A forfeited game is baseball is recorded as a 9-0 score. In football it is
2-0.
The 772-778 digits of pi are 9999998, the greatest sum of 7
consequtive digits in the first 1,000,000 or so digits.
Thanks to
Jonathan
Nikfarjam (softaco@nr.infi.net) of
Greensboro, North Carolina.
The San Fransisco Cable cars and the St. Charles streetcar line in New Orleans are the nation's only mobile National Monuments.
The most common name in Italy is Mario
Rossi.
Thanks to Carlo Crudele (heinkells@hotmail.com) of
Salerno, Italy.
Both Esther and Song of Solomon do not mention the word God.
Here is every word that can be displayed by a digital clock during the day. (Using the numbers which look like letters, with 9 as "g.")
So be sure to shriek whenever it's 8:00!
Thanks to Joe Rovang (jrovang@mindspring.com) of Atlanta, Georgia.
Paul Revere rode on a borrowed horse that belonged to Deacon Larkin.
Thanks to Larry Culver (latexaz@goodnet.com) of
Phoenix,Arizona.
The "save" icon on Microsoft Word shows a floppy disk, with the
shutter on
backwards.
Thanks to Matt (gaym@craft.clarkson.edu)
of
Potsdam, New York.
Roosters can't crow if they can't fully extend their
necks.
There are only three types of snakes on the
island of Tasmania and
all
are deadly poisonous.
Thanks to Dick Reese (reese@iname.com) of Cygnet,
Tasmania,
Australia.
The highest
scoring word in the English language game of Scrabble is
'Quartzy'. This will score 164 points if played across a
red
triple-word square with the Z on a light blue
double-letter square.
It
will score 162 points if
played across two pink double-word squares
with the Q
and the Y on those squares. 'Bezique' and 'Cazique' are
next with a possible 161 points. All three words score an
extra 50
points for having seven letters and
therefore emptying the letter
rack
in one go.
Thanks to James Bartlett (imagemagic@enterprise.net)
of London, England, United Kingdom.
Assuming Rudolph was in front, there are 40320 ways to arrange the
other eight reindeer.
Shirley Temple always had 56 curls in her hair.
Thanks to Matt Shoemaker (mts4@azstarnet.com).
All of the officers in the Confederate army were given copies of
Les Miserables, by Victor Hugo, to carry with them at all
times. Robert E. Lee, among others, believed that the book
symbolized
their cause. Both revolts were defeated.
Thanks to Erin
(arowyn@castles.com) of Vallejo,
California.
The combination "ough" can be pronounced in nine different ways. The
following sentence contains them all: "A rough-coated,
dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of
Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed."
Thanks to Nick Renton (ner@melbpc.org.au) of
Melbourne, Australia and Ulrich Gaede (ulrich@mortimer.com) of Richmond,
British Columbia, Canada.
Hulk Hogan's real name is Terry Bollea.
Thanks to Josh Burnett (burnettj@scils.rutgers.edu)
ofOrinda, California.
Easter is the first Sunday after the first Saturday after the first full moon after the equinox. (The equinox is quite often March 21, but can also occur on the March 20 or 22.)
The dial tone of a normal telephone is in the key of "F".
Thanks to Timothy Nelson
(nelsont@radix.net) of Bowie,
Maryland.
The fingerprints of koala bears are virtually indistinguishable from
those of humans, so much so that they could be confused at a crime
scene.
Thanks to Richard
Westmoreland (raw@loop.com) of
West Hollywood, California.
Months that begins with a Sunday will always have a "Friday the
13th."
Thanks to Bob Krehnbrink (bobkay@jagunet.com) of
Baltimore,
Maryland.
Emus have double-plumed feathers, and they lay
emerald/forest green
eggs.
Thanks to Melody Morrow (morrow@us.net).
Robert
E. Lee, of the Confederate Army, remains the only person, to
date, to
have graduated from the West Point military academy without
a
single demerit.
Thanks to Larry
H. Corbett, Jr. of Tustin, California.
The only 15 letter word in English that
can be spelled without repeating a
letter
is uncopyrightable.
Thanks to Jakd Burke (burke@rochelle.net) of
Rochelle,
Illinois.
The slash character is called a virgule, or
solidus. A URL uses
slash characters, not back slash
characters.
Thanks to Jim Yencer (yencer@cimple.com of Rochester,
New York.
"Corduroy" comes from the French, "cord du roi"
or "cloth of the
king."
Thanks to Peter Singer (singer4@mail.idt.net) of New
York City, New York.
The permanent teeth that erupt to
replace their primary predecessors
(baby teeth) are called
succedaneous teeth.
Thanks to Eldon DeKay (mailto:dekaye@alaska.net) of
Anchorage, Alaska.
The abbreviation "ORD" for Chicago's
O'Hare airport comes from the
old name "Orchard Field."
Thanks
to Scott Weitzel.
Antonia ('Tonie') Nathan, the 1972
Vice-Presidential candidate of the
Libertarian Party, was the first
woman in American history to
receive
an electoral vote.
Thanks to Bruce Lagasse (76451.1003@compuserve.com)
of Van Nuys, California.
In the four major US professional
sports, (Baseball, Basketball,
Football, and Hockey) there are only
seven teams whose nicknames do
not
end with an
"S."
Basketball: The Miami Heat, The Utah Jazz, The Orlando
Magic.
Baseball: The Boston Red Sox, The Chicago White
Sox.
Hockey: The Colorado Avalanche, The Tampa Bay
Lightning.
Football: None.
Thanks to Larry (Crodley@cris.com) of Flint,
Michigan.
There are only three world capitals that begin with
the letter "O" in English: Ottawa, Canada; Oslo, Norway; and Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso.
Thanks to Stan Miekicki
(smiekicki@nhmemphis.com)
of
Memphis, Tennessee.
James Doohan, who plays Lt. Commander
Montgomery Scott on Star
Trek, is missing the entire middle
finger of his right hand.
Thanks to Mark Smeby
(marksmeby@geocities.com)
of Martinez, California.
"Polish" is the only word in the
English language that when
capitalized
is changed from a noun or a
verb to a nationality.
Thanks to Dick Lennox (beardb890@earthlink.net)
of
New York City, New York.
Facetious and abstemious contain all the vowels in the correct order, as does arsenious, meaning "containing arsenic."
Beelzebub, another name for the devil, is Hebrew for Lord of
the
Flies, and this is where the books title comes from.
Thanks to Marbles (mkb96@hampshire.edu) of
Amherst,
Massachusetts.
The shape of plant collenchyma cells and the shape of the bubbles in
beer foam are the same -- they are
orthotetrachidecahedrons.
Thanks to Toni Austin (ama@srv.net) of Idaho Falls,
Idaho.
West Virginia and Maryland have no natural lakes.
Rick and Paul
Reuschel of the 1975 Chicago Cubs combine to pitch a
shutout, the first
time brothers do this.
Thanks to
Matt Ahern
(rocko@ix.netcom.com) of
Braintree,
Massachusetts.
The name of the dog from The
Grinch Who Stole Christmas is
Max.
Thanks to Lynn Sampson
(lwagers@academyonline.org)
of Red Deer, Alberta, Canada.
Lake Baikal is the deepest
lake in the world.
Connecticut is the only state whose name is two
words connected by a
letter: "connect," "i," and "cut."
Only
five countries in Europe touch only one other: Portugal, Denmark, San
Marino, Vatican City, and
Monaco.
Thanks to Roger
Kim (jollyrog@uclink4.berkeley.ed
u)
of Berkeley, California.
October 10 is National Metric
Day.
Thanks to Skip Gasche of Schererville, Indiana.
Oak trees do not have acorns until they are fifty years old or
older.
Thanks to Joy Kussner (phys011@uabdpo.pdo.uab.edu)
of Birmingham, Alabama.
South Dakota has the only state
bird from Asia, the ring-necked
pheasant.
Thanks to Tim
Doherty (voyageur@worldnet.att.com)
of St. Paul, Minnesota.
Tongeren is the oldest town in
Belgium.
