Useless fun fact-ish type stuff

[Alpo]

Wombats have square poop.

 

We have started the thread on animals with square things, right?

[Stump Water]

59 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Goats have square pupils.

 

Oblong.  Same as horses.

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

From Wikipedia….

 

SS Selma

Wreckage of SS Selma in 2013
History
Name	SS Selma
Builder	F.F. Ley and Company, Mobile, Alabama
Launched	28 June 1919
Fate	Abandoned in 1922
General characteristics
Tonnage	6,826 GRT 4,225 NRT
Length	425 ft (129.54 m)
Beam	54 ft (16.46 m)
Draught	36 ft (10.97 m)
Propulsion	T.3-cyl. 359 nhp Single screw
SS Selma (steamship)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
SS Selma   Show map of TexasShow map of the United StatesShow all
Nearest city	Galveston, TX
Coordinates	29°20′39″N94°47′11″W
Area	1 acre (0.40 ha)
NRHP reference No.	93001449[1]
Added to NRHP	January 5, 1994

SS Selma was an oil tankerbuilt in 1919 by F.F. Ley and Company, Mobile, Alabama. President Woodrow Wilsonapproved the construction of 24 concrete vessels of which only 12 were actually completed.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

 

Credit cards were invented because a businessman forgot his wallet.

The modern credit card may not exist if it weren’t for a businessman who forgot his wallet more than 75 years ago. In 1949, Frank McNamara was dining with clients at Major’s Cabin Grill in New York City, when he realized he didn’t have any cash on him and couldn’t pay. Accounts differ about whether McNamara’s wife came to his rescue or he simply promised to pay the restaurant back later. In either case, he was reportedly determined never to allow this embarrassing situation to occur again and began brainstorming new ways for people to pay if they also found themselves cashless.   With the help of lawyer Ralph Schneider, McNamara conceived of a company called the Diners Club, which issued pocket-sized cardboard credit cards featuring details such as a person’s name, address, and membership number. The idea was for members to use the cards at participating restaurants, each of which kept track of a running personal monthly tab connected to each card. While the concept of a running tab wasn’t new, this was the first card that could be used at an array of businesses instead of one establishment. At the end of each month, each eatery would tell the Diners Club how much debt was owed, and the company would collect money from its members and send the necessary amount to each restaurant, minus a processing fee.   The service made its debut on February 8, 1950, when McNamara returned to Major’s Cabin Grill for a dinner that Diners Club International now refers to as the “First Supper.” At the end of the meal, McNamara provided his charge card and signed his name, serving as proof of purchase. The Diners Club became an immediate sensation, amassing more than 330 participating businesses and 42,000 card holders within a year.

[Alpo]

If you think about that for a moment, it doesn't really make sense.

 

I forgot my wallet, so I don't have any money to pay for my meal. That's all right. I will put it on the credit card.

 

Which is in my wallet. Back at home. Because I forgot it.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

But it does work for forgot cash.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

6 hours ago, Alpo said:

If you think about that for a moment, it doesn't really make sense.

 

I forgot my wallet, so I don't have any money to pay for my meal. That's all right. I will put it on the credit card.

 

Which is in my wallet. Back at home. Because I forgot it.

Yes. With today’s hindsight. But his wife thought of it. She would have her purse but perhaps have forgotten her wallet.
 

 1950, so a man-purse would not have been a thing.

[Sedalia Dave]

 

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

The 8” projectiles for the Navy’s 8”/55 guns were 355 lbs. The Army and Marine 8” projectiles for their howitzers we’re 210 lbs.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

The airport code "SEX" refers to Sembach Air Base in Sembach, Germany. 

 

Here's a more detailed breakdown: 

 

• Airport Name: Sembach Air Base
• Location: Sembach, Germany
• Status: The airport is closed
• IATA Code: SEX
• Time Zone: Europe/Luxembourg (GMT +2:00)

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

In 49 out of America’s 50 state capitals, there is a McDonald’s within the city limits. The odd city out? Montpelier, Vermont. Montpelier is the smallest state capital in terms of population, with only about 7,500 people. In addition to being on the small side, Montpelier tends to favor local businesses over large chains, so McDonald’s shouldn’t take it personally. The city doesn’t have a Burger King either

[Eyesa Horg]

22 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

In 49 out of America’s 50 state capitals, there is a McDonald’s within the city limits. The odd city out? Montpelier, Vermont. Montpelier is the smallest state capital in terms of population, with only about 7,500 people. In addition to being on the small side, Montpelier tends to favor local businesses over large chains, so McDonald’s shouldn’t take it personally. The city doesn’t have a Burger King either

There is one right next door in Berlin though!

