h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

It has been calculated that had Homo Habilis not developed more specialised verbal skills, it would have had to spend approximately 23 per cent of its time budget grooming others to maintain social cohesion of its group.

<

I saw something about that on TV last night. Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches are a weird concept.

peanut butter and jam to us english speaking people.

cheese and vegemite (marmite, promite etc) is the popular oz equivalent.

(I did put the word "jam" in there to help lessen the confusion).

Yea... PB&J with the Crusts Cut Off is just too American... Forget "apple pie".

If you didn't grow up in the states you just don't realise how important that patent could be... It'd be like trying to patent bangers and mash! or .. Fish and chips... or... Chip Butties.... (I'm stretching my mind here... what is a very very common thing to eat as a kid... 'cause that's what PB&J sandwiches are... ubiquitous as a kid).

Sneezes travel faster than 100mph! If you go into a Starbucks and order a "cup of Tazo chai tea", what you're saying is "cup of cup tea tea" And I have personally researched that 7 out of 10 people would rather shove a melon-baller into their eye-socket than watch "Shock Treatment"

A man named Achibald Leach was working after school hours at the local hot-dog stand, his boss encouraged him to stay with it and be manager someday. He quit and became Cary Grant.

Can I patent my own varient of the PB&J foodstuff?

Put each one on a slice of hot toast and sandwich it together, mmmmmm! a snack for a king......oops maknig me hungry, must go and make one now!!!

- maknig + making ...... obviously!

Friday 15th April 2005 is the 250th anniversary of the publication of Dr. Samuel Johnson's dictionary.

I've posted this as a 'useless fact', because I mentioned it to hubby and he said the fact was of no use to him whatsoever and would take up valuable space in his brain! Ha!

now that i think on it, this patenting of cultural food icons isn't without precedence. unless it has been resolved recently, kellogs australia was trying to take ownership of chocolate crackles; those kids party and fete favourites made by mixing rice bubbles, copha and cocoa powder and some other stuff.

and honey crackles have mysteriously started being called honey joys in the recipe on the backs on cornflakes packs.

And stifle is the only word that is an anagram of itself

I thought the cheetah was actually a dog - it can't retract its claws - at least mine can't

<>

Wow, a fact that has been verified as useless... great!

fuses act less - less fast cues - less fate cuss - cast eels fuss & cut less safes are all useless facts

<<fuses act less - less fast cues - less fate cuss - cast eels fuss & cut less safes are all useless facts>>

Technically, yes. But for the purposes of this thread... no.

Before building the first television John Logie Baird had many failed inventions. These included a method of turning graphite into diamonds which could run off mains power (which blacked out the whole of Glasgow) and the pneumatic running shoe (which burst).

My brother and I invented the Frisbee but as we thought it was the lid of a plastic bucket we didn’t bother to patent it.

I think that one comes under the classification of Great Big Porky Pies.

I blame 2legs for the invention of the frisbee... damn, wrong thread.

I think that one comes under the classification of Great Big Porky Pies.
Quite wrong.
In 1960 we spent a camping holiday in Devon, on the edge of Dartmoor. My baby brother was under a year old and still in nappies (the proper sort that you washed and re-used). My mama, after washing the worst off the nappies, left them to soak in a plastic bucket, which had a tight fitting lid. We discovered that, not only could you throw this lid but that it had distinct aerodynamic qualities. It became a family game and we kicked ourselves when the Frisbee arrived some years later.

Technically, yes. But for the purposes of this thread... no?????
The what are the purposes of this thread?
"Eggs don't spin unless they are hard-boiled"
Does that fit.

The purpose of this thread is presenting a fact which is interesting but nonetheless has no practical application in everyday life. That egg one fits nicely... I didn't know that, it's quite interesting but I cannot imagine myself ever being in a situation where I'd need this knowledge.


Back on topic: William Wallace never wore a kilt. He was a lowlander and would have dressed in the same style as the English of the time.

The egg thingy actually does come in handy when you are not sure whether that egg you are about to eat is, in fact, one of those you boiled yesterday and put in the fridge, or whether it is the one unboiled egg that your sister threatened she would hide among your boiled eggs.

Hitler supposedly owned a copy of Charles Chaplin's movie, The Great Dictator.

Y.