Obscure facts ya know!

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11 Feb 2013, 11:02 am

in the army, there used to be E-9s that were not sergeants-major, but chief master specialists, whose rank insignia was an inverted NCO rocker/chevron combo-

this rank was discontinued in 1965, however. no soldier had achieved such a promotion, in any case.

equestriatola
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11 Feb 2013, 8:19 pm

Viagra was originally designed to treat hypertension and angina when its main side effect was discovered.

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14 Feb 2013, 10:40 pm

Shishka wrote:

Pirates wore an eyepatch so that when they went under the deck they could see in the dark by switching the patch to the other eye, allowing them to see with the eye that was already accustomed to the dark.

Utter balderdash!

Then why did they have peg legs, and hooks for hands?

Last edited by naturalplastic on 15 Feb 2013, 5:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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14 Feb 2013, 10:44 pm

equestriatola wrote:

Viagra was originally designed to treat hypertension and angina when its main side effect was discovered.

When you take the Miami boat tour around the island that has all of the tycoon celeb mansions the biggest water front property of all (that dwarfs that of Puff Daddy, Gloria Estafan, the former Al Capone mansion that was used the movie Scarface, and all the others) is that of the doctor who discovered viagra.

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18 Feb 2013, 9:16 pm

The Statue of Liberty was originally planned to be put in Egypt to celebrate the completion of the Suez Canal.

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20 Feb 2013, 3:47 am

The dot over the letter i is called a tittle.

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20 Feb 2013, 9:48 pm

denon produced the first digital audio recorder [tape deck], in 1967. it was a monophonic 12-bit machine which sampled at 30 kilocycles and used a compander to expand dynamic range. in 1972 the same firm produced the first 8-track DIGITAL multichannel mastering deck.

Last edited by auntblabby on 21 Feb 2013, 6:04 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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21 Feb 2013, 6:00 pm

^ On a related note, the multitrack was invented by Les Paul, the same man responsible for inventing the humbucker pickup and the "log" guitar which eventually became a world staple in music making.

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21 Feb 2013, 6:05 pm

redrobin62 wrote:

^ On a related note, the multitrack was invented by Les Paul, the same man responsible for inventing the humbucker pickup and the "log" guitar which eventually became a world staple in music making.

i corrected my mistaken omission, denon invented the first DIGITAL multitrack deck. not to diminish the greatness of the late great less paul. his invention was truly big- at a time when 78 rpm records were still on record store shelves next to the 45s and LPs, he was doing magic in the recording studio with just himself and his dupes.

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24 Apr 2013, 1:33 am

You know that round thing that tops a flagpole? That's called a truck.

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24 Apr 2013, 2:07 pm

auntblabby wrote:

the irish prophet/saint malachy predicted the lineage of popes and foresaw that after benedict, peter romanus would be the last pope, before the end of the world [as we know it].

Although it is interesting to note that the only "prophecies" which are clear and unambiguous relate to those Popes elected before the manuscript was "discovered"; later "predictions" require a great deal of handwaving and adjustment of data to be even vaguely applicable. The vast majority of scholars consider the work to be a forgery.

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24 Apr 2013, 2:17 pm

The pineapple is not related to either the pine or the apple, but is actually a cluster of berries that grows into one large, pulpy mass.

When European explorers discovered this tropical fruit in the Americas, they called them "pineapples" due to their apparent resemblance to the European pine cone.

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24 Apr 2013, 3:29 pm

CyborgUprising wrote:

HereBeDragons wrote:

Store bread often contains a chemical derived from duck feathers that helps make it fluffy.

Many cats have a second eyelid between the first and the eye itself.
like crap.

That chemical can also be derived from human hair, so on occasion, human hair is also used in bread-making.
My friend's cat's nictitating membrane has a strange mutation in which the edge is deformed and irregular.

Back to topic: The d20 icosahedron die existed in ancient Roman times and was used for divination and astrology, with symbols emblazoned on each face as opposed to numbers.

Falcons have a "3rd eyelid" which is actually a thin membrane to keep the air currents from damaging its eyes when it's swooping down.

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24 Apr 2013, 3:42 pm

Charlie Chaplin won third place in a Charlie Chaplin lookalike contest.

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24 Apr 2013, 6:47 pm

HereBeDragons wrote:

There are no words that ryme with silver, orange, or purple.

The following poem can be found somewhere on the Internet, or at least it could a few years ago.

Quote:

When I was a little boy,
My teacher told me this.
You could rhyme boy with toy,
And you could rhyme this with kiss.

There are four words, however,
That have no counterpart.
It stuck in my mind forever
That poets have failed in part.

One of those words is month;
Another of them is silver.
Yes, I tried it a hunth,
And almost had a chilver.

The third of those words is orange;
The fourth is the color purple.
Even when I grew a sporange,
I still could only hirple.

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24 Apr 2013, 6:49 pm

The top of the Empire State Building was designed to be a mooring mast for blimps.

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