"Tell Me Something I Don't Know": Trivia & Fact Thread

[Petunia13]

Post some interesting facts or trivia here.

Learning is fun! 

[Petunia13]

I learned something today.... Lamborghini cars were created because the wealthy owner of Lamborghini tractors was insulted by the owner of Ferrari. 

[EighteenTwelve]

"76 Trombones" and "Good Night, My Someone" from The Music Man are the same tune in two different time signatures.

[Blergh]

The earliest known surviving film "Roundhay Garden Scene" (October,1888)  now all of 2 seconds long was filmed  by Louis Le Prince , a 6 foot, 2-3 inch tall French-born   inventor living with his family in his wife's hometown of Leeds, England (very rare for that time and place). The subjects of the film consisted of his son Adolphe, his parents-in-law the Whitleys and a family friend simply walking about their own backyard and chatting. Sadly, within ten days of the filming his mother-in-law Sarah Robinson Whitley would die at age 72. What's more alarming is that in 1890, Louis Le Prince himself disappeared after visiting his brother and family in Dijon, France on his way back to England before intending to tour the US to try to sell (and patent) his invention!  Despite an intense investigation his disappearance was never solved and his fate remains a mystery. However; in 2003, a photograph of an unidentified drowning victim from that day in 1890 who apparently resembled   Le Prince was found in the Paris Police archives and evidently some of his surviving descendants  believe that Mr. Le  Prince may have been the victim of a robbery at the train station gone horribly wrong.

Edited June 21, 2017 by Blergh
clarity

[meep.meep]

Cervantes and Shakespeare died on the same day.

[ikmccall]

It's not that David Bowie had eyes of different color but that the iris of one eye was paralyzed.  He was punched in a fight when he was a young boy.

[MrSmith]

2 hours ago, ikmccall said:

It's not that David Bowie had eyes of different color but that the iris of one eye was paralyzed.  He was punched in a fight when he was a young boy.

I thought it was the result of being in a bar fight.

[Blergh]

The first photograph of a human subject  was that of a Parisian street scene in 1838 which appeared empty but for a man in a tophat getting his shoes shined  - the only  person in the street who stood in one spot for the  exposure to take.

[ennui]

One "headlight" on the Dodge Challenger is an air intake. 

[Moose135]

1 hour ago, ennui said:

One "headlight" on the Dodge Challenger is an air intake. 

That's only on the 707hp, supercharged, Hellcat version.

[ennui]

There was no 1983 Corvette. (One prototype exists at the National Corvette Museum.)

[Blergh]

 In 1961,  a section of Shreveport, Louisiana had unripe peaches rain from the sky!

[ennui]

On 6/21/2017 at 4:42 PM, meep.meep said:

Cervantes and Shakespeare died on the same day.

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of each other, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. 

[Blergh]

14 minutes ago, ennui said:

John Adams and Thomas Jefferson died within hours of each other, on the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence, July 4, 1826. 

AND John Adams's last words were "Jefferson survives"- not realizing that his onetime colleague had, in fact, died at Monticello hours earlier thanks to  the lengthy communications of that era.

Edited June 23, 2017 by Blergh
grammar

[Petunia13]

On Saturn and Jupiter it rains diamonds. 

[Petunia13]

Being able to instantly respond with sarcasm within seconds of a stupid question/comment is a sign of a healthy brain. 

[janestclair]

90 percent of your cells are actually bacterial.  Only 10 percent of the cells in your body are actually human cells. In terms of genetic material in your body, 99% is bacterial, and only 1% is human.  Basically, you should never feel alone because you are the center of the universe for a large number of bacteria.  

Koalas are riddled with chlamydia.

Platypuses sweat milk and are venomous. 

[Blergh]

Elephants are the only mammals with knees for all four limbs but they also have the most flexible and specialized noses of all mammals!

Squirrels so frequently forget where they bury their stores of nuts, acorns and seeds to this helps ensure the future plants' spread and survival!

 

Honeybees communicate locations and amounts of pollinating blooms to their hive mates via dancing- and schedule their collection times around the times of day the blossoms are open.

Worker ants NEVER sleep but work constantly until they drop dead.

[JTMacc99]

The first drive-thru opened in 1947 (and it wasn’t a McDonald’s). By the World War II era, carhop service for drive-up restaurants serving burgers and other fast-ish food was common. But it wasn’t until 1947 that the first drive-thru opened, reportedly at Red’s Giant Hamburg on Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri. Red’s closed in 1984, so the award for the longest-running burger drive-thru goes to the original In-N Out Burger. It opened in 1948 in the Los Angeles area, and yes, it was based on the unique concept of a drive-thru hamburger stand using a (then) state-of-the-art two-way speaker box.

