10 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Week

1. Tea parties were invented in the 1830s.

2. Which means that the 1773 Boston Tea Party wasn't known by that name until more than 60 years after the event. At the time it was referred to as "the destruction of the tea".

3. Adult kingfishers need to catch about 5,000 fish a year to thrive.

4. Dick Bruna, the man famous for creating children's character Miffy, also created the stick man with a halo in the Saint TV series.

5. Smokers on average, according to one reckoning, spend an hour a day on fag breaks.

6. Chips implanted in the eye can, under certain circumstances, let the blind see.

7. Just thinking you're fit might help you avoid getting colds.

8. Having fewer brothers and sisters can be good for your education.

9. It's not just in comedy films that babies can fall from tall buildings, bounce on awnings and be caught by a passer-by.

10. And it's not just in sci-fi films that holograms can be sent as messages.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_22.shtml

1. You must be 16 to buy Christmas crackers.

2. George W Bush read about 95 books a year when US president.

3. Turtles breathe in to float.

4. Nazis coined the verb coventrierung (literally, to coventrate) to describe total annihilation of a city - Coventry - through aerial bombardment.

5. One in five people only clean their homes at weekends.

6. A cat's tongue moves at one metre per second when lapping milk.

7. The tomb of the unknown soldier was originally the idea of a padre called David Railton.

8. Aerial massed acrobatics performed by starlings at this time of year are called "murmurations".

9. Bush crickets have the biggest testicles of any animal, in relation to body weight.

10. People daydream for nearly half of their waking hours.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_161.shtml

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

2. George W Bush read about 95 books a year when US president.

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That Dr Suess was quite prolific.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

9. Bush crickets have the biggest testicles of any animal, in relation to body weight.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_161.shtml

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And they say size isn't everything! :smilielol5:

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Originally Posted by Virgil

I see that more and more. It's all these young people who think they can show up whenever they want. Oh the young are so stupid. :p

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Actually, it's because everyone has cellphones, I know my kids use them instead of a watch... :rolleyes:

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Originally Posted by Wilde woman

Yes, I saw many black squirrels when I was in Ontario a few weeks ago. Apparently, they're one of the selling points for visiting there. :D

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I actually have one mounted on my home entertainment shelves that I shot several (20?) years ago

1. Away football teams usually have a 30% chance of winning.

2. Babies born with no cheekbones have a condition known as Treacher Collins syndrome.

3. David Cameron slept on the Mall the night before Prince Charles married Lady Diana.

4. A solitary church may signal where an entire village once stood.

5. German shoes are wider than Italian.

6. It can take 18 years for the foot's bones, muscles and ligaments to harden into adult form.

7. One in three people aged over 65 will die with dementia.

8. Dartmoor prison rents land from Prince Charles.

9. Badgers still occupy setts known since the Domesday Book.

10. The number of people raising funds for charity has doubled in the last three years.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_162.shtml

3. David Cameron slept on the Mall the night before Prince Charles married Lady Diana.
Do you think he'll sleep there the night before William and Kate's wedding?

1. Fish shrink in winter.

2. A cracked elephant's tusk requires at least 47 tubes of resin to fill it.

3. North and South Korea have technically been at war for decades, because no peace treaty was signed in 1953.

4. The Shard was first designed on the back of a napkin.

5. The number of schools teaching cheerleading is triple the number that teach judo.

6. A cup of coffee combined with a 20-minute nap will double the caffeine effect.

7. Donald Trump's hair is real.

8. One in four people with HIV in the UK is unaware they have it.

9. The US president has the power to shut down key computer systems in that country.

10. Turkey tycoon Bernard Matthews started his business with 20 eggs and a second-hand incubator.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_163.shtml

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

7. Sparrows eavesdrop on fighting birds.

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What does that even mean?

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9. Mount Everest has its own 3G wireless network.

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Wow. Just wow.

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5. One in five people only clean their homes at weekends.

