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+--- Thread: Share/Learn a Random Fact (/showthread.php?tid=1039)
Share/Learn a Random Fact - Moonface - Feb 18th, 2022
So I read something yesterday I thought was neat to share, and figured we could have a thread to share anything interesting we learned or something interesting we already know and want to inform others about.
So the thing I read was about the actual size of the Sphinx in Egypt. I always thought it was an absolutely stupidly huge thing because it always gets made out to be that way, but it's really only 66ft tall. It's clear the thing always gets made out to be bigger than it really is because apparently in Assassin's Creed Origins the main character comments that he "thought it would be bigger" when they see the Sphinx with their own eyes. I was expecting it to be in the triple digits considering how big the pyramids are.
Another thing I remember learning that was interesting (and I'm hoping I can recall this correctly) is that in the US, kids are allowed to win cash prizes and so a lot of the game shows will offer straight up cash prizes. In the UK though, we are not allowed to give minors cash as a prize, and so we have to provide actual items, and so a lot of the top prizes on our game shows come out to a higher value than the cash prizes on US kid game shows because it'll be stuff like a new games console, a trip to Disney World, etc.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Kyng - Feb 21st, 2022
I have to admit, I wasn't aware that kids weren't allowed to win cash prizes on game shows over here (although, come to think of it, I don't think I've ever actually seen them winning any!)
And the Sphinx isn't the only statue that's smaller than most people think... the Little Mermaid is only 1.25m tall. I went to see it in Copenhagen, and it was a bit underwhelming (although, the name does include the word 'Little', so I can't exactly accuse them of false advertising!!!)
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - ShiraNoMai - Feb 21st, 2022
I... wasn't aware The Little Mermaid had its own statue? Well. I guess today I learned... that!
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Moonface - Feb 23rd, 2022
(Feb 21st, 2022, 01:36 AM)Kyng Wrote:
Wikipedia Wrote:Just...why? Defacement I get because people are arseholes, but I don't get why it would attract activists. Ocean stuff I guess/hope?
Here's one that I learned a while ago and found it had some interesting backstory to it. So you know those reflective markers on roads that are usually in the same areas as lane lines? They're called cat's eyes (road stud) and originated in 1934 in the UK and are now used worldwide, and are able to clean themselves when passed over by vehicles when the reflector sinks below the surface of the rubber wiper that surrounds it.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Mr EliteL - Feb 24th, 2022
Huh, I didn't know the cat's eyes could clean themselves like that.
Everything else I didn't know about either, apart from UK game shows not supplying cash to kids obviously. I'll be useless in this thread other than finding out things because I tend to forget about the facts I learn about in that I should know them if come across them again, but can't tell anyone if prompted.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - ShiraNoMai - Feb 26th, 2022
Today I learned that bidet showers are a thing: folk in Islamic countries have this as a common feature for bathrooms, which if you can't mentally figure out from the name, is basically a showerhead for... well, cleansing post-toilet use areas, instead of toilet paper.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Moonface - Mar 1st, 2022
(Feb 24th, 2022, 12:14 PM)Mr EliteL Wrote:I think it was a good idea to have that since they have to sink when driven over to protect them from damage, so may as well stick a sponge in the dip to clean it at the same time.
(Feb 26th, 2022, 03:36 AM)ShiraNoMai Wrote:I don't like the idea of this. I associate a bidet with not using toilet paper to wipe, which is fine when you're on the toilet but having a bidet in a shower implies someone took a shit and then walked from the toilet into the shower with a manky arse. Just...no.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - ShiraNoMai - Mar 3rd, 2022
Ah you've misunderstood -- It's not IN a shower, it's still next to the toilet, but instead of being the bidet unit, it's actually a showerhead located near the toilet.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Moonface - Mar 11th, 2022
(Mar 3rd, 2022, 02:47 PM)ShiraNoMai Wrote:Oh. So basically a detachable bidet? Still seems pointless to me since I feel like a regular one would do the job perfectly fine with less effort required.
So I've encountered a few people at work who didn't know anything about this so figured I'd share it here: What happens when the Queen of England dies?
The Guardian article linked in what I linked to is incredibly long and in depth for anyone wanting that, but otherwise most of the key points are covered in what I linked to I think.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Mr EliteL - Mar 12th, 2022
I didn't fully know what happens after the Queen's death. I say fully, I knew of course about Charles becoming King, Camilla becoming Queen or Queen Consort, and that there'd be a number of days of ceremony before a funeral but not exactly how long or what it entailed nor details of other parts of the process. Didn't know about his siblings kissing a ring either. I don't care too much about it though, let that stuff run it's course when it happens, yadda yadda.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Moonface - Mar 15th, 2022
@Mr EliteL: I'd only care for it for the presumably free day off work we'd get from it which I now don't get to have because I'm in America. Maybe I can still use it as an excuse to get off work for cultural reasons.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - ShiraNoMai - Apr 14th, 2022
TIL that Britain has the Blood Donor bus equivalent of a library. Seriously, they park up in big traffic areas (mall/store parking lots) and set up camp for folk to come inside and have a portable library to enjoy at their leisure until it goes away.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Moonface - Apr 20th, 2022
(Apr 14th, 2022, 04:26 AM)ShiraNoMai Wrote:Yeah, I blew her mind when I just casually dropped this on her because she asked me if @Mr EliteL's dad worked on a bus one time (I was writing an essay on buses at the time) and I told her he did but it was a library bus. XD
I read this one a little bit ago when the internet was in a tizzy over Russia talking about nukes, and although the two dropped on Japan did cause a lot of death, they aren't actually the most destructive air attacks in history. That depressing accolade goes to the Bombing of Tokyo in 1945 which killed 100,000 people in 3 hours.
I always thought the nukes were the biggest losses of life from an air attack in history due to what a nuke is, so I was surprised about this. Granted, the nukes do rack up a bigger count though if you combine them and count deaths caused in the aftermath.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - ShiraNoMai - Apr 21st, 2022
That is crazy, huh. I always remember the vivid imagery shown in Dir en Grey's Vinushka MV (this is the censored version) for the atomic ones, though I feel like they do show some other stuff that doesn't look like the atomic bombs, which is probably this event. Incredible.
RE: Share/Learn a Random Fact - Maniakkid25 - Apr 22nd, 2022
(Apr 20th, 2022, 09:41 PM)Moonface Wrote:Yeah, that's actually the reason why, when we dropped flyers telling Japan that we had a bomb of unrivaled magnitude, they didn't care. We were already firebombing the s*** out of Japan; what's the worst that this one can do?
Speaking of the nukes, there is a person who survived both bombings. Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima on business when the bomb went off. He made it back to Nagasaki, and was telling the story to his supervisor when Nagasaki was bombed. He would die in 2010 of stomach cancer at the ripe old age of 93.
Edit: Oh, and World War 2 and Cold War era stuff is a subject I could talk about for hours and hours. The ups, the downs, the laughter and the tears. There are legitimately some moments that can only be described as "a Comedy of Errors", it's absolutely insane. But, I shall resist making a 900 paragraph post regarding all the random stuff that I know about the past century.