Did you know?... The Interesting Fact Thread

[gilbert-]

The FedEx logo has an arrow in it.. i never noticed until a mate pointed it out to me.

[heccubusiv]

Originally Posted by Awu

Did you know...

-Coke (the soda) can be used to clean your toilet bowl.
-Pure Coca Cola is shipped in a tanker with a "corrosive" symbol on it.

Coke can also take the paint off a car, and disolve the crap around your car battery

[MSD]

The lyrics of both Amazing Grace or the tehme from Gilligan's Island perfectly match the music to both, with slight changes in rhthym.

In The Beatles' Hey Jude, approximately 2:55 into the song (after the line "remember to let her under your skin," John Lennon can be heard shouting "Fucking hell, I got the wrong chord!"

[RoadRage]

Originally Posted by stevie667

My one: A daddy long legs (i think it's a crane fly) has an incredibly strong poison, enough to do some serious damage to humans, but it isn't strong enough to break through our skin and inject it

Originally Posted by Phage

False.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.htm

I looked at the spider from the Snopes site, and it doesn't look like the spider from the American Plains that's called "daddy-longlegs".

According to Wisconsin Natural Resources Magazine, the spider we call "daddy-longlegs" is an "Elegant Harvestman" and aren't true spiders. Harvestman 'spiders' have no venom.

My mother claims that if you boil one of these harvestmen in water that it will make the water toxic; but this is the same woman who swears that if a pregnant woman raises her hands over her head often the baby will be strangled by the umbilical cord.

Along the same lines as MrSelfDestruct, most of Emily Dickison's poetry can be easily sung to the tune of the Yellow Rose of Texas.

[cyberhh]

Originally Posted by MageB420666

hmmm...... 9 X 9263 = 83367 and 8 +3 + 3 + 6 + 7 = 27, not 9. So if that's not how it's done than you need to explain it a little better.

To complete his statement "until they become one number" - he means digit.

9x9263 = 83367
8+3+3+6+7 = 27
2+7 =9

[cyberhh]

No other english word rhymes with "orange"

George Washington grew Marijuana (sp?) - he was qouted as saying that he had to return home in time to seperate the plants before they flower. Not important for the HEMP fibers, but important for the "medicinal" properties.

A carpenters foot is the measurement of your hands thumbs extended hands touching - roughly 12" - easy measure of a foot.

Too late to remember anything actually useful.

[EULA]

The logo for the infinity car brand is of a road stretching to infinity.

[Dbass]

There is also no word in the English language that rhymes with Month.

[Ragbags]

Originally Posted by Martian

Right on the second one. Despite what Lisa Simpson says, the coriolis effect applies to air masses, not water in a toilet or sink.

Actually, the water in toilet bowls down here in Australia doesn't rotate either way on its way down. When the cistern empties, water flows from the back of the bowl under the rim, around and down both sides and where the two streams meet at the front it fountains back into the middle.

The coriolis effect applies to all bodies of fluid, though the results are small in smaller bodies.

[Rodney]

An old nickname for avocado is "sailor's butter." In the days of long voyages on sailing ships with no refrigeration or food preservation technology, butter wouldn't last. But avocados would, for two or three weeks anyway. Sailors smeared their hardtack with it.

[Johnny Pyro]

Did you Know?

Dogs and bees can smell fear.

[itch vaccine]

Originally Posted by Johnny Pyro

Did you Know?

Dogs and bees can smell fear.

Did you know?

that's because we secrete some kind of scent (i think scent is the word here) when we "fear", which can be detected by a dog's nose.

Not quite sure bout the bees though

[bobophil]

there are such laws as:

You are not allowed to carry an ice cream cone in your back pocket on sundays.

In order for a pickle to officially be considered a pickle, it must bounce.

One may not pee in his neighbor's mouth.

Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.

Detonating a nuclear device within the city limits of Chico, California results in a $500 fine.

It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.

It is illegal to wipe one's car with used underwear.

The penalty for jumping off a building is death.

It is legal for a male to have sex with an animal as long as it does not exceed 40 lbs.

York, in the UK, Excluding Sundays, it is perfectly legal to shoot a Scotsman with a bow and arrow.

It is illegal to molest butterflies.

In Indianapolis, One may only throw a stone at a bird in self-defense.

In Fresno, No one may annoy a lizard in a city park.

Molesting an automobile is illegal.

