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Useless Facts, Badly Drawn

@ufbd.bsky.social

152 followers 0 following 273 posts

100% interesting but 110% useless knowledge you're guaranteed never to use. Badly drawn by Marcus Santiago 😁 Buy the book! www.amazon.com/dp/B0G92RJD32

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Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 16/10/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn No. 536: Skyhook. . . #inventions #terribleideas #comics #war #aviation #parachute #strangebuttrue #webcomics #facts #funfacts #wtf #weirdfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The Skyhook was the opposite of a parachute.
Also called the Fulton Surface-to-Air Recovery System, a payload (or unfortunate person) would send up a balloon on a cord, which would be hooked by a plane passing overhead, yanking them off the ground and into the air, and eventually winched onto the plane. As insane as it sounds, it was successfully used in multiple military operations, and most famously depicted in the movie The Dark Knight.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 12/10/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn No. 535: The Anarchist Cookbook. . . #books #anarchistcookbook #bannedbooks #facts #funfacts #comics #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The Anarchist Cookbook by William Powell is a 1971 book of instructions on how to make bombs, drugs, poisons, homemade guns, and how to sabotage vehicles, and more. The book has the attention of the FBI, and is banned in many countries (though still in print and easily found online). However, most of its information is outdated, the materials not as easily available to the public like they were in the 1970s.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 05/10/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn No. 534: WASP-127b. . . #planets #exoplanets #astronomy #science #comics #space #webcomics #funfacts #facts #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

WASP-127b is the windiest planet in the known universe.
Located 524 light years away, winds on this Saturn-sized planet regularly reach 27,720 km/h (or 17,224 mph), or Mach 22.5, which is about 22 times the speed of sound on Earth.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

accurate and humiliating

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 04/10/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Check it out! While supplies last etc 😅 a.co/d/07NoZk4b

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 28/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn No. 533: Hyperion. . . #saturn #hyperion #comics #webcomics #space #science #astronomy #moons #facts #funfacts #wtf #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Hyperion, one of Saturn's moons, can zap satellites with electric shocks from a thousand miles away. Its orbit causes it to build up a static charge, and it zapped the Cassini probe with about 200 volts as it passed by in 2005.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 25/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Sneak preview of the FAQ:

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

Sneak preview of two explosive chapters:

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 22/09/2026

I wrote a book! Sort of. #books #conspiracytheories #skeptic #science #authors

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 20/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn # 532: "Take the Money and Run." . . #trolling #art #comics #fineart #modernart #strangebuttrue #wtf #lol #webcomics #funfacts #facts #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

"Take the Money and Run" is a painting consisting of just a blank canvas. In 2021, The Kunsten Museum hired Jens Haaning for art depicting workers' annual wages, and gave him 532,549 Danish kr in real cash bills to incorporate into the piece (aside from his fee). But he turned in an empty canvas. When the museum demanded the cash back, ne replled: "This is only a piece of art if I don't return the money." The museum displayed it, but also sued him, ultimately settling out of court.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 14/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn No. 531: LASIK. . . #lasik #science #lasers #inventions #accidentalinventions #webcomics #comics #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

LASIK surgery was invented by accident. In 1993, a grad student at the University of Michigan forgot to wear his safety glasses while checking on an experimental femtosecond laser, and took a blast of laser directly to his eye. However, he suffered no pain or ill effects. The doctor who examined him got curious about the laser, and contacted the physics department. This led to LASIK surgery, where a laser re-shapes the cornea to improve vision.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 08/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn # 530: The RP FLIP. . . . #rpflip #strangebuttrue #wtf #science #ships #comics #webcomics #ocean #oceanography #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The RP FLIP is a ship designed to sink. Technically it isn't a ship but a barge loaded with sensors that can tilt up and float vertically with most of it submerged, to take measurements of the ocean. Its interior has two orientations; its bathroom, for example, has a commode on the floor but also one mounted sideways on the wall for when the vessel goes vertical.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 01/09/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn # 529: Doritos. . . #madscience #comics #facts #doritos #webcomics #science #wtf #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Doritos chips use a dye called tartrazine or Yellow 5. Researchers have found that it can also temporarily make mouse skin transparent, allowing scientists to clearly see blood vessels and internal organs through the skin.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #528: Dolly Parton. . . #dollyparton #facts #webcomics #dolly #currentevents #funfacts #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Dolly Parton once secretly entered a Dolly Parton lookalike contest... and lost.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn No. 527: Cryptolect. . . #comics #facts #webcomic #language #cryptolect #linguistics #slang #funfacts #wtf #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

