Here's your (not so) totally useless fact(s) of the day:

[phkrause]

You can't usually smell your own house (or perfume) because of a survival instinct called "olfactory adaptation." The brain is always looking for new, unusual, or changing smells as a sign of possible danger, so it ignores all the smells that have already become familiar.

James

[phkrause]

Because Gmail first launched on April 1st of 2004, many people thought it was an April Fools' Day prank.

James

[phkrause]

There's actually a response to the saying "Liar, liar, pants on fire." It's "I don't care, I don't care, I can buy another pair."

James

[phkrause]

The first chocolate bar was made in 1847. Before that, chocolate was only a drink.

James

[phkrause]

The book "Where the Wild Things Are" was originally named “Where the Wild Horses Are" until the author, Maurice Sendak, realized he couldn't draw horses. When the editor asked what he could draw, Sendak replied "things."

James

[phkrause]

The honey badger is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the"World's Most Fearless Creature." They feast on porcupines and deadly snakes, attack beehives for honey, steal baby cheetahs and snatch food from hungry lions.

James

[phkrause]

We're closer to the year the television show "The Jetsons" was set (2062), than the original air date of the series (1962).

James

[phkrause]

Each year, the average person walks the distance from New York to Miami.

James

[phkrause]

The use of the word “hello” as a telephone greeting has been credited to Thomas Edison. Alexander Graham Bell, who invented the telephone in 1885, never liked "hello" and advocated the use of "ahoy" as a telephonic greeting. However,
"hello" quickly became the standard when the first telephone exchanges, equipped by Edison, were set up across the country, and operating manuals adopted the word. By 1889, central telephone exchange operators were known as "hello-girls" due to the association between the greeting and the telephone.

James

[phkrause]

Jimmy Carter, the first president born in a hospital, is also the only U.S. President to graduate from United States Naval Academy. Carter attended Georgia Southwestern College and the Georgia Institute of Technology, and received a Bachelor of Science degree from the United States Naval Academy in 1946, graduating in the top ten percent of his class. In the Navy he became a submariner, serving in both the Atlantic and Pacific fleets, rising to the rank of lieutenant. After the death of his father in 1953, Carter left his naval career and returned home to Georgia to manage his family's peanut-growing business.

James

[phkrause]

The only plane allowed to fly on 9/11 after the attacks was a plane from San Diego to Miami delivering anti-venom to a man bitten by a highly poisonous snake. It was accompanied by two jet fighters.

James

[phkrause]

The last letter to be added to our alphabet was J.

James

[phkrause]

Gene Autry is the only person to be awarded stars in the five fields recognized on the Walk of Fame: film, TV, radio, live performance and music. During his lifetime, Autry emerged as both a top money-making entertainer and a powerful
businessman. As his 1998 obituary said, "He was enormously successful at almost anything he tried—radio, records, songwriting, television, real estate and business, as well as movies and museums." The late Bob Hope and the late
romantic crooner Tony Martin are next with four stars each. Thirty-three people, including Frank Sinatra, Danny Kaye and Jack Benny, have been awarded stars in three fields.

James

[phkrause]

The Equator is an imaginary line drawn around the earth equally distant from both poles, dividing the earth into northern and southern hemispheres. The length of the Equator is about 24,901 miles, and 78.7% of the imaginary line passes through water and the rest through the land. The equator passes through 13 countries and three continents. Those 13 countries include Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Sao Tome & Principe, Gabon, Republic of the Congo, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia, Maldives, Indonesia and Kiribati.

James

[phkrause]

A word that is similar to (either in sound or meaning) but is not quite profanity is called a "minced oath." Ex: When you say "frickin'" instead of "f*cking."

James

[phkrause]

Sir Isaac Newton's apple tree still stands today, more than 350 years after it helped him discover gravity. Story Link

James

[phkrause]

Most of the American flags in Disney theme parks are fake. They have fewer stars and stripes, so Disney doesn't have to follow the flag code and lower them/light them every night. link with pics

James

[phkrause]

In 1999, a waitress named Tonda Lynn Dickerson was tipped a lottery ticket and won $10 million. Article

She was sued by her co-workers for their share. Then she was sued by the customer who tipped her the ticket. Then she was sued by the IRS and almost kidnapped by her ex.

James

[phkrause]

A yearly supply of bottled water for someone who consumes 8 glasses a day costs more than $300. The same amount of tap water costs about $0.38.

James

[phkrause]

If you were to start with one cent and double your money every day; it would take 27 days for you to become a millionaire.

James

ps:I added this up and it didn't total up to a million!! Anyone else want to give it a go?

[thx4mercy]

On 10/9/2020 at 8:50 AM, phkrause said:

 

 

On 10/9/2020 at 8:50 AM, phkrause said:

I added this up and it didn't total up to a million!! Anyone else want to give it a go?

If you double your penny and put 2 cents on day one (rather than one cent on day one like I did), then it ends up over a million on day 27.

Edited October 10, 2020 by thx4mercy
had some duplication

[phkrause]

1 hour ago, thx4mercy said:

 

If you double your penny and put 2 cents on day one (rather than one cent on day one like I did), then it ends up over a million on day 27.

That's what I thought, but I started with the 1 cent on day one!!

[phkrause]

The average person produces enough flatulence to fill a birthday balloon in a single day!

James

[phkrause]

Hurricanes have names thanks to an Australian weatherman named Clement Wragge, who started naming tropical storms after politicians he hated. He would say that the officials were "causing great distress" or "wandering aimlessly about the Pacific."

James

[phkrause]

If you were to drive your car vertically into the sky at 60 MPH, it would only take an hour to reach outer space.

My wife didn’t believe me, so I googled it to make sure  ?

James