# Stat's daily tidbits of weird but not worthless factoids, one topic per day!



## Statistikhengst (Jan 12, 2015)

Day 1: January 12, 2015

*Topic 1:* Statue Rats, Flying Carp, Winged Weasels, aka Pidgeons.

-Pidgeons are the only birds that don't have to lift their heads to swallow water.

-Racing pidgeons have been clocked at 110 mph.

-Homing pidgeons were used in both world wars to carry messages between troops and headquarters. They had a 98% success rate in missions flown.

-In the 17th century, pidgeon droppings were used to tan hides and to make gunpowder.





tomorrow: bizarre wills and testaments!


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## Pogo (Jan 12, 2015)

Subscribed!


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## martybegan (Jan 12, 2015)

MartyBegan's added made up crap about Stat's factoids:

Pigeon's are like the heads of a hydra, kill one and 2 rise to take its place.

Pigeon's must reproduce only in this way, because no one has ever seen a baby pigeon, the fuckers just seem to appear from thin air. 

In a battle between Pigeons and Aquaman, Aquaman would be worthless because he can only talk to fish (credit given to Frank J for this joke). 

Pigeon spikes are their preferred nesting place. 

We should splice pigeon DNA into all endangered species, because we have been trying to off these things for decades with zero end result.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 12, 2015)

martybegan said:


> MartyBegan's added made up crap about Stat's factoids:
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> Pigeon's are like the heads of a hydra, kill one and 2 rise to take its place.
> 
> ...


To quote the Boomer Bible: Hmmmmm. ... interesting. Only we are talking about REAL  factoids. ...


Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk


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## martybegan (Jan 12, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> martybegan said:
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Your factoids are real. I did explicitly state my crap will be made up.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 12, 2015)

martybegan said:


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Really??? I'm shocked to the core! Quick, Pogo my  smelling salts! !!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 12, 2015)

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk


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## martybegan (Jan 12, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> martybegan said:
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The difference is that unlike most Progs on this board, I know which posts of mine are made up, and which are factual.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 13, 2015)

martybegan said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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Awww, come on, we're just having fun here. Remember, this here is the Lounge!  So, lounge with us.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 13, 2015)

January 13, 2015: Freaky Wills

*Harry Houdini (1874-1926)*






9 Strange Last Wills and Testaments - HowStuffWorks



> His library of books on magic and the occult was offered to the American Society for Psychical Research on the condition that J. Malcolm Bird, research officer and editor of the _ASPR Journal_, resign. Bird refused, and the collection went instead to the Library of Congress.
> 
> The rabbits he pulled out of his hat went to the children of friends. *Houdini left his wife a secret code -- ten words chosen at random -- that he would use to contact her from the afterlife. His wife held annual séances on Halloween for ten years after his death, but Houdini never appeared.*




10 Strange Will And Testaments* Charles Vance Miller (1853-1926)*


> This Toronto-based attorney with a love of practical jokes kept on laughing straight to the grave after his death in 1926. His last will and testament *bequeathed a large sum up for grabs to any Toronto woman who could produce the most offspring in the decade following his death.* The result became known as the "Great Stork Derby." Four winners emerged in a tie for nine children; each received about $125,000.







> *Mark Gruenwald
> *
> The Executive Editor of Captain American and Iron Man, as well as being involved in other Marvel Comics, Gruenwald stated that *he wished for his ashes to be mixed with the ink used to print the comic books. They were.*




Strange Wills The Good the Bad and the Ugly Walt s Thoughts



> *Solomon Sanborn, *a hatmaker, died in 1871. He left his body to science with one stipulation. *His skin was to be used to make two drums that would be given to a friend. At dawn every June 17th after that, the friend was to go to Bunker Hill and pound out “Yankee Doodle” to commemorate the anniversary of that famous revolutionary war battle.* The rest of his body was “to be composted for a fertilizer to contribute to the growth of an American elm, to be planted in some rural thoroughfare.”



Meet:









> *Jeremy Bentham *was a British philosopher and social reformer. When he died in 1832, he gave his entire estate to the London Hospital on the condition that his remains were to be preserved and allowed to preside over its board meetings. Surprisingly, the hospital agreed to the demands of his will. Dr. Southwood Smith dissected the body (to teach anatomy) and then reassembled the bones into a skeleton which was outfitted with Bentham’s clothes and put on a glass-fronted wooden cabinet seated in a chair. According to the University College London, at the centenary and sesquicentenary of the college, the good Mr. Bentham was brought out to the College Committee meeting. “He sat at one end of the table, the Provost at the other, and the minutes record ‘Jeremiah Bentham, present but not voting.'” According to the university, it is a myth that Bentham casts the deciding vote in case of a tie.



And:

Garvey P. White (1908): "Before anything else is done 50 cents is to be paid to my son-in-law to enable him to buy for himself a good stout rope with which to hang himself, and thus rid mankind of one of the most infamous scoundrels that ever roamed this broad land or dwelt outside a penitentiary"

Source: The Slightly Irregular Bathroom Reader (  )


Up tomorrow:

Slang from 1940!


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 14, 2015)

January 14, 2015: Slang from the 1940s!

Some of these words have now become standard in our lexicon, others have fallen to the wayside. This list is in no way complete, but has some interesting slang terms we no longer use today. Feel free to add any you know.

*Beefburger:* another name for hamburger.
*Steakburger:* a misleading name for hamburger, was not made out of steak, just very pricey.

*TTFN:* short for Ta-Ta-for-now, the 1940's equivalent to CyaByeBye!

*Sweater Girl:* a movie starlet who deliberately wears tight sweaters to show off her breasts.
*Peek-a-boo:* a woman's hairstyle in which the hair falls over one eye, but not the other.
*Shortie:* a word to describe clothing (mostly women's clothing) that was a little too short. The term was replaced with "mini" sometime in the 50s.

_Military slang that became everyday slang:_

*Robomb:* the slang for robot bomb, came into the lexicon because the German V-rocket series, before the term "guided missile" was applied by the US military.
*Tail-End-Charlie:* The person who mans the gun in the tail end of a WWII bomber.
*Jerry (also spelled Gerry):* slang word for "German"
*Step-out:* to parachute from an airplane.
*Nurembergs:* Hemorrhoids. (A reference to the NAZIs, who used Nürnberg for their big ugly rallies)
*Active Duty:* sexually promiscuous boy
*Share Crop:* sexually promiscuous girl
*Hi sugar, are you rationed?:* are you going steady with someone?
*Vacky*: An ecacuee, referring to WWII evacuees. The word was popular among Brits AND Americans.*Motorized freckles:* insects, like mosquitos
*Armored Heiffer:* canned milk
*snap your cap:* to get angry (later becomes "blow your top")
*buzz (buzzed): *to be tipsy, to get tipsy


_General slang, a little bit of everything:_

*Slimline:* sleek styling of consumer products.

*Ducky shincracker:* a good dancer
*Dead hoofer:* a poor dancer
*khaki whacky:* boy crazy
*doll dizzy:* girl crazy

*Take a powder: *buzz off

*Toecover:* used to describe a cheap, worthless item given as a gift.

*Lettuce:* money. "Hey Pal, you gotta lotta lettuce on you?"

*Unputadownable:* just what it sounds like - a book or magazine article that is so good, you can't put it down!

*Ameche:* to telephone (I believe this comes from the Italian "Amici", which means "friends")

*Whizzo:* wonderful.

*Squillions:* an unspecified, extremely high number.   We would call it a "google" today!

*Bust your chops:* get a major scolding. (My ma sure busted my chops today)

*Yuck:* foolish person

*Chrome dome:* bald-headed man

*North Dakota rice:* hot cereal
*Mud:* coffee

*Applesauce:* expletive (and then she told me to go applesauce)
*Lulu:* something beyond the pale, excellent, outstanding (the word could be used positively or negatively)

*Whistle Dixie:* to be wrong or mistaken

*Buy the farm:* to croak, die

*G-man:* FBI investigator



_Some 40's slang that has stayed in the repertoire until today:_

*Pass the buck* - to shirk responsibility
*Grandstand* - to show off
*Brainchild* - someone's creative idea
*cook with gas* - to do something right
*in cahoots with* - conspiring with
*above my pay grade* - can't tell, it's a secret
*cracks me up* - makes me laugh
*chicken* - coward
*call girl:* appointment only prostitute
*bum rap:* false accusation
*walkie-talkie:* two way portable communication device
*threads:* clothing
*blow a fuse:* bad temper
*in my book:* in my opinion
*nuts!:* crazy, insane
*smooch:* romantic kiss
*my two cents worth: *to give an opinion


Sources: various, including a small notebook from my Grandmother, with a newspaper article from 1949 commenting on the new "common phrases" of the decade. Also from, of course, Uncle John's slightly irregular Bathroom reader!  


Tomorrow: random insect factoids!


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 15, 2015)

January 15, 2015: *Random Insect facts*

The word "bug" started out as the Ango-Saxon word "bugge" or "bough", meaning a terror, a devil or a ghost.

The word "dragonfly" probably orginated with the Greek word "drakos", meaning "eye"

The hairs on the butt of a cockroach as so sensitive that they can detect the air currents made by the on-rushing tongue of a toad.  Eeeew.

The praying mantis is the official state insect of Connecticut. 

Mating soapberry bugs remain locked in an embrace for up to eleven days, a period of time which exceeds the life-span of many other insects..
	

	
	
		
		

		
		
	


	




-Uncle John's slightly irregular Bathroom Reader! And let the soapberry bug jokes commence!


And:

insect trivia uncommon facts about bugs - Trivial Trivia Collections

And adult bedbug can survive up to one year without feeding.

Ants don't sleep.

Only female mosquitos bite. They need the protein from blood to produce their eggs.
The mosquito is responsible for the most human deaths worldwide.
You're more likely to be a target for mosquitoes if you consume bananas.

The buzz that you hear when a bee approaches is the sound of its four wings moving at 11,400 strokes per minute. Bees fly an average of 15 miles per hour.The leap of an average flea is equivalent to a 100 pound man leaping 1,000 and enduring a g-force of 20,000 pounds with an acceleration greater than that of a space shuttle.

A world within a world: there are more insects in one square mile of rural land than there are human beings on the entire earth.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 15, 2015)

And just for fun, meet the 4-eyed Himalayan Jumping Spider:








Let the alien invasion jokes commence!


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## Lipush (Jan 15, 2015)

Oh great, JUMPING spider


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 16, 2015)

January 16, 2015 - Four completely unrelated factoids that somehow _feel_ right together:

Between 800 and 1500 A.D., English law decreed that every male in the Kingdom must practice archery daily.

More than 90% of the actions performed by the human nervous system are reflex reactions.

The cornea is the only human bodily part with no blood supply. It gets oxygen directly from the air.

It takes Pluto 248.53 YEARS to travel around the sun. It takes Mercury 88 days. Ratio: 1031.54 to 1. Mercury goes around the sun more than 1000 times faster than Pluto, which is no longer classified as a planet, but fun to watch, anyway. In other words, the last time that Pluto was in the same arc-position from the sun as it is today was in the middle of the year 1766.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 17, 2015)

January 17, 2015: some of the most untranslateable words in the world.

*Klloshar* (Albanian) - the closest meaning is "loser", but it can be used in many ways.

*Pochemuchka* (Russian) - the closest meaning is "a person who asks a lot of questions". Pochemu = "why" in Russian. So a Pochemuchka is a "why-man" or a "why-woman".  In English, I suspect we would mean "busybody".

*Selathirupavar* (Tamil) - best translation: certain form of truancy. Not showing up when it would have been critical to have been there, goddammit!

