i l o t u v w x are the symmetric lower case letters in the Roman alphabet.
Susan Sarandon's last name is from her first husband, Chris Sarandon, also known as Prince Humperdinck from The Princess Bride.
In order for a deck of cards to be mixed up enough
to play with
properly, it should be shuffled at least seven times.
Thanks to Anonymous of
Baton Rouge, Louisiana.
Tweety used to be a baby bird without feathers until the censors made
him have feathers because he "looked naked."
Thanks to Mike Joffe of Carlisle,
Massachusetts.
The Mola Mola, or Ocean Sunfish, lays up to
5,000,000 eggs at one
time.
Thanks to Pits (pits@rat.org) of Manchester, New
Hampshire.
Aerosmith's "Dude
Looks Like a Lady" was written about Vince
Neil
of Motley Crue.
Vanilla Ice's real name is Robert Van Winkle.
Thanks to
Brett Stanislao of Arvada, Colorado.
When opossums are
playing opossum, they are not "playing." They
actually pass out from
sheer terror.
Thanks to Cliff Brunken of Colleyville,
Texas.
2 and 5 are the only primes that end in 2 or 5.
1 and 2 are the only numbers where they are the values of the
numbers
of factors they have.
Switching letters is called
spoonerism. For example, saying jag
of Flapan, instead of flag of
Japan.
Thanks to Gaku Sato of New York.
The
abbrevation "PDX" (Portland International Airport) is derived
from
"P" standing for Portland and "DX" meaning long distance or wide
reaching.
Every male over the 18 is considered part of the
Arizona Militia
according to state constitution.
Thanks
to Thai
Williams (thaiw@getnet.com
of Tempe,
Arizona.
A man named Ed Peterson is the inventor of the Egg McMuffin.
Thanks to Erik Wahlen (erjwahlw@hotmail.com) of
Germantown, Wisconsin.
Stag beetles have stronger mandibles
than humans.
Thanks to Lauren (ldiaz@weber.edu) of Ogden,
Utah.
The record for most snowfall in a day, 78 inches,
was made on
February
7, 1916 in Alaska.
In an episode of
The Simpsons, Sideshow Bob's Criminal
Number is 24601, the
same as the Criminal number of Jean Valjean in
Les Miserables.
Felix the Cat is the first cartoon character to ever have been
made
into a balloon for a parade.
Thanks to Bat Garg
(batgarg@geocities.com)
of
Fairbanks, Alaska.
The only continent
without reptiles or snakes is Antarctica.
It is possible to lead
a cow upstairs but not downstairs,
because
a cows' knees can't bend
properly to walk back down.
A golden razor removed from King
Tut's Tomb was still sharp enough
to be used.
You can make a
glass of apple cider with three apples.
All gondolas in Venice,
Italy must be painted black, unless they
belong to a high official.
The word "karate" means "empty hand."
A standard grave is
7'8" x 3'2" x 6'
Howdy Doody had forty-eight freckles.
Thanks to David Katz-Doft (Zeakx@aol.com) of Atlanta,
Georgia.
Rhinos are in the same family as horses, and are
thought to have
inspired the myth of the unicorn.
Hudson Bay
is the largest bay in the world, (larger than
England)
bordering
only one country Canada, and only two provinces and a
territory.
Four people played Darth Vader: David Prowse was his body, James
Earl
Jones did the voice, Sebastian Shaw was his face and a fourth
person
did the breathing.
Thanks to Richard Anthony of
Keewatin, Ontario, Canada.
The stress in Hungarian words
always falls on the first syllable.
A 17th-century Swedish
philologist claimed that in the Garden of
Eden God spoke Swedish,
Adam spoke Danish, and the serpent spoke
French.
The word for
"dog" in the Australian aboriginal language
Mbabaran
happens to be
"dog."
Thanks to Kevin
Shapiro (kshapiro@fas.harvard.edu)
of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The first Bowie knife was
forged at Washington, Arkansas.
Thanks to Joe Burkett (JohnClark7@aol.com) of Dallas,
Texas.
The names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru: See
no evil,
Mikazaru:
Hear no evil, and Mazaru: Speak no evil.
The name of the asteroid that was believed to have killed the
dinosaurs was named Chixalub. (Pronounced Sheesh-uh-loob)
John
Wilkes Booth shot Lincoln in a theatre and was found in a
warehouse. Lee Harvey Oswald shot Kennedy from a warehouse and
was
found in a theatre.
