did you know?

some interesting facts

[JonB]

- It is impossible to lick your elbow.
- A crocodile can't stick it's tongue out.
- A shrimp's heart is in their head.
- People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.
- In a study of 200,000 ostriches over a period of 80 years, no one reported a single case where an ostrich buried its head in the sand.
- It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
- A pregnant goldfish is called a twit.
- Between 1937 and 1945 Heinz produced a version of Alphabetic Spaghetti especially for the German market that consisted solely of little pasta swastikas.
- In average, a human being will have sex more than 3,000 times and spend two weeks kissing in their lifetime.
- More than 50% of the people in the world have never made or received a telephone call.
- Rats and horses can't vomit.
- The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
- If you sneeze too hard, you can fracture a rib. If you try to suppress a sneeze, you can rupture a blood vessel in your head or neck and die. If you keep your eyes open by force, they can pop out.
- Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
- Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.
- If the government has no knowledge of aliens, then why does Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations, implemented on July 16, 1969, make it illegal for U.S. citizens to have any contact with extraterrestrials or their vehicles?
- In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
- The cigarette lighter was invented before the match.
- Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
- A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.
- 23% of all photocopier faults worldwide are caused by people sitting on them and photocopying their buttocks.
- In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders.
- Most lipstick contains fish scales.
- Cat's urine glows under a black-light.
- Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different.
- Over 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

i was msotly "scared" by that sneezing thing (i'll never hold back again) and yes, i fall into that 75% of people on the last fact(i tried to do it right after reading that sentence and they are right.I think Gene Simmons would be exception) :)

[mack]

Can't quite reach :)

[Marketing Guy]

<arrives back from the photocopier room>

Does anyone know how to fix a photocopier?

Scott :)

[JonB]

there is anotehr interesting fact about (tip of the )elbow -they have no or number "pain feeling" (sorry dont know the word) - you can squeeze as much as you like (try with tip of your thumb and showing finger) and you will not feel pain.Even if you use nails with those 2 finger you will not feel pain,at least if you dont go too deep :)

[edited by: JonB at 6:42 pm (utc) on Mar. 4, 2003]

[rcjordan]

I started early, this 3000 doesn't have any sort of a cap, does it?

[diddlydazz]

lol @ rcjordan

nice post Jonb, i needed something a bit light-hearted today ;o)

Dazz

p.s by the way, the saying "bless you" comes from the time of the plague as sneezing was the first sign (or so i learned).

[Key_Master]

I guess I'm a freak. Thanks to a long tongue and ambidextrous joints, I am able to lick my elbow.

Which is probably why I have the same concern rcjordan does...

[mivox]

re: "bless you" - I heard it was because people once believed your soul left your body for a moment when you sneezed, and you needed to be protected from demonic possession until you inhaled again.

I always thought "gesundheit" was a better thing to say... I'd rather get well soon when I sneeze than worry about demonic possession. ;)

[diddlydazz]

yeah, demonic possession can be a bit of a bind ;o)

key_master - you got me at it now :o)

nope cant do it, are you sure you haven't had too much coffee? ;o)

Dazz

[react]

Just to be a spoilsport... a duck's quack does echo, it's been proven many times.

Do a Google :D

[Key_Master]

Hey, I'm not the only freak. ;)

[storymall.com...]

[Macguru]

I can lick both of my elbows. The funny part is I believe it's the first time I ever try this. And did not notice anything about a gender change. (for now)

Who came up with this weird idea?

[SlyGuy]

I can lick both of my elbows.

At the same time..?

- Chad

[Macguru]

No, one at a time. But hey! What the big hurry? ;)

(by the way, they taste funny.)

[diddlydazz]

<-- (by the way, they taste funny.)

lol

dont do it then!

:o)

Dazz

[miles]

(tip of the )elbow is called the noope.

[JudgeJeffries]

I can lick my eyebrows and you can all stop worrying the 3,000 isn't a maximum ;)

[stickledene]

>People say "Bless you" when you sneeze because when you sneeze, your heart stops for a millisecond.

The reason behind people sneezing is to do with plague as people here havea already mentioned.

This page [straightdope.com] gives examples of common myths about sneezing and a detailed explanation as to why we do, in fact, say God Bless you.

However, I don't see why all the other easons listed above aren't perfectly legitimate reasons. Whenever I sneeze, and someone say's bless you, it lets me know that person cares!