*Saudada* (Portugese) - best translation: certain form of "longing". Say it in the wrong context, get yet block knocked off.

*Gezellig* (Dutch) - best translation: cozy. But in German, "gesellig" means someone who likes the company of others, who likes to socialize.

*Altahmam* (Arabic) - best translation: particular kind of "deep sadness".

*Naa* (Japanese), a word used in the Kansai dialect. It's a modifier that's used to "emphasize statements or agree with someone".
*Doch* (German). It's a modifier that's used to "emphasize statements or agree with someone".
In fact, a lot of languages have such a flavouring word. English is one of the languages that doesn't.

*Radioukacz* (Polish) - best translation: "a person who worked as a telegraphist for the resistance movement on the Soviet side of the Iron Curtain.

*Schlimazel* (Yiddish - ashkenazic) - best translation: "a person who is chronically unlucky". The words has slowly been changed in US-English to means situations that are unlucky instead of people who are unlucky.

*Itsuarpok* (Inuit) - best translation: the feeling of anticipation that leads you to keep looking outside to see if anyone is coming. 
Remember, most of Northern Alaska sees little sunlight for most of the year....

*Waldeinsamkeit* (German) - best translation: the feeling of being alone in the woods. But the word can either have a very peaceful or a very agitated connotation, depending on how you use it in your writing. I have experienced a form of Waldeinsamkeit a couple of times and cannot even begin to describe it in English words.

*Culaccino*  (Italian), no, not Cappuccino  - best translation: the round mark left on a table by a cold glass. Amazing that condensation can sound like beautiful poetry. Only, look up the meaning of "culo" in Italian....  

*Sombremesa* (Spanish) - best translation: the time after a meal when you have food-induced conversations with people. Since the main meal in Spain often STARTS at 10 or 11 PM, this can be a very, very late conversation!

*Jayus* (Indonesian) - best translation: someone tells a joke that is so unbelievably bad that you cannot help but to laugh because it is just so fucking bad.  It's kind of the Indonesian version of *Schadenfreude*...

*Pana Po'o* (Hawaiian) - best translation: when you lose your keys and are scratching your head, trying to remember where in the hell you left tham, that is a state of Pana Po'o!

*Goya* (Urdu) - best translation: the suspension of disbelief that can occur, for instance, when telling an especially good story.

*Toska* (Russian) - best translation: so many forms of pain or anguish that no English word could cover them all. From endogenous spiritual anguish to a dull aching within the soul, to a melancholy towards a specific person, all the way to the desire to kill oneself.

Interestingly enough, there is something similar in Czech:* Litost* - rough translation: what you just read in the Russian "Toska", with the added characteristic that this agony is caused by seeing one's own torment.

*Tartle* (Scottish) - best translation: the forced and usually embarrassing hesitation caused by having forgotten someone's name.

Prolly one of my favs:

*Tingo* (Pascuense - the language of Easter Island) - best translation: the process of "borrowing" things you desire from a friend's house until you have borrowed everything. lol...

One of the longest words in the the world: *Mamihlapinatapai* (Yagan) - best translation: a wordless yet meaningful look between two people who really wish to have intimate contact with each other, but hesitate.

And maybe the weirdest, least translatable word in the world:

*Ilunga* (a Bantu dialect) - best translation: a person who will forgive any abuse the first time, tolerate it the second time and then beat the shit out of you for it the third time.  

Ilunga!!!

Tomorrow: religious factoids!


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 18, 2015)

January 18, 2015: Interesting Church factoids

The Melchisidechians were a church sect from Phrygia at the onset of Christianity that did not believe in the trinity; they were also the first sect to give up circumcision and they had a strange practice of receiving OR giving gifts. Their rule was: *place the gift on the ground first, then let the recipient pick it up.*

The second largest church denomination in the USA is the Baptist denomination.

St. Augustine (354-406 ED) believed that when we die, G-d reuses our fingernail and toenail clippings as other body parts to build new bodies.

From 1644-1680, in the Church of England, the celebration of Christmas was forbidden. It was considered a pagan ritual at that time.

John Calvin, who started the very strict Calvinist movement, was a learned *French lawyer* before he came to religion.

The inventor Benjamin Franklin determined that 30,000 people could hear Evangelist George Whitefield's voice.

St. Francis of Assisi was given armed guards at his deathbed because at that time, cutting off bits of the saint before he died to sell as a relic was not unheard of. Eeeww....

The Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedächtnis Kirche (Kaiser-Wilhelm-Memorial Church) in Berlin, at least the original part, still lays in ruins from WWII in Berlin, because it was part of the treaty of surrender in 1945 that the church not be rebuilt. Since the church is so close to what was the main train station (Zoological Gardens) in West Berlin, the allies wanted Germans to see for all eternity what destruction that war can bring. In keeping with the treaty, the old church was not rebuilt, but a new church was built next to it. Here the old and the new together, to this day:







When Coventry Cathedral in Englad was accidentally bombed in 1940, the Cathedral burnt so hot that metal splitters (most of them large silver nails) flew hundreds of feet in every direction and were too hot to touch for many days on end. A number of those nails bored through more than one tree before finally landing somewhere. What was left of the Cathedral itself was too hot to enter for 3 weeks after the firebomings. German fighter pilots, whose plane was low on fuel, decided to drop it's remaining bombs in order to save fuel to get back home, and those bombs landed over Coventry. Just hours before Coventry was utterly destroyed, Prime Minister Winston Churchill had drafted and was reading through an article of surrender to the Germans. After the bombing, he ripped-up those articles of surrender. Immediately following the bombing, Father Provost had inscribed onto the ruins: "Father forgive".

After the war, the metal fragments that had been gathered up and made into silver crosses, one of which hangs in Coventry; another hangs in Hiroshima permanently, another hangs mostly in Dresden but sometimes goes on tour around the world. This event of forgiveness was so intense that it spurred composer Benjamin Britten to write a cycle for Tenor, Horn and Piano called 1940: Still Falls the Rain, based on poetry of Edith Sitwell. In the truest sense of the word, a Church was the absolute turning point of WWII, and most don't even know about it.






And Coventry today:







In terms of attendance and roster, the largest Chuch in the USA is Lakewood Church in Houston, TX, with over 45,000 members!

The largest physical Church building in the world is St. Peters Basilica in Rome. The second largest is The Basilica of the National Shrine of our Lady of Aparecida in Aparecida, Brasil.

The oldest Synagogue building in the world is hard to pin down exactly (because archeologists are still digging), but most likely the Synagogue in Erfurt, Germany, from 1100 AD, is the oldest. The Santa Maria la Blanca Synagogue in Toledo, Spain, was built in 1190. However, neither building has been used as a Synagogue for centuries.

The only holy communion *taken on the Moon* was in July 1969, when Buzz Aldrin, a presbyterian, administered the sacrament himself before exiting the lunar lander and becoming the 2nd man ever to touch the surface of our moon.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 19, 2015)

January 19, 2015:

Rain contains Vitamin B-12.


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## Pogo (Jan 19, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *Saudada* (Portugese) - best translation: certain form of "longing". Say it in the wrong context, get yet block knocked off.




Actually it's Saudad*e* (sow-DOD-dee in Europe, sow-DOD-_djee _in Brasil).  It does mean a melancholy wistful heart-rending longing feeling but I've never heard of it as a fightin' word.

_Saudade_ is perhaps closest to the African-American concept of "the Blues" -- in the sense of mood, not the musical genre.  Although the concept deeply colours the spirit of the music of Portugal and its children...

-- as here, expressed by Cape Verdean Cesaria Evora  -- "Sodade" is the same word in Cape Verdean Criollo (Creole).... note the plaintive minor chords.  That's what _saudade_ sounds like. 

​


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 20, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > *Saudada* (Portugese) - best translation: certain form of "longing". Say it in the wrong context, get yet block knocked off.
> ...




Bey zhe yay, sawree, Aye spehld iht rawng.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 20, 2015)

January 20, 2015.

In two years from today, a new President and Vice President will be sworn in in Washington, DC.

Today, inaugural trivia!

*Length:*

George Washington's was the shortest inaugural address at 135 words. (1793)

William H. Harrison's was the longest inaugural address at 8,445 words. (1841)

_Washington served 8 years, Harrison served one month. Inverse relationship??_


*Traditions and when they were established:*

Thomas Jefferson was the only president to walk to and from his inaugural. He was also the first to be inaugurated at the Capitol. (1801) -  This tradition of walking at least part of the way can therefore be attributed to Jefferson.

The first inaugural ball was held for James Madison. (1809) - This has now become an absolute fixture in american electoral politics.

John Quincy Adams was the first president sworn in wearing long trousers (1825).



McKinley's second inauguration in 1901 was the first year in which the Senate and the HOR made the inaugural announcement together, as a team.

James Garfield's mother was the first to attend her son's inauguration (1881) and William Taft's wife was the first one to accompany her husband in the procession from the Capitol to the White House. (1909)

_- Can you imagine an inauguration today without family being there?_

Warren G. Harding was the first president to ride to and from his inaugural in an automobile. (1921)



*Exceptions to the "rule":*

Taft's outdoor inauguation in 1909 was cancelled because of a massive blizzard. It was quickly moved indoors, to the Senate.

Franklin Pierce was the first president to affirm rather than swear the oath of office (1853). Herbert Hoover followed suit in 1929.

Calvin Coolidge's oath in 1925 was administered by Chief Justice (and ex-president) William Taft. It was also the first inaugural address broadcast on the radio. Coolidge was sworn in by his father, a notary public, when he assumed the presidency in 1923 after Warren Harding's death. He is the only president ever to have been sworn in by his own father, and then, sworn in by a former President.

Lyndon Johnson was the first (and so far) only president to be sworn in by a woman, U.S. District Judge Sarah T. Hughes. (1963)

Jimmy Carter's inaugural parade featured solar heat for the reviewing stand and handicap-accessible viewing. (1977)

Five Presidents, all former Vice-Presidents, were never inaugurated: John Tyler (1841), Millard Fillmore (1850), Andrew Johnson (1865), Chester A. Arthur (1881) and Gerald R. Ford (1974). In fact, Gerald R. Ford holds a special, one-time only statistic: the only non-elected Vice-President who went on to become our only non-elected President, and in both cases, there was no inauguration.



*Media coverage of inaugurations:*

James Polk's inauguration was the first Inauguration covered by telegraph and also the first known Inauguration featured in a newspaper illustration; illustration appeared in the Illustrated London News. (1845)

The first inauguration to be photographed was James Buchanan's. (1857)

William McKinley's inauguration was the first ceremony to be recorded by a motion picture camera. (1897)

Theodore Roosevelt's inauguration (1905) was the first one where telephone lines had been installed and the press could telephone the story out instead of telegraphing it.

Calvin Coolidge's inauguration was the first Inaugural ceremony broadcast nationally by radio. (1925)

Harry Truman's was the first to be televised. (1949)

The first ceremony broadcast on the Internet was Bill Clinton's second inauguration. (1997)


*Historical firsts that influenced history:*

Abraham Lincoln was the first to include African-Americans in his parade. (1865)

Women were included for the first time in Woodrow Wilson's second inaugural parade. (1917)



*Other interesting factoids:*


John Kennedy's inauguration had Robert Frost as the first poet to participate in the official ceremony. (1961) The only other President to feature poets was Bill Clinton. Maya Angelou read at his 1993 inaugural, and Miller Williams read at his second, in 1997. (1961)

Ronald Reagan's second inaugural had to compete with Super Bowl Sunday. (1985)
It was also the coldest Inauguration day on record, with a noon temperature of 7°F.

The Vice-Presidential oath is LONGER than the presidential oath.


