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

I see.

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

A Dutch court ruled that a bank robber could deduct the 2,000 Euros he paid for his pistol from the 6,600 Euros he has to return to the bank he robbed.

For every person on earth, there are an estimated 200 million insects.

A ten year old mattress weighs double what it did when it was new, because of the
-ahem- debris which is absorbed through the years. That debris includes dust mites
(their droppings and their decaying bodies), mold, millions of dead skin cells,
dandruff, animal and human hair, secretions, excretions, lint, pollen, dust, soil,
sand and a lot of perspiration, of which the average person loses a quart per day.
Good night!

In 2004, Virgin Atlantic Airlines introduced a double bed for first class
passengers who fly together.

A British gymnast survived a fall from a fourth story window because he went into
a somersault and came down on two feet.

A Boeing 767 airliner is made of 3,100,000 separate parts.

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

Yuck Shan! I guess I will be buying a new mattress today!

A cat sleeps an average of 12 hours a day, a dog sleeps about 10.5 hours a day and - just in case you have an exotic pet such as a giraffe - you better take some time off from work because your giraffe is only sleeping about 2 hours a day.

Charles Dickens was an insomniac, who believed his best chance of sleeping was in the center of a bed facing directly north.

The phrase "sleep tight" originated when mattresses were set upon ropes woven through the bed frame. To remedy sagging ropes, one would use a bed key to tighten the rope.

You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching TV.

Lady Sarah, I thought the exact same thing when I read it too. That is a very
scary thought. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />


The original chocolate chip cookie, the Toll House Cookie, was invented by Ruth
Graves Wakefield in the 1930s.

In rural homes in the 19th century, apple and other fruit pie was often a common
item served for breakfast, considered a good hearty beginning for a hard day's
work.

In total there have been 37 different animals since 1902. The current crackers
are tiger, cougar, camel, rhinoceros, kangaroo, hippopotamus, bison, lion, hyena,
zebra, elephant, sheep, bear, gorilla, monkey, seal and giraffe.

The potato, which originated in Peru, took a long journey to reach North America.
The Spaniards took it back to Spain in the 16th century; from there it made its
way to Italy and northern Europe, then to Bermuda and the Virginia colonies of
North America.

Up until the late 18th century, the French believed that potatoes caused leprosy.

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

The potatoe came into Germany through a King of Preußen (the country around Berlin was then Preußen), but I don't remember which one.

He tried to let the potatoe be planted, but the people didn't see the "hidden treasure" and tried to at the fruits I suppose - which are of course poisenous (as far as I've heard, never tried it myself <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> ) .

So the potatoe had a difficult time until it was fully accepted. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

I once heard an intersting theory that the potatoe could habve been brought from south-america by a few old soldiers (or even only one) who had been there - and eventually given to the wife (or daughter ?) of the king. She pursuaded him to give it a try, and the rest is history. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />

That's what history tells us Alrik.

The Spanish brought the potatoe to Europe from South and Central America (Inca, Maya, Aztec, Toltec, ...)

But they didn't really know why those ppl cultivated it.
They planted it here and like you said they first served the green "nobs", the flowers grow out of (not the fruits <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />). They didn't knew it was all about the roots.

Same thing more or less with another "fruit/vegie" that was brought to Europe by conquistadores.
Peanuts. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Iiieeuuwww!!!! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> Shan, my matrass is almost 8 years old, I think I'm gonna look out for a new one right away!!

About those potatoes, Seth is right, that's what we learn at school.
But when the potatoe finally completely took over almost whole Europe suffered from the potatoe plague.


Another fact: Did you know that bleaching hair existed for more than 2000 years already? The origins lies with the Roman soldiers, who, after conquering our regions, wrote enthousiastic letters to their wives about the many blonde German women. The Roman women didn't take it long and started to put blond braids in their hairs. On top of that they started to invent chemicals with their homestuff to bleach their hairs.
And who said that blonds are stupid?? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

If I don't recall wrong, you did, Gal <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" />.

Übereil

Hm? Did I do that? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/winkwink.gif" alt="" /> Can't remember, since I'm a brunette these days... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />

Trees help reduce the "greenhouse effect" by absorbing CO2. One acre of trees
removes 2.6 tons of CO2 per year.

Hospital patients heal faster, require shorter stays and less painkillers if room
windows face trees.

Two mature trees provide enough oxygen for a family of four.

The Great Pyramid is a stone computer – if you take the lengths of the sides, and
their heights and angles, you can calculate many different things. The pyramid
will tell you how to work out the distance round the outside of a circle if you
know the distance across it.

The pyramids are close to the Nile because some of the huge stones had to be
carried from the quarries by boat.

The pyramids are all on the West bank of the Nile – the side on which the sun
sets. This is for religious reasons.

Pyramid -builders tried to fool thieves by placing a blocking stone at the end of
a passageway and plastering it in. If thieves broke through the plaster then they
would come to the stone and give up. The real way into the tomb would then be
through a hidden trapdoor in the ceiling.

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

Here, the amount of plants and flowers allowed in a hospital room (mostly in more serious injuries-sicknesses cases) is fixed. That's because when they don't have light, plants absorb more oxygen than they produce, thus competing with patients for oxygen. But cactus are not restricted <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Here's a link to the pyramids in China
ancient pyramids

-A typical double-bed mattress contains as many as 2 million house dust mites

-A rat can last longer without water than a camel

-A woodchuck only breaths 10 times during hibernation

-Abe Lincoln's mother died when the family dairy cow ate poisonous mushrooms and she drank the milk

-According to a recent scientific study, hard rock music makes termites chew through wood at twice the speed

-You can tell a turtle's sex by it's sound. Males grunt, females hiss

-All polar bears are left-handed

-Polar bears are the only mammals with hair on the soles of their feet

If I havn't said so: Carl XII had a dog called Brunte...

Übereil

Oh thanks Seth! Now I really have to go buy a new mattress! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

A Giant Sequoia named the General Sherman is the largest tree in the world.

General Sherman
The Giant Sequoia trees in northern California can reach heights of 311 feet, weigh more than 2.7 million pounds and have a diameter at the base of 40 feet!

The bark of the Giant Sequoia trees is naturally fire resistant and ranges
from 4 to 24 inches thick!

The continent of Antarctica is the only continent with no trees. It doesn't have a single one!

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/confused.gif" alt="" />
Like that's my fault?
Besides, that one will contain 2 million of them too.

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

Lady Sarah, get a body bag. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" /> Seth sleeps on hammock <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

Oh, bloody hell. You've been sleeping on the mattress for years and you're still fine! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/delight.gif" alt="" />

<img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/shhh.gif" alt="" /> You can't know... on the outside, she may look ok, but on the inside, maybe it's like the matress... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

Another fact of the same kind <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/evilgrin1.gif" alt="" /> :
You could fill nearly two ice cream pots with all the bacterias that live just in your bowels. <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/eek.gif" alt="" />

Fact-> ^^ not counting the insect (miniscule as they may be) that live in your eyes <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/biggrin.gif" alt="" />