Do you know any surprising truths?
Asked by
jaytkay (
25810
)
June 22nd, 2011
Any unlikely or little known facts? And by fact, I mean objectively true and measurable. Not opinions.
Me first.
Detroit is north of Canada.
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If you haven’t been to the Alamo, yes that Alamo, in San Antonio, it’s way, way smaller than you probably think it is. You might be shocked at how really small it is.
Not a great surprising fact but I was thinking tonight about some of the historical sites I’ve visited and that came to mind. I might have a better one later.
Edit: I reread your question and may have missed the point there. Though the size of the Alamo can be objectively measured, the issue of it’s actual size relative to how big any one person might imagine to be, well, that’s a little soft and outside the parameters of your question, I think. Sorry.
Elephants are the only creatures with knees not able to jump.
Yes…men are like waffles and women are like spaghetti! Don’t ask me why it took so long to realize this either!! XD
@Cruiser damn it! I don’t like spaghetti!
@redfeather Try my garden pesto sauce and you will change your mind! ;)
Holy moly, pirate elephants!
Israel is so tiny, on a world map, it’s name doesn’t fit within the borders and often appears literally in the Med. sea – where many Arabs would wish it would sink into. You can drive across it in half an hour and from north to south in under 5. Yet it has 4 distinct climates, and in the winter you can drive from a ski resort to the desert in three hours. Among other things, its credit rating and economic situation is one of the best in the world, even in today’s global climate, and boasts more inventions, University degrees and Nobel laureates per capita than any other nation.
The first fleuter-action pipe organ west of the Mississippi was in Mesquite, Texas.
Mark Twain invented a self-adhesive scrapbook that achieved moderate commercial success.
Ayn Rand’s favorite TV show was Charlie’s Angels
Leo Tolstoy gave his wife his diaries to read which outlined his sexual exploits in lurid detail.
@jaytkay Could you explain Detroit being north of Canada? Santa is north of Canada.
Crows can make and use tools to manipulate their environment, big words to say get food.
Well, there is ”... the
truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife”
I have always found that one surprising.
@faye Check out a map of Detroit USA and Windsor CA
@gail It’s like the universal truth that you never give a woman your credit card.
Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, etc.) are born with less apocrine (sweat) glands than other races (whites and blacks), and therefore perspire less, and generally produce less body odor than other races.
@jaytkay: Detroit and Windsor, Ontario are neighbors (separated by the Detroit River) but Detroit is hardly north of Canada. It’s not even north of Windsor.
I’ve heard whites smell sour because of all the dairy stuff eaten.
@jaytkay I really tried raggin’ you. I know you meant north in those Great Lakes. Toronto kind of is in the US. I so want a globe.
@jaytkay New Jersey is bigger than Israel. I looked at the comparison – what people don’t always realize is that that map is ALL of biblical Israel, including the west bank – Judea and Samaria. Israel will be left with less than half of that after releasing it to the Palestinians, not to mention the Golan Heights to Syria.
@zen New Jersey is bigger than Israel
Holy moly! My brother lives in a state larger than Israel!
Rudyard Kipling said: “San Francisco is a mad city – inhabited for the most part by perfectly insane people whose women are of a remarkable beauty.”
@zen And your tiny country is so big. It would take me about 6 hours to get to the border with the US and maybe twice that to Alberta’s northern border.
Dolphins have also shown team effort to accomplish a mission.
I have another.
Reno Nevada is west of Los Angeles California.
@jaytkay Yeah, the pirate elephant thing is kind of scary. God only knows what other animals are planning and capable of carrying out. I’m convinced that the squirrels that frequent my yard have a war room with maps pinpointing the locations of and the schematics of my various bird feeders and suet cages. I’m pretty sure the squirrels use power point too; to strategize, plan, coordinate and debrief their various departments and VPs regarding their attacks and destruction and/or dismantling of my bird feeders and suet cages. I don’t have any proof but I’m pretty sure.
@jaytkay Cool. I had to check that one out for myself on a map but you seem to be right. It sure looks like Reno is west of LA. Way, way northwest though.
@MRSHINYSHOES Asians (Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, etc.) are born with less apocrine (sweat) glands than other races (whites and blacks), and therefore perspire less, and generally produce less body odor than other races.
Holy Moly! I stink!
I recall reading that the the Japanese called Europeans “beefeaters” because they smelled funny. I have no idea if that is true.
I think I could defeat the pirate elephants. I have excellent animal handling skills and my lifelong dream is to be a mahout.
@Fiddle_Playing_Creole_Bastard Mark Twain invented a self-adhesive scrapbook that achieved moderate commercial success.
Best. American. Ever.
TR is 2nd best
@gailcalled Detroit is hardly north of Canada. It’s not even north of Windsor
You know how I know you haven’t looked at a map of Detroit & Windsor?
@jaytkay You still might want to get some back up; a gang or posse of mahouts. The elephant pirates in my link, well, there were 20 of them;10 trucks/drivers. 20 elephants; 1 mahout, the odds aren’t in your favor, I don’t think.
You can’t hum while plugging your nose.
@jaytkay Detroit, MI is northwest of Windsor, Ont. ...not the whole country of Canada. ;)
George Custer was the youngest man ever to become a general in the US army. He was 23yrs old.
During the reign of Elizabeth I a tax was put on beards.
Winston Churchill smoked 15 cigars a day.
In England, prior to the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar in 1752, New Year’s Day was on March 25th.
Alaska is north of Canada. Well, most of Canada.
Betcha didn’t know that.
The fax machine was invented decades before the telephone.
I want to roam with those elephants. Forget being a mahout. I was want to hang out with elephant thugs.
@jaytkay: You are correct about Detroit and Windsor, by 5’ of arc.
Latitude of Detroit 42˚ 23’ N
Latitude of Windsor 42˚ 18’ N
@zenvelo; I have, with some vetting, given other people (both sexes) my credit card on occasion. So far, no one has run off to Cancun.
Tom “sexy tache” Selleck was originally cast as Indiana Jones in Raiders of the Lost Ark. Contract issues scuppered the deal though, thank fuck!
Out of all birds, only ducks, swans, and ostriches have penises. Penes?
We use far more than 70% of our brains every day. Most of us anyway.
How come I read somewhere that we only utilize less than 5%? Is that just a myth?
@zen it’s a popular myth with no real grounding in reality. Link related.
The myth has been debunked for many decades, but it still seems to be quite persistent. I wonder why.
The myth has been debunked for many decades, but it still seems to be quite persistent.
That’s dumb, people should use their brains more :-)
In Defending Your Life Rip Torn uses forty-eight percent of his brain but Albert Brooks is portrayed as a typical earthling and uses only three percent.
@zen That’s what happens when you don’t wash yourself with douche. Hehe! ;)
The most common street name in the United States is “Second Street.”
“First Street” is 6th most common.
(Source: the lid to the Snapple I drank today, or here.)
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