Stranger than fiction – At Home

You know what I like (apart from steak and chips and crispy onions and pepper sauce and a beer on a Friday evening – which is exactly the plan for tonight – yah!)? Weird facts.

This appreciation for the weird and the wonderful was brought home to me this week when I spotted a solid gold example on the world wide web. You might have seen this yourself but was new to me and it pertained to that wondrous wireless invention: Bluetooth.

Personally, I always thought bluetooth was one of those specious worlds like Coldplay in that, blue teeth don’t exist but the inventor of the technology needed a new name which was cool and original. It turns out, I was wrong (for the first time ever).

So what does it mean? Almost unbelievably, the name dates back more than a millennia to King Harald Bluetooth who was responsible for uniting Denmark and Norway in 958. His ‘Bluetooth’ moniker was added because he had a dead tooth which was a dark blue-y grey colour.

Even the little bluetooth symbol that we know and love today is a melange of the Nordic letters for ‘H’ and ‘B’ for Harald Bluetooth.

Isn’t that class!

Maintaining the theme, another class weird fact I like is the story of Floridians, Tony Signorini and Al Williams.

It goes thus: In 1948 Tony and Al took turns wearing 30lb, three-toed metal shoes and stomped around the Florida beaches under the cover of darkness.

The resulting prints led people to believe that a giant penguin was roaming around. The duo maintained the prank for the next ten years and the hoax wasn’t discovered until almost half a decade later.

Isn’t that class!

Lastly and then we’ll get on with the programming, this weird fact goes some way to explaining what most of us believe to be weird: Hearing a recording of your own voice when speaking.

Apparently, we all find this strange because the sound that other people hear when you speak is conducted by air. However the sound that you hear when you speak is a mixture of sound conducted by air but also, that same sound transmitted to your brain by the very bones of your skull.

Isn’t that weird!

Anyway, that’s enough weirdness for one day – on with the programming!

First up, Good Grief with Reverend Richard Coles shows Monday at 9pm on Channel4…

Reverend Richard opens up the conversation around bereavement, as he goes on a personal grief voyage and tries some unconventional activities that have helped others to live with loss. Included are boxing, surfing and watching the sunrise.

Alternatively, Secrets of the Spies shows Tuesday at 9pm on ITV…

Examining what kind of person becomes a spy, and what qualities the very best possess, beginning with some of the most notorious spies in British history, in both fact and fiction, assessing their methods, techniques and character. Those featured include Polish double agent Roman Czerniawski, who played a major role in the allied deception prior to the D-Day landings in Normandy, and the infamous Cambridge Five.

Or what about The Fringe, Fame and Me (Wednesday at 9pm on BBC2)…

The history of the Edinburgh Fringe, revealing how a small arts festival that began 75 years ago this year became a national institution. Told by the stars who first found fame there, this is the inside story of what it takes to make a name here, from those who enjoyed overnight success to those who slogged for years to make it. With contributions by Eddie Izzard, Bill Bailey, Phoebe Waller-Bridge, Michael Palin, Frankie Boyle, Stephen K Amos and Miriam Margoyles.