My 2p. Crackin post tho! 3,000 times. I'm only 21! Heh... excellent

Sticky

[gsx]

"Bless you", different again, but I thought it was the thought that a demon had escaped from within and other people said "Bless you" for religious cleanliness reasons?

[ade_uk]

re: gender change from being able to lick ur elbows...

in a months time we'll know! will u be sueing?

[chiyo]

>>- In the course of an average lifetime you will, while sleeping, eat 70 assorted insects and 10 spiders.<<

In some parts of my world you can multiply that by thousands and change "while sleeping" to "while fully awake". Mainly fried, sometimes grilled, rarely raw.

[Hawkgirl]

I had heard that sneezing one (if you sneeze with your eyes open you can pop 'em out) ...

I did several experiments last year on one of my employees and he successfully sneezed with his eyes open and his eyes remained firmly lodged in his head.

(Imagine the worker's comp claim on that one, had his eyes flown out of his head ...)

[Mike12345]

can anyone suck their own...... toe?

[mivox]

I've seen a great many infants do that... but once you're old enough to wear shoes all day, who would want to?

[stickledene]

Just thought I'd add some more "interesting" facts:

Ethernet is a registered trademark of Xerox, Unix is a registered trademark of AT&T.

Every year about 98% of atoms in your body are replaced.

A ball of glass will bounce higher than a ball of rubber. A ball of solid steel will bounce higher than one made entirely of glass.

A man was arrested and charged with the robbery—of vending machines. The man posted bail, entirely in quarters.

Golf was banned in England in 1457 because it was considered a distraction from the serious pursuit of archery.

In July 1934 Babe Ruth paid a fan $20 dollars for the return of the baseball he hit for his 700th career home run.

Caligynephobia is a fear of beautiful women. (makes it easier to get to that 3000 i spose *ahem*)

Colgate faced a big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command "go hang yourself."

MAFIA is an acronym for Morte Alla Francia Italia Anela, or "Death to the French is Italy's Cry"

The slash character is called a virgule, or solidus. A URL uses slash characters, not back slash characters.

Hydroxydesoxycorticosterone and hydroxydeoxycorticosterones are the largest anagrams

The Bible is the number one shoplifted book in America.

Every citizen of Kentucky is required by law to take a bath at least once a year.

and finally...

In Saudi Arabia, a woman reportedly may divorce her husband if he does not keep her supplied with coffee. (she should marry a web master then hehe)

Hehe hope you enjoyed them. Can you tell I'm a bit bored this morning?

Sticky

[JonB]

wouldnt the ball of glass break when trying to bounce?

[victor]

More interesting "facts"

Seagate is the only hard disk manufacturer whose disks spin anti-clockwise.

Rhinos have no sense of smell.

Leonardo da Vinci's sketch for a traffic light has the green at the top.

Weight-for-weight, marsupials can run faster than mammals.

Before it's heated in the printer, black laser printer toner is actually dark blue when looked at under a microscope.

Microsoft has only two profitable divisions: Operating systems, and Office: the rest lose money.

There are no roads in the City of London.

There have been twice as many vice-presidents of the USA as presidents.

MIT computer simulations prove that humans would have better balance if the big toe was on the outside of the foot.

In the first draft of Monty Python's infamous "spam" sketch, the cafe was serving excessive portions of sauerkraut.

Frogs are allegic to white bread.

Polar bears have the most efficient sweat glands of any mammal.

Technically, none of Henry VIII of England's marriages was legal, so we should refer to his "six concubines".

Okay, I admit it. Only two of the above are true. I made the rest up.

I though it'd be more of a challenge to work out which two.

[WibbleWobble]

# Microsoft has only two profitable divisions: Operating systems, and Office: the rest lose money.
# In the first draft of Monty Python's infamous "spam" sketch, the cafe was serving excessive portions of sauerkraut.

My guesses on the true ones :\

[weisinator]

Before it's heated in the printer, black laser printer toner is actually dark blue when looked at under a microscope.

Microsoft has only two profitable divisions: Operating systems, and Office: the rest lose money

My vote for two true points.

[victor]

It's always possible that I've accidentally created a true fact, or that I'm wrong in the ones I think are true.

But, given that, then here's a clue: good guesses guys! You've both got one right!