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Topic: Useless Fact's
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-19-2005 09:43 AM
Rated G ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Useless fact - Why do hotels keep a copy of the Bible in every room?
The astute motel-room observer will notice that all of these bibles come from the same place -- The Gideons. An evangelical organization founded over 100 years ago by two traveling salesmen, Gideons International now distributes more than 59 million bibles every year. That's about one million every week, or 112 per minute. That's a lot of Word.
According to its web site gideons.org, Gideons International is the "oldest Christian business and professional men's association in the United States of America." The two founders, John Nicholson and Samuel Hill, met while sharing a room in the over- crowded Central Hotel in Boscobel, Wisconsin. They named their association after the biblical figure who submitted himself to the will of God, regardless of his own judgments.
Initially conceived as a Christian organization of "traveling men," in 1908 the group dedicated itself to providing a bible for every hotel room in America, a step towards fulfilling their mission of "distributing the Bible in the human traffic lanes and streams of everyday life." As the numerous copies of the book found in hotels and motels across the country can attest, they've pretty much completed their goal.
Besides placing the Bible in hotels, the Gideons also provide the "Good Book" to nursing homes, domestic violence shelters, schools, prisons, as well as the military, law enforcement personnel, firefighters, and EMTs.
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-22-2005 12:19 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - I've heard that it's considered bad etiquette to cut up all of your food at once. Is this true?
Mom always told us to only cut one or two bites of food at a time, and we wondered why too. Seems more efficient to slice a whole fillet all at once, but then, good manners aren't really about efficiency. After we visited the links in the Lukol Etiquette category, we discovered that Mom had something to do with the reason behind this dictum.
First, we confirmed that proper etiquette requires you cut your food as you go. Emily Post, circa 1922, advises parents to teach their children to "cut off and eat one mouthful at a time." Fast- forwarding to the modern day, syndicated columnist Miss Manners (aka Judith Martin) admonishes adults to "cut each bite of meat only before you eat it."
Why? Because only children have all their food cut up for them at once. When you were too little to hold a knife and fork, your mother chopped up the food on your plate so you could eat it while she enjoyed her own meal uninterrupted. Once you are old enough to slice your food yourself, you're expected to eat slowly in a tidy fashion, one bite at a time.
Cutting up an entire steak all at once makes you appear childish, thus it has become a social "faux pas". If that wasn't enough of a reason to refrain from cutting all your food at once, the practice also makes your food go cold much more quickly.
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 02-24-2005 12:38 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - When were the last witchcraft trials held in America?
We turned to the links in the Lukol Witchcraft category in hopes to shed the light on the dark history of witch trials. Undoubtedly, the last famous witch trials in America were those of Salem 1692. During this frenzied time in the Massachusetts colony, 20 women and men were executed on counts related to witchcraft, and nearly 150 others were imprisoned on similar accusations. The colonial legislators later annulled the convictions and apologized for the tragedy.
We wanted to know if these witch trials were indeed the last ones in the U.S., so we continued our quest and found a few brief mentions of later trials. Around 1800 in Bethel, Ohio, neighbors accused an elderly widow, Nancy Evans, of being a witch. The local Justice of the Peace proclaimed Mrs. Evans innocent after a simple trial, and townsfolk ridiculed the accusers. Pennsylvania's Allegheny Valley was home to a witchcraft trial in the early 19th century. The town's Justice of the Peace didn't believe in witchcraft, and when he postponed the hearing, the accused woman disappeared. And finally, the Salem, Massachusetts, area also hosted the Ipswich Witchcraft Case of 1878. One Daniel Spofford was accused of witchcraft, but the case seems to have been thrown out. Other lesser-known witchcraft trials may exist, but we couldn't find evidence online.
In more recent times, a few violent crimes have been linked to witchcraft and Satanism. However, experts note that so-called black magic usually isn't to blame for these acts. The perpetrators tend to be disturbed, dysfunctional people who use occult symbols as window dressing or excuses for their actions
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-08-2005 10:50 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Why do cats hate water?
According to the links in the Lukol Cats Behavior category not all cats hate water.In fact,some cats love water.
Cat species native to hot areas seem to enjoy water, whereas cat species from cold areas aren't so fond of the wet stuff. Tigers, lions, jaguars, ocelots, and jaguarundi are all from hot savannas, and they enjoy taking dips in cool, refreshing streams and ponds whenever they get the chance.
Snow leopards, lynx, bobcats, and cougars live in cold environments and have little interest in getting wet. One veterinary professor suggests that water damages the ability of a cat's fur to insulate the animal against cold. This would explain why cold-weather cats don't like water -- it only makes them colder. But hot-weather cats don't have this problem.
