and emotional toll can be overwhelming, sometimes leading to anxiety, depression, or even suicidal thoughts. Some wonder if they could simply ask doctors not to disclose incidental findings, but genetic testing guidelines from the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics compel physicians to report any unexpected risky genes discovered.

The rapid advance of technology creates costly, heart‑breaking dilemmas, and the medical community is still grappling with how best to manage incidental discoveries.

7 Branding

Co‑branding can be a win‑win: a credit‑card firm might donate $100 to a hospital when a new client spends $500 within six months. Such partnerships boost visibility for both parties. Yet trouble arises when hospitals fail to vet their corporate allies.

Some genetic‑screening firms sidestep regulation by labeling tests as “recreational,” while direct‑to‑consumer cardiac‑screening companies face criticism for promoting services that may cause more harm than benefit.

Even skeptics of direct‑to‑consumer marketing admit there’s little solid evidence showing it’s detrimental as an educational tool. Nonetheless, the controversy persists, reminding us that a reputable medical institution’s name on a product doesn’t automatically guarantee safety or efficacy.

6 You Could Wake Up During Surgery

Even with modern anesthesia, a tiny fraction of patients—about one or two per 1,000—experience intra‑operative awareness, waking up during their operation. Roughly 70 % of these individuals develop post‑traumatic stress disorder afterward.

This occurs when the anesthetic dose is insufficient. Balancing adequate sedation against maintaining vital signs is a delicate art. Near the end of lengthy procedures, a patient’s anesthesia reserves may dwindle, increasing the risk of awareness, especially in high‑risk surgeries where clinicians must keep the dosage low.

While there’s no absolute guarantee you won’t become conscious mid‑procedure, those who do typically feel pressure from surgical instruments rather than pain, explaining the high PTSD rates.

5 Doctors May Have Conflicts Of Interest

Physicians, like anyone else, enjoy freebies—think notepads, pens, even pizza—from pharmaceutical reps. While modest gifts aren’t inherently problematic, conflicts arise when money and influence intersect.

Research shows 40 % of drug‑company board members also hold senior positions at major academic medical centers, earning upwards of $250,000 annually for their industry roles. These dual loyalties can shape research agendas and clinical practices.

Moreover, doctors who own labs, imaging equipment, or stakes in specialty hospitals often order more tests and procedures, inflating costs. Although federal and state statutes limit self‑referrals, studies still reveal higher utilization in regions where physicians own substantial medical infrastructure.

4 No One Really Knows What Your Health Care Costs

When a medical bill lands on your doorstep, you may call your insurer, negotiate, or even consult a bankruptcy attorney. Surprisingly, hospitals often back down if you challenge the charge, and pricing can vary dramatically based on your insurance coverage.

Hospitals rely on a “chargemaster,” a master price list that, outside California, patients cannot legally view. Even when accessible, its numbers are bewildering. Insurers typically negotiate discounts of over 50 % off chargemaster rates, while uninsured patients are left to shoulder the full amount.

The lack of a national standard, coupled with opaque coding practices, leaves even billing specialists scratching their heads about how to accurately price a visit.

3 Electronic Health Record Errors

Electronic health records (EHRs) replaced paper charts, promising efficiency and safety. Yet both software glitches and human errors persist. Poor interface design can hide critical lab results, medication dosages may be entered incorrectly, and notes can vanish without a trace.

Alarmingly, no systematic tracking of EHR errors exists. Some experts suspect that a design flaw contributed to a missed Ebola diagnosis: a nurse entered travel history into the system, but the information failed to surface promptly for the attending physician, delaying life‑saving treatment.

2 Hacked Medical Devices

One might assume hospital equipment enjoys NSA‑grade cybersecurity, but reality paints a different picture. A Midwestern health system commissioned its IT department to test the security of devices across 100 facilities, finding that hackers could easily access patient records, reset infusion pumps, reprogram defibrillators, alter refrigerator temperatures, and cripple emergency and lab equipment.

This isn’t an isolated incident. In 2010, malware shut down a New Jersey cardiac catheterization lab. The Conficker worm infected 104 devices at a Tampa VA hospital. An over‑zealous antivirus program forced a third of Rhode Island’s hospitals to postpone all but emergency procedures after mistakenly flagging a critical Windows DLL as malicious.

Fortunately, no patients have suffered harm yet. The FDA’s recent cybersecurity guidelines, while not yet law, signal that future device approvals will hinge on robust security measures.

1 Unfair Treatment Of Minorities Still Exists In The US

Historically, patients received care based on ethnicity, and while progress has been made, disparities endure. A 2002 Institute of Medicine report uncovered that minorities routinely received lower‑quality care, were denied certain drugs and procedures, and faced higher amputation rates for diabetes.

Subsequent studies echoed these findings, urging systemic reforms, greater representation of minority providers, and improved interpreter services. By 2014, experts noted that insurance gaps, cultural barriers, and limited access to information continued to disadvantage underserved communities.

Faking Surgery For Science

Sham surgeries, though rare, have occurred in the name of research. In 2009, a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine described 63 patients with osteoporotic compression fractures who underwent a simulated procedure without cement as part of a trial. Multiple major medical centers participated. The investigation revealed that the actual surgery likely offered no benefit, prompting debate over the ethical balance between scientific rigor and patient welfare.

Barb, who writes about science on her blog Flight To Wonder, notes that the medical community continues to wrestle with the moral implications of placebo surgeries.

Right now, as far as anyone can verify, nine nations hold nuclear stockpiles – the most perilous countries on the planet: the United States, Russia, China, the United Kingdom, Israel, India, Pakistan, France, and North Korea. Together they form a veritable axis of terror, madness, warfare, ecological devastation, oppression, and emptiness… you catch the drift. The short answer is that we are far from being in safe hands, and the closer you examine the situation, the more unsettling it becomes.

