WDJ87 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 (edited) 1 hour ago, Carl Fredrickson said: If I remember correctly, on QI they said it was due to him wanting her to get her military pension. Only watched QI a handful of times but I do enjoy the QI elves podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish. And typically on a thread like this I cannot recall one (decent) "wtf" fact 🤣 Edited January 5 by WDJ87 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Fredrickson Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 1 minute ago, WDJ87 said: Only watched it a handful of times but I do enjoy the QI elves podcast, No Such Thing as a Fish. And typically on a thread like this I cannot recall one (decent) "wtf" fact 🤣 I have watched all the TV shows (love watching them with my teenage son) and I cant remember any "of the top of my head" but if someone talks about facts I remember it from QI. The headless chicken one was another that I remember from QI. Though please dont ask me how many moons the earth has as it changed about 3 or 4 times during the various seasons of the TV show. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDJ87 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 9 minutes ago, Carl Fredrickson said: I have watched all the TV shows (love watching them with my teenage son) and I cant remember any "of the top of my head" but if someone talks about facts I remember it from QI. The headless chicken one was another that I remember from QI. Though please dont ask me how many moons the earth has as it changed about 3 or 4 times during the various seasons of the TV show. Reminded me of one A snakes head once severed can survive for around an hour, due to their slow metabolism their organs survive longer. People have even been bitten by them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDJ87 Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 On 01/01/2024 at 19:48, Lone Striker said: They also share the reputation of having shagged an astronomical number of women (mostly blondes). In JFK's case, this may have contributed to his severe back pain. for which he required to wear a back-brace support thingy a lot of the time. I watched a documentary on LBJ earlier this year, and was astonished to hear that when he took over from JFK his record of shagging mistresses was quite prolific too. Hated JFK, apparently showed no kind of grief on the day. Was sworn in as president on the plane with his coffin in the background, Jackie still covered in brains etc. Did the doc cover that? Sounds a delightful man 🤣 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Striker Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 5 minutes ago, WDJ87 said: Hated JFK, apparently showed no kind of grief on the day. Was sworn in as president on the plane with his coffin in the background, Jackie still covered in brains etc. Did the doc cover that? Sounds a delightful man 🤣 Yes, it did. The swearing-in ceremony administered by Judge Hughes in an Air Force One conference room represented the first time that a woman administered the presidential oath of office as well as the only time it was conducted on an airplane. Instead of the usual Bible, Johnson was sworn in upon a missal found on a side table in Kennedy’s Air Force One bedroom. After the oath had been taken, Johnson kissed his wife on the forehead. Mrs. Johnson then took Jackie Kennedy’s hand and told her, “The whole nation mourns your husband”. (Well, apart from MY husband 😜) The famous photograph of the inauguration was taken by Cecil Stoughton, John F. Kennedy’s official photographer. On Stoughton’s suggestion, Johnson was flanked by his wife and Jacqueline Kennedy, facing slightly away from the camera so that bloodstains on her pink Chanel suit would not be visible. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lone Striker Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 Coca-Cola (1886) While trying to find a cure for headaches and hangovers, chemist John Pemberton from Atlanta, Georgia, otherwise known as ‘Doc’, concocted a syrup cordial made from wine and coca extract, which he called ‘Pemberton’s French Wine Coca’. In 1885, at the height of the temperance movement in US, Atlanta banned the sale of alcohol, forcing Pemberton to produce a purely coca-based version of the syrup that needed to be diluted. The story goes that one day a careless barman at a soda fountain nearby accidentally spritzed it with ice-cold soda water from the fountain instead of tap water. Others believe that Pemberton ordered this to be done deliberately, and had organised runners to take small samples to Willis Venables’ soda fountain in downtown Atlanta so that taste tests could be undertaken. Either way, customers gave it the thumbs up, and the ever-popular beverage was born. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazio Posted January 5 Author Share Posted January 5 10 minutes ago, Lone Striker said: Coca-Cola (1886) While trying to find a cure for headaches and hangovers, chemist John Pemberton from Atlanta, Georgia, otherwise known as ‘Doc’, concocted a syrup cordial made from wine and coca extract, which he called ‘Pemberton’s French Wine Coca’. In 1885, at the height of the temperance movement in US, Atlanta banned the sale of alcohol, forcing Pemberton to produce a purely coca-based version of the syrup that needed to be diluted. The story goes that one day a careless barman at a soda fountain nearby accidentally spritzed it with ice-cold soda water from the fountain instead of tap water. Others believe that Pemberton ordered this to be done deliberately, and had organised runners to take small samples to Willis Venables’ soda fountain in downtown Atlanta so that taste tests could be undertaken. Either way, customers gave it the thumbs up, and the ever-popular beverage was born. A proper WTF that I saw on a YouTube video recently is that the man who owned the company afterwards didn’t think there was any future in bottled drinks so sold the bottling rights for $1. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henrysmithsgloves Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, FWJ said: And there’s a fair chance that every breath you take will will contain an atom of Caesar’s last breath. Everyone "nose" that🤔😁👍🏻 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjambo Posted January 5 Share Posted January 5 1 hour ago, stirlo said: Interesting one in the press today - which some may already know, but I must confess I didn't. You may have seen the story about Russell Crowe being related to the last man to be beheaded in the UK, Simon Fraser, the 11th Lord Lovat. I never realised that the phrase 'laughing his head off' was coined as a result of Fraser's execution, due to the fact that he was laughing as he was beheaded. On a completely different note, I learned today that the centre of the Earth is around the same temperature as the surface of the Sun - and possibly even slightly hotter. Just to confirm the closeness, the temperature at the centre of Earth is about about 5,200°C, the surface of the Sun about 5,600°C. I had no idea. Note that the temperature of the Sun's corona (effectively the Sun's "atmosphere") is, unintuitively, vastly more than its surface, at about 1 million degrees Celsius. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WDJ87 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 1 hour ago, redjambo said: Just to confirm the closeness, the temperature at the centre of Earth is about about 5,200°C, the surface of the Sun about 5,600°C. I had no idea. Note that the temperature of the Sun's corona (effectively the Sun's "atmosphere") is, unintuitively, vastly more than its surface, at about 1 million degrees Celsius. It takes the light from the surface of the sun 8 mins to reach earth yet that same light took 100,000 years (roughly, iirc) to reach the surface of the sun from it's own core. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjambo Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 24 minutes ago, WDJ87 said: It takes the light from the surface of the sun 8 mins to reach earth yet that same light took 100,000 years (roughly, iirc) to reach the surface of the sun from it's own core. I'm glad to see it finally gets its act together! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 3 hours ago, stirlo said: Yes that rings a bell - and if so, it turned out to be quite a prudent piece of financial planning! 4 hours ago, Carl Fredrickson said: If I remember correctly, on QI they said it was due to him wanting her to get her military pension. This is true however she never actually ended up claiming g the pension in the end foe fear of ridicule. It would have been worth about $1500 or so a month in today's money. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 Not necessarily a WTF, but an oddball one I picked up from a Susie Dent book. The guy who invented Subbuteo wanted to call it "Hobby", but was told that this couldn't be used as a registered trademark. So he took the scientific name of the hobby hawk, which is Falco Subbuteo, and used it instead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maple Leaf Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 7 hours ago, That thing you do said: The Country of Belize was once known as Scottish Honduras (yep was new to me as well when i went there). I ha'e ma doots. British Honduras, yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That thing you do Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 9 hours ago, Maple Leaf said: I ha'e ma doots. British Honduras, yes. It was Scottish Honduras first. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ri Alban Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 3 minutes ago, That thing you do said: It was Scottish Honduras first. Scottish Halfmoon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That thing you do Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 10 hours ago, Maple Leaf said: I ha'e ma doots. British Honduras, yes. So slight **** up on my part. It was British Honduras but Scottish Honduras did exist as a concept and also Scottish influence (as well as Mexican) in the naming of Belize on independence. "a Scottish buccaneer Captain Peter Wallace who discovered the mouth of the Belize River as credited in the 1827 Almanack, set up a permanent residence in the area. It was said that he gave his own name to Belize. Overtime, the name “Wallace” became “Vallis” as the Spaniards couldn't pronounce “w” which was changed to “b”, creating “Balise” which later became “Belize”." To ease everyones anger, heres a picture of the plane we flew in when we visited the place which is how I cane accross Scottish Honduras actually in a Hotel via memorabilia on the wall. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
That thing you do Posted January 6 Share Posted January 6 (edited) 11 minutes ago, That thing you do said: So slight **** up on my part. It was British Honduras but Scottish Honduras did exist as a concept and also Scottish influence (as well as Mexican) in the naming of Belize on independence. "a Scottish buccaneer Captain Peter Wallace who discovered the mouth of the Belize River as credited in the 1827 Almanack, set up a permanent residence in the area. It was said that he gave his own name to Belize. Overtime, the name “Wallace” became “Vallis” as the Spaniards couldn't pronounce “w” which was changed to “b”, creating “Balise” which later became “Belize”." To ease everyones anger, heres a picture of the plane we flew in when we visited the place which is how I cane accross Scottish Honduras actually in a Hotel via memorabilia on the wall. Looks like Scottish Honduras was a nickname as it was majority scots that settled there including after Darien failed https://www.cowbrough.co.uk/post/663020760218173440/blog-anniversary-celebrations-and-belizes Edited January 6 by That thing you do Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