*Repeating the oath:*

On the second day of his presidency, Barack Obama was sworn in a second time by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. because, following Roberts's lead, Obama improperly recited the oath. He said, "I will execute the office of president to the United States faithfully." The word "faithfully" belongs between "will" and "execute." (2009).

Five presidents took a private oath when Inauguration Day fell on a Sunday, and then a second oath in a scheduled public ceremony on the next day (Monday): Rutherford B. Hayes in 1877 (who actually took the private oath on March 3, a Saturday, one day before his term started),Woodrow Wilson in 1917, Dwight Eisenhower in 1957, Ronald Reagan in 1985, and Barack Obama in 2013.

This makes Barack Obama the only president in history to take the oath of office twice for each inauguration and technically ties him with FDR for the number of oaths taken (4).

Presidents Chester A. Arthur (1881) and Calvin Coolidge (1923) took their first oath in a private venue (their residences), in the middle of the night, immediately after being notified of the death of a predecessor (James A. Garfield and Warren G. Harding, respectively). They later retook the oath after returning to Washington. In the case of Coolidge, there was an additional doubt whether an oath administered by a public notary (Coolidge's father) was valid.

All but six presidents took the presidential oath in Washington, D.C.The exceptions were:

George Washington—1789, New York City; 1793, Philadelphia
John Adams—1797, Philadelphia
Chester Alan Arthur—1881, New York City
Theodore Roosevelt—1901, Buffalo
Calvin Coolidge—1923, Plymouth, Vt.
Lyndon Baines Johnson—1963, Dallas
At leat one *Vice President* did not take the vice-presidential oath in Washington: W. Rufus King. He was convalescing from a deadly illness in Cuba at the time of the inauguration and took the oath in Cuba. He died from his illness 6 weeks later, at home in Chestnut Hill, and never set foot in Washington as Vice President. 

Now, these are only the beginning factoids, there are many, many more...

Sources: many and various, a lot from memory!


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 21, 2015)

January 21, 2015:

Pigs have 5,500 taste buds. Cows have 35,000. Antelope have 55,000.


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## Pogo (Jan 21, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> January 20, 2015.
> 
> In two years from today, a new President and Vice President will be sworn in in Washington, DC.
> 
> ...



I believe according to the Constitution, the VP automatically becomes President upon the death or disability of the POTUS, which makes those emergency-oaths unnecessary.  I think LBJ knew that too.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 22, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > January 20, 2015.
> ...




I am not sure sure that the Constitution says that:

Transcript of the Constitution of the United States - Official Text

"*Before he enter* on the Execution of his Office, he shall take the following Oath or Affirmation:—"I do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will faithfully execute the Office of President of the United States, and will to the best of my Ability, preserve, protect and defend the Constitution of the United States.""

Article II,section VI is the first part of the Constitution that deals with succession:

Article Two of the United States Constitution - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia


"In Case of the Removal of the President from Office, or of his Death, Resignation, or Inability to discharge the Powers and Duties of the said Office, the Same shall devolve on the Vice President, and the Congress may by Law provide for the Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President, declaring what Officer shall then act as President, and such Officer shall act accordingly, until the Disability be removed, or a President shall be elected."

Section 8 comes after section 6, so I think it is pretty clear that whoever becomes president, by any means, must take the oath. Now, I could be wrong, but it sure looks that way to me. Let's ask Dante - our Constutitional Monsterman in USMB.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 22, 2015)

January 22, 2015: Virtual Folding

Conventional wisdom says that it's physically impossible to fold a piece of paper in half more than 7 times. However, a virtual study with computer showed that _*if*_ we were were able to keep folding it (and therefore doubling it's thickness), according to math, the concentrated paper would grow in width to astronomic proportions:

10 folds: width of a hand
12 folds: height of a stool
14 folds: Average adult height
20 folds: quarter of the Sears Tower
25 folds: height of the Matterhorn
30 folds: outer atmosphere of the Earth
50 folds: distance to our Sun
70 folds: 11 light years away from Earth
100 folds: radius of the known Universe


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## Gracie (Jan 22, 2015)

GREAT THREAD!! Love this stuff! Especially about nature, animals, critters, etc.

SUBSCRIBED!!


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 22, 2015)

Glad you are on board. Totally unexpected stuff every day, I  promise!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk


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## Pogo (Jan 22, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Pogo said:
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I'm pretty sure I remember that "shall devolve" simply kicks in, otherwise there would be a period with no president.  And I believe George H.W. Bush was President for something like eight hours while Reagan was incapacitated in 1981.  Far as I know he didn't swear in for that period.

But check this out -- the clause before your first link -- watch the commas:

No Person except a natural born Citizen, or a Citizen of the United States*,* at the time of the Adoption of this Constitution, shall be eligible to the Office of President; neither shall any Person be eligible to that Office who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty five Years, and been fourteen Years a Resident within the United States.​Taking the commas as they operate today this would mean a POTUS only had to be a citizen of the US _"at the time of this Constitution"_.  After that, no requirement is specified.  Were the second comma not there, the rule would carry on past "the time of this Constitution".  Of course that begs the question what "the time" means.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 23, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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Not necessary to take the office as "acting President", because the assumption is that the duly elected President will return to his duties, I believe.

Yepp, you caught a good one about natural born citizen!!!  Outstanding.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 23, 2015)

January 23, 2015: disperse factoids

The United Parcel Service (UPS) was started by two teenagers.

Can you wiggle your pollex? Probably..... it's your thumb.

You eyes see the best in the middle of the day.

Your eye muscles move an average of 100,000 times a day.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 24, 2015)

January 24, 2015: ROCK PAPER SCISSORS _-and-_ Lizard Mating Strategies_ -and-_ some bacterial behavior.

(yes, you read that correctly)

Did you know that there really, truly is an international governing body for ROCK PAPER SCISSORS? No shit.  The "World Rock Paper Scissors Society" sets rules, holds an annual worldwide tournament, and since 1920, has published THINK THREE, an RPS strategy and lifestyle mag!!

RPS has different names across the world:

China: Jenken
Japan: Jan Ken Pon
Japan: Yakyuken (this is a STRIP POKER version of RPS!!!) 
South of the USA: Roshambo (which I believe is the americanized spelling of Rouchambeau)
assorted pockets of the USA: Farrgling (yes, Farrgling.....)
German: Schick Schnack Schnuck
South Africa: Ching Chong Chow
France: (a version with 4 weapons): Pierre, Papier, ciseaux, puits (Rock, Paper, Scissors, Well)




Now, what does this have to do with Lizard Mating Strategies and/or some bacteria?

Well, there are some real analogies to the battle or RPS in nature:

Rock-paper-scissors - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Rock-paper-scissors - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia


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## Roadrunner (Jan 24, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Day 1: January 12, 2015
> 
> *Topic 1:* Statue Rats, Flying Carp, Winged Weasels, aka Pidgeons.
> 
> ...





Statistikhengst said:


> Day 1: January 12, 2015
> 
> *Topic 1:* Statue Rats, Flying Carp, Winged Weasels, aka Pidgeons.
> 
> ...


Pidgeons?

I assume you mean pigeons?


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 24, 2015)

Roadrunner said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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Yes. It's an antiquated spelling, used mostly for names these days.

Pidgeon - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

Thanks for the heads up.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 25, 2015)

January 25, 2015: *Diamond factoids*




*On this day in 1905*, 110 years ago, the largest diamond in the world was discovered: the Cullinan Diamond.

The word diamond comes from the Greek word *adamas*, meaning "the hardest steel".

Diamonds were first discovered and mined in ancient India, at least as far back as 5,000 years ago. It was not until 1866 that diamonds were authenticated in South Africa, with the finding of the Eureka Diamond near Hopetown in Cape Province.

Diamonds were first used in India for astrology.Only 20% of the world’s diamonds are suitable for jewelry. The other 80% are used for industrial purposes or discarded because they are not worth anything for any particular industry.
Most diamonds found are at least 1 billion years old according to scientists, approximately 1/4 of the age of our planet.
Diamonds are predominantly made up of pure carbon, much like the graphite once used for pencil lead. Impurities in the carbon lead to colored diamonds. For instance, nitrogen causes the yellow color of some diamonds. There are very few completely colorless diamonds.

Cool white dwarfs (dying stars) have a diamond core. See: "Lucy" below...Most industrial diamonds are used as abrasives. However, small amounts of diamond are used in other applications, such as diamond windows, diamond speaker domes, heat sinks, low-friction microbearings,military technology.

As of 2005, diamonds are not the hardest substance on the Earth. In that year, physicists Natalia Dubrovinskaia and colleagues compressed carbon fullerene molecules and heating them at the same time to create a series of interconnected rods called Aggregated Diamond Nanorods (*ADNR*s or "hyperdiamond"). It's about 11% harder than a diamond.

Scientists have also discovered a diamond Star: 10 billion, billion, trillion carots. The cosmic diamond is a chunk of crystallised carbon, 4,000 km across, some 50 light-years from the Earth in the constellation Centaurus.It's the compressed heart of an old star that was once bright like our Sun but has since faded and shrunk.Astronomers have decided to call the star "Lucy" after the Beatles song, Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.


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## Pogo (Jan 25, 2015)

Yabbut Superman can make diamonds out of coal with his super strength.  

​


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 26, 2015)

January 26, 2015: *Microcosmic Storage Unit *

_Math geeks, to the front of the class!!!_

*You can fit 600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 atoms in a standard-sized thimble. *

Let's break that down: that's 600,000 with 6 additional sets of 3 "0"s a piece behind it, each time multipling the value of 600,000 by 1,000:

Here we go:

600,000,000 (600 million) - 1st set

600,000,000,000 (600 billion) - 2nd set

600,000,000,000,000 (600 trillion) - 3rd set

600,000,000,000,000,000 (6,000 trillion) - 4th set

600,000,000,000,000,000,000 (600,000 trillion) - 5th set

600,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 (*600 million trillion*) - 6th set!

*Let's put that into perspective:* if exactly 6,000,000,000 (6 billion) people were to help count up to 600 million trillion, then each one of those people would have to count 100,000,000,000,000 atoms, or 100 trillion atoms.

Now, assuming that a human could count 5 numbers per second without ever taking a breath and without ever resting:

31,557,660 seconds in one year (counted at 365.25 day).

100,000,000,000,000 / 31,557,660 / 5 (for the five digits per second, never stopping, ever) = *633,760.55* years per person to count every atom that can fit inside just one ordinary thimble. That's a little less than 634 thousand years, or 317 times the time span since Christ walked the face of the earth. *Tempus fugit!*


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## Pogo (Jan 26, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> January 23, 2015: disperse factoids
> 
> The United Parcel Service (UPS) was started by two teenagers.
> 
> ...



Eye tests that look like magic

(will not embed as video -- don't know why)


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 26, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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> > January 23, 2015: disperse factoids
> ...





Send the check to...


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 26, 2015)

Pogo - did you like the microscopic storage unit ?


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 27, 2015)

January 27, 2015: *Mozart's birthday!*

259 years ago today, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart was born.

Mozart was the 7th and only surviving son of of Leopold and Anna Marie Mozart.

Mozart was writing music before he could write words. He often wrote musical phrases while playing games with his friends.

Mozart was giving solo piano concerts as a professional at the age of 5.

Mozart was very good at mathematics and liked to scribble mathematical figures all over walls and table cloths, much to the dismay of his parents.

After one of the famous concerts he gave at Schloss (Castle) Schönbrunn in Vienna, young Mozart sprang into a certain lady's lap and asked her to marry him. Her name: Archduchess Marian Antonia, later known as Marie ("let them eat cake") Antoinette.

Mozart composed 33 symphonies between the age of 9 and 18.

