Stat's daily tidbits of weird but not worthless factoids, one topic per day!

[Statistikhengst]

23 February 2015: electoral factoid.

Only once in our history have two candidates of the two major parties been nominated twice and lost twice, back to back, one candidate, then the other. I call this the 2 by 2 by 2 syndrome and as I mentioned, it's only happened once in our history, over 4 consecutive cycles:

1944 and 1948: Thomas Dewey (R), nominated twice, lost both times.

1952 and 1956: Adlai E. Stevenson III (D), nominated twice, lost twice.

Two two-time losers, back to back.



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[Statistikhengst]

25 February 2015: Whacky Wednesday Electoral Trivia

Seeing double?

Statistics down to the 1/100th of a percent:

Missouri, 1920: Harding +11.43%
Missouri, 1928: Hoover +11.43%

http://uselectionatlas.org/RESULTS/compare.php?year=2012&fips=29&f=1&off=0&elect=0&type=state

You are not seeing double!

The great state of Missouri is the ONLY state in the Union to be won TWICE by exactly the same percentage margin, down to the 100th of a percentage point, in that state's electoral history - ever in the history of our Union.

Not only that, this phenomenon happened within 8 years time and the win went to the same party. It's not happened before or since then.

 

[Statistikhengst]

28 February 2015:

in honor of Leonard Nimoy - the Vulcan gesture (hand raised, palm showing, a V between the middle two fingers of the hand) you saw on Star Trek was actually a gesture the the Hebrew High Priests (V'hakohaneem) used to greet each other upon entereing the holy of holies in the Temple of David. The idea to use the gesture in Star Trek came from him.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Sorry, folks, was gone for 8 days on a journey, could not post every day.

03 March 2015: outer space

The visible universe contains 200 BILLION galaxies, most all of them spiral in form...

October 10, 1967 Outer Space was given away by many governments. The “Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies,” was originally promulgated by the U.S, the Soviet Union, and the United Kingdom.


That's a lot of outer space that supposedly belongs to US.

LOL.

 

[Statistikhengst]

05 March 2015

Today is the one day Jewish Holiday known as PURIM.

Here some wild and wooly Purim facts:

Purim - Fun Facts and Information

What is Purim Learn All About the Jewish Holiday Purim

Drinking Alcohol is mandatory on Purim!! (At least for Jewish males)

 

[Pogo]

05 March 2015

Today is the one day Jewish Holiday known as PURIM.

Here some wild and wooly Purim facts:

Purim - Fun Facts and Information

What is Purim Learn All About the Jewish Holiday Purim

Drinking Alcohol is mandatory on Purim!! (At least for Jewish males)

This is what's mandatory for me...

​

You can have the prunes. I gots dibs on the apricots.

For the uninitiated this ^^ is the best baked good ever. And if there's one thing Pogo knows, it's food. Oy.

 

[Statistikhengst]

07 March 2015: very weird world records

Hans Langseth had the longest beard at a record length of 17 1/2 feet long! When he died, his beard was given to the Smithsonian Institute.

Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 points in a basketball game in 1962, when he played for the Philadelphia Warriors.

The longest movie made lasts 85 hours and is fittingly titled “The Cure for Insomnia.”

The longest bout of hiccups lasted 69 years!

Oy!

 

[Statistikhengst]

09 February 2015: cold as hell facts!

Top 11 Amazing Facts about Siberia To Discover Russia

Siberia is 57% of all of Russia, and alone is as large as Canada.

In Siberia there is a unique Lake Baikal. The size of Lake Baikal is about equal to the square area of the Netherlands. It is the deepest freshwater lake in the world. It is also the oldest lake in the world. And it is the cleanest lake in the world. Only one river flows from the lake – the Angara River. The water in Lake Baikal is very clear – up to 50 m. Approximately 20% of the world’s fresh water is the water of Lake Baikal. In the Lake Baikal area each year more than 2000 earthquakes take place. At the lake most of the time there is sunny weather.

