Gray And White Matters.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
.
Yes, apparently gray and white matters as you will find out in one of today’s selection of unusual facts.
Hope you enjoy the others as well.
.

facts22

.
During the production of the video game Deus Ex,

one of the artists forgot to add

the Twin Towers to New York City.

His mistake was explained by

way of a terrorist attack.

The year was 2000.

Deus_Ex_charity[1]

.

.

Switzerland has

208 mountains over 3,000 meters high

and 24 over 4,000 meters.

switzerland-swiss-flag-on-mannlichen

.

.

The male brain contains more gray matter

whereas the female brain contains more white matter.

White matter basically increases the speed

of transmission of all nerve signals,

which ultimately allows women to process thoughts

more rapidly than their male counterparts.

Don’t fret guys, you’ll get this

in another nano second or two.

female-brain-male-brain

.

.

Genghis Kahn wanted the location

of his grave to be unknown

(somewhere in present day Mongolia)

so his funeral escort killed everyone they met

along the way and he even demanded that

a river be diverted to run across his grave

so it could never be disturbed.

Mongolian river

.

.

Although their civilization has declined and been conquered,

in many rural parts of Mexico and Guatemala

Mayan language and culture perseveres.

In fact, there are an estimated 7 million Maya

still living in and around the Yucatan Peninsula.

Yucatan Peninsula map

.

.

The modern chainsaw was invented  by Scottish

doctors to help with Symphysiotomy.

This is a surgical procedure that widens the

pelvis in order to assist in childbirth.

Symphysiotomy chainsaw

.

.

China is among the countries with

the highest air pollution in the world.

Breathing air in Beijing, the country´s capital,

increases the risk of lung cancer in the same way

as smoking 21 cigarettes a day.

Breathing air in Beijing

.

.

In 1883 Sir Hiram Maxim created the Maxim gun.

The world’s first machine gun would go on to

revolutionize warfare and was used in both World Wars.

Maxim gun

.

.

Some rich people in Moscow buy

ambulances and use them to drive around

because the traffic is so bad.

Volkswagen_T4_ambulance_car,_Moscow,_Russia,_2011

.

.

Operation Mockingbird was a secret campaign

begun in the 1950s by the

Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)

to influence media.

Operation-Mockingbird

.

.

After being frustrated by the service

he was receiving at Bank of America,

Dalton Chiscolm sued them

for $1.7 billion trillion.

During the trial a professor of mathematics

was even called in to testify about

how big the number was.

To give you an idea,

Earth’s total combined GDP was $60 trillion that year.

That is still over 28 million times smaller

than what he was asking for.

Dalton Chiscolm sues Bank of America

.

.

Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf

in the Lord of the Rings trilogy,

a decision that cost him $300 million

(he was offered 15% of the film’s profit).

Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf

.

=============================

.

Back To Normal Quiz

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

.

After a couple of festive mega quizzes it’s back to normal this week with a standard sized offering to test your knowledge.

As usual the answers can be found waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but NO cheating please!

Enjoy.

.

quiz 06

.

Q.  1:  What was Walt Disney’s Middle name?

           a) Ewart   b) Elias   c) Elliot    d) Ernest

.

.

Q.  2:  Which was the first state in America to pass a law which required vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, and what year did that law that come into effect? (A point for each part.)

.

.

Q.  3:  In which year did seat belts become compulsory in Great Britain?

.

.

Q.  4:  In Germany what is a ‘kaufhaus’?

.

.

Q.  5:  Which country has the longest land border with Russia?

           a) Mongolia        b) Kazakhstan        c) China

.

.

Q.  6:  ‘Hogmanay’ is another name for which day of the year?

            a) New Year’s Day        b) New Year’s Eve        c) Christmas Day

.

.

Q.  7:  Camp David, the country retreat of US Presidents, is in which state?

.

.

Q.  8:  The name of which Mexican snack food literally means ‘little cheese thing’?

           a) quesadilla        b) burrito        c) enchilada

.

.

Q.  9:  Absolute government by one person called what?

.

.

Q. 10:  The Egyptian god Anubis had the head of what animal?

            a) Jackal        b) Lion        c) Crocodile

.

