Posted July 8, 200717 yr Back in 1919, the Russian transplant pioneer Serge Voronoff made headlines by grafting monkey testicles onto human males. The largest diamond that was ever found was 3106 carats. A Chinese Scientist discovered that the Earth is round during the Han Dynasty by measuring the sun and moon's path in the sky. He recorded this fact down in the imperial records but went unnoticed until it was unearthed recently but Chinese archaeologists. A cesium atom in an atomic clock that beats over nine billion times a second. A cubic yard of air weighs about 2 pounds at sea level. A galactic year is 250 million Earth-years. This is the time it takes for our solar system to make one revolution around the Milky Way Galaxy. A jiffy is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. Thus the saying, I will be there in a jiffy. A meteor has only destroyed one satellite, which was the European Space Agency's Olympus in 1993. African Baobab tree's circumference can reach 180 feet. If the trunk is hollow, 20 people would be able to fit inside of it. At lift off, US space shuttles weight about 4.5 million pounds. Australia has had stamps that actually look like gems. In 1995 and 1996 they used a special technology to make the stamps look like diamonds and opals. Automobile building is the largest manufacturing industry in the world. Bamboo plants can grow up to 36 inches in a day. Before air conditioning was invented, white cotton slipcovers were put on furniture to keep the air cool. By weight, the sun is 70% hydrogen, 28% helium, 1.5% carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen, and 0.5% all other elements. Central air conditioners use 98% more energy than ceiling fans. Construction workers hard hats were first invented and used in the building of the Hoover Dam in 1933. Copper is the second most used metal in the world. Cubic Zirconia is 55% heavier than real diamonds. Diamonds were first discovered in the riverbeds of the Golconda region of India over 4,000 years ago. Enough paper is recycled in the USA every day, that a 15 mile long train of boxcars could be filled up with paper. Every 25 miles a car produces one pound of pollution. Every day, the Hubble telescope transmits enough data to fit 10,000 standard computer disks. Every second, 630 steel cans are recycled. Google receives more than 200 million search queries a day, more than half of which come from outside the United States. Peak traffic hours to google.com are between 6 a.m. and noon PST, when more than 2,000 search queries are answered a second. Hydrogen is the most common atom in the universe. If all the gold sitting in the oceans and seas were mined, every person on this plant would get about 20 kilograms of gold each. In 1903 Mary Anderson invented the windshield wipers. In February 1878, the first telephone book was published in New Haven, Connecticut. The book was one page long and had fifty names in it. In Johannesburg, the average car will be involved in an accident once every four years. In only eight minutes, the Space Shuttle can accelerate to a speed of 27,000 kilometres per hour. In the Netherlands, there are special traffic lanes for bicycles. There are approximately 17,000 kms of cycle lanes with special bicycle traffic lights. In the United States, the most frequent month for a tornado to occur is in May. In the wild, the poinsettia flower can reach a height of 12 feet, and have leaves that are eight inches across. It takes eight and a half minutes for light to get from the sun to earth. It takes the Hubble telescope about 97 minutes to complete an orbit of the Earth. On average, the Hubble uses the equivilent amount of energy as 30 household light bulbs to complete an orbit. It would take twenty new mid-size cars to generate the same amount of pollution that a mid-size 1960's car did. Japan uses the most energy per year than any other country. Just by recycling one aluminum can, enough energy would be saved to have a TV run for three hours. Musk is extracted from the bottom of a civet, and is used as an ingredient to make perfumes. Natural gas does not have any odor. In order to detect a gas leak, some gas companies add a chemical that smells similar like rotten eggs. One tree can filter up to sixty pounds of pollutants from the air each year. Research indicates that plants grow healthier when they are stroked. Roses generally need around 6 hours of sunlight to grow properly. The Central African raffia palm is known to have the longest leaves. The leaves can measure up to 82.5 feet long. The United States Mint once considered producing donut-shaped coins. The United States has paved enough roads to circle the Earth over 150 times. The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com on March 15, 1985. The first jet engine was invented by Frank Whittleof of England in 1930. The first spacecraft to visit the planet Venus was Mariner 2 in 1962. The first subway system in America was built in Boston, Massachusetts in 1897. The only commercial aircraft that is able to break the sound barrier is the Concorde. The tip of a bullwhip moves so fast that it breaks the sound barrier. The crack of the whip is actually a tiny sonic boom. The width of a tornado can range from less than ten yards to more than a mile. The word "laser" stands for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission by radiation." There are approximately 90 people that have been frozen after their death. There are mirrors on the moon. Astronauts left them so that laser beams could be bounced off of them from Earth. These beams help give us the distance to the moon give or take a few metres. There are six million parts in the Boeing 747-400. There has only been 193,000 metric tonnes of gold discovered to date. There is no element on Mendeleev's (the current) periodic table of elements abbreviated, either partially, or fully, with the letter J. Thomas Watson, who was the chairman of IBM in 1943 predicted that their would probably only be a world market for five computers. When the Galileo Probe entered Jupiter's atmosphere, it was traveling at a speed of 106,000 miles per hour. This is the fastest impact speed ever achieved by a man-made object. An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet. 93% of all greeting cards are purchased by women. A Connecticut Toy maker, Herobuilders, sells action figures of President George W. Bush, Islamic militant Osama bin Laden, New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, which are all major figures tied to the September 11, 2001 WTC attacks. A dime has 118 ridges around the edge. A person uses approximately fifty-seven sheets of toilet paper each day. A washroom that was built by Lam Sai-wing is the world's most expensive washroom. He built the washroom for his shop and everything in the washroom is made out of gold and jewels. It cost $3.5 million to build. About 26 per cent of all indoor water used by households in Sydney, Australia are for laundry. About 85% or product warning labels on household products are inadequate. