Titanic, Tic Tacs And Trailers. It’s Fact Day.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Welcome to another fact day at the fasab blob.

Last one for May 2015. Time flying as always.

This selection includes facts about the Titanic Tic Tacs and trailers, and lots more.

Enjoy.

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Light pollution usually doesn’t have a

significant impact on humans but it

causes major problems to many animals.

Birds often confuse days and nights and

scientists found out that light pollution can

change migration patterns in some animal species.

 

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The Titanic was so big that 176 men were needed

just to shovel coal into its furnaces

 

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Although Tic Tac’s claim to have 0 sugar,

they consist of nearly 98% sugar!

This is because the size per serving is

.49 grams and according to the FDA a food

cannot be labeled “sugar free” unless it

contains less than .5 grams of sugar per serving!

How sweet!

 

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Bulgaria is the oldest country in Europe and

it hasn’t changed its name since 681 AD

 

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When Soviet archaeologists opened the tomb

of Tamerlane, a Mongol descendant of Genghis Khan,

they found an inscription that read,

“Whoever opens my tomb will unleash

an invader more terrible than I.”

It was June 20 1941.

Germany invaded the Soviet Union on June 22.

 

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The only part of a Swiss Army Knife not

made in Switzerland is the corkscrew.

It is made in Japan.

 

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Mothers become emotionally attached to their

children prior to birth by the virtue of

carrying the child in their wombs.

According to some studies men won’t become

emotionally bonded to the child for several months

after birth when the infant begins to smile, respond,

and interact with him.

 

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During Peter the Great’s reign in Russia

there was a beard tax which

anyone with a beard had to pay.

 

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Nobody knows how the Mayan Empire declined.

Long before the Spanish came many of the great

cities had already been long abandoned and lay in ruins.

Scholars have hypothesized reasons ranging from

drought and famine to overpopulation and climate change.

 

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JRR Tolkien’s estate only received $62,500

for the Lord of the Rings film trilogy

until a lawsuit was filed.

 

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In June 2010 Oscar the cat received bionic limbs

to replace his original ones lost in an

accident with a combine harvester.

 

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Movie trailers were so named because they

were originally designed to play AFTER the movie,

but when marketers realized that people don’t tend

to stick around when a movie has finished they

started to play them at the beginning of the main movie!

Here’s an example…

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Some Baby Facts Included Today.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Yes, baby facts and a lot of grown up facts too in this selection.

Hope you find something of interest.

Enjoy.

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In spite of their crying sounds,

babies tears don’t begin to flow until they

are around 4 to 13 weeks old.

 

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Anne Parrish, an American writer was browsing

in a Paris bookstore one day when she came across

a book called, ‘Jack Frost and Other Stories’.

She began to tell her husband how she loved

the book when she was a child.

He took the book, opened it,

and inside the cover were written the words

“Anne Parish, 209 N Weber Street, Colorado”.

 

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The Titanic had its own newspaper

called The Atlantic Daily Bulletin.

 

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The term ‘Geek’ first showed up in northern Britain

in 1876, when it was used to refer to a fool.

Americans tweaked the meaning and by 1957 it meant

‘an unsociable and over-diligent student’.

Of course, once computers turned up in the 80’s,

‘geek’ took on a second meaning as

‘an expert in computers or science’.

 

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The first modern lighter was invented by

German chemist Johann Wolfgang Dobereiner in 1823,

three years BEFORE the match was invented

by John Walker in England.

 

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One of the most iconic military vehicles of all time has to

be the Willys MB Jeep, manufactured from 1941 to 1945.

This small four-wheel drive utility vehicle has

a maximum speed of up to 65 mph (105 km/h)

and an operational range of 300 miles (almost 500 km).

It was used by several countries in WWII,

including the US, UK, France and the Soviet Union.

 

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Technically Europe is not a continent,

it’s separation from Asia was actually a Greek idea.

 

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While filming Lord of the Rings

in the mountains of New Zealand,

Sean Bean refused a helicopter ride to a set

that was high in the mountains

due to his fear of flying.

He instead hiked up to the set

in his full Boromir armor

every day that they shot up there.

 

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In Indonesia the government has restricted some

lanes of traffic to only cars with 3 or more people

to try to cut down overcrowding on the roads.

Some poor people from the city outskirts

take advantage of this law by offering drivers a

Professional Hitchhiker service,

so they can drive in the fast lanes.

 

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Genghis Khan believed that a man could be measured

by the number of children he fathered

and consequently his harem included thousands of

women with whom he had a great many children.

