Yesterday I was looking through the windows. Today it’s dot coms.
Technically I’m a week late but I thought I would wish good old Dot.Com many happy returns anyway.
Thirty years ago, on March 15th 1985, the first dot.com domain name was registered. It was symbolics.com.
It wasn’t a significant event at the time because way back in 1985 about the only people using the internet on a commercial basis were US government contractors. Ecommerce giants such as Amazon.com and Ebay.com hadn’t even been thought of.
It has all changed since then of course. Slowly at first, only four other dot.coms were registered in 1985, but now thirty years on the total number of registered top-level domains, or TLDs as they are known sometimes, has surpassed 288 million and showing no signs of stopping.
That total includes over 115 million dot coms, which are still the most sought after and most valuable, but there are also dot nets, dot orgs, dot biz, dot infos and a host of others. In fact more than 500 new TLDs are being added to the internet right now, with another 500 in the pipeline.
And the dot com era has spawned an entirely new industry. These names are now traded like commodities, most worth a few bucks, but quite a number making it to 6 and 7 figures (that’s over $1million!).
So what happened to the symbolics.com name? It was eventually sold off for an undisclosed sum to a Dallas, Texas-based investor group in August 2009.
Like I said at the start, Happy Birthday Dot.com, the first thirty years have been good.
Fifty-one years ago today the United States 35th President, John F Kennedy, was assassinated at Dealy Plaza, in Dallas, Texas. We all know the story and the various conspiracy theories that have been written about ad nauseam over the past half century so this post is not about that.
Rather it is about one of the legacies of the JFK name, the USS John F Kennedy, the only ship of her class (a variant of the Kitty Hawk class of aircraft carrier) and the last conventionally powered carrier built for the United States Navy.
Although it was retired in 2007 after nearly 40 years of service in the United States Navy, the Kennedy was a very impressive ship. For those who like the details it measures 1,052 feet long, has a beam of 130 feet, and draws 37 feet of water. The flight deck is 1,046 feet by 252 feet.
The JFK displaces 81,430 tons at full load and her compliment is 155 officers, 2,775 enlisted (ship’s company), and 2,160 enlisted and 320 officers (embarked air wing).
it’s top speed is 32 knots, and her cruising speed is 20 knots. The operational range at 30 knots is 4,000 miles while the maximum cruising range is 12,000 miles.
USS JFK is equipped with 4 aircraft elevators and features 4 steam-powered catapults and 4 arresting wires. The carrier was capable of launching and recovering aircraft simultaneously and could embark 80+ aircraft, depending on mission requirements.
Aircraft on board included 56 F/A-18 hornet strike fighters, 6 S-3B Viking ASW aircraft, 4 EA-6B Prowler offensive electronic warfare aircraft, 4 E-2C Hawkeye electronic early warning aircraft, 2 ES-3A Shadow electronic warfare (SIGINT) aircraft, 4 SH-60F Seahawk ASW helicopters, and 2 HH-60H Seahawk combat search and rescue aircraft.
Its armaments included two Mk 29 Sea Sparrow Guided Missile Launch Systems, two RAM (Rolling Airframe Missile) systems, and two Mk 15 Phalanx 20mm CIWS (Close In Weapon System.)
During it’s service it was stationed some of the time in the Mediterranean area.
If you have never seen one of these babies up close and personal and wanted to get an idea of just how big and impressive they are have a look at the aeriel photograph below, taken as the JFK berthed at the island of Malta.
Compared to the houses, cars and people you can see in the shot I’m not sure the word ‘big’ is big enough to describe it.
I mean I wouldn’t want to mess with it. Would you?
Some are easy, some are difficult, and some should be easy but I have a feeling they may turn out to be quite difficult too!
As usual the answers are waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please, NO cheating.
Enjoy and good luck.
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Q. 1: You’ve seen it hundreds if not thousands of times, so how many milk bottles are standing on the porch when Fred Flintstone puts out the cat?
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Q. 2: Who was assassinated in Dallas on 24 November 1963?
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Q. 3: Who was known as ‘The Serpent of the Nile’?
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Q. 4: How many amendments have their been to the US Constitution?
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Q. 5: For which event of 1872 is the name of Captain Briggs remembered?
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Q. 6: What was abolished by France in 1981, The Netherlands in 1982, Australia in 1985 and New Zealand in 1989?
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Q. 7: How many colored squares are on a Rubik cube?
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Q. 8: A famous Irish novelist and poet, he was born in 1882 and died in 1941, who was he?
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Q. 9: Who directed the movie ‘Jurassic Park’?
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Q. 10: What famous IT company launched a clothing line in 1986?
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Q. 11: Which great Carthegian general crossed the Alps in 218?
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Q. 12: For how many years did the famous ‘Pony Express’ operate in America?
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Q. 13: On what date in 1883 did France officially present the Statue of Liberty to the US?
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Q. 14: Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock had one of the most celebrated and successful collaborations of any actor/director pair in history. Name as many of their movies as you can (and you get a point for each correct answer).
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Q. 15: Who had 7 members of a rival gang killed on St Valentines day 1929?
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Q. 16: Who or what is the Presidential retreat ‘Camp David’ named after?
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Q. 17: Who said “Read my lips, no new taxes”?
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Q. 18: What was the name of the domestic videocassette tape recorder system introduced by Sony in 1975?
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Q. 19: Which famous Arab / Israeli war took place in 1973?
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Q. 20: In the long running hit television series ‘Magnum P.I.’, what was the character name of the ex-British Army Officer who looked after the estate in which Magnum lives?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: You’ve seen it hundreds if not thousands of times, so how many milk bottles are standing on the porch when Fred Flintstone puts out the cat?
A. 1: One. (You should have known that!)
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Q. 2: Who was assassinated in Dallas on 24 November 1963?
A. 2: Lee Harvey Oswald.
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Q. 3: Who was known as ‘The Serpent of the Nile’?
A. 3: Cleopatra.
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Q. 4: How many amendments have their been to the US Constitution?
A. 4: 27.
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Q. 5: For which event of 1872 is the name of Captain Briggs remembered?
A. 5: He Was The Captain Of The Marie Celeste.
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Q. 6: What was abolished by France in 1981, The Netherlands in 1982, Australia in 1985 and New Zealand in 1989?
A. 6: The Death Penalty.
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Q. 7: How many colored squares are on a Rubik cube?
A. 7: 54 (A cube has 6 sides and there are 9 colored squares per side.)
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Q. 8: A famous Irish novelist and poet, he was born in 1882 and died in 1941, who was he?
A. 8: James Joyce.
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Q. 9: Who directed the movie ‘Jurassic Park’?
A. 9: Steven Spielberg.
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Q. 10: What famous IT company launched a clothing line in 1986?
A. 10: Apple.
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Q. 11: Which great Carthegian general crossed the Alps in 218?
A. 11: Hannibal.
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Q. 12: For how many years did the famous ‘Pony Express’ operate in America?
A. 12: The ‘Pony Express’ only lasted a single year before the transcontinental telegraph made the route obsolete.
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Q. 13: On what date in 1883 did France officially present the Statue of Liberty to the US?