I got a million of them

[frogza]

The planet Venus has longer days than years. It takes longer for Venus to go through one rotation than to orbit the sun.

[Ragbags]

Originally Posted by bobophil

there are such laws as:....

In order for a pickle to officially be considered a pickle, it must bounce.

Or be a vegetable (usually but not always a cucumber) preserved in brine or vinegar.


Having sexual relations with a porcupine is illegal.

Bestiality is generally illegal - not just with porcupines.


Detonating a nuclear device within the city limits of Chico, California results in a $500 fine.

Amongst other things, such as all the the reparations one becomes liable to pay after going to war without making a formal declaration.


It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.

It is considered an offense to push anything out of a moving aeroplane without being a loadmaster, or having particular qualifications (crop-duster, skydiving etc).


It is illegal to wipe one's car with used underwear.

I suspect that it's probably illegal to wipe most things with biological waste.


The penalty for jumping off a building is death.

No it isn't. Ask a base jumper.

[saut]

Originally Posted by cyberhh

George Washington grew Marijuana (sp?) - he was qouted as saying that he had to return home in time to seperate the plants before they flower. Not important for the HEMP fibers, but important for the "medicinal" properties.

This is true. It was written in Washington's personal journal, anyway. Whether or not he was smoking it, I couldn't say -- but he did indeed separate the male and female plants (which as you said is not necessary for hemp).


Edit: Here's a fact: The armadillo is the only animal (other than man) that can get leprosy.

[bobophil]

yo ragbags,

A) Dont take it up w/ me, www.dumblaws.com

B) Why do you have to kill my little post? I just a small time poster and you just jump on me like a hobo on a ham sandwich...

shame shame

[fresnelly]

Originally Posted by high_way

did you know : that no matter how big the number is, that if it is a multiple of 9 that you can add the numbers together until they become 1 number and that number will always be 9 (wow isnt that confusing).

Forgiving all the replies to the original post...

I was taught this rule with the number 3. After all, 9 is a multiple of 3 and furthermore, 3 is a prime number. Try it yourself.

eg: 17904

1+7+9+0+4=21
2+1=3

Edit:

It turns out I might be wrong on this one. I'd delete it if I could.

[fresnelly]

The primary colours of Paint (pigment) are Red, Blue and Yellow. Yet the primary colours of Light are Red, Blue and Green.

Bonus Knowlege:

Pigment Secondary Colours: Violet, Green, Orange
Light Secondary Colours: Violet, Cyan, Amber

[Tophat665]

Originally Posted by 1010011010

It seems the "obscure" tags were removed during posting... It's a quote from a Fight Club PSA.

Actually, according to my professor of mesoamerican archeology, if you're stuck out in the jungle and you accidentally cut yourself deeply, the best thing you can do is piss in the cut, and then, when you stop screaming (hurts like hell), go find some largish ants, have them bite the lips of the cut together, and then twist their bodies off their heads, as they make primitive but effective sutures.

So, while urine is not necessarily sterile, fresh urine is a powerful disinfectant.

[ngdawg]

Spreading a tomato product( ketchup, taco sauce) will clean the tarnish off copper, silver and brass. But smooshing a tomato on it will not.

[itch vaccine]

Originally Posted by ngdawg

Spreading a tomato product( ketchup, taco sauce) will clean the tarnish off copper, silver and brass. But smooshing a tomato on it will not.

I wonder why?
o_O

and TopHat, that is just too much for me to endure, I think I'd die doing that to myself.

[radioguy]

flowers only have a certain number of petals. the possibilities are: 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89.

lillies - 3
buttercups - 5
delphiniums (not all) - 8
marigolds - 13
asters - 21
daisies (most) - 34, 55, 89

kinda of interesting. do you see the pattern in the numbers?

it's cool.

found in a book called "nature's numbers"

[GreenHell]

More Americans were killed in the Civil War then any other.

[volman5]

The side of the moon facing the earth is more dense than the other (also more visually interesting (I've been there)).

[volman5]

Dolphins are the only other species than humans that have sex for pleasure.