[Moose135]

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

Squirrels so frequently forget where they bury their stores of nuts, acorns and seeds to this helps ensure the future plants' spread and survival!

I've heard that before - when a squirrel finds hidden nuts and stuff, often times it's not their own stash.

 

4 hours ago, Blergh said:

Worker ants NEVER sleep but work constantly until they drop dead.

Sounds like my job...I kid, I kid!

[auntlada]

5 hours ago, JTMacc99 said:

The first drive-thru opened in 1947 (and it wasn’t a McDonald’s). By the World War II era, carhop service for drive-up restaurants serving burgers and other fast-ish food was common. But it wasn’t until 1947 that the first drive-thru opened, reportedly at Red’s Giant Hamburg on Route 66 in Springfield, Missouri. Red’s closed in 1984, so the award for the longest-running burger drive-thru goes to the original In-N Out Burger. It opened in 1948 in the Los Angeles area, and yes, it was based on the unique concept of a drive-thru hamburger stand using a (then) state-of-the-art two-way speaker box.

You were looking up drive-thru laws today, too, weren't you?

[JTMacc99]

I don't know what you're talking about. Heh. 

[Guest]

In season 1 of Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch was orange. His turning green was explained by a trip to the swamp.

[Blergh]

3 hours ago, ParadoxLost said:

In season 1 of Sesame Street, Oscar the Grouch was orange. His turning green was explained by a trip to the swamp.

I actually remember Orange Oscar- and he looked EXACTLY like orange shag carpet so I used to think too many kids at home tried to put their parents' orange shag rugs in garbage cans to try to make their own Oscars. Somehow,it wouldn't surprise me if the producers got enough flak from orange shag owners to change him to green! LOL

 

On a more somber note Life Saver Candy were invented after a boy choked on a candy lozenge and his grief stricken father specially designed a new candy with a hole in the middle so that no child could possibly choke on it even if it got lodged in the windpipe because the hole was large enough to let in air until the candy dissolved.

[Quof]

I have a feeling this thread is going to spark an increase in traffic at Snopes.com.  

The Life Saver story is an urban myth. Not true. 

[JTMacc99]

9 hours ago, forumfish said:

I hate to correct a man who is recovering from surgery, but …

“It was California Pig Stand No. 21 that pioneered drive through car service in 1931.”      source

If I understood the source I lifted my information from, the Pig Stand was a drive in, which was serviced by people bringing the food to the car. It became common by the time Red's came up with the talk into a box and then you get your food handed to you at the window to drive off. 

So yes, the concept was pioneered in 1931, but the first modern day version seems to have been in 1948. But I'm not putting any money on my web surfing abilities being entirely complete and/or accurate. 

[Blergh]

Don't choke me on this but I recall reading about that claim of Life Savers origins but I can't find the book in which I read it in! ARRGH!!  So I'm making a qualified apology here but, if I should ever find said book, I'll cite it in any updates.

 

At least I have the memory of Orange Oscar no one can take away from me! LOL

Edited June 24, 2017 by Blergh

[Moose135]

Carrots don't help with night vision, it's a bit of propaganda from the British Air Ministry during WWII.  The British had developed the first radar systems, and were able to track and shoot down German bombers attacking at night.  To help keep the new system secret, they started the rumor that their pilots were eating large amounts of carrots, and it was the carrots that gave them exceptional night vision, enabling them to find and shoot down the German bombers.

[ratgirlagogo]

A little off topic - my favorite carrot joke is the one that, supposedly, got Mel Brooks his first job writing for television for Your Show of Shows. The audition was that the writing team gave him a word and asked him to instantly provide a joke that used it.  The joke that nailed it for him was for the word "carrot" - " I knew a man who ate so many carrots that he couldn't sleep at night because he could see through his eyelids!"  I still love that one (notwithstanding the myth part).

Edited June 24, 2017 by ratgirlagogo

[Guest]

I've pulled this one out before, but

During the Civil War Robert Todd Lincoln fell off a train platform into the space between the platform and the train.

He was pulled to safety by a famous actor, Edwin Booth, whose brother would later assassinate his father, Abraham Lincoln.

Later in life, Robert Todd Lincoln refused to attend presidential functions as:

He was at his father's death bed.

