Amazing-But-True Facts, part 2

Just when you thought you couldn't be amazed any further...

[ol]1. If the current trend continues, by the year 2215 midgets will outnumber "normal-sized" people.

2. Scientists estimate that sleep lost due to daylight saving time reduces the average lifespan by nearly two full months.

3. In the late '90s, Microsoft secretly developed its own version of Linux, but shelved it after quality control researchers deemed it "too stable."

4. No NCAA basketball team from a school located in its state's capital has ever won the national championship.

5. The African black rhinoceros excretes its own weight in dung every 48 hours.

6. The top three names for female babies born in China last year were Huan Yue, Jia Li and -- unlikely as it seems -- Buffy.

7. Peter Maas, creator of the character Serpico, got his character's name from an ultra-expensive, highly-prized Malaysian liqueur made from fermented viper venom.

8. Shortly before his execution, Timothy McVeigh constructed a scale model of the Lincoln Memorial with soda crackers.

9. There have been four documented cases of humans who have hibernated through an entire winter.

10. Strains of bacteria similar to E. coli have been found in spent printer cartridges -- but only in the cyan ones. Scientists have no explanation.

11. The four different people who, at various times, tried -- and failed -- to become the Guinness Book of World Records' "Human Milkshake Volcano" by drinking five gallons of milk and then riding the Six Flags Screaming' Eagle roller coaster all shared the same birthday: September 18, 1970.

12. The Australian aborigine language has over 30 words for "dust."

13. Anyone convicted of animal cruelty in Sedalia, Missouri, is sentenced to a month's confinement in the county animal shelter.

14. Fewer divorces occur in families in which the children wake their parents before 6 a.m. on Saturdays.

15. A futuristic automobile designed by Ford for the movie Blade Runner was produced and sold in limited quantities as the "Ford Harrison."

16. John F. Kennedy was an accomplished ventriloquist.

17. A bad case of laryngitis forced Abraham Lincoln to lip-sync the Gettysburg Address. The speech was actually delivered by an aide hidden beneath the stage.

18. A prominent organization of anthropologists has predicted that by the year 5000, humans will have two rectums, but only one nostril.

19. For over a decade, the number of drive-by shootings has been directly proportional to increased gas prices.

20. Two-thirds of all the world's coriander comes from a single valley in Italy.

21. As the sheer volume of Internet traffic has increased, the friction of the electrons passing around the planet has increased the overall global temperature by .07 degrees.

Comments

  • 19 Comments sorted by Votes Date Added
  • 7. Peter Maas, creator of the character Serpico, got his character's name from an ultra-expensive, highly-prized Malaysian liqueur made from fermented viper venom.

    Actually, Frank Serpico was a real person. The character was not fictitious. Frank Serpico was a NY cop who exposed corruption and prompted the formation of the infamous Knapp Commission.
  • Finding #4 to be somewhat suspect, a quick look at an online almanac proves it's true. I will tell you that UNC (my alma mater) was not listed as much as I thought it would be. However, UCLA, and I did not know this, had a stranglehold on the championship all but one year between '64 and '73.

    Gene
  • 22. As HrinNH continues to post these 'facts', the truth becomes a lost commodity. Now that's a "true fact".
  • Hey, I didn't make them up you know...that's a fact x0:)
  • How could people be trending toward being midgets by 2215 when each year the average height, shoe size and lifespan increase?

    5. The African black rhinoceros excretes its own
    weight in dung every 48 hours.

    I knew a group of these guys in college.

    9. There have been four documented cases of
    humans who have hibernated through an entire
    winter.

    This is true. All four of them worked in state government in the same office I did one year.

    13. Anyone convicted of animal cruelty in
    Sedalia, Missouri, is sentenced to a month's
    confinement in the county animal shelter.

    Hopefully in a cage of African Black Rhinoceri!

    14. Fewer divorces occur in families in which
    the children wake their parents before 6 a.m. on
    Saturdays.

    There are also fewer children in families in which the children jump in bed with the parents at all hours of the day and night.