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Water on spacecraft and the International Space Station is precious, so when it comes to soiled clothing, such as workout gear, the current protocol is for astronauts to put their clothes in cargo spacecraft that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. More expensive items, like dirty spacesuits, are brought back to be cleaned. Fortunately, NASA has recently teamed up with Tide to develop a fully degradable detergent for use in space. It will be tested by future astronauts.

[J-BAR #18287]

3 hours ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Water on spacecraft and the International Space Station is precious, so when it comes to soiled clothing, such as workout gear, the current protocol is for astronauts to put their clothes in cargo spacecraft that burn up in Earth’s atmosphere. More expensive items, like dirty spacesuits, are brought back to be cleaned. Fortunately, NASA has recently teamed up with Tide to develop a fully degradable detergent for use in space. It will be tested by future astronauts.

I think a few minute's exposure to a space vacuum, perhaps with rotation to ensure uniform heating from the sun, would kill odor causing bacteria and mold spores better than a washing machine.  Avoid burning stuff up unnecessarily.

 

I used to work for P&G.  I have no objection to them making a profit (a great, well managed business) just thinking of alternatives.

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

18 minutes ago, J-BAR #18287 said:

I think a few minute's exposure to a space vacuum, perhaps with rotation to ensure uniform heating from the sun, would kill odor causing bacteria and mold spores better than a washing machine.  Avoid burning stuff up unnecessarily.

That would probably require a space walk. Not knowing any better, I'd guess that everything involved in doing one often enough to get the result might be more expensive than new gear.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Canada has the most donut shops per capita of any country in the world.

 

that might be just an artifact of the word donut, e.g., France has pâtisseries (pastry shops)

[Sgt. C.J. Sabre, SASS #46770]

1 hour ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Canada has the most donut shops per capita of any country in the world.

Well, I suppose that they had to be number one in SOMETHING.

[Rye Miles #13621]

New Coke was introduced on this date in 1985. 
It was not very successful!

[Texas Joker]

Served it's purpose. Coke switched from cane sugar to high fructose corn syrup.

 

New coke cleared the production of cane sugar from the market so there was no side by side comparison against coke with hfcs. 

 

When coke classic was introduced it was close enough to the remembered flavor that everybody rejoiced.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

New research shows France spends more time eating than any other country. The Organization for Economic Development (OECD) recently released its figures to show how much time people spend eating and drinking each day in different countries around the world. The biggest cliché about the French people is that they love to eat and drink, but now it has been proven. They spend more time at the table than any other country – a whopping two hours and thirteen minutes each day. The Americans spend one hour and two minutes eating and drinking each day, which means the French spend twice as long at the table enjoying their food.
Source: The Culture TripNew research shows France spends more time eating than any other country. The Organization for Economic Development (OECD) recently released its figures to show how much time people spend eating and drinking each day in different countries around the world. The biggest cliché about the French people is that they love to eat and drink, but now it has been proven. They spend more time at the table than any other country – a whopping two hours and thirteen minutes each day. The Americans spend one hour and two minutes eating and drinking each day, which means the French spend twice as long at the table enjoying their food.
Source: The Culture Trip

[Alpo]

38 minutes ago, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

They spend more time at the table than any other country – a whopping two hours and thirteen minutes each day.

One of my favorite scenes from one of my favorite movies. The Americanization of Emily. And James Garner is explaining what's wrong with Europe.

 

"I've had Frenchmen tell me I'm a Savage because I only take a half hour for lunch."

 

 

[MizPete]

On 4/22/2025 at 3:08 PM, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Canada has the most donut shops per capita

I think Texas can compete.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

3 minutes ago, MizPete said:

I think Texas can compete.

Copied from web

Quote

That's in part because Cambodian immigrants, fleeing the Khmer Rouge in the late 1970s, settled in the U.S. and opened doughnut shops.