10 Nuclear‑Armed Nations Spend $156,000 Per Minute On Their Bombs

Ever wondered why affluent societies still grapple with stark poverty? The answer often lies in colossal military budgets, especially the chunk devoted to nuclear arsenals. In 2021, amid a worldwide pandemic and an accelerating climate emergency, the nine most reckless governments “squandered” a mind‑boggling $82.4 billion on their nukes – that’s roughly $156,000 every single minute. That figure includes everything from upkeep, management, disposal, and even the salaries of lobbyists who spin the narrative for the public. The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons notes that this colossal outlay has produced zero, or perhaps even negative, gains in global security.

The story gets even darker. Between 1940 and 1996, the United States alone poured an estimated $5.8 trillion into nuclear weapons and related programs. Even as a conservative estimate – the lowest plausible figure – this places nuclear spending as the third‑largest line item in federal budgets, trailing only overall defense and Social Security (the latter largely self‑funded). Nuclear funding eclipses combined spending on education, social services, employment, agriculture, environmental protection, scientific research, community development (including disaster relief), law enforcement, and energy. Stack those dollar bills on top of one another and you’d get a tower of cash soaring 459,000 miles – almost touching the Moon and back.

When you hear the phrase 10 unsettling truths, you probably expect a spine‑tingling list – and the Crying Boy paintings deliver just that. These tear‑streaked portraits of wide‑eyed youngsters have haunted homes for decades, sparking rumors of a curse that can scorch walls but spare the very canvas. Below we unpack every eerie detail, from hidden identities to the fiery bonfire that tried to end the myth once and for all.

Discover 10 Unsettling Truths About the Crying Boy Paintings

10 The Artist Used a Pseudonym

The Crying Boy series bears the signature “Giovanni Bragolin,” a name that, in reality, never existed. The true hand behind the mournful eyes was Spanish painter Bruno Amadio, who occasionally adopted the alias Franchot Seville. Between the 1950s and 1980, Amadio cranked out more than 60 variations of the weeping child, each mass‑produced and sold by the tens of thousands – over 50,000 copies found homes across the United Kingdom alone.

While this body of work became Amadio’s sole claim to fame, it also cast a dark shadow. Critics whispered that the paintings, steeped in sorrow, hinted at something more sinister. Some even suggested the artist might have deliberately frightened his subjects before immortalising them, with a few observers daring to label Amadio as nothing short of demonic.

9 The Subject Was an Orphan

Amadio claimed one of his most famous sitters was a mute street urchin he encountered wandering the alleys of Madrid during the 1960s. The boy, later named Don Bonillo, was said to have fled after witnessing his parents perish in a fire. A local Catholic priest warned Amadio that the child carried a dangerous aura, dubbing him “Diablo” – Spanish for devil – because flames seemed to follow him wherever he roamed.

Defying the priest’s admonition, Amadio adopted the youngster, bringing him into his home and using his haunting visage as the centerpiece for the Crying Boy series. The tale of the orphan’s tragic past added a chilling layer to the already sorrowful artwork.

8 Amadio’s Studio and Apartment Caught Fire

The bond between Amadio and his forlorn muse met a fiery demise when the painter’s studio and personal apartment were engulfed in an unexplained blaze. The inferno reduced his workspace to ash, leaving him penniless and emotionally scarred. Haunted by the priest’s warning, Amadio blamed the orphan for the devastation, casting him out and never seeing him again.

As the flames subsided, rumors of a curse attached to the Crying Boy paintings began to circulate throughout Europe. Amadio’s reputation shifted from celebrated artist to suspected jinx, with potential patrons shying away from commissioning any new works from his hands.

7 Did the Subject Suffer a Tragic Death?

Don Bonillo’s life concluded in a blaze that mirrored his haunted beginnings. In 1976, police responded to a severe car accident on the outskirts of Barcelona. The vehicle erupted into flames after colliding with a wall, leaving a lone driver burned beyond recognition.

Investigators uncovered a partially intact driver’s licence in the charred glove compartment. The licence identified the victim as Don Bonillo, confirming that the orphan met his end in a fire. This grim finale reinforced the belief among many that the Crying Boy curse was more than mere superstition.

6 The Prints Survived Over 60 House Fires

The first documented blaze involving a Crying Boy print struck the home of Ron and Mary Hall in Rotherham back in 1985. A chip‑pan explosion gutted the first floor of their council terraced house, but one item remained untouched: a Crying Boy portrait hanging in the living room. The painting tumbled from the wall, landed face‑down, and emerged with only a faint scorch.

Although investigators traced the fire to an overheated deep‑frying pan, the Halls blamed the eerie survival of the artwork for the disaster. Their story ignited a wave of similar reports—homes, pizza parlors, and other establishments experienced fires that left Crying Boy prints unscathed. Some owners even claimed the paintings could not be set alight, while others reported accidents and injuries linked to the purchase of the prints.

5 Firefighters Fail to Explain Why Paintings Did Not Burn

Fire service investigations typically pointed to human error—discarded cigarettes, malfunctioning chip pans, faulty wiring—as the culprits behind the numerous house fires. Yet, a puzzling pattern emerged: Crying Boy prints repeatedly survived the flames. Rotherham fire officer Alan Wilkinson logged over 50 such incidents, admitting he could not rationalise why the canvases escaped destruction.

Wilkinson’s wife offered a whimsical theory: “I always say it’s the tears that put the fire out.” The Yorkshire Fire Service eventually released an official statement, attributing the resilience to the high‑density hardboard substrate, which is notoriously difficult to ignite. Nevertheless, the mystery persisted, especially given the diversity of subjects and even differing artists featured in the prints.

4 An Article from a British Tabloid Started All the Fuss

On September 4, 1985, the British tabloid The Sun ran the headline “Blazing Curse of the Crying Boy” on page 13, recounting Ron and Mary Hall’s devastating fire. The following day, readers flooded the newspaper with personal accounts of similar misfortunes, claiming the paintings swayed on walls, re‑appeared after being destroyed, or otherwise behaved supernaturally.

The sensational coverage fanned the flames of public panic, with each successive article more lurid than the last. By October, the curse had become a national obsession, prompting countless households to question whether their treasured prints were a ticking time‑bomb.

