Competitive Pillow Fighting – How a Children’s Game Became a Popular Sport in Japan
Every year, dozens of teams from all over Japan travel to the Japanese town of Ito to compete in one of the world’s most unique sporting events – All-Japan Pillow Fighting Championships. Pillow fighting is an age-old pastime practiced by children of all ages all over the world. Japan is no different, only here the […]
Man Turns Himself In 30 Years After Escaping From Prison
An Australian man who had been on the run for nearly three decades turned himself in recently, after being rendered homeless by the pandemic and struggling to find work. On the night of August 1, 1992, 13 months into his three-and-a-half-year sentence for growing marijuana, Darko “Dougie” Desic escaped from the Grafton Correctional Centre in […]
YouTuber Documents Raising Piglet for 100 Days Before Allegedly Eating It on Camera
A Japanese YouTuber recently sparked controversy after apparently cooking and eating a piglet that he had raised on camera for the previous 100 days. In May of this year, a Japanese man started a peculiar YouTube channel named “Eating Pig After 100 Days“. True to its name, the channel was all about raising a small […]
Gaet’ale Pond – The Saltiest Body of Water on Earth
Located near the Dallol crater in Ethiopia’s Danakil Depression is Gaet’ale Pond, a small pool of water with a salinity of 43%, making it by far the saltiest body of water on Earth. To put into perspective just how salty Gaet’ale actually is, you should know that the Dead Sea, the world’s most famous hypersaline […]
The World’s Rarest Flower Only Grows in Two Locations Around the World
“Middlemist’s Red,” also known as the spring rose, is widely regarded as the world’s rarest flower, as just two of these precious plants exist, one in New Zealand and another in the UK. Named after John Middlemist, who collected it in China in 1804, the Middlemist’s Red camelia was always a rare flower that could […]
Swedish Couple Banned From Naming Baby ‘Vladimir Putin’
The Swedish tax agency, Skatteverket, rejected a young couple’s request to name their son Vladimir Putin, the name of the famous Russian president. Public radio broadcaster SR recently reported the case of a couple based in Laholm, Sweden, who were banned from naming their newborn son after Russia’s president. Skatteverket didn’t explain exactly why they rejected […]
The Brazilian Treehopper – The Most Alien-Looking Creature on Earth
The Brazilian treehopper, a pea-sized, rainforest-dwelling insect that spends its days munching on treetop leaves, is almost certainly the most otherworldly-looking creature on our planet. From the double-nosed Andean tiger hound, to the painting-like “Picasso fish“, we’ve featured our share of strange-looking creatures on Oddity Central, but none of them come close to the bizarre […]
Man Claims to Have Been Sleeping Just 30 Minutes a Day for the Last 12 Years
Daisuke Hori, a 36-year-old man from Japan, has spent the last few years training his mind and body to function on as little sleep as possible. He claims to get just 30 minutes of sleep a day and not get tired at all. Do you ever feel like there aren’t enough hours in the day, […]
The Hitachi Tree – A Beloved Japanese Corporate Symbol That Grows in Hawaii
Ever since 1975, a majestic monkeypod tree growing on the Hawaiian island of Oahu has been the symbol of electronics and technology giant Hitachi, making it one of the most beloved corporate symbols of Japan. The so-called “Hitachi Tree” is one of the several monkeypod trees growing in the privately-owned Moanalua Gardens, once the childhood […]
This Adorable Tabby Is the World’s Deadliest Feline
Felis nigripes, the African black-footed cat, stands at just 8 to 10 inches tall and weighs roughly 200 times less than the average lion, but it is actually the most efficient feline predator on the planet. The black-footed cat is actually the smallest African feline, smaller even than the average alley cat, but you shouldn’t […]
The World’s Fastest Roller Coaster Requires Riders to Wear Safety Goggles
Formula Rossa, the world’s fastest roller coaster, reaches a top speed of 240 km/h in just 4.9 seconds and requires riders to wear safety glasses to protect their eyes from impact with insects or grains of sand. As part of the Ferrari World theme park in Abu Dhabi, the Formula Rossa roller coaster was designed […]
Hagfish – Weird Slime-Spewing Monsters of the Ocean
At first glance, the humble hagfish looks like just another species of ocean-dwelling eel, but they are something much weirder and at the same time fascinating. From the bizarre slime-like substance it produces as a defense mechanism, to the lack of a backbone, there’s a whole lot of weirdness to address. The hagfish is a […]
Al Naslaa – Saudi Arabia’s Mysterious Rock Formation
Saudi Arabia’s Tayma Oasis is home to a 4,000-year-old geological mystery – a strange rock formation perfectly split down the middle with the precision of a laser beam. The world-famous Al Naslaa rock formation is made up of two large sandstone boulders supported by a natural pedestal that appears much too small for its purpose. […]
Man Holds the World Record for Most Signatures Tattooed on His Back, Over 225
Funky Matas, a social media entertainer based in Florida, holds the world record for most signatures tattooed on the back, including those of celebrities like Will Smith or Gerard Butler. Funky, real name Juan Matas, used to work as a tattoo artist himself and came up with the project that would end up defining his […]
Real Goldy Locks – Rapper Claims to Have Implanted Gold Chains Into His Head
Mexican rapper Dan Sur has been getting a lot of attention lately, not because of his music, but because of his drastic physical transformation – replacing his natural hair with metal gold chains implanted into his head. With the internet and social media constantly producing new artists and influencers, it’s hard to get noticed unless […]