He became a freemason in 1984 and lots of freemason symbology shows up in his last opera DIE ZAUBERFLÖTE (The Magic Flute), esp. the use of three repeated chords in B-flat major.

Mozart was into scatalogical humor. Gross. He like to write "poop" jokes to his cousins.

He perhaps died of kidney failure and was buried in a common grave with little fanfare.

On 27th January 2006, all the church bells in Salzburg were rung simultaneously at the exact hour of his birth, in honour of Mozart's 250th birthday.


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## Judicial review (Jan 27, 2015)

I keep thinking of you stat as a big piece of German Chocolate cake.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 28, 2015)

*January 28, 2015:* know what you eat.

Oysters change their gender at least once in their lifetimes. Usually, the progression is from male to female, sometimes the other way around. Therefore, it is technically possible for an oyster to fertilize it's own eggs.

Triggerfish change genders as well. All triggerfish are born female, the largest, more dominant triggerfish changes into a male via "protogyny." The remaining female triggerfish become part of his harem, lucky guy!  When he dies, then the next most dominant triggerfish will turn into a male.  But at least he dies very, very happy.

Here is a triggerfish:












Earthworms and snails are hermaphrodites.  Bet they have some wild parties!

For one type of slime-mold, there are more than 500 possible variations of genders. Oy!


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 29, 2015)

January 29, 2015:






-On the average, it takes 18 hummingbirds together to weigh *one ounce*.

-There are 320 species of hummingbirds to be found. Hummingbirds are native to the "New World" and are not found outside the Western Hemisphere.

-They are the only genus of birds that can also fly backwards. But, they cannot walk or hop.

-The can fly up about 55 mph.

-Avg. hummingbird heartrate: 1,200 beats per minute, 20 times faster than the average human heartbeat.

-At rest, a hummingbird breathes 250 times per minute, or a little more than 4 times per second.

-Hummingbirds have no sense of smell.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 29, 2015)

Bonus factoid, just to tickle Pogo 's funny bone:


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## Mad_Cabbie (Jan 29, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> January 20, 2015.
> William H. Harrison's was the longest inaugural address at 8,445 words. (1841)



When Harrison took office, he delivered the longest inaugural address on record even though the weather was bitterly cold. He further got caught outside in the freezing rain. He ended the inauguration with a cold that grew worse, ending in his death on April 4, 1841. This was only one month after taking office. As stated previously, some people claimed that his death was the result of Tecumseh’s Curse. Oddly, all seven president who were election in a year that ended in a zero were either assassinated or died in office until 1980 when Ronald Reagan survived an assassination attempt and finished out his term.

10 Things to Know About William Henry Harrison


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 29, 2015)

Mad_Cabbie said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
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> > January 20, 2015.
> ...




Except Lincoln, also. He was re-elected in 1864, shot in 1865.


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## Pogo (Jan 29, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Mad_Cabbie said:
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No, Lincoln still counts because he's the same guy that was elected in 1960.

Fun fact from the memory banks- Lincoln, succeeded by a VP named Johnson, had a secretary named Kennedy; Kennedy, succeeded by a VP named Johnson, had a secretary named Lincoln.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 30, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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> > Mad_Cabbie said:
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Then the sentence only works when when slightly changed and one states that "all seven presidents who *were at least once elected* in a year that ends in a zero have been assassinated", because William McKinley was first elected in *1896*, re-elected in *1900*, and then assassinated. Might be semantics, but maybe important in this case.


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 30, 2015)

January 30, 2015: Friday is *BLUE EARTH* day for a while"

Our planet, Factoid number one:

The earth is not a perfect sphere, it's more like a squashed sphere. As Earth spins, gravity points toward the center of our planet (assuming for explanation's sake that Earth is a perfect sphere), and a centrifugal force pushes outward. But since this gravity-opposing force acts perpendicular to the axis of Earth, and Earth's axis is tilted, centrifugal force at the equator is not exactly opposed to gravity. This imbalance adds up at the equator, where gravity pushes extra masses of water and earth into a bulge, or *"spare tire" *around our planet.

Planet Earth Facts 50 Interesting Facts About Earth


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## Statistikhengst (Jan 31, 2015)

*January 31, 2015:* perspective

Russia has a larger surface area than all of Pluto.


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## ChesBayJJ (Jan 31, 2015)

On July 4th, 1826, John Adams and Thomas Jefferson both passed away. 50 years to the day that the two founding fathers and former presidents had signed the Declaration of Independence.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 1, 2015)

Sunday, 01 February, 2015: Sumo Wrestler factoids.

-Sumo wrestling originated in Shinto shrines.

-Sumo-Wrestlers used to be thin and muscular:







-There are no weight divisions in professional Sumo.

-Many sumo are recruited from abroad and are therefore "gaijin".

-Sumo wrestlers engage in a ritual dance before the bout begins. Part of the dance is to face each other, clap their hands simultaneously and then spread their arm wide out - a way of demonstrating that they are carrying no secret weapons.

-The term YOKOZUNA refers to the highest rank among Sumos, their equivalent, if you will, to the black belt. There are no specific requirements for reaching this level, based on grace and agility.

-The under-50 crowd of spectators for Sumo-sport is shrinking very, very rapidly. Sumo fans at events express their dissatisfaction by thowing the cushions upon which they were sitting.

-The Yakuza (Japanese Mafia) like Sumo events.

-Although the Sumo association does not allow females into the "ring", there is also a long tradition of female Sumos:






-Sumo referees take their job so seriously that they carry a more than ceremonial sword with them to commit "Seppuku" (ritual suicide) should their calls be contested.  Talk about a touchy bunch!!


-There is a legend of monsters who can Sumo-wrestle. They are called Kappa.  Perhaps this explains why the Japanese come up with films like Godzilla and Ultraman....


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## Pogo (Feb 1, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Pogo said:
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You don't need the phrase "at least once".  McKinley _was _elected in 1900; that's a fact all by itself, regardless what happened in 1896.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 1, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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Lol...

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## Statistikhengst (Feb 2, 2015)

02 February 2015: WATER WATER WATER

-An estimated 60%-80% of all life on our planet is to be found in our oceans/seas, which comprise 71% of the planet, 97% of all water on the earth and (cubically) 99% of the living space on our planet.

-Currently, as of October 2014, there are 226,408 names species of life in the oceans and it is estimated that there are more than 700,000 species out there.

-90% of all vulcanic activity occurs in the oceans and hardly anyone knows that it happened.

-*The speed of sound in water is nearly five times the speed of sound in the air.*

-The top 3 meters (10 feet) of the world's oceans hold as much heat as the entire atmosphere.

-Antarctica has as much ice as the Atlantic Ocean has water.

-Because the *architecture and chemistry of coral* is so similar to human bone, coral has been used to replace bone grafts in helping human bone to heal quickly and cleanly.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 3, 2015)

03 February, 2015: *Totally Trivial Tuesday!*

Procreation that makes the missionary position look totally boring....








Female kangaroos have three vaginas.
(Male kangaroos have none!!!   )

Flatworms fight each other with their penises.  Talk about cockblocking!

Speaking of penises, an insect called the WATER BOATMAN can "stridulate". This means that it makes a musical sound up to 98 decibels by rubbing it's penis up against something.  Call it a sex symphony!  And not suprisingly, this penile music is part of a mating ritual. This makes the tiny little water insect the loudest creature on Earth in relation to it's body size.

Female hyenas have a clitoris so large, it is often mistaken for a penis. Confusion!!  No wonder people laugh like hyenas!!
(No, I am NOT going to show a picture of this...)







The male-orb weaver spider, in order to avoid getting eaten by his mate during copulation, simply detaches his penis and leaves it alone with the object of his affections to do the job. This kind of penis is called a "palp" and a male orb-weaver spider is equipped with two of them, which means he gets to have bliss twice in his life - well, in a kind of detached way!

Similarly, under the ocean, male Argonauts (a form of octopus) also detach their penis and let it swim over to the female for "the act".








Not to be outdone by kangaroos, Koalas are truly unique: male Koalas have a bifurcated penis, female Koalas have two vaginas. You do the math and figure out the possibilities!

Gracie - you wanted animal factoids, you got'em!!!


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## ChesBayJJ (Feb 3, 2015)

Great stuff, Stats. fascinating facts from the animal world.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 4, 2015)

04 February 2015: *Whacky Wednesday factoids*

There are only 2 escalators in the entire state of Wyoming.

Liberace owned a retracting toilet. It sank into the bathroom floor at the flip of a switch.

Now, that is whacky.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 5, 2015)

05 February 2015: "Twisted Thursday"


*Drunken measuring system:*

In the 1600s, thermometers were often filled with brandy instead of mercury.  Got a fever??


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## g5000 (Feb 5, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Female kangaroos have three vaginas.



Kangaroo gang bang.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 5, 2015)

g5000 said:


> Statistikhengst said:
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> 
> > Female kangaroos have three vaginas.
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LOL!!!


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 6, 2015)

06 February, 2015: *BLUE EARTH FRIDAY*


Terra (the Earth) is moving around Sol (the Sun) at a speed of circa 67,000 mph (107,826 kph). We mere earthlings cannot feel it, but we are always in motion.

Our planet is the only one in our solar system that is not named after an ancient god.

Though by far not the largest planet, our planet is the most dense.






Our home.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 7, 2015)

07 February 2015: Shrill Saturday factoids, totally unrelated from each other.

It costs the U.S. Mint almost twice as much to mint each penny and nickel as the coins are actually worth. Taxpayers lost over $100 million in 2013 just through the coins being made.

In 1567, the man said to have the longest beard in the world died after he her tripped over his beard running away from a fire:


Powerful earthquakes can permanently shorten the length of Earth’s day, by moving the spin of the Earth’s axis. The 2011 Japan earthquake knocked 1.8 microseconds off our days. The 2004 Sumatra quake cost us around 6.8 microseconds.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 8, 2015)

08 February, 2015: Perspective


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 8, 2015)

Sunday bonus: 

*The Internet weighs as much as a single strawberry*




The vast amount of digital information in motion is made of electrons, just like everything else. It’s estimated that global Internet traffic weighs around 50 grams.
Source: nerdshumor.com


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 9, 2015)

09 February 2015: Dumb Laws Day

Texas: TEX PE. CODE ANN. 43.21 Texas Statutes - Section 43.21 DEFINITIONS

The law forbade, up to 2008, buying, selling or owning a dildo. Since then, it was first challenged in court and then modified. Now it is illegal to have more than 6 dildos. Oy!


In Canton, Ohio: If one loses their pet tiger, they must notify the authorities within one hour.

Not to be outdone by "the stupid", in Cleveland, Ohio: Women are forbidden from wearing patent leather shoes, lest men see reflections of their underwear.

In Indiana: If any person has a puppet show, wire dancing or tumbling act in the state of Indiana and receives money for it, they will be fined $3 under the Act to Prevent Certain Immoral Practices.

In Utah: It is considered an offense to hunt whales.
(Uhhh, Utah is a landlocked state...)

In Alabama: It is illegal to sell peanuts in Lee County after sundown on Wednesday.

In Massachusetts: No gorilla is allowed in the back seat of any car.

In Wyoming: You may not take a picture of a rabbit from January to April without an official permit.

In Lehigh, Nebraska: Doughnut holes may not be sold.

In Oklahoma: It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to pretend to have sex with a buffalo.

In Wisconsin: While all cheese making requires a license, Limburger cheese making requires a master cheese maker’s license.

In West Virginia Whistling underwater is prohibited.


More dumb laws in one week...


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 10, 2015)

10 February 2015: *Totally Trivial Tuesday*

_*The Lone Ranger*_ was the first TV show ever to be done in reruns.

