The fun facts thread---share your useless trivia!

[Anarchemitis]

NASA launched 9 probes at the moon in order to capture images up close of the moon, as part of the Ranger program. They were used to test engineering techniques as well as verify possible landing sites for the Apollo missions. They were carried out in 1964 and 1965 and specifically designed to smash into the surface of the Moon at about 5000km/h.

Ranger 1: Launch failure
Ranger 2: Launch failure
Ranger 3: System failure on route to the moon, missed
Ranger 4: System failure on route to the moon, impacted
Ranger 5: System failure on route to the moon, missed
Ranger 6: Camera failure nearing moon, impacted
Ranger 7: Successful transmission of images of the moon for 17 minutes, impacted on schedule and on target.
Ranger 8: Successful transmission of images of the moon for 23 minutes, impacted on schedule and off target.
Ranger 9: Successful transmission of images of the moon for 19 minutes, impacted on schedule and on target. Broadcast live on public television. (Shown in time-lapse)

 

[SuperUberBob]

Did you know that people with red hair need to given 20% more anesthesia than your average person before surgery?

 

[J3llo]

I you feed male fishes anti-pregnancy-pills (not sure what its called in the U.S) it will cause them to change gender.

 

[Saviordd1]

Despite popular belief Napoleon was not short, he was an average 5 foot 6 inches. His personal guard just made him look short

 

[captainwolfos]

Well, with threads like these, who needs education? XD

OT:

The dot above an 'i' is called a tittle.

Shakespeare did not technically write any of his works, as he could not even write his own name.

Shark meat (and in particular, shark fins) contain very high levels of mercury, which can cause impotence and sterility if eaten in excess.

Most rodents engage in coprophagy.

Blue whales let loose approximately 400 gallons of sperm each time they ejaculate.

Only 10% of that amount reaches a mate. So the other 360 gallons are left in the sea.

The spermatozoa cells of most worms are shaped similarly to jellyfish.

The most poisonous kind of jellyfish is called a Man o' War.

 

[AdamRBi]

Aside from being used sometimes in cheese production, a sprinkle of Lemon Juice can help keep Mozzarella Cheese from becoming stringy and stretchy when melted.

 

[Realitycrash]

The Bible is the world's most shoplifted book.

The bible is also the world's most sold book.

well du I hate when someone tells me that and is expecting me to be surprised it is over 500th years old has to be bought by people who go to school and I the book of the largest world religion why the hell wouldn't it be the worlds most sold book?

OT: The escapist isn't the only website that is mostly made of smart, reasonable people.

It's far, far older than fivehundred years old, but thanks for your imput. Even as a book, it existed way before Gutenberg decided to put it into print.

 

[E-Penguin]

10000 people die from coal mining related reason each year.

You will be exposed to more radiation by living near a coal-power plant than by living near a nuclear one.

Norwegians eat the most pizza.

 

[nuba km]

The Bible is the world's most shoplifted book.

The bible is also the world's most sold book.

well du I hate when someone tells me that and is expecting me to be surprised it is over 500th years old has to be bought by people who go to school and I the book of the largest world religion why the hell wouldn't it be the worlds most sold book?

OT: The escapist isn't the only website that is mostly made of smart, reasonable people.

It's far, far older than fivehundred years old, but thanks for your imput. Even as a book, it existed way before Gutenberg decided to put it into print.

I meant to say 5000 I think I some how did partially 5thousand and 5000 put yea it's old nearly as old as your mom

 

[TheGuiggleMonster]

In England your picture is taken on average once every 5 seconds by CCTV. There are 86,400 seconds in a day so that is 17280 pictures per day. I believe it is the highest in the world but I can't be completely sure about that.

 

[Realitycrash]

The Bible is the world's most shoplifted book.

The bible is also the world's most sold book.

well du I hate when someone tells me that and is expecting me to be surprised it is over 500th years old has to be bought by people who go to school and I the book of the largest world religion why the hell wouldn't it be the worlds most sold book?

OT: The escapist isn't the only website that is mostly made of smart, reasonable people.

It's far, far older than fivehundred years old, but thanks for your imput. Even as a book, it existed way before Gutenberg decided to put it into print.

I meant to say 5000 I think I some how did partially 5thousand and 5000 put yea it's old nearly as old as your mom

Fivethousand is about as hilarious as your "blah blah blah your mom" reply. Think about it; When did Christ die (or so we assume)?
The bible as we know it came to be a few centuries after that, at a church-summit which I CBA to find the date for right now.

 

[Dick Seamen]

The Vatican admitted that the earth was round in 1989

 

[TheGuiggleMonster]

Posionous snakes are snakes that are poisonous when you eat them. Venemous snakes use venom for self-protection or for killing their prey. Venemous snakes are not always poisonous.

More people get killed by shoes than sharks per year,

 

[A Raging Emo]

It took Leo Tolstoy 6 years to write War and Peace.