A. 13: 4th July.
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Q. 14: Cary Grant and Alfred Hitchcock had one of the most celebrated and successful collaborations of any actor/director pair in history. Name as many of their movies as you can (and you get a point for each correct answer).
A. 14: Cary Grant appeared in 4 Hitchcock movies, ‘Suspicion’ in 1941; ‘Notorious’ in 1946; ‘To Catch A Thief’ in 1955; and ‘North By North-West’ in 1959.
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Q. 15: Who had 7 members of a rival gang killed on St Valentines day 1929?
A. 15: Al Capone.
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Q. 16: Who or what is the Presidential retreat ‘Camp David’ named after?
A. 16: Presidential retreat Camp David is named after Dwight Eisenhower’s grandson.
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Q. 17: Who said “Read my lips, no new taxes”?
A. 17: George Bush.
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Q. 18: What was the name of the domestic videocassette tape recorder system introduced by Sony in 1975?
A. 18: Betamax.
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Q. 19: Which famous Arab / Israeli war took place in 1973?
A. 19: The Yom Kippur war.
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Q. 20: In the long running hit television series ‘Magnum P.I.’, what was the character name of the ex-British Army Officer who looked after the estate in which Magnum lived?
A. 20: Jonathan Quayle Higgins III, but ‘Higgins’ will get you a point.
As usual the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below – but NO cheating please.
Enjoy, and good luck!
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Q. 1: In which American state did the English first settle in 1607?
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Q. 2: What name was given to a pilot who flew suicide missions in World War II?
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Q. 3: Whish of these is the name of a town or city in Turkey?
a) Batman b) Robin c) Joker
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Q. 4: Who was the first person to cross the English channel with an airplane?
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Q. 5: Fifty years ago, on November 22nd 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas but what was the name of the airport where Air Force One landed on that fateful journey?
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Q. 6: Why did the Roman Catholic church ban Mozart’s music?
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Q. 7: Australia built fences across outback areas to contain what agricultural pest?
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Q. 8: Which country’s troops invaded Cambodia in 1979?
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Q. 9: Who played an aging Jewish Nazi hunter named ‘Ezra Lieberman’ and in what movie? (A point for each answer.)
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Q. 10: In which country is the site of the famous battle of Waterloo?
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Q. 11: Which American diva got married after a whirlwind romance, in 2008?
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Q. 12: What were the first names the four members of the ‘Cartwright family’ and what long running television show they were in? (Character’s names, not their real names and you can have a point for each.)
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Q. 13: What do the actors Rex Harrison, Yul Brynner and Yun Fat Chow all have in common?
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Q. 14: Who noted the day before he was killed in 1968: “I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man”?
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Q. 15: What famous television series starred Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito?
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Q. 16: In which 1964 musical movie was Audrey Hepburn’s singing dubbed by Marni Nixon?
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Q. 17: In which country, until 1922, was the Ruler referred to as ‘Sultan of the Ottoman Empire’?
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Q. 18: Which nanny did Julie Andrews win an Oscar for playing?
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Q. 19: Which Scottish engineer gave the first public demonstration of television in 1925?
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Q. 20: Which song by Survivor is the best selling UK heavy metal release of all time?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: In which American state did the English first settle in 1607?
A. 1: Virginia.
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Q. 2: What name was given to a pilot who flew suicide missions in World War II?
A. 2: Kamikaze.
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Q. 3: Whish of these is the name of a town or city in Turkey?
a) Batman b) Robin c) Joker
A. 3: a) Batman (Doo, doo, doo, doo, doo, doo….)
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Q. 4: Who was the first person to cross the English channel with an airplane?
A. 4: Louis Blèriot.
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Q. 5: Fifty years ago, on November 22nd 1963, President Kennedy was assassinated in Dallas, Texas but what was the name of the airport where Air Force One landed on that fateful journey?
A. 5: Love Field.
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Q. 6: Why did the Roman Catholic church ban Mozart’s music?
A. 6: He joined the Freemasons.
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Q. 7: Australia built fences across outback areas to contain what agricultural pest?
A. 7: Rabbits.
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Q. 8: Which country’s troops invaded Cambodia in 1979?
A. 8: Vietnam.
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Q. 9: Who played an aging Jewish Nazi hunter named ‘Ezra Lieberman’ and in what movie? (A point for each answer.)
A. 9: Laurence Olivier in ‘The Boys From Brazil’.
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Q. 10: In which country is the site of the famous battle of Waterloo?
A. 10: Belgium.
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Q. 11: Which American diva got married after a whirlwind romance, in 2008?
A. 11: Mariah Carey.
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Q. 12: What were the first names the four members of the ‘Cartwright family’ and what long running television show they were in? (Character’s names, not their real names and you can have a point for each.)
A. 12: Ben, Adam, Eric (Hoss), and Joesph (Little Joe) in Bonanza.
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Q. 13: What do the actors Rex Harrison, Yul Brynner and Yun Fat Chow all have in common?
A. 13: They have all played the King (King Mongkut) in film. Harrison (‘Anna and the King of Siam’, 1946) Brynner (‘The King and I’, 1956), Chow (‘Anna and the King’, 1999).
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Q. 14: Who noted the day before he was killed in 1968: “I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man”?
A. 14: Martin Luther King.
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Q. 15: What famous television series starred Marilu Henner, Judd Hirsch and Danny DeVito?
A. 15: Taxi.
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Q. 16: In which 1964 musical movie was Audrey Hepburn’s singing dubbed by Marni Nixon?
A. 16: My Fair Lady.
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Q. 17: In which country, until 1922, was the Ruler referred to as ‘Sultan of the Ottoman Empire’?
A. 17: Turkey.
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Q. 18: Which nanny did Julie Andrews win an Oscar for playing?
A. 18: Mary Poppins.
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Q. 19: Which Scottish engineer gave the first public demonstration of television in 1925?
A. 19: John Logie Baird.
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Q. 20: Which song by Survivor is the best selling UK heavy metal release of all time?
No surprises there, but maybe one or two in the questions.
Let’s see how you do this week.
If you get stuck the answers are, as usual, waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below – but please NO cheating!
Enjoy, and good luck!
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Q. 1: What handicap did the composer Beethoven have?
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Q. 2: According to legend, who rewarded a man for his loyalty by giving him the secret recipe for Drambuie?
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Q. 3: Which two semaphoric letters are found on the famous anti war peace symbol from the 1960’s ?
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Q. 4: In which movie would you find a robot called ‘Gort’?
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Q. 5: What name did the Vikings give to Newfoundland?
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Q. 6: What do all of the following have (or don’t have) in common?
Galileo, Jesse James, Jerry Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, James Doohan, Frodo Baggins, Tony Iommi, Telly Savalas, Boris Yelzin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Daryl Hannah and Gary Burghoff (‘Radar’ O’Reilly from M*A*S*H)
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Q. 7: In literature, King Richard III was desperate and willing to pay a high price for what?
