Author Topic: The "Did you know?" Fact Thread (Read 9983 times)

Tuffty · « **Reply #40 on:** December 28, 2006, 03:53:15 PM »

The bible forbids the eating of chameleons

Four galaxies are visible to the naked eye, two from each hemisphere

Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the telephone. A Florentine inventor, Antonio Meucci did.

Gblue · « **Reply #41 on:** December 28, 2006, 04:08:04 PM »

Quote from: Tuffty;269180

The bible forbids the eating of chameleons

Four galaxies are visible to the naked eye, two from each hemisphere

Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the telephone. A Florentine inventor, Antonio Meucci did.

presuming you got the same book as me over the holiday period?

num2son · « **Reply #42 on:** December 28, 2006, 10:38:16 PM »

Rubbing Tabasco on one's upper lip before bedtime is an effective temporary cure for sleep apnea.

Comic duo Cheech and Chong were originally known as Spic and Span before changing due to pressure from Chicano organizations.

Molecularly speaking, water is actually much drier than sand.

Las Vegas means "the meadows" in Spanish.

Tuffty · « **Reply #43 on:** December 28, 2006, 11:25:40 PM »

Quote from: Gblue;269191

presuming you got the same book as me over the holiday period?

haha! I was hoping nobody would notice!

Gblue · « **Reply #44 on:** December 29, 2006, 07:52:25 AM »

Quote from: Tuffty;269518

haha! I was hoping nobody would notice!

- still, very good read. very interesting to know that a lot of what i 'know' is wrong:)

JFC · « **Reply #45 on:** December 29, 2006, 07:45:31 PM »

Quote from: Tuffty;269180

Alexander Graham Bell did not invent the telephone. A Florentine inventor, Antonio Meucci did.

Correction. Meucci was the first to actually build a telephone. Bell was the second person to build one. However, Bell was the first to get an official REGISTERED PATENT for his telephone. Meucci didn't get one. It doesn't matter who built it first, the ONLY thing that matters when it comes to new technology is who gets the patent first. Bell did, therefore he gets the credit for having invented the telephone.

Boshabab · « **Reply #46 on:** December 30, 2006, 03:11:45 PM »

Quote from: JFC;270080

Correction. Meucci was the first to actually build a telephone. Bell was the second person to build one. However, Bell was the first to get an official REGISTERED PATENT for his telephone. Meucci didn't get one. It doesn't matter who built it first, the ONLY thing that matters when it comes to new technology is who gets the patent first. Bell did, therefore he gets the credit for having invented the telephone.

to me this basically Meucci did invent it first....... without Meucci, Bell wouldn't have built one I guess..

Tuffty · « **Reply #47 on:** December 30, 2006, 04:08:05 PM »

Quote from: Boshabab;270641

to me this basically Meucci did invent it first....... without Meucci, Bell wouldn't have built one I guess..

But Bell did invent a telephone through his own genius, he just happened to do it after Meucci did. But as JFC rightly says, Bell was the first one to get a registered patent for it. Meucci could have registered his beforehand, however he fell ill after being badly scalded. Meucci sued Bell after hearing Bell got the registered patent to the invention but Meucci died while his case against Bell got under way, hence, this is why Bell is credited for it.

Quote from: Gblue;269759

- still, very good read. very interesting to know that a lot of what i 'know' is wrong:)

Stangely, whenever I read through it, I hear Stephen Fry's voice as if he were speaking the facts out loud to me

shadowstar · « **Reply #48 on:** December 30, 2006, 06:52:14 PM »

A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans

chokkan 2 · « **Reply #49 on:** December 30, 2006, 07:05:39 PM »

Quote from: Tanachan;263063

Despite a population of over a billion, China has only about 200 family names

Actually... more than 600.... but around 20 of them are very common ~

I know coz I got one ~

Saburo · « **Reply #50 on:** December 30, 2006, 07:24:47 PM »

Bill Maher quoted Dr. Joyce Brothers as saying that people know within ten (10) seconds if they want to sleep with a particular person.

I've never been able to find that specific reference online but it was always good fun to flick that tidbit into mundane conversations at work.

JFC · « **Reply #51 on:** December 31, 2006, 01:57:38 AM »

Quote from: Boshabab;270641

to me this basically Meucci did invent it first....... without Meucci, Bell wouldn't have built one I guess..

Nah, it was just coincidence. Meucci and Bell were in completely different countries at the time they were doing this. It just happened that they both came up with the same idea and built it at around the same time.

num2son · « **Reply #52 on:** December 31, 2006, 02:52:13 AM »

Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".

The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33.

Walt Disney was afraid of mice.

Rakko · « **Reply #53 on:** December 31, 2006, 06:55:49 AM »

Disney World is bigger than the world's five smallest countries.

Gblue · « **Reply #54 on:** December 31, 2006, 10:04:31 AM »

Quote from: Tuffty;270662

Stangely, whenever I read through it, I hear Stephen Fry's voice as if he were speaking the facts out loud to me

haha, so do i

num2son · « **Reply #55 on:** January 01, 2007, 12:43:47 AM »

-A blind chameleon will still change color to match its surroundings.

-All dogs except the Chow have a pink tongue, the Chow's tongue is bluish black.

-Lions sleep 17 hours per day.

Tuffty · « **Reply #56 on:** January 01, 2007, 01:50:52 AM »

Quote from: num2son;271657

-A blind chameleon will still change color to match its surroundings.

Actually, the whole, 'chameleon changes it's colour to match it's surroundings' is a myth. They've never changed colour for those purposes and if it happens to match the colour of the background, it's through coincidence. Chameleons only change colour when they're frightened, picked up, beat another chameleon in a fight, attracting the opposite sex, or if there are changes in either light or temperature.

Ah Stephen, you can do no wrong

num2son · « **Reply #57 on:** January 01, 2007, 02:52:19 AM »

Quote from: Tuffty;271697

They've never changed colour for those purposes and if it happens to match the colour of the background, it's through coincidence. Chameleons only change colour when they're frightened, picked up, beat another chameleon in a fight, attracting the opposite sex, or if there are changes in either light or temperature.

Thanks for that fact.

num2son · « **Reply #58 on:** January 02, 2007, 03:04:10 AM »

-Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

-Christopher Columbus was the greatest explorer NEVER to discover America.

-Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.

crazychickencow · « **Reply #59 on:** January 03, 2007, 12:29:35 AM »

You're more likely to be killed by a coconut than attacked by a shark.