The Thread for Useless, but Interesting Facts

[Claret and Blue]

On 08/02/2018 at 19:15, Guest said:

The Falklands are still British

And isn't worth a carrot  

[nudge+]

The spare goat

[Bluewolf]

A modern cruise ship compared to the Titanic... 

[Bluewolf]

[nudge+]

37 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

And the Irish reciprocated recently by helping raise 2m $ for clean water, food and health supplies during the pandemic to people in the Navajo Nation and the Hopi Reservation, with hundreds of thousands of dollars coming from Irish donors.

Love stories like that...

[Azeem]

[Tommy]

[MUFC]

 

[Azeem]

Two Japanese soldiers remained hidden for 29 years after WW2 thinking the war was still going on. 

[Bluewolf]

[Spike]

On 19/03/2022 at 19:17, nudge said:

At school in early 90s we were still taught of Eurasia as a continent - not Europe and Asia as two separate ones!

Different cultures define the continents differently. I know many South Americans are taught that America is one continent not two, but Asia and Europe are seperate.

[Bluewolf]

In 2007 Mexican authorities found $206 Million in drug cash stashed in a Mexico city house... 

I don't think there is a person alive who wouldn't think " they won't miss just one little bundle"  

[nudge+]

18 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

In 2007 Mexican authorities found $206 Million in drug cash stashed in a Mexico city house... 

I don't think there is a person alive who wouldn't think " they won't miss just one little bundle"  

Just one?...

[Azeem]

Pakistan's current PM is on bail from a 16billion money laundering case. You cannot get a govt job if you are on a bail. 

Such sad turn of events these past weeks. 

[Bluewolf]

[MUFC]

On 19/04/2022 at 08:37, Bluewolf said:

In 2007 Mexican authorities found $206 Million in drug cash stashed in a Mexico city house... 

I don't think there is a person alive who wouldn't think " they won't miss just one little bundle"  

Reckon the cops who raid will take a bit.

[Azeem]

Entire film of Toy Story 2 was accidentally deleted by an employee during production.

[Bluewolf]

[Tommy]

2 hours ago, Bluewolf said:

Reminds me of @nudge. 

[Azeem]

American and German cockroaches are the most difficult to kill. 

[Azeem]

The guy is a legend

[Spike]

On 19/04/2022 at 10:09, Aladdin said:

Pakistan's current PM is on bail from a 16billion money laundering case. You cannot get a govt job if you are on a bail. 

Such sad turn of events these past weeks. 

Shocking how little this is spoken about. What will happen in Pakistan? Is a coup or military junta possible?

[Azeem]

If Queen of British Royal Family finishes eating then everyone in the gathering must stop eating. She puts her clutch on the table for everyone to know its about to finish.

[CaaC (John)+]

Quote

Were these ancient vessels actually ‘hand grenades’?

New analysis of ancient jars suggests use as explosive weapon.

A new analysis of residue in ancient ceramic vessels from 11^th and 12^th century Jerusalem has found that the jars may have had a more sinister purpose than storage.

Previous research into the iconic vessels, which are held in museums around the world, identified them as vessels for beer drinking, and containers for mercury, oil and medicines. The jars are easily identifiable, spherical in shape with conical bases, and have been found in all sorts of archaeological contexts throughout the Middle East between the 9^th and 15^th centuries.

But a new study, led by Carney Matheson, of Griffith University in Queensland, has found that while some of the vessels were indeed used for these purposes, others contained a flammable and likely explosive material, suggesting they may have been used as a kind of crude hand grenade – an explanation supported by evidence from ancient texts. The sherds studied were excavated from the Armenian Garden in Jerusalem in the 1960s, and analysed for trace residue to determine their contents.

“These vessels have been reported during the time of the Crusades as grenades thrown against Crusader strongholds, producing loud noises and bright flashes of light,” says Matheson. 

The Crusades (1095-1291), were a series of violent religious wars initiated by the Latin Church during the Medieval period, culminating most famously in the attempted seizure of Jerusalem from Islamic rule. Jerusalem’s inhabitants, it seems, found ingenious ways to fight back.

So, what were these ancient grenades made from?

“Some researchers had proposed the vessels were used as grenades and held black powder, an explosive invented in ancient China and known to have been introduced into the Middle East and Europe by the 13th century,” Matheson says. “It has been proposed that black powder may have been introduced to the Middle East earlier, as early as these vessels from the 9^th to 11^th century.”  

But the new study rules out black powder: “This research has shown that it is not black powder and likely a locally invented explosive material.” 

The research also found that some of the vessels had been sealed with a resin.

“More research on these vessels and their explosive content will allow us to understand ancient explosive technology of the medieval period, and the history of explosive weapons in the Eastern Mediterranean,” says Matheson. 

https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/ancient-vessels-hand-grenades/

 

[Bluewolf]

1900 Brothel Candles - those were popular in European brothels between 1880 and 1905 - used as a timer, once the wax is consumed, the session ends.

Those candles look a tad thin.... They look like them little birthday cake candles which would be no good for me obviously as I would need those huge big ones you get in Church