Dismas and Gestas were the names of the two
thieves crucified
with
Jesus.
The Red Baron's real name
was Manfred Von Richtofen.
Thanks to Ross
Demma (radner1@azstarnet.com)
of
Tuscon, Arizona.
Santa Fe, New Mexico is the highest state
capital at 7,000 feet above
sea level.
Santa Fe was founded
in 1607 making it the oldest continuously
occupied state capital.
Thanks to David Carter (David.M.Carter@mci.com) of
Denver, Colorado.
Skepticisms is the longest typed word that alternates
hands.
Thanks to Jean Chapin (jchapin@symantec.com) of
Eugene, Oregon.
Sam Spade's license number was 137596.
A hamlet is a village without a church and a town is not a city
until it has a cathedral.
Nine pennies weigh exactly one ounce.
Alaska could hold the 21 smallest States.
The sport with
highest ratio of officials to participants is tennis. A singles
match should have 13; ten linesmen, one net, one
foot-fault, plus an
umpire.
49.6% of US residents live in Eastern time zone, 29.3%
live in
the
Central time zone, 5.3% live in the Mountain time zone,
15.0% live
in
the Pacific time zone and .8% live in any other time
zone.
Thanks to W. John Little
(jlittle@az.com) of
Bellingham,
Washington.
Camels have three eyelids to
protect themselves from blowing sand.
It takes forty minutes to
hard boil an ostrich egg.
There are 2,598,960 five-card
hands possible in a 52-card deck of
cards.
There are
1,929,770,126,028,800 different color combinations
possible
on a Rubik's Cube.
Thanks to Joey
Burton
(jburton@searnet.com)
of
Stanford, Kentucky.
Pecans are the only food that
astronauts do not have to treat and
dehydrate when flying in
space.
Thanks to Joshua De Jong (Nobody12@sprynet.com
of
North Haledon, New Jersey.
Ross Perot resigned from the General Motors Board of Directors because of the decision to purchase Hughes Aircraft Company.
Figlet, an ASCII font
converter program, stands for Frank,
Ian and
Glenn's LETters.
The ancient Etruscans painted women white and
men red in the
wall
paintings they used to decorate tombs.
Thanks to Susan E. (sswog2lu@mwcgw.mwc.edu of
Lake Jackson, Texas.
Texas is also the only state that is
allowed to fly its state flag at
the same height as the U.S. flag.
Thanks to Trill
Hitt (akira7@airmail.net
of Dallas, Texas.
In 1986 Danny Heep became the first
player in a World Series to be a
designated hitter (DH) with the
initials "D.H."
Thanks to Kevin (Rugby@WebTV.net) of Westbury,
Connecticut.
Plaster of Paris is naturally fire retardant. At about 600 degrees
Farenheit the chemical water that is stored in it is released. This is
also why walls are often "sweaty" after a fire.
Thanks to Jon Fiersten (fiersten@uiuc.edu) of Urbana,
Illinois.
Al Capone's famous scar (which earned him the
nickname "Scarface")
was
from an attack. The brother of a girl he had
insulted attacked him with
a
knife, leaving him with the three
distinctive scars.
Thanks to Emilie (ZumZum13@aol.com) of Cape
Elizabeth, Maine.
Before Prohibition, Shiltz Brewery
own more property in Chicago than
anyone
else, except The Catholic
Church.
Thanks to Sean
(calvin@wwa.com) of Chicago,
Illinois.
If you put a raisin in a glass of champagne, it
will keep floating to
the top and sinking to the bottom.
Thanks to Whitney Elliott (Whitley22@aol.com) of Grand
Blanc,
Michigan.
Dwarf Woolly Mammoths survived on Wrangel
Island, Alaska as late as
4000 years ago. (So the oldest organism
currently alive was 1000
years
old when the last Woolly Mammoth
died.)
Thanks to Jeffery
Winkler (kwinkler@inreach.com) of Hanford,
California.
National Pi Day is March 14, at 1:59. (3/14
1:59)
Thanks to Phong Huynh (be424@scn.org) of Seattle,
Washington.
The saguaro cactus, found in the
southwestern united states, does not
grow
branches until it is
about sixty to seventy-five years old.
Thanks to Andrew
Gribas (tgribas@grfn.org) of
Grand
Rapids,
Michigan.
Kermit the Frog is left
handed.
Thanks to Jesse (jessel@silverlink.net).
The average mousepad is eight and three quarters by seven and a half
inches.
