Did You Know... Some little known facts, and some pointless facts

[8ennett 0]

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

The dollar symbol ($) is a U combined with an S (U.S.)

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

The Statue of Liberty's tablet is two feet thick.

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

The slogan on New Hampshire license plates is 'Live Free or Die'. These license plates are manufactured by prisoners in the state prison in Concord.

The straw was probably invented by Egyptian brewers to taste in-process beer without removing the fermenting ingredients which floated on the top of the container.

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.

The United States government keeps its supply of silver at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, NY

There are only thirteen blimps in the world.

Nine of the thirteen blimps are in the United States.

The existing biggest blimp is the Fuji Film blimp.

Naugahyde, plastic "leather" was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut.

The Swiss flag is square.

The word 'pound' is abbreviated 'lb.' after the constellation 'libra' because it means 'pound' in Latin, and also 'scales'. The abbreviation for the British Pound Sterling comes from the same source: it is an 'L' for Libra/Lb. with a stroke through it to indicate abbreviation.

Sames goes for the Italian lira which uses the same abbreviation ('lira' coming from 'libra'). So British currency (before it went metric) was always quoted as "pounds/shillings/pence", abbreviated "L/s/d" (libra/solidus/denarius).

The three largest land-owners in England are the Queen, the Church of England and Trinity College, Cambridge.

The monastic hours are matins, lauds, prime, tierce, sext, nones, vespers and compline.

If you come from Manchester, you are a Mancunian.

No animal, once frozen solid (i.e., water solidifies and turns to ice) survives when thawed, because the ice crystals formed inside cells would break open the cell membranes. However there are certain frogs that can survive the experience of being frozen. These frogs make special proteins which prevent the formation of ice (or at least keep the crystals from becoming very large), so that they actually never freeze even though their body temperature is below zero Celsius. The water in them remains liquid: a phenomenon known as 'supercooling.' If you disturb one of these frogs (just touching them even), the water in them quickly freezes solid and they die.

The white part of your fingernail is called the lunula.

Madrid is the only European capital city not situated on a river.

The name for fungal remains found in coal is sclerotinite.

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.

Emus cannot walk backwards.

It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear.

The shopping mall in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada has the largest water clock in North America.

Both writer Edgar Allen Poe and LSD advocate Timothy Leary were kicked out of West Point.

The word posh, which denotes luxurious rooms or accomodations, originated when ticket agents in England marked the tickets of travelers going by ship to the Orient. Since there was no air conditioning in those days, it was always better to have a cabin on the shady side of the ship as it passed through the Mediterranean and Suez area. Since the sun is in the south, those with money paid extra to get cabin's on the left, or port, traveling to the Asia, and on the right, or starboard, when returning to Europe. Hence their tickets were marked with the initials for Port Outbound Starboard Homebound, or POSH.

The top layer of a wedding cake, known as the groom's cake, traditionally is a fruit cake. That way it will save until the first anniversery.

The German Kaiser Wilhelm II had a withered arm and often hid the fact by posing with his hand resting on a sword, or by holding gloves.

The forward pass was created by the football team at Saint Louis University.

In every show that Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (The Fantasticks) wrote, there is at least one song about rain.

A kind of tortoise in the Galapagos Islands has an upturned shell at its neck so it can reach its head up to eat cactus branches.

The only city whose name can be spelled completely with vowels is Aiea, Hawaii, located approximately twelve miles west of Honolulu.

Parthenogenesis is the term used to describe the process by which certain animals are able to reproduce themselves in successive female generations without intervention of a male of the species. At least one species of lizard is known to do so.

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

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

The ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2, should always be written as QE2. QEII is the actual queen.

"Quisling" is the only word in the English language to start with "quis."

All of the cobble stones that used to line the streets in New York were originally weighting stones put in the hulls of Belgian ships to keep an even keel.

Nepal is the only country without a rectangular flag (it looks like two pennants glued on on top of the other)

Libya has the only flag which is all one color with no writing or decoration on it

The only borough of New York City that isn't an island (or part of an island) is the Bronx.

The 1957 Milwaukee Braves were the first baseball team to win the World Series after being relocated.

The tune for the "A-B-C" song is the same as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

When a coffee seed is planted, it takes five years to yield it's first consumable fruit.

The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light.

Linn's Stamp News is the world's largest weekly newspaper for stamp collectors.

Tennessee is bordered by more states than any other. The eight states are Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia.

Des Moines has the highest per capita Jello consumption in the U.S

The Western-most point in the contiguous United States is Cape Alava, Washington.

There are only three animals with blue tongues, the Black Bear, the Chow Chow dog and the blue-tongued lizard.

