Useless Facts

[Ballom Nom Nom]

-There is a correlation between creativity and disorders.

Proof please. Further, I'd like to hear what you mean by "disorder"; at this point, I can only guess that you don't mean cystic fibrosis or diabetes, but I can't be sure.As for my own fact: Though Merriam-Webster dates the term to 1983, the US Supreme Court used the phrase "politically correct" in

Chisholm v. Georgia during 1793

~ BioGio

Specifically Schizophrenia and Bi-polar, though it probably extends to more things.Though to clarify, I was using the word "disorder" for means of communication. I of all people should have known better, considering I am one of the many with a "disorder", even though I do not consider them "disorders" especially since one of them gives me euphoria, and I wouldn't want to give that up, ever.

It makes a fair bit of sense that bipolar disorder may be associated with more creativity, given that during the periods of mania the people with the disorder would be able to possibly be more creative, using the different, elevated mood.~B~

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

More people live in the smallest U.S. state (Rhode Island) than in the largest state (Alaska).

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

It makes a fair bit of sense that bipolar disorder may be associated with more creativity, given that during the periods of mania the people with the disorder would be able to possibly be more creative, using the different, elevated mood.~B~

I may not have mania, but I do have Euphoria, and I can say that yes, you become much more creative amoung other things, it's wonderful.Anyway, back to random facts.-In the US, it is legal for civilians to own a tank. I am not kidding, here is a website where they can be bought or rented.-Plato was a professional wrestler before he was a philosopher, his name literally means "broad shoulders".-This guy lived.-There was an Ethiopian woman who lived about 150,000 years ago whom everyone on Earth is related to.-After 10 years, all the cells in your body are different then the ones you had 10 years ago.-Centralia Pennsylvania was abandoned in 1962 due to a mine fire. It still burns to this day and appearently has enough fuel to keep burning for 250 more years.-The area around Chernobyl reactor site 4 is safer then the forests around Pripyat (in terms of radiation levels).**This was based on someone who mentioned it, though I don't know if it is 100% true. Though I think said person actually paid the place a visit.

[CHTrilogy]

Point to consider: Moonraker was released two years before NASA's Space Shuttle first flew - and the Space Shuttle itself actually appeared in that film as it does in real life! Under the circumstances, they had to make the launch by means of special effects.

[WVUFan!]

Space Jam is the highest grossing basketball movie of all time.Lets Go Mountaineers!

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

Now for some War trivia.-There was a British officer in WWII named "Mad Jack" Churchill (no relation to Winston) who never used a gun in battle, instead he used a Claymore sword and occasionally would use a bow and arrow, I also hear that he would charge into battle playing the bagpipes.-Makeshift shotguns were used during the American Revolution by colonist rebels against the British in ship-to-ship gunfights.-The American Civil war was America's most costly war with about 610,000 plus dead. For comparison the Vietnam war took about 50,000 American lives over the course of ten years, the Battle Of Gettysburg took 53,000 lives in three days.Now for normal trivia.-A scientist once tried to see how much the human soul weighs, his conclusion? It apparently weighs 21.3 grams.-The Universe is beige in color.-Rene Descartes believed that the soul was located in the Pineal Gland of the brain.-Science is dependent on conflict and problems to develop.

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

Peter Cullen, who voices Optimus Prime in numerous works of Transformers fiction, also voiced Eyore in Whinnie The Poo.

[Sybre]

Peter Cullen, who voices Optimus Prime in numerous works of Transformers fiction, also voiced Eyore in Whinnie The Poo.

Heh! Don't you mean "Pooh"?

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Jack Churchill is particularly notable for being the only British soldier in World War II to kill an enemy officer with a longbow, and for his escape from a concentration camp (he was recaptured, sent to a different one, and then got out again).

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

Peter Cullen, who voices Optimus Prime in numerous works of Transformers fiction, also voiced Eyore in Whinnie The Poo.

Heh! Don't you mean "Pooh"?