An anti-language or cryptolect is an intentionally obscure language designed to exclude outsiders. These are spoken solely by ostracized groups (prisoners, criminals, travelers, LGBIQIA folk, teenagers, ete) and have their own grammar rules, making them more complex than (and distinct from) regular slang.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #303: Eschew Obfuscation! . . #eschewobfuscation #princeton #linguistics #language #science #what #wtf #nasa #ignobel #ignobelprize #ignobelaward #ignobelprizewinners #strangebuttrue #webcomic #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 23/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn No. 526: 25924 Douglasadams. . . #douglasadams #asteroids #facts #comics #space #dontpanic #42 #strangebuttrue #funfacts #solongandthanksforallthefish #arthurdent #hhgttg #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

25924 Douglasadams is an asteroid named in honor of Douglas Adams, author of The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy.
However, by an amazing coincidence, its previous designation was 2001DA42, which had the year of his death, the initials of his name, and the number 42.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn # 525: McArthur Wheeler. . . #fail #crime #webcomic #stupid #dunningkrugereffect #lemonjuice #invisibility #strangebuttrue #offbeatnews #wtf #webcomic #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

McArthur Wheeler was probably the world's dumbest bank robber.
In 1995, he robbed a bank in Pittsburgh, PA with lemon juice smeared on his face, believing it would make him invisible to cameras. This news story inspred the Dunning-Kruger Effect in social psychology, the theory that some people are so stupid, they don't realize how stupid they really are, and therefore have inflated self- confidence in things they know nothing about. And this was before AI became a thing.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 16/08/2026

Also my book has plenty of advice for up-and-coming artists with actual talent, unlike me lol (an excerpt). Buy it here! www.amazon.com/dp/B0G92RJD32/

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #525: The Concordski. . . #tupolev #supersonic #aviation #history #ussr #russia #planes #comics #webcomics #facts #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The "Concordski" or Tupolev Tu-144 was the world's first supersonic passenger plane, beating the Concorde's maiden flight by two months. It was built by the Soviets primarily to one-up the West. However, the cabin was so incredibly noisy that even passengers sitting next to each other had to use handwritten notes to communicate, the noise averaging 95 dB in flight.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #524: The Tree of Ténéré. . . #sahara #landmarks #northafrica #saharadesert #famoustrees #trees #facts #strangebuttrue #solonely #soalone #comics #webcomic #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The Tree of Ténéré was the loneliest, most isolated tree in the world. It was an acacia tree growing in an empty expanse of the Sahara desert, located 400 km away from the next nearest tree, and served as a navigational landmark for old caravan routes.
It was clearly marked even on large maps in the 1930s. It lived for 300 years until it was knocked down by a drunk truck driver in 1973.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 03/08/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #522: London bus. . . #unitsofmeasurement #london #transport #buses #strangebuttrue #technicallycorrectthebestkindofcorrect #wtf #facts #funfacts #londonbus #comics #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

A London bus is 1.23 London buses long. The old buses were thirty feet in length, and often used as an informal measurement of size (like comparing things to an Olympic swimming pool or a football field). However, the new buses are 1.23 times longer than the old ones.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #520: MIT's Piracy Certificate. . . #mit #pirates #piracy #strangebuttrue #facts #funfacts #webcomics #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

MIT awards a certificate in piracy to students who complete all the courses in archery, fencing, pistol (air pistol or rifle) and sailing. Tragically, it comes with a clear disclaimer that this certification "does not give the recipient license to engage in piracy or any pirate activities."

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 24/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #519: Concord. . . #gaming #flops #comics #sony #videogames #commercialflops #fails #failures #oopsie #strangebuttrue #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