    16. John F. Kennedy was an accomplished
    ventriloquist.

    True: He perfected the art of making it appear that Marilyn Monroe's voice was coming from under his desk.

    18. A prominent organization of anthropologists
    has predicted that by the year 5000, humans will
    have two rectums, but only one nostril.

    If everybody I knew had two rectums, I would pray that I might have only one nostril. Think about it. If everybody had two rectums, there would be twice as much.......anyway. Perhaps the African Black Rhino has two rectums. I damned sure ain't never checked!




  • 2. Scientists estimate that sleep lost due to daylight saving time reduces the average lifespan by nearly two full months.

    I just love this, how much grant $'s do you suppose we have spent in this determination of complete African black rhinoceros dung!

    And are you stating that spent carbon fuel and evil corporations are not the cause of the unscientific global warming African black rhinoceros dung? It's actually caused by -

    21. As the sheer volume of Internet traffic has increased, the friction of the electrons passing around the planet has increased the overall global temperature by .07 degrees.

    And yet another 'scientific' unknown -
    10. Strains of bacteria similar to E. coli have been found in spent printer cartridges -- but only in the cyan ones. Scientists have no explanation.

    Uh, try washing your hands.


  • "Strains of bacteria similar to E. coli have been found in spent printer cartridges -- but only in the cyan ones. Scientists have no explanation."

    I have an explanation for this. The cyan cartridges are the more expensive ones to fill in terms of manual labor because the process has not yet been automated. The pigment is too fine and can only be inserted by hand using small and precise tools.

    So, it is outsourced to Malaysia where eight and nine year olds do this. The sweatshops do not allow the kids potty breaks and they must urinate and defecate in five-gallon buckets by their work stations. Hence the increased microbiological organisms on the cartridges.

    Gene

    P.S. If you believe that one I have a bridge in Brooklyn I will sell you.
  • [font size="1" color="#FF0000"]LAST EDITED ON 04-04-05 AT 03:37PM (CST)[/font][br][br]Someone mentioned grant money - here's my favorite Proxmire "Golden Fleece" Award grant story: In the late 1970's, the Air Force was given a grant of $3,000 to study the feasability of allowing male airmen to carry an umbrella while in uniform. The conclusion? Yes, it's feasible, so long as they carry the umbrella in their left hand so they can leave their right hand free for saluting. x:-)
  • While it does not exactly meet the true definition of a grant, although it might as well be, I would like to formally nominate TennCare as the 2005 HR Forum Golden Fleece award.
  • ummm...I respectfully disagree with #4

    The Washburn Lady Blues won the national title this year in Division 2. Washburn University is located in the capital of Kansas (Topeka). They came home on Easter Sunday and received a police escort.

    It is a female team, and Division 2, but they DID WIN the NCAA National Championship. ;;)
  • Beatiful, NaeNae! As far as I'm concerned it counts!
  • I agree, beatiful. Even Beautiful! Way to go Nae Nae.
  • xclap It appears they'll have to rewrite that one! Congrats to the Washburn Lady Blues!
  • #1 I guess it's a good thing I have steps next to my bed, actually they are for my dogs, but hey they might be helpful for midgets too.

    # 5 is just disgusting ewww ewww and ewww

    #9 I could easily hibernate all winter, heck I'm hibernating as I type

    #13 When confined to the animal shelter I certainly hoped they are caged.

    #14 I imagine fewer children are born to people whose kids wake them before 6 am too

    #18 I think these anthropologists have just a little toooo much time on their hands
  • I must be missing something, so someone help me. North Carolina State U. is in Raleigh, NC. Raleigh is the state capitol of NC. NC State won the men's basketball championship in the 80's under Jim Valvano. They beat the University of Houston on a last second shot.
  • Right, SMace. And what about Ohio State in 1960? Chopped liver, I guess.

    Anne in Ohio
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