Thread: Fact for the day

There is a very active joke thread in the off-topic forum but no thread of useless but interesting facts. So I thought I might try and start one. Please feel free to add your facts on the end but please dont just copy/paste the email that you got forwarded at work today as we all probably got it today at work as well....

Perhaps one fact per post might be a good rule of thumb...

Anyway gents your starter for ten is this:

Chinese is the most spoken language in the world. English is the third most spoken language, having 350, 000,000 people calling it their native tongue. 115 countries use it as their official language.

The fourth most spoken language in the world is Bengali, which is spoken by some 189,000,000 people.

It is the official language of only one country.

I got a few, my head is full of useless trivia.

People in the UK used to RENT pinapples.
These where never actualy eaten but used as table centerpieces in fine dining tea party settings in the early 19th century.

613 is the EXACT number of seeds in a pomegranate, no more no less, each one is identical to the last.
Some researcher actualy spent decades working out which genome caused this.

The quality of wine is inversely proportional to the soil quality.
Poorer soil conditions cause the grape vines to strive harder to survive and produce beter grapes resulting in finer wines.

The word "snorkel" comes from the German word "schnoerkel", which was a tube used by German submarine crews in WW2. The subs used an electric battery when traveling underwater, which had to be recharged using diesel engines, which needed air to run. To avoid the hazard of surfacing to run the engines, the Germans used the schnoerkel to feed air from the surface into the engines.

Jerkwater is a railroad term. Until about fifty years ago, most trains were pulled by thirsty steam engines that needed to refill their boilers from water towers next to the tracks. But some towns were so small and inconsequential that they lacked a water tower. When trains stopped in those places, the crew had to find a nearby stream or well and, bucket-brigade style, "jerk" the water to the train. Those little dots on the map became known as jerkwater towns.

The bible gets shoplifted out of bookshops more so than any other book (personaly i blame those gideon doods, they have to meet hotel demands somehow)

"Anacreon" is an ancient British drinking song, remarkably after the american colonials broke off from the UK the tune was plagerised and then used as the tune for "The star spangled banner"

A texan called Samuel Maverick refused to brand his cattle, Eventualy unbranded cattle came to be known as Mavericks, this is the genisis of the word today.

"To grin like a Cheshire cat" existed long before carroll wrote alice in wonderland, in fact he based one of the characters around the phrase.
No such cat exists and no one really knows where the phrase came from.

It is illegal here, in Michigan, to tether your pet alligator to a firehydrant.

Originally Posted by Wildtim

It is illegal here, in Michigan, to tether your pet alligator to a firehydrant.

Makes sense to me - wouldn't want an alligator in the way during a fire emergency.

Here's one I stumbled across that I found interesting (if it's true): Most car horns are in the key of F

James.

Most toilets flush in the key of G....

In Memphis, Tennessee, a woman is not to drive a car unless a man warns approaching motorists or pedestrians by walking in front of the car that is being driven.

What I heard, from a friend, who heard it from a friend. I checked the internet and it was there, so it must be true!

Matt

Originally Posted by sidneykidney

Most toilets flush in the key of G....

It must be the "pipes" oh wait, I guess you can tune a toilet but you can't tune pipes?

Originally Posted by Jimbo

Makes sense to me - wouldn't want an alligator in the way during a fire emergency.

Here's one I stumbled across that I found interesting (if it's true): Most car horns are in the key of F

James.

Interesting thread SyndeyKidney ----------

What kind of Alligators live in Michigan ---

Fact: The Atchafalaya Basin in Louisiana is the world's largest fresh water river basin.
One of the James Bond movies (it has a bunch of boat racing) was filmed in this basin --- can't remember which movie it was though.


Justin

Originally Posted by jaegerhund

What kind of Alligators live in Michigan ---


Justin

None

Originally Posted by jaegerhund

One of the James Bond movies (it has a bunch of boat racing) was filmed in this basin --- can't remember which movie it was though.


Justin

Live and Let Die...Roger Moore's entry as James Bond. Involved a drug kingpin growing poppies on a Caribbean island and distributing them via restaurants. This movie also introduce the world to Jane Seymour (Dr. Quinn...not Henry VIII's wide) and Yaphet Koto (play the LT in the Homicide series.