Purple...
So apparently, according to QI (www.qi.com):

Purple, contrary to assertions on innumerable websites, has two English words that rhyme with it. These are 'hirple' and 'curple'. Hirple means to hobble along with one leg dragging behind the other, half way between a walk and a crawl. Curples are the leather straps passed under the tails of horses.

Well now we know. I for one will sleep easier.
(Bids How much is that window in the doggy?, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:50, Reply)

Corrections:
The Bra was invented by a woman (not a man called Titzling)

Coca-Cola did not invent the red and white Santa Claus, nor do they own the copyright. They popularised that particular portrayal after comissioning the artist Haddon H. Sundblom to paint Santa for a Coke promotion.

"Chav" is believed to be from the mid-19th century Romany word chavi, meaning child.

[EDIT:] Thomas Crapper didn't invent the flush toilet, he only improved an earlier design. Fact: The toilets on the InterCity 125 still flush directly onto the railway track.

Facts:
Penguins are the only non-human creatures to engage in "prostitution". Female penguins will engage in sex with males which are not their partner in exchange for stones to build the nest.

A gorilla named Koko has been taught to "speak" using sign language, and a chimpanzee called Kanzi has been taught to "talk" using an electronic board with symbols on. When a symol is pressed it plays a recording of the word.
( Amos E Wolfe makes vinyl signs and things like that, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:48, Reply)

to prove evil_beetle slightly wrong,
"orange" slightly rhymes with "door hinge".

Thank you, Monkey Island!
(basstard, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:45, Reply)

there are only
three words in the english language that you cannot rhyme with any other. Two of them are 'orange' and 'purple' and i can't remember the other one. Both colours. Coincidence? I think not my friend!

Edit: Oh yeah, it's month.
(evil_beetle, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:42, Reply)

-
the violin, viola and 'cello's strings are tuned in perfect 5ths, yet the strings of a double bass are tuned in perfect 4ths.

The french "j'ai repandu" means "I laid an egg"
(basstard, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:40, Reply)

The Chinese have
no gag reflex.
(The Ghost of Stephen Foster, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:35, Reply)

the red and white santa
is not, as many believe, copyrighted by coca-cola. you can look it up on snopes urban legend pages and everything.
( urbane legend i have known the inexorable sadness of pencils, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:31, Reply)

" I'm pretty sure...
...that male pigs have corkscrew doinks."

Plug plug plug ;)

And as for a fact.. errm... if we had the size to leg-strength ratio of a flea, we could jump over a 10 story building.
( Naive Amoeba Bored Cig, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:29, Reply)

Jesus Christ
Jesus married a ginger, the church covered it up and said she was a hooker, she was called mary and i cant spell her last name but it isnt unlike magdeline. Phi ('fee')is infact the magic number and not three. Some people have a crease on there nose from wiping it too much its called a newcastle nose. i have never had three wanks in one day and therefor have never tried for a forth contray to popular belief. Wet dreams DO happen because you are thinking dirty thought you filthy little smut monkey. Australians call 'shrimp' prawns and do not cook them on the barbie. ever. the term POM meaning english person comes from POME meaning prisoner of mother england. the term chav is from chatham in kent (suprisingly not mentioned yet) cows can walk up but not down stairs. Nicole Kidman is ginger. RHCP bassist flea was borin is australia, italian footballer vieri grew up in australia

*blind people dont need to sleep, cumbria doesnt exist*

*this is a lie am a liar sorry for lying*

more: if you put sticky tape around a cats whiskers (or obstruct them another way) it walks backwards for ages
there is absolutely no reason to have different musical instruments in different keys yet because of this im going to fail my music gcse
prince has seen miles davis naked
james brown wears a corset onstage
the earth has four moons

apologies for painful, clumsy and unsatisfying length+girth
(woo who?, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:25, Reply)

uhh...refute away.
The name of the bloke who invented the Bra was Titzling

Contrary to an urban legend I heard awhile back, the design of a packet of marlboros does NOT depict three K's-and they do not sponsor the Ku klux klan. The design of the Marlboro packet depicts three V's which stand for "Veni, Vidi,Vici" Which is the motto of Philip Morris Products,the company who make marlboros. This, you may all see for yourselves on the little logo on the front of the product. Or at least, you can see it on the reds. I don't know about you poncy posers who smoke lights.

The red and white santa is actually owned, and copyrighted by Coca Cola, who invented him. The original santa was GREEN AND BROWN.