3 The Paintings Were Burned in a Mass Bonfire

The Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, dubbed the “father of the Crying Boy curse,” finally decided enough was enough. He urged readers to send in any Crying Boy prints they feared might be cursed. The newsroom soon overflowed with stacks of the artwork, reportedly reaching twelve feet high and spilling from cupboards.Faced with a mountain of haunted canvases, MacKenzie organised a public bonfire near the River Thames on Halloween. Under the watchful eye of the fire brigade, roughly 2,500 prints were incinerated. The newspaper ran the headline “Crying Flame!” proclaiming the curse vanquished, while a police officer on site reassured the public that “many people can breathe a little easier now.”

2 The Materials May Have Had Something to Do With It

Even after the bonfire spectacle, curiosity lingered. BBC Radio 4’s comedy‑writer Steve Punt teamed up with construction researcher Martin Shipp for a segment titled “Punt Pi.” They purchased a Crying Boy print, only to experience inexplicable delays en route to the testing site. When they finally attempted to torch the artwork, the canvas stubbornly resisted the flames.

Both men concluded that a fire‑retardant varnish, applied during production, likely prevented the paint from igniting. Additionally, the sturdy compression board substrate used by Amadio added another layer of flame resistance, explaining why the paintings often survived even the most intense house fires.

1 The Curse Became an Urban Legend

Despite numerous attempts to debunk the myth, the Crying Boy curse endures as a full‑blown urban legend. Over time, the story has broadened to encompass works by other artists, such as Scottish painter Anna Zinkeisen, whose own tear‑streaked portraits have been tangled in the same folklore. Television episodes like “Weird or What?” (Season 3, Episode 4) with William Shatner have revisited the legend as recently as 2012.

Online communities sprang up, from a Dutch “Crying Boy Fan Club” to active threads on the Unexplained Mysteries forum, where enthusiasts continue to share sightings, personal anecdotes, and theories. Even in 2022, the Hanbury Arms Haunted Hotel & Museum posted images of several Crying Boy prints on display, proving the legend’s staying power.

Some esoteric thinkers argue that a portrait captures a fragment of the sitter’s soul, suggesting that these mournful children may have left a lingering, vengeful energy on the canvas. Whether you view the Crying Boy series as cursed relics or merely a product of media hysteria, the tale remains a haunting reminder of how art, tragedy, and rumor can intertwine.

With fake news making tabloids practically obsolete, it is easy to become jaded and start being skeptical at the slightest strange news story, even if it’s only somewhat unbelievable. However, while there are a lot of fake or exaggerated stories going around, there will always be some crazy stories that are actually true. As they say, the truth is stranger than fiction…

10. Russians Claim Plankton Was Found Growing On The Outside Of The ISS

Recently, Russian Cosmonauts reported that a sea plankton, and one that isn’t found on Earth, was found growing on the outside of the International Space Station. While NASA initially reported that they hadn’t heard any such thing, the Americans and Russians do not always immediately share information, and it was later learned, after a spokesman from NASA said we were mainly testing near exhaust vents and such — and not on the windows where it was said to be found — that it was found by cosmonauts, by chance, during a routine spacewalk. 

The plankton growing on the ISS may sound unbelievable, but it is not the first organism to survive in space, or where it theoretically shouldn’t. Scientists have found so-called extremophiles of various sorts living things in places beneath the ocean, deep beneath the arctic ice, and even in space before, although it was the first time this type of particular plankton was found. The truth is that the ISS actually has a lot of polluting gases around it due to all of its activity, and needs some cleanup on the outside in general. Likely, the constant pollution (and even heat and chemicals coming off of the station, and the other activity around it) help extremophiles thrive in a place where most organisms couldn’t survive at all. 

9. Some Jellyfish Can Age Backwards, Then Forwards Again, Multiple Times In Their Life 

One jellyfish, dubbed the immortal jellyfish, is usually the size of about a pen tip, and can turn from a medusa back into a polyp, and then back again, although it can only do this so many times in life; no creature is truly immortal. However, more recently, scientists have found an even stranger regeneration method in something called the Moon Jellyfish. This jellyfish, when studied, did something similar (but even more bizarre) and scientists are not sure if it is using the same, or at least a similar, method. 

Essentially, a Chinese scientist took what appeared to be a dead Moon Jelly, and put it in a tank to see what would happen. Three months later, a polyp and then more emerged from the body, and they started growing into medusae. The original body seemed to finally sink to the tank bottom, but only after polyps from it had appeared in a reverted state, and grown back into medusae, the fully adult form of a jellyfish. He also found that when overfed or hurt, the Moon Jelly was forming calluses that then turned into polyps, from which multiple clones of the original jellyfish burst forth. While there is still a lot more studying to be done, the genetics of jellyfish are fascinating, and could likely help us in all kinds of medical applications if we could truly understand their DNA and how they function. 

8. Some People Have Extra Functioning Kidneys And Can Drink More 

Many people are convinced that they simply, genetically, can drink a lot more than their friends. For many people, this is just silly bragging, and what they actually have is an alcohol problem. However, science has shown that something strange really could potentially give you an edge on how much you can drink compared to others. Some people are actually born with extra kidneys due to a defect where they split off from the main ones while developing in the womb. Only about one in a million who have 1-2 of these extra kidneys actually have fully functioning ones, and if they aren’t fully functioning, they can be dangerous as they can cause urine flow backup. 

However, some do have fully functioning extra kidneys, which theoretically gives them a lot more ability to process toxins in general, although more studies are needed to see just how effective this is at helping the body neutralize toxins and especially process alcohol without getting as drunk or as poisoned as fast. Two brothers from Latvia may not have had formal studies done on their alcohol consumption abilities, likely as it would be hard to make such a study ethical for health reasons, but they have been confirmed to have extra functioning kidneys, and both have (anecdotally) drank their friends under the table their entire lives. 

7. Arthur Conan Doyle Turned Into A Paranormal Believing Nutcase Later In Life 

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was knighted for his contributions to literature, and is considered one of the greatest literary giants of all time. He brought us Sherlock Holmes, considered to be the greatest fictional detective, and people were so attached to the character that when he killed him off, fans wore black armbands on the streets and were so upset that he decided to write him back to life. Sherlock Holmes is considered the most rational detective, always explaining away the spiritual explanations, and never allowing a  fact to be twisted to suit a theory. 

