Odd factoids

[bruce1530]

Factoids are much scarcer in the spring and summer than in the winter.

 

[classic33]

The word winter comes from the Germanic wintar which in turn is derived from the root wed meaning 'wet' or water', and so signifying a wet season.

 

[classic33]

Ancient Romans didn’t measure time in our 60-minute hours; instead, they divided daylight and darkness into 12 increments each, a system they adopted from the Egyptians. In Rome, that meant an hour was about 45 minutes in winter and 75 in summer.

Hours would have governed meetings, courts and dinners, but not in the carefully structured way so many of us experience today.

 

[Dave7]

As @classic33 says, sunlight days were divided into equal parts for hours BUT where Classic goes wrong is that 24 sunny "hours" still =one day. In those days they got far more sunny periods with loooads of sun so they could get so much sunshine that our 1 day equalled 2 and sometimes 4 or more of there's.
The evidence for that is that the Bible quotes Adam as living 930 years and in Methusela's diary (of which I have a copy) he lived 969 years.

 

[NorthernDave]

The "longest day" (summer solstice) actually contains exactly the same number of hours as any other day.

 

[yello]

Anatole France died October 12, 1924

 

[classic33]

In Ancient Egypt, the summer solstice preceded the appearance of the Siriussta which the Egyptians believed was responsible for the annual flooding of the Nile that they relied upon for agriculture.

Because of this, the Egyptian calendar was set so that the start of the year coincided with the appearance of Sirius, just after the solstice.

 

[classic33]

"Two things in life that you can't do without, I heard it from my mother, a good pair of shoes and nice new bed, if you're not in one you're in the other."

 

[classic33]

"Two things in life that you can't do without, I heard it from my mother, a good pair of shoes and nice new bed, if you're not in one you're in the other."

The ballad of mattress mick

 

[Drago]

Donald Tusk is named after an elephant that Donald Trump shot while on safari in 1984.

 

[classic33]

Donald Tusk is named after an elephant that Donald Trump shot while on safari in 1984.

Nearly, he was the one going "tisk, tisk" when he'd shot it. Mis-reported as "tusk, tusk" due to the proximity of the "I" & the "U" on the keyboard.

Besides when was the last time you saw an elephant named Donald?

 

[Drago]

Recently retired US Secretary for defence, General "Mad Dog" Mattis, earned the Mad dog nickname when he once ate a kebab in France. It turned out to have been made from the carcass of a rabid dog. My how he chuckled when he found out.

 

[bruce1530]

General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Operation Desert Storm was known in the press as “Stormin Norman”. He gained this nickname as a new recruit, when he was initially assigned to the Logistics & Supplies Division of the 51st Infantry. His potential was immediately recognised and he was promoted to be in charge of the warehouse, and the nickname “Storeman Norman” stuck with him throughout his military career.

 

[Ming the Merciless]

The average human body contains enough fat to make seven bars of soap.

That used to be true, but it's 14 bars now.

 

[NorthernDave]

General Norman Schwarzkopf, commander of Operation Desert Storm was known in the press as “Stormin Norman”. He gained this nickname as a new recruit, when he was initially assigned to the Logistics & Supplies Division of the 51st Infantry. His potential was immediately recognised and he was promoted to be in charge of the warehouse, and the nickname “Storeman Norman” stuck with him throughout his military career.

It's a little known fact that before joining the military, Norman Schwarzkopf (as he was then) invented hair dye.