The first fossilized specimen of Austalopithecus afarenisis was named Lucy after the palentologists' favorite song, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, by the Beatles.

Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."

The geographical center of North America is near Rugby, North Dakota.

The infinity sign is called a lemniscate.

Hacky-sack was invented in Turkey.

If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.

There are six five words in the English language with the letter combination "uu." Muumuu, vacuum, continuum, duumvirate and duumvir, residuum.

The "Calabash" pipe, most often associated with Sherlock Holmes, was not used by him until William Gillette (an American) portrayed Holmes onstage. Gillette needed a pipe he could keep in his mouth while he spoke his lines.

Most Americans' car horns beep in the key of F.

Dirty Harry's badge number is 2211.

The pupil of an octopus' eye is rectangular.

The shortest French word with all five vowels is "oiseau" meaning bird.

Camel's milk does not curdle.

"Mr. Mojo Risin" is an anagram for Jim Morrison.

The ball on top of a flagpole is called the truck.

A person from the country of Nauru is called a Nauruan; this is the only palindromic nationality.

The word "modem" is a contraction of the words "modulate, demodulate."

Oliver Cromwell was hanged and decapitated two years after he had died.

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

Iowa has more independent telephone companies than any other state.

Many hamsters only blink one eye at a time.

Hamsters love to eat crickets.

The only "real" food that U.S. Astronauts are allowed to take into space is pecan nuts.

The word "queueing" is the only English word with five consecutive vowels.

The first Eagle Scout west of the Mississippi is buried in San Marcos, Texas.

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.

Roberta Flack wrote "Killing Me Softly" about singer Don McLean.

The Greek version of the Old Testament is called the Septuagint.

Spencer Eldon was the name of the naked baby on the cover of Nirvana's album

All three major 1996 Presidential candidates, Clinton, Dole and Perot, are left-handed.

The Madagascan Hissing Cockroach is one of the few insects who give birth to live young, rather than laying eggs.

The book of Esther in the Bible is the only book which does not mention the name of God.

Sheriff came from Shire Reeve. During early years of feudal rule in England, each shire had a reeve who was the law for that shire. When the term was brought to the United States it was shortned to Sheriff.

An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.

Dracula is the most filmed story of all time, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is second and Oliver Twist is third.

The silhouette on the NBA logo is Jerry West.

The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is Harmon Killebrew.

The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.

The little lump of flesh just forward of your ear canal, right next to your temple, is called a tragus.

Soweto in South Africa ws derived from SOuth WEst TOwnship.

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

The Andy Griffth Show was the first spin-off in TV history. It was a spin-off of the Danny Thomas Show.

Goat's eyes have rectangular pupils.

Walt Disney's autograph bears no resemblance to the famous Disney logo.

Other than humans, black lemurs are the only primates that may have blue eyes.

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

The two longest one-syllable words in the English language are "screeched" and "strengths."

Great Britain was the first county to issue postage stamps. Hence, the postage stamps of Britain are the only stamps in the world not to bear the name of the country of origin. However, every stamp carries a relief image or a silhouette of the monarch's head instead.

Images for picture stamps in the United States are commissioned by the United States Postal Service Department of Philatelic Fulfillment.

Artist Constantino Brumidi fell from the done of the U.S. Capitol while painting a mural around the rim. He died four months later.

Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and Australia have participated in every Games.

There were no squirrels on Nantucket until 1989.

Cathy Rigby is the only woman to pose nude for Sports Illustrated. (August 1972)

Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

Will Clark of the Texas Rangers is a direct descendant of William Clark of Lewis and Clark.

When ocean tides are at their highest, they are called "spring tides." When they are at their lowest, they are call "neep tides."

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

The last NASCAR driver to serve jail time for running moonshine was Buddy Arrington.

Many Japanese golfers carry "hole-in-one" insurance, because it is traditional in Japan to share one's good luck by sending gifts to all your friends when you get an "ace." The price for what the Japanese term an "albatross" can often reach $10,000.

The difference between male and female blue crabs is the design located on their apron (belly.) The male blue crab has the Washington Monument while the female apron is shaped like the U.S. Capitol.

It takes a lobster approxiamately seven years to grow to be one pound.

The ridges on the sides of coins are called reeding.

The lot numbers for the cyanide-tainted Tylenol capsules scare back in 1982 were MC2880 and 1910MD.

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

The Roman emperor Caligula made his horse a senator.

At latitude 60 degrees south you can sail all the way around the world.

A Chinese checkerboard has 121 holes.

The hyoid bone, in your throat, is the only bone in the body not attached to another bone.

Mice, whales, elephants, giraffes and man all have seven neck vertebra.

