100 things we didn't know this time last year

Pauly26 · 07-01-2006 12:30am #1

100 things we didn't know this time last year
Linky

Capt'n Midnight · 07-01-2006 2:26am

6. WD-40 dissolves cocaine - it has been used by a pub landlord to prevent drug-taking in his pub's toilets.

11. One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.

19. The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".

22. The length of a man's fingers can reveal how physically aggressive he is, scientists say.

29. When faced with danger, the octopus can wrap six of its legs around its head to disguise itself as a fallen coconut shell and escape by walking backwards on the other two legs, scientists discovered.

30. There are an estimated 1,000 people in the UK in a persistent vegetative state.

40. An average Briton will spend £1,537,380 during his or her lifetime, a survey from insurer Prudential suggests.

45. C3PO and R2D2 do not speak to each other off-camera because the actors don't get on.

52. You're 10 times more likely to be bitten by a human than a rat.

53. It takes 75kg of raw materials to make a mobile phone.

54. Deep Throat is reportedly the most profitable film ever. It was made for $25,000 (£13,700) and has grossed more than $600m.

61. You can bet on your own death.

62. MPs use communal hairbrushes in the washrooms of the Houses of Parliament.

63. It takes less energy to import a tomato from Spain than to grow them in this country because of the artificial heat needed, according to Defra.

66. The hotter it is, the more difficult it is for aeroplanes to take off. Air passengers in Nevada, where temperatures have reached 120F, have been told they can't fly.

67. Giant squid eat each other - especially during sex.

69. First-born children are less creative but more stable, while last-born are more promiscuous, says US research.

71. Jimi Hendrix pretended to be gay to be discharged from the US Army.

76. The day when most suicides occurred in the UK between 1993 and 2002 was 1 January, 2000.

77. The only day in that time when no-one killed themselves was 16 March, 2001, the day Comic Relief viewers saw Jack Dee win Celebrity Big Brother.

78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

81. George Bernard Shaw named his shed after the UK capital so that when visitors called they could be told he was away in London.

88. A single "mother" spud from southern Peru gave rise to all the varieties of potato eaten today, scientists have learned.

90. Ordinary - not avian - flu kills about 12,000 people in the UK every winter.

91. Croydon has more CCTV cameras than New York.

92. You are 176 times more likely to be murdered than to win the National Lottery.

93. Koalas have fingerprints exactly like humans (although obviously smaller).

94. Bill Gates does not have an iPod.

98. Nettles growing on land where bodies are buried will reach a foot higher than those growing elsewhere.

99. The Japanese word "chokuegambo" describes the wish that there were more designer-brand shops on a given street.

100. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a "public performance".

Pauly26 · 07-01-2006 2:31am

Some of the best alright, can't believe number 53 tho

Pauly26 · 07-01-2006 2:33am

And id say number 30 is more like 1,000.000 with all the stoners out there

mickymg2003 · 07-01-2006 7:35pm

You're 20 times more likely to be bitten by a human than a rat where i live!!!
Cant believe no. 100. Stairway, Denied!!!

Karoma · 07-01-2006 7:45pm

78. One in 18 people has a third nipple.

Right. Confess now before the posts in P.I.... :cool:

wayfarer · 08-01-2006 12:19am

They're brilliant but I think #89 is the best:

Spanish Flu, the epidemic that killed 50 million people in 1918/9, was known as French Flu in Spain.

Can you imagine it

"f*ck off!! We weren't the ones that started it... it was the French!!"

> >
< <

MistressPandora · 08-01-2006 6:41am

64. New York mayor Michael Bloomberg's home number is listed by directory inquiries.
~ You know, it's true. I found it easily enough.
Who wants to play "Who Wants To Be A Stalker?"?

94. Bill Gates does not have an iPod.
~ Man, he must have been deseparate to get that info out.

Dizzyblabla · 08-01-2006 8:31am

36. The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor.

I'm sure I spend more time than that....