Larian Studios Forums General Chat Chat (Anything) Probably useless but interesting/funny facts

Lobsters are scared of octopuses. The sight of one makes a lobster freeze.

When reflected from bright lights (head lights) deer's eyes are orange, whereas cats and dogs are green. Rabbits eyes remain black. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

Koala is Aboriginal for "no drink"

Relative to their weight and size, birds are stronger than people. Luckily, they don't tend to throw their weight around.

If you feed a seagull Alka-Seltzer, its stomach will explode.

A blue whale's tongue weighs more than an elephant.

Rattlesnakes gather in groups to sleep through the winter. Sometimes up to 1,000 of them will coil up together to keep warm.

More than one million stray dogs and over 500,000 stray cats live in the New York City metropolitan area.

Aye, that's what I ment. It needs to be on the ground for balance... to start. Later it's in the air. Again for balance.
That's why they have such a tail. (-and that's why elephants can't jump... becouse of their tiny tail. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> ... nah, just kidding <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />)

-A male emperor moth can smell a female emperor moth up to 7 miles away

-A millipede has 4 legs on each segment of it's body

-A 6 pound sea-hare can lay 40,000 eggs in a single minute

-A cat uses it's whiskers to determine if a space is to small to squeeze through

-A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body

-A cockroach can live several weeks with it's head cut off

The typical laboratory mouse runs 2.5 miles per night on its treadmill.

A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

The mouse is the most common mammal in the US.

The elephant is the largest animal on land. But it is much smaller than the blue whale.

Are elephants really scared of a mouse?
A mouse is so small compared to an elephant, that an elephant does not even know that there is a mouse close to it !!

The SIBERIAN TIGER is the largest cat in the world. It weighs up to 300kg (660 lbs) and can eat 27,2 kg (60 lb) of meat at one mealtime.

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

There's a good reason for that: they don't drink! The Koala's sole dietry intake is eucalyptus leaves. There's enough moisture in them to sustain the animal.

Kay - i suck, haven't had time to read all of these...

But...figured it fit...feel free to read at will...

Life in 1500's
The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:
Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.
Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water."
Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and off the roof. Hence the saying: "It's raining cats and dogs."
There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.
The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying "dirt poor."
The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on they added more thresh until when you opened the door it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a "thresh hold."
In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, "Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old."
Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and "chew the fat."
Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.
Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or "upper crust."
Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbribers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up Hence the custom of holding a "wake."
England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a "bone-house" and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the "graveyard shift") to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be "saved by the bell or was considered a "dead ringer." And that's the truth...
Now, whoever said that History was boring!!! Educate someone!

There are locusts that have an adult life span of only a few weeks or so, after
having lived in the ground as grubs for fifteen years.

Green tea has 50 percent more vitamin C than black tea.

Catherine II of Russia kept her wigmaker in an iron cage in her bedroom for more
than three years.

When a shrimp is first born, it is male, and it gradually evolves to female as it
matures.

In the history of the solar system, 30 billion comets have been lost or destroyed.
That amounts to only 30 percent of the estimated number that remain.

The average person takes 8,000 to 10,000 steps a day, according to the American
Podiatric Association.

Shan <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/alien.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" />

animal facts:

- a cockroach has 6 legs and 18 knees; it can hold its breath for 45 minutes (so flushing them in the toilet doesn't work <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/puppyeyes.gif" alt="" />) and can survive without his head for more than a week without his head before it dies of hunger.
- evolution is not perfect: a shark doesn't float, and it doesn't breath while immobile. (It makes it difficult to sleep <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/sleepey.gif" alt="" /> when you are a shark...)

- some starfishes can regenerate a whole body from just one arm.

- A fish specie counts only one male per "band"; when it dies, the alpha female completely transforms herself and physically becomes the male of the group.

- The human child is the most impotent baby of all the forms of life.

Hi, LaFille. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wave.gif" alt="" /> I like your avatar. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Facts. Facts. Facts and more facts. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons spin counter-clockwise north of the equator,
and clockwise south of the equator. This is known as the Coriolis Effect.

Ganymede, Jupiter's largest satellite, is actually larger than the planet Mercury.
It is 3,275 miles in diameter.

Bombyx mori, a silkworm moth, has been cultivated for so long that it can no
longer exist without human care. Because it has been domesticated, it has lost the
ability to fly.

The total water content of the oceans on Earth would take one million years to be
cycled through the atmosphere as part of the water cycle.

Shan <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/alien.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Welcome LaFilli! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

A single share of Coca-Cola stock, purchased in 1919, when the company went public, would have been worth $92,500 in 1997.

Americans consume 42 tons of Aspirin per day.

Carbonated soda water was invented in 1767 by Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen.

Coca-Cola was so named back in 1885 for its two medicinal ingredients: extract of coca leaves and kola nuts. As for how much cocaine was originally in the formula, it's hard to know.