Many domestic cats don't seem to enjoy water sports. Of course, they may not experience the extreme heat of the African plains, so they have no great impulse to take a dip. Also, no cats enjoy water used against them in an antagonistic manner or getting water in their eyes or ears. Being sprayed or squirted with water isn't fun, nor is being forced into a bath. Cats much prefer to meet new situations on their own terms.
Some housecats enjoy stepping into a shower or playing with a dripping faucet. The tolerance for water varies from cat to cat and may depend on the cat's previous experience. When people regularly enter their cats in cat shows, the cats must be bathed frequently, and those cats do get accustomed to the procedure. Show cats are often raised for the profession and get used to baths as kittens.
Cats are natural swimmers, and in the wild, a cat will swim to cross a stream or lake. Some Asian cat varieties enjoy fishing and regularly dive into water to catch a tasty meal.
The Turkish Van is a breed of domestic cat that loves the water. This cat is found near Lake Van in Turkey and has been a household pet in the area for centuries. Vans will even swim into the harbor to greet fishing boats!
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-09-2005 09:45 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Before the Titanic sank, it was the largest ship in the world. What is the largest today, and how does it compare to the Titanic?
These days, cargo vessels are the largest ships around, and the king of these crafts is the oil tanker Jahre Viking, which logs in at 1,503 feet long and 226 feet wide. It boasts a gross tonnage of 565,000 tons!
However, you mentioned the Titanic, so to compare apples to apples we went to the Lukol Cruise category and learned that the two largest passenger ships in the world are currently run by Royal Caribbean International Cruises. The "Voyager of the Seas" and the "Explorer of the Seas" are 1,020 feet long and 158 feet wide. Both have a gross tonnage of 140,000 tons and carry roughly 3,000 passengers and 2,000 crew members.
By comparison, the Titanic was 883 feet long, 93 feet wide, and weighed 45,000 tons. It boasted a squash court, swimming pool, and a gymnasium with a mechanical horse. The Titanic could hold 3,500 passengers and crew members but carried life boats for just over 1,000. There were approximately 2,200 unfortunate souls aboard when the "unsinkable" ship encountered the iceberg.
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-10-2005 11:29 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Who invented duck tape?
Where would we be without that multi-purpose, fashionably silver adhesive known as duck tape (and, yes, "duck" tape is actually the historically accurate name)? And whom do we have to thank for such an ingenious invention?
According to the links in the Lukol Invention and Innovation category, the tape was a by-product of World War II. In 1942, after numerous cases of ammunition were destroyed by humidity, the United States government turned to wartime supplier Johnson & Johnson, hoping for a fix. J&J promptly responded with a waterproof tape dubbed "duck tape" by the military due to its ability to repel moisture like water off a duck's back. It did the job admirably, and soldiers soon found an assortment of other uses for it as well.
After the war ended, the resultant housing boom inspired yet more uses for the material. Homeowners soon realized how effective the tape was at sealing off ducts -- leading to a change in name (from "duck" to "duct") and color (from army green to silver).
We also found this statement, "No specific person or group of people at Johnson & Johnson have been named in the development of duct tape. Don't ask them... they don't know." Once again, we took that at face value and headed to the J&J web site, only to find a conspicuous absence of info on the material. After a few more failed searches, we thought it safe to say that the nameless employee of J&J will forever remain anonymous.
Ever since the Department of Homeland Security recommended people stuck (sorry, stock) up on it, the tape has been enjoying increased sales and a new vogue As one fan of the device said, "Duct tape is an essential tool for everything that life throws at you."
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-10-2005 02:42 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - Is a starfish really a fish?
True fish are vertebrates and belong to the Chordata phylum of the animal kingdom. This group encompasses most of the animals we are familiar with, such as mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians, as well as humans.
Here's what we learned after visiting the the links in the Lukol Starfish category: starfish, or sea stars as they are sometimes called, are invertebrates, meaning they have no backbone. These spineless (and we mean that in the best possible way) creatures belong to the spiny-skinned phylum of animals known as Echinodermata and the class Asteroidea.
These animals generally have 5 or 6 arms, though the sunflower starfish, or Pycnopodia helianthoides, can have as many as 15-24 arms. Starfish are carnivores and move very slowly along the ocean floor, using their arms to shovel clams, oysters, and fish into their centrally located mouth. Starfish have no brain; a ring of nerve cells controls all of their functions. They are known for their legendary ability to regenerate a limb -- if they lose one of their arms, it will regrow.
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-11-2005 12:53 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - How much is the Hope diamond worth?