Oops! Yes, I did mean "Pooh." Edited June 4, 2012 by Zyke the destroyer

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

-Whenever you look up at the night sky, you are gazing varying amounts of time into the past. When applied to things you can see, the shortest is the moon, which you are seeing it as it was 1.3 seconds ago. The longest is Andromeda which you are seeing it as it was 2 million years ago.-When you take the above fact and apply it to all objects in the universe, the furthest location viewed is the Hubble Ultra Deep field (GRB 090423 is the furthest observed object), it is over 13 billion light years away, meaning when we look at it we are actually looking at the universe when it was not even 1 billion years old.-Time is relative, the more you move, the more you are in the past, the less you move, the more you are into the future, though the time is negligible from our perspectives.-The saying "The star that shines twice as brights, lasts only half as long" has some realism to it, the brighter and bigger the star is, the faster it will die and the shorter it will live.-The laws of physics prove that it is scientifically impossible to get out of an event horizon, though from the perspective of someone observing you falling in, you only look to be going slower, and then stop, even though you are long gone.-Quantum suicide states that in any situation where you would have normally died, your conscious "jumps" to another parallel universe where everything is the same except you lived, assuming there was a chance for survival. Though this is a theory.-Contrary to what art or pop culture would tell you, angels do not look like humans with wings, the highest choir includes a burning entity that cannot be looked at (or you will be set on fire) with 6 wings, a biped with 2-4 faces (human, eagle, lion and ox respectively) 4 wings covered in eyes with dropped arms and feet of an ox, along with hundreds of arms coming out of the bottom of the wings, and the last, which is 2 interlocking wheels littered with hundreds of eyes on the rims.-Your brain will make up memories to fill in memory gaps. It was proven in an experiment too.-The Milgram experiment was made to try an explain why the germans did the Holocaust, with the hypothesis being that germans were merely submissive. Originally he was to do the experiment in American and then move to Germany for a comparison. The conclusion? If a guy with authority (in this case a scientist in a lab coat) tells people to do something, then they will do it. Even if the request is to likely kill someone else and you are fully aware that your action will kill someone else, most did the action anyway. What made it worse? Those people could have left the experiment whenever they wanted.

Edited June 4, 2012 by Proud Stigma

[Ballom Nom Nom]

-The American Civil war was America's most costly war with about 610,000 plus dead. For comparison the Vietnam war took about 50,000 American lives over the course of ten years, the Battle Of Gettysburg took 53,000 lives in three days.

Tends to work that way when the deaths of both sides count against you.Also, how does a description of a religion's conception of angels count as trivia or a fact?~B~

[Canama]

-The American Civil war was America's most costly war with about 610,000 plus dead. For comparison the Vietnam war took about 50,000 American lives over the course of ten years, the Battle Of Gettysburg took 53,000 lives in three days.

That's really not surprising when you consider that both sides were America.-Canama

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

It's kind of like how playing Russian Roulette against yourself is pretty much guaranteed to end poorly.

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

@ Civil War commentary, I am very aware, but the number is still staggering. For another fun fact, the bloodiest single day (as well as the bloodiest day in American history), was September 17, 1862, which was the battle of Antitam (with about 24,000 dead).-The American Civil war was America's most costly war with about 610,000 plus dead. For comparison the Vietnam war took about 50,000 American lives over the course of ten years, the Battle Of Gettysburg took 53,000 lives in three days.

Tends to work that way when the deaths of both sides count against you.Also, how does a description of a religion's conception of angels count as trivia or a fact?~B~

I was stating that angels are commonly depicted one way, when the scripture they base them off of says they look totally different. Along with some examples. Edited June 4, 2012 by Proud Stigma

[Zulu Yankee Kilo Echo]

Another Civil War fact:Ulysses S. Grant's original name was Hyrum Ulysses Grant. It was changed by an error, but the name stuck.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

I was stating that angels are commonly depicted one way, when the scripture they base them off of says they look totally different. Along with some examples.

Thats fairly common really. Pop culture gets a hold of something and we forget the original. For example if I told you to picture a Gorgon you'd imagine a woman with a snake tail from the waist down, perhaps a bit good looking despite the snakey hair and possible green tinge to her skin, right? Basically human head and torso, everything else monstery.Original despitions are sort of the other way round. Legs, arms, torso, they're all normal human. Its the face that grotesque and twisted, with boar's tusks and a lolling tongue along with the snakes. They also had wings. The beautiful face thing I believe comes from the Renaissance, where Medusa was interpreted (quite right, IMO) as a tragic figure, so she was given beauty to accompany it, make her more sympathetic. The tail instead of legs I think comes from Harryhausen and his depiction of Medusa in Clash of the Titans

[BZCoolness]

There is a number out there that is supposedly too big for the known universe to contain. I don't know what it's called, but apparently it exists.

[CHTrilogy]

Would it be... pi?

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

I think it's actually googolplex. Pi is really small actually, it's just three with a teeny bit more.There is no ethnic majority in Hawaii.

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

Nope, not googleplex, the number he/she refers to is much larger, it is called Graham's Number and it is that largest number used in an equation. It is so large that it cannot be written down (even in notation form). It is described as unimaginably larger then both google and googleplex.

[Haecceity]

A sacrifice to elves was once believed to heal battle wounds.Aether, the son of Nyx and Erebus, is also the substance Greek gods were said to live in and breathe.

Edited June 6, 2012 by Temporphilic

[Miku Hatsune]

We dont really see things, we see the light that reflects off of them.

[The Lorax]

The world's longest (one-word) place name and the world's worst (according to a recent survey) placename are both to be found in the North Island of New Zealand, little over an hour's drive from one another.The longest is Taumata­whakatangihanga­koauau­o­tamatea­turi­pukakapiki­maunga­horo­nuku­pokai­whenua­kitanatahu (the locals just call it Taumata).The worst is Whakapapa (the wh is pronounced like an f).