"Concord" was the biggest commercial failure in video game history (so far).
It took 8 years and an estimated $400 million to create. However, Sony recalled the game and refunded every sale just 12 days after release, meaning they made literally no money off the game whatsoever. According to critics, the game wasn't actually bad or buggy, it was just really boring. It also cost $40 while its long established rivals were free-to-play, which probably didn't help.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #518: The "Black" Credit Card. . . #creditcards #centurion #webcomic #money #richpeoplestuff #facts #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The Centurion or «Black" Card was a rumored credit card for the richest of the rich, with a supposedly unlimited credit limit. American Express got tired of their wealthiest clients asking if it really existed. So they made it real in 1999. Details are scarce, but it's invite-only, with a minimum spending requirement of $1 million annually. The most expensive single purchase known to be made with one was a painting for $170 million.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #517: Project A119. . . #nukes #history #wtf #strangebuttrue #nukethemoon #moon #badideas #historicallybadideas #comics #facts #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Project A119 was a secret plan to nuke the Moon, proposed during the height of the Cold War and the space race. The idea was to create a nuclear explosion on the Moon visible from Earth as a "morale boost" for Americans. It was cancelled for obvious reasons, like the risk of the rocket falling back to Earth.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #516: Uranus sunsets. . . #uranus #planets #space #solarsystem #astronomy #strangebuttrue #wtf #facts #comics #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Uranus doesn't have typical sunsets or sunrises. Rather, the sun traces a spiral path in the sky for half a Uranian year (42 Earth years), followed by darkness for the other half. This is because Uranus rolls along on its side, while the other (normal) planets spin like tops on a table as they go around the Sun.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 09/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #515: Vapes and e-cigs. . . #smoking #tobacco #ecigarettes #vapes #nicotine #addiction #inventions #vaping #comics #webcomics #facts #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Vapes and e-cigs were originally designed to help you quit smoking by Hon Lik, a Chinese pharmacist, in 2003. However, over time, flavors got added and they evolved into today's addictive vapes. He is currently marketing the e-hookah to the Middle East and North Africa.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 06/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #514: Manatee and Herring farts. . . #fart #marinebiology #manatees #herring #ignobelprize #science #facts #funfacts #webcomic #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Manatees control buoyancy by farting. Also, herrings use farting to communicate.
The scientists who figured this out (about the fish) won an Ig Nobel Prize for their valiant efforts.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #513: The de Havilland Comet. . . #planes #dehavillandcomet #history #planecrashes #aviation #facts #aviationhistory #comics #webcomics #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The DeHavilland Comet is why airplane windows are round and not square.
The Comet was the first commercial passenger jet, futuristic and far ahead of its time. Unfortunately, the corners of its square windows were stress points where cracks formed from metal fatigue, a problem nobody knew about at the time, leading to explosive decompression on three deadly Comet crashes in the 1950s.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #512: Titivillus. . . #demons #typos #comics #webcomics #printing #proofreading #superstition #folklore #facts #funfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Titivillus is the patron demon of typos (and scribes and printers). Not to be confused with a patron saint, he collects typos, mispronunciations and idle talk in in church. Titivillus saves them in a sack to to be counted against the offenders in Hell. Supposedly, the Oxford English Dictionary has had an error in the footnotes to its entry on on Titivillus for over half a century.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 20/06/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn: #511: Hyperparasite. . . #naturefacts #nature #parasites #fungi #comics #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

A hyperparasite or metaparasite is a parasite that uses another parasite as its host. I'his is most common among insects and some fish. However, fungi take it further, with up to three known levels of parasitism observed: For example, a fungus was observed growing within another fungus within yet another fungus on a beech tree.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #510: Cats Purr. . . #cats #pets #purr #funfacts #facts #webcomic #comics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Cats purr at a frequency that might strengthen their bones. It's theorized that they sit on you and purr to try and heal your bones too by sharing the vibrations through contact. Purring also has a range of effects on humans, lowering stress and blood pressure and more.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #509: The World's Fastest Ambulance. Sort of. . . #worldrecords #usaf #speed #planes #flight #ambulance #comics #webcomics #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The world's fastest ambulance ride was (arguably) a US Air Force FB-111 jet plane that flew at the speed of sound to transport a human heart for transplant.
It flew on Valentine's Day, 1986, from Oklahoma to Connecticut in just two hours.
The mission was a success.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #508: The Umbrella Slug. . . #ubrellaslug #teeth #animalfacts #facts #marinebiology #strangebuttrue #saycheese #animals #comics #webcomics #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

The Umbrella Slug has the most teeth of any animal. It has over ten thousand teeth, all on its "foot" surrounding its mouth. It constantly grows new teeth, so throughout its ten-year lifespan, it will go through about 750,000 teeth.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 04/06/2026

Al accidentally made me believe in the concept of a human soul by showing me what art looks like without it.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

Sauce: @juliusgoat.bsky.social

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #507: Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den. . . #poetry #tonguetwisters #comics #literature #china #classicalchinese #language #webcomics #funfacts #facts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Lion-Eating Poet in the Stone Den is a Classical Chinese poem written by Yuen Ren Chao in the 1930s that consists of only the syllable "shi" repeated 92 times. It makes perfect sense if you read it; but if you recite out loud, even native speakers will only hear gibberish, thanks to unique quirks of the language that make this poem possible.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

You want me to work for exposure? The thing that killed Marie Curie?

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 25/05/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #506: The Cigarette Snail. . . . #marinebiology #deadlyanimals #comics #useelssfactsbadlydrawn

The cigarette snail is so-called because if it stings you, you have just enough time to smoke a single cigarette before you die. However, the venom actually takes one to five hours to kill, and prompt medical care can prevent death by keeping the victim alive long enough for the toxins to wear off.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 20/05/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #505: Giraffes vs. Horses. . . #animalfacts #comics #animalsmood #biology #zoology #strangebuttrue #didyouknow #funfacts #facts #webcomics #comics #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Horses cannot vomit but giraffes can, despite their longer necks.

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn @ufbd.bsky.social · 08/05/2026

Useless Facts, Badly Drawn #504: Janus and Epimetheus. . . #saturn #solarsystem #moons #saturnsmoons #webcomic #comics #space #astronomy #uselessfacts #uselessfactsbadlydrawn

Two of Saturn's moons switch places every four years.
Originally thought to be one moon, Janus and Epimetheus were later discovered to be two separate moons that swap their orbits every four years, thanks to complicated gravity and math stuff.