Who is Paul the Oracle Octopus?

Answer 1

Paul the Octopus is a common octopus who lives in Sea Life Centre, Germany born in 2008.

Prior to each 2010 FIFA World Cup match involving Germany, the aquarium keeper placed two boxes containing mussels in front of Paul. Each box is labeled with the flag of Germany and its opponent. The prediction on which country would win was based on which box the octopus would eat the mussel from (the country that he picked would win and vice-versa).

Paul was made internationally famous after predicting all 7 matches of Germany and the final match between Spain and the Netherlands correctly. The odds of Paul guessing all 8 matches correctly was 255 to 1 (or 0.39%). The fact that the choice of having a draw was not included only increased the probability of the octopus's predictions.

After making its predictions on the Semi-final match between Germany and Spain (predicting Spain's 1-0 victory), Germany became distraught and worried. When the match ended, many German citizens suddenly developed a taste for octopus and calamari with sales in these two foods rocketing in supermarkets. Its owners at the Sea Life Centre started to receive death wishes to Paul, threatening to "...roast and eat him, with a sprinkle of paprika and salt...delicious!", along with claims of betrayal and treason. Germany's environment minister, Elena Espinosa, was required to step in and promised to provide Paul protection, "...so the German public does not consume him for dinner..."

Meanwhile, Spain offered to give Paul a sanctuary in Spain itself, giving praise to the apparent psychic octopus. The Sea Life Center rejected the offer. Spain persisted on providing protection for Paul, offering to send bodyguards to the Sea Life Centre to protect him.

After predicting the outcome of the final match between the Netherlands and Spain (Paul predicted Spain's victory over the Netherlands 1-0 (a.e.t.)), the mayor of O Carballiño, Carlos Montes officially granted Paul honorary Spain citizenship. For the Fiesta del Pulpo (literally Party of the Octopus), Spain offered €30,000 to the Sea Life Centre to transfer Paul to Spain for a day, with promises that Paul would be the main attraction, instead of on the menu. The Sea Life Centre again, rejected the offer.

RecordGermany Matchesvs. Australia (Group Stage)

• Predicted: Germany
• Result: Germany 4-0
• Outcome: Correct

vs. Serbia (Group Stage)

• Predicted: Serbia
• Result: Serbia 1-0
• Outcome: Correct

vs. Ghana (Group Stage)

• Predicted: Germany
• Result: Germany 1-0
• Outcome: Correct

vs. England (Round of 16)

• Predicted: Germany
• Result: Germany 4-1
• Outcome: Correct

vs. Argentina (Quarter-finals)

• Predicted: Germany
• Result: Germany 4-0
• Outcome: Correct

vs. Spain (Semi-finals)

• Predicted: Spain
• Result: Spain 1-0
• Outcome: Correct

vs. Uruguay (Third Place Match)

• Predicted: Germany
• Result: 3-2
• Outcome: Correct

Final MatchNetherlands vs. Spain

• Predicted: Spain
• Result: Spain 1-0 (a.e.t.)
• Outcome: Correct

Results: 8 correct out of 8 predictions