Random facts thread

[Fire_Fly 499]

The soft drink Coca-Cola, formulated by John Pemberton in the 19th century, was originally put on the market as a medicine to control nervous disorders.

[spas-ticShotty 3,582]

The soft drink Coca-Cola, formulated by John Pemberton in the 19th century, was originally put on the market as a medicine to control nervous disorders.

Lol I learned that 'cause I had to do a short project on Coke. I heard the original recipe had a small amount of cocaine in it (Thats not where Coca came from though).

[Inactive01 5,298]

Charlie Chaplin finished third in a Charlie Chaplin impersonation competition.

Fritz Haber, the inventor of the Haber process, intended to use the invention to create poison gas.

Michael Faraday refused to help the British create poison gas because it was against his religious beliefs (Christianity).

[Ragtime 60]

Thats easy, 7 pages. 1 page on the 1st day, 1 page on the 2nd day totaling 2, and 1 page on the 3rd day totaling 3 pages.

 

srsly

[Street Comedy 327]

• Rats cannot throw up.
• The billionth digit of Pi is 9.
• 89% of magic tricks are not magic. Technically they are sorcery.
• It is incorrectly noted that Thomas Edison invented 'push-ups' in 1878. Nikolai Tesla had in fact patented the activity three years earlier, under the name 'Tesla-cize.'
• Contrary to popular belief, the Eskimo does not have one hundred different words for snow. They do, however, have two hundred and thirty-four words for fudge.
• William Shakespeare did not exist. His plays were masterminded in 1589 by Francis Bacon, who used a Ouija board to enslave play-writing ghosts.
• Cellular phones will not give you cancer. Only hepatitis.
• The plural of surgeon general is surgeons general. The past tense of surgeons general is surgeonsed general.

[Raptor_a22 83]

Nikolai Tesla successfully created a machine that will theoretically induce earthquakes.

[Mephala 2,633]

These:

http://www.youtube.com/user/mameshibavideos?feature=watch

[~asdf~ 110]

Insanity is a matter of perception.

[Raptor_a22 83]

Many weapons initially met opposition because they were 'too effective'.

 

In Medieval times the Crossbow was banned by the Church due to the injuries it caused.

 

In WWI the Germans filed a diplomatic complaint to try and ban the American made M1897 shotgun because it was so effective at clearing trenches.

[omran97 79]

[Lady Rarity Pony 4,892]

Random facts about the Papacy

 

There is no "Pope John XX". When Pedro Juliao was elected Pope in 1276, he believed there to be a numbering error in the Papal lineage, and thus declared himself Pope John XXI despite there only being 19 "John"s prior to him.

 

In 1410, there were three claimants to the Apostolic See (head of the Papacy). This resulted in the creation of the Avignon Papacy and Pisan Papacy in addition to the Roman Papacy. This event is referred to as the "Western Schism".

 

No European nations acknowledged the Pisan Papacy. Despite the Pisan Popes being considered insignificant, when Rodrigo Borgia was elected as Pope of the Roman Papacy in 1492, he took the successive title of "Alexander VI" therefore acknowledging the Pisan Pope "Alexander V". Though Alexander V is not regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as being part of the Papal lineage.

 

The first Pope not to use his personal name was Pope John II (real name Mercurius). This was due to Mercury being a Roman god.

 

The shortest reign of a Pope-elect was 2 days. Pope-elect Stephen was elected Pope on March 23, 752 AD and died on the 25th. He was never consecrated and therefore was removed from the official list of Popes in 1961.

 

Pope Benedict IX served 3 terms as pope. He was elected and reigned as Pope from 1032-1044 before being expelled in favor of Sylvester III. Sylvester III's validity of election was placed into question and he was deposed the same year. Benedict IX's second term lasted only a short time before he resigned and illegally sold the Papacy to Gregory VI.

He regretted his resignation and returned and attempted to regain the Papacy. After Gregory VI admitted to purchasing the Papacy, he was deposed but Benedict IX was denied a chance to return to the Papacy.

After Clement II's death (whom succeeded Gregory VI), Benedict IX enforced his claim to the Papacy from 1047-1048. This was his third and final term. When Damasus II was elected Pope in 1048, Benedict IX was deposed and finally excommunicated in 1049 on charges of simony.

Edited April 4, 2012 by Lady Rarity Pony

[Dragonshy 2,305]

Random facts about the Papacy

 

 

There is no "Pope John XX". When Pedro Juliao was elected Pope in 1276, he believed there to be a numbering error in the Papal lineage, and thus declared himself Pope John XXI despite their only being 19 "John"s prior to him.

 

In 1410, there were three claimants to the Apostolic See (head of the Papacy). This resulted in the creation of the Avignon Papacy and Pisan Papacy in addition to the Roman Papacy. This event is referred to as the "Western Schism".

 

No European nations acknowledged the Pisan Papacy. Despite the Pisan Popes being considered insignificant, when Rodrigo Borgia was elected as Pope of the Roman Papacy in 1492, he took the successive title of "Alexander VI" therefore acknowledging the Pisan Pope "Alexander V". Though Alexander V is not regarded by the Roman Catholic Church as being part of the Papal lineage.

 

The first Pope not to use his personal name was Pope John II (real name Mercurius). This was due to Mercury being a Roman god.

 

The shortest reign of a Pope-elect was 2 days. Pope-elect Stephen was elected Pope on March 23, 752 AD and died on the 25th. He was never consecrated and therefore was removed from the official list of Popes in 1961.

