Unusual Facts Thread

[robycop3]

The Zamboni ice-resurfacer seen in ice-skating rinks everywhere was invented by Frank Zamboni (1901-1988 in 1949. Its main refinement has been to make all-electric models which don't release fumes inside ice-rink enclosures.

The machines are sold worldwide. The only other thing Zamboni makes or licenses is a full line of apparel, much the same as sports teams sell.

[robycop3]

Most stars of most constellations have nothing to do with each other, and if we were able to travel near to these constellations, we wouldn't recognize them, as their stars are not actually close together. For instance, Dubhe, the star at the outer lip of the Big Dipper, is 105 light-years from earth, while the next star in the bowl, Merak, is 78 light-years from us, and about 30 light years from Dubhe.

The three belt stars of Orion are some 1500 light years from us, & about 60 light years apart. While not "related" to each other, they were formed from the same gas cloud. orion's brightest star as seen from earth is Rigel, about 860 light years distant.

[robycop3]

The farthest thing the unaided eye can see is the Andromeda galaxy, which is some 2.5 MILLION light years from us. To locate it, find the familiar constellation of Cassiopeia, which appears as a "W", or an "M", or the symbol for a person in a wheelchair, depending on the angle you're observing it from. Look about 4 moon widths below the bottom front of the "W", or above the front peak of the "M" on a very clear, moonless night. (It's visible mosta the year.)

[Valenth]

The Mean Streak, the Biggest Wooden Coaster at Cedar Point has enough lumber that you could put each piece end to end and the length would be almost 300 miles of board length!

[noreply66]

Thinking in a foreign language makes decisions more rational

[BubbleGumTiger]

A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

[noreply66]

Minnesota has 90,000 miles of shorelines; more than California, Florida and Hawaii combined

[Valenth]

^Land o' 10,000 Lakes!

[Valenth]

Maine is the only state in the USA to border just one state.

[TRENCHFOOT]

The widow of the inventor of the Winchester rifle built a house with mazes and dead-end staircases to confuse the ghosts of the people who were killed by her husband's rifles.

[TRENCHFOOT]

The smallest park in the world is a two-foot circle in Portland, Oregon. Mills end park.

[noreply66]

McDonald's daily customer traffic is 62 million----that's more than the population of Great Britain

[noreply66]

you burn more calories sleeping than watching TV

[robycop3]

Grover Cleveland was the only US Prez so far to have served two NON-CONSECUTIVE terms.

[robycop3]

The most-luminous known non-supernova single star is R136a1, in the Large Magellanic Cloud. It's some 163 K light-years distant. it's approx. 30 million miles in diameter, with a surface temp of about 90K degrees F. With a luminosity 8 million times that of the sun, if it were in place of the sun, it'd vaporize all the planets, including Pluto. With a mass 265 times that of the sun's, it's also the most-massive known star. (It cannot be distinguished from the other stars in that Magellanic Cloud without a powerful telescope. The cloud's other stars are too close together.)

[robycop3]

Aroldis Chapman's fastest pitches take about 0.35 seconds to reach the catcher.

[noreply66]

In Alaska it is illegal to whisper in someone's ear while they are moose hunting.

[BubbleGumTiger]

In Alaska it is illegal to whisper in someone's ear while they are moose hunting.

Illegal and Dangerous...................Especially if you are whispering in the Moose's ear..........

[noreply66]

One pound of peanut butter can contain up to 150 bug fragments and five rodent hairs

[Valenth]

In Alaska it is illegal to whisper in someone's ear while they are moose hunting.

Illegal and Dangerous...................Especially if you are whispering in the Moose's ear..........

Thats great!