Thanks to Jennifer O'Neill (JennnieO@AOL.com) of Riverside,
Califorania.
Shortest Intercontinental Commercial
Flight in the world is from
Gibraltar (Europe) to Tangier (Africa.)
Distance 34 miles, flight
time
20 minutes.
Thanks to
Michael (michae12@ix.netcom.com) of
Pacific Palisades, California.
In the game Monopoly, the most
money you can lose in one travel
around
the board (normal game
rules, going to jail only once) is $26,040.
The
most money you can
lose in one turn is $5070.
Thanks to Evan
Demere
(Charon2@prodigy.net) of
Macon, Georgia.
In ancient Egypt, the apricot was called
the "egg of the sun."
Non-dairy creamer is flammable.
Thanks to Jonathan (Jonathan.Makiri@resnet.ucs
b.edu)
of Santa Barbara, California.
Tommy Lee
Jones Useless Facts
Tommy Lee Jones is one of
Oliver's roommates in the movie
Love
Story. He was Tom
then.
Thanks to Rachel Lyons (lyonsr@ucsu.colorado.edu)
of Boulder, Colorado.
Tommy Lee Jones and Al Gore were
freshman roommates at Harvard.
A bonnet is the cap on the fire
hydrant.
A canton is the blue field behind the stars.
The bread slots in a toaster are toast wells.
The side of a
hammer is a cheek.
Thanks to Greg Ciesielski (Pjski@niia.net) of Portage,
Indiana.
The quartz crystal in your wristwatch vibrates
32,768 times a second.
The two most common surgeries are biopsies
and cesarean sections.
Thanks to Logan Graves (logan@apex.net).
Drinking water after eating reduces the acid
in your mouth by 61
percent.
Thanks to Denianne Bland (dbland@uakron.edu) of Akron,
Ohio.
Paris, France and Cedar Rapids, Iowa are the only
cities in the world
that have their governments on an island.
Thanks to Marty Greenlief (marty.g@juno.com) of Salt Lake
City, Utah.
Pro golfer Wayne Levi was the first PGA pro to
win a tournament
using a colored (orange) ball. He did it in the
Hawaiian Open in
1982.
Thanks to John Prestopnik (presto@ntcnet.com) of Little
Falls, New York.
The author of Roberts' Rules of
Order, Col. Roberts of the
U. S. Corps of Engineers, is also
famous as the engineer in charge
of
designing the Seawall in
Galveston, Texas. This Seawall was
constructed after the famous
hurricane of 1900 which hit Galveston,
killing thousands.
Thanks to Steve Stein (sstein@sat.net) of Lake Jackson,
Texas.
The bat on the Bacardi symbol is there because the
soil where the
sugar
cane grows is fertile from the excessive guano
(bat droppings.)
Thanks to Craig Smith (x94smith12@wmich.edu) of
Kalamazoo, Michigan.
The
cheetah is the only cat in the world that can't retract its claws.
Thanks to Ike Evans.
The Toronto Maple leafs used
to be called the Toronto Arenas, then
the St.
Patricks and finally
the Maple Leafs.
Thanks to George Jordan (Rafterx@telusplanet.net)
of
Stavely, Alberta,Canada.
A female swine, or a sow, will
always have a even number of teats or
nipples, usually twelve.
Thanks to B. E. Kleckner (FavoritSon@aol.com) of Fresno,
California.
Although Sherlock Holmes above all is
considered as an inhabitant of
Victorian London, not less than seven
stories take place after the
death of the late queen. They are:
The Priory School (early 20th C),
The Three Garridebs (1902),
The Blanced Soldier (1903),
The Illustrious Client (1903),
The Creeping Man (1903),
The Lion's Mane (1907),
His Last
Bow (1914.)
Only two stories have Sherlock himself as the
narrator. They are:
The Blanched Soldier (1903) and The Lion's
Mane (1907.)
It is commonly thought that Conan Doyle got his
knighthood because
of
his stories about Sherlock Holmes. He
didn't. In fact he got his
honour
because of his defence (in
pamphlets and newspaper articles) of the
British concentration camps
during the Boer War.
Thanks to Lars Wigforss (vikfors@personalworld.se
of
Lund, Sweden.
The hammer throw is illegal as a high school sport in all states except Rhode Island.
Grand
Rapids, Michigan was the first city in the U.S. to put flouride
in
their water.