So many, in fact, that geneticists have found

that roughly 8% of men in Asia carry his genetic legacy

in their Y-chromosome.

 

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127,000 trees are chopped down every day

in order to keep up with the global demand

for toilet paper.

Holy S***!!!

 

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The original ER movie was to be directed

by Steven Spielberg until he became more interested

in another of Crichton’s projects: Jurassic Park.

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Time To Unveil The Skeleton In The Closet – It’s Fasab Fact Day.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Unveiling the skeleton in the closet is just one of today’s fascinating fasab facts.

Many more interesting snippets below as well.

I hope you enjoy.

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Marijuana and beer have more in

common than you would think.

Beer’s hops are in the same family

of flowering plants as cannabis.

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Lewis and Clark were trying to get 40 horses

from an Indian Tribe to cross the Rockies safely.

The negotiations were getting nowhere

until their interpreter found out

she was the Chief’s long lost sister.

The girl, Sacagawea, had been

taken as a slave as a child.

This changed the direction of the talk and

Lewis and Clark’s party got their horses.

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While Sean Connery was taking

martial arts lessons for a Bond film,

his instructor got angry and broke his wrist.

The instructor was Steven Seagal.

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Physicists at the National Autonomous

University of Mexico figured out a way

to make artificial diamonds out of tequila.

Sadly, the synthetic diamonds are too small

to be turned into jewelry, but they can be used

for an array of electronic and industrial purposes.

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The Giza pyramids are guarded

by the Great Sphinx,

the largest monolith statue in the world.

The face of the Sphinx is generally believed

to represent the face of the Pharaoh Khafra.

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The Titanic is the only ocean liner in history

that has been sunk by an iceberg.

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The polar bear is an excellent swimmer

and often will swim for days.

One bear swam continuously for 9 days

in the frigid Bering Sea for 400 miles (687 km)

to reach ice far from land.

They usually swim at a speed of 10 km/h (6 mph).

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Because the heart has its own electrical impulse

it can continue to beat even when separated

from the body, as long has it has a supply of oxygen.

The rest of your body does not do so well

without the heart attached.

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YouTube has signed up thousands of

advertising partners, including titans of the

entertainment industry such as Disney, Univision,

Channel 4, and Channel 5 among many others.

Most of these partners are making six figures a year.

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The biggest on-pad explosion at Cape Canaveral

happened on March2, 1965,

when the Atlas Centaur 5 exploded,

after a fuel valve closed causing the booster engines

to lose upward thrust two seconds after liftoff

and the rocket fell back on the launch pad.

The explosion created a 200 foot high fireball

and the launch pad remained out of operation

for a year following the incident

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In nineteenth-century England, the periodical

‘The Eclectic Review’ used the idiom

“Skeleton in the closet”

in reference to a family who desperately tried

to keep a son’s illness secret by hiding him

in the closet quite often,

especially when guests visited.

This is how this idiom got its start,

and today we use it to refer to when someone tries

to hide a big secret out of embarrassment and shame.

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J.J. Thomson won the Nobel in Physics (1906)

when he showed electrons were particles.

His son won it in 1937

for showing that electrons are waves.

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Because of the silly superstitions

surrounding the number 13,

there is no 13th Avenue in San Francisco,

instead Funston Avenue

is between 12th and 14th Avenues.

However, there is a 13th Street,

which is covered by the Central Skyway

making it one of the darkest and

ugliest streets in San Francisco.

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The ‘Antquarium’, a special container

for keeping ants as pets,

sold all over the world,

was originally developed by NASA

for the purpose of research of animals in space.

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The average CD can hold 74 minutes’ worth of music.

That unusual length was determined by Sony’s president,

who decided that a single CD should be able to contain

the longest recorded version of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony.

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Movies, Monkeys And Mezcal, Fasab’s February Facts Continue.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Yes, from movies to monkeys to mescal, an intoxicating collection of facts for you today.

Hope you find something interesting in this lot.

But whatever you do….

Enjoy.

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Statistically you are more likely to

have a heart attack on Monday morning

than any other time.

Congratulations,

you’ve made it to Tuesday.

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In the movie Home Alone

the Parisian airport scenes

were actually filmed in

Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport,

the luxurious business class seats were

built on a basketball court of a local high school

and the flooded basement scene

was filmed in that same school’s swimming pool.

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James Bond has killed 352 people over 22 films.

Pierce Brosnan was the deadliest Bond.

In GoldenEye alone, he killed 47 people.

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Believe it or not,

there are several competitions

in pig grunting imitation.