superjack Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 This 1 is for acdc fans. Bon Scott first got the idea of walking around a gig with his guitarist sitting on his shoulders, as was a common theme at acdc gigs having angus on his shoulders, prior to joining acdc. In a precious band, he was in England and was at a concert. The band playing had the singer doing a walk round on stage with the lead guitarist on his shoulders. The band was geordie and the singer was Brian Johnson. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kila Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 On 05/01/2024 at 21:51, WDJ87 said: Reminded me of one A snakes head once severed can survive for around an hour, due to their slow metabolism their organs survive longer. People have even been bitten by them. Bitten by a headless snake sounds horrendous Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 10 minutes ago, kila said: Bitten by a headless snake sounds horrendous Bitten by a snakeless head sounds even worse. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjambo Posted January 7 Share Posted January 7 13 hours ago, That thing you do said: So slight **** up on my part. It was British Honduras but Scottish Honduras did exist as a concept and also Scottish influence (as well as Mexican) in the naming of Belize on independence. "a Scottish buccaneer Captain Peter Wallace who discovered the mouth of the Belize River as credited in the 1827 Almanack, set up a permanent residence in the area. It was said that he gave his own name to Belize. Overtime, the name “Wallace” became “Vallis” as the Spaniards couldn't pronounce “w” which was changed to “b”, creating “Balise” which later became “Belize”." From Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belize The earliest known record of the name "Belize" appears in the journal of the Dominican priest Fray José Delgado, dating to 1677. Delgado recorded the names of three major rivers that he crossed while travelling north along the Caribbean coast: Rio Soyte, Rio Kibum, and Rio Balis. The names of these waterways, which correspond to the Sittee River, Sibun River, and Belize River, were provided to Delgado by his translator. It has been proposed that Delgado's "Balis" was actually the Mayan word belix (or beliz), meaning "muddy water", although no such Mayan word actually exists. More recently, it has been proposed that the name comes from the Mayan phrase "bel Itza", meaning "the way to Itza". In the 1820s, the Creole elite of Belize invented the legend that the toponym Belize derived from the Spanish pronunciation of the name of a Scottish buccaneer, Peter Wallace, who established a settlement at the mouth of the Belize River in 1638. There is no proof that buccaneers settled in this area and the very existence of Wallace is considered a myth. Writers and historians have suggested several other possible etymologies, including postulated French and African origins. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leginten Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 The Romans gave the name Hibernia to Ireland because they never lost a game there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack D and coke Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 On 05/01/2024 at 15:40, periodictabledancer said: 100%. My late dad in law worked with him just after the war and then for him as part of Hart Builders (then Crudens) and knew him very well. My dad in law was site agent for Hart's house build in Ravelston. I know his grandsons and they’re big hibbys. Be nice to get into them for that Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Burgundy Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 On 05/01/2024 at 21:24, FWJ said: And there’s a fair chance that every breath you take will will contain an atom of Caesar’s last breath. That is deffo a WTF fact. Just shows how numerous and incredibly small an atom is. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hughesie27 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Pretty sure I read recently that every single human, including unborn babies, now have microplastics in their bodies. There's also the now pretty well known fact that if you shuffle a deck of cards it's almost certainly the first time any deck of cards has ever been in that order and ever will be due to the number of combinations. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjambo Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 1 hour ago, leginten said: The Romans gave the name Hibernia to Ireland because they never lost a game there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redjambo Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 (edited) 3 minutes ago, hughesie27 said: Pretty sure I read recently that every single human, including unborn babies, now have microplastics in their bodies. There's also the now pretty well known fact that if you shuffle a deck of cards it's almost certainly the first time any deck of cards has ever been in that order and ever will be due to the number of combinations. There are more ways to shuffle a pack of cards than there are atoms on Earth. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-infographics/there-are-more-ways-arrange-deck-cards-there-are-atoms-earth Edited January 8 by redjambo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martoon Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 2 hours ago, leginten said: The Romans gave the name Hibernia to Ireland because they never lost a game there. 😀 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periodictabledancer Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 1 hour ago, jack D and coke said: I know his grandsons and they’re big hibbys. Be nice to get into them for that 😄 Ask them if their grand dad ever told them about the time he was chased off the old greyhound track at Tranent for running "ringers" in dog races. Some of the stuff my father in law told me they got up to was straight out of "Only Fools & Horses". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jack D and coke Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 2 minutes ago, periodictabledancer said: 😄 Ask them if their grand dad ever told them about the time he was chased off the old greyhound track at Tranent for running "ringers" in dog races. Some of the stuff my father in law told me they got up to was straight out of "Only Fools & Horses". Quality. That’ll will be mentioned😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
