Leprosy
The only animal (apart from humans) that can get leprosy is the armadillo.
(In Cognito, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:27, Reply)

empires
britain has the largest number of overseas posessions, but france has the largest land area of overseas possesions.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:27, Reply)

The reason we stick two fingers
up to people stems from when Jonny Foreigner (usually the French) used to capture our bowmen, they would cut off said digits rendering him useless.
So the men who possessed all their fingers would stick them up at the foe to show they were able to draw the bow.
( Hankster, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:24, Reply)

money
denmark insisted for health reasons that the euro coins had no nickel content. they then refused to join the single currency.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:23, Reply)

mmmmm
boiled water will freeze faster than cold water!
( Ibstock, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:22, Reply)

Did you know
that if you laid everyone in China from end to end, you'd be late for work.
( Weetobix, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:21, Reply)

When an ice cream van has run out of ice cream
it plays a tune
(yokelrobin THE NERD WHOSE HAIR DEFIES GRAVITY/FASHION, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:20, Reply)

polystyrene
foam is 95% air, and when mixed with petrol makes great napalm.
( willenium Fist bump for verification, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:19, Reply)

I actually have a website about useless information
http://pkmn.co.uk/facts/ It even has an ironic name!
(Psythor, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:17, Reply)

Speaking of paper...
Someone told me that the use of paper in the average office has more than doubled since email became widespread.

Just going to print this lot off now and read them all whilst sitting at my desk.
(Bertie Dastard Wax on, wax off, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:16, Reply)

Dogs can look up
And there are no reports of swans wingbeats breaking someones arm as we are constantly told
( Blobcat Less Jaffacakes this year, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:13, Reply)

pallindromes
IS the proper name for thinks reading correct both way. As in:

Satan oscisllate my metallic sonatas
(faragher dub, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:13, Reply)

"Hello" as a greeting
was only used after being the winner in the competition deciding what would be the standard greeting when answering a phone.

In close second place was "Ahoyhoy", which Mr Burns (and now me) uses when answering calls

edit: damn someone already wrote that, that'll teach me to post before i read....

have another one for luck: a lightbulb left for 10,000 years will drip, since glass is a very very thick liquid

Also paintings with horses running made before the 1870s are often shown with all their legs off the ground. As a result of some quality gentlemen's bets and shorter photographic exposure times, Edward Muybridge (who later changed his name to Edwierd - nutter) proved that this is not the case.
( Citizen Cavy Admires your passion for conformity, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:12, Reply)

Apparently
by the year 2008, if you laid every person head to toe around the world, around 67% would drown.
(soma9766, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:08, Reply)

The word nebulous (meaning vague)
is not included in the German language, when its opposite lucid is..... facinating im sure :P
(The Magical Mr Q *is now banishing kittens*, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:02, Reply)

Apparently...
You can't fold any size piece of paper more than seven (7) times....



/me rushes off to printer
(antonye, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:02, Reply)

Tips
In olden times, when you had to wait to be seated in a restaurant you could put money into box labelled "To Insure Prompt Service" and join a quicker queue. Hence "tips"

This was in the US I believe, hence the use of insure where right thinking people would put "ensure".

More to come...
(chocolatepossum, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:01, Reply)

My mate says
Dogs can't look up
(Tanzender Affe, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 17:00, Reply)

Scoobs
that trick with the girls is hilarious, works every time :D
( mr_wicksy is.... old., Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:59, Reply)

Cats can not smell Chinese food.

( brianftang www.brianftang.co.uk, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:59, Reply)

lemmings
Lemmings have a reputation for being rather suicidal for no apparent reason. They can be found in Alaska, North West Canada, and Scandinavia. However what alot of people dont know that it is only the Scandinavian Lemming that has this tendency to be wee charlie mansons...Therefore i put it to you that Lemmings just dont like Blonde folk wi big tits...The big gay suicidal maniacs:(
(i_walk_bing_crosbys_dog, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:55, Reply)

one for the girls..
Fishscales is an ingredient in lipstick...think about that next time when you're kissing a girl with lipstick (or a guy for that matter!)
(fshingcat lurker- Don't mind me, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:55, Reply)

Anyone for rice?
I read somewhere that the most widely used eating utensil in the world are chopsticks.
(Bertie Dastard Wax on, wax off, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:55, Reply)

gordan freeman
is ginger (so i dont get moaned at)

bigshinybike: increasing the length of a piece of string around a circular object by 1 metre ALWAYS makes it 16cm further from the surface no matter what the size of the circular object as
2πr₁ + 1 = 2πr₂
r₁ + 1 / (2π) = (2πr₂ / (2π)
r₁ + 1 / (2π) = r₂
1/(2π) = r₂ - r₁
1/(2π) = 0.16m
(UltimateStoat thanks you for helping him help you help us all, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:54, Reply)

and one for your biology fans...
did you know that tigers, when fully extended, are approximately 25 feet in length?
(ruttiger, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:50, Reply)

The modern toothbrush
was invented in rural Vermont.

Had it been invented elsewhere, it would be known as a 'teethbrush.'
(ZugZwang refuses to update his profile., Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:49, Reply)

OK
The most widely accepted origins of the phrase OK is as an abbreviation of the phrase "Orl Korrect" a phonetic spelling of "All Correct". So now you know, AC? /Pedant

Oh yeah - and girls with good chests can't touch their elbows behind their backs. Don't believe me? Go on, ask one and you'll see what I mean.
(Scoobs, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:49, Reply)

Mthematics and food
Pi, or 3.14159265, is so called as the anonymous Greek math champion, had just finished his third Fray Bentos steak and kidney, and was 0.14159265 of his way through the forth, when he was struck with a dilemna of the most ungodly type: what size trolleys would fit the fat illegitimate after so much pie. He found that by multiplying his diameter, by the amount of pies he had scoffed, gave him the size of 501s he would need, if he could be bothered to move enough to get them.
( the wild elk Freeing excellence affects reality, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 16:48, Reply)