The Pig Grunting World Championship

and Agricultural show held annually in Paris

is among the most popular one.

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Another unusual competition

held every November in Amsterdam,

is the Cannabis Cup

which is the world´s largest cannabis festival,

where judges from around the world

sample and vote for their favorite marijuana varieties.

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The Ancient Egyptians buried their nobility

in the pyramids with burial goods that

ranged from everyday objects to the most

expensive items such as jewelry.

They believed the dead would use it in the afterlife.

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What’s the difference between mezcal and tequila?

The main difference between the two is the plant.

All tequila must be produced using blue agave,

whereas a variety of agave plants can

be used to make a single mezcal batch.

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The budget for the James Cameron film Titanic

was actually higher than the budget

spent on building the ship in real life.

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After fruit flies successfully paved

the way for animals in space,

Albert II (a male rhesus monkey)

was the first primate sent into space.

Successfully making it to 83 miles (134 km)

above the Earth’s surface on June 4 ,1949,

Albert II tragically died when the parachute

on his recovery capsule failed upon re-entry.

(He was preceded by Albert I who failed

to attain the international standard of height

for being in space.

Albert I did not survive the launch.)

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More than one million creators

from over thirty countries

are earning money

from their YouTube videos,

while nearly half of them are

making a living from that.

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During WWI Cher Ami was one of the

many birds used by the US Army Signal Corps

in France to transport important messages

from commanders in the battlefield.

In one of the missions Cher Ami was shot

by German troops after he took flight,

but the wounded bird continued flying

and heroically managed to deliver the

important message he carried.

As a result, a Lost Battalion of the Allies was saved,

and Cher Ami later was awarded the Croix de Guerre

by the French government.

After he died in June 1919,

the famous bird was preserved

by a taxidermist and

put on display at the Smithsonian.

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Japanese doctors have observed patients

with “auto-brewery syndrome,”

in which high levels of candida yeast in the

intestines churn out so much alcohol

that they can cause drunkenness.

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Not that they are used so much nowadays,

but in a traditional hangman’s noose

there are 13 twists of the rope

and 13 steps to the gallows.

This is fact 13 today!

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I can’t make up my mind if this is

a terrible death or a great way to go,

but Donna Lange, 51, from Everett, Washington,

smothered her boyfriend with her breasts

after passing out on top of him.

Witnesses said they heard the man pleading

with her to get off of him.

Lange, who was heavily intoxicated, told the 

police she had no idea how the man had died.

She was charged with second-degree murder.

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Some people believe an episode of the

Cartoon Network show Johnny Bravo predicted 9/11.

In a scene from Johnny Bravo

that aired on April 27, 2001,

a movie poster shows a burning tower

with a smoke cloud with the words

“COMING SOON.”

I remain unconvinced by this conspiracy theory.

In fact, the fact that it’s a theory is a fact,

not the fact that it is a fact. If you see what I mean!

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Icebergs And Sunshine, Both Make The Fact File Today.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Another contrasting day of facts here at the fasab blog.

And what could be more of a contrast than icebergs and sunshine?

Find out more below.

Enjoy.

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Contrary to popular belief,

the ‘t’ at the end of Voldemort,

who features in the Harry Potter stories,

is silent.

The name comes from the French

words meaning “flight of death.”

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In North Carolina each year there is a

Hot Sauce and Hot Chili Pepper Eating Contest,

consisting of 5 rounds in which the participants

have to eat increasingly hot chilies.

The hotness of chilies is based on Scoville Heat Units.

In the first round, each contestant starts out with a

Large Cayenne Pepper (Long Hots) (500-2,500 SU)

and those who make it all the way to the last fifth round

have to deal with The Orange Habenero (100,000-300,000 SU).

Crikey!

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Apparently Greece Is the “Sunniest” Country in Europe

enjoying on average more than 250 days of sunshine

(three thousand hours) a year,

which also makes it one of the

most sunny countries in the world.

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Daniel Craig is able to take any

Aston Martin from the factory

for the rest of his life,

because of his time as Bond.

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Tequila is made from the blue agave,

or agave tequilana Weber.

According to WebMD, the core of the plant

contains aguamiel or “honey water,”

which is used for syrup (and tequila) production.

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All Egyptian pyramids were built

on the west bank of the River Nile,

which as the site of the setting sun

and was associated with the realm of

the dead in Egyptian mythology.

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The more education you have,

the lower your risk of heart disease,

however, in spite of that, heart disease

is still the greatest threat to your health.

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The infamous iceberg that sank the Titanic

has been floating around since about 1,000 B.C.