He was traveling with and witnessed President Garfield being shot.  Garfield later died of complications of his wounds.

He attended the event where President McKinley was shot and also died as a result.

[walnutqueen]

Cherries Jubilee tasted much better in the 1970s.

[Quof]

Is that a (trivial) fact or a matter of opinion? : )

I haven't seen cherries jubilee on a menu in decades. Although I recall once in a restaurant a waiter lit the overhanging plants on fire when he lit the brandy.

[Quof]

Nope, in the 70s I was in elementary school and doing all of the cooking for the household.  My mother was a horrible cook, so I learned on my own. There were no cooking shows to teach me.

It was bad.

[walnutqueen]

5 hours ago, Quof said:

Is that a (trivial) fact or a matter of opinion? : )

I haven't seen cherries jubilee on a menu in decades. Although I recall once in a restaurant a waiter lit the overhanging plants on fire when he lit the brandy.

Trivia, and a matter of opinion, fer sure.  I didn't singe my eyebrows, though, and polished off the rest of the brandy whilst impersonating Winston Churchill last nite. ;-)

 

1 hour ago, stewedsquash said:

All food was better in the 1970s because it was being cooked by others for me back then. Now that I am the cook, and a decent one, nothing tastes as good as when you have your Mama, grandma's, and Edith Bunker type aunts fixing your child self all your favorite foods. 

(fact, not trivia)

True dat!  I ate like a pig in the 1970s and had a skinny bod to boot.  Now I don't enjoy my own darned cooking and am fat, fat, fat despite my lack of "comfort food".  Go figure!

[Sandman87]

What a dangerous thread for me. I'm a walking trivia library.

There have been 22 Popes who took "John" (by itself) as their name: John I, John II, and so on through John XXIII. If you count the roman numerals up, you'll see that there's one missing. That's because there has never been a John XX. The guy who became pontiff on September 8th, 1276 skipped over it because he thought there had been a counting error, becoming John XXI instead.

Completely unrelated to the above (one hopes), and something I mentioned in another thread a while back: An echidna's penis has 4 heads, and it uses them two at a time.

During WWII there was an allied project to make an aircraft carrier out of ice and wood pulp. Basically a glacier with a flat top. The largest proposed version when the project was abandoned would have been over 3 times as long as a Nimitz class carrier.

[Blergh]

Of course, one reason cherries jubilee may have tasted better in the 1970's could be due to the fact after our forties, our taste buds quit growing back. Hence there's less of them to taste that dish than before -and I think it's a safe bet that almost  everyone in this Forum was under 40 during the 1970's.

 

OK, here's a fresh bit of animal trivia- Emperor penguins' genders can only be determined by observing behaviors and   autopsies. Luckily, they can tell the differences unlike humans. Immediately after laying the egg, the female transfers said egg to the male to incubate then sets off for the open sea to gather food for her mate and their impending chick who will cluster with the other males in minus 100 Fahrenheit  pitch dark conditions for months without any food whatsoever until the chicks hatch and the females return from their missions and feed their expanded families via regurgitation -then after a brief reunion, the males switch places and do their turn at sea to feed the family. Lastly, since their landlocked rookeries have no plants or even rocks to build nests upon, male Emperor penguins balance the eggs and later the chicks on their own feet but they must be careful not let the egg drop for even for a second onto the sheer ice surface or else the egg will inevitably freeze solid.

Edited June 26, 2017 by Blergh
needed English instead of Metric here,etc.

[walnutqueen]

On 6/26/2017 at 5:06 AM, Blergh said:

Of course, one reason cherries jubilee may have tasted better in the 1970's could be due to the fact after our forties, our taste buds quit growing back. Hence there's less of them to taste that dish than before -and I think it's a safe bet that almost  everyone in this Forum was under 40 during the 1970's.

 

OK, here's a fresh bit of animal trivia- Emperor penguins' genders can only be determined by observing behaviors and   autopsies. Luckily, they can tell the differences unlike humans. Immediately after laying the egg, the female transfers said egg to the male to incubate then sets off for the open sea to gather food for her mate and their impending chick who will cluster with the other males in minus 100 Fahrenheit  pitch dark conditions for months without any food whatsoever until the chicks hatch and the females return from their missions and feed their expanded families via regurgitation -then after a brief reunion, the males switch places and do their turn at sea to feed the family. Lastly, since their landlocked rookeries have no plants or even rocks to build nests upon, male Emperor penguins balance the eggs and later the chicks on their own feet but they must be careful not let the egg drop for even for a second onto the sheer ice surface or else the egg will inevitably freeze solid.

