Really TRUE odd factoids

[Blue Hills]

Leeds based scientist Brian Boffey accidentally invented Jelly Tots in 1967, while trying to produce a powdered jelly that set instantly when added to cold water.

Surprised you didn't start a "yorkshire inventions" thread for that

 

[classic33]

A date for your diary - 24 September 2303
Generally speaking, the autumn equinox always falls on either 22 or 23 September, but not quite always.

Because the Gregorian calendar is not quite in perfect symmetry with the Earth's orbit, the autumn equinox will very occasionally fall on September 24. This last happened in 1931 and will next happen in 2303.

 

[Blue Hills]

For ten years from 1929 to 1939 the Soviet Union ran a week of five days, effectively abolishing Sundays. Caused churchgoers problems but also screwed up folks' family and social lives - were often off work in the new clever continuous rota when their friends and family members weren't.

 

[Dave7]

Hope this doesn't get me banned

The G-spot got its name in the 1980s when the concept -- an erogenous zone that, when stimulated, can lead to powerful orgasm, gained in popularity. It was initially named after Ernst Gräfenberg, a German physician, who wrote about its existence in the 1950s.24 Apr 2012

 

[classic33]

Though not as finely tuned as a bloodhound’s sniffer, the average human nose is still quite sensitive — just four molecules of an “odorous substance” are enough to stimulate an olfactory sensor. And some people are blessed with such an acute sense of smell they base their whole livelihood on their noses. Dutch winemaker Ilja Gort, for example, insured his nose through Lloyd’s of London for a reported $8 million.

 

[classic33]

Those stickers you find on bananas are collectible. There are lots of them and Becky Martz has over 20,000. She started collecting in 1991.

 

[Beebo]

Becky Martz needs to get a life. 😀

 

[classic33]

A collection of 5,000 bras is rather impressive. It’s only a shame this collection is owned by a man who has no intention of wearing any.

Chen Qingzu made his collection while touring China giving seminars on breast cancer.

 

[classic33]

Once they did finally get their plane off the ground, the Wright Brothers only flew together once. They took a six-minute flight with Orville at the helm and Wilbur as his passenger.

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Barbra Streisand, Neil Diamond and Bobby Fischer (chess master) were all in the same class at school.

 

[classic33]

The following sports are not part of the Olympics anymore: solo synchronized swimming, tug of war, rope climbing, hot air ballooning, dueling pistol, tandem bicycle, swimming obstacle race, and plunge for distance. Luckily, live pigeon shooting was a one-shot and only part of the 1900 Olympics in Paris.

 

[Blue Hills]

The following sports are not part of the Olympics anymore: solo synchronized swimming,

Wasn't synchronizing with yourself a bit too easy to be considered a sporting achievement?

 

[Joey Shabadoo]

Solo tug of War would be a laugh

 

[Blue Hills]

The name of the American city Philadephia is effectively a homage to incest/sister farking.
An ancient ruler of Egypt, Ptolemaios II, married his own sister.
This was considered pretty "normal for Egypt" at the time.
Nevertheless the ruler was dubbed Philádelphos as a reference to this practice.
But since this wasn't thought to be anything so terrible at the time a place in what is now Turkey was named Philadélpheia in homage to said chap.
And somewhat later, Yanks looking for something with a certain heritage named a city after this.
And these days apparently try to tell folks that its name means city of brotherly love.

 

[Chris S]

The Ku Klux Klan's mission statement was set out in a document know as the Kloran. This was a portmanteau word formed from Klan and Quoran.