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Q. 8: Which fruit is a port city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
a) Orange
b) Banana
c) Ugli
d) Guava
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Q. 9: In China in 1989 in which Beijing Square were the protests against the government crushed by tanks?
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Q. 10: What is the name of the race of giants mentioned in the Bible who lived in Canaan?
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Q. 11: “I coulda had class, I coulda been somebody, I coulda been a contender”. What famous actor said the words and in which famous movie?
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Q. 12: Who was the first WBC heavyweight boxing champion in 1978?
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Q. 13: What is the name of the current German Chancellor?
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Q. 14: Put the following in the correct order starting with the fastest and ending with the slowest:
Human, Nimitz class aircraft carrier, Grizzly bear, A common pig, Cheetah, Japanese ‘bullet’ train, Ostrich, Peregrin falcon.
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Q. 15: Which new country was formed in 1971 at the end of the Pakistan / India conflict?
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Q. 16: Who played ‘Lucy Ewing’ in the hit TV Series ‘Dallas’ and what was her rather unkind nickname?
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Q. 17: What was the name of the French underground movement that fought against the Germans in World War II?
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Q. 18: Name the capital and the largest city in New Zealand (a point for each).
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Q. 19: In the ‘Bond’ movies what were the codenames for James Bond’s boss and the person responsible for the gadgets he used?
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Q. 20: What ‘o’clock’ is mentioned in the Bangles hit song ‘Manic Monday’?
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ANSWERS
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Q. 1: What handicap did the composer Beethoven have?
A. 1: He was hearing impaired.
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Q. 2: According to legend, who rewarded a man for his loyalty by giving him the secret recipe for Drambuie?
A. 2: Bonnie Prince Charlie.
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Q. 3: Which two semaphoric letters are found on the famous anti war peace symbol from the 1960’s ?
A. 3: N and D for Nuclear Disarmament.
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Q. 4: In which movie would you find a robot called ‘Gort’?
A. 4: The Day The Earth Stood Still.
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Q. 5: What name did the Vikings give to Newfoundland?
A. 5: Vinland.
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Q. 6: What do all of the following have (or don’t have) in common?
Galileo, Jesse James, Jerry Garcia, Dustin Hoffman, James Doohan, Frodo Baggins, Tony Iommi, Telly Savalas, Boris Yelzin, Buster Keaton, Harold Lloyd, Daryl Hannah and Gary Burghoff (‘Radar’ O’Reilly from M*A*S*H)
A. 6: They are/were all missing a finger or fingers.
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Q. 7: In literature, King Richard III was desperate and willing to pay a high price for what?
A. 7: “A horse, a horse! My kingdom for a horse.”
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Q. 8: Which fruit is a port city in the Democratic Republic of the Congo?
a) Orange
b) Banana
c) Ugli
d) Guava
A. 8: b) Banana
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Q. 9: In China in 1989 in which Beijing Square were the protests against the government crushed by tanks?
A. 9: Tiananmen Square.
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Q. 10: What is the name of the race of giants mentioned in the Bible who lived in Canaan?
A. 10: Nephilim.
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Q. 11: “I coulda had class, I coulda been somebody, I coulda been a contender”. What famous actor said the words and in which famous movie?
A. 11: Marlon Brando in ‘On the Waterfront’.
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Q. 12: Who was the first WBC heavyweight boxing champion in 1978?
A. 12: Ken Norton.
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Q. 13: What is the name of the current German Chancellor?
A. 13: Angela Merkel.
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Q. 14: Put the following in the correct order starting with the fastest and ending with the slowest:
Human, Nimitz class aircraft carrier, Grizzly bear, A common pig, Cheetah, Japanese ‘bullet’ train, Ostrich, Peregrin falcon.
A. 14: The correct order, fastest to slowest, is:
1) Japanese ‘bullet’ train (361 mph); 2) Peregrin falcon (200 mph); 3) Cheetah (70 mph); 4) Ostrich (40 mph); 5) Nimitz class aircraft carrier (34.5 plus mph); 6) grizzly bear (30 mph); 7. Human (28 mph); 8. Common pig (11 mph)
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Q. 15: Which new country was formed in 1971 at the end of the Pakistan / India conflict?
A. 15: Bangladesh.
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Q. 16: Who played ‘Lucy Ewing’ in the hit TV Series ‘Dallas’ and what was her rather unkind nickname?
A. 16: ‘Lucy Ewing’ was played by Charlene Tilton and her nickname because of her lack of height was the ‘Poison Dwarf’
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Q. 17: What was the name of the French underground movement that fought against the Germans in World War II?
A. 17: The Maquis (If you are nice you can also claim a point for ‘French Resistance’)
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Q. 18: Name the capital and the largest city in New Zealand (a point for each).
A. 18: Wellington is the capital; Auckland is the largest city.
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Q. 19: In the ‘Bond’ movies what were the codenames for James Bond’s boss and the person responsible for the gadgets he used?
A. 19: They were known as ‘M’ and ‘Q’.
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Q. 20: What ‘o’clock’ is mentioned in the Bangles hit song ‘Manic Monday’?
Today the number is twelve and as usual it has a lot more associations that you might at first think. So many in fact that I have decided to split this post into two parts.
The second part (next Friday) will consist of the many entries in the ‘militaria’ section, while today’s will include the rest.
Even with the split it’s still a long post, but I hope those of you interested in numbers and their associations will enjoy reading it.
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The Number Twelve 12
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In religion
The number 12 is very important in many religions, mainly Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, but also found in some other belief systems.
From the Bible we know that Jacob had 12 sons, (Reuben, Simeon, Levi, Judah, Dan, Naphtali, Gad, Asher, Issachar, Zebulun, Joseph and Benjamin), who were the progenitors of the Twelve Tribes of Israel.
The New Testament describes twelve apostles of Jesus; after Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus and hanged himself, a meeting was held (Acts) to add Matthias to complete the number twelve once more.
The Book of Revelation contains much numerical symbolism, and a lot of the numbers mentioned have 12 as a divisor.
Revelation 12:1 mentions a woman—interpreted as the people of Israel, the Church or the Virgin Mary—wearing a crown of twelve stars (representing each of the twelve tribes of Israel).
Also there are 12,000 people sealed from each of the twelve tribes of Israel, making a total of 144,000 (which is the square of 12 multiplied by a thousand).
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The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
In Orthodox Judaism, 12 signifies the age a girl matures (bat mitzvah)
There are 12 days of Christmas; the period of thirteen days including Epiphany is sometimes known as Christmastide, thus Twelfth Night is another name for the twelfth day of Christmas or January 5 (the eve of Epiphany).
Similarly, Eastern Orthodoxy observes 12 Great Feasts.
In Twelver (or Imami) Shi’a Islam, there are twelve Imams, successors of the prophet Muhammad. These twelve early leaders of Islam were—Ali, Hasan, Husayn, and nine of Husayn’s descendants. Imamah is the Shi‘ah doctrine of religious, spiritual and political leadership of the Ummah. The Shi‘ah believe that the A’immah (“Imams”) are the true Caliphs or rightful successors of Muhammad, and Twelver and Isma‘ili Shi‘ah further that Imams are possessed of supernatural knowledge, authority, and infallibility as well as being part of the Ahl al-Bayt, the family of Muhammad. Both beliefs distinguish the Shi‘ah from Sunnis.
