The shortest war in history lasted under an hour.
The 1896 Anglo-Zanzibar War: British ships opened fire at 9:02 AM; the sultan surrendered by 9:40 — about 38–45 minutes.
HISTORICAL ARCHIVE
Sources · October 25, 2026
Every claim from this day’s challenge, with its verdict, explanation and sources.
Round 1
Crocodiles and alligators are literally tongue-tied.
Pretty much: their tongues are anchored to the floor of the mouth, so they can't stick them out. Crocodiles' tongues are the most fixed, while alligators' have a little more wiggle room.
An octopus can deliberately stop its heart while sleeping to conserve oxygen.
Octopuses do have three hearts, and the main heart stops while swimming (why they prefer crawling) — but the sleep-switch claim is invented.
Round 2
The Polish army officially enlisted a bear.
Wojtek the Syrian brown bear held a service rank, drank beer with soldiers, and hauled artillery crates at Monte Cassino.
A human can survive on nothing but potatoes and butter.
While this combination provides basic macronutrients to survive for a period, it is unbalanced and lacks essential vitamins and minerals needed to stay healthy long-term.
Microwave ovens cook food from the inside out.
Microwaves penetrate only the outer inch or so, exciting water molecules there; heat then conducts inward exactly as in a conventional oven.
Round 3
Crows remember human faces — and teach the grudge to others.
Crows scold and dive-bomb specific people for years, and crows who never met the target join in after learning from the flock.
There is a town in Norway where it is illegal to die.
Not literally — but Longyearbyen has banned burials since the 1950s because permafrost preserves bodies (and their viruses), so the terminally ill are flown to the mainland.
The forbidden fruit eaten by Eve was an apple.
Genesis never names the fruit; the apple stuck through a Latin pun — malum means both "evil" and "apple."