Unfortunately, while Sherlock Holmes may have been an incredibly rational (if fictitious) person, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was not. Doyle had a close friendship with Harry Houdini, a man who was known for his incredible abilities to escape from anything, and considering their respective careers, it would seem a close match for friendship. But things soon soured. Doyle became obsessed with the spiritual and occult, and lost a lot of reputation believing a hoax about fairies, which many may know as the Cottingley Fairies. On top of that, he started conducting seances, told Harry Houdini he believed he was using magic, and refused to believe that he was not, even after Houdini showed him some of his secret methods. This made it rather hard for the friendship to continue, and they remained mostly at odds after that. 

6. Doctors Used To Believe A Tobacco Enema Could Help Someone After Almost Drowning

First used as a holistic treatment by First Nations in the American continents, the practice of tobacco smoke enemas made its way to England, where it soon became a trendy treatment to save people who were half drowned. They would pull people out of the Thames, and then apply a tobacco smoke enema in an attempt to save them (normal resuscitation methods would then be used if the tobacco smoke enema failed). This method started to become so trendy that it moved into other parts of the medical field. 

Soon it had become a treatment du jour for everything from colds to cholera outbreaks. Unfortunately, it could also be dangerous for the practitioner performing the enema. If a bellows was used to perform the enema, and the practitioner inhaled at the wrong time, they could end up aspirating the cholera virus themselves — and get extremely sick — while trying to use a thoroughly ineffective medical “treatment” to help someone else. Once it was discovered that nicotine is actually bad for your heart, the tobacco enema fell out of fashion, and stopped being a method to “save” people from drowning. 

5. “Alice In Wonderland” Was A Satire On Modern Mathematics 

“Alice and Wonderland“ is one of the most well known stories of all time, partly because of the Disney cartoon, but the story of Alice going to a strange world where things don’t really make any sense has been popular in book form since the 1800s. As we know, in Alice the world has all sorts of anthropomorphic animals, and all the rules of physics seem to have mostly gone out the window. People and things change size a lot, and Alice is constantly upset at how little the world around her makes sense. Most people assume that the story is about drugs, was written on drugs, or some combination of both. 

However, the truth is far stranger, but makes sense once you hear it. The author, Lewis Carroll, was using a pseudonym. His real name was Charles Dodgson, and he was a mathematics professor at Oxford University. He didn’t use drugs, and didn’t really believe in using them either. He actually wrote the novel as a satire on modern mathematics. They were starting to use things like irrational numbers or imaginary numbers and he found the whole thing ridiculous, and offensive to his more conservative mathematical sensibilities. Using a fake name to protect his reputation worked almost too well, though, as the real message behind his novel ended up mostly lost to history. 

4. In Some Parts Of Northern Sweden, You Say Yes By Sucking Your Teeth 

In most parts of Sweden, people say yes with a simple “Ja” (pronounced “Yah”), which is just the Swedish word for yes. However, not everyone in Sweden actually says “Ja” in order to say yes, and in a move that confuses much of the world as well as the rest of Sweden, the nation’s Northerners have their own way of saying yes… where they aren’t really saying anything at all. More accurately, it could be said they are making a sort of sound that indicates yes. They draw in a sharp intake of breath through pursed lips, that sort of sounds like sucking your teeth. 

This slight sucking or slurping like sound, indicates yes without any other indicators necessary, although many will also accompany it with a shrug of the shoulders, which to some people makes even less sense for an answer in the affirmative. For those who are interviewed about this strange way of saying yes, they seem able to not take it too seriously, and understand why others find it amusing, but at the same time they also seriously argue that it is a more efficient way of saying yes. They feel it takes less energy, as it doesn’t require the vocal chords to get into the action to make the teeth sucking sound for yes. While it is arguably an efficient method, it is unlikely that the rest of Sweden, and especially the rest of the world, will be taking it up as a habit anytime soon. 

3. The United States Supreme Court Ruled Against Science: Tomatoes Are Vegetables

Many people are not aware of how controversial the simple tomato can really be. Back in 1893, a case came before the Supreme Court called Nix Vs. Hedden. A seller of produce named John Nix was being hit with a 10% tariff on his tomatoes, and was sick of paying the tax. Vegetables at the time were being hit with the tariff, but fruits were not. Knowing that botanically scientists consider the tomato a fruit, he decided to take his case all the way to the Supreme Court of the United States. 

Unfortunately, the Supreme Court did not see things his way, and in the majority opinion, written by Justice Horace Gray, the Supreme Court opined that while botanically tomatoes may indeed be fruit for the purpose of scientific classification, that they were not used the way people used fruits. He pointed out that in terms of what we eat them with, and the general methods of preparation, it was for all intents and purposes used as a vegetable. This led the Supreme Court to argue with science not on the merits of taxonomy, but rather rule that science could take a flying leap because the United States wanted its tax revenue, and the spirit of the tariff law was to tax vegetable like products with that sweet, sweet 10% tax. 

2. High Heels Were Invented For Men, And Pink Was Meant For Boys 

Today, we typically think of high heels as entirely a footwear for women. Not only that, but high heels are also seen as an impractical choice, meant only to make yourself look taller, or look better in general, and not actually good for your feet, or useful for any real applications. However, the truth is that high heels were originally invented for Persian soldier (who were very much men) use while riding horses in the 15th century. Visiting Europeans actually brought the trend back home, and wore them both as a fashion statement and as a way to look taller and intimidate their rivals. 

As for the color pink, while many people think it should be entirely for women, this was made up in incredibly recent years, and caught on mostly in American and some other Western popular culture and mindsets. Before the early 1900s in America, there wasn’t even any conception that colors such as pink, or light blue, should be for boys or for girls. However, an early JCPenney catalog, that was trying to help influence early parents’ buying choices, suggested that light blue was the feminine color and should be for girls, and pink was a more masculine color that should be for boys. This did not catch on, obviously, as history ended up the other way around, but it shows that about 100 years ago, no one really thought either color meant anything about how masculine or feminine you were. 

