Trivia Thread!

[Berzelmayr]

I thought he died, because he postponed the execution of his murderers.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Actually he died because he had threatened to kill whoever had ate his melon (which were his guards)...so his guards slew him overnight

I thought he died, because he postponed the execution of his murderers.

 

[Olorgando]

Actually he died because he had threatened to kill whoever had ate his melon (which were his guards)...so his guards slew him overnight

Now those threats are an excellent definition of dumb, dumb, dumb ...

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Now those threats are an excellent definition of dumb, dumb, dumb ...

All the Qajar royal family were a total joke,how they were able to rule that long is always a mystery to me

 

[Olorgando]

All the Qajar royal family were a total joke,how they were able to rule that long is always a mystery to me

Looks like a pattern repeated world-wide for thousands of years: one warlord has the support of enough other warlords (and their tribes) to intimidate the rest, most likely granting enough privileges to the "junior" warlords to keep them happy - for a while.

 

[Ent]

Here's an interesting item:

"The Nishiyama Onsen Keiunkan in Yamanashi, Japan, holds the Guinness World Record for being the oldest hotel in the world. The hot-spring hotel sits at the foot of the Akaishi Mountains and has been in operation since it was founded by Fujiwara Mahito in 705 A.D"

 

[Vorondil]

An interesting and trivial piece of information:

''In eastern California, a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) known as Methuselah has long been considered Earth's oldest living thing. According to tree-ring data, Methuselah is 4,853 years old — meaning it was well established by the time ancient Egyptians built the pyramids at Giza.''

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

An interesting and trivial piece of information:

''In eastern California, a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) known as Methuselah has long been considered Earth's oldest living thing. According to tree-ring data, Methuselah is 4,853 years old — meaning it was well established by the time ancient Egyptians built the pyramids at Giza.''

This is so weird!
I was thinking about how old is the oldest living tree and you just posted this!

 

[Ent]

An interesting and trivial piece of information:

Indeed.

the oldest living tree

I almost laughed at it becaue to me it's still a sapling... but nobody believes me, so... there you have it..! (then again, I'm not really a tree, either.)

 

[Deimos]

In Switzerland, it is illegal to own just one guinea pig because they are considered social animals and it is considered animal abuse to deprive them of companionship.

Social animals indeed, one in particular being rather ... ummm....prolifically social...

 

[Deimos]

The tallest mountain on Earth is actually underwater.

Coming in at 10,200 m high from its base, the Mauna Kea:
View attachment 22809

I've been up to the top of Mauna Kea...we rode up there in a jeep, in the summer, when it's totally barren almost like the surface of the moon, and quite cool and windy. There are several observatories up there, which is what we wanted to see.
In winter there is snow on it. People will rent a jeep (or if they are wealthy, a helicopter), drive/fly to the summit and ski down to the snow line.
Then take the jeep/helicopter back up to the top, and down again...and again and again. There are no lifts.
The later in the day they go to the beach to cool off.
If you've ever seen an ad that says "Ski Hawaii" and shows someone skiing down a snow covered slope that is what it is referring to.
It's not a joke; It's real.

 

[Olorgando]

An interesting and trivial piece of information:

''In eastern California, a Great Basin bristlecone pine (Pinus longaeva) known as Methuselah has long been considered Earth's oldest living thing. According to tree-ring data, Methuselah is 4,853 years old — meaning it was well established by the time ancient Egyptians built the pyramids at Giza.''

That rang a dim bell. There are some Norway Spruces (confusingly located in national parks in Sweden) whose roots are estimated to be up to 9,500 years old (the stems apparently "only" live 600 years maximum).
Then there's this specimen:
"Pando", quaking aspen Populus tremuloides, located in Fish Lake National Forest in Utah;
"Covers 107 acres (0.43 km²) and has around 47,000 stems (aged up to 130 years), which continually die and are renewed by its roots. Is also the heaviest-known organism, weighing 6,000 tonnes."
Age estimate given as "less than 14,000 years" ... buddy of yours, @Well-aged Ent ?

 

[Berzelmayr]

Hans Staininger, the burgomaster of Braunau (then Bavaria, now Austria), died when he broke his neck by tripping over his own beard. The beard, which was 4.5 feet (1.4 m) long at the time, was usually kept rolled up in a leather pouch.

 

[Ent]

humrabamdaroboom...

"Acacia trees in Africa communicate with each other. They emit gasses to alert other trees to produce the toxin tannin, which protects them from hungry animals."

Elves began it all, of course.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

Neptune, as we know it today, is about 30 times as far from the Sun as Earth is. This is incredibly far away, and though it is technically observable in our night's sky, it is so dim that it is lost in the "noise" of other stars and brighter celestial bodies.

Since Neptune cannot readily be seen with the naked eye at night, its existence, for most of human history, was not known. In fact, up until about the 17th century, the only known celestial bodies were the Sun, Earth and the Moon (obviously), Mercury, and Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn.

 

[Tyelkormo the Fair]

Young Pigeons often babysit the babies of mated birds while they're out searching for food
If the pairs die the young ones get both their babies and the right for mating

 

[Ent]

I don't know how we've lived so long without knowing this one....

"The longest tournament chess game (in terms of moves) ever to be played was Nikolić–Arsović, Belgrade 1989, which lasted for 269 moves and took 20 hours and 15 minutes to complete. It ended up a drawn game." (meaning neither player won.)

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

A day on Venus is longer than a year on Venus.

Venus has a very slow planetary rotation, it takes 285 earth days for one day on Venus. A year is 255 days.

 

[Ent]

Can't live without this one:
THE CENTIPEDE:
"The word centipede means “hundred feet,” but there are no centipede species that have exactly 100 legs. Depending on the species, they may have as few as 30 and as many as 354 when mature."

(information from terro.com, in article "All About Centipedes".)

Disclaimer - this Ent has not personally viewed and studied all species of centipedes, so can neither confirm, nor deny, there is no species having exactly 100 legs.
Ent Note - however, as the centipede grows, it has 2 legs per body segment. So though 'no centipede species has exactly 100 legs', every centipede living long enough to attain 50 body segments will, for that period of time, have 100 legs.

 

[Berzelmayr]

The deacon Saint Lawrence was roasted alive on a giant grill during the persecution of Valerian. Prudentius tells that he joked with his tormentors, "Turn me over—I'm done on this side". He is now the patron saint of cooks, chefs, and comedians.