Facts

[TBB]

Before the computer mouse was known as a mouse, it was known as the turtle.

Manufacturers of the early versions of the computer mouse called it a turtle, because of its hard shell and moving part underneath.

[TBB]

Pencils are yellow because of Chinese royalty.

In the 1800s, the best graphite in the world came from China. The Americans wanted to give a tribute to the Chinese for the graphite used in their pencils. Yellow means royalty and respect in China, which is why the Americans manufactured their pencils in yellow. To this day, the default color for pencils is still yellow. 

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The remote control was invented earlier than the television.

30 years before the first digital television,  Nikola Tesla invented a “teleautomaton” that could control certain devices at a distance through radio waves. His first remote-controlled device was a remote-contolled boat in 1898. Since then, people adapted the wired remote for television. However, due to injuries, they developed it further to be a wireless remote. 

[TBB]

Standard CD’s are always 74 minutes long.

Sony and Philips set the standard CD length in 1980 as 74 minutes based on Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony. The executives decided that the standard CD should be able to fit the Ninth Symphony, giving it a 74-minute length. 

[TBB]

Maps sometimes have fake places to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism can be hard to avoid for mapmakers. After all, what should they do? Invent new places? You’d be surprised to know some mapmakers do just that. Cartographers can add wrong streets, fake towns, or other landmarks to prove whether a competitor mapmaker is copying their work.

[Icequeen]

The real name for a hashtag is octothorpe.

[KaptCrunch]

9 hours ago, TBB said:

Maps sometimes have fake places to prevent plagiarism.

Plagiarism can be hard to avoid for mapmakers. After all, what should they do? Invent new places? You’d be surprised to know some mapmakers do just that. Cartographers can add wrong streets, fake towns, or other landmarks to prove whether a competitor mapmaker is copying their work.

TBB  reminds me

 of plagiarism hurts  for it happened to me with typhoon3  they thought were smart  taken my design for was failure designed for them to learn to pay the piper and waste money ....... launched and 2 weeks later all failed  for the greedy bastards.  warning to others designers, water mark anything you post online or give them false info  LoL

Edited April 11 by KaptCrunch

[KaptCrunch]

56 minutes ago, Icequeen said:

The real name for a hashtag is octothorpe.

sounds more like a monster from a comic book with 8 tenticles with clamps  not  

Edited April 11 by KaptCrunch

[TBB]

The three most popular Western names in China are Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.

What an interesting choice of personalities.

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In Vermont, there is one cow for every 3.8 people.

You may have read that the cow to person ratio in Vermont is 10:1, but it’s actually not true. 

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A chainsmoker voiced E.T.

Pat Welsh was an American actress who voiced E.T. The trademark rasp of E.T.’s voice is due to Welsh being a heavy smoker. However, she was uncredited in the film. 

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There’s an island that France and Spain takes turns owning every 6 months.

From February till July, the Pheasant Island is under the governance of Spain, while in August to January, it is governed by France.

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There are many words starting in Q that are not followed by a U.

In North American Scrabble, acceptable words with a Q and not a U are: qi, qat, qaid, qai, qadi, qoph, qanat, tranq, faqir, sheqel, qabala, qabalah, qindar, qintar, qindarka, mbaqanga, and qwerty. This applies for their plural forms as well.

[TBB]

It was said that Einstein couldn't speak fluently until he was 9 years old.

The validity of this claim is contested, but the medical term for late talkers is still called the Einstein Syndrome. It was coined by social theorist Thomas Sowell to describe children who developed speech later than normal.

[Icequeen]

I am awesome. Best fact I heard all day 

[TBB]

A sponge can reconstruct itself in hours.

If you force a live sponge through a mesh screen, it will rearrange itself after a few hours.

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Over 10,000 Coca-Cola drinks are consumed per second worldwide.

The 10,000 drinks per second includes other Coca Cola products such as Fanta, Dr. Pepper, Sprite and other Coke varieties.

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Every second, over 2 million e-mails are sent.

For each second on the internet, 9.4 websites are created, 3,000,000 google searches are done, and 672 people search for porn.

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In the history of boxing, four men have been knocked out within the first eleven seconds of the match.

The fastest knockout was from a 1947 match between Mike Collins and Pat Brownson. Collins was able to knock Brownson out with the first punch only 4 seconds after the first bell.

[TBB]

A coin toss isn’t 50-50.

The next time you’re trying to decide something, a coin toss may not be the best idea. Typically, the chances for a coin toss is 51-49, not 50-50. If you flip a coin, there is a 51% chance it will land on the side that it started on. 

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The World’s Oldest Known Creature

The oldest known living creature is a 4,000-year-old, slow-growing seagrass known as Posidonia oceanica. This remarkable marine plant can be found in the Mediterranean Sea and has been thriving for centuries.

[Icequeen]

M & M's are names after their creators. 

Forrest Mars and Bruce Murie created the sweet treats. 

[TBB]

Rubber bands will last much longer when they are refrigerated.

When a rubber band is placed in the fridge, it causes the polymers to relax. This keeps the band from breaking down as fast as it normally does.

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There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

This includes change in dimes, quarters, and combinations of the two. Can you figure out all 293 combinations?

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The Grand Theft Auto franchise has lawsuits that total over $1 billion.

There are a lot of controversies that surround the game due to the nature of its gameplay. Rockstar North has faced many legal claims of copyright and influencing young players to commit sexual and illegal acts.