The last time I  parked this old ass into a movie theater seat was for that Penguin movie.

[MrSmith]

4 minutes ago, walnutqueen said:

The last time I  parked this old ass into a movie theater seat was for that Penguin movie.

We went to see the latest installment in the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise over Memorial Day weekend. Christ, that was beyond horrible. That's coming from someone who actually likes the first three and finds the fourth one either enjoyable or tolerable by turns. The first four at least have some humour. This latest one has no humour and makes far less sense than the others. So if you think the others make no sense, then this one might as well have been written, acted, and directed by aliens.

[Moose135]

On 6/26/2017 at 8:06 AM, Blergh said:

Lastly, since their landlocked rookeries have no plants or even rocks to build nests upon, male Emperor penguins balance the eggs and later the chicks on their own feet but they must be careful not let the egg drop for even for a second onto the sheer ice surface or else the egg will inevitably freeze solid.

I learned that from Opus in Bloom County!

[ennui]

On 6/25/2017 at 6:59 AM, stewedsquash said:

All food was better in the 1970s because it was being cooked by others for me back then.

I think food tasted better in the 1970s because we hadn't engineered it to death. We've developed thicker skins, pest resistance, all sorts of "improvements." Lost all flavor in the process.

If you want a tomato that tastes like a tomato should, you have to grow it yourself.

My trivia contribution -- we have a tradition of 750 ml wine bottles because that was a Roman soldier's daily ration of wine. (If that's not true, I don't want to know.)

[Petunia13]

[Blergh]

On the other end of the scale, there once was a community in West Virginia named '6' [yes, the number itself not the word spelled out].   I wonder what that and the Welch town's inhabitants called themselves.

[Sandman87]

Just found this out today: Jazz legend Charles Mingus wrote a how-to guide for people who want to train their cat to use a toilet instead of a litter box.

[Blergh]

8 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

Just found this out today: Jazz legend Charles Mingus wrote a how-to guide for people who want to train their cat to use a toilet instead of a litter box.

 Here's something a bit related re unexpected authors : Disney's "Gnome-Mobile"  movie was based on the 1937 book of the same name written by Upton Sinclair.  Yes the very same Upton Sinclair who wrote the scathing indictment of the meat-packing industry in 1906 "The Jungle"  . The latter, rather than inspire a socialist uprising, grossed out virtually everyone who read it up to and including President Theodore Roosevelt that the FDA was formed to enact minimal standards of safety and sanitation re the food industry (and many readers become lifelong vegetarians after reading it). 

[ratgirlagogo]

10 hours ago, Sandman87 said:

Just found this out today: Jazz legend Charles Mingus wrote a how-to guide for people who want to train their cat to use a toilet instead of a litter box.

I did know about this pamphlet but need to say that while Mingus was a genius (and not just as a musician) you don't want to train your cat to use the toilet.  One of the most reliable ways of monitoring your cat's health is the way it shits and pisses, since a cat can be almost at death's door and still not act like it's sick.

[ennui]

1 hour ago, ratgirlagogo said:

I did know about this pamphlet but need to say that while Mingus was a genius (and not just as a musician) you don't want to train your cat to use the toilet.  One of the most reliable ways of monitoring your cat's health is the way it shits and pisses, since a cat can be almost at death's door and still not act like it's sick.

Besides that, cats don't flush. 

[Qoass]

Actually, the Mingus guide says they might!

And they'll always leave the seat down.

[harrie]

That's funny, today we were just talking about Lake Char­gogg­a­gogg­man­chaugg­a­gogg­chau­bun­a­gung­a­maugg in Massachusetts.

 

It has a song, too.

[Petunia13]

Stephen King never cashed the $5,000 check he received for The Shawshank Redemption.  Instead he framed and mailed it to the film's director with a note "In case you ever need bail money. Love, Steve." 

[riley702]

On 6/23/2017 at 11:05 AM, janestclair said:

90 percent of your cells are actually bacterial.  Only 10 percent of the cells in your body are actually human cells. In terms of genetic material in your body, 99% is bacterial, and only 1% is human.  Basically, you should never feel alone because you are the center of the universe for a large number of bacteria.

https://www.sciencealert.com/bacteria-cells-don-t-actually-outnumber-human-cells-in-our-bodies-study-finds