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That's me. Guilty as charged. :D

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1. Fish shrink in winter.

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So now fish and I have something in common. As I try to survive my first winter on the East Coast, I find myself constantly shrinking into a fetal position in bed and crying.

1. Mercury can cause birds to seek same-sex relationships.

2. Penguin is a Welsh word.

3. Coronation Street was going to be called Florizel Street.

4. Coca has been chewed for 8,000 years.

5. In the Arctic Circle you can take a mortgage out to buy a fur coat.

6. The pavlova was invented in New Zealand.

7. Temperatures in Qatar reach 50C in summer.

8. Italy and Luxembourg are Eurovision Song Contest stayaways.

9. Mick Hucknall had sex with 3,000 women in three years, he says.

10. Driving a car with snow on the roof contravenes the Highway Code.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_164.shtml

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

9. Mick Hucknall had sex with 3,000 women in three years, he says.

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That's 2.7 women per day. Unless he's a famous musician I'm not bying it.

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Originally Posted by papayahed

That's 2.7 women per day. Unless he's a famous musician I'm not bying it.

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Mick Hucknall

haha, I knew that.:leaving:

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

10. Driving a car with snow on the roof contravenes the Highway Code.

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That's not actually true, and I'm very surprised to see it has made the BBC website.

As a teenager I used to frequent a forum called totse.com, which gained some notoriety for this amongst other things. The snow on the car roof myth was created and spread around the internet by some of the forum regulars several years ago, and weirdly it seems to have surfaced again now...

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Originally Posted by RaoulDuke

That's not actually true, and I'm very surprised to see it has made the BBC website.

As a teenager I used to frequent a forum called totse.com, which gained some notoriety for this amongst other things. The snow on the car roof myth was created and spread around the internet by some of the forum regulars several years ago, and weirdly it seems to have surfaced again now...

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Actually you are required to remove all the snow from your car:

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remove all snow that might fall off into the path of other road users

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http://www.direct.gov.uk/en/TravelAn...code/DG_069859 (section 229)

There was a nice man from the AA (or maybe RAC) on tv last week showing you how to drive in the snow and he said it was illegal to drive with snow on the roof of your car in case it thawed then slipped down and covered the windscreen, blocking your vision.

1. Starfish have a Teflon-like non-stick surface.

2. There's a condition that can cause teenagers to sleep for weeks on end.

3. Soap opera can be live.

4. There are currently no machines that can correct flawed banknotes. But there will be soon.

5. Jim Morrison may actually not have exposed himself at a Miami concert in 1969.

6. Taking photos of children at nativity plays is not against the law..

7. There could be planets made of diamond.

8. More than half of all adults in the EU are overweight.

9. Almost one in five off-licences in Britain went under last year.

10. Patients recover quicker from surgery when looking at trees.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_165.shtml

1. The father of Michael Palin, who brought the stammer to national attention in the film, A Fish Called Wanda, had one himself.

2. Mark Twain opened Kensal Rise library in north London.

3. Birds binge drink.

4. There are 18 super-arbitrators of the English language version of Wikipedia.

5. Aristotle was known as the human Wikipedia.

6. Tinie Tempah's real name is Patrick.

7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi .

8. The fall of the Roman Empire can be detected in tree growth rings.

9. People who are tone deaf can hear music perfectly well.

10. Saint Wilgefortis was a woman who grew a beard to resist offers of marriage.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_169.shtml

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

.
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3. Birds binge drink.

7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi .

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3. Birds binge drink.

I believe it. When the Cedar Waxwings and Robins migrate into our neck of the woods, they ravage the berries from the Cedar / Juniper trees. After some time, one will begin to observe erratic "drunken" behavior among the birds; flying into windows, dropping to the ground, etc.

7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi .

That's a bragain, 20 pounds for about 8,000 pounds !

