The random facts thread

Originally posted by trudginup
A.D. doesn't stand for after death, and B.C. doesn't stand for before Christ.

A.D. stands for Anno Domini (in the year of the Lord) but B.C. does stand for Before Christ.

Yahoo! was originally called 'Jerry's Guide to the World Wide Web'.

It was discovered on a space mission that a frog can throw up.

Because heat expands the metal, the Eiffel Tower always leans away from the sun.

-If you drink two standard 12 oz. cans of soda every day for a year,
you will have gained 5lbs of fat from it.

-A pigs orgasm is so long, that it becomes painful in the latter half.

-There is a government sponsored Yeti reserve in Asia.

-The majority of people under 25 can't point out the United States
on a globe.

-Deleware is the oldest state.

-Olympus Mons is the largest volcano in the solar system.

-Giraffarig is the only Pokemon that can be pronounced the same
backwards as forwards.

-If you use enogh pullies, a single person could lift a warship.

(Post under mine reminded me of this one.)

-Condoms were originally made of of sheep intestines.

[edit on 9/7/2006 by iori_komei]

The first patented condom was meant to be reused!

China has more English speakers than the United States.

It snowed in the Sahara desert on February 18, 1979.

The three most spoken languages in the world (in order) our;

1. Mandarin Chinese.
2. English.
3. French.

The State of Delaware has only three counties in the entire state.

The EMD DDA40X was a 6600 hp (4.9 MW) D-D (8-axle, four axles on each end) diesel locomotive built by General Motors' Electro-Motive Division of La Grange, Illinois, for the Union Pacific Railroad. 47 locomotives were built between June 1969 and September 1971; they were numbered UP #6900–6946.

#6936 is still in service to this day as part of the Union Pacific's Heritage Fleet.



[edit on 9/8/2006 by gimmefootball400]

- It didn't become a federal felony to assassinate a U.S. president until after John F. Kennedy was killed.

- British Broadcasting Corp. sent it's 37 local stations a list of 67 songs it warned might cause distress if played at sensitive moments during the first Gulf War. Amoung the titles the BBC said were inappropriate: 'I Shot the Sheriff', 'Fields of Fire', and 'Killing Me Softly'. Also on the list were John Lennon's 'Imagine' and 'Give Peace a Chance'.

-The vital statistics of the U.S. only allow you to die of one of 73 causes. Radiation poisoning isn't one of them. The computer won't take it.

- Q: What type of wild animal kills the most bears?

A: Porcupine.

- The proportion 0f violent people (about 11%) is the same in mental institutions as in the general population.

-During World War II, Kit Kat was unavailable due to milk shortages, so the chocolate bar was made without milk.

-In 1988, the largest ice cream sundae in history was made. It was made in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and weighed in at over 24 tons

-Beijing boasts the world's largest Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant.

-A washroom that was built by Lam Sai-wing is the world's most expensive washroom. He built the washroom for his shop and everything in the washroom is made out of gold and jewels. It cost $3.5 million to build.

Spiderj

Originally posted by trudginup
Even a small amount of alcohol placed on a scorpion will make it go crazy and sting itself to death.

Sorry, but this one is incorrect.
Scorpions are immune to the poison from their own stings and what you are seeing is actually muscle spasms same as when they are exposed to fire.

How about this one:

Tampa bays Bayshore Boulevard has the longest uninterrupted sidewalk in the world at 13 miles.

-Buddha was in fact anorexicaaly thin do to fasting.

-There are over 130 known exosolar planets.

-During the World Wars the Pentagon controlled what cartoons
were shown.

-The staue of Liberty was originally just the hand and torch.

-The hopper in the senate has been in use for over a century.

-Japanese law does not allow for a female to ascend to the throne
of emperor.

-Mmbop is the most well known Hanson song.

-Boytoy orignally refered to a male prostitute.

-The politically correct era codes are B.C.E (Before Civilization Existed)
and C.E. (Current Era).

-There's a chamber under the sphinx's paw.

-The egyptian book of the dead was for the whole family.

-Thomas Edison created the first talking doll.

[edit on 9/8/2006 by iori_komei]

- Native Americans were forbidden to paint pictures in their native style until 1932.

- Number of hunters who have had their cremated remains loaded into a shotgun shell and shot at an animal: 40.

- Q: Did the old-time Hollywood censors permit filming of a rape scene?

A: They did, but only if the rapist was seen to keep one foot on the floor.

- Percentage of Mexican Americans who say there are too many immigrants in the United States: 75.

- Ratio of the number of drug offenders sent to state prison in 1990 to the number sent in 1980: 12 to 1.

- Alaska law says that you can't look at a moose from an airplane.

- In Miami, it is forbidden to imitate an animal.

- The first song played on Armed Forces Radio during operation Desert Shield was "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash.

- If a statue in a park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

- The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

- America's first nudist organization was founded in 1929, by 3 men.

- Every day 12 newborns are given to the wrong parents in hospitals.

- If you bang your head against a wall for an hour you burn 150 calories.

- The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

[edit on 8-9-2006 by Beelzebubba]

I knew those last two, Beelzebubba. Interesting thread, btw.

- Bats always turn left when flying out of a cave.

- Cat urine glows in the dark.

- Alfred Hitchcock lost his belly button after surgery.

- Manhattan Island, NYC, cost $24, and was brought from Algonquian Indians in 1624.

- Rain contains vitamin B-12.

Mr Knife and Mrs Toaster do not make a good couple.

:shk::shk::shk:

-The planets surface is 70% water.

-The human body is 70% water.

-Water bears can survive the hard vaccuum of space.

-If you stretched a single DNA helix out to a straight line,
it would span three feet.

-Junichiro koizumi (Japanese PM) is a huge Elvis fan.

-Elephants can imitate noises, including human voices.

-The average I.Q. is 98-100.

-You should never feed a Kappi cucumber sushi.

Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosnt mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.

McDonald's is...
the largest toy distributor in the world
the largest owner of playgrounds in the world
the #1 owner of property in the world