 

Pope Benedict IX served 3 terms as pope. He was elected and reigned as Pope from 1032-1044 before being expelled in favor of Sylvester III. Sylvester III's validity of election was placed into question and he was deposed the same year. Benedict IX's second term lasted only a short time before he resigned and illegally sold the Papacy to Gregory VI.

He regretted his resignation and returned and attempted to regain the Papacy. After Gregory VI admitted to purchasing the Papacy, he was deposed but Benedict IX was denied a chance to return to the Papacy.

After Clement II's death (whom succeeded Gregory VI), Benedict IX enforced his claim to the Papacy from 1047-1048. This was his third and final term. When Damasus II was elected Pope in 1048, Benedict IX was deposed and finally excommunicated in 1049 on charges of simony

 

 

Day 6. Still trying to read LRP's post. Food and water seems like a faded memory now. I hope this ends soon.

 

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.

[Derpy Whooves 77]

Dogs can see in color it's just a matter of how many. Certain breeds see more than others, and all see less than humans.

 

There are more possible order combinations of a 52 card deck than there have been seconds in the universe.

 

Eating one banana every day for a year radiates you more than living next to a stable nuclear plant for a year.

 

Scout is credit to team.

 

People assume that time is a strict progression of cause to effect, but actually from a non-linear, non-subjective viewpoint - it's more like a big ball of wibbly wobbly... time-y wimey... stuff.

 

1.you quoted me ~yay

2.Bowties are cool (fact)

3.if you have 2 shadows youre dead

4.there is a rumor that the season finale for the next sereis of the show Doctor Who will be shot in america and involve the statue of liberty as a big weeping angel

5. 11 out of 11 doctors think pears are rubbish

[River Song 9]

1.you quoted me ~yay

2.Bowties are cool (fact)

3.if you have 2 shadows youre dead

4.there is a rumor that the season finale for the next sereis of the show Doctor Who will be shot in america and involve the statue of liberty as a big weeping angel

5. 11 out of 11 doctors think pears are rubbish

 

1. I know you very well

2. fez's are not cool

3.Bananas are a good source of metabalism

4.i think pears are rubbish too

5.im technically not a time lady

[RainbowDashie 767]

1522 people died on the titanic in april 1912

[Marshmallow 1,134]

Technically, birds are dinosaurs.

ttp://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Origin_of_birds

[Bow Heart 84]

Dolphins are the only other mammals besides humans that have sex for pleasure

 

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

The SR-71 Blackbird currently holds the record for Fastest Air-Breathing Aircraft to have ever operated in an Air Force.

 

The Blackbird's top operational speed is Mach 3.3 (~2,200 mph or ~3,530 kph), more than twice the speed of most other fighter jet top speeds, and more than four times the speed of even the best civilian built aircraft.

 

Its engines, two P&W J58s, are theoretically capable of Mach 4.5, but are hard-limited from going that fast, as the speed would put so much stress on the frame that it would rip the fuselage to pieces from the pressure.

Both of them required a detachable V8 gasoline engine to start their turbines because they were so large.

 

Its fuel tanks are lined with gold in order to both conduct heat away from them during flight (the plane's surface heats to 300 °C or 572 °F during high-speed flight because of air friction) and also be slightly flexible, because the aircraft's metal skin expands when it's heated, and as such the tanks needed a small degree of flexibility. Because of this flexibility, the aircraft will leak fuel when sitting on the ground, because the tanks aren't properly sealed if the Blackbird is traveling less than 600 kph.

 

The spikes in front of the engine redirected supersonic airflow in such a way that the engines needed no compressors, as the air would enter them directly into the combustion chamber at about 1000PSI. This meant the engines operated most efficiently at speed- the aircraft's maximum flight time at 500 kph was only a few minutes, but at Mach 3.2 it could fly for about 2 hours.

 

The aircraft in its service (as a Recon Plane. It's job was to fly over enemy bases and take pictures of them) was intercepted several times but never shot down, since it could easily accelerate faster than any bullet or missile could reach.

 

32 were built, and about 10 survive today in aircraft museums around the United States.

 

Its ancestors were the A-12 Aerodynamic Prototype, the YF-12 which was planned as an Interceptor but cancelled, and the MD-10, which was operated by NASA (in conjunction with 3 of the SR-71) for supersonic flight dynamics research.

Edited April 5, 2012 by Blue

[Senor Citizen 516]

If you sneezed with your eyes open, the force would blow them out of your head.

[I used to be a stranger 7,989]

The Giant Squid has the largest eyes of any species of animal, with a diameter as large as 2 feet across or more.

As far as modern biology can tell, they do not see in color- they see a polarized spectrum based upon motion.

[Marshmallow 1,134]

If we took all of the water on Earth, saltwater and freshwater, and make a ball with it, it would only be this big.

The pink ball is if we did the same with the atmosphere.

 

It personally blows my mind.

[Tenshinohana 264]

People usually know this if they watch The Big Bang Theory, but...

 

The tomato is actually a fruit, even though it's located among the vegetables and isn't as sweet as fruits normally.

[cuteycindyhoney 13,285]

People usually know this if they watch The Big Bang Theory, but...

 

The tomato is actually a fruit, even though it's located among the vegetables and isn't as sweet as fruits normally.

 

My mom has a Campbell soup decorative plate that says "The Tomato is a Fruit"

[Lumen 106]

A typical north american hurricane weighs about 48 988 000 000 kg

[Tenshinohana 264]

If you sneezed with your eyes open, the force would blow them out of your head.

 

I believe this was proven to be wrong.