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Why do people sing in shower? 

One theory is that they might simply feel

more comfortable in the shower

since it is a relaxing place

and they are by themselves.

Or it may be because the acoustics

are better in the bathroom,

so the chances of you sounding

like a great singer are higher.

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Although it is supposed to be in Chicago,

the McCallister´s house in the movie Home Alone

is actually located at 671 Lincoln Avenue

in the village of Winnetka, Illinois.

The three-story single-family house

was listed for sale at $2.4 million in 2011

and sold for $1.585 million in 2012.

The house is now promoted as a tourist attraction.

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As a farmer,

George Washington grew marijuana

on his farm and promoted its growth.

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The October 24, 1960 saw one of the

deadliest spare-related accidents in history,

when a Soviet R-16 rocket (an ICBM) exploded

on the launch pad during testing.

72 workers were killed.

Soviet Premier at the time, Nikita Khrushchev,

demanded it be kept secret.

Today it is known as the Nedelin Catastrophe.

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A bottle of champagne contains

90 pounds or pressure per square inch,

which is three times the pressure found in car tires.

The popped cork from a champagne bottle

travels as fast as 60 miles per hour

and can cause some serious damage.

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Mary Allerton was an immigrant

who established a permanent residence in

Plymouth Colony, which we know today as Massachusetts.

She was one of the many passengers of on the Mayflower,

the historic ship that transported the first Pilgrims,

from Plymouth, England, to the New World.

She was only four years old when she boarded the ship

and would die almost 80 years later,

making history as the last surviving Mayflower passenger.

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The first video uploaded to YouTube,

titled “Me at the zoo,”

made its debut on April 23, 2005.

The nineteen-second video was shot by Yakov Lapitsky

and shows YouTube cofounder Jawed Karim

at the San Diego Zoo.

It also contains the first words uttered on YouTube

which were

“All right, so here we are in front of the elephants”

when Karim was trying to “charm” the camera.

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One Of Today’s Facts Is Really A No Brainer!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Yes, one of today’s facts in a ‘no-brainer’, but hopefully interesting as well.

There are lots of others too on a range of unrelated subjects.

So peruse at you leisure and….

Enjoy.

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April 4, June 6, October 10 and December 12

will all fall on the same day of the week in any year.

These days are called ‘doomsdays’,

and they are meant to help calculate

the day of the week of any given date.

In 2014 the doomsdays were all on Fridays

whereas 2015’s doomsdays are all on Saturday.

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Milton Hershey,

the man creator of one of the

greatest chocolate bars of all time,

had tickets to be on the Titanic,

but changed his plans and did not go.

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The oldest Egyptian pyramid is

believed to be the Pyramid of Djoser

which was built in the Saqqara Necropolis

during the 27th century BC.

However, the Pyramid of Khufu

(also known as Great Pyramid of Giza

or the Pyramid of Cheops) is the largest,

its original height being 146.5 meters (481 feet)

(the current height is 138.8 meters (455 feet)).

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A child born in Sweden in 1991 was named

Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116.

Which his parents said was pronounced ‘Albin’.

The name was meant as a protest

against Swedish naming laws.

The parents were fined 5,000 kronor

in 1996 (roughly 740 U.S. Dollars).

.

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A polar bear’s stark white fur

is not exactly what it appears to be

because their hair follicles are transparent,

hollow tubes which reflect whatever

light surrounds them.

When their fur takes on a yellowish

or greenish tint it is due to age and dirt,

while the greenish color is caused by

algae that can grow on polar bear fur

in unnaturally warm and humid environments.

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On Mars

there is something that looks exactly

like either a really tall humanoid statue.

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The heart pumps blood to almost all

of the body’s 75 trillion cells,

only the corneas receive no blood supply.

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About one hundred hours of video

are uploaded to YouTube every single minute.

In other words, more videos are uploaded

to YouTube in two months

than the three major US networks

created in sixty years.

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The Aston Martin factory has a

robot nicknamed the ‘James Bonder’.

That is used to apply adhesives that

bond aluminum body panels together.

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The term ‘No-brainer’ is a relatively modern

phrase used to describe making a very easy decision.

One of the earliest sources for it comes from an

issue of the Lethbridge Herald of 1968

which stated about an ice hockey coach:

“He’d break in on a goalie and the netminder

would make one of those saves that our

manager-coach, Sid Abel, calls ‘a no-brainer.’ ”

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The world’s quietest room is -9 decibels,

so quiet you can hear the blood

flowing in your own body!

The silence of the room can cause

hallucinations, and the longest anyone

has ever spent in the room is 45 minutes.

