Please post your interesting facts tidbits and trivia here....


In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed
to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb.
Hence we have 'the rule of thumb'

:lol:

Reminds me of Boondock Saints...
Connor: [during job training for an avid feminist] The rule of thumb here is...
Rosengurtie: Wait, rule of thumb? In the early 1900s it was legal for men to beat their wives, as long as they used a stick no wider than their thumb.
Connor: Can't do much damage with that then, can we? Perhaps it should have been a rule of wrist?

Many years ago in
Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled 'Gentlemen
Only...Ladies Forbidden'.. .and thus, the word GOLF entered
into the English language.

The first couple to
be shown in bed together on prime time TV was Fred and Wilma
Flintstone.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

Coca-Cola was originally green.

It is impossible to lick your elbow

LOL WTF?

90% of people, after reading this, try to lick their elbow.

ROFL; I actually thought it said eyebrow not elbow.

The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:

Alaska

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)



------------
--------- --------- --------- ----



The percentage of
North America that is wilderness: 38%

------------

#-o

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven:

$ 16,400

This story is a "We've always done it that way" tale. The width of a space shuttle jet is a specific width because it has to sit on a platform that's a specific size, this size is dictated by the size of the rails it runs on. These are standard US railway rails. The standard distance between railroad rails in the U.S. is four-feet, eight-and-a-half inches. Why? Because that's what it was in England. Why? Because that's the gauge the tramways used before the railroads. Why? Because the tramways were built using the same tools as wagon-builders and that's how wide the wagon wheels were spaced. Why? Because the old roads in England had ruts that the wheels needed to accommodate. Why? Because the ruts were made by Imperial Roman chariots. Why? Because they were that specific width because of the horse that pulled the chariot. So the width of a NASA rocket engine is because of a horse's arse.

---

In the 16th and 17th centuries, everything had to be transported by ship, and it was also before commercial fertilizer's invention, so large shipments of manure were common. It was shipped dry, because in dry form it weighed a lot less than when wet, but once water (at sea) hit it, it not only became heavier, but the process of fermentation began again, of which a by-product is methane gas. As the stuff was stored below decks in bundles you can see what could (and did) happen.


Methane began to build up below decks and the first time someone came below at night with a lantern, BOOOOM!


Several ships were destroyed in this manner before it was determined just what was happening. After that, the bundles of manure were always stamped with the term "Ship High In Transport" on them which meant for the sailors to stow it high enough off the lower decks so that any water that came into the hold would not touch this volatile cargo and start the production of methane. Thus evolved the term "S.H.I.T", (Ship High In Transport) which has come down through the centuries and is in use to this very day.

The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour:

61,000

the sentance "The quick brown fox jumped over the lazy dogs" contains every letter in the alphabet and is often re-produced to test typewriters and printers and administered in typing tests

In 1901 the population of Las Vegas was 30.

We all already knew this.

No need to be rude....[-x

Edited by joffa: 13/1/2010 11:50:35 PM

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair..

I can actually connect a battery to a lightbulb and have it work with my hair :P

The first novel ever written on a typewriter, Tom Sawyer.

First published work of fiction: the bible.

John Farnham's Whispering Jack was the first album released on Compact Disk.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:




Spades - King David


Hearts - Charlemagne


Clubs -Alexander,
the Great

Diamonds - Julius
Caesar

Did you know JOFFA stands for the Jamacian Ornamental Fish Farmers Association.

No shit see link
http://www.joffajamaica.com/

If a statue in the
park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air,
the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in
the air, the person died because of wounds received in battle.

If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died
of natural causes