Cowjoose
The reason Napoleon insisted on people driving/riding on the right, was iirc, that he was left handed. And deeply egotistical, so everyone had to do it his way.

Again, iirc, Americans drive on the left as a means of asserting their authority and independance from Britain, after breaking away. For much the same reason, they spelt certain words differently, such as colour/color.

And speaking as a fencer, left handed people are still bloody hard to beat. If it wasn't for all the protective gear, I'd have died many times over at the hand of a lefty.
(sky blue sam, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:48, Reply)

Fact:
The Latin word for feather...is pen.
(jamesthegill opens new tabs with his scroll wheel, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:47, Reply)

Tankards of ale
I got a friend a tankard of the ale variety for his 18th birthday, had it engraved blah blah. When i went to the shop to pick it up, it had a glass bottom. I asked the bloke who engraved it why, and he said that when they used to use tankards before glasses were widely used, people would be afraid that their enemies would stab/shoot/point and laugh at them, so by having a glass bottom they could see any enemies approaching. 99% useless.
_{the other 1% was useful because of this QOTW.}
( Goon, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:46, Reply)

I hate you all.
I've now found myself trying lick my elbow around 7 times as a result of reading these answers.

Stop it!! You're making me look Daft!!
( Humpty Dumpty was Pushed Is unaware of having any limits., Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:42, Reply)

Driving on the left
originally, everyone drove (well, rode horses) on the left side of the road, for two reasons: 1)People tend to mount horses on the left, and its safer not to be mounting your horse in the middle of the road
2)If your right handed, then in a fight you want people to be to the right of you, which they would be if you were on the left of the road.

Most of the countries in europe that drive on the left were, at some point, conquered by Napoleon, who insisted on it (I forget why).

I dont know why America drive on the right. Probably just to be awkward.

Also, in times of old when people still went at each other with swords, left handed people were feared, as they were superior fighters. This is because most people would be used to fighting right handed people. So, in a fight between a left handed person and a right handed person, the left handed person would be used to the fighting style, while the right handed person would be all confused.


Oh, and as for the elbow licking thing, I find it dubious. Im only a few milimeters off, and theres people out there with much longer tounges than me.

EDIT:I knew it! Ruddy americans. As bad as Napoleon, the lot of em. Cheers sky blue sam!
(cowjoose - This is not a code, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:41, Reply)

...
The bubonic plague is reckoned to have killed about 30 million people in medieval Europe. The U.S. Census Bureau projects that AIDS deaths and the loss of future population from the deaths of women of child-bearing age means that by 2010, sub-Saharan Africa will have 71 million fewer people than it would otherwise.

39.4 million people had HIV/AIDS by 2004 - of these 3.4 million died last year.

Meanwhile, the Catholic church and various African political leaders continue to insist that condoms should not be used, ensuring the disease spreads further.

Meanwhile, ignorant bigots in pubs nationwide insist that the AIDS epidemic is entirely down to "poofters", and that anyone who catches it has "only got themselves to blame".

Last year 510,000 children died of AIDS - that's 1,397 dead children a day. This year the figure will be higher.
( TV's Nosemonkey, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:41, Reply)

Kind Hearts and Coronets
Alec Guiness played 9 characters not 8
(loquis, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:39, Reply)

Everyone's favourite Skin.
Rizlas.

Name simple means "it's Rice"

Rice paper.. see?

Riz - La.

*bored now*
( Humpty Dumpty was Pushed Is unaware of having any limits., Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:38, Reply)

cunt

what a word. fact.
( slippery doctore, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:36, Reply)

"Hippos are the most dangerous mammal in Africa"
Is a "fact" bounced around by people who recon that knowing trinkets like this makes them look SMART.

Unfortunately, it's Total and Utter Bollocks.

Since when did MAN stop being a mammal? huh?
( Humpty Dumpty was Pushed Is unaware of having any limits., Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:35, Reply)

French
In French, smile, as in "I smile" is spelt the same as mouse (in French that is).

So, "Je souris" means both "I smile" and "I mouse".