_*Die Hard*_:
Bruce Willis was not the first choice for the lead actor: first, Arnaaaahhhhhld Schwarzenegger was asked. When he turned the role down, then they asked Sly Stallone, then Burt Reynolds, Richard Gere (yes, Mr. Gerbil) and Harrison Ford. They all turned the role down. So, Bruce Willis was choice no. 6.

The scene where McClane (Willis) falls down an elevator shaft was a mistake. The stunt man slipped and missed the first vent and kept falling, and since the footage was so good, the director decided to keep it.

The scene where Willis shot a terrorist through the bottom of a table used blanks that were so loud, they cause permanent damage to his hearing.

*That look of terror on Hans Gruber’s face as he falls to his death is genuine.*  Alan Rickman was supposed to fall 40 feet on the count of 3, but they deliberately pushed him on the count of two to achieve a look of surprise. They used the first take for the film and managed to piss off Rickman in the process.  

And just for fun:

The first TV couple to share a bed was not on "The Brady Bunch" or "The Munsters," but was on the "Mary Kay and Johnny" show in 1947. It was the first situation comedy ever. And they were a real, live couple, so when she got pregnant in real life, she also got pregnant on TV...


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 11, 2015)

11 February, 2015: *Whacky Wild Wooly Wednesday!*

Speaking of wool:






Sheep can easily recognize up to 50 other sheep faces and remember them for 2 years, and they can also recognize human faces. 8% of sheep are gay. Please, do not ask me how they came up with this number. I shudder!!! But about 700 sheep were filmed in the making of  "Brokeback Mountain"!  

I bet you know what a ram, a(n) ewe and a lamb is, but do you know what a "*Wether*" is?  It's a _castrated_ male sheep.

There are roughly 1.2 billion sheep on the planet. But the number of sheep in the USA has declined sharply since 1945. TX, WY and CA are the three states with the most of those lovely bleating creatures in the USA. There are 47 different breeds of sheep to be found in the USA. Baaaaah!

However, there are 34.2 million sheep in New Zealand, or approximately *seven sheep for every human*.

We have discovered woolen cloth that dates back to 10,000 B.C. By the time the Romans invaded Britain in 55 B.C., British woolen clothes were prized for their softness, and a wool industry had already been developed in the nation.

Sheep have excellent peripheral vision. Their *large, rectangular pupils* allow them to see almost 360 degrees. In fact, they can see behind themselves without turning their heads!

Sheep and goats may _look_ similar, but they're completely different species. Sheep have 54 chromosomes, while goats have 60 chromosomes.

The four main products from sheep are lamb (meat from sheep younger than 14 months), mutton (meat from sheep older than 14 months), wool and sheep's milk.

Not only humans eat sheep. Coyotes, dogs, bears, big cats, foxes and eagles do as well.  Even some crocodiles have been known to munch on a wooly one now and again.  Coyote - how could you?!?!?!?!?!?!?

*Wool*, the fiber made from the fleece of the sheep, is durable, insulating, wrinkle-resisting, fire-resistant and moisture-absorbing. It makes an ideal fabric for sweaters, coats, rugs, blankets and much more. A sheep, depending on its type, can produce anywhere from two to 30 pounds of wool per year.

Presidential sheep  : During World War I, President Woodrow Wilson had a flock of sheep trim the White House lawn. Cost-effective!!

In 1996, Dolly, a Finnish Dorset sheep (named after Dolly Parton), was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell. She was euthanized in 2003 due to lung disease.


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## Luddly Neddite (Feb 11, 2015)

Very cool thread, Stat. 

Thanks.


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## Coyote (Feb 11, 2015)

I love sheep.  Did you know I love sheep?  Very much.  A little barbee sauce...umh...never mind that bit.

For some reason...nobody trusts me...






Funny thing....though...my dog Cowboy and I used to herd sheep 






This was oh, 6 or 7 years ago I think - he's being pushy.  His job is to keep them to the fence, but he's pushing them ahead of me.





Here he's doing a nice job getting the one sheep off the fence.






And this is what is NOT supposed to happen! 


Nice thread!


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 11, 2015)

Coyote said:


> I love sheep.  Did you know I love sheep?  Very much.  A little barbee sauce...umh...never mind that bit.
> 
> For some reason...nobody trusts me...
> 
> ...






GREAT PHOTOS!!!


BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 12, 2015)

12 February, 2015: Twhackery Thursday!

Major long-shot: only 1 in 2 Billion humans makes it to the age of 116.

Speaking of homo-sapiens, only circa 30% of them can flare their nostrils.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 13, 2015)

13 February, 2015: *Frolicy Friday*

The Canary Islands are named after:
















































A large breed of dogs.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 14, 2015)

*14 February 2015:* Valentine's Day Heart Factoids






The average human heart generates enough energy in one day to drive a truck for 20 miles (32 Km). In an average lifetime, that is the equivalent of driving to the moon - and back.

Your heart can keep beating even if it is separated from the body, because it has it's own electrical impulse -  as long as it has an oxygen supply.

75 TRILLION CELLS receive blood. Only the corneas don't.  They get their oxygen direct from the air.

The average heart weighs between 7 and 15 ounces and is only slightly larger than your own fist. A normal heart valve is about the size of a half-dollar coin.
To contrast: the heart of a blue whale weighs 1,500 lbs.

Having an orgasm at least 3 times a weeks cuts the risk of coronary heart disease in half.

The average heart will pump circa 1.5 million barrels of blood in your lifetime, enough to fill 200 train tank cars.

Instead of chest pain, women suffering heart attacks often experience nausea, indigestion and shoulder aches.
Statistically, you are more likely to have a heart attack on a Monday morning than any other time of the week.

The average heart beats over 100,000 times per day and can beat up to 3.5 TRILLION times in an average lifespan. The human heart starts beating 22 days after conception. Male and female hearts start beating at the same rate, but by birth, female hearts tend to beat slightly faster than male hearts.

No, a sneeze does NOT stop your heart. That is a myth.

Your heartbeat changes and mimics the music you listen to.

Your left lung is SMALLER than your right lung, to make room for your heart. That being said, the heart is actually still right in the middle of the body. There is, however, a very small part of the population with DEXTROCARDIA, where the heart is nestled over the right lung instead of the left.

Eating a little dark chocolate every day reduces the risk of heart disease by 1/3. So does eating a "mediterranean diet": 

Couples who are in love synchronize their heart rates after staring into each others' eyes for 3 minutes.
The same thing happens to choir singers after about 1/2 hour of rehearsing a steady-tempo piece of music.
Guess that's one sure-fire way to know if you are in love... or if you like to sing choral music!

Laughing is HEART HEALTH. Laughing sends 20% more blood flowing through your body and it relaxes the vessel walls.


So, laugh at lot, eat some chocolate, have sex at least three times a week, and good luck to you!!


----------



## Statistikhengst (Feb 16, 2015)

16 February 2015: KARNEVAL MONDAY in Germany (Rosenmontag):






On Rosenmontag 2014, 23,944 people were a part of the Rosenmontag Parade and well over 1,000,000 came to enjoy the parade, perhaps as many as 1.5 million.

 bull Karneval - Teilnehmer am Rosenmontagszug in K ln 2014 Statistik

In 2010-2011, 2.4 million adult costumes, 1.3 million childrens' costumes,  1 million wigs, 2.15 million hats, 6.7 million make-up kits and 35 million miscellaneous articles were bought for Karneval. Profit margin: 300.2 million EUROS.

 bull Deutscher Karneval in Zahlen Statistik

Considerably more beer will be consumed on Karnevalsmontag in Germany than during the entire Oktoberfest in München.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 18, 2015)

18 February, 2015: assorted whackiness

The adult literacy rate in Iceland: 100%

Queen Latifah once worked at a Burger King.

A dog's memory span: 5 minutes
A cat's memory span: 16 hours.....


----------



## Statistikhengst (Feb 19, 2015)

19 February, 2015: *shedding some light on all of this*

The very first cities in the world to be equipped with electrical streetlights: 

Public Square, Cleveland, Ohio, on April 29, 1879, then in Wabash, Indiana, on March 31, 1880.
They were called "Brush Lights" back then.

The first European city to be equipped with electrical streelights: Temesvar (then: Hungary, today: Romania), in 1884.

The very first area to be completely equipped with solar-powered electrical streetlights:  The Sundarbun Tiger Reserves, in West Bengal, India, in 2008. But individual smaller areas (like 1 streetblock or 1 individual light) have also been solar powered, mostly as test projects, including on in Kabul, Afghanistan.


*BTW:* "Sundar" in Hindi means elegant or georgeous.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Feb 20, 2015)

20 February 2015: Freaky Coincidence Friday

If you are from Ohio, you will get an especially good laugh out of this one.
And if your real name happens to be Hugh Williams, you can now wipe the sweat from your brow....


































































29 Mind-Blowing Coincidences You Won t Believe Happened Cracked.com


----------



## Statistikhengst (Feb 21, 2015)

21 February, 2015: Slip-Slidey-Accident-Prone Saturday!

10 of the Freakiest Freak Accidents Ever - Mandatory

1.)



> *DIRE HYDRANT*
> 
> We often think of fire hydrants as benevolent protectors against sudden fires or unseasonably hot days, rarely considering what foul plans these stout metal appliances may have in store for us.
> 
> Oakland citizen Humberto Hernandez realized the truth behind fire hydrants far too late when a 2007 car crash launched a 200-lb. fireplug right at his head. This wouldn’t be that unusual — cars hit hydrants all the time, often causing fatal injuries to the drivers and passengers — except that Hernandez wasn’t driving the car. He and his wife were strolling peacefully along the sidewalk when a Ford Escape blew a tire, swerving into and “uprooting” a hydrant, which was propelled by the collision and the stream of water into the luckless Californian’s brain pan.



2.)



> *BLOOD POISONING: THE ULTIMATE FEAT OF STRENGTH*
> 
> Siegmund “Zishe” Breitbart lived an interesting life. He was born to an Orthodox family near Lodz and led a boring traditional life as a blacksmith until the siren call of the circus beckoned.
> 
> ...



3.)



> *LAWNBOMBER OR DIVEMOWER?*
> 
> What could be a better example of all-American old-fashioned fun than taking in a football game? What about a football game featuring a halftime show by a semi-professional radio-controlled model aircraft organization? That was the wonderfully promising day that Nashua NH resident John Bowen had stretching before him in December of 1979: a Jets-Patriots game at Shea Stadium spiced up with a delightful exhibition of buzzy little toy airplanes.
> 
> ...




7 more examples at the site.

No. 6 is my favorite...


----------



## Statistikhengst (Feb 22, 2015)

22 February 2015: *Super-Weird Facts Sunday*

*Strange Facts About History*


(excerpts)

George Washington grew marijuana in his garden.

The women of the Tiwi tribe in the South Pacific are married at birth.

When Albert Einstein died, his final words died with him. The nurse at his side didn't understand German.

St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish.

The lance ceased to be an official battle weapon in the British Army in 1927.

St. John was the only one of the 12 Apostles to die a natural death.

Many sailors used to wear gold earrings so that they could afford a proper burial when they died.

A South African monkey was once awarded a medal and promoted to the rank of corporal during World War I.

The Toltecs, Seventh-century native Mexicans, went into battle with wooden swords so as not to kill their enemies.

China banned the pigtail in 1911 as it was seen as a symbol of feudalism.

Sliced bread was patented by a jeweler, Otto Rohwedder, in 1928. He had been working on it for 16 years, having started in 1912.

An American aircraft in Vietnam shot itself down with one of its own missiles.