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The average person produces about

half a liter of fart gas per day

or about 14 farts worth on average.

Some have been clocked at speeds of 10ft per sec.

Phew!

 

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When a person becomes very stressed,

anxious or scared the frontal lobe of the

brain can sometimes be overridden which

can make you feel the need to pee

at that moment or more frequently.

Hence sayings like such and such  ..

”scared the piss out of me.”

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In the Home Alone movie

Buzz’s girlfriend was not a girl at all,

she/he was the art director’s son

made up to look like a girl.

They thought using a real girl’s photo

would be too cruel for an actual teenage girl.

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Kelsey Grammar sings and plays the piano

for the theme song of Frasier.

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First Fasab Fact File Feast For 2015.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Hi and welcome to the first fasab fact feast for 2015.

If you like a random selection of interesting tidbits this is the place to be.

I hope you enjoy.

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There are

169,518,829,100,544,000,000,000,000,000

ways to play the first ten moves of any chess game.

.

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James Bond works for MI6,

which is a real agency,

except of course that he isn’t real,

so therefore he doesn’t.

I hope that’s cleared that up.

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Although the phrase ‘get out of hand’

has several different meanings nowadays,

still the most common is to describe when

someone loses control of things or a situation.

The phrase has its origins in the old days

when failure to keep a firm grip on the reins

would result in a team of horses

getting “out of hand.”

 

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The estimates of the number of workers

involved in the construction of the pyramids

differ significantly but it could have

been as many 100,000 people.

.

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A polar bear has particularly developed

sense of smell and can track an

icebound seal up to 20 miles (32 kilometers) away,

or sniff-out a seal’s breathing hole in the ice

more than half a mile away, even if the seal is absent.

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Harry S. Truman’s middle name

was just S.

According to Truman,

the S as his middle name was a

compromise of his two grandfathers,

Anderson Shipp Truman and Solomon Young.

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Football star and American war hero Pat Tillman

rejected a multimillion-dollar contract to play

the game professionally and instead

chose to serve his country.

In 2002 he enlisted in the U.S. Army,

but sadly his career and life were cut short

when he was killed in action in 2004.

Even though the exact circumstances

of his death are still in question,

his legacy is not and Tillman is considered

one of the bravest American athletes

who turned his back on a comfortable,

luxurious life for the love of his country.

A great man.

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YouTube was founded

by three former PayPal employees,

Chad Hurley, Steven Chen, and Jawed Karim.

They registered the domain name in February 2005

and the site was officially launched that December.

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On the planet Mars there exists

what is known as the “face on Mars”.

It is believed to be an optical illusion

created from natural looking Martian hills.

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Greece’s national anthem

has 158 stanzas.

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In 1938 Adolf Hitler was named

Time Magazine’s Man of the Year

and in 1939 was nominated

for the Nobel Peace Prize.

World War II began in 1939!

.

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Male mice sing love songs for female mice.

The songs they sing are ultrasonic,

and humans are unable to hear them,

but presumably the female mice can.

.

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The scene in the movie ‘Titanic’

when the band members continue playing

to calm down the passengers as the ship is sinking

is based on fact.

The band did continue to play for hours

after the ship hit the iceberg.

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Alcohol more easily causes dehydration

and dilates blood vessels

which can result in headaches;

it also increases stomach acid and

decreases the rate the stomach empties itself

which can lead to vomiting.

We call this infliction a hangover.

.

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Contrary to what you see in the movies,

real Tequila does not have a worm in it.

The worm, or gusano, actually originated

with tequila’s ‘lower-quality’ cousin, mezcal,

largely as a marketing ploy.

The gusano is the larvae of a type of moth

that lives on the agave plant.

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Tin Foil, Mince Pies And Kilts? It’s The Quiz!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

.

Welcome to another fasab quiz.

Last one for this month. And the usual random mixture to test your general knowledge.

Also as usual if you get stuck you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1:  What is kitchen tin foil made from?

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Q.  2:  With what would you ‘rock the baby’ or ‘walk the dog’?

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Q.  3:  What is the main ingredient of a mince pie?

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Q.  4:  Where was the Titanic built?

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Q.  5:  How many best director Oscars did Alfred Hitchcock win?

.

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Q.  6:  What is feldspar?

            a)  a flower            b)  a type of coral            c)  a mineral

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Q.  7:  What mineral is an ‘Alaskan diamond’?

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Q.  8:  Which country owns the island of Bermuda?

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Q.  9:  How many equal angles has a ‘scalene triangle’?