I have a grumpy face and am always being told to cheer up which pisses me off. Anyway, when people kept telling me to smile in France I would try to respond with "I have no smile" which is true. In fact I was telling them that I had no mouse, which is also true but somewhat irrelevant. I suppose they could have thought that I had a burning desire for a mouse and that was why I was sad. Hmmm.
(chocolatepossum, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:34, Reply)

True
Kenny Everitt was the first gay man.
(I know everything, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:32, Reply)

Brass Monkeys.
A thick Brass plate, size 500x500mm will shrink approx 0.5mm through a temp change of 20°C
Assuming the cannon balls where PERFECT, and were all set at perfect intervals with zero room between them, then maybe the effect of severe cold would alter thier stability.

As cannon balls were not made to that accuracy, and weren't stacked that close, then a change in the plate's dimensions would have no effect on a pyramid of cannon-shot.

JESUS WEPT...I'm a GEEK!!!
( Humpty Dumpty was Pushed Is unaware of having any limits., Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:31, Reply)

Fiat
had to alter the name of a small car because it was potentially embarrassing. In Europe, it was called the Ritmo, but in certain countries (America i believe) it had to be called the Strada, due to Ritmo being a brand of sanitary towel.
( mr_wicksy is.... old., Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:29, Reply)

Freudian Fact
Baby asparagus are called "sprue".
(Steve The Monkey, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:20, Reply)

Guinness World Records
receives about 5 claims a day of people that can lick their own elbow.
FACT, actually.
([sic] You're ad here?, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:17, Reply)

Hey Vanja
As someone who lives in a town with a castle (hastings) I can officially say that your door numbers thing is bollocks!
/superiority
(nutsgeezer, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:16, Reply)

Secret Lovers
Susan Kennedy and Lyn Scully from Neigbours, despite currently being at war in the show, are real-life lesbian lovers. Not obscure, but a true fact nonetheless!
(WrapUpWarm, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:16, Reply)

foxqueenUSA
you say whats so wron with Hitler being a vegetarian?? i can see the warning labels now

"become a vegetarian and help save the animals*"

*warning:- might lead to mass Genecide
(Jinxy - Spontaneous Randomity awaits those who question my pic-a-nic basket, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:12, Reply)

Guess where I went?
The main building of Aston University in Birmingham is the largest free-standing brick building in Europe, and is designed to collapse inwards in the event of a nuclear explosion.
(Steve The Monkey, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:11, Reply)

The biggest selling album ever
Is "The best of the Eagles."

100% true fact that is actually a real proper thing what happened.

Also the only band to have two singles in the UK's top 10 selling singles of all time are


Boney M

But everybody knows this.
(chocolatepossum, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:10, Reply)

Let it Bleed
The cake on the cover of Let it Bleed by the Stones was baked by boozy Norwich fan Delia Smith. Cakefact.
(Vernie, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:07, Reply)

Fact
Your mommas got a bit fat ass FACT!
(Bob Catshit, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:07, Reply)

Well. Let's see what I've got then.
1. The tractor, which helped rebuilt post war Britain's agriculture, was the Ferguson TEF20. A two wheel drive, four cylinder petrol engine, four speed machine powered by an engine that shared a block with the Triumph TR2 and the Standard Vanguard. It was a moleste sucess, due to Harry Ferguson's revoloutionary three point linkage system, which made farm implements part of the tractor, rather than something dragged along the ground. There are many still in service, including those converted with a 3 cylinder Perkins P3 diesel engine, later available from new. There was also a four cylinder diesel (made by the Standard motor company) which wasn't as popular due to it's cold starting problems. This particular tractor was later replaced by the Ferguson 35 (later Massey Ferguson, after the merge with Massey Harris). Until around five years ago, the smaller Massey Ferguson machines were still manufactured at the UK based Coventry factory. The larger machines have been made in France for some years.

2. The bus (featured in 'Summer Holiday') was an ex London Transport AEC Reagent.

3. Mr Singer, designer of the famous Singer sewing machine, previously sold a design for a steam powered earth moving machine and started an ill fated theatre company, which ran him bankrupt. Shortly afterward, he found a discarded sewing machine and decided he could improve on it. The result made him amazingly rich, pretty damn
famous and he died leaving a string of grieving women and about sixteen children.

4. The Spanish Waiter, in 'Still Crazy' is nowdays Britains leading Ali G impersonator and gets more work than the real Ali G.

