Odd factoids

[NorthernDave]

A polar bear can sniff out a seal on the ice 20 miles (32 kilometers) away, and can smell a seal's breathing hole in the ice more than half a mile away,

This is largely due to seals being inordinately smelly creatures.

 

[TheDoctor]

The direction that the room spins when you are drunk varies according to which hemisphere you are in.
On the Equator, the room spins end-over-end, resulting in frantic carpet grippage.

 

[classic33]

There is a cloud of alcohol in the outer space which is enough to make four trillion-trillion drinks.

 

[Drago]

There is a cloud of alcohol in the outer space which is enough to make four trillion-trillion drinks.

...or a single pub lunch for Dave r!

 

[NorthernDave]

In order to align more closely with the BBC's gender neutral stance, on this year's Strictly presenter Claudia Winkleman will be referred to as Claudia Winkleperson.

 

[classic33]

Claudia's favourite fruit is a Granny Smith apple!

 

[NorthernDave]

Claudia's favourite fruit is a Granny Smith apple!

I wonder what Granny Smith thinks of that?

 

[Drago]

Granny Smith was originally Grandad Smith, but was rebranded following much publicised gender reassignment surgery.

 

[twentysix by twentyfive]

In actual fact Granny Smith was a virgin.

She got the epithet "Granny" due to her use of a small chainring on her triple

 

[Drago]

Chain rings date back to the time of King Arthur. Knights used to have serious problems going for a Forest Gump while suited up in armour. In the end an enterprising blacksmith modified a chain mail suit to leave a hole around a knights 'ring', and thus the term chain ring was born. During the great horse blight of 1735, when 98% of the Worlds horses died of the virulent illness, knights had to take to bicycles to get about. It was noticed that the cog at the front that drove the bicycle looked just like a knights chain ring, and the name has stuck ever since.

 

[classic33]

Chain rings date back to the time of King Arthur. Knights used to have serious problems going for a Forest Gump while suited up in armour. In the end an enterprising blacksmith modified a chain mail suit to leave a hole around a knights 'ring', and thus the term chain ring was born. During the great horse blight of 1735, when 98% of the Worlds horses died of the virulent illness, knights had to take to bicycles to get about. It was noticed that the cog at the front that drove the bicycle looked just like a knights chain ring, and the name has stuck ever since.

In days of olde,
when Knights were bold.
They dropped their loads,
along the roads,
and walked off quite contended.

 

[Drago]

And blacksmith Jim
Invented a ring
To stop them becoming demented.

 

[bruce1530]

The original style cycle helmet was invented in Holmfirth, Yorkshire, in 1932.

The local butcher’s boy was delivering orders on a bicycle with a front basket. He went over a pothole, and a pound of sausages flew into their from his basket, and landed on his head. While he was marvelling at how the dozen sausages had perfectly formed themselves into a protective shell around his cranium, he hit another pothole and fell off his bike. He was not worried, as he assumed his new sausage helmet would protect him. However, the sausages offered him no protection whatsoever, as they lacked the essential chinstrap and fell off.

The butcher’s boy suffered serious brain damage, but still managed to appear in three thousand episodes of “Last of the Summer Wine”.

 

[Seevio]

Cats don't actually like Whiskas, they merely "express a preference" in order to ingratiate themselves with their owners and thus retain their gonads.

 

[Drago]

There were no cats prior to 1986. This is the year that Chernobyl exploded, and the resulting radiation induced mutations have led to a breed of deformed dwarf dog. Most spinster, old people, and young people who simply like cardigans have mistaken this mutation as a new breed, and thus the myth of the cat as a separate species was created.

Please note - the ancient Egyptians actually revered a form of dwarf horse, not catrs as is often thought.