The Daily Croissant - Filed under 'Oddities'

World’s Only Topsy-Turvy Tree : A Gravitropic Mutant
- 19 Apr 2012
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- April 19 2012 Botany Growth Mutation Oddities
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"Gravitropism is when the stem of a plant grows upwards and the root of the plant grows downwards. This phenomenon was discovered by Darwin back in the days and basically implies that roots always grow downwards in the direction of the gravity force and the stem always grows upwards, in the opposite direction of the gravity force. You can easily check this by putting a potted plant on a side. You will observe the stem bend upwards against the gravity force and the roots will bend downwards in the direction of the gravity force.

The tree above is a gravitropic mutant, with the root and the stem swapping growth directions. This is probably the only known tree in the world that grows downwards. It grows in Italy in the remains of a cellar."

via mytechnologyworld9.blogspot.com
Gentle Belly Landing...After Pilot Ejects !
- 2 Feb 2012
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- February 02 2012 Flight Landing Oddities
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"During an Air Force training mission over Montana on Feb. 2, 1970, Gary Foust’s F-106 entered an uncontrollable flat spin at 35,000 feet.

He rode it down to 12,000 feet, ejected — and watched as the plane righted itself, descended into a snowy field, and made a gentle belly landing. Its engine was still running when the police arrived.

After repairs, the fighter was returned to service in California and New York. Today it’s on display in a museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio."

via futilitycloset.com
City of Manazan located in Taskale, Turkey
- 21 Dec 2011
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- 20December11 Cities Oddities Turkey architecture
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"Dating back to the Byzantine Empire, the City of Manazan features an entire rock face, carved to create a vertical village of tiny rooms. Naturally protected from invaders and the elements, this rock-cut village has survived through centuries of war and regime change in Central Anatolia.

Although seemingly impractical, Manazan stretches up five stories and across 3km of cliffs, and was a fully functioning city centuries ago. The intricate series of caves and tunnels housed churches, storage facilities, family homes and even cemeteries, all high above the ground on the cliff face.

Today, the city is no longer inhabited, but locals from Taskale still use the temperate caves to store wheat, cheese and other grains, and the region is actively developing the area for greater revenue from tourism."

via atlasobscura.com
Handel and Bach were Both Blinded by One Man
- 17 Dec 2011
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- 16December11 Blindness Composers Health Care Historical Malpractice Oddities
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"A University of Wisconsin-Madison ophthalmologist says both Handel and Bach underwent eye surgery at the hands of an "oculist" called the Chevalier John Taylor.

"Taylor was the poster child for 18th century quackery," says Daniel Albert, MD, MS, the author of "Men of Vision," a history of ophthalmology. The book has a chapter on Taylor's colorful, if gruesome, career...

Albert describes him as "the most infamous of all ophthalmic quacks." His arrival into town would be heralded by placards and handbills, and his coach was decorated with paintings of eyeballs and the motto: "Qui dat videre dat viver" (He who gives sight, gives life.)"

via tywkiwdbi
The Youngest Mother
- 23 Oct 2011
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- 22October11 Biology Human Interest Motherhood Oddities World Records odd news
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"While this is hardly something one would want to hold the record for, for a so many reasons, it would seem that Lina is unlikely to lose this record any time soon (or one would at least hope so!) So, for now, the current record for youngest human being to give birth to another is 5 years, 7 months, and 17 days, which means she was probably impregnated a month or two before her fifth birthday. Disturbing…"

find out more via todayifoundout.com
The Elephantine Colossus
- 19 Oct 2011
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- 18October11 Elephants Oddities architecture
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"Between 1884 and 1896, visitors to Coney Island could stay in an elephant. Each leg of the tin-skinned wooden behemoth was 60 feet long; its ears were 40 feet wide; and the enormous trunk measured 72 feet. The forelegs housed a diorama and a cigar store, and the hind legs contained staircases leading to 31 hotel rooms above — advertised entertainingly as “a main hall head room, 2 side body rooms, 2 thigh rooms, 2 shoulder rooms, 2 cheek rooms, 1 throat room, 1 stomach room, 4 hoof rooms, 6 leg rooms, 2 side rooms, 2 hip rooms, 1 through room from which the Elephant is feeding.”"

more via futilitycloset.com
Ali Baba and the Forty Fleas : Hoppin' around ol' Pa-ree
- 19 Oct 2011
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- 18October11 Film Shorts Flea Circus Historical Oddities
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"Filmed in Paris in 1949, this genuine flea circus sees some very big fleas pulling various miniature vehicles across a table. They are harnessed by a thin wire. Until about 1930, performing fleas were in fact a main carnival attraction."

via youtube.com

"Notwithstanding being related to the word "four" (4), 40 is spelled "forty", and not "fourty". The reason is that etymologically (also in accents without the horse–hoarse merger), the words have different vowels, "forty" containing a contraction in the same way that "fifty" contains a contraction of "five". The letters of the word "forty" are in alphabetical order; this is the only number that has this linguistic property in English."

Wikipedia
Money Trees
- 19 Sep 2011
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- 18September11 Coins Historical Human Interest Money Oddities Superstition Trees
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"Apparently in several wooded areas around the UK, passersby have been stopping for decades (if not centuries), meticulously hammering small denomination coins intro trees. Most of the trees seem to be in and around Cumbria and Portmeirion....the practice might date back to the early 1700s in Scotland where ill people stuck florins into trees with the idea that the tree would take away their sickness."

via thisiscolossal.com
Manpupuner Rock Formations : Shchuch'ye, Russia
- 13 Sep 2011
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- 12September11 Formations Geology Landforms Oddities
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"Tucked away in the Northern Ural Mountains of Russia, seven massive rock formations inexplicably explode from the flat landscape around them. Jutting up to heights of over 200 feet, the Manpupuner Rock Formations have no obvious origin and command a powerful spiritual presence for visitors.

The Manpupuner Formations, also known as the Seven Strong Men, are more or less unknown outside of Russia. Akin to the Easter Island giants, the seven formations are mysterious, starkly contrasting their plateau environment. Likely some sort of karst formation, the rocks feel like the remnants of some long lost civilization."

via atlasobscura.com

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