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The Official DP Interesting Fact Thread

In the famous shower scene in Psycho, that wasn't Anthony Perkins playing Norman Bates/"mother". He was doing another gig at the time.
 
 
The State of Kentucky did not ratify the 13th Amendment until 1976.

111 years to officially abolish slavery in that state.
 
Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day in 1826, 50 years after the declaration of Independence(1776)
 
Josie said:
I enjoy learning things including random facts. I thought it would be fun to start a thread where you can come and tell us something interesting you never knew before or you think many people might not know. Please keep this thread free from snarky political comments. Thanks!

I'll start us off. I never knew that David Koresh's real name was Vernon Howell. He chose David for King David from the Old Testament and Koresh because it's the biblical name of a Cyrus the Great who was called a messiah. If you don't know David Koresh, he thought himself to also be a messiah descended from King David just as Jesus Christ was.
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That guy may not have been "the messiah", and he certainly wasn't at one with God, but he did succeed at one thing... David Koresh had truly reached the pinnacle of (narcissistic)enlightenment. From his lofty heights, there is no higher level of narcissism!
 
All gasoline has exactly the same level of energy value. Octanes have nothing to do with with fuel energy. Rather, the octane rating has to do with the ignition point and burn rate. The higher the octane, the more delayed the burn rate is to avoid pre-ignition.

Thus, if you have a car motor set up for 87 octane gasoline, if you you instead put in 93 octane it will reduce how much horsepower your motor makes as this is essentially retarding the timing. However, if your motor is designed for 91 or 93 octane and you put in 87 octane, this also not only can reduce power but also tear up your motor quickly by the air-fuel igniting while the pistons are still coming up - trying to slam them backwards against the crankshaft. Fortunately, modern motors have knock sensors what will retard the igniting if it detects pre-ignition knock.

Most people think higher octane rating means more powerful gasoline, when all gasoline is identical in energy level. It only has to do with ignition point and burn rate. Essentially, "octane" related to how much the burn rate of gasoline is delayed or slowed.

Because diesel motors operate on a very different principle, there is no octane rating.
 
Josie said:
I enjoy learning things including random facts. I thought it would be fun to start a thread where you can come and tell us something interesting you never knew before or you think many people might not know. Please keep this thread free from snarky political comments. Thanks!

I'll start us off. I never knew that David Koresh's real name was Vernon Howell. He chose David for King David from the Old Testament and Koresh because it's the biblical name of a Cyrus the Great who was called a messiah. If you don't know David Koresh, he thought himself to also be a messiah descended from King David just as Jesus Christ was.
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I was living in Waco during the Branch Davidian stand-off and massacre. The Waco Tribune newspaper always referred to Koresh as Vernon Howell.

David Thibodeau was one of the six survivors. He wrote a very interesting book:
https://www.amazon.com/Place-Called-Waco-Survivors-Story/dp/1891620428

My fact: The massacre of the Branch Davidians is why Timothy McVeigh blew up the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building.
 
The reason the New Year starts several days after the Winter Solstice is because the Roman Senators that voted on the calendar had their first session on that day. They chose to start the new year when they first met after the holidays, rather than the date of the winter solstice.

Also, at the time the Augustus calendar was first adopted, it had no leap years adjustment, so the date drifted. December 25 used to be the winter Solstice then. When the Julian calendar was adopted, they ALMOST adjusted back to where it was, but not quite.
 
George Harrison had a wicked sense of humor. He was once attacked and stabbed over 40 times with a 7-inch kitchen knife. As he was being carried across his yard on a stretcher, he motioned to two gardeners, who were just hired that day, to come over to him. Harrison asked "How do you like working here so far?"

Another time, when a reporter asked him what he though of Eric Clapton taking up with Harrison's wife, Pattie Boyd, Harrison responded "Eric's a good guy. It's not like she's taking up with some junkie". Hilarious. He really didn't mean it in a bad way, though. It was just his wicked humor. They remained friends.

BTW, Clapton wrote both "Layla" and "Wonderful Tonight" to Pattie. Harrison wrote "Something" for her, which Frank Sinatra said was the greatest love song ever written. Though Sinatra didn't know at the time that Harrison had written the song.

Plus, my favorite guitarist. No flash. Straightforward, clean and precise. So thematic, he always represented the full sense of the song in the way he played his guitar.
 
Josie said:
I enjoy learning things including random facts. I thought it would be fun to start a thread where you can come and tell us something interesting you never knew before or you think many people might not know. Please keep this thread free from snarky political comments. Thanks!

I'll start us off. I never knew that David Koresh's real name was Vernon Howell. He chose David for King David from the Old Testament and Koresh because it's the biblical name of a Cyrus the Great who was called a messiah. If you don't know David Koresh, he thought himself to also be a messiah descended from King David just as Jesus Christ was.
Click to expand...

Now there's a brain that needs studying! They could learn a lot about narcissism from Koresh's Howell's brain.
 
Luther said:
Roman Emperor Constantine changes the day of the Sabbath(Sat to Sun)

Constantine Decrees "Sun-Day" as Day of Rest | History Channel on Foxtel
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Constantine was into Sol Invictus (Mithras the Sun god, he of the Heavenly Bull) before he became a Christian.

