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

[Statistikhengst]

Female kangaroos have three vaginas.

Kangaroo gang bang.

LOL!!!

 

[Statistikhengst]

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.

 

[Statistikhengst]

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.

 

[Statistikhengst]

08 February, 2015: Perspective

 

[Statistikhengst]

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

 

[Statistikhengst]

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...

 

[Statistikhengst]

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...

 

[Statistikhengst]

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.

 

[Luddly Neddite]

Very cool thread, Stat.

Thanks.

 

[Coyote]

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!

 

[Statistikhengst]

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!

GREAT PHOTOS!!!


BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!

 

[Statistikhengst]

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.

 

[Statistikhengst]

13 February, 2015: Frolicy Friday

The Canary Islands are named after:
















































A large breed of dogs.

 

[Statistikhengst]

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]

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.

 

[Statistikhengst]

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]

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]

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]

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.

He then spent the rest of his life traveling between Europe and America twisting iron bars around his biceps and carrying around locomotive wheels with his teeth. Zishe soon became part of the Busch Circus, at the time the largest circus in the world, and dazzled audiences with stunts as over-the-top as engaging in a tug-of-war with his teeth against a team of whipped horses and supporting a “motordrome” (one of those big semi-circular cages people drive motorcycles around inside) on his chest while two other performers did cycle stunts inside it. In spite of all these mortally dangerous stunts, what finally did Zishe in was a simple error in measurement. For a stunt in Berlin where he hammers a railroad spike through five inches of wood with his bare hands, he neglected to consider that a) the spike was longer than five inches and b) he was hammering it in right over his knee.

The injury itself wasn’t life-threatening, but an infection soon became septic and the legendary straight man died of blood poisoning just over a month later, proving that no matter how good they are at hammering things with their bare hands, you should never hire a circus strongman as a carpenter.

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.

Better yet, the intrepid R/C pilots had included a few exotic examples of the radio-controlled art, most notably a delightful flying lawnmower, ha ha! Oh, and just an FYI, the flying lawnmower weighed some 40 pounds and kept making low passes over the audience.

As in all examples of flying lawnmower performance, hubris lead to a tragic downfall as the lawnmower pilot lost control and the model plummeted into Bowen and one other spectator’s heads, causing massive injuries that later led to Bowen’s death. The incident lead to strict NFL regulations regarding the control and use of flying lawnmowers.

7 more examples at the site.

No. 6 is my favorite...

 

[Statistikhengst]

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.