In the Quran, the Sura number 12 is Sura Yusuf (Joseph), and it is located in Juz’a number 12. This Sura narrates the story of Prophet Yusuf and his 12 brothers.
In Hinduism, the sun god Surya has 12 names. Also, there are 12 Petals in Anahata (Heart Chakra. There are twelve “Jyotirlingas” in Hindu Shaivism. The Shaivites (orthodox devotees of God Shiva) treat them with great respect and they are visited by almost every pious Hindu at least once in a lifetime.
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In antiquity there are numerous magical/religious uses of twelves.
Ancient Greek religion, the Twelve Olympians were the principal gods of the pantheon.
Greek mythology has the twelve labors of Hercules.
The chief Norse god, Odin, had 12 sons.
Several sets of twelve cities are identified in history as a dodecapolis, the most familiar being the Etruscan League.
In the King Arthur Legend, Arthur is said to have subdued 12 rebel princes and to have won 12 great battles against Saxon invaders.
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In mathematics
Twelve is the smallest number with exactly six divisors, its divisors being 1, 2, 3, 4, 6 and 12.
Twelve is a sublime number, a number that has a perfect number of divisors, and the sum of its divisors is also a perfect number.
Twelve is a superfactorial, being the product of the first three factorials.
The first four positive integers show up in the following equation 12 = 3 × 4, which can be continued with the equation 56 = 7 × 8.
A twelve-sided polygon is a dodecagon.
A twelve-faced polyhedron is a dodecahedron.
Regular cubes and octahedrons both have 12 edges, while regular icosahedrons have 12 vertices.
The duodecimal system (1210 [twelve] = 1012), which is the use of 12 as a division factor for many ancient and medieval weights and measures, including hours, probably originates from Mesopotamia.
In base thirteen and higher bases (such as hexadecimal), twelve is represented as C. In base 10, the number 12 is a Harshad number.
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In science and technology
Twelve is the atomic number of magnesium in the periodic table.
The human body has twelve cranial nerves.
The duodenum (from Latin duodecim, “twelve”) is the first part of the small intestine, that is about twelve inches (30 cm) long. More precisely, this section of the intestine was measured not in inches but in fingerwidths. In fact, in German the name of the duodenum is Zwölffingerdarm and in Dutch the name is twaalfvingerige darm, both meaning “twelve-finger bowel”.
Vitamin B12, also called cobalamin, is a water-soluble vitamin with a key role in the normal functioning of the brain and nervous system, and for the formation of blood. It is one of the eight B vitamins. The vitamin is the largest and most structurally complicated vitamin and can be produced industrially only through bacterial fermentation-synthesis.
Dichlorodifluoromethane (R-12), a colorless gas usually sold under the brand name Freon-12, is a chlorofluorocarbon halomethane (CFC), used as a refrigerant and aerosol spray propellant. Complying with the Montreal Protocol, its manufacture was banned in the United States along with many other countries in 1996 due to concerns about damage to the ozone layer. It is soluble in many organic solvents. Dichlorodifluoromethane was also the main component of Silly String.
Force 12 on the Beaufort wind force scale corresponds to the maximum wind speed of a hurricane.
There are twelve function keys on most PC keyboards (F1 through F12)
There are twelve keys in any standard digital telephone (1 through 9, 0, * and #)
Microsoft’s Rich Text Format specification assigns numbers congruent to 12 mod 256 to variants of the French language.
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In space
Messier object M12 is a magnitude 8.0 globular cluster in the constellation Ophiuchus.
The New General Catalogue object NGC 12 is a magnitude 13.1 spiral galaxy in the constellation Pisces.
The 12th moon of Jupiter is Lysithea.
Twelve people have walked on Earth’s moon.
Telstar 12, is a commercial broadcast satellite used in telecommunications, operated by Loral Skynet. It is a Ku band satellite with coverage of North America as far West as Cleveland, Ohio, the majority of South America, Europe as far East as the United Arab Emirates and South Africa. Telstar 12 also has the capability to provide intercontinental connectivity including trans-Atlantic to the Mid-East.
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Apollo 12
Apollo 12 was the sixth manned flight in the United States Apollo program and the second to land on the Moon (an H type mission).
It was launched on November 14, 1969 from the Kennedy Space Center, Florida, four months after Apollo 11. Mission commander Charles “Pete” Conrad and Lunar Module Pilot Alan L. Bean performed just over one day and seven hours of lunar surface activity while Command Module Pilot Richard F. Gordon remained in lunar orbit. The landing site for the mission was located in the southeastern portion of the Ocean of Storms.
Unlike the first landing by Apollo 11, Conrad and Bean achieved a precise landing at their expected location, the site of the Surveyor 3 unmanned probe, which had landed on April 20, 1967. They carried the first color television camera to the lunar surface on an Apollo flight, but transmission was lost after Bean accidentally destroyed the camera by pointing it at the Sun. On one of two moonwalks, they visited the Surveyor, and removed some parts for return to Earth.
The mission ended on November 24 with a successful splashdown.
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STS-12
During the Space Shuttle program, several missions were cancelled. Many were cancelled as a result of the Challenger and the Columbia disasters. Many early missions were cancelled due to delays in the development of the shuttle. Others were cancelled because of changes in payload and missions requirements.
STS-12 was originally scheduled for launch on 30 January 1981. The crew of three were to place the satellites TDRS-C and Anik-C2 into orbit during the 2-day mission. An alternate mission was also planned which replaced the TDRS-C with an Intelsat-V satellite, and would last five days instead of two. TDRS-C was eventually made as the replacement for the destroyed TDRS-B and launched from Discovery on STS-26 in September 1988.
The crew of STS-12 were, Henry W. Hartsfield, Jr. (Commander); Michael L. Coats (Pilot); and Mission Specialists Richard M. Mullane, Steven A. Hawley and Judith A. Resnik.
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Majestic 12
According to UFO conspiracy theory, Majestic 12 (or MJ-12) is the supposed code name of an alleged secret committee of scientists, military leaders, and government officials, formed in 1947 by an executive order by U.S. President Harry S. Truman. The purpose of the committee was to investigate the recovery of a UFO north of Roswell, New Mexico during July 1947.
Initial indications of such a group’s existence appeared in 1978 in declassified Canadian documents. Another reference to a classified group called “MJ-12” was discovered in 1980, but was later identified to be a hoax. In 1984 a set of documents was discovered in United States archives, which closely resemble real declassified documents, but which the FBI have declared to be “completely bogus”.
UFO conspiracy theories and the popular media based on them sometimes incorporate Majestic 12.