Sunbeams that shine down through the clouds are called crespucular rays.

Very small clouds that look like they have been broken off of bigger clouds are called scuds.

On a dewy morning, if you look at your shadow in the grass, the dew drops shine light back to your eye creating a halo called a heilgenschein (German for halo.)

The correct response to the Irish greeting, "Top of the morning to you," is "and the rest of the day to yourself."

Giraffes have no vocal cords.

Joe DiMaggio had more home runs than strikeouts during his career.

All porcupines float in water.

Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.

A-1 Steak Sauce contains both orange peel and raisins.

Many northern parishes (counties) of Louisiana did not agree with the Confederate movement. To show their disapproval, they changed their names. That's why there is a Union Parish, Jefferson Parish, etc.

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.

Residents of the island of Lesbos are Lesbosians, rather than Lesbians. (Of course, lesbians are called lesbians because Sappho was from Lesbos.)

The Chinese ideogram for 'trouble' symbolizes 'two women living under one roof'.

German has a wood for the peace offerings brought to your mate when you've committed some conceived slight. This is "drachenfutter" or dragon's food.

In Chinese, the words for crisis and opportunity are the same.

No word in the English language rhymes with month.

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them use to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."

The poisonous copperhead smells likefresh cut cucumbers.

In Disney's "Fantasia", the Sorcerer's name is "Yensid" (Disney backwards.)

The smallest mushroom's name is "Hop-low."

Anne Boleyn had six fingernails on one hand.

Mustard gas was invented in the McKinley Building on the American University campus. Additionally, preliminary work on the Manhattan Project was done in that building. The government used the McKinley Building because of its unusual archticture. If there would be any type of large explosion inside the building, the building would implode onto itself, containing any lethal gas or nuclear material. The building now houses the Physics Department.

When angered, the ears of Tazmanian devils turn a pinkish-red.

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

The naval rank of "Admiral" is derived from the Arabic phrase "amir al bahr", which means "lord of the sea".

The Les Nessman character on the TV series WKRP in Cincinnati wore a band-aid in every episode. Either on himself, his glasses, or his clothing.

A coat hanger is 44 inches long if straightened

The roads on the island of Guam are made with coral. Guam has no sand. The sand on the beaches is actually ground coral. When concrete is mixed, the coral sand is used instead of importing regular sand from thousands of miles away.

Mt. Vernon Washington grows more tulips than the entire country of Holland.

Jamie Farr (who played Klinger on M*A*S*H) was the only member of the cast who actually served as a soldier in the Korean war.

The southern most city in the United States is Na'alehu, Hawaii.

Alaska was the only part of the United States that was invaded by the Japanese during WWII. The territory was the island of Adak in the Aleutian Chain.

Woodward Ave in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M-1, named so because it was the first paved road anywhere.

Michigan was the first state to plow it's roads and the first to adopt a yellow dividing line.

Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".

The longest chapter in the Bible is Psalm 119.

The shortest verse in the Bible is "Jesus wept."

Way back when they were using marble columns, the people selling the columns would carve out the centers and fill it with wax.So the people buying them started asking "Is it without wax?" Or in other words "Are you sincere?"

Zaire is the world leader in cobalt mining, producing two-thirds of the world's cobalt supply.

No modern language has a true concept of "I am." It is always used linked with are in reference of another verb.

Little known Cathedral Caverns near Grant, Alabama has the world's largest cave opening, the largest stalagmite (Goliath), and the largest stalagmite forest in the World.

The only person ever to decline a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction was Sinclair Lewis for his book Arrowsmith.

Maine is the only state that borders on only one state.

There are almost twice as many people in Rhode Island than there are in Alaska.

Kudzu is not indigenous to the South, but in that climate it can grow up to six inches a day.

Did you know that there are coffee flavored PEZ?

The word 'byte' is a contraction of 'by eight.'

The word 'pixel' is a contraction of either 'picture cell' or 'picture element.'

Ralph Lauren's original name was Ralph Lifshitz.

Bananas do not grow on trees, but on rhizomes.

Astronauts in the Space Shuttle are weightless not because there is no gravity in space, but because they are in free fall around the Earth.

St. Augustine was the first major proponent of the "missionary" position.

Lizzie Borden was acquitted.

Alexander Hamilton was shot by Aaron Burr in the groin.

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

Roger Ebert is the only film critic to have ever won the Pulitzer prize.

A scholar who studies the Marquis de Sade is called a Sadian, not a Sadist (of course).

Tribeca in Manhattan stands for TRIangle BElow CAnal street. Soho stands for SOuth of HOuston street.