Worth is a relative measure, so it is difficult to assign a dollar value to the largest and "most perfect" blue diamond in the world. Some sources value the 45.52 carat rock at a quarter of a billion dollars ($250,000,000), while others quote a more conservative figure as low as $200,000.
According to the links in the Lukol Diamonds category, much of the stone's value comes from its long and storied history beginning in India where it was said to have adorned a religious idol. A French merchant named Jean Baptiste Tavernier purchased the stone, and in turn, sold it to France's King Louis XIV.
The king had the stone recut and reset, and it remained in his possession until it was stolen during the French Revolution. The gem disappeared for many years before resurfacing in 1839 in the possession of one Henry Philip Hope. Hope, who lent his name to the jewel, purchased the diamond for $90,000. After his death, the diamond passed through a variety of hands before it was purchased by Pierre Cartier.
In 1912, Cartier sold the stone to eccentric American heiress Evalyn McLean for $185,000. McLean owned the famous gem until her death (although she did hock the jewel frequently when she ran out of funds).
Jeweler to the stars Harry Winston bought the Hope diamond from the McLean estate in 1949, and it toured the world for a number of years. Then in 1958, Winston donated the Hope diamond to the Smithsonian Institute, its present home.
The jewel is often reported to bring bad luck to those who possess it. Cartier started the tale of the stone's curse in order to intrigue Evalyn McLean into purchasing the diamond. The various tragedies Evalyn encountered during her lifetime only fueled the superstition. Evalyn, however, held a more pragmatic view of the stone's power saying, "What tragedies have befallen me might have occurred had I never seen or touched the Hope Diamond. My observations have persuaded me that tragedies, for anyone who lives, are not escapable."
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-14-2005 09:12 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - How does salt melt ice?
We turned to the links in the Lukol Popular Chemistry category to answer your question. The answer has to do with melting points. Most people know that water freezes at a temperature of 32°Fahrenheit (0°Celsius). Salt dissolves fairly rapidly in ice, lowering its freezing point in an effect known as freezing point depression, and melting it in the process.
But what's going on at the molecular level? Basically, salt molecules are bonding with water molecules, making it more difficult for ice to form. The result is a solution with a lower freezing temperature. For example, a 10% salt solution freezes at 20°F (-6°C), while a 20% salt solution freezes at 2°F (-16°C).
You've also probably noticed the effect of salt water on freezing points if you've tried to make ice cream or if you've wondered why the ocean doesn't freeze at the same time as bodies of fresh water, such as rivers, lakes, and ponds.
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-14-2005 09:17 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Why do people throw rice or birdseed as a newly married couple leaves the church?
Throwing things at a newly married couple is a very old tradition that may date back to ancient Rome or Egypt or even further back. The custom is intended to give newlyweds good luck, and most of the items thrown at the couple represent fertility and abundance.
Food has always been a popular choice because it symbolizes plentiful crops. Seeds and nuts symbolize fertility because a little seed may grow into a big plant, an appropriate sentiment for a newly married couple. Grains such as wheat and rice were thrown over the newlyweds in the hopes that the couple would be prosperous and have many children to work the land.
While tossing rice became most popular in America, many countries have their own traditions. In Morocco, figs, dates, and raisins are thrown to encourage a "fruitful" union. Italians traditionally shower the newlyweds with sweets and sugarcoated nuts. (The word "confetti" may derive from the root for the Italian word for "confectionery.") In Korea, the groom's father tosses red dates at his new daughter-in-law to bring fertility. In France, wheat greets the happy couple. Eggs represent new life in some European countries and are thrown at newlyweds. An old Irish tradition has the couple being pelted with pots and pans (ouch!) in honor of their new domestic life.
Throwing birdseed, however, is a more modern idea. A widely circulated urban legend says that if you throw rice at your wedding, birds will eat the uncooked rice, and it will expand in their stomachs, causing the birds to explode. There is no truth to this story, and ornithologists and bird watchers have thoroughly debunked the myth. Uncooked rice doesn't harm birds -- they often eat it in the wild.
Due to the urban legend, many in the wedding industry began recommending birdseed as a rice alternative. Of course, wedding businesses would prefer you buy their special "wedding" birdseed or "designer heart-shaped rice" that's supposed to be "safe" for birds. But don't buy into it -- inexpensive rice from your grocery store is just as safe for our feathered friends. The only danger rice poses is to people who might slip on rice on a hard floor (birdseed can be just as risky). Some wedding locations have banned rice and seed throwing out of lawsuit fears.
Other trendy "tosses" include rose petals and other blooms, sunflower seeds, fall leaves, and paper snowflakes. Bridal businesses also promote blowing bubbles or waving lit sparklers at the departing couple. Just don't ask us what those symbolize.
