Total Trivia

[NattyBumppo]

One of the words for wives in Spanish is esposas.

One of the words for handcuffs in Spanish is esposas.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Turning a clock's hands counterclockwise while setting it is not necessarily harmful. It is only damaging when the timepiece contains a chiming mechanism.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Eric Stoltz was first cast as the lead in the film Back to the Future, but he proved to be "too intense for the comedy." Second-choice Michael J. Fox got the role.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

The song "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling" was written by George Graff, a German who had never visited Ireland in his life.

 

[MSH2]

Roughly one percent of the South Pacific ocean is land, the rest is water

 

[NattyBumppo]

John Wooden was nearly the coach of the University of Minnesota and not UCLA. Had there not been a freak April blizzard that prevented Wooden from talking with Gopher officials -- Minnesota was his first choice and was prepared to make him an offer to be its coach -- UCLA would not have been able to hire Wooden.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Lockheed, manufacturer of the Trident missile, transmits data from its Sunnyvale, California headquarters to its plant 30 miles away in Santa Cruz via carrier pigeon.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

At the end of the Beatles' song "A Day in the Life," an ultrasonic whistle, audible only to dogs, was recorded by Paul McCartney for his Shetland sheepdog.

 

[fire_breeze]

A brief history of time

1485 : Leonardo da Vinci sketches a fusee for a clock.

1500s : Germany : Peter Henlein creates the first pocket watch.

Early 1600s : Form watches becoming popular. Cases are shaped like animals and objects. Religious themes are popular.

1635 : Around this time that the fusee was adapted from clocks to watches.

1659 - 1675 : Christian Huygens invents the "Remontoire".

1687 : Daniel Quare patents the repeating mechanism that uses bells to sound quarter hours and the hours.

1704 : Peter and Jacob Debaufre, Nicolas Facio, are the first to use rubies in watch movements.

1750 : Watch makers began using enamel on watch dials.

1759 : Thomas Mudge invents the English lever escapement.

1775 : Abraham Louis Breguet sets up his own watch making shop in Paris, France.

1780 : Abraham Louis Perrelet invents the self winding movement.

1786 : Breguet is the first to use guilloche on watch dials.

1791 : J.F. Bautte founded the watch company that would eventually become Girard-Perregaux.

1807 : Thomas Young invents the recording chronograph.

1809 : Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts is the first watch manufacturer in America.

1820 : Thomas Prest registers a patent for the self winding watch.

1833 : Antoine LeCoultre starts his own watchmaking business which later become Jaeger-LeCoultre.

1837 : First Tiffany store opens.

1843: Adrien Philippe develops a watch with winding and setting through the crown.

1844 : The start, stop, and reset chronograph is invented by Adolph Nicole.

1844 : Antoine LeCoultre invents the millionometre.

1848 : Louis Brandt opens his own workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds which eventually became the Omega Watch Company.

1853 : Tissot makes the first dual time zone watch.

1858 : Minerva is founded.

1860 : Heuer is founded.

1865 : Zenith founded.

1881 : Movado founded.

1884 : Greenwich, England is officially named the zero meridian and used as the world wide recognized basis of time zones.

1886 : Geneva Seal established.

1894 : Universal Geneve established.

1905 : Hans Wilsdorf starts the Rolex Watch Company.

1914 : Eterna introduces the first wristwatch with an alarm.

1918 : Japan : Shakosha Watch Company opened. This would become Citizen in 1931.

1923 : John Harwood is the first to mass produce a self winding wristwatch.

1924 : Tokyo : Seiko brand name is launched by Kinttaro Hattori.

1926 : Rolex introduces the first waterproof case called the "Oyster".

1929 : First anti magnetic watch created by Tissot.

1933 : Ingersoll introduces the "Mickey Mouse" watch.

1956 : Rolex introduces their first model that displays the day and date.

1957 : Hamilton introduces the world's first battery driven watch.

1962 : Rado produces the world's first scratch proof watch called the "Diastar 1".

1962 : ETA of Switzerland develops the first quartz battery operated watch.

1970 : Hamilton releases the "Pulsar", the first electronic digital watch.

1972 : Longines and Seiko introduce the LCD, (Liquid Crystal Display).

1980 : Hublot founded.

1983 : SMH of Switzerland launches the Swatch brand.

1985 : Swiss Heuer Company merges with TAG to form TAG Heuer.

1986 : Audemars Piguet introduces the first self winding tourbillon.

1991 : Franck Muller founded.

1999 : Casio innovates with the first wristwatch with a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS).

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

A brief history of time

1485 : Leonardo da Vinci sketches a fusee for a clock.

1500s : Germany : Peter Henlein creates the first pocket watch.

Early 1600s : Form watches becoming popular. Cases are shaped like animals and objects. Religious themes are popular.

1635 : Around this time that the fusee was adapted from clocks to watches.

1659 - 1675 : Christian Huygens invents the "Remontoire".

1687 : Daniel Quare patents the repeating mechanism that uses bells to sound quarter hours and the hours.

1704 : Peter and Jacob Debaufre, Nicolas Facio, are the first to use rubies in watch movements.

1750 : Watch makers began using enamel on watch dials.

1759 : Thomas Mudge invents the English lever escapement.

1775 : Abraham Louis Breguet sets up his own watch making shop in Paris, France.

1780 : Abraham Louis Perrelet invents the self winding movement.

1786 : Breguet is the first to use guilloche on watch dials.

1791 : J.F. Bautte founded the watch company that would eventually become Girard-Perregaux.

1807 : Thomas Young invents the recording chronograph.

1809 : Luther Goddard of Shrewsbury, Massachusetts is the first watch manufacturer in America.

1820 : Thomas Prest registers a patent for the self winding watch.

1833 : Antoine LeCoultre starts his own watchmaking business which later become Jaeger-LeCoultre.

1837 : First Tiffany store opens.

1843: Adrien Philippe develops a watch with winding and setting through the crown.

1844 : The start, stop, and reset chronograph is invented by Adolph Nicole.

1844 : Antoine LeCoultre invents the millionometre.

1848 : Louis Brandt opens his own workshop in La Chaux-de-Fonds which eventually became the Omega Watch Company.

1853 : Tissot makes the first dual time zone watch.

1858 : Minerva is founded.

1860 : Heuer is founded.

1865 : Zenith founded.

1881 : Movado founded.

1884 : Greenwich, England is officially named the zero meridian and used as the world wide recognized basis of time zones.

1886 : Geneva Seal established.

1894 : Universal Geneve established.

1905 : Hans Wilsdorf starts the Rolex Watch Company.

1914 : Eterna introduces the first wristwatch with an alarm.

1918 : Japan : Shakosha Watch Company opened. This would become Citizen in 1931.

1923 : John Harwood is the first to mass produce a self winding wristwatch.

1924 : Tokyo : Seiko brand name is launched by Kinttaro Hattori.

1926 : Rolex introduces the first waterproof case called the "Oyster".

1929 : First anti magnetic watch created by Tissot.

1933 : Ingersoll introduces the "Mickey Mouse" watch.

1956 : Rolex introduces their first model that displays the day and date.

1957 : Hamilton introduces the world's first battery driven watch.

1962 : Rado produces the world's first scratch proof watch called the "Diastar 1".

1962 : ETA of Switzerland develops the first quartz battery operated watch.

1970 : Hamilton releases the "Pulsar", the first electronic digital watch.

1972 : Longines and Seiko introduce the LCD, (Liquid Crystal Display).

1980 : Hublot founded.

1983 : SMH of Switzerland launches the Swatch brand.

1985 : Swiss Heuer Company merges with TAG to form TAG Heuer.

1986 : Audemars Piguet introduces the first self winding tourbillon.

1991 : Franck Muller founded.

1999 : Casio innovates with the first wristwatch with a built-in Global Positioning System (GPS).

2009 : Lorraine destroys the concept of time when she whacks her ringing alarm clock at 5 in the morning

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Water makes up 60 percent of our body weight. Of the water, 8 percent is in the blood, 25 percent in the spaces between cells, and 67 percent inside the cells.

 

[NattyBumppo]

Jimmy Stewart and John Wayne were originally considered for the roles ultimately taken by Robert Duvall and Tommy Lee Jones, respectively, in the Lonesome Dove miniseries, in the movie version that Peter Bogdonavich wanted to make...

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

The Penny is the only coin currently minted in the United States with a profile that faces to the right. All other coins – the silver dollar, half dollar, quarter, dime, and nickel – all feature profiles that face to the left.

 

[kendra1980]

Everyone's tongue print is different, like fingerprints.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

There are exactly 1,048576 bytes in one megabyte.
Half a byte is called a "nybble."

 

[NattyBumppo]

The Peter Principle is a special case of a ubiquitous observation: anything that works will be used in progressively more challenging applications until it fails.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

The Peter Principle is a special case of a ubiquitous observation: anything that works will be used in progressively more challenging applications until it fails.

A bit like marriage I guess

 

[RUlookingup]

The band Pearl Jam was originally called Mookie Blaylock after the basketball player. The album Ten was named after his uniform number.

 

[fire_breeze]

In 2000, Pope John Paul II was named an "Honorary Harlem Globetrotter."

 

[fire_breeze]

An earthquake on Dec. 16, 1811 caused parts of the Mississippi River to flow backwards

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Cola into the toilet bowl and let the 'real thing' sit for one hour, then flush clean.
The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

To carry Cola syrup (the concentrate) commercial trucks must use a Hazardous Material sign reserved for highly corrosive materials.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

The active ingredient in Cola is phosphoric acid. It will dissolve a nail in about four days.

 

[RUlookingup]

http://ufacts.blogspot.com/2008/06/man-with-largest-testicles-testes-in.html

Men often brag about having the biggest balls....it's not always a good thing!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4B9pMJYXGBs

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Le Bateau, a piece by the great French artist Henri Matisse, was accidentally hung upside down when displayed in the New York Museum of Modern Art in 1961. Nobody noticed the error for forty-seven days.