The Thread for Useless, but Interesting Facts

[Azeem]

The black cube in Mecca was rectangular originally. It was made rectangular again briefly but reverted to cubical again, a small arc infront of one wall indicates the original length. The black covering was adopted by Abbasid Empire since their flag was black, before that it varied according to season.

[Azeem]

Romans used human and animal urine as mouth wash for teeth whitening because it contains ammonia – a whitening agent. It was so popular that Nero imposed a tax on it. 

[Stan]

30 minutes ago, Beelzebub said:

Romans used human and animal urine as mouth wash for teeth whitening because it contains ammonia – a whitening agent. It was so popular that Nero imposed a tax on it. 

are you taking the piss?

[Azeem]

Cook pines leane eight degrees towards the equator no matter where they are planted.

[nudge]

3 minutes ago, Beelzebub said:

Cook pines leane eight degrees towards the equator no matter where they are planted.

that's not quite true - they lean eight degrees towards the equator on average. In fact, the further from the equator they are planted, the more they tilt. 

Also, that picture is from Sri Lanka, I've visited that Botanical Park earlier this year  

[Bluewolf]

On 12/10/2022 at 09:30, Stan said:

are you taking the piss?

Nope... True story

History Behind Romans Using Urine As A Mouthwash Will Amaze You (youngisthan.in)

[Tommy]

27 minutes ago, Bluewolf said:

Nope... True story

History Behind Romans Using Urine As A Mouthwash Will Amaze You (youngisthan.in)

[Bluewolf]

2 minutes ago, Tommy said:

You do me a disservice if you don't think I wasn't aware of his attempted humour... A little history lesson never hurt anyone.. 

[Azeem]

Ashoka the Great was an Emperor of ancient India. He converted to Buddhism after the battle of kalinga where he saw million dead on the battlefield and vowed to promote peace and live a mystic lifestyle. The symbol of Indian government – three head lion – was adopted by him.

[Azeem]

A suspension bridge on river bure in England collapsed in 1845 because a crowd gathered to watch a clown in a bathtub being pushed by four gooses, 79 people died.

[Azeem]

contronyms are words that have two meanings which contradict each other

sanction - to approve something, to disapprove/stop

discursive - to move away from the main subject, to be right on subject

[Azeem]

In 2017 daughter of convicted Pakistani PM submitted 2006 documents showing money trail of her property in London in court, but the font used in the documents was Calibiri which was not commercially available until 2007. She is also now on bail and in London. Sad

[Bluewolf]

[Azeem]

Mansa Musa, the King of ancient Empire of Mali is believed to be the richest man in history. He was very well known for his philanthropy. 

 

 

[Azeem]

Google Genie feral child case study. Shit

[Spike]

On 18/10/2022 at 09:42, Beelzebub said:

Mansa Musa, the King of ancient Empire of Mali is believed to be the richest man in history. He was very well known for his philanthropy. 

 

 

He is a very interesting character of history. Some historians think he wasn’t actually being ‘philanthropic’ but intentionally malicious towards the other Islamic lords. He’d give away so much gold on his hajjs that it would debase the currency to the point of sever inflation, that is how much gold he was pumping into these little feudal states. They think he was just trying to domineer the other lords with his wealth and ‘generosity’, posturing his kingdom as the most powerful in the world. But that is only a speculative idea of something over 700 years ago.

[Azeem]

In contrary to so many poems written about nightingale, the females actually are mute and only the males sing.

[Tommy]

2 hours ago, Beelzebub said:

In contrary to so many poems written about nightingale, the females actually are mute and only the males sing.

Very common in bird world. It's usually the males that look or sound fancy, to attract a female partner. 

[Azeem]

18 minutes ago, Tommy said:

Very common in bird world. It's usually the males that look or sound fancy, to attract a female partner. 

Same with humans but someone invented makeup.

[Tommy]

1 minute ago, Beelzebub said:

Same with humans but someone invented makeup.

Eh, to each their own, but I think women are a lot more pleasant to look at. Even without makeup (in some cases. )

 

[Azeem]

In terms of geology mountains that emerge at the same time in history are considered as the same family. A mountain range in South America can have a family member mountain range in China.

[Azeem]

Blanche Monnier was a French woman from an aristocratic family. She wanted to marry a lawyer but her mother refused, and locked her up in an attic for 26 years where she didn't even saw sunlight. She was rescued in 1901 and died in 1913. 

Google her images if you like.

[Azeem]

55% of cows chew counter clockwise

[Bluewolf]

[Azeem]

Capitonym are words that change meaning when capitalised 

polish - Polish

bill - Bill

march - March