1. Nuclear Bombs Have Been Tested Thousands Of Times Since Hiroshima And Nagasaki

Many people think of Hiroshima and Nagasaki as one of the most significant events in history. And it was, as it was the first and only time that atomic bombs have been deployed against an actual human population. However, the truth is that while they may have been only used on civilians once, they have been tested many, many times since then, by multiple different countries, and many of the bombs tested were much bigger than the ones used on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. This has released an incredible amount of radiation over the years, and it’s hard to calculate what effect it has had in totality on our planet. 

Eight nations have tested over 2,000 nuclear bombs, in about a dozen different test locations, since the day the bombs were dropped on two heavily populated Japanese cities. As can be imagined, the United States and Russia detonated many of these, but the Chinese also tested a significant number, as did the French, and the UK used Australia and its surrounding waters to test a lot of nuclear weapons. North Korea, Pakistan, and India have also all tested nuclear bombs, but can count the amount of launches on one hand, so their nuclear footprint is insignificant compared to the rest of the nuclear nations.

From Shakespearean tales of royal shenanigans to Stephen King’s modern-day masterpieces, the fertile minds of great writers have provided endless works of delicious fiction. But even the Bard on his best day would struggle to compete with the bottomless pit of bizarre, real-life stories.

As part of an ongoing series, Top Tenz presents our latest list of mind-boggling events that can only be filed under, ‘stranger than fiction.’

8. Standing Tall

The 1951 St. Louis Browns were a lousy team — and that’s being kind. They would lose 102 games, finishing dead last in the American League, and a whopping 46 games behind eventual World Series champs, the New York Yankees. The hapless Browns, however, did have a bonafide winner with their colorful owner, Bill Veeck, who once used a 3-foot 7-inch, 65-pound little person to bat in a Major League Baseball game. 

Among his many outstanding innovations and wacky promotions, Veeck (rhymes with ‘wreck’) had been an early proponent of integrating the professional game. As the owner of the Cleveland Indians, he signed the first black player in the American League, Larry Doby. He also made Negro Leagues legend, Satchel Paige, the oldest rookie ever as the two future Hall-of-Famers helped the Tribe win the 1948 World Series. But a messy divorce would later force Veeck to sell the team only to purchase the lowly Browns a few years later. 

The baseball maverick tried his best to field a competitive team in St. Louis, but the cross-town Cardinals were vastly superior in both talent and selling tickets. That’s when Veeck reached deep into his bag of tricks. On August 19, 1951, at Sportsman’s Park, he ordered Browns manager, Zack Taylor, to send a circus performer named Eddie Gaedel up to the plate to pinch-hit against the Detroit Tigers.

Sporting a child’s uniform with the number 1/8, Gaedel stepped into the batter’s box in the bottom of the first inning. Detroit pitcher, Bob Cain, did his best to locate the tiny strike zone but proceeded to walk the pint-sized player on four consecutive pitches. Before being replaced by a pinch-runner, the triumphant Gaedel received a well-deserved standing ovation from the sparse crowd. 

The following day, a furious American League President, Will Harridge, voided # 1/8’s contract and charged Veeck with making a mockery of the sport. Subsequently, all future deals had to be pre-approved by the Commissioner of Baseball. For those keeping score, Gaedel would later appear in another big league game — this time dressed up as a space alien when Veeck owned the Chicago White Sox. But that, dear readers, is another story.

7. Family Feud

Although an obscure Bosnian Serb would forever take the rap for starting WWI, one of the most famous monarchs in history lies at the epicenter of the war to end all wars. Britain’s Queen Victoria, who ruled for 63 years, is rightfully hailed as the “Grandmother of Europe.” As a result, several of her direct descendants would eventually become belligerents in the largest (and bloodiest) family feud in history. 

Princess Alexandrina Victoria of Kent ascended to the throne at the tender age of 18, following the death of her childless uncle, King William IV, in 1837. Word count restrictions prevent further explanation of the wonderfully complicated process of British royal succession. But suffice to say, she got lucky, and lots of peeps died for her to become Queen. 

Shortly after donning the crown, she kept with family traditions and married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha. The incestuous union produced no less than nine children, all of whom subsequently married into royal and noble families across Europe. 

Flash forward to July 28, 1914, when a 19-year-old Yugoslav nationalist named Gavrilo Princip assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in Sarajevo. Although Queen Victoria had been dead for over 13 years, her grandchildren now ruled a substantial chunk of the planet. Sadly, they soon began to destroy it. Germany’s Kaiser Wilhelm II kicked things off by declaring war on his cousin, Tsar Nicolas II of Russia. A few days later, Britain’s George V joined the family fray that led to unprecedented carnage and the death of over one million soldiers.

6. Beached Boy

Quentin Tarantino’s latest film, Once Upon A Time… In Hollywood, mixes fact with fiction in his twisted love letter to Tinsletown. Oddly, the nostalgic romp asks the audience to frequently suspend all disbelief, including a scene in which a washed-up stuntman beats up martial arts legend Bruce Lee. Seriously? Fortunately, Tarantino doesn’t miss the mark with regards to Charles Manson rubbing shoulders with celebrities during the turbulent late 1960s. 

It’s not surprising that Beach Boys’ drummer and Hell-raiser, Dennis Wilson, would pick up a pair of young female hitchhikers and take them to his Sunset Boulevard abode. But when the girls turned out to be Manson followers Ella Jo Bailey and Patricia Krenwinkel, the “Good Vibrations” ran out when their cult leader arrived at the party.

Manson, along with 17 others of his congregation, soon moved into the party pad — setting the scene for Caligula-esque debauchery, featuring non-stop orgies and drug-induced revelry. Wilson later provided his new pal with coveted music industry connections such as The Byrds producer, Terry Melcher. In an interview with the Record Mirror in 1968, Wilson candidly expressed: “I told them [the girls] about our involvement with the Maharishi, and they told me they too had a guru, a guy named Charlie who’d recently come from jail after 12 years. He drifted into crime, but when I met him I found he had great musical ideas. We’re writing together now.”

