The "Did you know" thread.....

[les1917lie]

Swiss electrical engineer George de Mestral invented his first touch fastener when, in 1941, he went for a walk in the woods and wondered why cockleburrs clung to his coat and dog.

Xanthium (cocklebur) is a genus of flowering plants in the sunflower tribe within the daisy family

Thus was Velcro invented......

[les1917lie]

Diesel fuel is sometimes referred to as DERV, which is an acronym for diesel engine road vehicle.......

[rosestone]

Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman has five sons. All are named George.

(not only that, but one of his seven daughters is named 'Georgetta').

[DTravel]

Originally Posted by rosestone

Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman has five sons. All are named George.

(not only that, but one of his seven daughters is named 'Georgetta').

But how many of his wives are named "George"?

(TWELVE kids!?!)

[Numerous One]

Originally Posted by squigg58

Of course, that only relates to an Avoirdupois "quack"! A Troy "quack" is quite different and has no sound at all!

Too bad they ain't makin' them ducks as they used to back in the old ages. Well, at least we still have Troy quacks.

• The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow (USA) (born 6:30 a.m. at Alton, Illinois, USA on 22 February 1918), who when last measured on 27 June 1940, was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.

Imagine him driving a car seating on the backseat and passing by with his entire torso sticking out of the rooftop.

[Roubignol]

Originally Posted by Numerous One

• The tallest man in medical history for whom there is irrefutable evidence is Robert Pershing Wadlow (USA) (born 6:30 a.m. at Alton, Illinois, USA on 22 February 1918), who when last measured on 27 June 1940, was found to be 2.72 m (8 ft 11.1 in) tall.

Imagine him driving a car seating on the backseat and passing by with his entire torso sticking out of the rooftop.

His great size and his continued growth in adulthood were due to hyperplasia of his pituitary gland, which results in an abnormally high level of human growth hormone. He showed no indication of an end to his growth even at the time of his death.

On July 4, 1940, during a professional appearance at the Manistee National Forest Festival, a faulty brace irritated his ankle, causing a blister and subsequent infection. Doctors treated him with a blood transfusion and emergency surgery, but his condition worsened due to an autoimmune disorder, and on July 15, 1940, 11 days after contracting the infection, he died in his sleep at the age of 22.

If not dying that young , he could have been even taller.

[rosestone]

Snoop Doggy Dogg was Cameron Diaz's drug dealer when Diaz was in high school.

[Numerous One]

Hey, Australia, Australia, Australia! We love ya!
And so much! I apologize to our Australian friends whom I'm imagining being spewin' - sick and tired of such stereotypes, but I can't help it. Why choosing a piece of land so far away where you are forced to stand upside down, in first place?

I love Australia. And not just because of this (I believe many, if not all, of you are quite familiar with this one:

and how about these:




and where else in the world would you be able to see traffic signs like these:


but because of such a diversity in life forms outlandishness that it simply is a different game.

I present you my absolute champion, the best creature in the entire universe, it's majesty:

The Platypus

- Ornithorhynchus anatinus, sometimes referred to as the duck-billed platypus, is a semiaquatic egg-laying mammal endemic to eastern Australia, including Tasmania. Together with the four species of echidna, it is one of the five extant species of monotremes. Didja know that these are the only mammals that lay eggs instead of giving birth? The animal is the sole living representative of its family (Ornithorhynchidae) and genus (Ornithorhynchus), though a number of related species have been found in the fossil record. The first preserved platypus body was thought to have been a fake, made of several animals sewn together, when it was first looked at by scientists in 1799.

The unusual appearance of this egg-laying, duck-billed, beaver-tailed, otter-footed mammal baffled European naturalists when they first encountered it, with some considering it an elaborate hoax. No easy classification of this little beggar.

"Give it a go at classifying me, ya mug!"

- When the platypus was first encountered by Europeans in 1798, a pelt and sketch were sent back to Great Britain by Captain John Hunter, the second Governor of New South Wales. British scientists' initial hunch was that the attributes were a hoax. George Shaw, who produced the first description of the animal in the Naturalist's Miscellany in 1799, stated it was impossible not to entertain doubts as to its genuine nature, and Robert Knox believed it might have been produced by some Asian taxidermist. It was thought that somebody had sewn a duck's beak onto the body of a beaver-like animal. Shaw even took a pair of scissors to the dried skin to check for stitches

- Bizarreness doesn't end up here. It is one of the few species of venomous mammals: the male platypus has a spur on the hind foot that delivers a venom capable of causing severe pain to humans.

Oh, c'mon! Really! It's even venomous

- There is no universally agreed plural of "platypus" in the English language. Scientists generally use "platypuses" or simply "platypus". Colloquially, the term "platypi" is also used for the plural, although this is technically incorrect and a form of pseudo-Latin; the correct Greek plural would be "platypodes".

- Platypus has appeared as a mascot at national events and is featured on the reverse of its 20-cent coin. The platypus is the animal emblem of the state of New South Wales.

I wish it would become the emblem of the Earth.

[Numerous One]

Being on topic of vault of the essential knowledge (bizarre facts, to be honest), about Australian, and other, wildlife, I could hardly recommend you enough this guy's (zefrank1 is his nick; hilarious dude) "True Facts About..." youtube video series:
True Facts About Marsupials
True Facts About The Sea Pig
True Facts About The Duck

Being aware his voice resembles Morgan Freeman's voice so much they are, as he would say, virtually indistinguishable (which is a feat of itself), he even made a video "True Facts About Morgan Freeman"

[Numerous One]

Apparently, there's a breed of cats called "munchkins". They have short, tiny legs and look like this:


Personally I prefer dogs as pets. Cats are still wild beasts, and they would eat us if they were big enough. Just trying to overcome my biases.