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Originally Posted by Wilde woman

Yes, I saw many black squirrels when I was in Ontario a few weeks ago. Apparently, they're one of the selling points for visiting there. :D

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I was fascinated by the black Squirrels in Ontario! Practically chasing them just to get a photo!

^ Me too! I swear I'm going to catch one the next time I go, because my brother doesn't believe they exist.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

1. Mercury can cause birds to seek same-sex relationships.

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Who the hell discovered this? And how? Is some sicko out there deliberately mercury-poisoning birds and then tracking them to find about their love lives?

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2. Penguin is a Welsh word.

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Can a Welsh litnetter confirm this for us? :biggrin5:

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Originally Posted by Gilliatt Gurgle

3. Birds binge drink.

I believe it. When the Cedar Waxwings and Robins migrate into our neck of the woods, they ravage the berries from the Cedar / Juniper trees. After some time, one will begin to observe erratic "drunken" behavior among the birds; flying into windows, dropping to the ground, etc.

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I want to witness this.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

Mick Hucknall

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Did you see his picture there? He's only a year older than me and looks horrid and old. I guess that's what that much sex will do to you. :lol: Either that or God knows what diseases he's picked up.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

1. Mercury can cause birds to seek same-sex relationships.

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Some people have very interesting jobs....

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

7. An elephant can be hired for £20 in New Delhi .

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And to think I've been paying 25!

1. Princess Diana had two wedding dresses.

2. President Kennedy's famous line "Do not ask..." was inspired by the headmaster of his prep school.

3. Fourteen-year-olds build successful iTunes apps.

4. Justin Webb's father was a BBC newsreader.

5. "Filthy lucre" and at least 256 other distinct phrases from the King James Bible are in modern English idiom.

6. There have been a number of suggested 13th signs of the Zodiac over the years.

7. Phone books are getting thinner.

8. Birds make "No trespassing" signs.

9. Smoking damages the body in minutes.

10. Chess playing stimulates different brain activity.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_170.shtml

January
Named after the Roman god of beginnings and endings Janus (the month Januarius).

February
The name comes either from the old-Italian god Februus or else from februa, signifying the festivals of purification celebrated in Rome during this month. (februare, Latin: to purify CB)

March
This is the first month of the Roman year. It is named after the Roman god of war, Mars.

April
Called Aprilis, from aperire, "to open". Possible because it is the month in which the buds begin to open.

May
The third month of the Roman calendar. The name probably comes from Maiesta, the Roman goddess of honor and reverence.

June
The fourth month was named in honor of Juno. However, the name might also come from iuniores (young men; juniors) as opposed to maiores (grown men; majors) for May, the two months being dedicated to young and old men.

July
It was the month in which Julius Caesar was born, and named Julius in his honor in 44 BCE, the year of his assassination. Also called Quintilis (fifth month).

August
Originally this month was called Sextilis (from sextus, "six"), but the name was later changed in honor of the first of the Roman emperors, Augustus (because several fortunate events of his life occurred during this month).

September
The name comes from septem, "seven".

October
The name comes from octo, "eight"

November
The name comes from novem, "nine".

December
The name comes from decem, "ten".



Might be one or two you didn't know

1. Polar bears can swim for nine days.

2. Tony Blair never had a mobile phone as prime minister.

3. JD Salinger was a big fan of Tim Henman.

4. Prince Philip almost became a coal miner for a month.

5. Social networks may date back as early as the 1970s.

6. The kilogram doesn't weigh as much as it used to.

7. Huskies can smell thin ice.

8. Kelly Hoppen used to be Sienna Miller's stepmother.

9. Many Kenyans think twins are cursed.

10. Pigeons can smell their way home hundred of miles.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_171.shtml

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

1. Polar bears can swim for nine days.

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They may need life jackets then, judging from the way their ice cap is melting.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

2. Tony Blair never had a mobile phone as prime minister.

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How very sensible of him. I suppose he avoided the odd SMS wakeup that way.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

3. JD Salinger was a big fan of Tim Henman.

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Good for Henman

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

4. Prince Philip almost became a coal miner for a month.

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I wonder if he was in a black mood?