Wilson even enlisted the help of his older brothers, Brian and Carl, to finance and produce a recording session with the charismatic singer/songwriter. One of those songs, the eerily-named “Cease To Exist,” was later retitled “Never Learn Not To Love” and released on the Beach Boys 20/20 album in February 1969 — less than six months before the grisly Tate-LaBianca murders.

Ultimately, success as a musician eluded Manson. He experienced a heated fallout with Wilson, who claimed the ex-con owed him over $100,000 (and the expense of multiple doctor visits to treat his raging gonorrhea). For his troubles, the drummer took sole credit as the song’s composer, leaving the false prophet to seek fame elsewhere.

5. Howard’s Huge Obsession

More than 40 years after his death, fascination with Howard Hughes remains strong as ever. His exploits as a record-setting aviator, businessman, and Hollywood lothario provide endless intrigue regarding one of the most enigmatic (and wealthiest) men of the 20th century. However, among all his extraordinary achievements, Hughes’ attempt at designing women’s undergarments would prove to be an abject failure. 

His obsession with the female anatomy reached dizzying heights during the making of his  movie, The Outlaw. Ostensibly, the film should have been a re-telling of wild, wild west icons Billy the Kid and Doc Holliday. But Hughes had a different vision in mind. The producer/director/studio boss made it all about boobs — specifically, the ones belonging to actress Jane Russell. 

Hughes had discovered Russell in 1940 as an unknown, 19-year-old, buxom brunette and immediately signed to her an exclusive seven-year contract. The mogul then cast his latest ingenue in the role of “Rio,” a sexy señorita caught in a love triangle between the two gunslingers. The infatuated filmmaker instructed his cinematographer, Gregg Toland (Citizen Kane), to feature Russell’s cleavage throughout the movie — and even constructed a crude garment with wires to further showcase her voluptuous figure. 

Naturally, the well-endowed Russell refused to wear the contraption. In her autobiography, the actress described the ham-handed design as “ridiculous and uncomfortable” and never wore it. Instead, she fooled her bosom-obsessed boss by simply padding her bra with tissue paper. “He could design planes,” she said. “But a Mister Playtex he wasn’t.”

4. Operation Mincemeat

“All warfare is based on deception.” — Sun Tzu

Before achieving world-wide acclaim as the author of the James Bond spy novels, Ian Fleming put his creative skills to work for British Intelligence during WWII. He’s credited with hatching an elaborate ruse, involving a corpse dressed to resemble an officer en route to delivering secret documents. The phantom messenger would later be dropped near the coastline and eventually find its way into enemy hands.  

With a wink and nod to their dark sense of humor, British military officials codenamed the plan, Operation Mincemeat. The subterfuge, designed to mislead the Germans with regards to the Allies’ intended attack on Sicily, revolved around a recently deceased Welsh vagrant named Glyndwr Michael. He would soon take on a new identity as Captain (Acting Major) William “Bill” Martin of the Royal Marines. Despite the dead man’s unremarkable life and grim demise, he would soon embark on an extraordinary adventure. 

On the morning of April 30, 1943, off the southwest coast of Spain, a local sardine fisherman made the gruesome discovery of the lifeless body floating in the water. The mysterious soldier with a black briefcase chained to his waist was quickly brought ashore and handed over to German spies stationed in the area. 

Later, the bogus documents found in the attaché case revealed “top secret” plans involving a large scale Allied invasion of Greece and Sardinia. The information eventually landed on the desk of Adolf Hitler, who reacted decisively while being thoroughly hoodwinked. The morbid scheme became one of the most bizarre chapters of WWII, punctuated by a cheeky message to British Prime Minister Winston Churchill declaring, “Mincemeat swallowed. Rod, line and sinker.”

3. Feline Forces

Albert Schweitzer once said, “There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life: music and cats.” The astute observation by the renowned philosopher and Nobel Peace Prize winner might also include mention of how cats provided refuge from the misery of trench warfare during WWI.

Volumes have been written about the horrors and senseless carnage of the first world war. Weapons such as machine guns, mustard gas, and flamethrowers all contributed to the endless graveyard of “no man’s land.” But without question, the conflict would be defined by life in the trenches, which the Allies overcame with a secret weapon: cats.

From 1914 to 1918, an estimated 500,000 four-legged commandos were deployed in the trenches, where they hunted and killed disease-carrying rats and mice. Their duties also extended to ships at sea as well as serving as mascots. The practice dates back thousands of years to the ancient Egyptians, who worshipped the furry felines for their ability to keep naval vessels and royal palaces vermin-free.

So the next time your cat meows for attention or requires a fresh bowl of chow, be sure to not only accommodate their needs but thank them for their ancestors’ military service.  

2. No Rest For The Wicked

The murder of famed silent film director William Desmond Taylor had all the makings for a box office blockbuster. Glamour. Mystery. Greed. And even a few uninvited ghosts. 

On the morning of February 2, 1922, Taylor was found dead in his bungalow in Los Angeles. He had been shot in the back, most likely during the previous night, resulting in a massive police investigation of yet another roaring ’20s sensational crime that would dominate headlines for months. 

Several high-profile Hollywood players were questioned, including the director’s cocaine-addicted, erstwhile girlfriend, Mabel Normand. The popular leading actress, one of Taylor’s many lovers, had been the last person to see him alive on the evening of his death. After extensive interrogation, LAPD ruled her out as a suspect despite persistent accusations from muck-raking tabloids of the day.

Ultimately, authorities were unable to establish any credible leads or produce the murder weapon. Taylor’s family had his remains interred at Hollywood Forever Cemetery, where the story takes its most shocking (and absurd) turn. A determined reporter named Florebel Muir orchestrated the kind of crazy publicity stunt that only could have occurred in La-La land.