Permafrost is located in Siberia in the northern part of Western Siberia (about until the latitude of the Ob River) and in the greater part of East Siberia, Trans-Baikal. Negative temperatures penetrate the earth’s crust to a depth of up to 1300-1500 m; their minimal average values reach -15 …- 16 degrees Celsius.

Much more at the link...

 

[Pogo]

09 February 2015: cold as hell facts!

Top 11 Amazing Facts about Siberia To Discover Russia

Siberia is 57% of all of Russia, and alone is as large as Canada.

In Siberia there is a unique Lake Baikal. The size of Lake Baikal is about equal to the square area of the Netherlands. It is the deepest freshwater lake in the world. It is also the oldest lake in the world. And it is the cleanest lake in the world. Only one river flows from the lake – the Angara River. The water in Lake Baikal is very clear – up to 50 m. Approximately 20% of the world’s fresh water is the water of Lake Baikal. In the Lake Baikal area each year more than 2000 earthquakes take place. At the lake most of the time there is sunny weather.

Permafrost is located in Siberia in the northern part of Western Siberia (about until the latitude of the Ob River) and in the greater part of East Siberia, Trans-Baikal. Negative temperatures penetrate the earth’s crust to a depth of up to 1300-1500 m; their minimal average values reach -15 …- 16 degrees Celsius.

Much more at the link...

Lake Baikal:

Camping --

In winter...

The middle image doesn't show up in my post but it does on Google so I'll have to assume it's a site error...

 

[Statistikhengst]

15.03.2015

Today is the "Ides of March", a day associated with some brutal murders. But how did it all get started?

Ides of March

The term Ides comes from the earliest Roman calendar, which is said to have been devised by Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome. Whether it was Romulus or not, the inventor of this calendar had a penchant for complexity. The Roman calendar organized its months around three days, each of which served as a reference point for counting the other days:

• Kalends (1st day of the month)
• Nones (the 7th day in March, May, July, and October; the 5th in the other months)
• Ides (the 15th day in March, May, July, and October; the 13th in the other months)

The remaining, unnamed days of the month were identified by counting backwards from the Kalends, Nones, or the Ides. For example, March 3 would be V Nones—5 days before the Nones (the Roman method of counting days was inclusive; in other words, the Nones would be counted as one of the 5 days).

Days in March

• 
  March 1: Kalends; March 2: VI Nones; March 3: V Nones; March 4: IV Nones; March 5: III Nones; March 6: Pridie Nones (Latin for "on the day before"); March 7: Nones; March 15: Ides

Used in the first Roman calendar as well as in the Julian calendar (established by Julius Caesar in 45 B.C.E.) the confusing system of Kalends, Nones, and Ides continued to be used to varying degrees throughout the Middle Ages and into the Renaissance.

So, the Ides of March is just one of a dozen Ides that occur every month of the year. Kalends, the word from which calendar is derived, is another exotic-sounding term with a mundane meaning. Kalendrium means account book in Latin: Kalend, the first of the month, was in Roman times as it is now, the date on which bills are due.

Ides of March Facts Day of Doom and Debts

Thanks to the Bard, the bloody events of 44 B.C. forever linked March 15—also called the Ides of March—with fulfilled prophecies of doom.

"That line of the soothsayer, 'Beware the ides of March,' is a pithy line and people remember it, even if they don't know why," said Georgianna Ziegler, head of reference at Washington, D.C.'s Folger Shakespeare Library.

Until that day Julius Caesar ruled Rome. The traditional Republican government had been supplanted by a temporary dictatorship, one that the famous leader very much wished to make permanent.

But Caesar's quest for power spawned a conspiracy to have him killed, and on March 15 a group of prominent Romans brought him to an untimely end in the Senate House.

Interesting system....

 

[Mindful]

Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.

 

[Pogo]

I didn't. I Googled. Fascinating.

 

[Statistikhengst]

Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.

Damn she is hot. Absolutely my type.

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[Pogo]

Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.

Damn she is hot. Absolutely my type.

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She's 100.
In years I mean.

 

[Mindful]

Here's one. What was the beautiful Hedy Lamarr known for? Other than Hollywood. No googling. You either know or you don't.

Damn she is hot. Absolutely my type.