Thanks to Peter Stapley (pjs6348@silver.sdsmt.edu)
of Rapid City, South Dakota.
The reason firehouses have
circular stairways is from the days of
yore
when the engines were
pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on
the ground floor and
figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
Thanks to Mike
Poccia (mtp99@uno.cc.geneseo.edu)
of Piermont, New York.
St. Stephen is the patron saint of bricklayers.
The first song played on Armed Forces Radio
during operation Desert
Shield was "Rock the Casbah" by the Clash.
Thanks to Jonny Lung.
It's rumored that sucking on
a copper penny will cause a breathalyzer to read 0.
Thanks to Michael
Slapo
(slapo@microeon.com of
Woodbury, New York.
Fabrics and their Origins
Calico --- Calicut, India
Cambric --- Cambrai, France
Chambray --- Cambrai, France
Damask --- Damascus, Syria
Denim --- Nimes, France
Gauze --- Gaza, Palestine
Jersey --- Jersey Islamd, U.K.
Lisle --- Lille, France
Madras --- Madras, India
Oxford Cloth --- Oxford, U.K.
Tweed --- Tweed River Valley, U.K.
Thanks to Deb's
Dad.
Worcestershire Sauce is basically an Anchovy ketchup.
Thanks to Brad
Coon (coon@cvax.ipfw.indiana.edu)
of
Fort Wayne, Indiana.
If you told someone that they
were one in a million, you'd be
saying there
were about 1,800 of
them in China.
Thanks to The Drake (jdrake@best.com) of San Jose,
California.
In Psycho, the color of Mrs. Bates' dress was
periwinkle blue.
Thanks to Joe Adilletta (jxa1@cornell.edu).
The Roman numerals for 1666 are as follows: MDCLXVI
(1000+500+100+50+10+5+1.) This year is famous as being the one time
in history when the date is written with all of the Roman numerals
from highest value to the lowest value.
Thanks to R. C. A. (rca@bconnex.net) of
Midland,
Ontario, Canada.
Until at least 1980 the country of Bhutan had no telephones.
In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's
Channel 1 to mobile
services (two-way radios in taxicabs, for
instance) but did not
re-number the other channel assignments. That
is why your TV set
has
channels 2 and up but no channel 1.
Thanks to Mark Lutton (mlutton@world.std.com) of
Brookline, New Hampshire.
A group of geese on the
ground is gaggle, a group of geese in the air
is skein.
Thanks to Elliot Blanchard (elliot@minerva.cis.yale\
.edu) of New Haven, Connecticut.
The smallest 'country'
in the world to have its own top-level domain
name is Norfolk Island,
off the coast of Australia.
Thanks to Emma
Osman (eosman@cybergraphic.com.au) of
Melbourne, Australia.
Napoleon Bonaparte's mother's name was
Laticia.
Thanks to Ed Windsor (mccrae2@earthlink.net) of
Los
Angeles, Califoria.
The 16th
century astronomer Tycho Brahe lost his nose in a duel with
one of
his students over a mathematical computation. He wore a
silver
replacement nose for the rest of his life.
Thanks to Wyeth
Johnson (collage@ziplink.net) of North
Andover, Massachusetts.
Prince Harry and Prince William are
uncircumcised.
Dogs and humans are the only animals with
prostates.
The ashes of the average cremated person weigh nine
pounds.
Thanks to Janice and Brennan Keil (keil@erols.com) of Joppa,
Maryland.
The placement of a donkey's eyes in its'
heads enables it to see all
four feet at all times
Thanks to
Carrie LeMieux (calemieu@oakland.edu of
Rochester, Michigan.
The only word that consists of two
letters, each used three times is
the word "deeded."
Thanks
to Dan Webster (DWebster99@aol.com) of
Palatine,
Illinois.
Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after Mickey
Rooney, whose mother he
dated for some time.
Thanks toChad
H. of Seattle, Washinton.
Libra, the Scales, is the only inanimate symbol in the zodiac.
Thanks to Jan Koloen (jan.koloen@legis.state.wi.us)
of Madison, Wisconsin.
The word "robot" was created by Karel Capek. It came from
Czech/Slovak
"robotovat," which means to work very
hard.
Thanks to Ondrej
Tichy (uner@geocities.com)
of Prague,
Czech Republic.
The underside of a horse's hoof is called a
frog. The frog peels off
several times a year with new
growth.
Thanks to Ann Langlois (alangloi@remc8.k12.mi.us)
of Michigan.
| 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.