Muir, the Hollywood correspondent of the New York Daily News, attempted to out scoop her rivals with a half-baked plan involving Taylor’s butler, Henry Peavey. Three days before Taylor’s murder, Peavey had been arrested for “social vagrancy” — and Muir hoped she could extract a murder confession out of him. She eventually hired a Chicago hoodlum named Al Weinshank to dress up as a ghost and hide near Taylor’s mausoleum at the cemetery. 

Late one night, after luring Peavey to the gravesite, the ghoulish gangster suddenly appeared in a white sheet and cried out, “I am the ghost of William Desmond Taylor! You murdered me! Confess, Peavy!” Not surprisingly, the butler only coughed up a hearty laugh before giving the conspirators a piece of his mind. As for the ghost, Weinshank later joined the real dead after being gunned down in the 1929 St. Valentine’s Day Massacre.

1. Docked and Loaded 

The drug culture of the 1960s and 1970s affected all corners of society and eventually spilled over into the world of sports. In Major League baseball, pill-popping before games became as routine as the playing of the Star-Spangled Banner. Former Pittsburgh Pirates ace Dock Ellis claims he never played a game sober — and once even pitched a no-hitter while under the influence of LSD. 

Ellis made his MLB debut in 1968 as a hard-throwing right-hander. He quickly emerged as one of the most dominant pitchers in the game, leading the Pirates to five divisional titles and a World Series Championship in 1971. He became an outspoken advocate for racial equality at a time when athletes were discouraged from voicing their opinions. The all-star pitcher also became addicted to drugs and alcohol to help cope with the pressure of performing at the top level.

Along with coolers full of cold beer, amphetamines such as Benzedrine and Dexamyl (known as “Greenies” at the time) were an everyday staple in locker rooms throughout the league. On one memorable occasion, Ellis decided to drop acid on what he thought was an off-day while visiting friends in Southern California. However, while “higher than a Georgia Pine,” he learned that the Pirates had scheduled him to start the first game of a twi-night doubleheader against the San Diego later that evening. 

After rushing down to the stadium, he swallowed some more “greenies” to help balance his drug-fuelled trip. Ellis then walked out to the mound on June 12, 1970 and made baseball history. As the drugs took effect, he began hallucinating and struggled to focus. Pirate catcher, Jerry May, had to wear reflective tape on his fingers so Ellis could see his signals. In the end, it wasn’t pretty (he walked eight and hit a few batters) but Ellis shut down the Padres, 2-0. 

He would go on to play a total of 12 big league seasons in an injury-plagued career filled with many ups and downs. Ironically, he came to regret the rare milestone because it overshadowed his far more meaningful accomplishments outside the sport. After retiring in 1980, he entered a substance abuse rehab program and devoted his life to sobriety as well as helping other athletes fight addiction. He also became a spokesman for creating awareness about Sickle Cell disease (a condition he battled most of his life) and worked to raise money for medical research.

10. Toilet Plume

Keep your hands out of the toilet, don’t fall in, and wash your hands after the loo visit and you should be all good, right? Well, not quite the case, sorry to say. Toilets spray contaminants right into the air, about six feet according to general estimates by microbiology researchers. Unfortunately for you, this contamination includes not just some dirty water spray but actual fecal particles. There is a term for this thing and it is “Toilet Plume.” Enough to make you shut the lid before you flush, correct? And for goodness sake, do not touch the underside of the toilet lid after all this!

The jury is still out on to what degree toilet plume is likely to make you ill. The subject has been insufficiently researched to say for sure, for the most part, so perhaps a little extra caution is deserved here. University of Arizona associate professor of environmental and occupational health Dr. Kelly Reynolds noted that toilet plume, a spray of microscopic waste and toilet water particles “is easily transmitted in a wide range of air space when you flush the toilet,” a finding based on her rather interesting work, which included studies of the toilet plume phenomenon. A study hailing from the Journal of Applied Microbiology published in 2005 identified a 2.7 foot vertical “launch” of toilet plume. Yuck!

9. Exploding Toilets

Exploding toilets may sound like an amusing special effect but in fact they represent a real safety matter in the history of the loo. In rare cases sewage overflow and incidental air leaks into toilets have caused potties to go poof, but the true horror stories come from the compressed air assisted toilets, as described by Aaron Kase of Lawyers.com in an article published on Business Insider. Some Flushmate III Pressure-Assist Flushing System models made between 1997 and 2008 were targeted for recall by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission when it was discovered that the toilets could explode.

The terrifying incidents caused injuries, in one case requiring stiches to fix a lacerated back from potty porcelain turned shrapnel. The exploding toilet matter even led to a $5 million lawsuit demanding greater action to remedy the problem, beyond mailing out repair kits intended to prevent the problem. While the concept of the exploding toilet, whatever its cause, is certainly no myth, it is fortunately still a very rare occurrence worldwide.

8. The Throne Death of King George II

A room in which one uses a toilet is mockingly called a “throne room” at times. But a certain time in history saw the shocking death of a real king on nothing less than a toilet. King George II of Great Britain passed away while using the toilet from what came to be known as Aortic Dissection (AD) on October 25, 1760. “Straining on the toilet” was a most embarrassing factor in this death. A variety of medical discussions have ensued following the king’s death, centering on autopsies that had some truly grotesque findings. As described in an account published in Vascular Disease Management.com titled “On the death of King George II in 1760: Aortic Dissection in Perspective,” the straining on the toilet had precipitated the catastrophic rupture.

The king’s German valet de chambre was alarmed by a noise, subsequently discovering the dead king. The autopsy that followed revealed the following: “…the pericardium was found distended with a quantity of coagulated blood, nearly a pint…; the whole heart was so compressed as to prevent any blood contained in the veins from being forced into the auricles; therefore the ventricles were found absolutely void of blood…; and in the trunk of the aorta we found a transverse fissure on its inner side, about an inch and a half long, through which some blood had recently passed under its external coat and formed an elevated ecchymosis.”

7. Wildlife of World Washrooms

An animal attack while using a toilet seems far fetched, but when it does happen, it can be too horrific to imagine. Toilets can attract problematic creatures and as we know, conflict for space can lead to a fight that the human toilet user is bound to lose. Sometimes, using an outhouse brings about the risk of an encounter with a Black Widow spider, but for one very unfortunate Thai man was attacked in the washroom in May 2016 and subsequently suffered serious bites to his penis.

