Useless Knowledge

[Dathron]

Sorry I know I'm making a whole bunch of threads on the day of deletion so if you need to feel free to delete them...

Some crazy laws in the US that are still around:

ALABAMA:
• It is illegal for a driver to be blindfolded while operating a vehicle.
• It is illegal to impersonate a person of the clergy.
• It is illegal to maim oneself to escape duty.
• It is illegal to stab yourself to gain someone's pity.
• It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.

ALASKA:
• A law in Fairbanks does not allow moose to have sex on city streets.
• Even though it is legal to hunt a bear, it is illegal to wake a bear and take a picture for photo opportunities.
• Fairbanks: It is considered an offense to feed alcoholic beverages to a moose.
• In Alaska it is illegal to whisper in someone's ear while they are moose hunting.
• It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.
• Kangaroos are not allowed in barber shops at any time.
• Moose may not be viewed from an airplane.
• State policy states that emergencies are held to a minimum and rarely found to exist.
• While it is legal to shoot bears, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.

ARIZONA:
• A man can legally beat his wife, but not more than once a month.

And two more states:

ARKANSAS:
• Alligators may not be kept in bathtubs.
• An Arkansas legislator not long ago proposed that the state provide growth hormones to dwarfs.
• Arkansas must be pronounced "Arkansaw"
• Fayetteville: It is illegal to kill "any living creature".
• Flirtation between the members of the opposite sex on the streets of Little Rock may result in a 30-day jail term.

CALIFORNIA:
• A city ordinance states that a $500 fine will be given to anyone who detonates a nuclear device within city limits.
• Animals are banned from mating publicly within 1,500 feet of a tavern, school, or place of worship.
• A regulation in San Francisco makes it unlawful to use used underwear to wipe off cars in a car wash.
• Arcadia: Peacocks have the right of way to cross any street, including driveways.

There ya go! Dumb laws still active in the U S of A!

I'll be adding more off and on.

[Vertigo3]

In Florida It is Illegal to ride an ugly horse.

[veela]

In Minnesota it's illegal to wear a live duck on your head. Orgies are also illegal. They define an orgy as three or more people in a room with their shoes and socks off.

[magicmuffin]

The Filth! lol

Want some useless info:
www.resologist.net/lo101.htm
hypertext edition of old writings by an obscure weirdo named Charles Fort...he collected info on odd happenings like frogs raining in thunderstorms...

[frizzer]

Well,,,everyone in England is supposed to practice archery on the village green on a Sunday,,thats where they think Darts came from

[Potter]

More people are killed by pigs or falling coconuts than shark attacks.

On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

Internationally, Baywatch is the most popular TV show in history.

There is an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun.

There are 3 times 10 to the 33rd power (3,000 quintillion) individual living things on this planet of which,
75% are bacteria, and a miniscule 0.00000000000000000000013% are human beings.

[Vertigo3]

16 Americans die every year from vending machine accidents.

[rind]

wow, that is a good one... something like 5 sailors a day contract a VD from over seas... learned that one in safety training the other day... oh the HORRIBLE pictures we had to endure!!!


oh and did someone say thunderstorms? anyone wanna take a gueass on how much water weight an average thunderstorm contains? (keep in mind as you google this, that it is all over your head and very very heavy)

[rind]

here it is from an insert from our training... some USAA Q&A or something

According to calculations from Peggy LeMone, senior scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, a thunderstorm cloud contains approximately 275 million gallons of water. With 750,000 gallons of water going over Niagara Falls each second, it would take six minutes for an equal amount of water to go over the Falls.

So how much does a thunderstorm cloud weigh? With one gallon of water weighing 8.33 pounds, the weight of the cloud is 2.3 billion pounds, or 1.1 million tons

[frizzer]

Years ago, when they filled baths with hot water they boiled on the fire, the man of the house had the first bath,,then his wife and down through the ranks...Hence Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater...

From my evil poker playing,,this is objective but,,"Having the nuts" ie having an unbeatable hand,,may have come from when cowboys played poker, if they had bet everything they would get the wheel nuts off thier carts and put them in the pot as collaterol

[Hermione]

Now I keep thinking of that poor ship's captain who stepped behind one of the first large screen x-rays that existed, to entertain the crew by making his skeleton dance... he was behind the screen for only two minutes, but FIVE minutes after he'd stopped (he was on the, I want to say "bridge" but surely there's no such thing as a bridge on a boat? it defeats the whole purpose of boats if they carry around their own bridges!) he fell down dead, and an autopsy revealed his innards were cooked. Darn it, I'd managed to forget that tidbit for quite a few years!