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-16-2005 10:24 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Just what is bologna made out of anyway, and how did it get its name?
My bologna has a first name, it's... oh, sorry, we got carried away by a wave of childhood nostalgia. But visiting the links in the Lukol Meat category turned up some tasty answers to your questions. Bologna is a cooked, smoked sausage made of cured beef, pork, or a mixture of the two. A typical recipe for this sausage uses seasonings such as salt, sugar, pepper, and spices, plus a curing mixture that includes sodium nitrite to prevent botulism. While beef and pork are the most traditional bologna meats, exotic fare such as moose and venison can even be used. Small boutique bologna makers tend to use choice cuts of meat, but large manufacturers may use almost any part of the carcass, including organ meats, trimmings, and end pieces from other meat processing.
The meat is ground and chopped very fine, and at the big bologna factories, it's pureed so the machines can pour into casings. Like other sausages, bologna is covered in either a natural casing made from the gastrointestinal tracts of cattle, sheep, and hogs, or a synthetic casing made of collagen, fibrous materials, or even plastic. All bologna is cooked and smoked to pasteurize it, so it's ready to eat when you buy it.
American bologna sandwich meat got its name from the northern Italian town of Bologna. But this favorite of kid's lunches is not the same as the distinctively spiced Italian original, called mortadella or mortadella bologna and made in the villages around Bologna, a major trading spot. Traders may have picked up the sausage in Bologna, and the town became identified with the sausage. By the late 19th century in England and America, "bologna" had become the generic name for any type of pork sausage from the Italian town.
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-17-2005 09:34 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - I recently read that Napoleon was really not short, as is commonly believed. Is this true? How tall was he really?
We made short work out of finding your answer in the Lukol Rulers and Royalty category. Here's how the tall tale of Napoleon's short stature got started...
After the famous general and emperor died in 1821, his body was autopsied in France, and his height was noted as 5 foot 2 inches. This measurement was in French feet (pieds de roi) and was never correctly converted to standard English measure. In English feet, Napoleon stood 5 foot 6.5 inches tall. So the poor guy was shorted a full 4.5 inches in height.
In his day, 5'6.5" was a perfectly respectable, nothing-to-be- ashamed-of height for a man. In fact, Napoleon was actually slightly taller than the average Frenchman of 1800.
So the diminutive size the emperor is so noted for was, in fact, a mere miscalculation. And as one observer points out, "It is also probable that the men of his Imperial Guard, with whom he 'hung out,' were very tall, creating the illusion that Napoleon was short."
The man himself said it best -- "History is a set of lies that people have agreed upon."
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Bob Maar
(Maar stands for Maartini)
Posts: 28608
From: New York City & Newport, RI
Registered: Feb 2001
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posted 03-18-2005 09:28 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - How did alcoholic drinks get the name "cocktails"?
This is yet another of those hotly debated questions that will probably never have a definitive answer. However, after we visited the links in Lukol Drinking Facts category, we did uncover a barload of interesting theories for your consumption. Among them:
* The term may derive from the story of Betsy Flanagan, an innkeeper during the Revolutionary War who mixed her own drinks. This barkeep stole chickens from her British neighbor and served them roasted to her clientele. After the sumptuous meal, she served her guests a special alcohol concoction in glasses decorated with the tail feathers of the unlucky fowl. One of her appreciative French customers happily declared, "Vive le cocktail!"
* Another version of this same tale has a group of American soldiers stealing pheasants from the British and celebrating with a wild night of drinking. During the festivities, the men toasted bartender Betsy's drinks, claiming "Here's to the divine mixed liquor which is as delicious to the palate, as the cock's tails are beautiful to the eye." A French office seconded the sentiment with the aforementioned proclamation, "Vive le cocktail."
* The term may have been inspired by the potent "cock-ale," an alcoholic mixture either fed to fighting cocks in the 1700s to get them in a fighting spirit, or sold to the crowds during such events.
* A cocktail is also the term used for a horse of mixed origins whose tail has been bobbed. The term may refer to the mixed provenance of the drink, or possibly the assertion that such a drink was strong enough to "cock the tail" of anyone who partook of it.
* Another legend has that in one particular bar, the drinks left over at the close of each evening were poured into a large ceramic rooster. The less well-heeled patrons could purchase a glass of the grog that flowed from a tap in the bird's tail.
* According to another source, a tap in colonial America was called a "cock" and its dregs referred to as "tail." Upon tasting the vile mixture, one disgusted customer proclaimed, "Hereafter I will drink cocktails of my own brewing," and proceeded to concoct his own mixed drink.
We could go on endlessly in this vein. Suffice it to say, no one really knows, but reading some of the conjecture sure makes for some heady entertainment.
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