Strange... Unusual... And Interesting Facts...

[dopieopie]

The dot over a “j” or an “i” is called a “tittle.”

It is almost impossible to hum while holding your nose

The nursery rhyme humpty dumpty never once mentions the title character as being an egg, even though he is depicted as one.

 

[daizeUK]

The nursery rhyme humpty dumpty never once mentions the title character as being an egg, even though he is depicted as one.

I think that's because the nursery rhyme originated from a riddle. There were lots of old English riddles in this format, for example,
Hickamore, Hackamore on the King's Kitchen door;
All the King's horses and all the King's men,
Couldn't drive Hickamore, Hackamore,
Off the King's kitchen door!

This is a riddle from Beatrix Potter's Squirrel Nutkin, published in 1903. Humpty Dumpty also appears in the same story:
Humpty Dumpty lies in the beck,
With a white counterpane round his neck,
Forty doctors and forty wrights,
Cannot put Humpty Dumpty to rights!

The riddles are probably a lot older than this book but they're the oldest examples I have to hand.

 

[daizeUK]

I have my suspicions that Hickory Dickory Dock also had its origins in a riddle but I haven't found any evidence for it.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

The nursery rhyme humpty dumpty never once mentions the title character as being an egg, even though he is depicted as one.

 
 
I like this one.... Something I have never even given a thought....

*  Colgate faced a big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command “go hang yourself.”
 
(I know the one below is disputed.... but... why spoil a good story with facts)....
 
*  If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.

 

[daizeUK]

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

I've heard a story about a business proposal that failed after the English described themselves as a "can-do company" to a Korean audience. The Koreans fell about laughing. Apparently "can-do" sounds like something rather rude in Korean.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

did you know during the rainy season the amazon river can reach 190km in width. (that is about 115 miles)....

 

[the_lock_man]

did you know during the rainy season the amazon river can reach 190km in width. (that is about 115 miles)....

 
Don't tell that to the people in Somerset UK, they probably won't appreciate it.

 

[Tongue_Flicker]

I would take issue with the Bluetooth one - it was invented by Ericsson, AIUI.
 
It was called Bluetooth by an Intel engineer, who was reading a novel about the Vikings, and in particular King Harald Bluetooth, who united all the various Danish, Swedish and Norwegian viking tribes, as Bluetooth was supposedly invented to provide a single wireless communication protocol.
 
THe Bluetooth logo is an amalgamation of the Norse runes for the letters H and B - after Harald Bluetooth.
 
EDIT
 
Did a bit of digging. My assertion is correct, Bluetooth was indeed invented by Ericsson.
 
HOWEVER
 
Austrian actress Hedy Lemarr did come up with the concept of spread-spectrum transmission, aka "Channel Hopping", transmitting radio signals at a frequency which changed throughout the transmission. If you varied the frequency, anyone trying to intercept or jam the transmission would not know what frequency to target their efforts at.
 
She came up with the idea in the 1940s, but it was ignored until the late 50s, early 60s. The principle underpins virtually all secure radio transmissions today, including Bluetooth, as well as cellphones and Wifi.

So that while browsing thru facebook haha thanks for elaborating

Thanks guys for the response.... I was hoping to get another fact for tomorrow morning.... Actually... I got enough material here to keep me posting for the next 2 months!!!,,, Thanks, but... keep them rolling... I like to learn new things every day!!!

Now you have a suppy lol

Here's a gem from the QI twitter feed today:Most primates host 1 kind of louse, gibbons and orangutans have none, but humans have 3; head, clothing and pubic lice.

So gibbons and orangutans don't have lice at all? (Hmm..lol)

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You can not keep your eyes open when you sneeze.
 
A snail can sleep for three years.
 
Turtles can breathe through their butts.
 
Male and female rats may have sex twenty times a day.
 
The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500.00 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.

 

 

[sawickib]

Wow, that was pretty funny not gonna lie TTA

 

[TwoTankAmin]

well to clarify the turtle part:
 
"Turtles have a single rear vent that is referred to as a cloaca.  Feces, urine, and eggs all exit a turtle through this cloaca, so not surprisingly it is quite elastic and the opening can stretch considerably. In a small number of water turtles, the cloaca also possesses a pair of well-developed, vascularized sacs that lead off it called bursae.  These cloacal bursae are surrounded by the same thin membrane as the rest of the cloaca.  Gas exchange can occur across this membrane when a turtle is submerged and allow some oxygen to reach the blood.
In most species this makes a minor contribution to respiration. However, one species of turtle from Australia has taken this to extremes. The Fitzroy River turtle (Rheodytes leukops) can pump water in and out of its cloacal bursae such that it can obtain as much as two-thirds of its oxygen supply through this route. [Source: Aquatic respiration and diving in the freshwater turtle, Rheodytes leukops by Craig E. Franklin. Proc. Physiol. Soc.]"
 
from http/www.tortoise.org/general/wildfaqs.html
 

 

[the_lock_man]

 
The Chico, California, City Council enacted a ban on nuclear weapons, setting a $500.00 fine for anyone detonating one within city limits.

 

 

 
Only in California........

 

[fluttermoth]

Love the turtle facts, TTA
 
I found out the other day, thanks to QI, that kingfishers aren't blue 

 
They just look blue because of the way their feathers refract light (some butterflies wings do this too).Their feathers are actually pigmented brown!
 
I love the one about statue of horses; shame it's not true; it should be true, like Father Christmas being a Lappish shaman.

 

[the_lock_man]

 
 
I found out the other day, thanks to QI, that kingfishers aren't blue 

 
They just look blue because of the way their feathers refract light (some butterflies wings do this too).Their feathers are actually pigmented brown!
 

 
Similarly, polar bears are not white. Their outer fur has no pigmentation at all, however it reflects light across the spectrum, and thus appears white.

 

[Ludwig Venter]

 

 
 
I found out the other day, thanks to QI, that kingfishers aren't blue 

 
They just look blue because of the way their feathers refract light (some butterflies wings do this too).Their feathers are actually pigmented brown!
 

 
Similarly, polar bears are not white. Their outer fur has no pigmentation at all, however it reflects light across the spectrum, and thus appears white.
 

And... I did read somewhere that the skin of a tiger is also striped... not only the fur??,,,,,