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Q. 10:  What is an ‘ocular contusion’ more commonly known as?

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Q. 11:  What color is the black box on a plane?

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Q. 12:  What property of a body is calculated by multiplying its mass by its velocity?

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Q. 13:  What nation invented the kilt?

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Q. 14:  Meaning before noon, what does the acronym ‘AM’ stand for?

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Q. 15:  ‘Pb’ is the chemical symbol for which element?

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Q. 16:  What was John Lennon’s middle name?

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Q. 17:  The term ‘Lupine’ relates to which animals?

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Q. 18:  What is the difference between an ‘albatross’ and an ‘albacore’?

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Q. 19:  Which part of a man’s body enlarges by up to 8 times when he sees an attractive female?

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Q. 20:  This one is the name of a band of the late 1960s and 1970s and of the English farmer who invented the seed-planting drill in 1701?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  What is kitchen tin foil made from?

A.  1:  Aluminium (US-English: Aluminum).

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Q.  2:  With what would you ‘rock the baby’ or ‘walk the dog’?

A.  2:  A Yoyo.

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Q.  3:  What is the main ingredient of a mince pie?

A.  3:  Fruit.

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Q.  4:  Where was the Titanic built?

A.  4:  Belfast, Ireland.

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Q.  5:  How many best director Oscars did Alfred Hitchcock win?

A.  5:  Remarkably the correct answer is ‘None’.

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Q.  6:  What is feldspar?

            a)  a flower            b)  a type of coral            c)  a mineral

A.  6:  The correct answers is c) a mineral.

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Q.  7:  What mineral is an ‘Alaskan diamond’?

A.  7:  Quartz.

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Q.  8:  Which country owns the island of Bermuda?

A.  8:  Great Britain.

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Q.  9:  How many equal angles has a ‘scalene triangle’?

A.  9:  None. A scalene triangle has 3 unequal sides and angles.

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Q. 10:  What is an ‘ocular contusion’ more commonly known as?

A. 10:  A black eye.

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Q. 11:  What color is the black box on a plane?

A. 11:  The ‘Black’ box is in fact ‘Orange’.

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Q. 12:  What property of a body is calculated by multiplying its mass by its velocity?

A. 12:  Momentum.

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Q. 13:  What nation invented the kilt?

A. 13:  No, not Scotland, the kilt was invented in Ireland.

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Q. 14:  Meaning before noon, what does the acronym ‘AM’ stand for?

A. 14:  Ante meridian.

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Q. 15:  ‘Pb’ is the chemical symbol for which element?

A. 15:  Lead.

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Q. 16:  What was John Lennon’s middle name?

A. 16:  Winston.

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Q. 17:  The term ‘Lupine’ relates to which animals?

A. 17:  Wolves.

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Q. 18:  What is the difference between an ‘albatross’ and an ‘albacore’?

A. 18:  An albatross is a bird and an albacore is a fish.

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Q. 19:  Which part of a man’s body enlarges by up to 8 times when he sees an attractive female?

A. 19:  The pupil of his eye (Oh, come on, you should be so lucky!).

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Q. 20:  This one is the name of a band of the late 1960s and 1970s and of the English farmer who invented the seed-planting drill in 1701?

A. 20:  Jethro Tull.

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Twenty Questions – Are You Up For It?

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Hi and welcome to another fasab quiz day.

If you know about history, geography, politics, technology, music, movies, cars and a lot of other stuff then you should do okay.

And as always, if you get stuck , you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1:  Who or what is a ‘FLOTUS’?

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Q.  2:  Most of you will have heard of the company called ‘3M’ but what do the three ‘M’s stand for?

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Q.  3:  Everyone has heard about the Titanic and probably seen at least one of the movies depicting its fateful inaugural voyage, but to which shipping line did the Titanic belong?

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Q.  4:  What waterway did Britain buy a share of in 1875?

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Q.  5:  In 1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by which male member of his family?

            a) son            b) grandson            c) nephew           d) father

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Q.  6:  What are the terms ‘Hi-Fi’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ abbreviations of? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q.  7:  In 1935, British engineer Robert Watson-Watt was working on a ‘death ray’ that would destroy enemy aircraft using radio waves. What did he invent instead?

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Q.  8:  General Leopoldo Galtieri was president of which South American country in 1981 and 1982?

