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Author
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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 01-09-2007 12:50 PM
Rated G ![[Smile]](smile.gif)
Useless fact - Who invented the Slinky?
Like so many other great inventions, the Slinky, a favorite of both kids and physics teachers, was just a grand accident. Richard James, a naval engineer, "discovered" this enduring toy in 1943. Working to help the war effort, James was developing an anti- vibration device for ship instruments when he knocked over some springs and was fascinated by the way the springs appeared to "walk" down the shelves. James showed his invention to his wife, Betty, who provided the name. (Tabloid trivia: Betty eventually came to run the company, after Richard left for Bolivia to join an obscure religious group.)
The Jameses took their first batch of 400 Slinkys to Gimbel's department store in Philadelphia during the winter of 1945, right in time for Christmas shopping. They were so desperate to sell the toy, they paid a friend $1 to buy one and start the feeding frenzy. Ninety minutes later, not one Slinky remained. And the rest is Slinky history.
Some other little known facts: Slinkys were among the first toys to to travel into space; a stamp commemorating the 1940s features the beloved toy; during the Vietnam War, U.S. soldiers would toss a Slinky into a tree for use as a makeshift radio antenna; and, if stretched end-to-end, the Slinky toys sold since 1945 (about 250 million) would wrap around the world 126 times.
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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 01-11-2007 02:04 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - Who owns (or controls) Greenland?
Denmark "owns" it, but Greenland's residents control it themselves. In 1721, Norwegian priest Hans Egede, under the auspices of the Danish king, went to Greenland to "rechristianize" the Norsemen that had settled there many hundreds of years earlier. The only problem was the Norse were long gone, having long since moved on to greener pastures. In any case, Egede's expedition led to the establishment of a trading post and mission, and marked the beginning of Greenland's time as a Danish colony.
Then, in 1953, Denmark's constitution was modified and Greenland became an official part of the country, gaining voting membership in the Danish parliament. In 1979, Greenland was finally awarded "home rule within the Danish Commonwealth," allowing them to elect their own parliament and set up their own local government. And the rest is history.
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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 01-12-2007 07:57 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Exactly how fast is a knot and how did it get that name?
Ahoy! For land-lubbers who don't know a sail from a sale, knots measure the speed of ships. A knot is one nautical mile per hour, so a ship traveling at five knots is traversing five nautical miles per hour. That's simple enough, but why, inquiring pirates want to know, is it called a knot? The answer dates way back to the 17th century. To measure the speed and distance of a ship, knots were tied into a "log line." This line was thrown overboard, an hourglass was tipped, and the knots were counted. When the sand ran out, the counting stopped, and a general speed was determined.
Which brings us to the next seafaring query -- how long is a nautical mile? We're glad you asked, matey. A nautical mile is equal to about 1.15 survey miles, or 6080 feet.
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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 01-17-2007 08:22 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - Why are there no left-handed catchers in Major League Baseball?
If you're a student of baseball, then you know that the catcher has many different duties: choosing pitches and signalling them to the pitcher; catching pitches; fielding pop-ups and bunts; tagging runners at the plate; and finally, perhaps the most difficult task, throwing runners out when they attempt to steal second or third base.
The very best catchers in the Major Leagues rarely throw out even half of the runners that attempt stolen bases. A slow delivery from the pitcher, an off-speed pitch, a pitch in the dirt, or, of course, a speedy runner -- any of these complications can make retiring a runner a difficult proposition.
So, you ask, how does being left-handed interfere with throwing out baserunners? It has to do with the fact that most batters are right-handed and therefore stand in the batter's box on the left side of home plate. A left-handed catcher would need to throw through that batter's box or move over and throw directly over the plate -- added problems that would hinder even the most talented athlete.
Since most baseball coaches, from Little League to the Majors, are aware of the inherent difficulties of left-handed catching, they undoubtedly encourage talented southpaws to find other positions on the diamond -- outfield, first base, or even pitcher, where left-handedness is largely viewed as a competitive advantage.
So, there you have it. The subtleties of handedness when it comes to being a baseball catcher. Other positions where left- handedness is all but unheard of: third base and shortstop.
Lefty catchers are rare, but that's not to say that no left- handers have ever played the position. According to links I visited both Mike Squires and Dale Long moved over from their regular positions and played multiple games at catcher.
