KMC Forums - Useless information

Astound your friends with your utterly useless knowledge.

Donald Duck Comics were banned in Finland because he doesn't wear any pants.

E.T. dolls were forbidden in France because there is a law against selling dolls without human faces.

It's illegal to name a pig Napolean in France.

Spaghetti means "strangled priests".

In 1977, a 13 year-old boy discovered a tooth growing out of his left foot.

There was a Persian King who had 4 000 wives. When he died (from syphilis) he confessed to only loving the first 700.

There was a Liberian general who would lead his army into battle naked. His name was General Buck (hence the term, "buck naked").

The shortest war in history took place in 1896 when Zanzibar surrendered to Britain after 38 minutes.

During the Victorian era in the U.S., the word "legs" was considered inappropriate, and also the word "bull" was briefly changed to "gentleman cow".

Rocky is the shortest film title ever to win the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Christopher Walken was George Lucas' first choice for the role of Han Solo.

Boris Karloff was born with the name William Henry Pratt.

Little Shop of Horrors was filmed in two days.

Pepsi was originally marketed under the name Brad's Drink.

Coca Cola was originally green.

Caesar salad is named for it's creator, Caesar Cardini.

The second longest word in the English Language is "antidisestablishmentarianism". The longest is "pneumoultrasilicovolcanoconiosis".

In Shakespeare's time, the letter "k" was pronounced in such words as "knight", "knife", and "knot".

Shakespeare often spelled his name "Shakespare", and sometime called himself "Shakestaff".

At any given moment, at least 20 000 people in North America are singing.

Goldfish have a memory span of 3 seconds.

Dragonflies have a life span of 24 hours.

"Underground" is the only word in the English language to begin and end with the letters "und".

"Strengths" is the longest word containing only one vowel.

"Screeched" is the longest English word with only one syllable.

No words rhyme with "dreamt", "orange", or "month".

On average, Americans eat 18 acres of pizza every day.

45% of Americans don't know the sun is a star.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist.

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

Butterflies taste with there feet.

Originally, the butterfly was called the flutterby.

A snail can sleep for up to three years.

During hibernation, bears can sleep through childbirth.

Alfred Hitchcock had a fear of driving.

Samuel Johnson, who wrote the world's first dictionary, is also credited with writing the world's longest palindrome.

Adolf Hitler was a vegetarian.

Both Hitler and Napolean had one testicle.

There were 14 Hitlers in the New York phone book before World War II, and none after.

Honey doesn't spoil.

During the middle-ages, the rich had stone floors, while the poor had dirt floors (hence the term "dirt poor").

^^^ Stone floors would get slippery during the winter, so thresh was spread along the floor for traction. Because the floors got so slippery, a wooden plank would be placed in every doorway, and it was called a "thresh-hold".

During the Middle-ages, most people got married in June, because it had only been a month since their annual bath, and they were still smelling pretty good (relatively speaking). Even so, brides carried boquets of flowers to mask the odour.

During the Middle-ages, tomatoes were considered poisonous. The reason was that many people had plates made out of pewter, and the citric acid in the tomatoes caused lead to leech into the food.

Rome was the first city to reach a population of 1 000 000.

If you multiply 111 111 111 by 111 111 111, you get 123456787654321.

If you have 3 quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. This is the largest amount of money you can have without being able to make change for a dollar.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

"Typewriter" is the longest word that can be typed using the top row of the keyboard.

Egyptian priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies.

Malaria was originally thought to be caused by stale air (it means "bad air"). The cure was to place vases of flowers next to your bed, unfortunately mosquitoes laid their eggs in the water and the disease spread worse than ever.

The most common disease in the world is tooth decay.

For centuries barbers served not only to cut hair, but also to give you a bloodletting, for the puncturing of a vein was thought to be the cure for many diseases (the reason for the red on the barber pole).

Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every dewey decimal category.

Apple pie was invented by a Canadian.

The top of the Empire State Building was supposed to be used to dock airships. That idea fell apart after Hindenburg.

One last thing. One of those facts I made up. Can you figure out which one?

smokin'

__________________
With the first link, the chain is forged. The first speech censored, the first thought forbidden, the first freedom denied, chains us all irrevocably.These words were uttered by Judge Aaron Satie -- as awisdom, and warning. The first time any man's freedom is trodden on, we're all damaged.

"One ought never to turn one's back on a threatened danger and try to run away from it. If you do that, you will double the danger. But if you meet it promptly and without flinching, you will reduce the danger by half.-----Sir Winston Churchill