Coca cola used to have real cocaine in it not caffeine,but after the prohibition came into force in yanksville they changed it to something legally addictive instead.

Gstring's were so named because the gusset was said to be no bigger than a G string on a guitar.
(Skarlett_nailz, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:12, Reply)

FACT
when Neil Armstrong said
"One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind"
what he actually said was
"one small step for A man one giant leap for mankind"
the "a" was cut out due to interference or something. The second version actually makes sense.
(chocolatepossum, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:10, Reply)

baby's have teeny-weeny-hands!
with teeny-weeny-fingers!

(i've been making babyfaces at my new godchild today :$)
( stevierar, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:09, Reply)

Apparently
there are only three people in the world that know the reciepe for the tomato source in heinz baked beans
(Absynth&Cheese Have you tasted my Jesus, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:07, Reply)

In every episode
of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
(anon., Thu 17 Mar 2005, 22:01, Reply)

Everything
is made up of more nothing than it is somthing.

an atom has more space beween the electrons and the nucleus than the amount of space that the electrons and nuclei take up.

If it was possible to compact the atoms in your average desk down so all the electrons protons and neutrons were next to eachother, it would be too small to see.
(anon., Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:57, Reply)

Useless fact...
Bet you didn't know..
I have drawing ink on my hands.
Yeah I know, mental, but it's actually fucking true!
( monkdagola but how do you TURN a phrase?, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:55, Reply)

This isn't on Snopes - hurrah!
When Eva Peron (Evita)died, her body went missing for 17 years and was found in a disused cinema. Also, there were 2 wax models of her body made, so lifelike that the embalmer only knew the original body as he nicked a piece of skin from her arm.
( Batshitmentalist is sane for once, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:51, Reply)

There is more space between atoms...
...than there are atoms in the Universe.

(cue mental Goa Trance tune...)

Reality does not exist.
( caldini Have you seen my polar bear?, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:50, Reply)

If you kept a Goldfish
in the dark for long enough, it would eventually turn white
(anon., Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:49, Reply)

I'm pretty sure...
...that male pigs have corkscrew doinks.
(ShockerMocker, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:48, Reply)

Naked Lunch
The 'William Tell' scene in the film of 'The Naked Lunch' where Bill Lee attempts to shoot a glass off his wife's head but ends up shooting her between the eyes in based in fact.

William S. Burroughs (the author of The Naked Lunch) in fact shot his wife in the head whilst drunk and playing 'William Tell' in 1951.

This does not feature in the book at all and is in fact drawn from the biography of Burroughs by Ted Morgan.

Perhaps not that interesting, but true nonetheless.
( squirrels emit silent screams has updog, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:47, Reply)

the three most valuable brand names on earth are
malboro
Coca-cola
Budweiser
(in that order)
(anon., Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:43, Reply)

Faster.....
Lemsip actually contains speed!!!! (....well amphetamines at least!!!)
(ryanduffuk, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:42, Reply)

In only nine pages
There are already more repeated posts in this QOTW than there were in the entirety of 'Lies your parents told you.'
(Random Ferret, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:41, Reply)

drug/cockney link
In medieval times, the town storyteller would smoke a hallucinogenic herb through a pipe called a "larf" to provide a source of much-needed creativity in those dull times.

This explains why these days when someone says something of dubious plausibility, people say, "you're 'aving a larf aintcha!?!?"
(soma9766, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:40, Reply)

gobble gobble
There are no turkeys in Turkey
(ryanduffuk, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:39, Reply)

Pedantic fantastic
The thing about "Thomas, his book" (or whatever) isn't actually a known fact, just a theory. Because then logically we'd have something for girls that sounds like "Nina, her book", or "Nina'r book", which sounds a bit mad.

As for facts, did you know that the big broiler chickens you buy in supermarkets are so fat by the time they're ready to be slaughtered that they can't stand up by themselves? Also, they spend their entire lives standing in the shit that builds up in their foot-and-a-half of living space, and is never cleared up. Look for brown marks on a raw drumstick - ammonia burns.
(SusK, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:38, Reply)

Portuguese people
don't have footprints
(soma9766, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:35, Reply)

pound for pound
hamburgers cost more than new cars
(anon., Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:32, Reply)

The
Alphabet song has the same tune as Twinkle twinkle little star
(Lucy-Furr, Thu 17 Mar 2005, 21:30, Reply)