[Jinn]

Dolphins AND bonobos, actually. And even that is a bit contrived:

http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/pleasure.htm

Therefore, we say that we humans engage in "sex for pleasure" not just because sex is something we consider to "feel good," but because it meets the criterion specified above: both men and women willingly engage in sex even though neither one of them may know for certain that the woman is fertile, and even at times when fertilization is impossible (such as when the woman is already pregnant or is post-menopausal). We know that a few (and only a few) species other than humans behave in a manner consistent with our definition of "sex for pleasure." Female bonobos (also known as pygmy chimpanzees), for example, are receptive to sex for several weeks before and after ovulation, and male bonobos will engage in sex with them even though they know the females are not fertile. Dolphins, too, frequently mate even when the female is not fertile.

Of course, we have to make many seemingly artificial distinctions to arrive at our conclusion. Animals other than humans have no awareness that their sexual activities are connected with reproduction: They engage in sex because they're biologically driven to do so, and if the fulfillment of their urges produces a physical sensation we might appropriately call "pleasure," it isn't the least bit affected by the possibility (or impossibility) of producing offspring. We are also discounting cases in which animals do engage in sex even though reproduction is an impossibility, because we claim there are other "purposes" (of which the animals themselves are unaware) at play. (For example, the females of some species of birds will invite males to mate with them even after they have laid their eggs, but we ascribe a purpose to this behavior: this is a biological "trick" to fool males into caring for hatchlings they didn't father.) We also employ subjective terms such as "willingly" and "regularly" in claiming that bonobos and dolphins are the only other animals who "willingly (and regularly) engage in sex with each other even when there is no possibility that offspring will be produced as a result," and even then it may be the case that these species have some other "purpose" for doing so that we haven't yet discovered.

Perhaps the most important concept to be learned here is that although humans naturally tend to think of their behavior as "normal" and consider the habits of other animals to be departures from the norm, in many ways -- especially in our sexual behavior -- we are quite exceptional.

[Jinn]

Spreading a tomato product( ketchup, taco sauce) will clean the tarnish off copper, silver and brass. But smooshing a tomato on it will not.



I wonder why?
o_O

Ketchup, used primarily as a condiment, is a sweet-tart sauce whose main ingredient is tomatoes, flavored with onions, garlic, vinegar, sugar, and spices.

Plain vinegar will remove tarnish, so I suspect Ketchup's effect is due to the vinegar it contains.

[itch vaccine]

Originally Posted by volman5

The side of the moon facing the earth is more dense than the other (also more visually interesting (I've been there)).

perhaps just a lil more due the the gravitational pull of the earth on it?

[mystmarimatt]

- The land that Arlington National Cemetery resides on was owned by Robert E. Lee before the government confiscated it to build a cemetery upon. Whether it was an intentional "Fuck you, man" or not, I forget.

- The term "Hookers" comes from General Joseph Hooker, a Union commander in the civil war, who enjoyed the company of women of ill-repute.

- Lyndon Johnson, once bored and angry in a cabinet meeting, whipped out his member and asked his astounded cabinet if they thought "Mao had one as big as this?"

- There's a heartwrenching story behind the trumpet ditty "Taps," played at Military Funerals, about a son and a father fighting on opposite sides of the civil war, and the father shoots the son, who had been studying music, and wrote this little thing right before he died. This is bullshit. It was written by a Union commander named Dan Butterfield, who liked to compose little pieces of music in his spare time.

[trickyy]

here's something i had been wondering for a while

when movies are edited for TV and airline flights, profanity is changed to suit more viewers. (the result is kind of silly but less offensive.) to fill in the vacant #&$@!!s, voice actors mimic the original actor.

i heard one of said actors interviewed. it was funny how seriously he viewed the task; he took a very Method approach to filling in several "Frickin's" for brad pitt in fight club. seems to work well though...you can often tell that words are out of place, but it usually sounds much like the original actor.

[Redlemon]

Can't track down the source of where I read this, but...

...when you enter a restroom, the natural instinct is to skip the first stall, because you figure that everyone goes to the first stall. However, since everyone else thinks this, the second stall is typically the most used, and therefore the dirtiest. I also seem to recall that the last stall is usually the best choice (assuming that the number of stalls exceeds two).

[soccerchamp76]

Corn kernels (along with grass) will shot up in your excrement because your body does not produce the enzyme to use the energy in cellulose. Grass/corn kernels are made of entirely cellulose.
Chlorine bleach + ammonia produces chlorine gas (was mentioned before but I wanted to clarify what gas it was).
Coke syrup is corrosive because it contains phosphoric acid, which is highly corrosive.

What is the only liquid that expands when it freezes; due to the hydrogen bonds in the water molecule, as the water freezes, the hydrogen bonds become stronger, but the structure becomes less dense.

