Category:
Human Marvels

Miss Albinism of Kenya, 2018



BBC coverage here.

I cannot find any evidence that the contest continued in subsequent years.

Posted By: Paul - Sun Oct 10, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Awards, Prizes, Competitions and Contests, Beauty, Ugliness and Other Aesthetic Issues, Human Marvels, Africa

The Toto Brothers



Posted By: Paul - Wed Sep 01, 2021 - Comments (2)
Category: Entertainment, Human Marvels, 1910s

Twin Suicide by Starvation

One hardly knows where to begin to calculate the weirdness quotient in this small article.

Source: Evening Star (Washington, District of Columbia) 23 Jun 1925, Tue Page 1

Posted By: Paul - Sun Aug 01, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Family, Human Marvels, Suicide, 1920s

Buckeye Beer

The revitalized company still exists today, but no mention of reinstating their "mascots," Buck and Billy.

Read the history here.





Posted By: Paul - Fri May 14, 2021 - Comments (1)
Category: Animals, Human Marvels, Regionalism, Advertising, Corporate Mascots, Icons and Spokesbeings, Nineteenth Century, Twentieth Century, Alcohol

Kruger and Ward

Posted By: Paul - Thu Mar 18, 2021 - Comments (0)
Category: Human Marvels, 1910s

Armpit Reading

Useless Superpower: In the 1970s, Chinese researchers investigated reports of children who had the unusual ability to read with their armpits. The kids supposedly could describe what was written on folded pieces of paper tucked beneath their armpits. And not just their armpits. Some kids could see with their ears, hands, or feet.

After careful study, the researchers concluded that, yes, the children did seem to have this ability.

Edmonton Journal - Feb 15, 1980



The researchers published the results of their study in Nature Magazine, which is a Chinese journal not to be confused with the British journal Nature. Thanks to the U.S. military's translation service, you can read these articles in English. They're posted on the website of the Defense Technical Information Center. Here's a sample:

Wang Qiang and Wang Bin sat in the middle of the room and the observers sat in front and behind them. The lamp in the room was not very bright. They began with pieces of paper that had been written on before the test. They were placed in the ears of Wang Qiang and Wang Bin and the two girls were allowed to hold it in with their hands. After a little while, both girls said that there was no image and wanted to test it under their armpits.

Therefore, other pieces of paper were written on in another room by Shen Hanchang and Zhu Chiayi. The papers were folded twice and squeezed through the shirt from the backs of the subjects and placed under their armpits. The two girls held the sample against them with their hands. Besides the two writers, no one else in the room knew what was written on the paper.

After 2 minutes 40 seconds, Wang Qiang said that she "recognized" it. Everyone told her not to speak but to write it down on the side. She wrote a "3" and also wrote "blue". They opened the paper and found there was a "3 6" written with a blue ball point pen. The "3" and the "6" were separated some distance and thus she had recognized one half.

I jokingly referred to armpit reading as a useless superpower, but the Chinese researchers would disagree. They concluded their study with this remark:

Research on this type of special physiological phenomenon will not only have a deep and far reaching influence on medical science but will also influence the semiconductor industry.

Posted By: Alex - Sat Feb 27, 2021 - Comments (3)
Category: Forteana, Freaks, Oddities, Quirks of Nature, Human Marvels, Science, Eyes and Vision

The Double Penny Whistles of David Amram

I'm reading the autobiography of musician and composer David Amram, most famous for working with Jack Kerouac on PULL MY DAISY. But he is also known for his ability to play two penny whistles simultaneously, as he does below starting around 4:20.

Posted By: Paul - Thu Aug 13, 2020 - Comments (2)
Category: Human Marvels, Movies, Music, Bohemians, Beatniks, Hippies and Slackers

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Who We Are
Alex Boese
Alex is the creator and curator of the Museum of Hoaxes. He's also the author of various weird, non-fiction, science-themed books such as Elephants on Acid and Psychedelic Apes.

Paul Di Filippo
Paul has been paid to put weird ideas into fictional form for over thirty years, in his career as a noted science fiction writer. He has recently begun blogging on many curious topics with three fellow writers at The Inferior 4+1.

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