Fact of the day thread

[Pete]

Today’s fact. The record for the longest tire skid was set in 1964 at the Bonneville Salt Flats in Utah.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. Trained pigeons can differentiate between the paintings of Pablo Picasso and Claude Monet.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. Beaver College changed its name to Arcadia in 2001 in part because anti-porn filters blocked access to the school's website.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. Australia is home to approximately 170 kinds of snakes, including some of the world’s most venomous. The good news? Snake bites aren’t common and are rarely fatal. One study estimated that snake bites account for just two deaths per year in Australia.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. A solar eclipse helped end a six-year war in 585 BCE. When the sky suddenly darkened during a battle between the Lydians and the Medes in modern Turkey, soldiers took it as a sign to cease fighting.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. Obituary writers have their own awards. They're called The Grimmys.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. All peacocks are male. The females are called “peahens.”

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. The first item sold on eBay was a broken laser pointer.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. The dragon tree of the Canary Islands is famous for its thick, deep-red sap. Called dragon's blood, the resin might be responsible for the intense hue of the famous Stradivarius violins built in the 17th and 18th centuries.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. At one time, George Washington was the nation's largest whiskey producer. He made 11,000 gallons in 1799.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. The German version of the term “Average Joe” is Otto Normalverbraucher, which translates to “Otto normal consumer.”

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. Some female sharks store sperm after mating, potentially holding on to it for years before they’re ready to reproduce.

 

[Pete]

Today‘s fact. A 2013 study suggests that chewing gum boosts concentration.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. The only Blockbuster store in the world that is still operating is located in Bend, Oregon.

 

[Pete]

Today‘s fact. Female bats give birth while hanging upside down, catching the baby in their wings as it drops.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. The Easter Island “heads” have bodies.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. High schools and universities in New Zealand are allowed to keep up to a pound of uranium on the premises for educational purposes.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. Relative to their body size, barnacles have the biggest penises in the animal kingdom.

 

[Pete]

Today’s fact. Stuck inside on a rainy day in 1816, writers Mary Shelley, Percy Shelley, Lord Byron, and John Polidori challenged each other to a scary story writing contest. Mary came up with the idea for Frankenstein and published it two years later at age 20.

 

[Pete]

Today‘s fact. Before writing Little Women, Louisa May Alcott penned stories under the pseudonyms Flora Fairfield and A.M. Barnard.