Well I Never!

[stevenw888]

How about a new thread devoted to informing us of those little trivial bits of information that we never even knew about before the internet existed...

Here goes...

When George Lucas was mixing the American Graffiti soundtrack, he numbered the reels of film starting with an R and numbered the dialog starting with a D. Sound designer Walter Murch asked George for Reel 2, Dialog 2 by saying "R2D2". George liked the way that sounded so much he integrated that into another project he was working on.
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It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs.

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[stevenw888]

Jesse James once sought shelter at a lonely farmhouse. The widow there apologized for her poor hospitality. She said she had very little money and despaired of paying the debt collector, who was coming imminently to demand $1,400.

James gave her $1,400 and told her to get a receipt. Then he hid outside and watched the road.

The debt collector arrived, looking grim, and entered the house. A few minutes later he emerged, looking pleased.

James accosted him, took back the $1,400, and rode off.

[Boxertwin]

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.

[stevenw888]

Boxertwin, you are my soul brother! Despite the remaining apathy here, I will continue with this thread.

The city of Portland in Oregon was named after a coin toss in 1844. Heads for Portland and tails for Boston.


The elephant is the only animal in the world with 4 knees.

[Nick]

Boxertwin, you are my soul brother! Despite the remaining apathy here, I will continue with this thread.

I'll be along, shortly.

The city of Portland in Oregon was named after a coin toss in 1844. Heads for Portland and tails for Boston.

Ooooo!

The elephant is the only animal in the world with 4 knees.

I've heard that too, but apparently it's wrong. Not because it does not look as if the elephants has 4 knees, but that, technically, in evolutionary terms, they are not knees. I can't remember quite what they are, (maybe the elephant is walking on it knuckles or something), but that would explain the apparent mystery of why the elephant has 4 knees- it doesn't.

ETA: I think they might in fact be elbows..... I'm trying to find out.

[stevenw888]

Nick, I never claimed that any of my "Well I Never" statements would be 100% accurate and error free!
However I will endeavour to research future postings more thoroughly before posting (bearing in mind the coments in The Geek Manifesto)!


"Typhlobasia" is the practice of closing one's eyes when kissing.

[stevenw888]

In Monza, Italy, King Umberto I, went to a small restaurant for dinner, accompanied by his aide-de-camp, General Emilio Ponzia- Vaglia. When the owner took King Umberto’s order, the King noticed that he and the restaurant owner were virtual doubles, in face and in build. Both men began discussing the striking resemblances between each other and found many more similarities.

1. Both men were born on the same day, of the same year, (March 14th, 1844).
2. Both men had been born in the same town.
3. Both men married a woman with same name, Margherita.
4. The restauranteur opened his restaurant on the same day that King Umberto was crowned King of Italy.
5. On the 29th July 1900, King Umberto was informed that the restauranteur had died that day in a mysterious shooting accident, and as he expressed his regret, he was then assassinated by an anarchist in the crowd.

[Alan C.]

The elephant is the only animal in the world with 4 knees.

I don't know about that but I believe it's the only animal that can't jump.

Also I believe the Camel is the only animal that can't swim.

[Nick]

Re: elephants. Not elbows but wrists.

Thanks to Paolo's "ask a biologist" website!

Thus!

[Alan C.]

Well a quick look at that skeleton would suggest to me, knees on the hind legs, elbows on the front.
Have I got that right?

I wonder where Paolo went? Elephants graveyard

[Dave B]

Well a quick look at that skeleton would suggest to me, knees on the hind legs, elbows on the front.
Have I got that right?

I wonder where Paolo went? Elephants graveyard

The ends of the front legs, the bits that bend back as a knee would, look more like ankles or wrists to me. But yes, an elbow above that. Can't find a labelled image of an elephant skele but the basic structure is similar to a dog's, and the labelling of that uses the "arm" bone names for the front legs. Thus the forward bending joint is indeed the elbow.

[Alan H]

The ends of the front legs, the bits that bend back as a knee would, look more like ankles or wrists to me. But yes, an elbow above that. Can't find a labelled image of an elephant skele...

See Nick's link, above.

[getreal]

I'm pretty sure there is a rhyme for purple. I remember Steven Fry mentioning this on QI.

[Nick]

I'm pretty sure there is a rhyme for purple. I remember Steven Fry mentioning this on QI.

Maybe, getreal, but only when drowning.....


Unless anyone knows otherwise....

[Alan H]

I'm pretty sure there is a rhyme for purple. I remember Steven Fry mentioning this on QI.

[Boxertwin]

Camel's milk does not curdle.

[Alan H]

And orange:

[jaywhat]

No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, and purple.

Well I for one would not expect a word to rhyme with all those.

[stevenw888]

Thanks guys, that's all very interesting, but lets not lose sight of the "plot" here...!


The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle.
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The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was an albino.
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Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.

[stevenw888]

William Marston, who invented the comic book character Wonder Woman, also discovered the systolic blood pressure test which led to the invention of the lie-detector.