The Nobel Prize resulted form a late change in the will of Alfred Nobel, who did not want to be remembered after his death as a propagator of violence - he invented dynamite.

Mao Rse-Tang, the first chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, was born 26 December 1893. Before his rise to power, he occupied the humble
position of Assistant Librarian at the University of Peking.

Coffee is the second largest item of international commerce in the world. The largest is petrol.

When George I became King of England in 1714, his wife did not become Queen. He placed her under house arrest for 32 years.

During World War One, the future Pope John XXIII was a sergeant in the Italian Army.

The magic word "Abracadabra" was originally intended for the specific purpose of curing hay fever.

The Puritans forbade the singing of Christmas Carols, judging them to be out of keeping with the true spirit of Christmas.

Albert Einstein was once offered the Presidency of Israel. He declined saying he had no head for problems.

Uri Geller, the professional psychic was born on December 20 1946. As to the origin of his alleged powers, Mr Geller maintains that they come from the distant planet of Hoova.

Ralph and Carolyn Cummins had 5 children between 1952 and 1966, all were born on the 20 February.

John D. Rockefeller gave away over US$ 500,000,000 during his lifetime.

The 'Hundred Years War' lasted 116 years.

John Glenn, the American who first orbited the Earth, was showered with 3,529 tonnes of ticker tape when he got back.

At the age of 12, Martin Luther King became so depressed he tried committing suicide twice, by jumping out of his bedroom window.

The Turk's consider it considered unlucky to step on a piece of bread.

Upon the death of F.D. Roosevelt, Harry S Truman became the President of America on 12 April 1945. The initial S in the middle of his name doesn't in fact mean anything. Both his grandfathers had names beginning with 'S', and so Truman's mother didn't want to disappoint either of them.

One of Queen Victoria's wedding gifts was a 3 metre diameter, half tonne cheese.

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never phoned his wife or his mother, they were both deaf.

Peter the Great had the head of his wife's lover cut off and put into a jar of preserving alcohol, which he then ordered to be placed by her bed.

Atilla the Hun is thought to have been a dwarf.

On 15 April 1912 the SS Titanic sunk on her maiden voyage and over 1,500 people died. Fourteen years earlier a novel was published by Morgan Robertson which seemed to foretell the disaster. The book described a ship the same size as the Titanic which crashes into an iceberg on its maiden voyage on a misty April night. The name of Robertson's fictional ship was the Titan.

The women of an African tribe make themselves more attractive by permanently scaring their faces.

Some moral purists in the Middle Ages believed that women's ears ought to be covered up because the Virgin May had conceived a child through them.

The Emperor Caligula once decided to go to war with the Roman God of the sea, Poseidon, and ordered his soldiers to throw their spears into the water at random.

Sir Winston Churchill rationed himself to 15 cigars a day.

The word 'denim' comes from 'de Nimes', Nimes being the town the fabric was originally produced.

Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.

It is illegal to play tennis in the streets of Cambridge.

Marie Currie, who twice won the Nobel Prize, and discovered radium, was not allowed to become a member of the prestigious French Academy because she was a woman.

It was quite common for the men of Ancient Greece to exercise in public .. naked.

John Paul Getty, once the richest man in the world, had a payphone in his mansion.

Adolf Eichmann (responsible for countless Jewish deaths during World war II), was originally a traveling salesman for the Vacuum Oil Co. of Austria.

The Matami Tribe of West Africa play a version of football, the only difference being that they use a human skull instead of a more normal ball.

John Winthrop introduced the fork to the American dinner table for the first time on 25 June 1630.

When shipped to the US, the London bridge ( thought by the new owner to be the more famous Tower Bridge ) was classified by US customs to be a 'large antique'.

Sir Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' cloakroom after his mother went into labour during a dance at Blenheim Palace.

The 'Crystal Palace' at the Great Exhibition of 1851, contained 92 900 square meters of glass.

It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on their testicles when taking an oath. The modern term 'testimony' is derived from this tradition.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 23, 2015)

23 February 2015: electoral factoid.

Only once in our history have two candidates of the two major parties been nominated twice and lost twice, back to back, one candidate, then the other. I call this the 2 by 2 by 2 syndrome and as I mentioned, it's only happened once in our history, over 4 consecutive cycles:

1944 and 1948: Thomas Dewey  (R), nominated twice, lost both times.

1952 and 1956: Adlai E. Stevenson III  (D), nominated twice, lost twice.

Two two-time losers, back to back.



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## Statistikhengst (Feb 25, 2015)

25 February 2015: Whacky Wednesday Electoral Trivia

Seeing double?

Statistics down to the 1/100th of a percent:

Missouri, 1920: *Harding +11.43%*
Missouri, 1928: *Hoover +11.43%*

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2012&fips=29&f=1&off=0&elect=0&type=state

*You are not seeing double!*

The great state of Missouri is the ONLY state in the Union to be won TWICE by exactly the same percentage margin, down to the 100th of a percentage point, in that state's electoral history - ever in the history of our Union.

Not only that, this phenomenon happened within 8 years time and the win went to the same party. It's not happened before or since then.


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## Statistikhengst (Feb 28, 2015)

28 February 2015:

in honor of Leonard Nimoy - the Vulcan gesture (hand raised, palm showing, a V between the middle two fingers of the hand) you saw on Star Trek was actually a gesture the the Hebrew High Priests (V'hakohaneem) used to greet each other upon entereing the holy of holies in the Temple of David. The idea to use the gesture in Star Trek came from him.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Mar 3, 2015)

Sorry, folks, was gone for 8 days on a journey, could not post every day.

03 March 2015: outer space

The visible universe contains 200 BILLION galaxies, most all of them spiral in form...

October 10, 1967 Outer Space was given away by many governments. The “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,” was originally promulgated by the U.S, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom. 


That's a lot of outer space that supposedly belongs to US.

LOL.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Mar 5, 2015)

05 March 2015

Today is the one day Jewish Holiday known as PURIM.

Here some wild and wooly Purim facts:

Purim - Fun Facts and Information

What is Purim Learn All About the Jewish Holiday Purim

Drinking Alcohol is mandatory on Purim!! (At least for Jewish males)


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## Pogo (Mar 5, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> 05 March 2015
> 
> Today is the one day Jewish Holiday known as PURIM.
> 
> ...




This is what's mandatory for me...





​You can have the prunes.  I gots dibs on the apricots.  

For the uninitiated this ^^ is the best baked good _ever_.  And if there's one thing Pogo knows, it's food.  Oy.


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## Statistikhengst (Mar 7, 2015)

07 March 2015: very weird world records

Hans Langseth had the longest beard at a record length of 17 1/2 feet long! When he died, his beard was given to the Smithsonian Institute.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a basketball game in 1962, when he played for the Philadelphia Warriors.

The longest movie made lasts 85 hours and is fittingly titled “The Cure for Insomnia.”

The longest bout of hiccups lasted 69 years!

Oy!


----------



## Statistikhengst (Mar 9, 2015)

09 February 2015: cold as hell facts!

Top 11 Amazing Facts about Siberia To Discover Russia

Siberia is 57% of all of Russia, and alone is as large as Canada.

In Siberia there is a unique Lake Baikal. *The size of Lake Baikal is about equal to the square area of the Netherlands*. It is the deepest freshwater lake in the world. It is also the oldest lake in the world. And it is the cleanest lake in the world. Only one river flows from the lake – the Angara River. The water in Lake Baikal is very clear – up to 50 m. Approximately 20% of the world’s fresh water is the water of Lake Baikal. In the Lake Baikal area each year more than 2000 earthquakes take place. At the lake most of the time there is sunny weather.

Permafrost is located in Siberia in the northern part of Western Siberia (about until the latitude of the Ob River) and in the greater part of East Siberia, Trans-Baikal. Negative temperatures penetrate the earth’s crust to a depth of up to 1300-1500 m; their minimal average values reach -15 …- 16 degrees Celsius.

Much more at the link...


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## Pogo (Mar 9, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> 09 February 2015: cold as hell facts!
> 
> Top 11 Amazing Facts about Siberia To Discover Russia
> 
> ...



Lake Baikal:






Camping --









In winter...






The middle image doesn't show up in my post but it does on Google so I'll have to assume it's a site error...


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## Statistikhengst (Mar 15, 2015)

15.03.2015

Today is the "Ides of March", a day associated with some brutal murders. But how did it all get started?

Ides of March



> The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:
> 
> 
> *Kalends* (1st day of the month)
> ...




Ides of March Facts Day of Doom and Debts




> Thanks to the Bard, the bloody events of 44 B.C. forever linked March 15—also called the Ides of March—with fulfilled prophecies of doom.
> 
> "That line of the soothsayer, 'Beware the ides of March,' is a pithy line and people remember it, even if they don't know why," said Georgianna Ziegler, head of reference at Washington, D.C.'s Folger Shakespeare Library.
> 
> ...




Interesting system....


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## Mindful (Mar 15, 2015)

Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.


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## Pogo (Mar 15, 2015)

I didn't.  I Googled.  Fascinating.


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## Statistikhengst (Mar 15, 2015)

Mindful said:


> Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.


Damn she is hot. Absolutely my type.

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## Pogo (Mar 15, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Mindful said:
> 
> 
> > Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.
> ...



She's 100.
In years I mean.


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## Mindful (Mar 15, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > Mindful said:
> ...




She's dead. Ashes scattered in the Vienna Woods.


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## Statistikhengst (Mar 16, 2015)

16 March 2015: how small can you live?

10 of the smallest homes in the world A truly eco-abode MNN - Mother Nature Network

and:



And then there is this (fascinating):



I think I'd prefer a mansion.


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## Statistikhengst (Mar 17, 2015)

17 March 2015, St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick s Day the history myths and fun facts - National Globalnews.ca

St. Patrick s Day Facts Trivia to Share Over a Pint Discovery News



> *The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.
> 
> The largest parade in the United States, held since 1762, is in New York City, and draws more than one million spectators each year.
> 
> ...


----------



## Statistikhengst (Mar 21, 2015)

21.03.2015 (sorry about a short absence)

6 of the strangest coincidences evuh!!

6 Insane Coincidences You Won t Believe Actually Happened Cracked.com

I will simply let people go to the link, quote and enjoy.

WEIRD.


----------



## Mindful (Mar 21, 2015)

Karl Marx.

Draft dodger, lousy husband and father, wealthy-born champion  of the working man (in theory; he never did a day’s work in his life), and, most amusingly, piss-poor poet.


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## Statistikhengst (Mar 22, 2015)

*22.03.2015:  ICE-CREAM FACTOIDS*


National Ice Cream Month 10 Weird Facts You Never Knew About the Best Summer Treat - Mic



> ...Many people do not know the origins of ice cream, but either it dates to A.D 54–68 where Roman Emperor Nero is said to have sent his slaves into the mountains to fetch snow to mix with nectar, fruit pulp, and honey, though it is just speculation. Other sources claim in A.D. 618–907, China's T'ang period, ice cream was probably a dish for the country's rulers. The founder of the dynasty, King T'ang of Shang, kept 94 "ice men" on hand to lug ice to the palace to make a dish made of koumiss (heated, fermented milk), flour, and camphor...
> 
> ...* Americans eat on average 20 quarts a year!..
> 
> ...


*

Facts About Ice Cream - Part 4




			...Ice Cream Sundaes were created when it became illegal to sell ice cream with flavoured soda on a Sunday in the American town of Evanston during the late 19th century. Some traders got round it by serving it with syrup instead, calling it an 'Ice Cream Sunday' and eventually replacing the final 'y' with an 'e' to avoid upsetting religious leaders......If you only take a few scoops form a large tub of ice cream, protect the quality of the ice cream by preventing air getting to it by scrunching up a few pieces of greaseproof paper and put these on top of the ice cream before replacing the lid......Ice cream which is not labelled with the word 'dairy' may be made with vegetable oils which may include palm kernel oil (NB The ice cream may still contain more milk protein weight for weight than milk itself and may also contain dairy fat) some sufferers of extreme allergies may wish to look out for this. ...
		