Argon gas is often used for enclosures for expensive paintings/documents (i.e. Declaration of Independence) because argon gas is one of the 8 noble gases. Since all noble gases have 8 electrons in their valence shell, they do not react with much of anything, and thus, no oxidation of the paintings/paper will happen.

[spongy]

Originally Posted by cyberhh

No other english word rhymes with "orange"

George Washington grew Marijuana (sp?) - he was qouted as saying that he had to return home in time to seperate the plants before they flower. Not important for the HEMP fibers, but important for the "medicinal" properties.

A carpenters foot is the measurement of your hands thumbs extended hands touching - roughly 12" - easy measure of a foot.

Too late to remember anything actually useful.

I have a beef with this one, stick with me... time for a ride.

According to dictionary.com, orange is pronounced "(ôrnj, r-)"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=orange

According to dictionary.com, fringe is pronounced "(frnj)"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fringe

Granted both pnonuciations have a 1 with an accent thingee over them (see links) that don't show when I copy/paste, but..... they are pronounced with the same end.. don't they rhyme?

I showed this to my neice when she was in 4th grade. I told her to shoew her teacher, but to be ready for the teacher to disagree. Her teacher said that just because two words sound alike doesn't mean they rhyme. She told me that is what rhyme means, so my neice learned about being right and wrong at the same time.

[spongy]

Originally Posted by asudevil83

i've got one.....compliments of The Straight Dope



BTW, this website answers all sorts of questions.....many of which i've wondered but had no idea how to answer. you could spend days there just reading cool shit. www.straightdope.com

Here's a w-as-noun word I read about in Omni magazine in the '80s....

cwm

n : a steep-walled semicircular basin in a mountain; may contain a lake

[Redlemon]

Originally Posted by spongy

I have a beef with this one, stick with me... time for a ride.

According to dictionary.com, orange is pronounced "(ôrnj, r-)"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=orange

According to dictionary.com, fringe is pronounced "(frnj)"
http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=fringe

Granted both pnonuciations have a 1 with an accent thingee over them (see links) that don't show when I copy/paste, but..... they are pronounced with the same end.. don't they rhyme?

I showed this to my neice when she was in 4th grade. I told her to shoew her teacher, but to be ready for the teacher to disagree. Her teacher said that just because two words sound alike doesn't mean they rhyme. She told me that is what rhyme means, so my neice learned about being right and wrong at the same time.

I think that rhyming also requires an emphasis match, and there's a difference there in strong vs weak endings. Interesting, though, I'd never heard "fringe" proposed before.

[spongy]

Originally Posted by Redlemon

I think that rhyming also requires an emphasis match, and there's a difference there in strong vs weak endings. Interesting, though, I'd never heard "fringe" proposed before.

That has been brought up to me as well, but is there really a difference in emphasis? Also, a friend ( who thinks she is smarter than me.. and therefore rarely is "wrong" when she disagrees with me) said that they can't rhyme becuase orange has 2 syllables and fringe has only one. I always say that cat and tophat rhyme. She usually says that the laundry is done and has to get off the phone.

As an aside, I have said orange and fringe thousands of times aloud over the last few years, and i'm either deluding myself, or they really rhyme.

[ryfo]

just got thru reading this thread... my head hurts!!!

[emang]

i read somewhere that pigs can have one-hour orgasms...

[BigBen]

Originally Posted by cyberhh

No other english word rhymes with "orange"

My buddy was in a band and wanted to make a song including the word Orange, and you know what he came up with?

I want to be on you baby, like a peel on an Orange
Grease you up, and take the squeek out of your Door Hinge.

Well, technically, Door Hinge is 2 words, so I guess you are right when you say no word rhymes with it. But my buddy got lots of laughs on stage with that one. I will never forget those lines.

Originally Posted by radioguy

flowers only have a certain number of petals. the possibilities are: 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, 55, 89.

lillies - 3
buttercups - 5
delphiniums (not all) - 8
marigolds - 13
asters - 21
daisies (most) - 34, 55, 89

kinda of interesting. do you see the pattern in the numbers?

it's cool.

found in a book called "nature's numbers"

Those are called Fibonacci numbers, right? It is really cool, the way fibonacci numbers are created and displayed in nature.
I had to write a computer program that would calculate the fibonacci product of any number input from a user.

I quickly changed majors from computer science to economics.