Perhaps most interesting discovery was that the game's greatest player, Babe Ruth, was a left-handed catcher. At the National Sports Gallery, we learned that a young Babe caught left-handed, despite the lack of equipment. In his own words:
"We had no catcher's mitt built for left handers, of course. We were lucky to have any kind of mitt. I'd used the regular catcher's mitt on my left hand, received the throw from the pitcher, take off the glove and throw it back to him left handed. When I had to throw to a base, trying to catch a runner, I'd toss the glove away, grab the ball with my left hand and heave it with everything I had."
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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 01-19-2007 01:55 PM
Rated G
Useless fact - What are pool balls made of?
"Thermoset" is an adjective used to describe synthetic substances that set permanently when heated. And resin, in addition to being the sticky stuff that comes out of trees, is a "solid or liquid synthetic organic polymer used as the basis of plastics, adhesives, varnishes, etc."
As it turns out, billiard balls have played a vital role in the creation of polymers, or synthetic plastics. One of the first developments of plastics was as a replacement to ivory billard balls, due to the dwindling supply of ivory. As far back as 1866, elephants were being slaughtered at an alarming rate to keep up with the demand for ivory billiard balls, billards having become America's favorite pastime. No more eight balls made from elephants. Ain't science grand?
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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 01-20-2007 07:27 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - How did Rhode Island get its name?
The state's common name, Rhode Island, actually refers only to the largest island in Narragansett Bay, also known as Aquidneck Island. Some historians think that the name is derived from “Roodt Eylandt”, old Dutch for “red island”, given to the island by Dutch explorer Adriaen Block due to the red clay on the island's shore. Other historians believe the name owes its origins to Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano, upon discovering nearby (present-day) Block Island named it Rhode Island because of its similarity in shape to the Greek island of Rhodes. Later settlers, mistaking which island Verrazzano was referring to, gave the name to Aquidneck Island instead.
Despite most of the state being part of the mainland, the name Rhode Island leads some out-of-staters to mistakenly believe that the entire state is an island, sometimes confusing it with Long Island, New York, which is only about 100 miles southwest of Rhode Island across the Atlantic Ocean. Rhode Island is nicknamed “Little Rhody” traditionally but the state officially adopted the nickname “the Ocean State”.
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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 01-22-2007 08:11 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - How are snake and spider antivenoms made?
As it turns out, antivenom (also called antivenin) is surprisingly simple to make. First, the venom is "milked" from the snake or spider. Then, it's diluted and injected into a horse or goat. As the animal builds up immunity to the venom, the dosage is increased, and the animal creates blood rich in antibodies.
Antibodies are blood proteins created to fight antigens. These antibodies collect in the serum, which is eventually separated from the dark red cells. After the serum has been purified a little more, it's ready to be injected at a moment's notice.
Of the 300,000 species of snakes, around 3,000 are venomous. In the U.S., between 8 and 15 people die of snakebite every year. Most snakebites can be prevented by wearing hiking boots that cover your ankles. If you still get bitten by a poisonous snake or a spider, antivenom need to be administered as soon as possible after the venom has been injected to be effective. Since the advent of antivenoms, some bites which were previously inevitably fatal have become only rarely fatal provided that the antivenin is administered soon enough.
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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 01-23-2007 06:53 AM
Rated G
Useless fact - What causes "the bends"?
The bends were first recorded in 1841, when early deep-sea divers began experiencing strange symptoms when resurfacing: blotchy rashes, coughing spasms, dizziness, unconsciousness, and a bizarre inability to bend joints (hence, the phrase the bends). Slower ascents were found to help the problem, but the cause of these symptoms wasn't understood until much later.
Decompression sickness is a very serious, potentially lethal condition. When people move from a high- pressure environment to one of low pressure, bubbles can form in their bloodstream as gases in pressurized, liquid form quickly revert to their natural state. This, as anyone familiar with intravenous injections can tell you, is a very bad thing.
Divers breath pressurized air, which is mostly nitrogen. In high pressure environments (i.e., under the ocean), nitrogen is absorbed by the body's fatty tissues rather than being expelled through breathing. This is generally fine, but if a diver's ascent is too quick and the pressure drops rapidly, the liquid nitrogen turns into bubbles.
Sixty percent of your nervous system is composed of fatty tissue. When the nitrogen stored there turns into bubbles, it wreaks havoc. Nitrogen is also stored in the joints (the bends) and directly under the skin (blotchy rash). Want to learn more about the bends?
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