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Q.  9:  When did the construction of the Berlin Wall begin and in what year was it demolished? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q. 10:  What makes of car were featured in the following movies? (A point for each correct answer, and a bonus point if you get them all correct.)

            a)  Herbie, The Love Bug                                  b)  Back To The Future

            c)  Smokey And The Bandit                              d)  Bullitt

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Q. 11:  In which year did South Africa have its first all-race elections?

            a) 1990            b) 1992            c) 1994            d) 1996

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Q. 12:  One of the best television mini-series ever made was the western ‘Lonesome Dove’, but what were the names of the two lead characters and who were the actors who played them? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get all four names correct.)

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Q. 13:  Held by Cuban athlete Javier Sotomayor, what is the current Men’s High Jump World Record?

            a)  2.37 m             b)  2.39 m            c)  2.41 m            d)  2.45 m            e)  2.47 m

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Q. 14:  ‘Operation Barbarossa’ was the codename used by the Germans for their plans to invade which country in 1941?

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Q. 15:  What is considered to be the hottest desert in North America?  (A bonus point if you know in which State it is located.)

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Q. 16:  Who was ‘Mork’ and who was ‘Mindy’ in the hit TV sitcom ‘Mork & Mindy’ originally broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you can name both correctly.)

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Q. 17:  From which country did Norway secure its independence in 1905?

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Q. 18:  Approximately how many rifles did American factories produce during World War II?

           a)  1 million        b)  3 million        c)  5 million        d)  7 million       e)  9 million

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Q. 19:  It is the name of a hybrid between a mandarin and a sweet orange and Winston Churchill’s wife, what is it?

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Q. 20:  Who was ‘Talking To The Moon’ in 2011?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  Who or what is a ‘FLOTUS’?

A.  1:  FLOTUS is the First Lady Of The United States, or currently Mrs Obama.

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Q.  2:  Most of you will have heard of the company called ‘3M’ but what do the three ‘M’s stand for?

A.  2:  ‘3M’ is an abbreviation of ‘Minnesota Mining & Manufacturing’.

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Q.  3:  Everyone has heard about the Titanic and probably seen at least one of the movies depicting its fateful inaugural voyage, but to which shipping line did the Titanic belong?

A.  3:  The name is mentioned in the movies, it is the White Star Line.

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Q.  4:  What waterway did Britain buy a share of in 1875?

A.  4:  The Suez Canal.

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Q.  5:  In 1975 King Faisal of Saudi Arabia was assassinated by which male member of his family?

            a) son            b) grandson            c) nephew           d) father

A.  5:  Answer c) his nephew.

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Q.  6:  What are the terms ‘Hi-Fi’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ abbreviations of? (A point for each correct answer.)

A.  6:  ‘Hi-Fi’ and ‘Wi-Fi’ are abbreviations of ‘High Fidelity’ and ‘Wireless Fidelity’.

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Q.  7:  In 1935, British engineer Robert Watson-Watt was working on a ‘death ray’ that would destroy enemy aircraft using radio waves. What did he invent instead?

A.  7:  Robert Watson-Watt’s ‘death ray’ evolved into RADAR, otherwise known as ‘radio detection and ranging’.

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Q.  8:  General Leopoldo Galtieri was president of which South American country in 1981 and 1982?

A.  8:  Argentina.

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Q.  9:  When did the construction of the Berlin Wall begin and in what year was it demolished? (A point for each correct answer.)

A.  9:  Construction of the Berlin Wall began in 1961 (August 13^th) and it was demolished in 1989.

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Q. 10:  What makes of car were featured in the following movies? (A point for each correct answer, and a bonus point if you get them all correct.)

            a)  Herbie, The Love Bug                                  b)  Back To The Future

            c)  Smokey And The Bandit                              d)  Bullitt

A. 10:  a) Herbie, The Love Bug featured a Volkswagen Beetle    

            b) Back To The Future featured a DeLorean DMC-12

            c)  Smokey And The Bandit featured a  Pontiac Trans Am

            d)  Bullitt featured a Ford Mustang GT fastback

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Q. 11:  In which year did South Africa have its first all-race elections?

            a) 1990            b) 1992            c) 1994            d) 1996

A. 11:  The correct answer is c) 1994.

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Q. 12:  One of the best television mini-series ever made was the western ‘Lonesome Dove’, but what were the names of the two lead characters and who were the actors who played them? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you get all four names correct.)

A. 12:  The two lead characters in the Lonesome Dove TV miniseries were ‘Captain Augustus “Gus” McCrae’, played by Robert Duvall, and ‘Captain Woodrow F. Call’, played by Tommy Lee Jones.

