Thread: Did you know...?

In March 1945, a truck mechanic (No. 230873) in the Women's Auxiliary Territorial Service, received a visit from her parents, King George VI and the Queen, and her sister, Princess Margaret.

Originally Posted by jabir

Hurricane vs cyclone vs typhoon: All describe the same kind of oceanic storm with sustained winds higher than 74 mph; the difference is in their location. If it strikes North America from the Atlantic Ocean, it’s a hurricane (Hurikan, the Mayan god of evil). If it strikes China or Japan it’s called a typhoon (Greek tuphõn, “whirlwind”),

In China it's a 'Tai fong' Which is where the term typhoon originated. Nothing to do with Greek. Tai means too much and Fong means wind.

When Volvo patented their revolutionary three-point seat belt in 1962, they released it for free to all other car manufacturers, in order to save lives.

Tsundoku is the act (some call it an art) of acquiring books and not reading them.

The lamp posts in New York's Central Park contain a set of four numbers that can help visitors navigate; the first two digits are the nearest street, and the next two whether it's closer to the east or west side of the park (even numbers signal east, odd signals west).

Blood donors in Sweden receive a thank you text when their blood is used.

The Russians showed up 12 days late to the 1908 Olympics in London, because they were using the Julian calendar instead of the Gregorian calendar.

In Japan, letting a sumo wrestler make your baby cry is considered good luck.

Portland, Oregon, was named by a coin flip; had the coin landed the other way, the city would be Boston, Oregon.

Greenwich was also chosen by a coin flip, otherwise we would be referring to Paris Mean Time.

Sleep literally cleans your brain. During slumber, more cerebrospinal fluid flushes through the brain to wash away harmful proteins and toxins that build up during the day.

Sleep is especially valuable for babies and young children, as this is the best time for growth hormones to do their bit.

Neil Armstrong's astronaut application arrived a week past the deadline; a friend slipped his late form in with the others.

Drivers that stick to the 45 mph speed limit on a stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico, will hear the road's rumble strips play America the Beautiful.

Soviet cosmonauts used to pack a shotgun on their trips into space, in case they landed in Siberia and had to fend off bears.

Before settling on the Seven Dwarfs we know today, Disney considered Chesty, Tubby, Burpy, Deafy, Hickey, Wheezy, and Awful.

The annual number of shark bites worldwide, is less than 10% of the number of people bitten by other people in New York.

Ben & Jerry learned how to make ice cream by sharing the cost of a $5 correspondence course offered by Penn State.

When Canada's Northwest Territories considered renaming itself in the 1990s, one name that gained support was 'Bob'.

Vincent van Gogh's The Starry Night depicts his view from the Saint-Paul de Mausole asylum.

Peter Durand was a British merchant who patented tin cans, made of wrought iron with a tin lining, to preserve food. The patent (No 3372) was granted on August 25, 1810 by King George III of England.

The first can opener was patented by an American, Ezra Warner, on January 5, 1858.

In between, people used chisels and hammers.

Fredric Baur invented the Pringles can. When he passed away in 2008, his ashes were buried in one.

When Gene Wilder accepted the role of Willy Wonka, he had one condition: In his first appearance, Wilder wanted Wonka to limp toward the crowd with a cane in hand before falling into a perfect somersault and jumping back up. The reason? “Because from that time on, no one will know if I’m lying or telling the truth.”

The plural of cul-de-sac is culs-de-sac.

Originally Posted by jabir

Drivers that stick to the 45 mph speed limit on a stretch of Route 66 in New Mexico, will hear the road's rumble strips play America the Beautiful.

Pretty cool.

Would be good if the hometowns of famous composers/musicians did the same.

An episode of Peppa Pig was pulled from Australian television, for teaching children not to fear spiders.

In 1967, the Nigerian Civil War ground to a halt for two days because both sides wanted to watch Pelé play in an exhibition soccer match.