Interesting facts

[Luca72]

Eating enough garlic causes your body to excrete a small amount of oil from your pores. It won't make you smell bad to other people, and you won't even feel it. However, it basically masks the scent of your body from mosquitos.

It's believed that this is the origin of the myth about blood-sucking vampires being repelled by garlic.

 

[Dimitriov]

The word 'auspicious' is actually directly related to taking omens through watching the flight of birds.
The Latin 'avis' (bird) and 'specere' (to look at) combined to get 'auspex' which is the root of 'auspicious.'


Also most mammals have an actual bone in their penises: humans are an unusual exception.

 

[Vausch]

Modern Times Forever (Stora Enso Building, Helsinki) is the longest film to date, running at 240 hours.

 

[MPerce]

James Naismith, the inventor of basketball, was not a very good basketball coach. He is the only coach in University of Kansas history to have a losing record.

Getting your ass handed to you in a game you invented....I can think of no greater punishment.

 

[Yopaz]

Female hyenas have a penis and actually give birth through it (causing great amounts of pain). (Fact)

The reason why they have evolved in such a matter is not known, but one of the hypotheses around it is based on the nature of hyenas. The females dominate in their groups and sometimes kill other females in order to get rid of competition for other males. Because of this there's a hypothesis that this is to trick the older females into believing that the young females are young males and not kill them. (Speculation)

One of the many species of fruit flies got sperm cells that are about 3cm long (much longer than the body of the fruit fly) which prevents any other from fertilizing the female afterwards.

The preying mantis bites of the male's head during sex if she can manage it. This benefits the female in two ways. It makes the male perform better if he doesn't have a head and it provides the female with food.
That's a well known little thing that I am sure a good portion of you have heard before. However there's selection for males that let themselves be eaten because it benefits the males. A female that eats the male during reproduction is less likely to mate with another male than one who doesn't. Because of this males who let themselves be eaten get a bigger sum of their genes transferred to the next generatino than males who don't.

 

[Tiger King]

I can't validate this random trivia, but have heard the same factoid from multiple sources. The reason for the British driving on the left side of the road dates back to the era when nobles and royalty traveled by chariot. During these travels, the chariot was often accompanied by a small group of swordsman. If the chariot was on the left side of the road, the swordsmen would be able to use their strong hand (right hand) to wield their sword and easily fend off any potential attackers. If the chariot was on the right side of the road, the swordsmen would either have to use their weak hand or attack across their body, putting them at a huge disadvantage.

And thus, driving on the left side of the road has lasted for all these generations. The only reason I doubt this claim is why wouldn't other European countries adopt this same strategy? Maybe someone else can either support or deny this claim.

I heard this too.
it's always felt more natural to me, being right handed you sit on the right of the car and like a guitar your left hand does all the movement with the gears.

 

[Bobic]

Here's my interesting fact. Approximately 75% of interesting facts read on the internet are a load of bull.

Does that include this one? =P

Most definitely, pulled that statistic right out of my behind, glad you picked up on it.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

The preying mantis bites of the male's head during sex if she can manage it. This benefits the female in two ways. It makes the male perform better if he doesn't have a head and it provides the female with food.
That's a well known little thing that I am sure a good portion of you have heard before. However there's selection for males that let themselves be eaten because it benefits the males. A female that eats the male during reproduction is less likely to mate with another male than one who doesn't. Because of this males who let themselves be eaten get a bigger sum of their genes transferred to the next generatino than males who don't.

Interestingly enough, female mantis have only been observed eating the heads of males in captivity.

Turns out they really don't like being observed getting it on.

 

[Ti0k0]

Raymond Babbitt is an excellent driver

 

[Wen-Chiao O'Boyle]

Apparently the etymological origin of the word "bigot," actually comes from a racial slur.
It's an old French word used to describe Normans, who would use the term "bi god"(By God), which eventually evolved into bigot.
An alternative etymology is that it is derived from the Spanish bigote, which means mustache. During the Swiss invasion of Granada, the citizens would use the term "bigote" to refer to the Swiss and their glorious mustaches.

 

[Scarim Coral]

One of these facts will surely intrigue you! (Foe me it's the Lemurs having two tongues.)

 

[Henkie36]

If you were to put Saturn in a giant bathtub, it would float.

There is a train in the highplaines of China where the water with which you flush the toilet is heated, because otherwise, it would freeze.

It is physically impossible for you to lick your elbow.

At its peak, the British Empire covered nearly a third of all the land on earth.

A banana is a herb, not a fruit. And in the same category, to make it even more confusing, a tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable. (The old saying with wisdom and a fruit salad.)

Polar bears are left handed. (?)

A flea can jump 350 times its own lentgh. If I could do that, I could cover 7 football fields in one go.

A pig's orgasm can last up to 30 minutes. (Who found this out?)

If you would scream for 8 years, 6 months and 5 days, you would have produced enough energy to heat a cup of coffee. (Not really worth while.)

The total surface area of your intestines would be about the same as a soccerfield.

By this point, 90% of you will have tried to lick either one of your elbows.

And the full 100% of those will be bummed that I already knew that was giong to happen.

 

[OldKingClancy]

In Indonesia, the punishment for masturbation is decapitation.

 

[voltair27]

Sleeping with a freshly laundered towel on your pillow will clear up acne.

 

[bojackx]

'Which came first: the chicken or the egg?'. The answer is egg, reptiles mostly lay eggs and were chilling on Earth before birds showed up on the scene.

I think that it means the chicken or the chicken egg, not any egg ever. Something extremely closely related to a chicken laid an egg and then a chicken was born, in which case you have to decide whether a chicken egg is an egg with a chicken inside it (egg came first), or an egg that has been laid by a chicken (chicken came first).

