Valhalla Legends Forums Archive | Thing-O-Rama ™ | Facts to know in life

AuthorMessageTime
moh.vze.com
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

1/100th of a second is called a "jiffy".

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.

A cockroach will live nine days without it's head, before it starves to death.

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

A pig's orgasm lasts for 30 minutes.

Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.

All of the clocks in Pulp Fiction are stuck on 4:20.

All porcupines float in water.

Almonds are members of the peach family.

Americans on the average eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than it's brain.

Babies are born without knee caps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2-6 years of age.

Back in the mid to late 80's, an IBM compatible computer wasn't considered a hundred percent compatible unless it could run Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.

Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33.

Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

Butterflies taste with their feet.

Camel's milk does not curdle.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing.

Cat's urine glows under a black light.

Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church.

David Prowse, was the guy in the Darth Vader suit in Star Wars. He spoke all of Vader's lines, and didn't know that he was going to be dubbed over by James Earl Jones until he saw the screening of the movie.

Did you know that the abbreviation for 1 pound, "lb.", comes from the astrological sign Libra, meaning balance.

Did you know that there are coffee flavored PEZ?

Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.

Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason.

Every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie.

Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.

Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

If she were life size, Barbie's measurements are: 39-23-33.

If you bring a raccoon's head to the Henniker, New Hampshire town hall, you are entitled to receive $.10 from the town.

If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb. (I think I know that guy!)

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

If you took a standard slinky and stretched it out it would measure 87 feet.

If you yelled for 8 years, 7 months and 6 days, you would have produced enough sound energy to heat one cup of coffee.

In ancient Egypt, Priests plucked every hair from their bodies, including their eyebrows and eyelashes.

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.

In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's Channel 1 to mobile services (two-way radios in taxicabs, for instance) but did not renumber the other channel assignments. That is why your TV set has channels 2 and up, but no channel 1.

In the great fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down but only 6 people were injured

In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

The longest place-name still in use is: Taumatawhakatangihangakoauauotamateaturpukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwenuakitanatahu, a New Zealand hill.

Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category.

It takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot.

It was bound to happen. These days with all the emphasis on one's physical fitness, a new organization has sprung up called "Athletics Anonymous."When you get the urge to play golf, tennis, go power walking or bicycle riding (or anything else involving a type of physical activity), they send someone over to drink with you until the urge passes.

John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.

Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.

Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son.

Lorne Greene had one of his nipples bitten off by an alligator while he was host of "Lorne Greene's Wild Kingdom."

Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size, "L.A."

Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.

Michael Jordan makes more money from Nike annually than all of the Nike factory workers in Malaysia combined.

Montpelier, Vermont is the only U.S. state capital without a McDonalds.

Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.

Murphy's Oil Soap is the chemical most commonly used to clean elephants.

No NFL team which plays it's home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Superbowl

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.

Non-dairy creamer is flammable.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously

On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.

On an American one-dollar bill, there is an owl in the upper left-hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider hidden in the front upper right-hand corner.

On average people fear spiders more than they do death.

One of the reasons marijuana is illegal today because cotton growers in the 30s lobbied against hemp farmers -- they saw it as competition. It is not chemically addictive as is nicotine, alcohol, or caffeine.

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

Pamela Anderson Lee is Canada's Centennial Baby, being the first baby born on the centennial anniversary of Canada's independence.

Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."

Polar bears are left handed.

Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.

Some lions mate over 50 times a day.

Starfish don't have brains.

Texas is also the only state that is allowed to fly its state flag at the same height as the U.S. flag.

The "save" icon on Microsoft Word shows a floppy disk, with the shutter on backwards.

The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie." (Thus the name of the Don McLean song.)

The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight and always falls over on its right side when intoxicated.

The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.

The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.

The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds, that makes the catfish rank #1 for animal having the most taste buds.

The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life"

The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways. The following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."

The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for eachgallon of diesel that it burns.

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

The first Ford cars had Dodge engines.

The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver".

The flea can jump 350 times its body length, It's like a human jumping the length of a football field.

The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point in Colorado.

The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.(The engineers responsible for this where actually graduates of Purdue University, Indiana University's most hated rival.)

The male gypsy moth can "smell" the virgin female gypsy moth from 1.8 miles away.

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the males head off.

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

The most common name in the world is Mohammed.

The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."

The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan"

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.

The only nation who's name begins with an "A", but doesn't end in an "A" is Afghanistan.

The only real person to be a Pez head was Betsy Ross.

The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League All-Star Game.

The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary.

When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.
The Ramses brand condom is named after the great pharaoh Ramses II whofathered over 160 children.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.

The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means "the king is dead".

There are 1,929,770,126,028,800 different color combinationspossible on a Rubik's Cube.

There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

There are only four words in the English language which end in"-dous" tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

There are two credit cards for every person in the United States.

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

Who's that playing the piano on the "Mad About You" theme? Why it's Paul Reiser himself.

Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider. (but you are really dead-meat if that spider is riding that cork)

You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
March 4, 2005, 4:07 AM
The-Rabid-Lord
The average person falls to sleep in 7 minutes. Took me close to an hour last night :( Some good facts though.
March 4, 2005, 8:21 AM
Newby
Took me 3 hours the day before winter break ended. :/
March 4, 2005, 8:24 AM
iago
Several of those are Urban Myths, which were disproven on Mythbusters.
March 4, 2005, 3:03 PM
Adron
[quote author=moh.vze.com link=topic=10799.msg102400#msg102400 date=1109909227]
The only nation who's name begins with an "A", but doesn't end in an "A" is Afghanistan.
[/quote]

And just to prove that the list doesn't contain all facts, link to Azerbaijan.
March 4, 2005, 5:36 PM
iago
[quote author=moh.vze.com link=topic=10799.msg102400#msg102400 date=1109909227]
1/100th of a second is called a "jiffy".
[/quote]

The only thing I could find in the dictionary that references this is:
[quote]1. The duration of one tick of the computer's system
clock. Often one AC cycle time (1/60 second in the US and
Canada, 1/50 most other places), but more recently 1/100 sec
has become common.[/quote]
So although it's trueish, I wouldn't call it a fact.

[quote]
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".
[/quote]
Close, but nope,  Klimt (fine, that's not a word, it's a name), undreamt and daydreamt also do.  Those are variations of dreamt, which is why I said "close" :)

[quote]A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why. [/quote]
100% bogus.  They did an experiment, and a duck's echo indeed echoed.

[quote]It takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot. [/quote]
That one is totally meaningless.  I can cook macaroni in a cup, gallon, or 10 gallons.

[quote]On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag. [/quote]
This is actually true, i noticed that.  But we haven't had a $2 bill in about 10 years (we have coins now)

[quote]
The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane.
[/quote]
All that requires is for a train bridge to be below a street bridge, and I can think of at least one of those in my province (albeit extremely rare that that happens, but it CAN happen

[quote]The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies. [/quote]
I read somewhere (or saw on tv) that they asked various Armed Forces officers about it, and none of them confirmed that this was anything more than a myth.

[quote]The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. [/quote]
What I wonder about that one, how many are "necessary"? 

[quote]The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue. [/quote]
When I took Biology, I was told that the strongest muscle is the Jaw.  I couldn't see a tongue being stronger than that, at least, mine sure isn't.

[quote]There are only four words in the English language which end in"-dous" tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous. [/quote]
I count 9:
apodous
hazardous
horrendous
iodous
molybdous
octopodous
rhizopodous
stupendous
tremendous
(look any of them up, I assure you they exist)

[quote]You are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider.[/quote]
I had a conversation about this once.  I don't think it's possible for a champagne cork to kill you, because it just doesn't have enough ice.  I saw an experiment once where they loaded a gun (from a pistol to a high powered rifle) with bullets made of ice.  They couldn't even puncture the ballistics gel (which is designed to simulate human flesh), simply because ice can't possibly have enough momentum.  It just doesn't weigh enough.  The only possible way I can see dying from a champagne cork is if it entered somebody's mouth.

Anyway, that was fun.  Feel free to argue any of my points :)
March 4, 2005, 6:42 PM
moh.vze.com
oh my goodness you people are taking this too seriously hahah
March 4, 2005, 11:11 PM
iago
I was bored and at school. 
March 4, 2005, 11:58 PM
CrAz3D
Isn't your heart the strongest?

I think the jaw is the strongest when size/strength relationship is looked @
March 7, 2005, 1:02 AM
KkBlazekK
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg102461#msg102461 date=1109961765]
I saw an experiment once where they loaded a gun (from a pistol to a high powered rifle) with bullets made of ice. They couldn't even puncture the ballistics gel (which is designed to simulate human flesh), simply because ice can't possibly have enough momentum. It just doesn't weigh enough.
[/quote]

That was MythBusters. I love that show.
March 11, 2005, 2:26 AM
iago
[quote author=Blaze - (S-1-0-0) link=topic=10799.msg103273#msg103273 date=1110507982]
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg102461#msg102461 date=1109961765]
I saw an experiment once where they loaded a gun (from a pistol to a high powered rifle) with bullets made of ice. They couldn't even puncture the ballistics gel (which is designed to simulate human flesh), simply because ice can't possibly have enough momentum. It just doesn't weigh enough.
[/quote]

That was MythBusters. I love that show.
[/quote]

So was the duck one :)
March 11, 2005, 4:51 AM
K
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg103295#msg103295 date=1110516697]
[quote author=Blaze - (S-1-0-0) link=topic=10799.msg103273#msg103273 date=1110507982]
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg102461#msg102461 date=1109961765]
I saw an experiment once where they loaded a gun (from a pistol to a high powered rifle) with bullets made of ice. They couldn't even puncture the ballistics gel (which is designed to simulate human flesh), simply because ice can't possibly have enough momentum. It just doesn't weigh enough.
[/quote]

That was MythBusters. I love that show.
[/quote]

So was the duck one :)
[/quote]

The best mythbusters was the one about the urban legend where the woman's biscuit mix can explodes onto the back of her head and she thinks she's been shot, and then hey try to make cans of biscuit mix explode in a hot car
March 11, 2005, 6:54 AM
Adron
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg102461#msg102461 date=1109961765]
They couldn't even puncture the ballistics gel (which is designed to simulate human flesh), simply because ice can't possibly have enough momentum.  It just doesn't weigh enough.  The only possible way I can see dying from a champagne cork is if it entered somebody's mouth.