periodictabledancer Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 1 minute ago, jack D and coke said: Quality. That’ll will be mentioned😉 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnrazor Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 39 minutes ago, jack D and coke said: Quality. That’ll will be mentioned😉 Ask him if he liked off dogs!! A rubber band around a front paw, vaseline in the right eye or a belly full of milk and water were common enough but there's more miles in one off! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
milky_26 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Gary Kremen who founded match.com lost his girlfriend to someone she met on match.com Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XB52 Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 2 hours ago, Dawnrazor said: Ask him if he liked off dogs!! A rubber band around a front paw, vaseline in the right eye or a belly full of milk and water were common enough but there's more miles in one off! Used to take dogs to the track at Wallyford for a trainer as he couldn't get a decent bet on them, because he was known to have great dogs. Only time his dog didn't win was after a nice meal of haggis Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnrazor Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 20 minutes ago, XB52 said: Used to take dogs to the track at Wallyford for a trainer as he couldn't get a decent bet on them, because he was known to have great dogs. Only time his dog didn't win was after a nice meal of haggis There was a few guys in Rosewell that ran dogs at flapper tracks, crooks, everyone of them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 The dickens fact is great . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnrazor Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 5 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said: The Bed Bug this isn't true. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 7 minutes ago, Dawnrazor said: The Bed Bug this isn't true. Awe naw ! I was hoping it was 😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnrazor Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 2 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said: Awe naw ! I was hoping it was 😂 Nope, sorry but you'll just have to make your bed! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazio Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 1 hour ago, JudyJudyJudy said: The dickens fact is great . People used to travel around reading newspapers for payment to people in Victorian times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dawnrazor Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 2 minutes ago, Tazio said: People used to travel around reading newspapers for payment to people in Victorian times. Still happens in Lochend. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 1 minute ago, Dawnrazor said: Still happens in Lochend. 😂😂 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 4 minutes ago, Tazio said: People used to travel around reading newspapers for payment to people in Victorian times. Fascinating . Charles Dickens was a good man Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stirlo Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 9 hours ago, redjambo said: There are more ways to shuffle a pack of cards than there are atoms on Earth. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-infographics/there-are-more-ways-arrange-deck-cards-there-are-atoms-earth Now - that is a truly astonishing fact. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tazio Posted January 8 Author Share Posted January 8 5 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said: Fascinating . Charles Dickens was a good man He was a complete fecking weirdo! Some very strange behaviour from him in the notoriously sexually repressed Victorian era. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ulysses Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 32 minutes ago, JudyJudyJudy said: Fascinating . Charles Dickens was a good man I'd say his wife might not have agreed with you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trotter Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 On 05/01/2024 at 12:39, Maple Leaf said: The famous Pinkerton security and detective agency in the United States was founded by Scottish-born Allan Pinkerton. As was the successor of what is now referred to as the US Navy - John Paul Jones - born in Kirkcudbrightshire. Who at various points in his life fought for the UK, Imperial Russia and the US. Fascinating character. I think he has the record for the number of ships named after him. Another one. Almost 4x the number of people died making the Nazi V2 rocket then were by being hit by it. And a final: the longest 'putt' ever made was on Concorde. The European Ryder Cup team going to the US placed a glass at the front of the cabin, the ball was played from the rear. Jose Maria Olazabel took the shot, although it was only 150 feet or so, at cruising speed the ball actually traveled just shy of 10 miles over the ground. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JWL Posted January 8 Share Posted January 8 10 hours ago, redjambo said: There are more ways to shuffle a pack of cards than there are atoms on Earth. https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/did-you-know-infographics/there-are-more-ways-arrange-deck-cards-there-are-atoms-earth That's a famous QI one. Can't recall the exact equation but something like if every start in our galaxy had a trillion planets, each with a trillion people living on them, and each of these people had a trillion pack of cards, only now, since the beginning of time would they start to duplicate a shuffle. In fact, I actually think it's more than that but that's the gist and obviously the atom one is a headbreaker. If you only had ten cards, it could take you around five years to repeat a shuffle. Mental/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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