Share random facts you know!

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Poll of the Day » Share random facts you know!
Kallainanna
04/03/2025
08:31 PM
#1
It can be about anything! Let's learn random trivia that will probably never be useful but should be interesting.

1) The first credited author in history is Enheduanna, an Akkadian High Priestess of Nanna appointed to Nanna's temple in Ur by her father, Sargon of Akkad. Enheduanna was deposed by her brother Lugal-Anne after Sargon's death, and went into hiding. She composed hymns to the goddess Inana (daughter of Nanna), beseeching her aid and extolling her virtues, somewhat heretically casting her as the mightiest of all the Gods. Lugal-Anne was subsequently deposed and killed by a different brother who restored Enheduanna to her post. one of the powers attributed to Inana was the power to make men into women and women into men, and it is mentioned such people worshipped in her temples-the first recorded mention of potential genderqueer identities.

2) John Brown's raid on Harper's Ferry was meant to seize armaments and free slaves so as to fuel a guerilla terror campaign against Southern planters waged from the Appalachian Mountains, based upon tactics employed to varying success by slave rebellions in the Caribbean. However, he became curiously preoccupied with the welfare of his captives, and tarried at the arsenal long enough to be surrounded. In the final assault by federal forces, Brown was struck with a sword by a soldier- however the soldier had mistakenly grabbed his dress saber in his haste to muster, so Brown survived the blow and was taken into custody.

3) Woolly mammoths were still extant at the time of the building of the Great Pyramids: a remnant population persisted on Wrangel Island, but eventually died out due to inbreeding.

4) The substitute sprite in Pokemon is based upon a scrapped Pokemon design.

5) The Neo-Babylonian Empire, which existed in the 7th and 6th centuries BCE engaged extensively in quasi-archaeological activity, seeking out, excavating and restoring ancient structures based upon centuries or even millennia old written descriptions.
"I'm not tied to this, won't you let us free?
I'm not tied to this, I was made for me." -"lovable", NOVA ONE
Flappers
04/03/2025
08:48 PM
#2
I know a lot of animal facts, especially about bugs, fish, and birds of prey.

1) Barnacles have the largest penis to body ratio of any animal (about a x8-9 difference in certain species). Their penis can also detatch and swim off to find a female.

2) Isopods are capable of removing heavy metals from soil. Roly-polies will eat lead, have their bodies crystalize it during digestion, then poop it out in a harmless form.

3) The ceolacanth, once thought to be extinct but rediscovered off the coast of South Africa, is pregnant for up to 5 years.

4) Peregrine falcons are the fastest animal alive. During their stoop, they can reach over 200mph in a hunting method that is so effective they have been observed killing pelicans.

5) Ovoviviparous animals produce eggs but have the eggs hatch in their body, then give live birth to them. Some examples include rattlesnakes, scorpions, and several species of sharks including the great white. Great white sharks also have two uteruses. When the eggs hatch inside of the mother, the babies kill and each-other as nature's way of deciding which ones are strong and worthy of life. An unborn great white shark may even swim into the second uterus and kill the babies in there. By the time a great white shark is born, it is fully able of hunting for itself and already has a kill-count. Not only is that metal as fuck, but it also means that you can be getting chased by a shark then that shark can just give birth and you'll have even more sharks chasing you.
I call Cthulhu "daddy"
captpackrat
04/03/2025
09:29 PM
#3
  1. Zeppo Marx invented a heart rate monitor that could be worn on the wrist, and a type of band clamp called a Marman clamp, still used today in aerospace.
  2. Hedy Lamarr invented a radio guidance system for torpedoes that used spread spectrum and frequency hopping. These two technologies are key to modern WiFi.
  3. Mike Nesmith's mother invented Liquid Paper. She paid her son $1 per hour to help make the stuff in her garage.
  4. Paul Winchell invented a type of artificial heart that inspired the Jarvik-7.
  5. Julia Child invented a type of shark repellent that is still in use.
  6. Brian May of Queen has a PhD in astrophysics. His thesis was titled "A Survey of Radial Velocities in the Zodiacal Dust Cloud". He has an asteroid named after him, 52665 Brianmay.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Blue_Thunder
04/03/2025
09:54 PM
#4
Not all viruses are dangerous.

