More Technical Facts
For your edu-tainment, some more actual facts and the technical facts they naturally lead to:
-France still used the guillotine as punishment to behead prisoners until September 1977 (and it was still legal until 1981)
-Star Wars: A New Hope was released in May 1977
–Technical Fact: George Lucas made better movies when it was possible he could have been guillotined
-The only bird that can swim but not fly is the penguin
-Michael Phelps can swim, but he cannot fly
–Technical Fact: I think you see where I’m going with this one
-Everyone’s tongue has markings as unique as a finger-print
–Technical fact: You shouldn’t lick places before committing crimes there
-Attila the Hun is remembered for being a fierce conqueror, but one theory says that Attila the Hun died from a severe nosebleed
-To stop a shark from attacking, you’re supposed to punch it in the nose
–Technical Fact: Attila the Hun might have died because someone mistook him for a shark
-Jack Weinberg coined the phrase “Don’t trust anyone over 30” in 1964
-The average life expectancy for ancient Egyptians was just over 30 years old.
–Technical Fact: If Jack Weinberg had been an ancient Egyptian, the saying would have been “Don’t trust anyone over 15.”
-The largest snowflake ever recorded was 15 inches wide
-Witnessing a giant snowflake is easy to claim, hard to prove
–Technical Fact: I just saw a snowflake that was 15.2 inches wide. I win.
-Dance fever was a real disease that struck hundreds of people in 1518
-In 1962, people in Africa were struck by a laughter epidemic
–Technical Fact: In the old days, diseases were a lot more fun
-The average adult body produces 200,000,000,000 red blood cells per day
–Technical fact: The average adult body is probably breaking some serious labor laws
-Popeye had 4 nephews
-Popeye’s nephews were named Pipeye, Peepeye, Pupeye, and Poopeye
–Technical Fact: Pipeye, Peepeye, and Pupeye are not the stupidest names you could come up with
-Not being able to pee while someone is watching is called Paruresis
-Dolphins sleep with one eye open
–Technical Fact: People with Paruresis can’t pee in front of sleeping dolphins
-Dolphins not only sleep with one eye open, but with half of their brain still awake
–Technical Fact: I need to learn how to do this because most of the time I can’t sleep because my brain will not shut up.
-That wasn’t my original point
-The US Navy Marine Mammal Program tested dolphins to see if this half-sleeping caused effects of sleep-deprivation, such as slowed reactions, and found that dolphins function perfectly fine only half-sleeping
–Technical Fact: Someday the world is going to be taken over by well-rested dolphins