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis invented a special diaper for babies that has a pocket. Americans did not commonly use forks until after the Civil War. An average home creates more pollution than does the average car. Ancient Egyptian women used to wear perfume cones made of wax that would melt in the heat letting out a nice fragrance. Approximately 60% of the water used by households during the summer is used for watering flowers, and lawns. Barbie's boyfriend Ken was not sold in India until recently because it clashed with the traditional arranged marriage. Common pesticides such as roach, termite and flea insecticide can be found in the bodies of majority of Americans. Doctors in Canada use an adhesive similar to Krazy Glue instead of stitches, lowering the possibility of bacterial infection and minimizing scarring. Early Romans used to use porcupine quills as toothpicks. Energy is being wasted if a toaster is left plugged in after use. High Priests in ancient Egypt were the only ones who were allowed to wear garments made from cotton. Hundreds of years ago, only the wealthy people used to wear underwear. In 1902, the coat hanger was invented Albert Parkhouse who was frustrated at the lack of hooks available to hang up his coat at work. His company thought it was a good idea and patented the invention and unfortunately, Parkhouse never received any money for his idea. In 1998, Sony accidently sold 700,000 camcorders that had the technology to see through people's clothes. In a study conducted regarding toilet paper usage, Americans are said to use the most toilet paper per trip to the bathroom, which was seven sheets of toilet paper per trip. In ancient Rome, lead poisoning was a prevalent disease amongst the wealthy because of their extensive use of lead. Many Roman women died because of lead poisoning caused by the use of make-up that contained lead. In the U.S., over one million gallons of cosmetics, drinks, and lotions are sold that contain aloe in them per year. It costs about 3 cents to make a $1 bill in the United States. It was during World War II that clothes with elastic waists were introduced. This is because the metal used in zippers was badly needed for the war. Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been mixing the soap formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float. Customers wrote and told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since. Ivory soap slogan "99-44/100% Pure" was cleverly invented by Harley Proctor who with the help of chemists determined that Ivory soap was only 56/100 pure. Proctor simply subtracted 56 from 100 and came up with "99-44/100% Pure". Leather skin does not have any smell. The leather smell that you sense is actually derived from the materials used in the tanning process. Maine is the toothpick capital of the world. Murphy's Oil has been used on elephants in the winter to clean them. New Jersey has a spoon museum that has over 5,400 spoons from across the world. Nylon is a man-made fibre that is made from coal and petroleum. On average, a disposable diaper can hold up to 7 pounds of liquid. On average, an American family sends and receives 28 Christmas cards each year. On average, the life span of an American dollar bill is eighteen months. Over one billion Valentine's Day cards are sent each year in North America. Pilgrims did not eat with forks. They only used spoons, knives and their fingers. Q-Tip Cotton Swabs were originally called Baby Gays. Queen Elizabeth I always wore a necklace with a little perfume bottle attached everywhere she went. Research has indicated that indoor pollution is 10 times more toxic than outdoor pollution. Research indicates that babies who suck on pacifiers are more prone to ear aches. Stannous fluoride, which is the cavity fighter found in toothpaste is made from recycled tin. Teflon is the most slipperiest substance in the world. The U.S. army packs Tabasco pepper sauce in every ration kit that they give to soldiers. The WD in WD-40 stands for Water Displacer. The ballpoint pen was first introduced to the United States in October of 1945. It was introduced in New York's Gimbels Department Store, and the whole stock of 10,000 pens was sold out the first day for $12.50 each. The first jigsaw puzzle was created by map maker John Splisbury who mounted one of his maps on a sheet of hardwood. He proceeded to cut around the borders of each country use a fine saw. The household wrench was invented by boxing heavyweight champion Jack Johnson in 1922. The laundry detergent Tide, has a market share of about forty percent. The leading cause of poisoning for children under the age of six in the home is liquid dish soap. The most expensive bra is the Red Hot Fantasy Bra that is made by Victoria's Secret. It is worth $15 million, and has more than 1,300 precious stones. The bra is delivered in a secured truck by security guards. The name for Ivory Soap was inspired by a verse from the Bible. Harley Proctor got though of the name when the minister read from Psalms 45:8, "All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad." The oldest documented footwear found was a 8,000 year-old sandal found in a cave located in Missouri, USA. The second best selling game of all time is Jenga. Jenga is a Swahili word, meaning "to build." The spray WD-40 got its name because there were forty attempts needed before the creation of the "water displacing" substance. The word Cotton originates from the Arabic word "Qutun." Walmart-sells more apparel a year than all the other competing department stores combined. Washing machines use anywhere from 40 to 200 litres of water per load.