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In politics
The 12th President of the United States of America (1849–1850) was Zachary Taylor (November 24, 1784 – July 9, 1850). An American military leader, his 40-year military career ended with far-reaching victories in the Mexican–American War. His status as a national hero won him election to the White House despite his vague political beliefs. His top priority as president was preserving the Union, but he died 16 months into his term, before making any progress on the status of slavery, which had been inflaming tensions in Congress.
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The Twelfth Amendment (Amendment XII) to the United States Constitution provides the procedure for electing the President and Vice President. It replaced Article II, Section 1, Clause 3, which provided the original procedure by which the Electoral College functioned. Problems with the original procedure arose in the elections of 1796 and 1800. The Twelfth Amendment was proposed by the Congress on December 9, 1803, and was ratified by the required number of state legislatures on June 15, 1804.
The United States of America is divided into twelve Federal Reserve Districts (Boston, New York, Philadelphia, Cleveland, Richmond, Atlanta, Chicago, St. Louis, Minneapolis, Kansas City, Dallas, and San Francisco); American paper currency has serial numbers beginning with one of twelve different letters, A through L, representing the Federal Reserve Bank from which the currency originated.
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There are 12 stars are featured on the Flag of Europe
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The French department Aveyron is number twelve.
In Northern Ireland the Twelfth of July is the main day of celebration and commemoration for the Protestant and Unionist community, and a public holiday.
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In sport
The competition that was founded in 2001 as the Celtic League changed its name in 2011 to Pro12, reflecting its status as a 12-team league after it expanded in 2010 to include teams from Italy.
The Southern Hemisphere competition now known as Super Rugby was known from 1996 through 2005, an era in which it had 12 teams, as Super 12.
In both soccer and American football, the number 12 can be a symbolic reference to the fans because of the support they give to the 11 players on the field.
Texas A&M University reserves the number 12 jersey for a walk-on player who represents the original “12th Man”, a fan who was asked to play when the team’s reserves were low in a college American football game in 1922.
Bayern Munich, Hammarby, Feyenoord, Atlético Mineiro, Flamengo, Seattle Seahawks, Portsmouth and Cork City do not allow field players to wear the number 12 on their jersey because it is reserved for their supporters.
The jersey number 12 has been retired by several North American sports teams in honor of past playing greats (or, in one case, a team’s fans):
In Major League Baseball: the Tampa Bay Rays, for Hall of Famer Wade Boggs; the Toronto Blue Jays, for Hall of Famer Roberto Alomar.
In the NFL: the Buffalo Bills, for Hall of Famer Jim Kelly; the Miami Dolphins, for Hall of Famer Bob Griese; the New York Jets, for Hall of Famer Joe Namath; the San Francisco 49ers, for John Brodie; the Seattle Seahawks, for their fans (the “12th Man”); the Dallas Cowboys have a policy of not retiring numbers, however, the team has not issued #12 since the retirement of Hall of Famer Roger Staubach; the Pittsburgh Steelers currently have a policy of not retiring numbers, having retired only one number (70) in their earlier history, however, the Steelers have not issued #12 since the retirement of Hall of Famer Terry Bradshaw.
In the NBA: the New York Knicks, for Dick Barnett; the Utah Jazz, for Hall of Famer John Stockton; the Cincinnati Royals, for Hall of Famer Maurice Stokes, who suffered a career-ending head injury in 1958, the team’s first season in Cincinnati and the franchise continues to honor the number in its current incarnation as the Sacramento Kings.
In the NHL: he Detroit Red Wings, for Hall of Famer Sid Abel; the Montreal Canadiens, for Hall of Famers Yvan Cournoyer and Dickie Moore; the Vancouver Canucks, for Stan Smyl; the jersey number 12 has also been retired by the men’s basketball program of the University of North Carolina for Phil Ford.
In Canadian football, 12 is the maximum number of players that can be on the field of play for each team at any time.
In ten-pin bowling, 12 is the number of strikes needed for a perfect game.
In curling, the House or the circular scoring area, is 12 feet in diameter.
In cricket, another sport with eleven players per team, teams may select a “12th man”, who may replace an injured player for the purpose of fielding (but not batting, bowling or keeping wicket).
In association football, 12 was also the number of teams in the finals of the FIFA Women’s World Cup in its first two editions in 1991 and 1995.
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In books, music, movies and TV
Books
‘Twelfth Night’ is a comedy by William Shakespeare.
‘Twelve Angry Men’ by Reginald Rose, was adapted from his own teleplay (see TV below).
‘The Twelve’ is a poem by Aleksandr Blok.
‘Twelve’ is a novel by Nick McDonell.
‘The Twelve Chairs’ is a satirical novel by the Soviet authors Ilf and Petrov.
‘Cheaper by the Dozen’ is a 1946 novel by Frank Bunker Gilbreth, Jr. and Ernestine Gilbreth Carey.
‘The Twelve Dancing Princesses’ is a folk tale.
‘The Aeneid’, an epic poem by Virgil is divided into two halves composed of twelve books.
‘Paradise Lost’, an epic poem by John Milton is divided into twelve books perhaps in imitation of the Aeneid.
In ‘The Hunger Games’, the fictional country of Panem is separated into twelve districts.
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Music
Twelve is the number of pitch classes in an octave; the total number of major keys; and the total number of minor keys.
The twelfth is the interval of an octave and a fifth. Instruments such as the clarinet which behave as a stopped cylindrical pipe overblow at the twelfth.
The twelve-tone technique (also dodecaphony) is a method of musical composition devised by Arnold Schoenberg. Music using the technique is called twelve-tone music.
One of the most famous classical music pieces is the 1812 overture by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky.
The 12-inch single is a vinyl record format.
B12 are a British electronic music duo consisting of Mike Golding and Steve Rutter.
There is a group called ‘Twelve Girls Band’.
‘Twelfth Night’ is a progressive rock band.
‘12 Play’ is an R. Kelly album.
‘The Number 12 Looks Like You’ is a mathcore band.
‘Twelve’ is an album by Patti Smith.
‘Twelve Deadly Cyns…and Then Some’ is an album by Cyndi Lauper.
‘D12’ a rap group also known as the ‘Dirty Dozen’.
There is a musical group named ‘12 Stones’.
‘12’, a Song from Brave Murder Day by Katatonia.
‘12’ is a studio album by German singer Herbert Grönemeyer.
‘12’ is the 12th studio album by Keller Williams.
‘12 Hundred’ is a song by band Mushroomhead of their Savior Sorrow album.
‘12’ (“Dodeka” in Greek) is one of the most well-known hits by Anna Vissi.
‘Twelve drummers drumming’ is the gift on the twelfth day of Christmas in the carol ‘The Twelve Days of Christmas’.
‘12:59 Lullaby’ by Bedouin Soundclash.
‘Rainy Day Women No. 12 & 35’ by Bob Dylan.
‘Little 12 Toes’ by Chavez (band).
‘12 Hours’ by Davenport Cabinet.
‘12’ by Hot Chip.
‘Eighteen Wheels and a Dozen Roses’ by Kathy Mattea.
‘Twelve Reasons Why’ by My Life Story.
‘Dozen Wicked Words’ by The Longpigs.
‘Prelude 12’ by Styx.
