Total Trivia

[fire_breeze]

I think I'll add some more information on this subject

Though the practice is supposed to be started by pope Gregory I to save people from the plague back in 600's, the custom of "blessing" someone was recorded as far back as 77ad. BUT even then thought to be older. There are thought to be many different origins for the blessing. One was thought that your heart stopped when you sneezed so you basicly died for that moment so to save your soul you got blessed. Another was that coz you spasm so hard when you sneeze that your spirit was forced out and you have to be blessed so your spirit can return and not the devil. So basicly no one really knows where it started.

Also some plague based facts. You know that poem Ring a ring of rosie? Contrast to general belif, it has nothing to do with the plague. The very earlist record of the poem dates from 1790 from Massachusetts and went as follows.

Ring a ring of rosie. A bottle full of posie. All the girls in out town. Ring for little Josie.

But again no one knows how old the poem really is.

To help clear up this mess some things have to be pointed out about the plague like you didn't get red lesions on your body, no one used to carry bunches of flowers to ward off the plague, they used aromatic oils soaked hankies or burnt strong incense, they even rang church bells or shot cannons to "scare off" the plague and no one sneezed to death. Infact these are the symptoms.

The Bubonic plague affects the lymph nodes (another part of the lymph system). Within 3 to 7 days of exposure to plague bacteria, you will develop flu-like symptoms such as fever, headache, chills, weakness, and swollen, tender lymph glands (called buboes—hence the name bubonic). You may also have vomiting, sensitivity to bright light and finally your swollen lymph nodes will turn black burst and start oozing bloody and pus......But no sneezing.

Oo and a lovely grizzly fact. When you vist London and you see a rised graveyard above the level of the surrounding streets, that's a plague pit. Coz there was so many plague victoms they stopped digging down and started just to cover up the bodies instead

Actually, if I may, there are some serious contention about this nursery rhyme. Anyways, I would like to merely point out that while the upper class, who could afford scented oils, would burn incense or carry scented handkerchief, the average folk would carry pockets filled with flowers.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

I think it was Lenin (though I can't find the quote) who said..

"A hundred dead is a tragedy, a million dead is just a statistic"

 

[fire_breeze]

I think it was Lenin (though I can't find the quote) who said..

"A hundred dead is a tragedy, a million dead is just a statistic"

Close. Stalin used it and it's a variation on "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic"


My roommate looked it up last week and told me.

 

[smotherman]

The human eye blinks an average of 4,200,000 times a year.

 

[smotherman]

Chimps are the only animals that can recognize themselves in a mirror.

 

[smotherman]

About 20% of gift cards never are redeemed at the full value of the card.

 

[smotherman]

Doctors who spend at least three hours a week playing video games make about 37% fewer mistakes in laparoscopic surgery than surgeons who didn't play video games

 

[smotherman]

For every ton of fish that is caught in all the oceans on our planet, there are three tons of garbage dumped into the oceans

 

[smotherman]

More people in the United States die during the first week of the month than during the last, an increase that may be a result of the abuse of substances purchased with benefit checks that come at the beginning of each month.

 

[Daizie]

Dismal first-year sales of famous products:

1. VW Beetle (U.S.)--sold 330 first year.
2. Liquid Paper--sold 1,200 bottles first year
3. Cuisinart--sold 200 first year.
4. Remington typewriter--sold 8 first year.
5. Scrabble--sold 532 first year.
6. Coca-Cola--sold 25 bottles first year.

 

[packersfan]

Research on the Global Positioning System was started by the U.S. military in 1972. The first version of GPS went fully functional in 1995.

 

[luv1]

Actually, if I may, there are some serious contention about this nursery rhyme. Anyways, I would like to merely point out that while the upper class, who could afford scented oils, would burn incense or carry scented handkerchief, the average folk would carry pockets filled with flowers.

A very good point take

Reguardless to popular belief, there are words that rhyme with orange. Gorringe and sporange.

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

Close. Stalin used it and it's a variation on "The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of millions is a statistic"


My roommate looked it up last week and told me.