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

-James Dean's porsche is said to be cursed. After having brought odd misfortune to those who had anything to do with it.-The difference between Eternity and Infinity/Forever is that Eternity has no starting point.-The Sun's Corona is hotter then the surface of Sol itself.-Bosby's Chair seems to have brought a mysterious death to anyone who sat in it.-Surviving the death penalty in the US means that you can go free.-A common form of the death penalty in the US is lethal injection, but there is a case where the charged person survived it.

[Alex Humva]

-Surviving the death penalty in the US means that you can go free.

Huh. I was of the understanding that if by some chance you survive, they try again, not that murderers and ###### go free.

[Havelock Vetinari]

-Surviving the death penalty in the US means that you can go free.

Huh. I was of the understanding that if by some chance you survive, they try again, not that murderers and ###### go free.

You are quite right. I've read of numerous cases where that very thing happened and. *ahem* they tried again. They rarely had to try a third time.Stigma's wrong on this one I'm afraid.

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

-Surviving the death penalty in the US means that you can go free.

Huh. I was of the understanding that if by some chance you survive, they try again, not that murderers and ###### go free.

You are quite right. I've read of numerous cases where that very thing happened and. *ahem* they tried again. They rarely had to try a third time.Stigma's wrong on this one I'm afraid.

I was basing it more in that individual who survived the lethal injection (he is still alive), however it is against the law to be tried for the same crime twice. Specifically if I murder person A then I get tried and say I get the lethal injection and happen to live. I cannot be tried again for murdering person A, on the other hand, if I murder someone else then I can be tried again.Also, after looking it up, attempting to kill them again is unconstitutional.

The only similar case in modern times, Mr. Dieter said, occurred in Louisiana in 1946, when electric shock failed to kill a convicted murderer, Willie Francis. He was electrocuted the next year, after the United States Supreme Court ruled that executing a prisoner in the wake of a failed first attempt was constitutional.

Source: http://thepowerelite.blogspot.com/2009/09/lethal-injections-first-survivor.html Edited June 29, 2012 by Proud Stigma

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

You don't need another trial for them to try again on carrying out the sentence. You've already been found guilty, the sentence just didn't quite go right.The one way you can get out of it is if the failure of the execution is counted as cruel and unusual punishment.

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

I heard the the guy who did not die said, despite what was previously thought, it was quite a painful experience. Though I am not sure, having been the only survivor, no one could really argue with him whether he was lying or not. Assuming I was even correct in the first place and even said anything.

Edited June 29, 2012 by Proud Stigma

[~Shockwave~]

a mole of doller bills would go from the earth to pluto nine times.i have more when i think of themand i'm pretty sure that if your found guilty. you get to die. if it doesn't work the first time, your life really sucks

Edited June 29, 2012 by Wheeljack

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

There WAS a rule in some parts of the Old West at some points in time that if a man survived three attempts at hanging, his sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

[~Shockwave~]

how do you survive a hanging?

[HeavyMetalSunshineSister]

Well, the rope could break, the rope could just fail to break your neck (though usually that would result in you just dying of strangulation instead) or I guess the people watching could get bored before you finish suffocating.

[~Shockwave~]

but three times?

[The Lord Of Wednesday]

-There is a house in America called the Whaley House, it is regarded as one of the most, if not the most, haunted houses in America.-How does that relate to the above discussion? It does not have to, but it does, turns out there was a hanging there and the person hung set the record for longest time hung. They did not tie it right and he was hanging for an agonizing 45 minutes before finally dying. Specifically because he was tall and the gallows he hung from was built for average people (his toes were skinning the ground).

[-Toa Lhikevikk-]

The trapdoor failed the first two times, and the rope broke on the third try.

[Casus Belli]

-Fish can actually swim backwards, but they choose not to.-Audie Murphy is the single most decorated U.S. veteran from WWII.-It is said that Manfred von Richthofen (a.k.a the Red Baron), a highly acclaimed German pilot from WWI was given a burial with full military honors by his enemies out of sheer respect.

[Alex Humva]

-It is said that Manfred von Richthofen (a.k.a the Red Baron), a highly acclaimed German pilot from WWI was given a burial with full military honors by his enemies out of sheer respect.

Not just said, it was a confirmed fact. The man was a legend in his own country and in the enemy's. Really, you can't do much but respect a guy who took a very new technology, was barely out of his twenties, and shot down 88 planes with it, and then managed to have a good sense of humor afterwards.

[Wyrd Bid Ful Araed]

but three times?

The time I'm thinking of the trapdoor refused to open. They took him off the gibbet, tested the mechanism and it worked fine...but not when they tried it with the victim on it again. They tried a total of three times before decided "To heck with it, clearly God wants him to live"