5. Fred West's cousing works for Bird's Eye Walls in Glouscter and looks like Ricky Tomlinson.

6. Kate Winslet's first TV role was on the Sugar Puffs add.

7. The Square firebox ,widely adopted by the Great Western Railway, was the Belpaire firebox pioneered by Frenchman Louis Belpaire. It featured a water jacket, which helped heat water on it's way to the boiler and had a greater heating surface than previous designs.

8. Norman Cook, Pete Tong and Eric Morrillo, all used a mic which had been stuck up a friend of mine's arse earlier that day.

9. The gas spraying light aircraft, in Goldfinger, were Piper Cherokees.

10. The saying 'In the limelight' comes from the days when theatre light was created by heating pieces of quicklime in a dangerous oxygen hydrogen flame.

11. There are many websites dedicated to PEZ dispencers.

12. When condom machines bear warnings of eletronic alarms, they're nearly always lying.

13. Charlie Chaplin made all of his silent films without any prior written script and often made up the story as he went along.

14. There is no such species of cat as the panther. It is a name given to several large black cats, generaly the black leopard.

15. The concert hall, of the Sydney Opera House, has very poor acoustics, the Albert Hall is even worse.

16. The Morris Minor was originaly called the Mosquito.

17. The famous Spitfire was based on the design of a previous racing aircraft.

18. The system of glass lenses, in British Lighthouses, can weigh up to four tonnes and usualy floats on a round bed of mercury which produces so little friction, that a two tonne lens can be rotated using three fingers.

19. A queen sized bed will not fit up the stairs of a Sydney terraced town house and must be brought in over the front balcony.

20. A standard farm's electric fence has a voltage of over 10,000 volts, but the amperage is extremely small.
( The Togaboy The world will end on, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 11:01, Reply)

Turkeys
are so called (despite the fact that they came to Europe from America) because at the time of their arrival from the New World, there were a lot of other game birds were arriving from the near/middle east (partridges or something). People got confused and called Turkeys "Turkeys" because it was a word for the East in general.

In French the same mistake happened except they used "India" as their word for the East so they call a turkey a "dinde" which is a contraction of "d'Inde" which means "from India"



Also there are no turkeys in Turkey
*legs it*

I get the feeling this is going to be a long week.
(chocolatepossum, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 10:59, Reply)

Did you know
that Dave the Hat owns a cola cube mine? The cola cubes are mined by midgets which Dave bought from a circus and each day they extract four hundred tonnes of cola cubes which are then sold to various sweet toothed children through out the world.

More Dave the Facts if you really, really want to read more about this oddball hat fan
( The Duke of Prunes, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 10:49, Reply)

On the subject of pig sex...
A satisfied male pig can, during an ejaculation lasting up to 25 minutes, produce a frankly intimidating half litre of semen through his corkscrew-shaped penis.

This contrasts (for example) with the common bull, who despite the horns and attitude can only squeeze out on average a somewhat unfulfilling 5 millilitres.

To further put this into context, consider that the human male (regardless of pub boasting) manages an average of 3 millilitres each time. In case you need help with your maths (and budding bukkake directors on a budget take note) one pig with the right diet and suitable incentives can produce similar results to more than 150 hairy gurning 'adult entertainment stars'.

Thanks for listening and enjoy your lunch.
( Button Man ...a right bottom feeder., Fri 18 Mar 2005, 10:45, Reply)

exploding stuff
I heard that if you feed a seagull crushed up alka seltza they explode! It's because they can't get rid of the gas - parp.
(Bertie Dastard Wax on, wax off, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 10:45, Reply)

it's not the liquid-glass fact again
but pitch is documented to drip very very slowly indeed:

www.physics.uq.edu.au/physics_museum/pitchdrop.shtml
(haberman is singing in the changes, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 10:39, Reply)

Well let me tell you about flatworms
They sweat their pee and vomit their poo.

Also with the left hand, the longest word you can type is:
Stewardesses

Also, the christing ceremony apparently involved about 6 pounds of canabis mixed with butter that Christ bathed in. THC is 30% soluable in butter, and the whole thing can be absorbed through the skin (i think). Therefore, Christ was fucked up on 2 pounds of weed to officially become "The Christ".

And for my final bit of trivia: Flammable and inflammable mean the same thing. And Bing Crosby beat his children.
(Armer Farmer, Fri 18 Mar 2005, 10:39, Reply)