‘12:51’ by The Strokes.
‘12 Steps’ by Violent Femmes.
‘The 12th Of September’ by Xavier Rudd.
‘12 Fingers’ by Young the Giant.
‘12-Bar Original’ by The Beatles.
Twelve is the number of studio albums ‘The Beatles’ released.
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Movies
Movies with the number twelve or its variations in their titles include
12
12.01
12 Angry Men (1957 and 1997)
Cheaper by the Dozen
Ocean’s Twelve
12 Monkeys
The Dirty Dozen
12 Rounds
Twelve
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Television
The number twelve plays a significant role in the television franchise Battlestar Galactica. The characters come from the Twelve Colonies of Kobol and worship the twelve lords of Kobol. In the re-imagined series, there are also twelve models of the humanoid version of Cylons.
Twelve Angry Men, the original 1954 live performance on the anthology television series Studio One.
‘Number 12 Looks Just Like You’ is an episode of the television show The Twilight Zone.
Schoolhouse Rock! portrayed an alien child using base-twelve arithmetic in the short ‘Little Twelvetoes’.
12 Oz Mouse was an animated television show on Adult Swim.
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In transport
Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior
The Lockheed Model 12 Electra Junior, more commonly known as the Lockheed 12 or L-12, is an eight-seat, six-passenger all-metal twin-engine transport aircraft of the late 1930s designed for use by small airlines, companies, and wealthy private individuals.
A scaled-down version of the Lockheed Model 10 Electra, the Lockheed 12 was not popular as an airliner but was widely used as a corporate and government transport. Several were also used for testing new aviation technologies.
Aviator Milo Burcham flew a Lockheed 12A in the 1937 Bendix Trophy Race from Burbank, California to Cleveland, Ohio. This 12A had been modified with extra fuel tanks in the cabin, allowing it to save time by making the entire 2,043-mile (3,288 km) trip non-stop. The 12A came in fifth at an average speed of 184 mph (296 km/h); this was an impressive performance, since the first and fourth-place winners were both privately owned Seversky P-35 fighters.
Another Lockheed 12A, owned by Republic Oil Company and named The Texan, was modified by aviator Jimmie Mattern for a round-the-world flight attempt. Mattern filled the 12A’s cabin with fuel tanks and removed the cabin windows and door; the crew would enter the aircraft via a cockpit hatch. The aircraft was denied a U.S. permit for the flight following the Earhart incident (she had been flying a Lockheed 10 Electra), however it was pressed into action September 1937 in a long range search effort for Sigizmund Levanevsky who crashed somewhere between the North pole and Barrow, Alaska. “The Texan” was outfitted as a luxury transport afterward, and lost in a hangar fire in January 1938.
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Hispano-Suiza J12
The Hispano-Suiza J12 was a luxury automobile made by Hispano-Suiza from 1931 to 1938. It replaced the Hispano-Suiza H6. The J12 was powered by a V12 engine with pushrod-operated overhead valves.
Hispano-Suiza suspended automobile production in 1938 to concentrate on the manufacture of aircraft engines.
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Renault 12
The Renault 12 is a family car produced by French automaker Renault between 1969 and 1980. Available as a saloon (Berline) and estate (Break), it was also produced under license in many countries across the globe into the early 21st century.
In its first few years the 12 received praise from the European press for its spacious, comfortable interior, its styling, its performance and its low fuel consumption. However it fared worse in the North American press: in a test of the 1974 model, Road & Track was critical of the engine’s “obtrusive” noise, and called the heavy, non-power steering “a serious design flaw”. They also gave it “very poor marks” for the ventilation system.
Renault 12 production and sales ended in western Europe in 1980, but the model continued to be produced and sold by Renault affiliates elsewhere. The last R12 was produced in 1999 in Turkey, whilst Romanian automaker Dacia continued producing the R12-based 1310 sedan and estate until 2004 and the R12-based Dacia Pick-Up until December 2006.
In terms of sales the Renault 12 was a successful car, selling 2.5 million units.
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McLaren M12
The McLaren M12 was an open-cockpit racing car developed by Bruce McLaren Motor Racing in 1969, solely for the purpose of selling to customers in the Can-Am series.
The M12 combined elements from two of McLaren’s previous efforts, the M6 series and the M8 series.
One of the more notable owners of an M12 was Chaparral Cars, who used the McLaren in the early 1969 Can-Am season while their own model’s development had been delayed.
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BMW E12
The BMW E12 BMW 5-Series was made between 1972 and 1981. The E12 was the first series to bear the 5 Series name: the ‘5’ denoting BMW’s fifth ‘New Class’ platform. Designed as a replacement for the popular BMW New Class mid-size sedan, the E12 5-Series models were smaller than the large BMW E3 sedan but larger than the two-door 2002 models.
The E12 was replaced by the BMW E28 5 Series in 1981, although production continued until 1984 in South Africa.
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Volkswagen W12 Coupe
The Volkswagen W12 Coupe (also known as the Volkswagen Nardò, with reference to the Nardò Ring vehicle test track, near to the Italian city of Nardò) was a concept car created by Volkswagen Passenger Cars in 1997.
The car is portrayed in games such as Heat Online, Gran Turismo, and the Test Drive series.
This car also featured in an April Fools joke as the new Volkswagen 2015 LeVanto.
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Vector M12
The Vector M12 was a vehicle designed by parent company Megatech LTD the Vector Motors Corporation, and was the first vehicle produced after the hostile takeover of the company from Jerry Wiegert by the Indonesian company Megatech.
The vehicle was a rebodied Lamborghini Diablo with a chopper gun fiberglass body set on a lengthened Diablo chassis. It was a loose copy of the Vector AWX-3, which was not released due to the Megatech hostile takeover.
The M12 was able to accelerate from zero to 60 mph (97 km/h) in 4.8 seconds and had a top speed of 189 mph (304 km/h) and was produced from 1995 to 1999, when production was halted, partly due to slow sales of the cars and alleged mismanagement of the company.
The average price of the vehicle was $184,000 (USD). Today you can purchase a M12 normally for $65,000 to an astounding $189,000 paid by a purchaser of a purple M12 at Barrett Jackson for a record sale price.
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Noble M12
The Noble M12 is a two-door, two-seat model, originally planned both as a coupe and as a convertible.
All M12s have been powered by modified bi-turbocharged Ford Duratec V6 engines. The M12 has a full steel roll cage, steel frame, and G.R.P. (fibreglass) composite clam shell body parts.
These famed “Ferrari killers” are extremely lightweight and stiff. Although looking to be track derived, the M12 performs very well on both road and track, with surprisingly good ride quality, but a rigid feel. This is achieved by having no anti-roll bars on the car. This allows the suspension to be stiff yet comfortable.
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Ferrari F12 Berlinetta
The Ferrari F12 berlinetta (also unofficially referred to as the F12 Berlinetta or the F12) is a front mid-engine, rear-wheel-drive grand tourer produced by Italian sports car manufacturer Ferrari. The F12 Berlinetta, introduced to the public at the 2012 Geneva Motor Show, replaces the Ferrari 599 series grand tourers.