For example, Tomato Yellow Leaf Curl Virus (TYLCV) infects plants, but instead of killing them it increases their heat tolerance by inhibiting the plants' heat stress signals.
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Kallainanna
04/03/2025
10:22 PM
#5
1) Freddie Mercury's parents were Zoroastrians, and he was born on the island of Zanzibar.

2) In 1453, the Turkish siege of Constantinople was going poorly- Mehmet II's army was running low on supplies and there was little confidence in the mercurial young sultan, despite the fact the Turkish army dwarfed the city's defenders...that is, until the Turks discovered a postern gate that had not been locked. The city was so lightly populated and the defenders so few that the Turkish army was easily able to slip into the city and was not discovered until it was far, far too late. Most of the city's defenders, including Emperor Constantine XI, died in a last, doomed attempt to drive the invaders out. The city fell quickly, but Mehmet II was so aghast at its impoverished state that he ordered an end to the looting after just a single day - a big deal, as the income from looting was traditionally an expected means of compensation for soldiers, and Islamic law mandated a period of no less and no more than 3 days of looting.

3) Alexander the Great was about to embark on an expedition into the Arabian peninsula at the time of his death. His cause of death remains unknown: everything from poisoning to malaria to Guillan-Barre syndrome has been suggested as possible causes. Regardless, his death was a death knell for Babylon: it had declined significantly in importance since being conquered by Persia, but Alexander, enchanted by its great age, history, and location near the center of his vast empire, had made it his capital and intended to restore and even enhance it. His successors did not share this affection: Seluekos would, in fact, found a new city- Seleukeia, nearby: the first of a string of cities (ending in Baghdad) that would supplant ancient Babylon and eventually reduce it to an abandoned ruin.
"I'm not tied to this, won't you let us free?
I'm not tied to this, I was made for me." -"lovable", NOVA ONE
Joelypoely
04/03/2025
10:25 PM
#6
1) In 2017 there were two different Asian crime thriller films released which coincidentally had almost the exact same (English translated) name: Memoir of a Murderer (Korean) and Memoirs of a Murderer (Japanese)

2) The Australian cricketer Sir Donald Bradman could arguably be declared the most dominant sportsman of all time. He had an incredible batting average of 99.94 runs per test innings. To put that in perspective, every other great test batsman in history has 'only' averaged approx. 50-60 runs per test innings.
KJ_StErOiDs
04/04/2025
11:16 AM
#7
Sloths and armadillos are closely related.
"Shhh! Ben, don't ruin the ending!" --Adrian Ripburger, Full Throttle
captpackrat
04/04/2025
11:27 AM
#8
Goats are more closely related to whales than they are to horses.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Ignac5000
04/04/2025
12:17 PM
#9
A peanut is neither a pea nor a nut, discuss.
I am the cheese! I am the best character on the show. I am better than both the bologna and the salami combined!
Blue_Thunder
04/04/2025
12:51 PM
#10
Ignac5000 posted...
A peanut is neither a pea nor a nut, discuss.

It belongs in the pea family so it's basically a pea.

They should've called it a nut pea.
Music: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLv4cNOBY2eCInbxg6B-KRks6vKMfmFvtp
Genshin Showcase: https://enka.network/u/608173646/
captpackrat
04/04/2025
01:13 PM
#11
A ruminant has a stomach with four chambers.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/252aa4b9.jpg

The rumen is the largest chamber, and acts as a fermentation vat. Microbes break down long chain carbohydrates such as cellulose into shorter chain molecules that can be absorbed. Most ruminants eat a large amount of food very quickly, and this goes into the rumen. The solid materials are clumped together to form a bolus, or cud. Later on, the cud is regurgitated and the animal leisurely chews on it, mixing it with saliva and grinding it into small particles, then swallows it where it returns to the rumen for further fermentation.

