Fascinating Facts and Trivia

Powerful earthquakes can permanently shorten the length of Earth's day, by moving the spin of the Earth's axis.

The 2011 Japan earthquake knocked 1.8 microseconds off our days.

The 2004 Sumatra quake cost us around 6.8 microseconds.

The tiny parasite Toxoplasma gondii can only breed sexually when in the guts of a cat.

To this end, when it infects rats, it changes their behaviour to make them less scared of cats.

A 19th-century railroad worker named Phineas Gage had an iron rod rammed through his head—and survived.

In one of the most bizarre medical anomalies in history, Gage lived another 12 full years despite having had his brain’s left frontal lobe mostly destroyed in the incident.

His story does have another interesting twist to it though—friends of his say that his behavior was virtually unrecognizable from this point on, describing him as “no longer Gage.”

Drinkers in Dawson City, located in Canada’s Yukon Territory, can visit the Sourdough Saloon and become a member of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club should they desire.

Just ask for Captain River Rat, purchase a shot of Yukon Jack whiskey, and watch as a dehydrated human toe is dropped into your drink.

After pledging the Sourtoe Oath, simply drink the shot (and remember, your lips have to touch the toe!).

However, DO NOT SWALLOW THE TOE. Since its inception in 1973, several overzealous patrons have downed the toe, either by accident or on purpose.

The bar is on their 10th toe (the toes are often donated in wills by other patrons). There is now a fine of $2,500 for swallowing the precious digit.

(14-04-2020 20:11 )billyboy1963 Wrote:  A 19th-century railroad worker named Phineas Gage had an iron rod rammed through his head—and survived.

In one of the most bizarre medical anomalies in history, Gage lived another 12 full years despite having had his brain’s left frontal lobe mostly destroyed in the incident.

His story does have another interesting twist to it though—friends of his say that his behavior was virtually unrecognizable from this point on, describing him as “no longer Gage.”

A friend gave me a first hand account of an identical accident in a steelworks at night twenty years ago.
Hot rebar sprung into the air, pierced a man's skull from temple to dome and lifted him three feet in the air.
Some ran away, some froze but my friend realised something was happening and investigated.
He cut the rebar leaving a foot either side of the head and the decision to remove it was taken by the victim who calmly pulled it through himself.
The victim was the first aider but my friend controlled the extensive blood loss and both he and victim (who remained conscious throughout) went to hospital.
That's when my friend's composure left him.
He returned to the plant some hours later. He told me that he'd never seen so many senior managers on site at night and began his account before the site nurse demanded he go home.
The victim made a recovery physically but suffered mentally, at first his gratitude to my friend was appropriate but it escalated. Unfortunately the victim changed ultimately to an arsehole whereas he had be a cheerful family man.
My friend was awarded but memory doesn't recall what.

(14-04-2020 20:15 )billyboy1963 Wrote:  Drinkers in Dawson City, located in Canada’s Yukon Territory, can visit the Sourdough Saloon and become a member of the Sourtoe Cocktail Club should they desire.

Just ask for Captain River Rat, purchase a shot of Yukon Jack whiskey, and watch as a dehydrated human toe is dropped into your drink.

After pledging the Sourtoe Oath, simply drink the shot (and remember, your lips have to touch the toe!).

However, DO NOT SWALLOW THE TOE. Since its inception in 1973, several overzealous patrons have downed the toe, either by accident or on purpose.

The bar is on their 10th toe (the toes are often donated in wills by other patrons). There is now a fine of $2,500 for swallowing the precious digit.

About he same time as Dawson Creek was established Fred Trump, an immigrant from Germany, who had set up a brothel in Seattle, realised there could be "gold in them there hills", and established a Hotel/Brothel in Bennett, British Columbia to satisfy the "needs" of the prospectors and the girls who satisfied those needs. When a railroad was built that bypassed Bennett he moved the hotel by raft down the Yukon River to Whitehorse where the railroad had a major station.
That hotel was the start of a major hotel chain dynasty that has the current head of it, Donald, residing in the White House.

The Olympic flag's colors are always red, black, blue, green, and yellow rings on a field of white.

This is because at least one of those colors appears on the flag of every nation on the planet.

Erosion at the base of Niagara Falls has caused the falls to recede approximately seven miles over the past 10,000 years.

A ten-year-old mattress weighs double what it did when it was new due to debris that it absorbs over time.

That debris includes dust mites (their droppings and decaying bodies), mold, millions of dead skin cells, dandruff, animal and human hair, secretions, excretions, lint, pollen, dust, soil, sand, and a lot of perspiration, which the average person loses at a rate of a quart a day.

Have a good night's sleep!

The cruise liner Queen Elizabeth 2 moves only six inches for each gallon of fuel it burns.