The F12berlinetta was named “The Supercar of the Year 2012” by car magazine Top Gear.
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Spyker E12 Zagato
Spyker Cars shareholder and CEO, Victor Muller hinted at a Maserati Quattroporte, Porsche Panamera rival with an eight-cylinder (the E8) or a twelve-cylinder (the E12) engine, but due to problems getting the D8 into production, the idea was ignored until recently when Muller has said he “believes now could be the time to resurrect the saloon.”
Muller believes it will take about four years from time E8/E12 is revealed to the time it starts production. In March 2011, Muller stated that the production version of the Spyker E8/E12 will use a twelve-cylinder instead of the proposed eight-cylinder engine.
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V12 engine
A V12 engine is a V engine with 12 cylinders mounted on the crankcase in two banks of six cylinders, usually but not always at a 60° angle to each other, with all 12 pistons driving a common crankshaft.
Since each cylinder bank is essentially a straight-6, this configuration has perfect primary and secondary balance no matter which V angle is used and therefore needs no balance shafts. A V12 with two banks of six cylinders angled at 60°, 120° or 180° (with the latter configuration usually referred to as a flat-12) from each other has even firing with power pulses delivered twice as often per revolution as a straight-6.
This allows for great refinement in a luxury car. In a racing car, the rotating parts can be made much lighter and thus more responsive, since there is no need to use counterweights on the crankshaft as is needed in a 90° V8 and less need for the inertial mass in a flywheel to smooth out the power delivery. In a large displacement, heavy-duty engine, a V12 can run slower than smaller engines, prolonging engine life.
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W12 engine
A W12 engine is a twelve cylinder piston internal combustion engine in a W configuration.
W12 engines are manufactured in two distinct configurations. One configuration uses four rows of three cylinders merged into two ‘cylinder banks’ (two narrow-angle VR6 engine blocks), coupled to a common crankshaft – as in the Volkswagen Group W12. Another uses three banks of four cylinders coupled to a common crankshaft – as in the Napier Lion.
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Other stuff
There are twelve basic hues in the color wheel; 3 primary colors (red, yellow, blue), 3 secondary colors (orange, green & purple) and 6 tertiary colors (names for these vary, but are intermediates between the primaries and secondaries).
There are 12 ounces in a troy pound (used for precious metals)
There are 12 signs of the zodiac.
In English, twelve is the number of greatest magnitude that has just one syllable.
There are normally twelve pairs of ribs in the human body.
The Twelve Tables or Lex Duodecim Tabularum, more informally simply Duodecim Tabulae was the ancient legislation underlying Roman law.
In the United States, twelve people are appointed to sit on a jury for felony trials in all but four states, and in federal and Washington, D.C. courts. The number of jurors gave the title to the play (and subsequent films) Twelve Angry Men.
There are 12 inches in a foot.
Twelve shillings made up one British pound in pre decimal currency.
There are 12 face cards in a normal card deck.
Alcoholics Anonymous has 12 steps, 12 traditions and 12 concepts for world service.
Most calendar systems have twelve months in a year.
The Western zodiac has twelve signs, as does the Chinese zodiac.
The Chinese use a 12 year cycle for time-reckoning called Earthly Branches.
There are twenty-four hours in a day, the hours being numbered from one to twelve for both the ante meridiem (a.m.) half of the day and the post meridiem (p.m.) half of the day. The basic units of time (60 seconds, 60 minutes, 24 hours) can all perfectly divide by twelve.
The title of this post says ‘confounding all the laws of the intellect’, and I don’t think that is any exaggeration. These people take questions, often simple questions, run it through what passes for their mind and then out of their mouths come answers that are so far away from correct it is sometimes quite staggering.
Anyhow, enough from me.
Here is the latest selection.
Enjoy.
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Q: What country does the spiritual leader the Dalai Lama come from
A: Scotland.
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Q: What is the currency in India?
A: Ramadan.
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Q: Skegness is a seaside resort on the coast of which sea:
a) Irish Sea,
b) English Channel,
c) North Sea?
A: Oh, I know that, you can start writing out the cheque now, Dale. It’s on the east coast, so it must be the Irish Sea.
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Q: Bob Hope was the fifth of how many sons?
A: Four.
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Q: Which ‘S’ is a kind of whale that can grow up to 80 tonnes?
A: Ummm .. .
Q: It begins with ‘S’ and rhymes with ‘perm’.
A: Shark.
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Q: Which literary hunchback lived in Notre Dame and fell in love with Esmeralda
A: Nostradamus.
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Q: What is the capital of Italy
A:France.
Q: France is another country. Try again.
A:Oh, um, Benidorm.
Q: Wrong, sorry.
Let’s try another question
Q: In which country is the Parthenon
A:Sorry, I don’t know.
Q: Just guess a country.
A:Paris.
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Q: What’s 11 squared?
A:I don’t know.
Q: I’ll give you a clue. It’s two ones with a two in the middle.
A:Is it five?
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Q: What religion was Guy Fawkes?
A:Jewish.
Q: That’s close enough.
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Q: What was signed to bring World War I to an end in 1918?.
A:Magna Carta?
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Q: What ‘K’ could be described as the Islamic Bible?
A: Er…
Q: It’s got two sylla-bles… Kor…
A: Blimey?
Q: Ha ha ha, no. The past participle of run…
A: Silence
Q: Okay, try it another way. Today I run, yesterday I…
A: Walked?
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Q: What name is given to the condition where the sufferer can fall asleep at any time?
A: Nostalgia.
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Q: In which European country is Mount Etna?
A: Japan.
Q: I did say European country… I can let you try again.
A: Er… Mexico?
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Q: How long did the Six Day War between Egypt and Israel last?
A: (long pause) 14 days.
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Q: In which country would you spend shekels?
A: Holland?
Q: Try the next letter of the alphabet.
A: Iceland? Ireland?
Q: It’s a bad line. Did you say Israel?
A: No.
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Q: Where is Cambridge University?
A: Geography isn’t my strong point
Q: There’s a clue in the title
A: Leicester?
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Q: Which is the largest Spanish-speaking country in the world?
A: Barcelona
Q: I was really after the name of a country
A: I’m sorry, I don’t know the name of any countries in Spain
Today we have the third of my three-part series highlighting some of the stupid laws that have been made by the stupid politicians and bureaucrats that we have allowed into positions of power.
So here are some more of the lesser known laws that govern the good citizens in the United States (listed by state alphabetically, part 1 covered A to L, part 2 covered the M’s and N’s, this week it’s O to W.).
Enjoy (or cringe, perhaps).
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OHIO
Women are prohibited from wearing patent leather shoes in public. (I hope that’s no reflection on them.)
It is illegal to fish for whales on Sunday. (And immoral any other day.)
It is illegal to get a fish drunk. (Would Sir like some water with that?)
The Ohio driver’s education manual states that you must honk the horn whenever you pass another car. (But I want to ‘beep’.)