Thanks to Peter Croughs (Peter.Croughs@ping.be).
John Augustus Sutter of Sutter's Mill and the California Gold Rush became an ardent Communist in his later years.
The
original IBM punchcard is the same size as a Civil War era dollar
bill.
Thanks to Dean Dvorak (ddvorak@clev.frb.org) of
Cleveland, Ohio.
The concave dish shape that a liquid takes
on inside a glass or tube
is
called a meniscus.
Thanks
to D. Jones
(grlakes@manistee-
isd.k12.mi.us)
of
Manistee, Michigan.
Croatia Useless
Facts
Dalmatian dog originate from Dalmatian coast
of Croatia.
Kresimir Cosic is only non-American player in NBA
Hall of Fame.
Croatia was the first country to recognize the
United States in
1776.
Thanks to Tomislav Ozanic (ozzy@oliver.efzg.hr) of
Zagreb,
Croatia.
Marco Polo was born on the Croatian island
of Korcula (pronounced
Kor-Chu-La).
Thanks to Karim Kovacevic
(Karim_Kovacevic@lotus.com)
of
Boston, Massachusetts.
A two-bit moon is in the first
quarter.
Thanks to Doyle Holcomb (wa7faz@aol.com) of Phoenix,
Arizona.
The three largest land-owners in England are the Queen, the Church
of
England and Trinity College, Cambridge.
The monastic hours
are matins, lauds, prime, tierce, sext, nones,
vespers and
compline.
If you come from Manchester, you are a Mancunian.
No
animal, once frozen solid (i.e., water solidifies and turns to
ice)
survives when thawed, because the ice crystals formed inside cells
would break open the cell membranes. However there are certain
frogs
that can survive the experience of being frozen. These frogs make
special proteins which prevent the formation of ice (or at least
keep
the crystals from becoming very large), so that they actually never
freeze
even though their body temperature is below zero Celsius.
The water
in
them remains liquid: a phenomenon known as
'supercooling.' If you
disturb
one of these frogs (just touching
them even), the water in them
quickly freezes solid and they die.
Thanks to Gavin Koh (gkwk2@cam.ac.uk) of Cambridge,
Britain, United Kingdom.
The white part of your fingernail
is called the lunula.
Thanks to Jake Joseph (jdjoseph@ibm.net) of
Charlottesville, Virginia.
The name for fungal remains
found in coal is sclerotinite.
Thanks to the Honours Crew of
the Geology Department,
University of Newcastle, New South Wales,
Australia.
Emus and kangaroos cannot walk backwards, and are on the Australian coat of arms for that reason.
It is believed
that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King
James Version
of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word
from the first
word is shake and the 46th word from the last word
is spear.
Thanks to Henry DeShazo of Wharton, Texas.
The
shopping mall in Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada has the
largest
water clock in North America.
Thanks to Luke
Closs (lukec@uniserve.com) of
OB
Abbotsford, British Columbia, Canada.
Writer Edgar Allan
Poe and LSD advocate Timothy Leary were both
kicked
out of West
Point.
Thanks to Mike Poccia (mtp99@uno.cc.geneseo.edu
of
Piermont, New York.
The top layer of a wedding cake, known
as the groom's cake, is
usually
is a fruit cake so it will last until
the couple's first anniversary,
when
they will eat it.
Thanks
to Michelle Moore (moore@inlink.com) of
Ballwin,
Missouri.
The German Kaiser Wilhelm II had a
withered arm and often hid the
fact
by posing with his hand resting
on a sword, or by holding gloves.
Thanks to Dennis Tucker
(tucker@auragen.com of
Rochester,
New York.
The United States government
keeps its supply of silver at the U.S.
Military Academy at West
Point, New York.
Thanks to Randy Simonds.
Blimp Useless Facts
There are fourteen
blimps in the world.
Ten of the fourteen blimps are in the United
States.
The existing biggest blimp is the Fuji Film
blimp.
Thanks to Bradley of Mandeville, Louisiana.
Naugahyde, plastic "leather" was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut.
Thanks to Jeanne of Sterling,Virginia.
In every
show that Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt (The
Fantasticks)
wrote, there is at least one song about rain.
A kind of tortoise in
the Galapagos Islands has an upturned shell at
its neck so it can
reach its head up to eat cactus branches.
Thanks to Kevin Laibson
(grndzer0@ix.netcom.com)
of
Ridgewood, New Jersey.
Parthenogenesis is the
term used to describe the process by which
certain animals are able
to reproduce themselves in successive
female
generations without
intervention of a male of the species. At least
one species of
lizard is known to do so.
Thanks to Jim Ahlberg (ahlberg@ns.rochelle.net)
of
Rochelle, Illinois.
Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.
The word
"Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah
Mat,"
which means "the king is dead".
Thanks to Chad Daniel Harwood
of Tempe, Arizona.
The ship, the Queen Elizabeth 2, should
always be written as QE2.
QEII
is the actual queen.
"Quisling" is the only word in the English language to start with
"quis."
All of the cobble stones that used to line the streets in
New
York
were originally weighting stones put in the hulls of
Belgian ships to keep an even keel.
Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and
ears
never stop growing.
The only borough of New York City
that isn't an island or part of an island is the Bronx.
Thanks to Matt Polazzo (mpolazzo@arctos.bowdoin.edu)
of Brooklyn, New York.
When a coffee seed is planted, it takes five years to yield
consumable
fruit.
Thanks to Mike Greenberg of (greenbrg@west.net) of Ventura,
California.
The common goldfish is the only animal that can
see both infra-red
and
ultra-violet light.
Thanks to
Glen Kemp (jeyes@netcom.co.uk) of
Norfolk.
Linn's Stamp News is the world's largest weekly
newspaper for stamp
collectors.
Thanks to ruddy@postoffice.ptd.net
of
Freeland, Pennsylvania.
Tennessee and Missouri are bordered by more states than any other. Tennesee is bordered by eight states are Kentucky, Missouri, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, North Carolina and Virginia. Missouri is bordered by Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Tennesee, Kentucky and Illinois.
The westernmost point in the contiguous United States is Cape Alava, Washington.
Pinocchio is Italian for "pine
eyes."
Thanks to Christina Marzano Haystead
(christine_haystea
d
@together.cudenver.edu)
of Denver, Colorado.
The infinity sign is called a
lemniscate.
Thanks to Nathan Oestreich of Shelton,
Washington.
If you stretch a standard Slinky out flat it measures 87 feet long.
Thanks to Brian Berg and Lisa Burke of Phoenix,
Arizona.
There are six words in the English language with the letter combination "uu." Muumuu, vacuum, continuum, duumvirate, duumvir and residuum.
The "Calabash" pipe, most often associated with
Sherlock Holmes, was
not used by him until William Gillette (an
American) portrayed
Holmes
onstage. Gillette needed a pipe he
could keep in his mouth while he
spoke his lines.
Thanks
to George Page (gpage@law.yale.edu) of New
Haven,
Connecticut.
Most Americans' car horns beep in the key of
F.
Thanks to Matt Baker of Monticello, Illinois.
Dirty Harry's badge number is 2211.
Thanks to Jim
Lambert (gunsmith@ix.netcom.com) of
Hedgesville, West Virginia.
The pupil of an octopus' eye is
rectangular.
Thanks to Thor Klippert (boomvang@hooked.net) of
Berkeley, California.
The shortest French word with all
five vowels is "oiseau" meaning
bird.
Thanks to Andreas
Parsch (106261.2666@compuserve.com) of
Munich, Germany.
Camel's milk does not curdle.
"Mr. Mojo Risin" is an anagram for Jim Morrison.
Thanks
to Jim
Smetana, Jr.
(jnrpress@earthlink.net) of
Arlington
Heights, Illinois.
The ball on top of a flagpole is called the truck.
Oliver Cromwell was hanged and
decapitated two years after he had
died.
In the last 4000
years, no new animals have been domesticated.
Thanks to Dal
Cosby (worzal@uniserve.com)
of
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Iowa has more
independent telephone companies than any other state.
Thanks
to Rob Smith of Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
The first prime number
after 1,000,000 is 1,000,003.
Thanks to Pawntep
Shaikitwattana (s6014281@kmitl.ac.th).
Hamster Useless Facts
Many hamsters
only blink one eye at a time.
Thanks to Laura.
Hamsters
love to eat crickets.
The first Eagle Scout west of the Mississippi
is buried in San
Marcos,
Texas.
Thanks to Spencer
LeDoux (sledoux@loki.berry.edu) of
Mt.
Berry, Georgia.
In every episode of Seinfeld
there is a Superman somewhere.
Thanks to Rebecca Moonen
(moonen@iinet.net.au)
of
Australia.
The Greek version of the Old Testament is called
the Septuagent.
Thanks to Andrew Glover (aglover@bucknell.edu).
Spencer Eldon was the name of the naked baby on the cover of
Nirvana's
album Nevermind.
Thanks to Amy
Hemmann (c688384@showme.missouri.edu)
of Columbia, Missouri.
Sheriff came from Shire Reeve. During early years of feudal rule in England, each shire had a reeve who was the law for that shire. When the term was brought to the United States it was shortened to Sheriff.
An animal epidemic is called an epizootic.
Thanks to
Emily Honig (QMJH11B@prodigy.com) of Newton,
Massachusetts.
Dracula is the most filmed story of all time, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is second and Oliver Twist is third.
The most popular sport as a topic for a film is boxing.
The silhouette on the NBA logo is Jerry West.
The silhouette
on the Major League Baseball logo is Harmon
Killebrew.
Thanks to Ray Pheris (rlp6028@ta\m2000.tamu.edu) of
Baytown, Texas.
The little lump of flesh just forward of
your ear canal, right next
to your temple, is called a tragus.
Thanks to Dave Barak (barak@netrunner.net) of West
Palm
Beach, Florida.
Soweto in South Africa was derived from SOuth WEst TOwnship.
The Andy Griffth Show was the first spin-off in TV
history. It was a spin-off of the Danny Thomas Show.
Thanks to Jeff Katersky (katersky1@aol.com) of
Thousand
Oaks, California.
Goat's eyes have rectangular pupils.
Thanks to Elizabeth Fox of San Francisco, California.
Walt Disney's autograph bears no resemblance to the famous Disney
logo.
Thanks to Joe Bork (jfb@po.cwru.edu) of Cleveland,
Ohio.
Other than humans, black lemurs are the only primates
that may have
blue eyes.
Thanks to Joao de Souza (jdsouza@undp.org) of New York.
The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.
Thanks to Adam Trebolo (astreb00@mik.uky.edu) of Lexington,
Kentucky.
Great Britain was the first county to issue
postage stamps. Hence,
the postage stamps of Britain are the only
stamps in the world not
to
bear the name of the country of
origin. However, every stamp carries
a
relief image or a silhouette
of the monarch's head instead.
Images for picture stamps in the
United States are commissioned
by
the United States Postal Service
Department of Philatelic
Fulfillment.
Thanks to Charlie
Whitaker (charlie1@easynet.co.uk) of London,
England, Great Britain.
Artist Constantino Brumidi fell
from the dome of the U.S. Capitol
while painting a mural around the
rim. He died four months later.
Thanks to Tim Caton (tcaton@hr.house.gov) of Washington,
District of Columbia.
Since 1896, the beginning of the
modern Olympics, only Greece and
Australia have participated in every
Games.
Thanks to Danny McGill (dmcgill@ccip.com) of Dunkirk, New
York.
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 |
| Acronyms from Logan Graves |
| Presidential Useless Facts |
Created November 1995.
Disclaimer: These facts are not checked for accuracy. Please do not use them in your doctoral thesis or your Inaugural Address until you have verified them on your own.
If you use these facts, send themout as a forward or otherwise publish them, please credit Deb and Jen's Land O' Useless Facts and include a link to our main URL: uselessfacts.info Thanks!
Copyright © 1995-2003 by Deb Henigson & Jennifer Godwin. All rights reserved.