That's the one! Thank You

 

[Gaia_Lorraine]

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney is urging the world to go vegetarian in a bid to fight global warming, McCartney said the global meat industry was a major contributor to global warming.
"It's very surprising that most major environmental organizations are leaving the option of going vegetarian off their lists of top ways to curtail global warming," he said.

A 2006 United Nations report found that cattle-rearing generated more greenhouse gases than transportation.


Now Hang on here! Slow down! Let me think this through...
So, we all stop eating meat because cows farts produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas.
Instead we all go vegetarian and eat beans and pulses and cabbage etc.
Excuse me, but have you ever eaten these things or sat next to someone who has?
Won't we end up with all the humans on the planet issuing razzers forthwith from their asses? I have no idea what the cow population is but I suspect that we humans far outnumber them.
AND, at least the cows are in the open countryside, not sat next to me on the train or stood next to me in the elevator!

 

[CCaprice]

NEW YORK, April 21 (Reuters) - Former Beatle Paul McCartney is urging the world to go vegetarian in a bid to fight global warming, McCartney said the global meat industry was a major contributor to global warming.
"It's very surprising that most major environmental organizations are leaving the option of going vegetarian off their lists of top ways to curtail global warming," he said.

A 2006 United Nations report found that cattle-rearing generated more greenhouse gases than transportation.


Now Hang on here! Slow down! Let me think this through...
So, we all stop eating meat because cows farts produce methane, which is a greenhouse gas.
Instead we all go vegetarian and eat beans and pulses and cabbage etc.
Excuse me, but have you ever eaten these things or sat next to someone who has?
Won't we end up with all the humans on the planet issuing razzers forthwith from their asses? I have no idea what the cow population is but I suspect that we humans far outnumber them.
AND, at least the cows are in the open countryside, not sat next to me on the train or stood next to me in the elevator!

GOOD POINT!!!

 

[CCaprice]

For every ton of fish that is caught in all the oceans on our planet, there are three tons of garbage dumped into the oceans

Makes me wonder how long the fish will last!

 

[CCaprice]

Beanie Babies...they're still around:

During the Beanie Baby craze, the rarest general issue beanie, according to the Winter 2000 edition of Ty Beanie Babies, published by Collectors Value Guide, was considered to be the dark blue variation of "Peanut" the elephant. Peanut was available well into 1998 in a lighter hue, but the dark blue version that was only made accidentally in 1995 rose in value because of its scarcity.

"Nana the monkey" was considered the second rarest Beanie Baby because only a few early 3rd gen tags use that name instead of Bongo.

Some special edition Beanies, such as the #1 Bear or the Billionaire bears (which are only available as gifts to Ty employees), are hard to come across and highly valued.

 

[CCaprice]

Bad Beanie Baby!!

Roary is a Beanie Baby lion Ty made from May of 1997 through December of 1998. Shortly before Roary retired, a federal judge ruled that its named violated the rights of the Imperial Toy Corporation, which produced a similar plush lion named Roarie.

 

[smotherman]

The blue whale can produce sounds up to 188 decibels. This is the loudest sound produced by a living animal and has been detected as far away as 530 miles.

 

[smotherman]

Makes me wonder how long the fish will last!

Yeah I know! pretty sad to think about it. Hopefully in a couple of years, I can try and make a difference!

 

[CCaprice]

Yeah I know! pretty sad to think about it. Hopefully in a couple of years, I can try and make a difference!

I hope it's not too late. The earth is definitely changing!

 

[smotherman]

Even today, 90% of the continental United States is still open space or farmland.

 

[CCaprice]

The Richter Scale:

It was developed in 1935 by Charles Richter in partnership with Beno Gutenberg, both of the California Institute of Technology. The scale was originally intended to be used only in a particular study area in California, and on seismograms recorded on a particular instrument, the Wood-Anderson torsion seismometer.

Richter originally reported values to the nearest quarter of a unit, but decimal numbers were used later. His motivation for creating the local magnitude scale was to separate the vastly larger number of smaller earthquakes from the few larger earthquakes observed in California at the time.

 

[smotherman]

Only 14% of Americans say they've skinny dipped with the opposite sex

I'm in the 14%

 

[CCaprice]

Only 14% of Americans say they've skinny dipped with the opposite sex

I'm in the 14%

I'm not