Weird facts (kinda long)

[FreeFlyHol 0]

1. The venom in a Daddy Long-Legs spider is more poisonous than a Black Widow's or a Brown Recluse, but they cannot bite humans because their jaws won't open wide enough.
2. On average, people fear spiders more than they do death.
3. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
4. If you toss a penny 10,000 times, it will not be heads 5,000 times, but more like 4950. The heads picture weighs more, so it ends up on the bottom more often.
5. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
6. Mel Blanc (the voice of Bugs Bunny) was allergic to carrots.
7. The pop you get when you crack your knuckles is actually a bubble of gas bursting.
8. 101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan (Wendy) are the only two Disney cartoon movies that feature both parents, neither of which dies throughout the movie.
9. The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
10. There's no Betty Rubble in Flintstones Chewable Vitamins.
11. It's impossible to get water out of a rimless tire.
12. Did you know that you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider?
13. In Minnesota it is illegal to cross state lines with a duck on your head.
14. In Indiana it is illegal to ride public transportation for at least 30 minutes after eating garlic.
15. Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do.
16. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
17. Polar bears are left-handed.
18. A roach will live nine days without its head before it starves to death.
19. Some lions mate over 50 times a day.
20. The average chocolate bar has 8 insects' legs in it.
21. A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair.
22. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.
23. A polar bear's skin is black. Its fur is not white, but actually clear.
24. Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
25. Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
***26. More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes.***
27. Stewardesses is the longest word typed with only the left hand.
28. Shakespeare invented the word "assassination" and "bump."
29. Marilyn Monroe had six toes.
30. If you keep a Goldfish in the dark room, it will eventually turn white.
31. Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
32. The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English language.
33. The name of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with.
34. The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.
35. TYPEWRITER is the longest word that can be made using the letters on only one row of the keyboard.
36. If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
37. A snail can sleep for 3 years.
38. American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.
39. China has more English speakers than the United States.
40. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
41. Vatican City is the smallest country in the world, with a population of 1,000 and a size 108.7 acres.
42. The longest town name in the world has 167 letters.
43. You share your birthday with at least 9 million other people in the world.
44. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.
45. The longest word in the English language is 1909 letters long and it refers to a distinct part of DNA.
46. No president of the United States was an only child.
47. The average human eats 8 spiders in their lifetime at night

Just thought you might want to know.

x's and o's,

Hol :)

When cheese gets its picture taken, what does it say?

[happythoughts 0]

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44. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

"I do" is the longest sentence.

[Gawain 0]

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1. The venom in a Daddy Long-Legs spider is more poisonous than a Black Widow's or a Brown Recluse, but they cannot bite humans because their jaws won't open wide enough.

False...http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/longlegs.htm

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[cliffharris 0]

re: #47

One time when I woke up I had a bug leg stuck to my lip.

[happythoughts 0]

"34. The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want. "

I guess that makes sense. I'll never remember that word.

[SpeedRacer 1]

Damn, Gawain beat me to it!! I actually knew the daddy longlegs thing was a myth, and I was wondering if it was listed on snopes.

Do you have snopes bookmarked?

Speed Racer
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[skygal3 0]

does that mean that all polar bears live 9 years less than the average bear?

well, I am a lefty...if women live on average 5 years longer than men, does that mean my life will still be 4 years shorter than my husbands if he is a righty?

[riddler 0]

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12. Did you know that you are more likely to be killed by a champagne cork than by a poisonous spider?

Watch out for those corks! I nearly got killed by one last night. No kidding - left a dent in my ceiling. Scared the crap out of my GF. Then my neighbor's dogs (whom I'm babysitting this week) decided to chew up the cork in bed last night and left crumbs everywhere.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[happythoughts 0]

"37. A snail can sleep for 3 years. "

I guess it is ok to sleep late if you are never going to get anywhere on time anyway. It's been a guideline for me anyway.

[Gawain 0]

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Do you have snopes bookmarked?

Actually, no...I've just seen so many references to it here at dz.com that I opened another window and went. I knew it was a myth too...and simply wanted to "help" those who needed enlightenment...

So I try and I scream and I beg and I sigh
Just to prove I'm alive, and it's alright
'Cause tonight there's a way I'll make light of my treacherous life
Make light!

[Rookeskydiver 0]

32. The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English language.
=====================================
The guy who came up w/ this had way to much time on their hands!

PCSS # 1 Rookeskydiver
"Its a Wonka Bar"....."Go ahead Charlie open it, lets see that golden ticket"

[SpeedRacer 1]

for all you young f&*kers out there: that sentence was commonly used back in the days of typewriters to test to make sure all the keys were working & typing clearly.

Speed Racer
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[wmw999 2,567]

And artichokes and dumbwaiters are the two longest words in common English usage with no repeated letters.

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[AggieDave 6]

What's this thing you call a "typewriter"?

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[sunshine 2]

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What's this thing you call a "typewriter"?

I was wondering that too.

___________________________________________
meow

I get a Mike hug! I get a Mike hug!

