Strange Facts

[ER]

Lightning is not drawn to metal.

Mount Everest isn't the tallest mountain on Earth, only the highest.

The surface of the moon is covered in rust, despite there being no atmosphere, a vital component of oxidation.

The prophet Mohammad was born without a foreskin.

You cannot sneeze with your eyes open.

You cannot lick your elbow.

The Bible records Jesus' mother, Mary, supposedly ever-virgin, as having at least four sons and perhaps daughters as well.

Henry VIII claimed he encountered the ghost of his fifth wife, the ill-fated teenager Catherine Howard, inside Hampton Court Palace.

In an attempt to sustain its failing economy, in the 1980s East Germany began asking its citizens to donate blood, which the government then sold on the western market.

Kentucky was nearly called Transylvania; Utah was almost Deseret; Washington was nearly called Columbia; Michigan was nearly named Superior.

The Twelve Nights of Christmas began on December 24th and ended on January 4th.

The same parent company owns both Weight Watchers and Sara Lee Cheesecakes.

Shaka Zulu had his warriors stomp on thorns to toughen their feet.

Ted Bundy's favorite food was potato salad.

Lack of oxygen to the brain has caused every human death.

[Trevor]

Evil things like television and the book of "Black Beauty" were banned under apartheid.
Television only came to SA in 1975.
Up until 1993, you were forbidden to go see a movie on a Sunday here.
People of color weren't allowed on the streets in any major city after 6 pm.
No alcohol was allowed to be purchased on a Sunday.
If a magazine depicted a woman with bare breasts, the magazine was forced to add stars over the nipples.
Pinball machines were banned because winning an extra ball was seen as gambling.
Casinos were banned in SA but permitted in the so-called "homelands".

[ER]

Another strange technically true fact is that snow isn't really white.

[RCMerchant]

The prophet Mohammad was born without a foreskin.

Whoa! Wait a minute! How is that a fact?

[LilCerberus]

I've heard about Mt Everest before, but which one is the tallest?

[LilCerberus]

This is the first time I've heard of Mary being called "Ever Virgin"....
As I always heard it, she was a virgin when Jesus was conceived, then in following years, had children by Joseph.

[Alex]

I've heard about Mt Everest before, but which one is the tallest?

Depends on how you measure it. You could go with Mauna Kea, or because of the egg-shaped nature of the earth, Mount Chimborazo can actually count as the highest point on the planet. I have no doubt there are other contenders too.

[RCMerchant]

^ I'm guessing it's under the ocean.

[Paquita]

You cannot sneeze with your eyes open.

I've always challenged this fact since I heard about that singer from Chumbawamba who sneezed so hard that one of her eyeballs popped out because she didn't close her eyes.

[ER]

The ayam cemani is a type of chicken which has black feathers, skin, bones, and meat.

[Alex]

Every time I do a melee attack in Battletech, the most effective one seems to be when my robot punches one of its enemies between the lets and then rips its arm upwards.

[ER]

Every time I do a melee attack in Battletech, the most effective one seems to be when my robot punches one of its enemies between the lets and then rips its arm upwards.

Is this evidence that robots have nads? Are they secretly reproducing? Is this the first hint of the coming of the cylons?

[Alex]

Every time I do a melee attack in Battletech, the most effective one seems to be when my robot punches one of its enemies between the lets and then rips its arm upwards.

Is this evidence that robots have nads? Are they secretly reproducing? Is this the first hint of the coming of the cylons?

That is how I read the situation.

I for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.

[ER]

Every time I do a melee attack in Battletech, the most effective one seems to be when my robot punches one of its enemies between the lets and then rips its arm upwards.

Is this evidence that robots have nads? Are they secretly reproducing? Is this the first hint of the coming of the cylons?

That is how I read the situation.

I for one, welcome our new robotic overlords.

It never hurts to impress a potential boss, and that's why I always say please and thank you when I am at an ATM or self-scan.

[ER]

Jackie Gleason gained and lost weight so many times in his career that he kept clothes of three different sizes in his closets.

Most streets in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia have no name. (So I guess that's where Bono wants to go.)

Twenty thousand boys auditioned for the role of Dennis the Menace on the 1950s sitcom.

Buddha is the designation for one who achieves a state of enlightenment in life. Siddhartha Gautama was the first to be so designated (by himself).

There are 10,000 full-time blacksmiths in America today.

Despite people wanting to believe in such a cool concept, hair and nails do not continue to grow after death.

People in England were taller on average in the year 1000 AD than in the post-industrial year of 1900, showing how city-life took its toll on health and nutrition.

Bluegill were introduced to Japan in the 20th century, and nearly destroyed that nation's domestic fish populations.

William Shakespeare died after a hard night's drinking.

The majority of humans live in an area (China, India, southeast Asia, and Indonesia) that covers one-tenth of the planet.

US soldiers in occupied Germany were instructed to refrain from giving children chocolate, as it had so much black market value that adults were attacking the children to get it.

Traitors to the KGB were sometimes executed by being baked in a kiln, and footage of the punishment was then shown during training as a motivational tool.

All TV Lassies were male.

The inventor of basketball lived long enough to see it become an Olympic sport.

Clouds are slowly falling from the sky.