It took me that long to read it

Also, did you know that 'stewardesses' is the longest word in the English language that you can type with one hand on a QWERTY keyboard.

"Typewriter" is the longest word you can type with one row of letters on a QWERTY keyboard.

 

[Stu1701]

Gene Roddenberry, creator of Star Trek, co-wrote and produced a sexploitation film called Pretty Maids All in a Row, a film about a gym teacher who has sex with high school girls. This was in 1971, between the cancellation of Star Trek and the start of the first Star Trek movie. It's the only film credit he has that isn't a Star Trek film.

 

[nuba km]

The Bible is the world's most shoplifted book.

The bible is also the world's most sold book.

well du I hate when someone tells me that and is expecting me to be surprised it is over 500th years old has to be bought by people who go to school and I the book of the largest world religion why the hell wouldn't it be the worlds most sold book?

OT: The escapist isn't the only website that is mostly made of smart, reasonable people.

It's far, far older than fivehundred years old, but thanks for your imput. Even as a book, it existed way before Gutenberg decided to put it into print.

I meant to say 5000 I think I some how did partially 5thousand and 5000 put yea it's old nearly as old as your mom

Fivethousand is about as hilarious as your "blah blah blah your mom" reply. Think about it; When did Christ die (or so we assume)?
The bible as we know it came to be a few centuries after that, at a church-summit which I CBA to find the date for right now.

well the old testament a foundation for many religions is about 5000 years old the new testament used by Christians and now has to be part of the new bible is about 1961 years old ( -30 for how long Jesus lived and then it took 50 years to be written down).

 

[Sacman]

Courtney Love's father believes she murdered Kurt Cobain...

Pat Smear was hired as a second guitarist for Nirvana because Kurt's heroin addiction would sometimes leave him unable to play...

Smells Like Teen Spirit was the last song written and added to Nevermind and was not intended to be released as the first single, Lithium was...

The album itself was expected to sell poorly....

Nirvana's first album, Bleach, was recorded on a budget of $600 in 2 days, but they we're high during the first recording and played everything in drop C and half speed so every song was rerecorded in one day, except Blew...

About A Girl is thought to be about Kurt's Ex Girlfriend, Tracy, but was written before they started dating...

Neverminds first single was released with a cover of Devo's Turnaround as a B side...

Both Kurt and Dave sing on the recording of In Bloom...

Most of Nevermind was written before Bleach was released...

In Utero, Nirvana's 3rd album, was originally called "I Hate Myself and I Want To Die" and had a completely different track list but the record company hated it and made them redo it...

Kurt Cobain liked gangster rap, when he bought the N.W.A.'s first album he never stopped playing it...

Kurt never had a left handed guitar until after Bleach was released, until then he either used a Mexican Stratocaster strung for a lefty or a Univox Hi-Flyer...

Most of Nirvana's music was just a random collection of poetry and phrases, Kurt even said himself that most fans we're reading into it too much...

Teen Spirit was actually a woman's deodorant brand... One of Kurts friends wrote Kurt smells like teen spirit on a wall, implying that he smelled like his girlfriends deodorant, but he miss took it as a complement... it wasn't until later that he found out what it was about...

Pennyroyal Tea was supposed to be Nirvana's last single before Kurt died...

Smells Like Teen Spirit music video was deliberately shot like crap because that was a popular style...

The crowed in the video was actually out of control, they weren't supposed to destroy the equipment but did anyway and you can even see the camera man pushing people out of the way while trying to move around...

each of Nirvana's videos had a story board created by Kurt...

The Fender Jagstang was created by taking a picture of a Mustang and a Jaguar cutting them in half and gluing the two halves together...

Nirvana's original name was Fecal Matter...

Nirvana would sometimes start Smells Like Teen Spirit during live shows by playing More Than Feeling because people would point out the similarities in the iconic guitar riff...

Kurt would sometimes bite the microphone while singing...

 

[TheGuiggleMonster]

?A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
?Twelve or more cows are known as a "flink."
?A group of frogs is called an army.
?A group of rhinos is called a crash.
?A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
?A group of whales is called a pod.
?A group of geese is called a gaggle.
?A group of ravens is called a murder.
?A group of officers is called a mess.
?A group of larks is called an exaltation.
?A group of owls is called a parliament.

A group of butterflies is called a flutter.

 

[Handbag1992]

Here's something I found interesting. Alot of today's medical knowledge comes from the experiments done on Jews in Nazi concentration camps, because no-one had performed these experiments before or (hopefully) ever will again.

 

[General BrEeZy]

The US Space Command plans to have the capabilities for space-launched kinetic megabomb satellites in space by 2025.

See:
http://www.popsci.com/scitech/article/2004-06/rods-god

and/or

http://www.cracked.com/article_16477_5-famous-sci-fi-weapons-that-theyre-actually-building.html