.

Q. 11:  What was the first fully computer-generated feature length movie made by Pixar?

            a) Monsters Inc        b) A Bug’s Life        c) Toy Story

.

.

Q. 12:  Which Canadian city hosts the ‘Just For Laughs’ comedy festival every July?

.

.

Q. 13:  Who was the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Zeus?

.

.

Q. 14:  The US TV series ‘The Office’ was set in which Pennsylvanian city?

.

.

Q. 15:  What is measured on the Rankine scale?

.

.

Q. 16:  Who composed the opera ‘Cosi fan tutte’?

.

.

Q. 17:  What is the profession of Bill Murray’s character in ‘Groundhog Day’?

.

.

Q. 18:  ‘Mariculture’ is the cultivation of the animals and plants of which environment?

            a) Desert        b) Forest        c) Sea

.

.

Q. 19:  Writers from which country have won the Nobel Prize for Literature most often?

            a) America        b) Sweden        c) France        d) England

.

.

Q. 20:  What car is the prize possession of Clint Eastwood’s movie character ‘Walt Kowalski’?

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

ANSWERS

.

Q.  1:  What was Walt Disney’s Middle name?

           a) Ewart   b) Elias   c) Elliot    d) Ernest

A.  1:  b) Elias.

.

.

Q.  2:  Which was the first state in America to pass a law which required vehicle occupants to wear seat belts, and what year did that law that come into effect? (A point for each part.)

A.  2:  New York in 1984 (December 1 to be precise).

.

.

Q.  3:  In which year did seat belts become compulsory in Great Britain?

A.  3:  1983.

.

.

Q.  4:  In Germany what is a ‘kaufhaus’?

A.  4:  A department store.

.

.

Q.  5:  Which country has the longest land border with Russia?

           a) Mongolia        b) Kazakhstan        c) China

A.  5:  b) Kazakhstan.

.

.

Q.  6:  ‘Hogmanay’ is another name for which day of the year?

            a) New Year’s Day        b) New Year’s Eve        c) Christmas Day

A.  6:  Hogmanay is celebrated on b) New Year’s Eve.

.

.

Q.  7:  Camp David, the country retreat of US Presidents, is in which state?

A.  7:  Maryland.

.

.

Q.  8:  The name of which Mexican snack food literally means ‘little cheese thing’?

           a) quesadilla        b) burrito        c) enchilada

A.  8:  a) quesadilla.

.

.

Q.  9:  Absolute government by one person called what?

A.  9:  Autocracy.

.

.

Q. 10:  The Egyptian god Anubis had the head of what animal?

            a) Jackal        b) Lion        c) Crocodile

A. 10:  a) Jackal.

.

.

Q. 11:  What was the first fully computer-generated feature length movie made by Pixar?

            a) Monsters Inc        b) A Bug’s Life        c) Toy Story

A. 11:  c) Toy Story.

.

.

Q. 12:  Which Canadian city hosts the ‘Just For Laughs’ comedy festival every July?

A. 12:  Montreal.

.

.

Q. 13:  Who was the Roman equivalent of the Greek god Zeus?

A. 13:  Jupiter.

.

.

Q. 14:  The US TV series ‘The Office’ was set in which Pennsylvanian city?

A. 14:  Scranton.

.

.

Q. 15:  What is measured on the Rankine scale?

A. 15:  The Rankine scale measures temperature.

.

.

Q. 16:  Who composed the opera ‘Cosi fan tutte’?

A. 16:  Mozart.

.

.

Q. 17:  What is the profession of Bill Murray’s character in ‘Groundhog Day’?

A. 17:  He plays the part of a TV weatherman.

.

.

Q. 18:  ‘Mariculture’ is the cultivation of the animals and plants of which environment?

            a) Desert        b) Forest        c) Sea

A. 18:  c) Sea.

.

.

Q. 19:  Writers from which country have won the Nobel Prize for Literature most often?

            a) America        b) Sweden        c) France        d) England

A. 19:  c) France.

.

.

Q. 20:  What car is the prize possession of Clint Eastwood’s movie character ‘Walt Kowalski’?

A. 20:  Gran Torino

.

==========================================

.