 

[MizPete]

Really?  I'm really going to miss the apple fritters now that the Bar-3 has pulled the plug.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

After Pope Gregory X died in 1276, the first papal conclave was held. Speed was encouraged. The longer the cardinals took the less food was provided.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

On May 20, 1883, Krakatoa, a volcano on Rakata Island in Indonesia, erupted with a force never seen — or heard — on Earth. Some 1,300 miles away, residents of islands in the Bay of Bengal reported hearing a series of blasts “resembling those of artillery.” Even farther away, reports from islands in the western Indian Ocean recorded a “distant roar of heavy guns.” As the speed of sound is around 767 miles per hour, Krakatoa’s loud awakening took four hours to reach the distant island of Rodrigues (near Mauritius) roughly 3,000 miles away — and it still delivered sounds as loud as a gun blast.

At an estimated 310 decibels, the eruption of Krakatoa is the loudest sound ever recorded in human history. In fact, Krakatoa was so loud that for those in close proximity, the sound of the eruption wasn’t a sound at all. That’s because at 194 decibels, acoustic vibration transforms into a shock wave of a sonic boom, and the Krakatoa shock wave was so massive, it circled Earth four times before finally dissipating. For a full five days, weather stations around the world experienced spikes in pressure every 34 hours — approximately how long it takes for sound to circumnavigate the globe. The Krakatoa eruption was one of the most powerful in history, due to a buildup of pressure in the magma chamber. It delivered the equivalent force of a 200-megaton bomb — four times as powerful as the largest-ever thermonuclear explosion, Tsar Bomba, which produced the loudest human-made sound in history

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

While working on the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C., an engraver accidentally carved the letters "euture" instead of "future" when inscribing Lincoln's second inaugural address. An attempt was made to correct the error with stone filling, but visitors can still see remnants of the initial mistake, which is found on the north wall of the monument.

 

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

About the name Fido….

 

The story behind this classic name for a pet dog goes back to Abraham Lincoln, who was a devoted animal lover. One of Lincoln’s favorite pets was Fido, a yellow dog whose name came from the Latin word for “faithful.” In the five years before Lincoln became President, Fido was the lawyer’s constant companion, and was used to help promote Lincoln’s down-to-earth image to voters.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

In 1909 Lincoln’s face was put on the penny. It was the first time a coin was made with a president’s face.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

In 1901, British civil engineer H. Cecil Booth patented a game-changing appliance: the vacuum cleaner. This model was a far cry from the Roombas and Dysons we know today — Booth’s vacuum was petrol-engine-powered, placed on a cart pulled along by horses. When someone needed their home vacuumed, the cart would pull up outside, and hoses attached to the vacuum would be fed through the windows into the property.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

The United States has more lighthouses than any other country — around 700 of them — but only one of them is still regularly staffedinstead of being automated. That would be Boston Light, which can be found on Little Brewster Island in the Boston Harbor Islands National Recreation Area. Before the advent of electric lights, “keeping a good light” required lighthouse keepers to tend to the actual lamp (which generally burned oil or kerosene), watch out for fog and sound fog signals, and perform housekeeping duties that included cleaning the lens. Today, lights are automatic, monitored by a remote control center and built with backup components that come online automatically if any portion of the system fails.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

In 1983, as a demonstration of "how precious liberty is and how easily it can be lost," David Copperfield made the Statue of Liberty disappear (and reappear, thankfully). The parks department in charge of the 305-foot-tall copper statue, quite happy with where it was, initially turned down the magician's request to use it as a prop, but Copperfield eventually got Ronald Reagan to intervene and help make the trick happen.

[MizPete]

On 4/12/2025 at 12:32 PM, Stump Water said:

On 4/12/2025 at 11:31 AM, Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984 said:

Goats have square pupils.

 

Oblong.  Same as horses.

 

I thought goats had eyes like cats.  And devils.

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

Harry Houdini

 

Who better than the genius behind the Water Torture Cell Escape to create a device to save deep sea divers' lives? Houdini’s idea was an underwater suit that could quickly come apart, allowing users a speedy withdrawal if needed. He also patented a toy of himself wearing a straitjacket, designed to “struggle free” when placed on its head.

Edited May 5 by Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984