Interesting Facts

[Hellbent]

(This isn't exactly a game, but it's going to have a format like a game- short posts and whats-nuts)

Know any interesting facts (like who killed JFK, who bought Alaska for 12 cents an acre, or who Framed Roger Rabbit (yeah, it's that crazy doc guy from Back to the future, you know the one who played fester in the Adams family?) Really anything that you think is interesting, post it here.

You can cover up bullet holes in your walls with toothpaste. That's a useful one to know- if you just got out of prison.

[Crazy Ivan]

who bought Alaska for 12 cents an acre,

*coughcoughWilliamH.Sewardcough*

[Domoviye]

A pre-Roman culture that existed somewhere close to Italy (can't remember the exact name) used to burn babies at Christmas.
By the time the Romans conquered it, they were burning a single baby as a sacrifice.
The Romans liked the celebration but decided that burning dolls, rather than children, would suffice.
When Christians got a hold of it, they kept the doll aspect but decided to give them as special presents.
Eventually it became the custom to give different gifts to children rather than just dolls.
And now we have the consumer driven, gift giving season we know and love today. All thanks to early human sacrifice.

[Hellbent]

Vlad Tepes A.K.A. Vlad 'the Impaler' was a Romanian Warlord who was known for impaling his enemies on giant poles. Vlad was apparently the original Dracula, an actual vampire. He drank people's blood and was killed in battle but came back to life. Then he was killed again and burried. But when some people went to dig up his grave, his bones were missing.

[Onoria Westhrop]

Of sages:
Aistotles argued that boy snakes do not have dicks on the grounds that they slither on the ground. Heraclitus of Elea died by burying himself in manure. Atomic theory was first proposed by Democritus, a Greek philosopher 300 years before Christ was born. Plato was spurned as a gay lover by Socrates.
The word "coffee" in Korean is homophonic with the word "nosebleed".

Japan has not yet signed a peace treaty to end world war 2 with Russia. Neither have north Korea and America/South Korea. They are only "ceasefire agreements".

England fought a 7 year war for a human ear. (The war of Jenkin's ear, against the Spanish).

Good lord, I know loads of dumb stuff...I could do this all day...

[Onoria Westhrop]

Oh, and vampire is actually just the word for "ghost" the blood drinking stuff was all invented by Stoker, who copied large sections of his book from travel guides - hence the huge descriptive passages about the journey that make up the volume; it was plagiarism on a massive scale. And Vlad the impaler is still regarded as a hero in his own country because he killed lots of nasty islamic fundamentalists - Bush would love him.

[Onoria Westhrop]

Oh, and Queen Elizabeth 2 is the Queen of CANADA!!!!!

[Mr Baatard]

Herniorraphy is the surgical repair of a hernia.

Prairie dogs tend to carry the plague.

I like sandwiches.

[Hellbent]

In the early 90's Spectators said a backflip on a dirt bike couldn't be done. Now we have the double back flip.:eek:

[SeaBreeze]

Yeah, and the McTwist!

[Domoviye]

It requires more energy to listen than the use of any other of the five senses.

[SeaBreeze]

sorry, what was that? :p

[ItalianStallion]

More times than not........u will fugure life isnt fair

[fadinghalo]

Apparently the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that the Earth's magnetic poles will switch in 2012 ending human existance... And if we happen to survive that we'll all get blown up by a meteor in 2014. The future's looking bleak...

[Sayso]

Apparently the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that the Earth's magnetic poles will switch in 2012

Actually we are due for another switch around soon.

Did you know it's illegal in England to reverse a car out of a parking space?

And on a more boring note: my middle name is the same as my surname. My parents knew nothing about my husband when I was born either. And he was born the same day they were married.

[WhiteRider]

Sleep is such a waste of time (though you'd die if you didn't). Did you know we spent about 1/3 of our lifes sleeping?

[Domoviye]

Well I like sleep. Because if you stay up for 70+ hours you risk insanity. If you stay up over a hundred hours you die.

Scientists have also been testing drugs to keep people awake on rats. And while the rats don't seem to need the sleep, staying fairly wide awake. After about four days they show severe mental disorders, and die. So the drugs aren't ready for human consumption yet.

[WhiteRider]

I didn't say not to sleep it would just by nice if we didn't need to *sigh*

[Sayso]

I heard once that we sleep to enable our souls to escape the confines of our body (I have no idea if this is true or not). Therefore if we didn't sleep our souls would eventually leave our body to recuperate for good. Ok, go ahead and tell me that's gibberish!

[Domoviye]

Ok, thats gibberish. ;)

During winter, small song birds conserve more energy by flying, than they do by staying still. Its easier for them to stay warm by flying and puts less strain on their heart when they fly.

[Corleone]

There are more sheep in Australia than people.
Haha, I think that's funny.

[The Reaper]

the most poisonous spider in the world is a daddy long legs.
Its only harmless because it is born without fangs to administer its venom.
Isn't evolution cruel from time to time.