If one loses their pet tiger, they must notify the authorities within one hour. (That’s greeeaaaatttttt!)
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OKLAHOMA
It is illegal for the owner of a bar to allow anyone inside to pretend to have sex with a buffalo. (And the real thing is okay???)
Dogs must have a permit signed by the mayor in order to congregate in groups of three or more on private property.
It is illegal to have the hind legs of farm animals in your boots. (That reminds me of a joke about…… no, better not.)
People who make “ugly faces” at dogs may be fined and/or jailed. (What happens if you just have a ugly face to begin with?)
Cars must be tethered outside of public buildings.
Oral sex is a misdemeanor and is punishable by one year in jail and a $2,500 fine. (Well, blow me, that’s expensive!)
It is illegal to conceal the birth of a child that would be a bastard. (But you never know how they are going to turn out until they get a bit older???)
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OREGON
Babies may not be carried on the running boards of a car. (That’s okay, you need both hands to hang on to the car anyhow.)
It is illegal to whisper “dirty” things in your lover’s ear during sex. (So where do you whisper them?)
Ice cream may not be eaten on Sundays. (Ridiculous!)
It is illegal to buy or sell marijuana, but it is legal to smoke it on your own property. (To pot with that!!)
You cannot eat a doughnut and walk backwards on a city street. (Well, maybe YOU can’t, but….)
Juggling is strictly prohibited without a license. (And quite difficult even with one.)
It is a crime to publicly scrape clean a skeleton in a cemetery. (And let’s make no bones about it.)
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PENNSYLVANIA
It is illegal to sleep on top of a refrigerator outdoors. (This is another one of those ‘how many people were doing this that a law was needed against it’ kind of things.)
Any motorist driving along a country road at night must stop every mile and send up a rocket signal, wait 10 minutes for the road to be cleared of livestock, and continue.
A special cleaning ordinance bans housewives from hiding dirt and dust under a rug in a dwelling. (Ya hear that one ladies?)
In Harrisburg it is against the law to wear lead nipple shields. (I bet Superman goes there – a lot!)
You may not sing in the bathtub.
You may not catch a fish by any body part except the mouth. (I don’t think I could catch a fish with my mouth.)
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RHODE ISLAND
No one may bite off another’s leg. (Ears, noses, arms, etc., are okay?)
Any marriage where either of the parties is an idiot or lunatic is null and void. (I’m saying nothing.)
One must make a loud noise before passing a car on the left. (Can do!)
The penalty for biting off another’s limb is twenty years in jail, but only if it was intentional. (Whoops, sorry, there’s your leg back. I didn’t mean it.)
It is illegal to wear transparent clothing. (Clearly!)
You may not sell toothpaste and a toothbrush to the same customer on a Sunday.
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SOUTH CAROLINA
It is considered an offense to get a tattoo. (I just consider it stupid.)
Horses may not be kept in bathtubs. (I guess there’s no room, what with all the donkeys in there.)
It is perfectly legal to beat your wife on the court house steps on Sundays.
It is a capital offense to inadvertently kill someone while attempting suicide. (You mean if you are attempting suicide or you can’t kill the person who is attempting suicide?)
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SOUTH DAKOTA
It is illegal to lie down and fall asleep in a cheese factory. (But is there a law about cutting the cheese?)
If three or more Indians are walking down the street together, they can be considered a war party and fired upon.
In Huron it is an offence to cause static. (Shocking law that one.)
Otherwise illegal explosives can be set off in sunflower fields.
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TENNESSEE
It is a crime to share your Netflix password in Tennessee. (Is it okay in English?)
It is illegal to use a lasso to catch a fish. (And very difficult.)
“Crimes against nature” are prohibited.
Skunks may not be carried into the state. (Yeah, let the little stinkers walk.)
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TEXAS
It is illegal to take more than three sips of beer at a time while standing. (What sort of a guy ‘sips’ beer? Come on!)
Up to a felony charge can be levied for promoting the use of, or owning more than six dildos.
It is illegal to milk another person’s cow. (Is that a double entendre?)
The entire Encyclopedia Britannica is banned in Texas because it contains a formula for making beer at home.
In Dallas it is illegal to possess realistic dildos.
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UTAH
It is illegal not to drink milk.
It is illegal to detonate any nuclear weapon.
Birds have the right of way on all highways.
In Salt Lake County an official milkman is limited to casual contact with his customers. (What’s all this about milk in Utah?)
A husband is responsible for every criminal act committed by his wife while she is in his presence.
No one may have sex in the back of an ambulance if it is responding to an emergency call. (So turn the sirens off??)
It is illegal to cause a catastrophe. (So are these laws not breaking this law?)
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VERMONT
Women must obtain written permission from their husbands to wear false teeth. (By gum!)
At one time it was illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole.
All residents shall bathe every Saturday night.
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VIRGINIA
Not only is it illegal to have sex with the lights on, one may not have sex in any position other than missionary. (Just how did the people who thought this one up think that they were going to enforce it?)
It is illegal to tickle women. (You just said that, see above!)
A man may face 60 days in jail for patting a woman’s derriere. (How long for a good slap?)
Women must wear a corsette after sundown and be in the company of male chaperone.
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WASHINGTON
The harassing of Bigfoot, Sasquatch or other undiscovered subspecies is a felony punishable by a fine and/or imprisonment. (Do tell how exactly do you harass an ‘undiscovered’ species? Wouldn’t you have to discover it first, and once discovered it is no longer ‘undiscovered’ and therefore can be harassed?)
All lollipops are banned. (This law really sucks.)
People may not buy a mattress on Sunday.
In Washington it is a misdemeanor to sell poison without a license.
In Seattle possessing an electro-magnetic wave generator is a crime.
It is illegal to pretend that one’s parents are rich. (Can you pretend that they are poor?)
You may not carry a concealed weapon that is over six feet in length. (And where would you be able to conceal it anyway?)
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WEST VIRGINIA
It is legal for a male to have sex with an animal as long as it does not exceed 40 lbs. (And I would imagine dangerous if it does!)
It is illegal to snooze on a train.
One may not walk a lion, tiger or leopard, even on a leash.
Firemen may not whistle or flirt at any woman passing a firehouse.
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WISCONSIN
Condoms were considered an obscene article and had to be hidden behind the pharmacist’s counter.
At one time, margarine was illegal.
It is illegal to kiss on a train.
It is illegal to cut a woman’s hair. (People from Brazil please take special note.)
The government may not prohibit manual flushed urinals. (That’s handy.)
Cheddar cheese must be “highly pleasing”.
Followers of the Ho-Chunk religion may hunt deer without a license.
It is illegal to produce baby Swiss cheese without well-developed eyes. (Otherwise how could you see what you were doing… Duh!!)
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WYOMING
If one is drunk in a mine, he or she could land in jail for up to a year. (Prospects aren’t good then?)
It is illegal for women to stand within five feet of a bar while drinking. (Iron or wooden?)
You may not take a picture of a rabbit from January to April without an official permit. (That really bugs me.)
It is illegal to charge for the use of a toilet. (No sh**!)
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