Anyway, that was fun.  Feel free to argue any of my points :)
[/quote]

Ice can have enough momentum. How much it weighs is entirely irrelevant for the question of whether it can penetrate skin.
March 11, 2005, 1:57 PM
iago
[quote author=Adron link=topic=10799.msg103317#msg103317 date=1110549462]
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg102461#msg102461 date=1109961765]
They couldn't even puncture the ballistics gel (which is designed to simulate human flesh), simply because ice can't possibly have enough momentum.  It just doesn't weigh enough.  The only possible way I can see dying from a champagne cork is if it entered somebody's mouth.

Anyway, that was fun.  Feel free to argue any of my points :)
[/quote]

Ice can have enough momentum. How much it weighs is entirely irrelevant for the question of whether it can penetrate skin.
[/quote]

Well, when ice is shot out of a gun it doesn't do any damage.  Neither does a penny being droppe off a roof or a playing card being shot as fast as possible (although the card DID give him a paper cut).

Ice can probably do damage if it was moving fast enough, but momentum involves squares so it gets exponentially harder to do damage as it gets lighter.

If you're talking about sharpened ice, that's different.  But I'm talking about a bullet made of ice (similar idea to the champagne cork)
March 12, 2005, 1:22 AM
Adron
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg103396#msg103396 date=1110590526]
[quote author=Adron link=topic=10799.msg103317#msg103317 date=1110549462]
Ice can have enough momentum. How much it weighs is entirely irrelevant for the question of whether it can penetrate skin.
[/quote]

Well, when ice is shot out of a gun it doesn't do any damage.  Neither does a penny being droppe off a roof or a playing card being shot as fast as possible (although the card DID give him a paper cut).

Ice can probably do damage if it was moving fast enough, but momentum involves squares so it gets exponentially harder to do damage as it gets lighter.

If you're talking about sharpened ice, that's different.  But I'm talking about a bullet made of ice (similar idea to the champagne cork)
[/quote]

A penny would have to be dropped off a roof in vaccuum to gain high speeds.. Air resistance has a huge effect on small objects.

Sharpened ice... Well, aren't rifle rounds typically sharp? The ones I've seen have been.. In order to fire ice projectiles out of a rifle efficiently, I'd suggest making a much longer projectile than normal. An arrow-like projectile, with a reasonably high weight, but that will still not have a very much higher air resistance than a regular bullet because of its small cross-section.

Ice has lower density than lead, but that doesn't mean the fired projectile has to have lower mass.
March 12, 2005, 12:14 PM
Adron
[quote author=iago link=topic=10799.msg102461#msg102461 date=1109961765]
I had a conversation about this once.  I don't think it's possible for a champagne cork to kill you, because it just doesn't have enough ice.  I saw an experiment once where they loaded a gun (from a pistol to a high powered rifle) with bullets made of ice.  They couldn't even puncture the ballistics gel (which is designed to simulate human flesh), simply because ice can't possibly have enough momentum.  It just doesn't weigh enough.  The only possible way I can see dying from a champagne cork is if it entered somebody's mouth.
[/quote]

Hmm, in my boredom i just came across this link... Are "verified" links really accurate there? Some others seemed to be.
July 12, 2005, 2:01 PM
warz
[quote]
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

I read somewhere (or saw on tv) that they asked various Armed Forces officers about it, and none of them confirmed that this was anything more than a myth.
[/quote]

This is actually true. I'm positive.
July 13, 2005, 6:39 PM
Disco
Im not sure how ice effects a champaign quark but it is possible.
July 13, 2005, 7:32 PM
iago
[quote author=warz link=topic=10799.msg120545#msg120545 date=1121279949]
[quote]
The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

I read somewhere (or saw on tv) that they asked various Armed Forces officers about it, and none of them confirmed that this was anything more than a myth.
[/quote]

This is actually true. I'm positive.
[/quote]

How are you positive?  I'm pretty sure I read somewhere that that's a myth :-/
July 13, 2005, 11:59 PM
JoeTheOdd
[quote]Did you know that the abbreviation for 1 pound, "lb.", comes from the astrological sign Libra, meaning balance. [/quote]
I'm pretty sure it had noting to do with the astrological sign, but was a Roman word that meant "pound".
October 28, 2005, 1:54 AM

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