Click to expand...

And just for good measure:



*


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## Dot Com (Mar 25, 2015)

Mindful said:


> Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.


fascinating.  I did not know this.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Mar 26, 2015)

Sorry for the slight absence, lots to do right now, will slow down next week.

Whew.




26.03.2015, Astronomy Picture of the day (NASA) - ORION SPRING






APOD 2015 March 26 - Orion Spring

Cool details (factoids) at the link..... dig, dig, dig....


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## Statistikhengst (Mar 30, 2015)

30 March 2015: flummoxing animal terms

Q. What's the seabird with the zoological name Puffinus puffinus?













......




















......








No, it's no the Puffin. Keep thinking....




























A. The Manx Shearwater.









Also known in German as the Schwarzschnabel Sturmtaucher.

Schwarz = black
Schnabel = beak
Sturm = storm
Taucher = Diver

So, the black-beaked storm-diver!!!


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## Pogo (Mar 31, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> 30 March 2015: flummoxing animal terms
> 
> Q. What's the seabird with the zoological name Puffinus puffinus?
> 
> ...



I'm still a-chuckle over the species name of _troglodytes troglodytes_ ....


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 2, 2015)

02 April 2015

Familiar Phrases I

*PARTING SHOT:* a final cutting remark or severe look at the end of an argument.

Origin: as unlikely as it seems, this term evolved from the term "Parthian" or "Parthian Shaft". Circa 1 B.C.(E.) in Western Asia, Parthian warriors were known for firing Arrows _backward_ as they were retreating from the enemy.





Parthian shot, from a carved plate in the British Museum.





*note the following: bow held in right hand, while left hand has fingers down, bow drawn by the thumb, arrow on the left side of the bow. This is the Steppe method used by the Scythians, from whom the Parthians derived.

The modern archer - meaning, at least as far back as the English Longbowman - holds the bow in the left hand, draws the string with 2 (or 3) fingers of the right, holding the tip of the index finger at the corner of the mouth. Shaft is still on the left.*


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 6, 2015)

06 April 2015, Monday

A *misodoctakleidist* is:


someone who hates to practice the piano!


----------



## rightwinger (Apr 6, 2015)

Mindful said:


> Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.


 
I know she had a patent in communications for frequency hopping technology

Other than that, she was in Blazing Saddles


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 7, 2015)

07 April, 2015

Researchers say: the three things that pregnant women dream of most during their first trimester are:

1.) Frogs
2.) Worms
3.) Potted plants.


ok.....


----------



## rightwinger (Apr 7, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> 07 April, 2015
> 
> Researchers say: the three things that pregnant women dream of most during their first trimester are:
> 
> ...


 
I always thought they dreamed about killing the son of a bitch that got them pregnant


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 7, 2015)

rightwinger said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > 07 April, 2015
> ...





Well, "frog", mebbe????


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 8, 2015)

*08 April 2015: *

Moscow is geographically closer to Washington D.C. than Honolulu is.

51st state???


----------



## rightwinger (Apr 8, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *08 April 2015: *
> 
> Moscow is geographically closer to Washington D.C. than Honolulu is.
> 
> 51st state???


 
I can see Moscow from my house


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 8, 2015)

rightwinger said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > *08 April 2015: *
> ...




Hmmmmmm.....


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 9, 2015)

*09 April 2015*

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 11, 2015)

*11 April 2015*

In most card decks, the King of Hearts is the only King WITHOUT a moustache.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 13, 2015)

*13 April 2015:*

More babies are conceived in December than in any other month.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 14, 2015)

*14 April 2015:*

Russia has a larger surface area than all of Pluto.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 15, 2015)

*15 April 2015:*

The first golf-course in the world with 18 holes was St. Andrews in Scotland, in 1764, 251 years ago.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 16, 2015)

*16 April 2015:*

Earthworms have five hearts.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 17, 2015)

*17 April 2015:*

Toto the dog was paid $125.00 per week for his work in THE WIZARD OF OZ.



Wonder how he cashed the checks......


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 20, 2015)

*20 April 2015:*

The Elvis Presley hit "Hound Dog" was written to completion in about 10 minutes time.


----------



## Pogo (Apr 20, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *20 April 2015:*
> 
> The Elvis Presley hit "Hound Dog" was written to completion in about 10 minutes time.



By Jerry Lieber and Mike Stoller (who wrote gazillions of hits in the 1950s) for Big Mama Thornton.

Using a "black slang expression referring to a man who sought a woman to take care of him",[7] the song's opening line, "You ain't nothin' but a hound dog", was a euphemism, said Leiber[5] The song, a Southern blues lament,[8] is "the tale of a woman throwing a gigolo out of her house and her life":[9]  -- Wiki​
​Another famous tune that was written in about the same amount of time, a tune that got so popular (second only to Paul McCartney's "Yesterday"), so successful that the royalties pretty much funded the writer for the rest of his life, was "Gentle On My Mind" by John Hartford.  He had been sitting at a movie filled with wistful scenes of travel and relationships, came home with all that in his head and just wrote it down.  The movie was _Doctor Zhivago_.

​


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 22, 2015)

*22 April 2015:*

Why did Thomas Henry Huxley invent the word _agnostic_ in 1869?

He got tired of being called an atheist.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 23, 2015)

*23.04.2015*

Ants have five different noses. Each nose detects a specific category of smell.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 24, 2015)

*24.04.2015*

London police photographed the eyes of Jack the Ripper's victims...

..theorizing that his image might be recorded in their retinas.

True story.


----------



## westwall (Apr 24, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *09 April 2015*
> 
> Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature.









Not entirely factual.  Francium melts at 80 degrees F, Cesium at 83.2 F and Gallium at 85.6 F.  Rubidium melts at 102.8 so while not a room I would particularly wish to inhabit, some do!


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 24, 2015)

westwall said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > *09 April 2015*
> ...




Uhmmmmm, I think room temperature means a room that humans can survive in.....

Which is now absolute proof that you are an alien!







Come on, admit it!!!


----------



## westwall (Apr 24, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> westwall said:
> 
> 
> > Statistikhengst said:
> ...







Naaaah, those guys are dweebs!

Here's a self portrait!


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 24, 2015)

westwall said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > westwall said:
> ...





I knew it, I knew it!

You are a Zaphrosian, from Zaphros V.

Wunderbar!


----------



## westwall (Apr 24, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> westwall said:
> 
> 
> > Statistikhengst said:
> ...









Close...but no ceegar.  And my real name is Cosmo......Cosmo Bazoo from the planet Rupert!


----------



## Statistikhengst (Apr 24, 2015)

westwall said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > westwall said:
> ...





Intergalactic translator says:

feed me intergalactic credits, I will say any name you want.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 27, 2015)

*27.04.2015*

In the orginal draft of STAR TREK (TOS), the _Enterprise_ was called the U.S.S. _Yorktown_.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 28, 2015)

*28.04.2015*

William Howard Taft was the second US President to own a car, but he was too fat too drive it.


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## Statistikhengst (Apr 30, 2015)

*30.04.2015*

The skin on the soles of your feet is call the *stratum corneum* (Latin for "horney layer").


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## Statistikhengst (May 1, 2015)

*01.05.2015*

How did Air Force 1 get it's name?

In December 1953, Pres. Eisenhower's plane, called the "Columbine II" was on a flight over New York City, identified by air traffic controllers simply as "Air Force 8610." With President Eisenhower on board, it nearly collided mid-air with a commercial airliner also flight-numbered 8610. The near-tragedy prompted the Federal Aviation Administration to designate a call sign for any aircraft that the president of the United States is aboard. The Columbine II became the first Air Force One.

Right now, the Columbine II is wasting away in the Arizona desert.

The first Air Force One is wasting away in the desert - CNNPolitics.com


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## Statistikhengst (May 2, 2015)

*02.05.2015*

Roll of a lifetime: Vivien Leigh used her Oscar as a toilet paper holder.

Well, actually, it was the French version of the Oscar: _L'Étoile de Cristal






_


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## Statistikhengst (May 3, 2015)

*03.05.2015:*

*The Virginias
*​*




*
See for yourself: Virginia extends 95 miles farther west than West Virginia! 

In their defense, West Virginians orginally planned to call their newly formed state by another name:
*
Kanawha.*


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## Statistikhengst (May 5, 2015)

*05.05.2015*

The ancient greeks believed that lying would cause massive toothaches.


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## Statistikhengst (May 6, 2015)

*06.05.2015:*

There are over 7,000 varieties of apples in the USA alone.


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## Statistikhengst (May 7, 2015)

*07.05.2015:*


Tears are 0.9% salt.


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## Statistikhengst (May 8, 2015)

*08.05.2015:*

There are no rhymes in the English language for "orange", "silver" or "purple".


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## Gracie (May 10, 2015)

For LOTR fans.......

Lord of the Rings Spoof Page

(For example...most of the riders were women. Jackson needed people with *their own* horses...80% of those that requested to ride in the film were women and wore fake beards and mustaches).


The actors who played the Riders of Rohan may surprise you. "Ideally, we wanted guys who were six feet tall with long hair and long beards to ride the horses," says Steve Old, head the Horse Department. "On New Zealand's South Island, though, it's mostly females who ride horses. In the end, we probably had five guys and the remaining 250 or so riders were women dressed as men! And the average age of the women was about 50."


The Orc battle cries for the Helm's Deep battle sequence were provided by a stadium of 25,000 cricket fans, who screamed the war chants, spelled out on the Diamond Vision screen, with Jackson himself leading the crowd.


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## Statistikhengst (May 10, 2015)

*10.05.2015*

On the average, 14 Americans are killed per year by VENDING MACHINES that fall on them.

Oy.


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## Statistikhengst (May 11, 2015)

*11.05.2015*

Perspective.

Circumference of the Earth:  24,901.55 miles

Width of the Great Red Spot on Jupiter: 25,000 miles







The earth could easily fit into that red spot:


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## Statistikhengst (May 12, 2015)

*12.05.2015 : This is a person whom I want to meet!*

*Grass Guzzler:* in 1986, a guy at the time known as Ben Garcia rode his lawn-mower from Old Orchard Beach, ME to Los Angeles CA, a 2,801 mile ride. ON A LAWNMOWER!!!


But there is much more to this guy than just this one amazing story, he is fascinating:

Strange Maine Out of the mower into the phonebooth

(info as to why he changed his name at the link)

And a follow up, here:

New Port Richey man goes for Guinness World Record in a phone booth Tampa Bay Times

Month in phone booth in search of Guinness record comes to an end Tampa Bay Times


And something new here:

West Pasco artist putting in a peak performance 



And something very poignant here:

Pasco Unflagging zeal


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## Pogo (May 12, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *11.05.2015*
> 
> Perspective.
> 
> ...




Eh - I dunno about "easily" -- you've got less than 100 miles clearance, without counting the atmosphere layers, half of which would be sheared off including the ionosphere.  Taking the aurora away


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## Statistikhengst (May 13, 2015)

*12.05.2015: rubbery cannabilism!*

If an octopus is hungry enough, it will eat its own arms.


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## Pogo (May 13, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *12.05.2015: rubbery cannabilism!*
> 
> If an octopus is hungry enough, it will eat its own arms.