Gesendet von meinem GT-I9515 mit Tapatalk

She's 100.
In years I mean.

She's dead. Ashes scattered in the Vienna Woods.

 

[Statistikhengst]

16 March 2015: how small can you live?

10 of the smallest homes in the world A truly eco-abode MNN - Mother Nature Network

and:




And then there is this (fascinating):




I think I'd prefer a mansion.

 

[Statistikhengst]

17 March 2015, St. Patrick's Day!

St. Patrick s Day the history myths and fun facts - National Globalnews.ca

St. Patrick s Day Facts Trivia to Share Over a Pint Discovery News

The very first St. Patrick's Day parade was not in Ireland. It was in Boston in 1737.

The largest parade in the United States, held since 1762, is in New York City, and draws more than one million spectators each year.

Over 100 US cities hold a parade every year. Some of the other biggest St. Patrick's Day parades are in Chicago, Illinois and Savannah, Georgia.

In 1948 President Truman became the first president to attend a St. Patrick’s Day parade.

The city of Chicago goes so far to celebrate that they dye their river green.

Green is associated with Saint Patrick's Day because it is the color of spring, of Ireland, and of the shamrock.

 

[Statistikhengst]

21.03.2015 (sorry about a short absence)

6 of the strangest coincidences evuh!!

6 Insane Coincidences You Won t Believe Actually Happened Cracked.com

I will simply let people go to the link, quote and enjoy.

WEIRD.

 

[Mindful]

Karl Marx.

Draft dodger, lousy husband and father, wealthy-born champion of the working man (in theory; he never did a day’s work in his life), and, most amusingly, piss-poor poet.

 

[Statistikhengst]

22.03.2015: ICE-CREAM FACTOIDS


National Ice Cream Month 10 Weird Facts You Never Knew About the Best Summer Treat - Mic

...Many people do not know the origins of ice cream, but either it dates to A.D 54–68 where Roman Emperor Nero is said to have sent his slaves into the mountains to fetch snow to mix with nectar, fruit pulp, and honey, though it is just speculation. Other sources claim in A.D. 618–907, China's T'ang period, ice cream was probably a dish for the country's rulers. The founder of the dynasty, King T'ang of Shang, kept 94 "ice men" on hand to lug ice to the palace to make a dish made of koumiss (heated, fermented milk), flour, and camphor...

... Americans eat on average 20 quarts a year!..

... The largest ice cream cone measured 2.81 m (9 ft 2.63 in) in height and was achieved by Mirco Della Vecchia and Andrea Andrighetti of Italy.

Vecchia and Andrighetti created the ice cream cone at a festival by Rimini Fiera and sponsored by Sigep, Fabbri, Incisoria Imar, Icam, Martellato at Rimini Fiera, in Rimini, Italy on January 11, 2012. The internal cone was made of wafer and covered with a 700 kg white chocolate cone then decorated with 2000 round wafer biscuits....

...The ice cream cone was invented at the 1904 World Fair in St. Louis......The Michigan State University Dairystore (MSU Dairystore to Spartans) have created their own ice cream, sesquicentennial swirl, to commemorate MSU’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2005. It is a mixture of white cake batter ice cream with a thick green fudge swirl surrounded by green and white cake pieces. It’s always great to see freshies try and pronounce it....

Facts About Ice Cream - Part 4

...Ice Cream Sundaes were created when it became illegal to sell ice cream with flavoured soda on a Sunday in the American town of Evanston during the late 19th century. Some traders got round it by serving it with syrup instead, calling it an 'Ice Cream Sunday' and eventually replacing the final 'y' with an 'e' to avoid upsetting religious leaders......If you only take a few scoops form a large tub of ice cream, protect the quality of the ice cream by preventing air getting to it by scrunching up a few pieces of greaseproof paper and put these on top of the ice cream before replacing the lid......Ice cream which is not labelled with the word 'dairy' may be made with vegetable oils which may include palm kernel oil (NB The ice cream may still contain more milk protein weight for weight than milk itself and may also contain dairy fat) some sufferers of extreme allergies may wish to look out for this. ...

And just for good measure: