Topic: What I learned today! (Read 194781 times)

Büge · « **Reply #2600 on:** April 27, 2013, 12:59:28 PM »

I looked it up.

It's true.

Mongrel · « **Reply #2601 on:** April 30, 2013, 09:45:37 AM »

There exist voice recordings of a single man born in the 18th century. Helmuth von Moltke, born in 1800, recorded two wax cylinders of lines from Shakespeare and Goethe, thus making his voice the oldest (historically-speaking) ever committed to recorded medium.

Healy · « **Reply #2602 on:** May 01, 2013, 01:20:39 PM »

Did you know that if you copy and paste the first four Remedial Batmanology articles into a Word document, the whole thing, including pictures, comes out to about 100 pages?

don't uh
don't ask me how I know this

Brentai · « **Reply #2603 on:** May 07, 2013, 07:38:06 PM »

PS Plus free games aren't time-limited after all. As long as you download them at any point during the promotion, and maintain your subscription, they're available to you indefinitely, even if you wipe them off the console. Kind of wish I'd known that a year ago, since I've purchased like half the games that were in the collection.

Mazian · « **Reply #2604 on:** May 16, 2013, 03:15:07 PM »

Parties may be old, but the first recorded use of the verb "partied" was e.e. cummings, in 1920.

We could not have Andrew W.K. without E.E.

MarsDragon · « **Reply #2605 on:** May 18, 2013, 06:03:33 AM »

Capital and capitol are not acceptable variations on the same word. Capital refers to the city, capitol refers to the building inside that city.

Lottel · « **Reply #2606 on:** May 19, 2013, 02:04:51 AM »

Exes are like Beetlejuice. Mention them enough and they pop back up.

Mongrel · « **Reply #2607 on:** May 28, 2013, 11:25:47 AM »

Ants represent 15-20% of all terrestrial animal biomass, up to 25% in certain ant-heavy areas like parts of Africa.

http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=536123

Mongrel · « **Reply #2608 on:** June 02, 2013, 11:04:21 AM »

In the late 1960s — in response to football hooliganism at matches in England — police began confiscating any objects that could be used as weapons. These items included steel combs, pens, beermats, horse brasses, Polo mints

The Polo mints seem like an odd choice for a list of dangerous banned weapons, but horses like treats... and the people who give them. The mints were were used to get the police horses to do what the treat-giver wanted, including being led away while the rider raged ineffectually.

Healy · « **Reply #2609 on:** June 07, 2013, 07:21:12 AM »

Apparently H. P. Lovecraft's father died of advanced syphilis? That explains so much about his work.

Mongrel · « **Reply #2610 on:** June 28, 2013, 01:40:57 PM »

The Vietnamese have a small god dedicated just to beer!

Büge · « **Reply #2611 on:** July 02, 2013, 08:59:40 AM »

Today I learned that "Canada" was only one of several names proposed for Our Home And Native Land. Other names included Mesopelagia, Albonia, Tuponia, and Efisga.

Mongrel · « **Reply #2612 on:** July 02, 2013, 10:37:28 AM »

"Elbonia"

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #2613 on:** July 02, 2013, 11:52:24 AM »

Today I learned that coming up with a good pen name, that isn't already being used by someone more famous and/or potentially litigious than you, and hasn't been mentioned in an interview by a fantasy author as a name for a character in his sci-fi side project(this actually happened to me) is surprisingly difficult.

TA · « **Reply #2614 on:** July 02, 2013, 12:38:12 PM »

Anastasia Beaverhausen.

Büge · « **Reply #2615 on:** July 02, 2013, 12:43:23 PM »

Joseph Stalin.

Ted Belmont · « **Reply #2616 on:** July 02, 2013, 01:16:39 PM »

Brentai · « **Reply #2617 on:** July 02, 2013, 01:20:03 PM »

More like Joseph Stealin'.

Mongrel · « **Reply #2618 on:** July 02, 2013, 01:32:44 PM »

That in the Abyssinian crisis of 1935, the English were partly deterred from attacking the Italians at sea because of a fear of Italian Kamikaze pilots. (Clarification: The word 'Kamikaze' is not actually used in British accounts describing this fear)

Brentai · « **Reply #2619 on:** July 03, 2013, 02:44:39 AM »

That an FAA certified keyboard costs 400-500 USD.

News:

Author Topic: What I learned today! (Read 194781 times)