Other coincidences.
- Sol Invictus was a trifold unity, consisting of the rising sun, the midday sun, and the setting sun, who were three, yet one.
- Mithras birthday was December 25th.
- He was a virgin birth, born in a cave, placed in a manger, and tended to by shepherds. (Early pictures of the Virgin Mary often depict her holding baby Jesus in a cave.)
- Mithra worshippers would consume the blood and flesh of Mithra in the form of bread and wine. (only the men though. No women allowed.)
- "In Hoc Signo Victis" signifies a Sun Cross.

Politics:
After the great Jewish revolts, Christianity and Mithraism became the two leading religions of the Roman Empire. Emperors could rise or fall depending on which religion they supported. Amalgamizing the two would have made Constantine's rule stable, and ended the religious unrest of the first centuries.

Of course these are just observations. Faith is personal.
 
HK.227 said:
Constantine was into Sol Invictus (Mithras the Sun god, he of the Heavenly Bull) before he became a Christian.

Other coincidences.
- Sol Invictus was a trifold unity, consisting of the rising sun, the midday sun, and the setting sun, who were three, yet one.
- Mithras birthday was December 25th.
- He was a virgin birth, born in a cave, placed in a manger, and tended to by shepherds. (Early pictures of the Virgin Mary often depict her holding baby Jesus in a cave.)
- Mithra worshippers would consume the blood and flesh of Mithra in the form of bread and wine. (only the men though. No women allowed.)
- "In Hoc Signo Victis" signifies a Sun Cross.

Politics:
After the great Jewish revolts, Christianity and Mithraism became the two leading religions of the Roman Empire. Emperors could rise or fall depending on which religion they supported. Amalgamizing the two would have made Constantine's rule stable, and ended the religious unrest of the first centuries.

Of course these are just observations. Faith is personal.
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Another coincidence. Tarsus, where Paul/Saul was born, was a city that was predominately followers of Mithraism in the 1st century
 
1. I have just returned from the BBC website.

2. I read an article entitled "The most powerful word in English."

a. It has only three letters.
b. It has no meaning of its own but it can make a big difference in meaning as to whether it is used or not.
c. Foreign speakers of English often have a big problem with it.

3. Being computer illiterate, I cannot link to it. So just type in the words "BBC" and the article's title. I think that the information in that article will fascinate you as much as it fascinated me.

(I have used it a total of five times in this post. If you are studying English as a foreign language, you will find this article especially helpful.)
 
TheParser said:
1. I have just returned from the BBC website.

2. I read an article entitled "The most powerful word in English."

a. It has only three letters.
b. It has no meaning of its own but it can make a big difference in meaning as to whether it is used or not.
c. Foreign speakers of English often have a big problem with it.

3. Being computer illiterate, I cannot link to it. So just type in the words "BBC" and the article's title. I think that the information in that article will fascinate you as much as it fascinated me.

(I have used it a total of five times in this post. If you are studying English as a foreign language, you will find this article especially helpful.)
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BBC - Culture - Is this the most powerful word in the English language?

I always tell my first graders that it's the "most famous word of all".
 
There is a town in Norway called "Hell"....and yes, every winter is does freeze over.
 
RAMOSS said:
Another coincidence. Tarsus, where Paul/Saul was born, was a city that was predominately followers of Mithraism in the 1st century
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Cool. Didn't know that.
To be fair though, proto-Judaism (like all ancient cosmologies) had a number of links to solar deism, so the connection was not completely unwarranted.
 
Q: What did President Lincoln have in his pockets on the day he died?

A: * A pocketknife. * a handkerchief. * A Confederate five-dollar bill. * Eight newspaper clippings praising him.



Source: AARP Bulletin (print edition) for January/February , 2020, page 3.
 
The first nation to recognize the newly-formed United States was Morocco in 1777
 
Roadvirus said:
The first nation to recognize the newly-formed United States was Morocco in 1777
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Just a technical point. Morocco recognized the independence of the not yet formed US and became the first Arab state, the first African state, and the first Muslim state to sign a treaty with the United States, in 1786, and remain have remained a close ally ever since, though non-aligned during the Cold War yet a sympathizer of the US.
 
Bergslagstroll said:
Relating to that you have what day the week start at. There it is sunday in most of North and South America while also parts of East Asia and East Africa. Saturday in large part of the Muslim world and monday in rest of the world.

First Day of the Week in Different Countries
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For my entire working life, the beginning of the week was Monday for being the first day of the work week. Nothing really to do with the Sabbath. Never understood how the end of the week could be Saturday and the beginning Sunday, which is how strangely to me most calendars show, when everybody in at least the US calls Sat and Sun the "weekend". Eastern Orthodox Christians consider Saturday the Sabbath. Constantine didn't just change the day of the Sabbath, he had the entire NT changed. Who the Hell does he think He is?
 
Graig Nettles, an absolutely great 3rd baseman for the NY Yankees, back when, out of San Diego State, was going to bat against Mark Fidrych of the Detroit Tigers. Fidrych, who was called “The Bird” because he was a tall, lanky dude who looked like the “Bird” on Sesame Street, as usual, was talking to the ball before pitching to Nettles. Immediately Graig jumped out of the batter's box and started talking to his bat. He reportedly said, "Never mind what he says to the ball. You just hit it over the outfield fence!" Nettles struck out. "Damn", he said. "Japanese bat. Doesn't understand a word of English."
 
This gets pretty gruesome about halfway through, but very interesting nonetheless.

 
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