July 9, 200717 yr i see those kind of factoid lists around on "place your ad here" advertising posters over bar bathroom stalls lately.
July 9, 200717 yr I think I read all of them. At least my eyes made the movements of reading - I can't recall anything.
July 9, 200717 yr "There are mirrors on the moon. Astronauts left them so that laser beams could be bounced off of them from Earth. These beams help give us the distance to the moon give or take a few metres. " I did a report on this contraption in jr high http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_laser_ranging_experiment
July 9, 200717 yr Maine is the toothpick capital of the world. Assuming we're talking about manufacturing, I have to believe this title is held by China. Back when I was in the restaurant biz, I did the math on a box of frilly picks and deduced that the per-unit price was so low that it was cheaper to make them than to not make them.
July 9, 200717 yr "In 1998, Sony accidently sold 700,000 camcorders that had the technology to see through people's clothes." huh?
July 9, 200717 yr I remember that. It had something to do with a new infrared filter. By itself, it was harmless, but when combined with Sony's Nightshot Function...
July 9, 200717 yr ^what was the name of that model? and are there any on ebay? Just for reference of course..
July 9, 200717 yr Found this on ebay: http://cgi.ebay.com/SONY-Handycam-CCD-TRV615-X-RAY-Camcorder_W0QQitemZ200126700200QQihZ010QQcategoryZ15074QQcmdZViewItem
July 9, 200717 yr Useless Yet Interesting Random Facts Citations, please. theyre real, I promise! Where did you find these?
July 12, 200717 yr in 1876, William Orton, president of Western Union turned down the opportunity to buy for $100,000 the patent for the telephone. In his response to Alexander Graham Bell, he wrote that Western Union found it to be an "interesting novelty", but that it had "no commercial possibilities". "What use could this company make of an electrical toy?" The telephone, of course, is now considered to be the most valuable patent in history.
July 12, 200717 yr Later, in 1897, Alexander Graham Bell was approached by George Eastman with an opportunity to buy for $150,000 the patent for the camera phone...
July 12, 200717 yr Later, in 1897, Alexander Graham Bell was approached by George Eastman with an opportunity to buy for $150,000 the patent for the camera phone... not doing it for me. swing and a miss, sorry KOOW
July 12, 200717 yr Later, in 1897, Alexander Graham Bell was approached by George Eastman with an opportunity to buy for $150,000 the patent for the camera phone... not doing it for me. swing and a miss, sorry KOOW Having recently seen Tampa play, you know of what you speak. (Full Disclosure: edited for the purposes of local sports sensitivities)
July 12, 200717 yr "An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet." This is why I do my most important work while on the toilet. Like surfing the internet on my PDA, or playing Sudoku on my cell phone. Or sleeping.
July 12, 200717 yr "An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet." This is why I do my most important work while on the toilet. Like surfing the internet on my PDA, or playing Sudoku on my cell phone. Or sleeping. no, i literally just bring the whole laptop onto commode. Instead of the signature of "Sent from Blackberry", i make my emails say, "sent from the can"
July 12, 200717 yr "An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet." This is why I do my most important work while on the toilet. Like surfing the internet on my PDA, or playing Sudoku on my cell phone. Or sleeping. What office are these people in?? Thats disgustin! People wonder why I'm a germ-o-phobe, neat freak and borderline compulsive. My office door handles, phone, keyboard and desk are wiped down every day with clorox bleach wipes before I arrive. God I miss the days when I had my own watercloset in my office! You sleep on the toilet?! Lawd. I'll agree you can come up with some amazingly creative things when on the "throne" but sleep - never!
July 12, 200717 yr Sometimes I wonder if its just as unhealthy to be a germ freak. I wouldn't want to die from a non-dishwasher rinsed plate because my body isn't used to handling it. My friends drank water from the creek at red river gorge. Disgusting. But hey, its natural.
July 12, 200717 yr "An office desk has 400 times more bacteria than a toilet." Before or after my boss comes in and shits all over everything? Is that doing anything for you pope?
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