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

5. Social networks may date back as early as the 1970s.

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Errrr... I am pretty certain that we had social networks before the 70's. It's just that they were not computerized, that's all...

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

6. The kilogram doesn't weigh as much as it used to.

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Right. Apparently it has lost fifty-millionths of a gram. Imagine the impact on weight watchers worldwide :shocked:

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

7. Huskies can smell thin ice.

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That would seem like a useful ability considering where they perform their daily chores.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

8. Kelly Hoppen used to be Sienna Miller's stepmother.

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Really? Whose stepmother is she now?

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

9. Many Kenyans think twins are cursed.

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Small wonder. Judging from myself I think I would be hard pressed to stand myself in duplicate.

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Originally Posted by Scheherazade

10. Pigeons can smell their way home hundred of miles.

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I always thought their nests packed a bit of a pong. Do they never clean their messes up?

About birds binge drinking:

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Originally Posted by Wilde woman

I want to witness this.

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Birds... Agile creatures with lightning reflexes, never missing a beat, right? Wrong! They do make the occasional mistake, and sometimes leave very literal evidence of the fact. I can show you a result. This picture was taken in central Eskilstuna a few years back:

http://elsmar.com/Forums/attachment....2&d=1178883603

/Claes

Birds' brains actually shrink in flight to make their heads lighter and therefore aerodynamic and thence also run on the autopilot of instinct, but when big, immovable, and invisible things get in their way, they crash - and whose laughing now you little show-offs?

Thing with flight though - you can understand why they sacrifice their tiny minds in order to do it - you wouldn't want to think about what you were actually doing: have you seen how hight they fly?

Another thing about our birdbrained friends is the drinking I witnessed where I used to live - they pick at the apricots in the morning so they'd ferment throughout the day, and come back for the juice/beverage in the afternoon

Elephants likewise do this with berries which they knock from the bushes in the morning, but in the afternoon they eat the whole fruit and deposit the seeds farther afield than they could travel by simply dropping to the ground - along with monkeys this provides another example of symbiosis

1. Mark Zuckerberg has watched The Social Network

2. Chewing gum can be used to make counterfeit keys.

3. Parrots are left and right-handed.

4. The average hug lasts three seconds.

5. Angry tarantulas kick tiny, stinging hairs off their bodies at predators.

6. Good cops are better at getting confessions than bad cops.

7. One in 10 of the world's adults is obese.

8. Chimpanzees grieve.

9. A water flea 2mm long has 50% more genes than a human.

10. Graffiti existed in the 19th Century.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_172.shtml

1) Mark Zuckerberg Mark Schmuckerberg

2) Pretty soft keys

3) Parrots have teeny little hands but choose to write with the right, right?

4) Three seconds is an aeon if you don't want to be hugged

5) Tarantulas have emotions?

6) Good cops?

7) Fatsos are great!

8) All mammals grieve - it's part of the make-up, you just can't tell that a cow or horse or rat is grieving. [Interesting sidenote - an island in the South Pacific has vegetarian skink lizards that have taken to the trees like monkeys and have curly tails for hanging on and swinging from branch to bough - but what's really cool is they've evolved a social structure similar to a group of monkeys: the only reptiles to get along like this]

9) Fleas with high compression ratios in their genes as well?