The next chamber of the stomach, the reticulum, acts like a filter, allowing small particles and liquids to pass through. Larger particles are returned to the rumen for further processing.

The next chamber is the omasum, which absorbs water, electrolytes, minerals, and fatty acids.

The final chamber is the abomasum, or true stomach. This is very similar to the monogastric stomach. Acids and enzymes are released which break down the material, including any remaining microbes from the rumen, before passing into the small intestine for absorption.

Horses, guinea pigs, and rabbits are not ruminants, as they have only a single chamber stomach. They ferment cellulose in an enlarged section of the large intestine called the cecum.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Kallainanna
04/04/2025
01:18 PM
#12
Lots of weeds are actually edible, including dandelions (all parts of the plant are edible), plaintains, lady's thumb, amaranth, staghorn sumac, and chickweed, among many others. Always be certain of your ID .
"I'm not tied to this, won't you let us free?
I'm not tied to this, I was made for me." -"lovable", NOVA ONE
KJ_StErOiDs
04/04/2025
03:47 PM
#13
Some parts of Canada are farther south than some parts of California.
"Shhh! Ben, don't ruin the ending!" --Adrian Ripburger, Full Throttle
grimhilde00
04/04/2025
03:50 PM
#14
Bones decompose more in soil that's acidic which is why it's a really cool find to find fully intact tiny feet bones in Belize for the Maya period.
kriem
KJ_StErOiDs
04/04/2025
05:03 PM
#15
On a clear day, you can see the northern coast of Africa from the southern tip of Spain.
"Shhh! Ben, don't ruin the ending!" --Adrian Ripburger, Full Throttle
captpackrat
04/04/2025
08:31 PM
#16
The scientific name for the western gorilla is Gorilla gorilla .

The scientific name for the western lowland subspecies of gorilla is Gorilla gorilla gorilla .
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
KJ_StErOiDs
04/04/2025
11:00 PM
#17
If a vacuum-tube version of a modern smartphone processor were built, it'd cover more ground area than Manhattan and require over 100 nuclear power plants to run.
"Shhh! Ben, don't ruin the ending!" --Adrian Ripburger, Full Throttle
captpackrat
04/05/2025
12:34 PM
#18
Strychnos nux-vomica produces a poison called strychnine, which causes intense muscular contractions. The closely related Strychnos toxifera produces a toxin known as curare, which paralyses muscles, the exact opposite effect of strychnine.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Olld-Onne
04/05/2025
02:33 PM
#19
Flappers posted...
4) Peregrine falcons are the fastest animal alive. During their stoop, they can reach over 200mph in a hunting method that is so effective they have been observed killing pelicans.
This is not true. I seen a german doing over 250 mph on the autobahn.... XD

5) Not only is that metal as fuck, but it also means that you can be getting chased by a shark then that shark can just give birth and you'll have even more sharks chasing you.
Great Whites are not really interested in eating humans and the babies certainly won't go for you on birth.
you haven't set a signature for the message boards yet!
KJ_StErOiDs
04/05/2025
10:54 PM
#20
Cheyenne, Wyoming is closer to Texas than to Old Faithful
"Shhh! Ben, don't ruin the ending!" --Adrian Ripburger, Full Throttle
captpackrat
04/06/2025
05:49 PM
#21
The moon's orbit is slowly expanding at a rate of about 3.8 cm per year. In about 500 million years, the moon will have moved far enough away from the earth that there will be no more total solar eclipses. Annular eclipses will still occur, but the moon will be too small to completely cover the sun.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Damn_Underscore
04/06/2025
06:18 PM
#22
KJ_StErOiDs posted...
On a clear day, you can see the northern coast of Africa from the southern tip of Spain.

Spain has cities in Northern Africa
I really mean that much to you?
Girl, You Know It's True
KJ_StErOiDs
04/06/2025
07:31 PM
#23
During WWII, The U.S. Navy had a ship whose sole purpose was to produce ice cream.
"Shhh! Ben, don't ruin the ending!" --Adrian Ripburger, Full Throttle
Flappers
04/07/2025
01:32 PM
#24
During the cold war, the US navy kept finding strange circular cutouts on the rubber of sonar domes and electrical of submarines. They worried that it was caused by an unknown Soviet weapon.
Turns out it was cookiecutter sharks.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/2/2da12fd7.jpg
I call Cthulhu "daddy"
captpackrat
04/07/2025
04:26 PM
#25
In Japan, some traffic lights are red, yellow and blue. The Japanese word (ao) can mean both green and blue.
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/a/af96cf4b.jpg
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
JixHedgehog
04/07/2025
07:07 PM
#26
1 measuring cup in the US is 238ml
1 measuring cup in most other places is 250ml

That means 1 liter in the US is technically not accurate
willythemailboy
04/07/2025
07:40 PM
#27
JixHedgehog posted...
1 measuring cup in the US is 238ml
1 measuring cup in most other places is 250ml

That means 1 liter in the US is technically not accurate
A cup is not a quarter liter. Similar, but not exact.

Plus the precision of a measuring cup is not sufficient to get a liter to an accuracy of less than a few percent anyway.
There are four lights.
JixHedgehog
04/07/2025
07:45 PM
#28
willythemailboy posted...
A cup is not a quarter liter. Similar, but not exact.

Mabbe not in the US

Plus the precision of a measuring cup is not sufficient to get a liter to an accuracy of less than a few percent anyway.

Yeah, but that missing 1/5 cup makes a pretty big difference

captpackrat
04/07/2025
08:35 PM
#29
One US customary cup is 236.5882365 ml exactly. A US legal cup is 240 ml. A metric cup is 250 ml. A Canadian cup is 227.3045 ml. A UK cup is 170.48 ml, because things are smaller in the UK, I guess.

4 US customary cups is a quart, not a liter. A US quart is 0.946 liters, while an Imperial quart is 1.137 liters.

The US quart is 0.832 Imperial quarts, or 1.201 US quarts is 1 Imperial quart.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
willythemailboy
04/07/2025
11:13 PM
#30
JixHedgehog posted...
Mabbe not in the US
Definitely not. It's not intended to be.

JixHedgehog posted...
Yeah, but that missing 1/5 cup makes a pretty big difference
Again, it's not intended to be. A quart is not a liter and is never represented to be so.

You may as well be saying "A pound is less than half a kilo!" and expecting an answer other than "No shit, Sherlock".
There are four lights.
Berating
04/08/2025
02:59 AM
#31
there's 8 bones in your wrist

i never stopped to think of what the fuck is actually in there, nor did i even notice it in any skeleton models i've seen
she has special water that she drinks and i ****ing drank it the other day, i almost vomited. urinary tract water - you drank CAT PISS WATER?
OHJOY90
04/08/2025
08:49 AM
#32
Berating posted...
there's 8 bones in your wrist

i never stopped to think of what the fuck is actually in there, nor did i even notice it in any skeleton models i've seen

On that subject, there are no muscles in the human hand, movement is controlled by a series of tendons which are connected to muscles in your wrist/arm. The same tendons control some fingers.

There's a trick you can do to test this by retracting your middle finger and placing it on a flat surface, you should be able to move your pinkie, index finger, and thumb independently, but you'll struggle to move your ring finger whilst your middle finger is pinned.
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DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC
04/08/2025
09:00 AM
#33
OHJOY90 posted...
On that subject, there are no muscles in the human hand, movement is controlled by a series of tendons which are connected to muscles in your wrist/arm. The same tendons control some fingers.

There's a trick you can do to test this by retracting your middle finger and placing it on a flat surface, you should be able to move your pinkie, index finger, and thumb independently, but you'll struggle to move your ring finger whilst your middle finger is pinned.
That is laughably wrong.

https://teachmeanatomy.info/upper-limb/muscles/hand/
I am the infinite stairwell between integers.
DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC
04/08/2025
09:10 AM
#34
My facts:

The penis of the male echidna ( Tachyglossus aculeatus) has four glans (heads), though it only uses two at a time.

When a giraffe calf is born, they fall an average distance of six feet from their mother's vagina to the ground.

The gestation period of the African bush elephant ( Loxodonta africana ) is 22 months.
I am the infinite stairwell between integers.
captpackrat
04/08/2025
09:21 AM
#35
Mountain goats are not goats. They are in the genus Oreamnos , while true goats are genus Capra .
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Berating
04/08/2025
09:47 AM
#36
DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC posted...
That is laughably wrong.

https://teachmeanatomy.info/upper-limb/muscles/hand/

also, this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OETmdyyinsU
she has special water that she drinks and i ****ing drank it the other day, i almost vomited. urinary tract water - you drank CAT PISS WATER?
captpackrat
04/08/2025
11:34 AM
#37
The grass family, Poaceae , is the most important plant family on earth. 70% of all commercial crops are grasses, including corn, wheat, rice, oats, barley, rye, sorghum, millet, sugarcane, and triticale. Grasses make up over half of the total calories consumed by human beings every day.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Dikitain
04/08/2025
11:53 AM
#38
The Wizard of Oz is believed to be an allegory for the populist movement of the late 1800's, with the Wicked Witch of the East being the Democrats, the Wicked Witch of the West being Republicans, and Dorothy's group representing the Populist party and the people they represent (Tin Man = Factory Workers, Scarecrow = Farmers, Cowardly Lion = Populist Party Leadership).
I feel like I need to put something here, or else I am one of those weird people who think that having no signature is a character trait.
Flappers
04/08/2025
02:34 PM
#39
DiScOrDtHeLuNaTiC posted...
My facts:

The penis of the male echidna ( Tachyglossus aculeatus) has four glans (heads), though it only uses two at a time.
Male marsupials also have testicles in front of the penis, and most female marsupials have three vaginas and two uteruses. Marsupials do not form a placenta during gestation, which is why the babies have to be born extremely early, and thus why they need to spend time growing in a pouch.

Animal reproduction is actually a niche hyperfocus of mine. It's just crazy what all is out there.
I call Cthulhu "daddy"
agesboy
04/08/2025
06:29 PM
#40
Some people (studies are unclear on the percentage because most don't know they can do it) can control the tensor tympani muscle in their ear, making it vibrate to produce a rumbling sound. I'm one of them and we refer to ourselves as ear rumblers. To me, the sound it makes is like the lock-on sound in OoT but lower pitched. You can probably have it happen when you yawn really hard.
https://imgur.com/LabbRyN
raytan and Kana are on opposite ends of the Awesome Spectrum.
wwinterj25
04/08/2025
07:34 PM
#41
My butt itches.
One who knows nothing can understand nothing.
http://psnprofiles.com/wwinterj
Kallainanna
04/08/2025
10:46 PM
#42
1) The Old Babylonian Empire had a wide network of schools for scribes: in order to practice the intricate art of writing in cuneiform, apprentice scribes practiced by transcribing the classics of Mesopotamian history and literature, producing thousands upon thousands of copies- the only reason many of those works survive today.

2) The Neo-Babylonian Empire, which existed for a brief period from 626-539 BC was born from the ashes of the long-lived Assyrian empire. The Babylonians engaged extensively in land surveys and studies of already-ancient texts, seeking to restore lost and ruined temples and gates to their former glory.

3) Cyrus the Great was not just being benevolent when he returned the peoples the Babylonians had forcibly settled in their city as captives to keep conquered peoples alive- he was also bloodlessly bringing those regions under his rule. Rebuilding the temples the Babylonians had pillaged served to demonstrate his wealth, power, and magnanimity to his subjects.

4) Of course, not all the exiles *wanted* to go home: Babylon, after all, was a vastly more wealthy, vibrant and cosmopolitan city than a dusty backwater like Jerusalem. So they stayed: Babylon was for centuries the intellectual heart of Judaism. Ironically, Babylon's Jewish community may well have been the last people to live in the city- though it was overshadowed by Seleukeia, Ctesiphon, and finally Baghdad in turn, it remained inhabited as late as the 10th-century AD. Sadly, due to the natural shifting of the Euphrates river, much of the ruin was long ago destroyed- washed away by the very river that once gave it life.
"I'm not tied to this, won't you let us free?
I'm not tied to this, I was made for me." -"lovable", NOVA ONE
captpackrat
04/09/2025
05:21 PM
#43
The Eiffel Tower was built in 1889 for the World's Fair. When it was built it was nearly double the height of the previous world's tallest man-made structure, the Washington Monument, and it held that record until 1930 with the construction of the Chrysler Building. With the addition of a radio aerial in 1957, it is now 5 meters taller than the Chrysler Building.

The permit for the tower was only good for 20 years, after which it is was supposed to be torn down. But the tower turned out to be perfect for use as a radio transmitter, so it was spared. The tower played a critical role in intercepting and jamming German radio communications during the First World War, and contributed to the Allied victory in the First Battle of the Marne. By the end of the war, the tower was considered a symbol of Paris.
Minutus cantorum, minutus balorum,
Minutus carborata descendum pantorum.
Kallainanna
04/14/2025
11:20 AM
#44
1) Julien Baker and Lucy Dacus met one cold night in a green room in Washington DC in January of 2016. They instantly became friends.Lucy had apparently thought Julien was a man prior to meeting her.

2) 9 years ago yesterday, Julien Baker played a show on her first national tour in Indianapolis. Her opener was a then-obscure singer-songwriter from Pasadena, California by the name of Phoebe Bridgers. She too became fast friends with Julien.
"Show me your skin, I want to look within
Perform the alchemy that keeps you with me" -"xo skeleton", La Force
Yellow
04/14/2025
11:48 AM
#45
JixHedgehog posted...
Mabbe not in the US

Yeah, but that missing 1/5 cup makes a pretty big difference
America is special in a "I'm the only one" kind of way.
KJ_StErOiDs
04/14/2025
12:34 PM
#46
https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/8/8bcc75d7.jpg

Heywood, from the Shawshank Redemption (left) and Captain Frye, from The Rock (right) are portrayed by different actors - William Sadler plays as Heywood, and Gregory Sporleder plays as Captain Frye.
"Shhh! Ben, don't ruin the ending!" --Adrian Ripburger, Full Throttle
Kallainanna
04/14/2025
12:45 PM
#47
1) Trans women frequently report experiencing PMS-like symptoms roughly once a month.
Like I am, right now, actually.
Being a woman is great except when it's not! Why don't I have a heating pad? I don't even have a uterus!
...why am I almost crying? The human body be weird.
"Show me your skin, I want to look within
Perform the alchemy that keeps you with me" -"xo skeleton", La Force
SinisterSlay
04/14/2025
01:55 PM
#48
Penny Irving is the only surviving member of Are you being served now that Mike Berry just passed. April 11th 2025
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Penny_Irving
He who stumbles around in darkness with a stick is blind. But he who... sticks out in darkness... is... fluorescent! - Brother Silence
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Flappers
04/14/2025
06:45 PM
#49
agesboy posted...
Some people (studies are unclear on the percentage because most don't know they can do it) can control the tensor tympani muscle in their ear, making it vibrate to produce a rumbling sound. I'm one of them and we refer to ourselves as ear rumblers. To me, the sound it makes is like the lock-on sound in OoT but lower pitched. You can probably have it happen when you yawn really hard.
Oh shit, I can do that. Whenever we had a fire drill at school, instead of covering my ears, I would just make them rumble to drown out the sound of the alarm.
I call Cthulhu "daddy"
Berating
04/14/2025
07:28 PM
#50
Flappers posted...
Oh shit, I can do that. Whenever we had a fire drill at school, instead of covering my ears, I would just make them rumble to drown out the sound of the alarm.

did you go to Xavier's School For Gifted Youngsters?
she has special water that she drinks and i ****ing drank it the other day, i almost vomited. urinary tract water - you drank CAT PISS WATER?
Poll of the Day » Share random facts you know!
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