The aggressor? A 10-foot-long reticulated python that was using the toilet of his choice as habitat after getting into the plumbing and then into the toilet. The attack took place in the Thai province of Chachoengsao. The unfortunate 38-year-old was able to force the snake’s jaws before he passed out, losing a quantity of blood in the process. The victim was hospitalized and underwent surgery before recovering. The snake also survived and was relocated after the incident. After recovering, he made plans to replace the squat toilet with a flush toilet, hoping to reduce the risk of future snake attacks.

6. The Sinking of U-1206

During World War II, a German U-boat was sunk by a toilet malfunction. Yes, you read that right. Mere toilet troubles sent a fearsome U-boat to the sea floor with loss of life. Toilets were an issue on the U-boats, leading to some elaborate innovations in on-board toilet technology to permit deeper dives and thus elude Allied countermeasures. The toilet relied on an intricate valve system under high pressure which also necessitated special training on the part of those operating the works. The vessel set off on patrol on April 6, 1945, a mission that was ill-fated because of the new toilet.

Leaving from Kristiansand, Norway, the vessel headed for Britain in hopes of intercepting Allied ships, but was cut short to just 8 days when disaster struck on April 14. The toilet operation proved problematic, and an engineer was called. The engineer opened the incorrect valve, leading to a flood. The flood reached the forward compartment, which damaged the batteries and released toxic chlorine gas. The captain was forced to surface, but the boat was spotted by Allied forces off the Scottish coastline. The captain decided to let the boat sink, having been seen by aircraft. Three of the crew drowned, while 37 were rescued and became prisoners of war.

5. Modern Toilet Restaurant

Taiwan is home to a truly bizarre themed restaurant. Called Modern Toilet Restaurant, this place to eat is amusingly (or grotesquely, depending on how you think about it) centered around all things toilet. Tiny toilets are used as food dishes, while bathroom derived furniture par extraordinaire dominates the restaurant. Especially prominent are the toilets recycled as dining chairs.

Little washroom signs are included as stick in signs in the meals themselves. You could end up eating from a tiny model bathtub, set on a table fashioned from a recycled bathroom sink, while sitting on a repurposed toilet. If that was not enough, you are probably now wondering about the food, for good reason. The actual meals include a variety of dishes that are perhaps logically fashioned in the likeness of waste products of the type that might be found in an active toilet. What will they think of next?

4. World Toilet Day

Yes, it is a thing, and it’s called World Toilet Day. No, it’s not an event where hobbyists and professionals show off photos of toilets, or where people dress up as toilets in some kind of photo contest (though these would, admittedly, be interesting ways to spend the day). World Toilet Day is hosted with a focus on giving people the human dignity of access to a proper toilet. Toilets are unfortunately a luxury still out of reach for much of the developing world.

World Toilet Day was designated in 2001 and in 2013 became an official United Nations day. The website for World Toilet Day includes the following statement highlighting the significance of the toilet access issue: “Whoever you are, wherever you are, sanitation is your human right. And yet, today, 4.2 billion people live without safely managed sanitation.”

3. Toilet Tourism

Toilet tourism. You might have thought you are an expert on tourism types, but you may have left something off the list. Eco-tourism, cultural tourism, food tourism and yes, let us not forget about toilet tourism. For Carolyn Childs and Bronwyn White, serious researchers on tourism destination experiences and related economic factors, toilets were the subject of their studies. The quality of bathrooms and the impact of this value was assessed through quantitative studies and focus group sessions.

The finding was logical. Great bathrooms are good for business to a significant degree. Not to get too extreme but, just to tell the truth, it was found that for the truly committed, washrooms that are special might even become front and center parts of the destination appeal as the attractions in and of themselves. (Editor’s note: just ask anyone in Texas about Buc-ee’s, if you don’t believe this.) The work didn’t stop at research. The two researchers, owners of My Travel Research, established the International Toilet Tourism Awards. Entries from around the world are reviewed and the destinations with the best toilets are selected as winners.

2. The Toilet Deities

You may think you have seen it all. Heard it all. Traveled the world, read the books, that sort of thing. But you probably have not thought of this one: Toilet Gods and Goddesses. Yes, around the world, there is such a thing. For starters, Japanese, Chinese, and Korean cultures had various deities in their history who were dedicated to the important matter of safely using the latrine and dealing with human waste. A variety of rituals were enacted in East Asia to deal with toilet gods and goddesses ranging from saying prayers to toilet gods in China to clearing one’s throat to warn a toilet god in Japan.

The imagined appearance of toilet deities ranged from that of a ragged old man to that of an attractive young woman. Other examples of toilet centered religious rituals range far and wide. Roman religion included recognition of a sewer goddess, a god of excrement and a toilet god. Titus Tatius even constructed a shrine to Cloacina, who was viewed as the one to protect Rome’s sewers. The intention was for Cloacina to be invoked in case of sewer backup.

1. As Clean as a Toilet Seat

Finally, some weird but good news about toilets. Despite the dangers of toilet bowls being laden with bacteria and spray hitting toilet lids, it might be a shocking fact to many to learn that toilet seats are typically rather clean items. A study by Dr. Chuck Gerba, a University of Arizona microbiology professor, reported the fascinating finding that toilet seats were his standard for item cleanliness. With an average of just 50 bacteria per square inch, the level of toilet seat cleanliness is a shocking finding for many. 

Gerba’s work saw him swabbing items found around the house and then studying the abundance and species composition of bacteria found, with a focus on faecal organisms including E. coli and staphylococcus aureus. Using toilet seats like a unit of measure for degrees of dirtiness is starting to catch on in a variety of articles published in popular media. You will hear things being described in terms of how many times as dirty as a toilet seat they are. Gerba describes cutting boards as having 200 times as many germs as toilet seats, while a dishcloth reaches as shocking 200,000 times the level of contamination as a toilet seat. Scary!