[SpeedRacer 1]

seriously, its amazing how fast things have changed over the last few years & how much you have to explain to people just a few years younger. I remember an email my Dad sent me...he used to be a professor of journalism at Boston University. And every year one of the professors would make a list of all the things the incoming freshmen would not have any experience of..pretty f&*king mind-blowing. I wish i could find an example of it.

Speed Racer
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[AggieDave 6]

I've seen those sort of things on the 'net before, those lists, if you can find one, post it, I always get a kick out of them.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[skymama 37]

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What's this thing you call a "typewriter"?

Bwahaha...oh geez!
Seriously, back in the old day, I took typing in middle school. And, when I went off to college I toted a typrewriter with me. No one I knew had a computer.

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[AggieDave 6]

There has been a computer in my house my entire life (I was born in 1980). There's pictures of me at 2 & 3 yrs old on my dad's lap at the computer. When I was 6, he bought me my own computer (an Apple IIGS), so for me, I've always been around them, even when "most people" didn't know what the hell a computer did in the home.

I know that some where during that time, you were at college (you're pretty young), so I actually find the idea of not having a computer kind of, odd, actually.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[SpeedRacer 1]

here it is, for 2001:

The Class of 2001


Each year the staff at Beloit College in Wisconsin puts together a list to try to give the faculty a sense of the mindset of that year's incoming freshmen. Here is this year's list:

The people who are starting college this fall across the nation were born in 1983.
They have no meaningful recollection of the Reagan Era and probably do not know he was shot in an assassination attempt.
They were prepubescent when the Persian Gulf War was waged.
Black Monday 1987 is no more significant to them than the Great Depression.
They were 10 when the Soviet Union broke apart and do not remember the Cold War.
They have never feared a nuclear war.
They are too young to remember the space shuttle blowing up.
Tianamen Square means nothing to them.
Their lifetime has always included AIDS.
Bottle caps have always been screw off and pill containers have always been difficult to open.
Atari predates them, as do vinyl albums. The expression "you sound like a broken record" means nothing to them. They have never owned a record player.
They have likely never played Pac Man and have never heard of Pong.
They may have never heard of an 8 track. The Compact Disc was just introduced when they were born.
As far as they know, stamps have always cost about 33 cents.
There have always been answering machines.
Most have never seen a TV set with only 13 channels, nor have they seen a black-and-white TV.
They have always had cable.
There have always been VCRs, but they have no idea what BETA is.
They cannot fathom not having a remote control.
Garage doors have always had garage door openers.
Even the Walkmen was introduced by Sony before they were born.
Roller-skating has always meant in-line for them.
Jay Leno has always been on the Tonight Show.
They have no idea when or why Jordache jeans were cool.
Popcorn has always been cooked in the microwave.
They have never seen Larry Bird play.
They never took a swim and thought about Jaws.
The Vietnam War is as ancient history to them as W.W.I, W.W.II and the Civil War.
They have no idea that Americans were ever held hostage in Iran.
They can't imagine what hard contact lenses are.
They don't know who Mork was or where he was from.
They never heard: " Where's the beef?", " I'd walk a mile for a Camel", or "de plane, de plane", do not care who shot J.R. and have no idea who J.R. is.
The Titanic was found? They thought we always knew where it was.
Michael Jackson has always been white.
Kansas, Chicago, Boston, America, and Alabama are places, not groups.
McDonalds never came in Styrofoam containers.
There has always been MTV.
They don't have a clue how to use a typewriter.
Perhaps this will help explain why some of the older ones of us have trouble understanding some of the younger ones of us. And it will make some of us feel very old!

Speed Racer
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[AggieDave 6]

I'm only 3 years off from the people on that list and most of the stuff listed, I remember. I guess I'm the odd one of the bunch, then, huh?

I still get a kick out of those lists, though...

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[skymama 37]

I graduated from college in 1987. Most of the computer classes at school were all programming type things. There really wern't any classes offered to people on the assumption that they would actually have a computer at home they'd want to know how to use better. I did take a class called RPG programming. I can't even recall what the hell that was!

She is Da Man, and you better not mess with Da Man,
because she will lay some keepdown on you faster than, well, really fast. ~Billvon

[wmw999 2,567]

I was going to post a new thread for people who CAN remember typewriters, 8-tracks, LED watches, and those digital clocks that flipped little sheets with the numbers down. Also slide rules.

But, y'know, none of these things aren't nearly as interesting as the fact that I at least was drinking beer and jumping before most of these "gee it's great to be young" folks was even born .

Wendy W.

There is nothing more dangerous than breaking a basic safety rule and getting away with it. It removes fear of the consequences and builds false confidence. (tbrown)

[AggieDave 6]

Haha, when you graduated college, I was BBSing. I was 7.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[SpeedRacer 1]

In junior high I sometimes typed my papers on an old manual ROYAL typewriter.

I remember in 9th or 10th grade learning BASIC on an old Decwriter. No monitor. Just a thing that chunked along on paper like an electric typewriter head.

What was my first program:

10. PRINT TERRY IS GOD
20. GOTO 10

Speed Racer
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