[Raven]

Ha ha ha I watched that show too. lol

[Heather Louise]

my interesting fact - the statue of liberty was given to the americans after they gained their independece, by the French. (at least i think)

[Sayso]

Apparently it takes 21 days to make or break a habit.

[Alice in Wonderland]

You are never more than a metre away from a spider. Go go Aracnophobia!

[Gannon]

If you were to take a rope / wire and place on the ground / ground level all the way around the equator then extend that rope by a puny 12 meters

Equator circumference + 12 m

Then that rope / wire when wrapped around the equator afresh would be a seemingly massive 6 feet (1.8m) above the ground / ground level (if placed rigidly end to end).

[Ti Odio E Ti Amo]

January is named after the Latin god Janus who had two heads: one that always looked forward (into the future) and one that always looked backward (at the past).

[CommonGoods]

The Hawaiian alphabet only contains 12 letters; a, e, i, o, u, h, k, l, m, n, p and w.

[Ti Odio E Ti Amo]

People that live in Brazil call "Brazilian nuts" just "nuts"

[CommonGoods]

U = I x R, so U / R = I and U / I = R

These are formula's to find the amount of volts, amps and the resistance of a closed elecktrical circuit

[Ti Odio E Ti Amo]

Vanna White from Wheel of Fortune holds the record for putting her hands together around 140,000 times to clap.

[Wreybies]

In most populations of humans there is a decreased incidence of the eruption of the wisdom teeth, while in some Aboriginal populations in Australia there is a statistical increase in the advent of a molar past the wisdom tooth. It's a fact! :D

[CommonGoods]

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

[Carmina]

Miguel de Cervantes only had one arm when he wrote Don Quixote, which is believed to be the first novel.

[CommonGoods]

In Cleveland, Ohio it is illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

Which would make it harder to buy a mouse trap then a gun. Don't we just love the States?

[Little Miss Edi]

The plural of 'Octopus' is not 'Octopusses' or 'Octopi' but 'Octopodes'...
However, due to the fact that no one decided to tell anyone this, we all went around saying the other two and although, 'Octopi' still isn't considered correct, you can get away with 'Octopusses'...

Craziness :)

[67Kangaroos]

Edwin Booth, John Wilkes' brother, saved Robert Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln's son, from getting run over by a train.

[Carmina]

You need to have at least a ten-inch ponytail to donate hair to Locks of Love.

[Wreybies]

That phrase almost scared me 'till I got to the end. :p

[othman]

How many millionaires are there in the world? (In £s)

Around 10,000,000!!

(this point is arguable as many different reports say different things)

[Carmina]

To make a new pothos plant, all you have to do it cut a piece of the original and stick it in water making sure the root buds (which are under each leaf) are under the water. After roots appear, stick it in dirt and keep watered.

[CommonGoods]

It is against the law to mispronounce the name of the State of Arkansas in that State.

[Carmina]

If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.

[tulip83]

In Texas it is illegal to milk another person’s cow.
In Chico, California bowling on the sidewalk is illegal.
In Baldwin Park California it is against the law to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool. :confused:

[Carmina]

According to suicide statistics, Monday is the favored day for self-destruction.

[Wreybies]

In the year 2000, Pope John Paul II was named an "Honorary Harlem Globetrotter."

[tulip83]

Hawaii is moving toward Japan 10 centimetres (4 inches) every year.

[Carmina]

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

[othman]

The people who burn most UsoA flags aren't American enemies but the American scouts, as when a flag get's dirty they feel the most civilised way to get rid of the flags is to have a bonfire!!

[CDRW]

Daddy long-legs (harvestmen) are not the most poisonous spiders in the world. They are not even spiders. They have no venom, only one body segment and do not produce silk.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opiliones

There is a daddy long-legs spider too (cellar spider) but it is capable of biting people in spite of its small fangs, and the bite is not dangerous.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pholcidae

[Carmina]

1845. British ships Erebus and Terror were ordered to gather magnetic data in the Canadian Arctic and complete a crossing of the Northwest Passage, which had already been charted from both the east and west but never entirely navigated.

The expedition sailed from Greenhithe on 19 May 1845 and the ships were last seen entering Baffin Bay in August 1845. The disappearance of the Franklin expedition set off a massive search effort in the Arctic and the broad circumstances of the expedition's fate was revealed during a series of expeditions between 1848 and 1866. Both ships had become icebound and were abandoned by their crews, all of whom subsequently died of exposure and starvation while trying to trek overland to Fort Resolution, a Hudson's Bay Company outpost 600 miles (970 km) to the southwest. Subsequent expeditions up until the late 1980s, including autopsies of crew members, also revealed that their canned rations (This expedition was the first to bring canned food as ships supplies. Unfortunately, the cans were made of lead.)may have been tainted by both lead and botulism. Oral reports by local Inuit that some of the crew members resorted to cannibalism were at least somewhat supported by forensic evidence of cut marks on the skeletal remains of crew members found on King William's Island during the late 20th century.

The remains of the ship have yet to be found.