Fun fact:

The Beatles set out on a movie venture with a temporary working title song "Eight Arms to Hold You" (another Ringoism).  This octopudinal concept was soon dropped in favour of Lennon's new song "Help". 

Ringo made his squid-mark (hee hee) a few years later when he wrote "Octopus' Garden" during an impulsive holiday when he temporarily quit and walked out of the recording studio, having tired of the bickering (during which time Paul McCartney played drums, with audibly second-rate results; see "Dear Prudence" and "Back In the USSR")


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## Statistikhengst (May 14, 2015)

*14.05.2015: Money away!!*

More than 70% of all US currency in circulation is held in foreign countries.


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## Statistikhengst (May 15, 2015)

*15.05.2015 The IDES of May!*

The big picture: The very first VCR, made in 1956, was about the size of a piano...






That's the AMPEX VRX-1000, and it sold in 1956 for about $50,000.


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## Statistikhengst (May 16, 2015)

*16.05.2015: Terms of the times*

What does "genitofemoral neuropathy" mean?  "Jeans are too tight!"


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## Statistikhengst (May 18, 2015)

*18.05.2015*

A wolf's howl can be heard as far as seven miles away.

A bullfrog's croak: one mile.



Wolfsister77


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## Statistikhengst (May 19, 2015)

*19.05.2015*

J, the youngest letter in the English alphabet, was not added until the 1600s.


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## Wolfsister77 (May 19, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *18.05.2015*
> 
> A wolf's howl can be heard as far as seven miles away.
> 
> ...



Statistikhengst 

I can believe it. Cool!! Thanks!!


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## Statistikhengst (May 20, 2015)

*20.05.2015*

The word "hussy" originally meant "housekeeper".


----------



## Statistikhengst (May 21, 2015)

*21.05.2015*

Napoleon's writing was so unreadable...

...that many of his personal letters were mistaken for battlefield maps.


No joke.


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## Statistikhengst (May 22, 2015)

*22.05.2015*

The fishing reel was invented around the year 300 AD.


----------



## Statistikhengst (May 23, 2015)

*23.05.2015*

Fully grown, Argentina's falabella horses are only 28-32 inches tall.







Falabella - Wikipedia the free encyclopedia


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## Statistikhengst (May 25, 2015)

*25.05.2015*

Memorial Day factoids

Memorial Day, which was first known as "Decoration Day" sprang from the carnage of the Civil the Civil War and women began the tradition:

Ten facts about Memorial Day - CNN.com

(Many good details at the link, worth reading!)

You might find point no. 4 to be very enlightening.


Happy Memorial Day


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## Statistikhengst (May 26, 2015)

*26.05.2015:  Prickly, prickly, prickly*

There are 1,000 barbs in a single porcupine quill.


----------



## Statistikhengst (May 28, 2015)

*28.05.2015: unknown import*

Bagpipes were invented in Iran and brought to Scotland by the Romans.


----------



## Statistikhengst (May 29, 2015)

*29.05.2015: Evolution???*

Your fingernails are made from the same substance as a bird's beak.


----------



## Statistikhengst (May 30, 2015)

*30.05.2015: Crocodilians get a presidential boost...*

Pres. Dwight D. Eisenhower helped to popularize Izod alligator shirts.


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## Statistikhengst (May 31, 2015)

*31.05.2015: $$$$$toids*

Number of grooves etched into U.S. dimes: 118. Into U.S. Quarters: 119

This is the magic Illuminati code!!!


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 1, 2015)

*01.06.2015: keeping it in the family.*

Alexander Graham Bell's father-in-law invented the burglar alarm.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Jun 5, 2015)

*05.06.2015*

The ancient Greeks ate Cheesecake.


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 9, 2015)

*09.06.2015*

Q: How did the black sheep get such a bad rap?

A: Well, it has nothing to do with any association with skin color at all. The black sheep got a bad rap because the wool of a black sheep it harder and more expensive to dye than the wool of a white sheep.

So, "black sheep of the family" literally means he's harder to dye!!!





Any Sheepologists out there with something wooly to contribute?


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 10, 2015)

*10.06.2015: windy Karma*

on the day that The Wizard of Oz's Judy Garland died in 1969, a tornado touched down in Kansas.


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## Pogo (Jun 10, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *09.06.2015*
> 
> Q: How did the black sheep get such a bad rap?
> 
> ...



This is about all I got....

​


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 12, 2015)

*12.06.2015: inventive* 

Benjamin Franklin gave guitar lessons.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Jun 14, 2015)

*14.06.2015 OUI, OUI!*

Largest french speaking city in the world: Paris
2nd largest french speaking city in the world: Montreal


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## there4eyeM (Jun 14, 2015)

Putain! Je ne savait pas!


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 14, 2015)

Non, ne jamais!!!


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## there4eyeM (Jun 14, 2015)

Excusez moi; 'savais', ne pas 'savait'! Faut de frappe!


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 14, 2015)

Vraiment, vraiment, Monseur.
Êtes-vous toujours collé à votre siège de toilette ?


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## Pogo (Jun 14, 2015)

there4eyeM said:


> Putain! Je ne savait pas!



Alors, à Montréal elle s'appelle _poutine_.


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## there4eyeM (Jun 15, 2015)

ough! Dégueulasse! Immangeable!


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## there4eyeM (Jun 15, 2015)

Et, à Moscou, il s’appelle 'Putin'.


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 15, 2015)

*15.06.2015 Perspiration, ala Stats*

There are 250,000 sweat-glands in the human foot.


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## there4eyeM (Jun 15, 2015)

That figure smells funny. In fact, I read on the Internet that 90% of all statistics are made up.


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## there4eyeM (Jun 15, 2015)

If both rightest feet and leftest feet have the same, is that due to redistribution?


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 15, 2015)

there4eyeM said:


> If both rightest feet and leftest feet have the same, is that due to redistribution?




No stats on that to-date, Monseur.
It's a wet issue.


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## there4eyeM (Jun 15, 2015)

The left foot says, 'help the pore', and the right foot says, 'let 'em sweat!'


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 16, 2015)

*16.06.2015 Talk about length!*

Laid end to end, the blood vessels in the average adult human body would wrap around the equator THREE times.


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## TyroneSlothrop (Jun 16, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *28.05.2015: unknown import*
> 
> Bagpipes were invented in Iran and brought to Scotland by the Romans.


 It may have been Ayatollah O'Toole that invented it


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## TyroneSlothrop (Jun 16, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *16.06.2015 Talk about length!*
> 
> Laid end to end, the blood vessels in the average adult human body would wrap around the equator THREE times.


 a Trail of entrails as it were...bloody good old chap...


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 16, 2015)

TyroneSlothrop said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > *16.06.2015 Talk about length!*
> ...




Well, if that's what the gory story entrails....


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 17, 2015)

*17.06.2015 Sweet medicine*

16th century French doctors prescribed chocolate as a treatment for venereal disease.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Jun 18, 2015)

*18.06.2015 diabolically shitty*

The Pentagon uses up 666 rolls of toilet paper on an average day.


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## Pogo (Jun 19, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *18.06.2015 diabolically shitty*
> 
> The Pentagon uses up 666 rolls of toilet paper on an average day.



I read in Consumer Reports that the average American uses 100 rolls of TP in a year.

That works out to one roll every 3.6525 days (roughly a roll every 3 days, 15 hours, 40 minutes) or 0.273 roll per person per day.

Which means there should be 2440 people working at the Pentagon.


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 19, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > *18.06.2015 diabolically shitty*
> ...




Stat, is that you???


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 19, 2015)

*19.06.2015 Photosynthesis in a big way*


A large tree can have as many as 450,000 leaves.


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## Pogo (Jun 19, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Pogo said:
> 
> 
> > Statistikhengst said:
> ...



Normally I run screaming from any threat of math, but this one had a nice round 100 in it, so it seemed almost innocuous.  

So how many people DO work at the Pentagon?  Is the number close?


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 19, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > Pogo said:
> ...



23,000 military / adjunct civilian, + 3,000 non-defense support personnel.

I guarantee you that I use far, far less than 100 rolls of TP a year. In fact, for me and my daughter, I buy one 12er pack every six months.  But I crap alot at the fitness center. In the toilet, of course.


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## Pogo (Jun 19, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> Pogo said:
> 
> 
> > Statistikhengst said:
> ...



Well I wasn't going to get down to that level of detail but when I saw the 100 number, having no idea whether that was a lot or a little, and even less idea how my own use compared (but as always desiring _anything_ but "average"), I made a note the next time I changed rolls to get an idea.  New roll went in June  3rd.  Next roll: June 13th -- ten days.  Close to one-third the average.  No trips or time away from home.

Which leaves me the question --- what da fuck are people doing with their toilet paper?
Clearly it's the result of knowing the correct way to mount it.

To wit:


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 19, 2015)

Pogo said:


> Statistikhengst said:
> 
> 
> > Pogo said:
> ...


Lol!

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk


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## Statistikhengst (Jun 21, 2015)

*21.06.2015 Think before you yank on that lever too hard*

In an average year, 13 Americans are killed by vending machines that fall on them.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Jun 23, 2015)

23.06.2015 Atomic Wedgies are dangerous.

In 2014, a man died after his stepson gave him an atomic wedgie.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Jun 26, 2015)

*26.06.2015  Manias, manias, manias...*

DROMOMANIA is an abnormal impulse to travel...


----------



## Pogo (Jun 26, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> *26.06.2015  Manias, manias, manias...*
> 
> DROMOMANIA is an abnormal impulse to travel...



Opposite of agoraphobia?


----------



## Statistikhengst (Jul 20, 2015)

20.07.2015 First Tidbit after vacation...

13 Facts About Dogs That Will Make You Want To Run Home To Yours. 4 Is So Sweet - OMG Facts - The World s 1 Fact Source

Stray dogs in Russia have learned to use the Subway system in order to find food.

The Beatles song "A Day In The Life," features a high-pitched whistle that can only be heard by dogs.

Spiked collars were invented by the Greeks who wanted to protect their dogs from wolf attacks.

More at the link...


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## Statistikhengst (Jul 23, 2015)

23.07.2015  FRENCH FACTOIDS!!!









It is illegal to name a pig "Napoleon" in France.

The most visited tourist attraction in France? Not the Eiffel Tower, not Le Louvre. Paris Disneyland!

Charles VIII had six toes on one foot and hid this fact by wearing and promoting square toe shoes.

The storming of the Bastille was more of a symbolic act. During that day, there were only 7 prisoners and 4 of them were there because of check forging.

More here:

Fun French Factoids by star henthorn on Prezi

69 Fun Facts About France


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## Statistikhengst (Jul 25, 2015)

25.07.2015 Only 5 more months till Christmas!!






LOL...

Facts on Christmas in July

Christmas in July can occur at any time during the month of July. But many celebrate the holiday on July 25.

"The tradition of celebrating Christmas in July probably began during the 1980s...

...In Australia, "Christmas in July" is also known as "Yulefest".

The "Christmas in July" celebration is believed to have originated in Australia in July, 1980 when a group of Irish tourists had the proprietor of a hotel in the Blue Mountains in New South Wales to hold a party called "Yulefest"."

Some more at da link!


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## Pogo (Jul 25, 2015)

Statistikhengst said:


> The most visited tourist attraction in France? Not the Eiffel Tower, not Le Louvre. Paris Disneyland!



Now THAT is depressing.  Sacre merde.


----------



## Statistikhengst (Jul 27, 2015)

*27.07.2015  Gamble your time away*


There are no clocks in Las Vegas Casinos!


----------



## Statistikhengst (Aug 2, 2015)

02.08.2015

First interracial kiss on TV: Star Trek, Kirk and Uhura, 1967


----------

