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Lesser known facts

Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite.
The national anthem of Greece has 158 verses.
- No one in Greece has memorized all 158 verses.
There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
There are more chickens than people in the world.
Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.
The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."
All of the clocks in the movie "Pulp Fiction" are stuck on 4:20.
No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple.
"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt."
Almonds are a member of the peach family.
Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
There are only four words in the English language which end in "-dous" tremendous, horrendous, stupendous and hazardous.
Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula"- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: "L.A."
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.
In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10.
Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
When the University of Nebraska Cornhuskers play football at home, the stadium becomes the state's third largest city.
The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "Its A Wonderful Life."
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
On an American one-dollar bill, there is an owl in the upper left-hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider hidden in the front upper right-hand corner.
The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.
Who's that playing the piano on the "Mad About You" theme? Paul Reiser himself.
In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.
The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."
The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
Mr. Rogers is an ordained minister.
John Lennon's first girlfriend was named Thelma Pickles.
The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.
Stewardesses" is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.
The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver."
It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.
Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.
On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.
It was the accepted practice in Babylon, 4,000 years ago, that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon."
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice.
In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. That's where the phrase, "goodnight, sleep tight" came from.
The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."

Facts proved wrong

All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill.: The Lincoln Memorial lists all 48 states which existed when it was created in 1920, but only 26 of these are engraved on the monument's front. Therefore, the $5 bill shows only 26.
Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.: The false claim that British prime minister "Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room at a dance" has been circulating on Internet-based trivia lists for as long as we can remember.
On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament Building is an American flag.: The statement about the Canadian 2 dollar bill is false. It does look like a U.S. flag though! The flag that flies there is called the "Red Ensign" and was replaced by the Maple Leaf.
It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.: Mythbusters has proven you can sneeze with your eyes open if you hold them open, and your eyes wont fall out. You could argue that it's impossible without using your hands, but otherwise it is possible.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.: On MythBusters (season 1), Jamie trained his goldfish to recognize color patterns and complete an obstacle course under water. They remembered what Jamie had taught them over a month later and easily completed the same course without Jamie's prompting.

Written by Mary Nicole Hicks

Tags: Facts

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Comments

James Farmer Says:
1 October, 2006 at 6:04 pm

"All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5 bill."

I don't know about the old one, but only 26 states are listed on the newer $5 bill. Could you be more specific?

Just sayin'.
John Smith Says:
11 November, 2006 at 7:07 am

The phrase "The whole nine yards" is considerably older than you suggest. A quality bespoke suit is made using 9 yards of cloth to match the weave. Cheaper suits often don't so to get an expensive suit you wanted "The whole nine yards".

"In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak." This is false. The speaker is there as an intermediate and enforces the regulations of Parliament. He/She is not a Member of Parliament so should be apolitical.

Oh and English pubs no longer sell quarts.
Jim Parrish Says:
12 November, 2006 at 9:27 am

I understand that the "Wizard of OZ" was a satire on the gold standard... hence, yellow brick road (gold standard)is leading the unsophisticated citizen (Dorthy) toward OZ... the ounce of gold abbreviation. The characters (tin man, lion, ect.) were recongnizable political characters to the audience of that day... or so I understand.

Thanks and smiles,
Jim
Eric Simms Says:
12 November, 2006 at 3:30 pm

The Lesser Known Facts involving the movie "Pulp Fiction" is incorrect. There are sever points in the movie where clocks do appear and are not stuck on 4:20. The first one is at 1:42:10 into the movie on the bedside table is a travel clock it doesn't read close to 4:20 at all. Again at 1:46:30 Butch's grandfather's watch on the kangaroo reads closer to 9:30. Another point in the movie 1:58:00 indisputable the clock the in the background clearly reads closer to 8:20.
ryan Says:
11 December, 2006 at 9:36 am

The Lincoln Memorial lists all 48 states which existed when it was created in 1920, but only 26 of these are engraved on the monument's front. Therefore, the $5 bill shows only 26.
(www.treas.gov/education/faq/currency/p...aits.shtml)
Davey! Says:
13 March, 2007 at 4:01 am

The statement about the Canadian 2 dollar bill is false. It does look like a U.S. flag though! The flag that flies there is called the "Red Ensign" and was replaced by the Maple Leaf...
thealmightyguru.com/AskAGuru/2004-02.html
Scott Says:
15 June, 2008 at 2:29 pm

Mythbusters has proven you can sneeze with your eyes open if you hold them open, and your eyes wont fall out. You could argue that it's impossible without using your hands, but otherwise it is possible.
Andreas Says:
15 June, 2008 at 3:33 pm

A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.

Busted by mythbuster. They have a longer memoryspan.
Steve Says:
15 June, 2008 at 3:40 pm

These lists annoy me - people hear something interesting and immediately call it a fact.

For starters, there are rhymes for Orange, Silver and Purple: Hinge and Sporange; Chilver; and Curple and Hurple respectively.

Secondly even if these did not have rhymes, they would not be the only words in English with no rhymes as plenty don't: golf, luggage, fugue and galaxy are just four.

I'm not even going to go into other errors like the Speaker of the House not being allowed to speak...

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