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Q. 13:  Held by Cuban athlete Javier Sotomayor, what is the current Men’s High Jump World Record?

            a)  2.37 m             b)  2.39 m            c)  2.41 m            d)  2.45 m            e)  2.47 m

A. 13:  The correct answer is d) 2.45 m (8 ft 1/2 in), achieved in Salamanca, Spain on July 27^th 1993.

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Q. 14:  ‘Operation Barbarossa’ was the codename used by the Germans for their plans to invade which country in 1941?

A. 14:  It was the codename for their plans to invade Russia.

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Q. 15:  What is considered to be the hottest desert in North America?  (A bonus point if you know in which State it is located.)

A. 15:  The Mojave Desert, located primarily in southeastern California is considered to be the hottest desert in North America.

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Q. 16:  Who was ‘Mork’ and who was ‘Mindy’ in the hit TV sitcom ‘Mork & Mindy’ originally broadcast from 1978 until 1982 on ABC? (A point for each correct answer and a bonus point if you can name both correctly.)

A. 16:  The series starred Robin Williams as Mork and Pam Dawber as Mindy McConnell.

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Q. 17:  From which country did Norway secure its independence in 1905?

A. 17:  Sweden.

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Q. 18:  Approximately how many rifles did American factories produce during World War II?

           a)  1 million        b)  3 million        c)  5 million        d)  7 million       e)  9 million

A. 18: The correct answer is d) approximately 7 million rifles were produced in American factories during WWII.

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Q. 19:  It is the name of a hybrid between a mandarin and a sweet orange and Winston Churchill’s wife, what is it?

A. 19:  Clementine.

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Q. 20:  Who was ‘Talking To The Moon’ in 2011?

A. 20:  Bruno Mars. Here he is……

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Did You Know? The Fact File Is Open Again!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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The fact file is open again so let’s have a look and see what random bits of information have come up today.

As always, enjoy.

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Through the first half of the 20th century,

only one winner of the Oscar for Best Picture was filmed in color:

Gone with the Wind.

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Horses and donkeys are of different species.

In order to get what we call a “mule,” a horse and donkey

must mate and produce offspring.

Any offspring between two different species

will be sterile and unable to reproduce.

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Between 1912 and 1948, art competitions were a part of the Olympics.

Medals were awarded for architecture, music, painting, and sculpture.

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Medal of Honor recipient Thomas Baker

was gravely wounded and had his comrades leave him behind,

propped up against a tree with a pistol that had 8 bullets remaining.

Later they found his body next to the tree,

surrounded by 8 dead Japanese soldiers.

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A 14 year old boy broke into Buckingham Palace

and stole the Queen’s underwear.

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Theodore Roosevelt was once shot at during a campaign rally in Wisconsin.

The bullet penetrated his glasses case and a manuscript,

just missing his right lung.

Being an expert hunter he decided to stay and give his speech

since he wasn’t coughing up blood.

His speech lasted nearly an hour.

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Sean Penn once beat Madonna over the head with a baseball bat,

shot at a paparazzi,

and hung another paparazzi by is ankles from a ninth-floor balcony.

(I hope he isn’t upset by this post!)

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In 1994, Bill Gates bought the Da Vinci Codex for $30m

and then had it scanned and distributed

as screensavers and wallpapers for Windows95.

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An eyeball weighs about 1 ounce.

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World Famous Jack Daniels Tennessee Whiskey

is made only in the small town of Lynchburg, Tennessee.

Though the town supplies the world with the famous libation,

not a drop may be purchased for consumption anywhere in town.

Moore County is a “dry” county,

meaning that the sale and consumption of alcohol is illegal.

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300 people died in Ycuá Bolaños supermarket fire

on Sunday, August 1, 2004 in Asunción, Paraguay

because the owners shut the doors

so people wouldn’t leave without paying.

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Cats sweat through the pads of their feet

(especially when they hear a dog barking)

and cannot taste sweet things.

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In 1939, Hitler’s nephew wrote an article called

“Why I Hate My Uncle.”

He came to the U.S., served in the Navy,

and settled on Long Island.

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Britain’s Prince Harry is partial owner

of a racehorse named Usain Colt.

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A priest on the Titanic refused a place on a life boat twice,

and stayed behind to hear confessions and

give absolution to people left on the ship.

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A “2 by 4″ is really 1 1/2″ by 3 1/2″.

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There are more than 40,000 different

spoken languages in the world today.

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11% of the world is left-handed.

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With five full-time chefs, the White House kitchen

is able to serve dinner to as many as 140 guests

and hors d’oeuvres to more than 1,000.

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Bob Marley was buried with his red Gibson guitar,

a Bible opened to Psalm 23, and a bud of marijuana.

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