10) Graffiti also existed in the 18th, 17th, 16th, you name it th centuries - but not until the late 20th was it perpetrated with spraycan and sharpie

1. David Hasselhoff is a friend of Morecambe Tory MP David Morris.

2. Where you look affects how much pain you feel.

3. Elton John has no mobile phone.

4. Feeding garden birds makes them have a lie-in.

5. There is no minimum age at which UK children can be left on their own.

6. Horses can enjoy pints too.

7. Ravens get stressed when they join juvenile gangs.

8. Catholics are banned from confessing via iPhone.

9. Pessimism could be genetic.

10. Cattle once regularly swam between Hebridean islands.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_173.shtml

1. The paint on an average Easyjet plane weighs 80kg

2. Silvio Berlusconi has appeared in 106 trials, racking up more than 2,500 court appearances, he says.

3. MPs still have to do jury service.

4. There is no central sex offenders register in the UK.

5. Ancient Britons drank out of skulls.

6. You needed a permit to carry a sword or dagger in Italy in the early 1600s.

7. Incan brides had to peel a potato to prove they would be a good wife.

8. The first recorded use of OK was on 23 March 1839 on the second page of the Boston Morning Post.

9. The black bear's heart stops for up to 20 seconds when it exhales breath during hibernation and starts again when it inhales.

10. Wheelchairs can be controlled by thought.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_174.shtml

1. The Queen has a washer-up.

2. Robots do marathons.

3. Monkeys have self-doubt.

4. Artist LS Lowry was a debt collector.

5. Postal workers get through two million red rubber bands per day.

6. Nudity is banned on Facebook.

7. Blind people can regain sight.

8. Alligators hide behind sofas.

9. Wheelchairs can be controlled by thought.

10. Capuchin monkeys wash using urine.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...hings_18.shtml

1. Kenya's MPs aren't allowed to wear bling.

2. People with full bladders make better decisions.

3. Killer whales have a "stealth mode".

4. Finnish men have have some of the highest sperm counts in the world.

5. The ransom paid to release Richard the Lionheart, captured in 1192 on his way back from fighting the Crusades, was the equivalent of about £2bn in today's money.

6. Parents exaggerate the joy of having children to justify the sky-high cost of bringing them up.

7. The Mr Men and Little Miss series have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide.

8. There are 16 amateur superheroes patrolling UK streets at night.

9. The average time Britons have their first alcoholic drink in the evening is 7.11pm.

10. Britain's biggest bird of prey is the white-tailed (or sea) eagle, which has a wingspan of eight feet.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_175.shtml

I'm sorry but number 6 is absurd, and so is stating it as if were "fact"! I don't know where that comes from but they're clearly insane.

1. Chickens feel empathy.

2. Elephants are good at teamwork.

3. The lifespan of the average British person increases by five hours a day.

4. About 40% of skyscrapers due to be completed in the next six years will be in China.

5. Half of all Pakistani children cannot read a sentence.

6. Tigers kill lions.

7. Leeds has more councillors over the age of 80 than under the age of 35.

8. Car use is falling.

9. When potatoes were first introduced to Britain, they were used to make desserts.

10. A soldier's starting salary is nearly £8,000 less than a police officer's.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...his_t_23.shtml

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Originally Posted by iamnobody

I'm sorry but number 6 is absurd, and so is stating it as if were "fact"! I don't know where that comes from but they're clearly insane.

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erm, it kinda is a fact:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/family/83...hide-cost.html

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Originally Posted by iamnobody

I'm sorry but number 6 is absurd, and so is stating it as if were "fact"! I don't know where that comes from but they're clearly insane.

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I think there is a little truth in this fact. My son is the best thing in my life and I would never want to change anything about his part in my life. But he is SOOOOO expensive, I even suggested a new word in the icelandic vocabulary about expensive things, roughly translated child-expensive, but sounds a lot better here on the ice.

1. Monkeys recognise faces.

2. Hearing aids can work on teeth.

3. St Patrick's Day is a national holiday in Montserrat.

4. The last British tsunami to register a verified height was in 1975, and it reached 6cm (2.3in).

5. Sharks go to the cleaners.

6. Picking daffodils could count as criminal damage.

7. Elephants respect their elders.

8. Birds crash into wind turbines because they aren't looking where they're going.

9. Just 3% of UK cash machines dispense £5 notes.

10. Whales are scared of sonar.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/magazinem...st_w_176.shtml