OT: Out of all elements, only two are liquids at room temperature (298K); Bromine and Mercury.

 

[TAGM]

Seeing as how you gave a tidbit about the English penny, I decided to make mine link in:

The S for Shillings did not actually stand for shillings, either. That was derived from the Latin Solidus coin, much as the D was from Denarius.

On that note, did you know England is the only country in the world that has ever used a money system that was not based on 10s and 100s? As in, you know how other money systems work, 100 cents to the dollar, 100 cents to the euro, 100 pence to the pound. England is the only country to ever had a system that did not work in this way - as in, pennies, half-pennies, shillings, farthings, and pounds - or, as they were known, Sovereigns (if they were coins, at least. A paper pound was called a quid, even then - which is strange, considering we use quid to refer to the pound dispute the fact the pound note doesn't actually exist at all now!)

These worked thus:

1 fathing (Which was basically a quarter-penny.)
2 fathings in a half-penny
2 half-pennies in a penny, or copper(Or 4 fathings)
12 pence in a shilling or 'bob' (or 48 fathings.)
5 shillings in a Crown (or 240 fathings.)
20 shillings in a pound. (Or 240 pennies, or 960 fathings.)

There was also thruppence(3 pennies) The sixpence, also known as a tanner (6 pennies) The groat and half groat (4 pennies and 2 pennies respectively) A florin, or 'two bob bit' (2 shillings) The half crown (2 shillings and sixpence), and the guinea, (a pound and a shilling.) named due to the fabled gold on the guinea coast. There were also the ten bob note, and the £5 note, although the latter may have been taken out of circulation early due to easy forging and relatively low use. (It was 120 shillings, after all. Or 1440 pence. Or if you want to get really ridiculous, 5760 fathings. )
So why this weird system? It actually makes sense when you realize that money was made of precious metals, and the measuring of the time was troy ounces at the time of it's introduction back with Henry II: A penny was worth, and at the time actually was, a pennyweight of silver. And 240 pennyweights of sterling silver were the same weight as a pound of sterling silver.

Makes sense now, doesn't it?
Yeah, I didn't think so either.

 

[direkiller]

Time for some weird ones:
The current reccored for number of orgasms in one hour is 134,held by a woman

Eating acidic foods make cum taste better because it is naturally alkaline

 

[Gatx]

Uhhhhhhhhhh..... got one, maybe:

You can get garlic smell off your hands by rubbing them on some stainless steel? Or maybe the knife you just used to mince a clove of garlic. Practical and safe.

 

[direkiller]

Seeing as how you gave a tidbit about the English penny, I decided to make mine link in:

The S for Shillings did not actually stand for shillings, either. That was derived from the Latin Solidus coin, much as the D was from Denarius.

On that note, did you know England is the only country in the world that has ever used a money system that was not based on 10s and 100s? As in, you know how other money systems work, 100 cents to the dollar, 100 cents to the euro, 100 pence to the pound. England is the only country to ever had a system that did not work in this way - as in, pennies, half-pennies, shillings, farthings, and pounds - or, as they were known, Sovereigns (if they were coins, at least. A paper pound was called a quid, even then - which is strange, considering we use quid to refer to the pound dispute the fact the pound note doesn't actually exist at all now!)

These worked thus:

1 fathing (Which was basically a quarter-penny.)
2 fathings in a half-penny
2 half-pennies in a penny, or copper(Or 4 fathings)
12 pence in a shilling or 'bob' (or 48 fathings.)
5 shillings in a Crown (or 240 fathings.)
20 shillings in a pound. (Or 240 pennies, or 960 fathings.)

There was also thruppence(3 pennies) The sixpence, also known as a tanner (6 pennies) The groat and half groat (4 pennies and 2 pennies respectively) A florin, or 'two bob bit' (2 shillings) The half crown (2 shillings and sixpence), and the guinea, (a pound and a shilling.) named due to the fabled gold on the guinea coast. There were also the ten bob note, and the £5 note, although the latter may have been taken out of circulation early due to easy forging and relatively low use. (It was 120 shillings, after all. Or 1440 pence. Or if you want to get really ridiculous, 5760 fathings. )
So why this weird system? It actually makes sense when you realize that money was made of precious metals, and the measuring of the time was troy ounces at the time of it's introduction back with Henry II: A penny was worth, and at the time actually was, a pennyweight of silver. And 240 pennyweights of sterling silver were the same weight as a pound of sterling silver.

Makes sense now, doesn't it?
Yeah, I didn't think so either.

Sorry to burst your bubble but Spain had a coin system not around base 10

Gold coins were issued in ½, 1, 2, 4 and 8 escudos
an escudo was worth 40 reales
8 reales was one silver dollar,hence the nickname piece of eight, which you could break the coin into eight pieces to make change

 

[Ironside]

When will you all learn!?

Also, each year, coconuts kill more people than sharks...

Apparently more people are bitten each year by New Yorkers than are bitten by sharks.

Seeing as how you gave a tidbit about the English penny, I decided to make mine link in:

The S for Shillings did not actually stand for shillings, either. That was derived from the Latin Solidus coin, much as the D was from Denarius.

On that note, did you know England is the only country in the world that has ever used a money system that was not based on 10s and 100s? As in, you know how other money systems work, 100 cents to the dollar, 100 cents to the euro, 100 pence to the pound. England is the only country to ever had a system that did not work in this way - as in, pennies, half-pennies, shillings, farthings, and pounds - or, as they were known, Sovereigns (if they were coins, at least. A paper pound was called a quid, even then - which is strange, considering we use quid to refer to the pound dispute the fact the pound note doesn't actually exist at all.

The pound note does actually still exist in Jersey and I think Guernsey as well, so there is an extra fact i can provide to this thread.