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    Blog 7 min read

    Five Things That Sound Made Up (and the Sources That Prove They Aren't)

    Last updated: Monday 20th April 2026

    Quick Summary

    The Great Emu War in Australia in 1932 is a factual historical event. Farmers, facing crop destruction by 20,000 emus, requested military assistance. Soldiers armed with machine guns were deployed but struggled to significantly reduce the emu population due to their speed and elusiveness. The operation, intended to cull the birds, was ultimately called off, largely ineffectual and becoming a source of ridicule in the press. This peculiar conflict highlights nature's surprising resilience.

    In a hurry? TL;DR

    • 1Australia waged a 'war' against 20,000 emus in 1932 using machine guns, but the birds proved too elusive.
    • 2Aoshima, Japan, is a real 'Cat Island' with over 100 cats outnumbering its fewer than 20 human residents.
    • 3Both historical events, the Emu War and the Cat Island, seem unbelievable but have documented proof.

    Why It Matters

    These surprising truths highlight the extraordinary reality often hidden beneath the surface of everyday life.

    The world, an arena of endless curiosities, routinely presents phenomena so peculiar, so outright improbable, that they challenge the very notion of verifiable truth. We often encounter anecdotes seasoned with a dash of myth, tales so outlandish they demand a healthy scepticism. Yet, beneath the veneer of the unbelievable, a surprising number of these narratives stand firm, buttressed by robust evidence and documented history.

    Facts Stranger Than Fiction

    Here, we unearth a collection of truly astonishing facts – each one seemingly plucked from the realm of fantasy, yet demonstrably real. Prepare to have your credulity stretched, and then unequivocally satisfied.

    I. The Great Emu War

    Australia, known for its unique and often formidable wildlife, once engaged in an actual military operation against a population of flightless birds. This is not a whimsical fable, but a documented historical event. In 1932, near Campion in Western Australia, farmers, many of them ex-soldiers, found their crops being ravaged by an estimated 20,000 emus.

    Facing widespread damage during the Great Depression, they appealed to the government for assistance. The then Minister of Defence, Sir George Pearce, deployed a small contingent of soldiers, armed with machine guns, to tackle the avian menace.

    “The emu proved a surprisingly formidable adversary, displaying unexpected agility and tactical nous.”

    The initial reports of the "war" detailed the soldiers’ struggles against the surprisingly resilient and elusive birds. Despite repeated attempts, the military operation proved largely ineffectual. The emus dispersed rapidly, making them difficult targets, and the machine guns often jammed. The press, naturally, had a field day, mocking the military's inability to subdue a flock of birds. The "war" was officially called off after about a month, with a paltry number of emus culled relative to the initial population. This peculiar episode remains a testament to nature's unpredictable power and a source of considerable national amusement.

    II. The Island of Cats

    Imagine an island populated almost entirely by felines, outnumbering humans by a significant margin. This isn’t the premise of a children's story, but a reality in Aoshima, Japan. Often referred to as "Cat Island," it is one of several such locations in the country where cats have become the unofficial residents and chief attraction.

    Aoshima, a remote island in Ehime Prefecture, once thrived as a fishing village. As the human population declined after World War II, stray cats, originally brought in to deal with mice on fishing boats, began to multiply. Today, fewer than 20 human residents share the island with well over 100 cats, a ratio often cited as six cats to one human.

    Visitors travel to Aoshima specifically to interact with these amiable felines, which are generally well-fed by locals and tourists alike. The cats roam freely, creating an enchanting, if somewhat surreal, landscape for anyone redolent of a love for all things feline. The island serves as a curious living experiment in cohabitation, where one species has decidedly taken precedence.

    III. The World's Shortest War

    Conflict, by its very nature, tends to be protracted and devastating. Yet, history records an instance of warfare so brief, so astonishingly truncated, that it barely qualifies as a skirmish. The shortest war lasted 38-45 minutes Britain vs Zanzibar. This extraordinary event unfolded on 27 August 1896 between the United Kingdom and the Sultanate of Zanzibar.

    The Anglo-Zanzibar War began and ended within the space of less than an hour. The immediate cause was the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini and the subsequent, unsanctioned ascension of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash. The British, favouring another candidate and seeking to maintain their influence, issued an ultimatum for Khalid to step down.