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

Theworld's largest wine cask is in Heidleberg, Germany.

Lorne Greene had one of his nipples bitten off by an aligator while he hosted "Lorne Greene's Wild Kingdom."

Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.

Seven Olympic gold medal winners eventually went on to win the Heavyweight Championship of the World

Kerimski Church in Finland is world's biggest church made of wood.The St. Louis Gateway Arch had a

projected death toll while it was being built. No one died. The average ear of corn has eight-hundred kernels arranged in sixteen rows.

A cat has four rows of whiskers.

Vincent Van Gogh comitted suicide while painting Wheat Field with Crows.

An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.

Jelly Belly jelly beans were the first jelly beans in outer space when they went up with astronauts in the June 21, 1983 voyage of the space shuttle Challenger (the same voyage as the first American woman in space, Sally Ride).

Baseballer Connie Mack's real name was Cornelius McGilicuddy.

If you were standing in the northernmost point in the contiguous (48) states, you'd be standing in Minnesota.

Only thirty percent of the famous Maryland blue crabs are actually from Maryland, the rest are from North Carolina and Virginia.

Only two people signed the Decleration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on Augest 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

[Nelson Blogs 0]

Took me a while to read this. This is an very interesting list of facts. The fact that interested me the most was the one talking about how the US dollar sign is made up with a U and an S. I feel kind of stupid after reading this but it it still entertained me for a bit.

[Eggie 0]

well...doesn't $ look more like I and S ??how do you mean U and S?what the hell....ok,i will take this as its true since i don't care ;)just joking...Thanks...Eggie

[Nelson Blogs 0]

well...doesn't $ look more like I and S ??how do you mean U and S?
what the hell....ok,i will take this as its true since i don't care
just joking...

Thanks...Eggie

Sometimes people draw dollar signs with two lines down. I guess that you can say that the dollar sign originates from the U and the S.  I guess (if you think creatively) that the I and the S could be from IRS.  They just take, take, take.  

[8ennett 0]

well...doesn't $ look more like I and S ?? how do you mean U and S?
what the hell....ok,i will take this as its true since i don't care
just joking...

Thanks...Eggie

Actually I looked in to this a little further and it turns out that one is wrong, the $ sign has been in us before the formation of the United States. The other theories on this are it is an adaptation of the Peso sign and the other theory is it comes from the pillars of hercules on the spanish coat of arms. Either way.

Anyway I just realised I posted this on the wrong board. If an admin would be so kind as to move it to a more appropriate board.

[Spyda 0]

If you copy anything from the internet, you need to put it in quote tags and cite the source. Just to let you know...Those are some interesting facts, by the way. The one I still do not get (maybe it's because I am extremely slow) is the one that about the dollar sign that it's a U combined with an S.Edit: I get it now

[8ennett 0]

If you copy anything from the internet, you need to put it in quote tags and cite the source. Just to let you know...

Yeah, I did ask an admin to move it to a different board, preferably one with no post counts considering I can't edit it. Gathered from several different sites in fact.

[Spyda 0]

Yeah, I did ask an admin to move it to a different board, preferably one with no post counts considering I can't edit it. Gathered from several different sites in fact.

Well yeah that would be pretty hard to cite if you gather the information from a variety of sources. This is still a pretty nice list of things though

[8ennett 0]

Thanks for adding the quote tags for me, now to work out this negative myCENTS lol luckily I've got enough in my billing area to cover my hosting fee's for the next few months lol

[Spyda 0]

Thanks for adding the quote tags for me, now to work out this negative myCENTS lol luckily I've got enough in my billing area to cover my hosting fee's for the next few months lol

Wow... -400 Mycent

[yordan 10]

Thanks for adding the quote tags for me, now to work out this negative myCENTS lol luckily I've got enough in my billing area to cover my hosting fee's for the next few months lol

No real damage, because the 400 MyCents were false positive first, then negative, so back to normal. Exactly if you had posted it in a "no credit count" forum section.

[mahesh2k 0]

An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes.

i was unaware of this. one good fact listed here. other than this there are some other good facts as well. thanks for posting. by the way if you copied this from some place then don't forget to use quote tags.

[aloKNsh 0]

cool never knew that all! took a while to read but enjoyed from where you got this give the source also maybe we can find some more nice facts about the unknown facts. IS THERE really more facts i would like to know if they are there where the soucrce maybe i can feature in my site

[Ahsaniqbalkmc 0]

Very very nice collection of facts but I suggest that you should mention the source of the knowledge as well because this type of knowledge is sure to come from some respectable source and showing respect to respectable source is my demand. I dont think my demand is too much from you.

[ysNoi 0]

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

HuH', is this really true..?