Really TRUE odd factoids

[classic33]

Neighbours has finally ended.
The final episode was broadcast on Prime Video as a two part finale last night, 11th December, at 10:40 pm.

 

[markemark]

Neighbours has finally ended.
The final episode was broadcast on Prime Video as a two part finale last night, 11th December, at 10:40 pm.

The third time it has finished.

Expect is to be resurrected on Channel 5 any day soon….

 

[Dave7]

Neighbours has finally ended.
The final episode was broadcast on Prime Video as a two part finale last night, 11th December, at 10:40 pm.

My claim to fame is......I've never watched it, or any other soap apart from Corry when Elsie Tanner was in it.

 

[classic33]

This Saturday, 13th December 2025, England says goodbye to a phenomenon centuries in the making. The rare alignment of the three norths - true north, magnetic north and grid north - leaves England at Berwick-upon-Tweed after three historic years together.

Events like this haven’t been recorded since the 1600s - and once it departs, the alignment won’t return for hundreds of years. Next stop? Scotland in 2026, before disappearing back into the North Sea.

 

[classic33]

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…”
Those words are unforgettable for anyone who grew up with Jackanory, a programme that was part of so many of our childhoods. First aired 60 years ago today, on the 13th December 1965, it quietly launched what would become one of British television’s most enduring children’s shows — a simple idea that turned into a national treasure.

 

[DaveReading]

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…”
Those words are unforgettable for anyone who grew up with Jackanory, a programme that was part of so many of our childhoods. First aired 60 years ago today, on the 13th December 1965, it quietly launched what would become one of British television’s most enduring children’s shows — a simple idea that turned into a national treasure.

First heard (on the radio) some 15 years before Jackanory was a thing:

https://www.bbc.com/historyofthebbc/anniversaries/january/listen-with-mother

 

[Chris S]

If you wrote out all the numbers in sequence starting from 'one' you would reach 'one billion' before you used the letter 'b'.

 

[Chris S]

The Bishop of Winchester used to have the power to licence prostitutes. The women that he lived off were known as 'Winchester Geese'.

 

[Andy in Germany]

"Are you sitting comfortably? Then I’ll begin…”
Those words are unforgettable for anyone who grew up with Jackanory, a programme that was part of so many of our childhoods. First aired 60 years ago today, on the 13th December 1965, it quietly launched what would become one of British television’s most enduring children’s shows — a simple idea that turned into a national treasure.

Jackanory really annoyed me: I figured that if I wanted to read a book, I could go and read a book, not watch boring television.

 

[Beebo]

World Wide Web - 12 letters and 3 syllables
WWW - 3 letters and 9 syllables

 

[markemark]

World Wide Web - 12 letters and 3 syllables
WWW - 3 letters and 9 syllables

And nobody uses either any more.

 

[Electric_Andy]

World Wide Web - 12 letters and 3 syllables
WWW - 3 letters and 9 syllables

When I was in Australia and NZ, the former renowned for using abbreviations for everything, they used to say "dub dub dub", which worked well but sounded a bit odd

 

[Chris S]

Some parts of Carol Vorderman have turned 64 today

 

[Andy in Germany]

When I was in Australia and NZ, the former renowned for using abbreviations for everything, they used to say "dub dub dub", which worked well but sounded a bit odd

Here it's pronounced roughly as "Vey, Vey, Vey" which means it's probably the only time in history that Germans came up with an easier way to say something.

 

[Chris S]

You can reuse a 2015 calendar in 2026. The days will match.

The 11-year gap is the most frequent interval for a non-leap year to have the exact same sequence of dates and weekdays as a previous non-leap year .