    When Khalid refused and fortified his palace, the Royal Navy, under Rear Admiral Harry Rawson, bombarded the palace and its defenders. The sultanate's forces were quickly overwhelmed, and Khalid fled. The conflict is recorded in the Guinness World Records as the shortest war in history, a stark reminder of colonial power dynamics and the swiftness with which empires could assert their will. The aftermath saw a new, more compliant sultan installed and the reinforcement of British control over Zanzibar.

    IV. Blue Blood is Real

    When we speak of "blue blood," it's usually a metaphor for aristocracy, a genteel lineage. However, in the biological world, blue blood is a genuine phenomenon, underpinning the existence of several fascinating creatures. This is not some fanciful notion, but a physiological reality for a myriad of organisms.

    Many invertebrates, including crabs, lobsters, spiders, snails, and octopuses, possess blood that appears blue. This distinct hue is not derived from iron, as in human haemoglobin, but from a copper-based protein called haemocyanin. Haemocyanin serves the same oxygen-transporting function as haemoglobin but, when oxygenated, turns a striking blue.

    This biological quirk is particularly vital for creatures like the horseshoe crab, whose blue blood contains a compound called Limulus amoebocyte lysate (LAL). LAL is incredibly sensitive to bacterial endotoxins and is thus extensively used in the pharmaceutical and medical industries to test for contamination in vaccines, injectable drugs, and medical devices. The conservation of these ancient creatures is therefore not merely an ecological concern but a critical matter for global public health. You may even have encountered some related species in your diet; When you eat crab, lobster, or prawns, you're essentially eating the cockroach....

    V. Ancient Romans Used Urine as Mouthwash

    While modern dental hygiene involves a refreshing minty rinse, historical practices were often far less appealing. The idea of gargling with human waste seems utterly repulsive to contemporary sensibilities, yet ancient Romans, in their sophisticated society, commonly used urine as a mouthwash. This initially sounds like a grotesque fabrication, but historical and archaeological evidence firmly supports it.

    The Romans used stale urine due to its ammonia content. Ammonia, a strong alkaline compound, is a powerful cleaning agent and disinfectant. It was effective at whitening teeth and killing bacteria in the mouth. In fact, fullers, who cleaned and bleached woollen togas, also used urine for its ammonia properties as a cleansing agent.

    This practice, while certainly profligate by today's standards, was considered a perfectly normal and effective hygiene method in its time. It serves as a vivid reminder of how dramatically cultural norms and scientific understanding of sanitation have evolved over millennia, offering a fascinating glimpse into the pragmatic, albeit sometimes bizarre, solutions of the past. The stark contrast with modern notions of cleanliness underscores how much our understanding of health and hygiene has changed, transforming practices that were once mundane into subjects of historical curiosity. For more on how our perceptions of "luxury" change, consider The Strange Things We Treat as Luxury Once We Forget Their Origins.

    These accounts, each more improbable than the last, stand as compelling arguments against the immediate dismissal of the unlikely. They underscore a fundamental truth: the world, in all its manifold complexity, frequently outpaces the wildest imaginings of fiction. To remain truly curious is to recognise that reality often holds a far more spectacular, and sometimes unsettling, narrative than any we could invent.

    Frequently Asked Questions

    Yes, Australia declared a 'war' on emus in 1932. Farmers facing crop destruction from a massive emu population requested military assistance, leading to soldiers armed with machine guns being deployed. The operation, however, was largely unsuccessful against the agile birds.

    Indeed, there is an island in Japan called Aoshima, often dubbed 'Cat Island.' Once a fishing village, it now has far more cats than human residents. The felines, descendants of cats brought to control rodents, are a major draw for visitors.

    Aoshima Island in Ehime Prefecture, Japan, is famous for its overwhelming feline population. Originally introduced to combat mice on fishing boats, the cats have since multiplied, vastly outnumbering the few remaining human inhabitants.

    The Great Emu War took place in 1932 in Western Australia. Military personnel were dispatched to combat a large population of emus that were causing significant damage to local farmland.

    Sources & References