[justthisgirl]

this is long, btu a useless lesson in history.
Why do we celebrate Valentines day?

We celebrate Valentine's Day, because until 1969, it was one of the many Saint's Days observed by the Catholic Church. It was dedicated to the patron saint of romantic causes, St. Valentine.

Although it was removed from the Church's calendar in 1969, the religious meaning coupled with Valentine's Day's roots in Roman paganism have allowed it to continue as a holiday for everyone.

Early Christians saw Valentine's Day as a way to honor St. Valentine, of whom there were actually three. The Catholic Church recognizes three saints by that name, all who were martyred on February 14.

The St. Valentine the day is named for was, most likely, a priest in the 3rd century who performed secret marriages when the Roman Emperor Claudius II thought single soldiers were more likely to enlist in the army. That St. Valentine was imprisoned and executed on February 4, 270. It is believed he was responsible for giving the jailer's blind daughter back her eyesight, and before his execution, he sent herss a note saying, "From your Valentine." The phrase is still widely used on valentines today.

It wasn't until 1537 that St. Valentine's day was declared an official holiday. England's King Henry VIII, known for his ways of disposing of wives, declared February 14th a holiday. It was another century and a half before religious devotional cards became non-religious cards to reflect the change in the holiday.

In 496 A.D., February 14, was declared in the name of St. Valentine by Pope Gelasius. It remained a Church holiday until 1969, when Pope Paul VI took it from the calender.

On February 14, the ancient Romans celebrated the Feast of Lupercalia in honor of Juno, the queen of the Roman gods and goddesses. Juno was also the goddess of womesn and marriage so honoring her was thought to be a fertility rite.

At the feast held the next day, the women would write love letters and stick them in a large urn. The men would pick a letter from the urn and for the next year, pursue the woman who wrote the chosen letter. This custom lasted until the 1700s when people decided their beloveds should be chosen by sight, not luck.

[Hermione]

Hmm, now I'm wondering if origami was popular then, too:
"Don't worry, honey, I folded mine into a key, you can't mistake it!"

[frizzer]

Wow that was long,,,,,Put you wrist fully forward and touch your thumb to your palm,,you can't and you just tried,,and it hurt ,lol. and don't get all clever and say I used my left hand thumb to touch my right palm etc.....and heres a lovely little one to show off to your friends..Get a deck of cards. Sort out one suit. Put it in order A to King. and put that suit on the bottom. Then cut the cards,,normally ie:-( take some of the deck and put it to one side and put the rest on top). Do this 13 times and then start turning the cards over, the suit will come out in order,,,even if you tried to split it up while cutting the deck it still works...

[Potter]

Kind of like licking your elbow, no one can do it unless they have double-jointed shoulders but everyone tries.

[Dathron]

Drat potter you made me try that too!

[rind]

oh, and I CAN touch my thumb to the bottom of my palm, in the center.... i will have to take a pic to show you, but JTGirl can confirm, her reply was... "god your wierd, whats next, licking your elbow?

useless fact...

Doyle Brunson, king of poker got his nickname texas dolly because of a newspaper typo when he won his first WSOP a long time ago! and it just kinds stuck! also, he holds the record of 10 WSOP bracelets to his name! also, he has a hold'em hand named after him, the brunson is considered a 10-duece off suit....

[Hermione]

Skip straight... like a straight, only, say, it's 4, 6, 8, 10, Q.

Named for a typo! Lol.

Another random factoid:
English used to have a singular, plural, and DUAL form of everything! Instead of "I, We, Me, Us", it went, "Ic, Wit, We, Me, Unc, Uns". Regular nouns, too. We still have the remnants of it today, with "Both" "Either" "Neither" and a few others I can't think of that are specific to pairs only.

[jjsmokes]

In Maine you can bring a Rifle to chruch if the Indians might come.

[Dathron]

Really?! Thats wierd...there is a law in Boston saying that you HAVE to bring a rifle...lol. But I doubt many people do....