During the Prohibition, at least 1565 Americans died from drinking bad liquor, hundreds were blinded, and many were killed in bootlegger wars. Federal agents and the Coast Guard made 75,000 arrests per year.

If you put a raisin in a glass of champagne, it will keep floating to the top and sinking to the bottom, over and over again.

In 1984, a Canadian farmer began renting out advertising space on his cows.

In 4000 BC Egypt, men and women wore glitter eye shadow made from the crushed shells of beetles. Men and women walked around topless, and marriages between brothers and sisters were not uncommon in the Royal families. Cleopatra was married to her older brother, until he drowned in the Nile. Then she married her 11-year-old younger brother.

In the 1700s, European women achieved a pale complexion by eating "Arsenic Complexion Wafers", which contained the actual poison.

Thanks Shan and HEF!


It's the same for chickens <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Facts:
- Most sheepdog breeds are big, white and have a long coat to be better accepted by sheeps: as they look (relatively <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />) like them, sheeps consider these dogs like ones of them.
(sheeps are sooooo intelligents! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/stupid.gif" alt="" />)
- "La fille" means "The girl" in french. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> A descriptive and anonymous enough nickname isn't it?
- An old Californian law that was never removed says you don't have the right to wear cowboy boots unless you own at least 8 cows.

Hello Lafille
Nice of you to jump in! Welcome on the forum!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/silly.gif" alt="" />

LaFille I can sense you will be a interesting person to join our little community

hmm yup so do I <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> but guess what I found on the Avatar page under Wizard portraits, Check this out

Anyway back on topic:
The word Lurker/Lurking that is used on most forums for ppl that read a lot of the posts but dont actually participate AFAIK ( <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> hey RAZE) comes from the fair land of Australia and is a combination of Lazy and Working I.E. Lorking, meaning to look like you are busy at work but are not actually doing anything <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

@ Mea -> Wonder where that one came from (avatar pic). <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


The armor of the armadillo is not as tough as it appears. It is very pliable,
much like a human fingernail.

The male fox will mate for life, and if the female dies, he remains single for the
rest of his life. However, if the male dies, the female will hook up with a new
mate.

The average speed of an avalanche is 22 miles per hour.

Canned herring were dubbed "sardines" because the canning process was first
developed in Sardinia, Italy.

Shan <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/alien.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Gorillas are monogamous, too. At least the adult females are. A troop of gorillas is led by an adult male, called a silverback, as the fur on his back turns silvery with maturity. The silverback has a harem of females and defends them against other males. Although he has multiple partners, the female gorilla mates only with him, until a younger, stronger gorilla comes along and takes over the family.

The word SILENT contains exactly the same letters as the word LISTEN.

Some Persian rugs may last as long as 500 years before wearing out.

The oyster is usually ambisexual. It begins life as a male, then becomes a female,
then changes back to being a male, then back to being female. It may go back and
forth many times.

Parrots, most famous of all talking birds, rarely acquire a vocabulary of more
than twenty words. However, Tymhoney Greys and African Greys have been known to
carry vocabularies in excess of 100 words.

A species of starfish known as the Linckia columbiae can reproduce its entire body
— that is, grow back completely — from a single severed pieces less than a
half-inch long.

Shan <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/alien.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Smart foxy <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

The Hundred Years War lasted for 116 years.
The highest consumption of Pizza occurs during Super Bowl week.
On average, Americans eat one hundred acres of pizza a day. This amounts to about three hundred fifty slices per second.

A person would have to drink more than 12 cups of hot cocoa to equal the amount of caffeine found in one cup of coffee. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />
Coffee beans were chewed for more than 400 years before the first cup of coffee was brewed. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />
Over the course of one year, a coffee tree only produces about 1.5 pounds of coffee. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/rolleyes.gif" alt="" />

Fact:
The US president doesn't know how to use binoculars:

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shame.gif" alt="" /> Ok, it's an old one... but a so good one <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />

At the begining of a Quebec movie called "Elvis Gratton 2", you can see Canada's ex-prime minister Jean Chretien wearing a military helmet upside down (he didn't know it) <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/ROFL.gif" alt="" />

Hey, LaFille, I love it. That is a great picture. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />


In 1850, Levi Strauss was paid $6.00 in gold dust for his first pair of jeans.

The word "curfew" is derived from an old French word that means "cover fire." In
Europe during the Middle Ages, a curfew was a metal cone or shield that was used
to put out the hearth fire in the evening. The word "curfew" came to mean the end
of the day's activities.

The bite of a leech is painless due to its own anaesthetic.

While the world was busy welcoming the arrival of the twentieth century on
December 31, 1900, a forceful gale on England's Salisbury Plain blew over one of
the ancient monumental stones at Stonehenge.

Wonder what pillar it was?



Shan <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/alien.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />