Factoids - useless but interesting snippets

[Bill W]

48 minutes ago, Zombie said:

Hmm looks delicious! *licks lips* 

a favourite dish in Adana, Turkey - maybe everywhere…

  Reveal hidden contents

sirdan

 

What the hell is that?  Is it a piece of meat (like a steak), a gift from Lorena Bobbitt, a dead animal, or dried scat?  

[Zombie]

Van cats

these are not ‘Top Cat’ feral cats that live in old rusty vans and bins and terrorise the neighbourhood

they are a naturally evolved breed of domestic cat found around Lake Van in the Eastern Anatolia region of Turkey, with mostly white fur and often different coloured eyes, that enjoy swimming and love their owners (unlike all other cats )

 

[Zombie]

Rat Rules

#1 Just because you can’t see them doesn’t mean they’re not there…

#2 Do NOT do what she did…

#3 Screams are permitted  

 

[Zombie]

Sir David Attenborough

100 years old on Friday 8 May 🎂 🎉 🥂🍾 

still making TV shows  

 

[Ron]

4 is the only number that has the same number of letters as the number itself. 
 

That is all. 

[Zombie]

the piano is a percussion instrument

…so why not use it to make the rhythm backing track?🧐 

Factoids

#1 although (obviously) the instrument uses strings to produce the 88 tuned notes (on most pianos), in orchestral scores the piano is grouped with the percussion section because the keys are struck, it provides rhythmic emphasis, and it cannot sustain or swell a note like a bowed string instrument

#2 some pianists have developed this feature of the piano, using the wooden case, fittings and mechanisms to create percussion effects during performance. Hungarian composer /maestro Peter Bence shows how he does this in his arrangement +recording of Michael Jackson’s ‘Human Nature’, using ‘looping & layering’ of the recorded percussion sounds in the mixer desk to create the rhythm backing track to his keyboard performance

[Ron]

Fun factoid of the day: If you've ever donated blood...

It could be in someone's boner right now. 

Edited June 18 by Ron
in not is

[Ron]

Eleven plus two = 13 

Twelve plus one = 13 

The thirteen letters that spell 'eleven plus two' when rearranged will also spell 'twelve plus one.' 

That is one crazy factoid! 

[Ron]

According to Neal deGrasse Tyson the rate at which your fingernails grow is about the speed that continents drift across Earth's surface.

[Zombie]

Chevrolet Corvair 1960-69

how an unusual American car that sold nearly 2 million, was attacked by campaign lawyer Ralph Nader as the most dangerous car on American roads, cost General Motors hundreds of $millions in lawsuits, and changed American law - making consumer protection for American car buyers probably the strongest in the world

 

[Zombie]

timing

there’s bad timing 

and then there’s this 

 

[Zombie]

Sherlock Holmes and Hansom Cabs

think of the Great Detective and you see him with his trusty companion, Dr Watson, in a Hansom Cab investigating yet another adventure mystery

these iconic vehicles were on the streets of London almost 200 years ago (from 1834)

they were essential transport during WWII (petrol was severely rationed)

they continued in use until 1946 when his Pathé Newsreel was filmed

There’s also a famous evocative photo from that same year, taken at night in a foggy London street, on this Facebook history page

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1577290103761433&set=a.581451953345258

Edited September 10 by Zombie

[drpaladin]

17 minutes ago, Zombie said:

Sherlock Holmes and Hansom Cabs

think of the Great Detective and you see him with his trusty companion, Dr Watson, in a Hansom Cab investigating yet another adventure mystery

these iconic vehicles were on the streets of London almost 200 years ago (from 1834)

they were essential transport during WWII (petrol was severely rationed)

they continued in use until 1946 when his Pathé Newsreel was filmed

There’s also a famous evocative photo from that same year, taken at night in a foggy London street, on this Facebook history page

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1577290103761433&set=a.581451953345258

One thing not missed is the thousand tons of manure a day at their peak.

Edited September 10 by drpaladin

[Zombie]

27 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

One thing not missed is the thousand tons of manure a day at their peak.

a relative born in Victorian times, who lived to nearly 100, told me near the end of her life how she remembered the terrible smell in the streets from the horse drawn traffic (she grew up near Manchester)

[Myr]

15 hours ago, Zombie said:

a relative born in Victorian times, who lived to nearly 100, told me near the end of her life how she remembered the terrible smell in the streets from the horse drawn traffic (she grew up near Manchester)

Yeah, I would imagine that was awful

[drpaladin]

4 minutes ago, Myr said:

Yeah, I would imagine that was awful

It was a problem in all major cities back in the day. In NYC, it was put on Barren Island to be turned to fertilizer. You didn't want to be on the wrong side of the wind of that place.

[Myr]

3 minutes ago, drpaladin said:

It was a problem in all major cities back in the day. In NYC, it was put on Barren Island to be turned to fertilizer. You didn't want to be on the wrong side of the wind of that place.

I can only imagine 

[Bill W]

8 hours ago, Myr said:

I can only imagine 

I'm surprised it wasn't like living on a farm where you become oblivious to the smell after a while.  

[ReaderPaul]

3 hours ago, Bill W said:

I'm surprised it wasn't like living on a farm where you become oblivious to the smell after a while.  

I lived on a farm, but never got more than slightly used to the smell.

[TalonRider]

Growing up, I spent several summers on an Uncles farm. The only fresh air came from the north. Across the road, from the west was a Dairy farm, from the south was a Pig farm, and from the east was my uncles own pigs. With no farm with animals to the north, fresh air.

 

[Ron]

According to Neal deGrasse Tyson in one centimeter slice of your lower colon lives and works more microbes than the total number of humans who have ever been born.

That's both astonishing and cool to know. But is it ice-breaker information suitable for parties?! 

[Zombie]

The Veiled Virgin, Giovanni Strazza (1850s)

How could Carrara marble - one of the hardest minerals - be made to appear translucent, and in such a breathtakingly beautiful manner, by a human being using simple tools nearly 175 years ago?

Sure, skill, patience, time and resources - still…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Veiled_Virgin

 

(Note for moderators: Creative Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Veiled_virgin.jpg)