1051
@qikipedia
In 2013, the Ig Nobel Probability Prize went to a group of researchers who discovered that the longer a cow has been lying down, the more likely that cow will soon stand up; and that once a cow stands up, you can’t predict how soon that cow will lie down again. (@improbresearch)
1052
@qikipedia
Australia took home its first winter Olympic gold medal in 2002 when the Aussie athlete was the only one who didn't fall over.
1053
@qikipedia
Daylight saving time was first proposed by an entomologist who wanted more after-work daylight to collect bugs.
1054
@qikipedia
If the cat looks at you after washing his face it is said you will die before the end of the year. IRISH SUPERSTITION
1055
@qikipedia
Titivillus, ‘the patron demon of scribes’, was said to be sent by the devil to tempt monks into making errors in their manuscripts. For fifty years, the Oxford English Dictionary listed an incorrect page reference for a footnote on the earliest mention of Titivillus.
1056
@qikipedia
Drinking coffee makes you more open-minded.
1057
@qikipedia
PILGARLIC is a sixteenth-century term for a bald man.
It derives from his supposed resemblance to a peeled garlic.
1058
@qikipedia
Beatrix Potter may have borrowed some her most famous characters' names from the gravestones in Brompton cemetery near where she grew up. Peter Rabbett, Mr McGregor, Jeremiah Fisher, Mr Nutkins, Mr Brock and Mr Tod are all buried there.
Image: CGPGrey.com, CC BY 2.0
1059
@qikipedia
Word of the Day: BARKITECTURE — the art of designing the exterior and interior of a house based on the needs of your dog.
1060
@qikipedia
According to one interpretation, the line ‘That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet’ from ‘Romeo and Juliet’ might have been a joke about a competitor of Shakespeare’s Globe called the Rose Theatre that was notorious for its clogged sewage system.
1061
@qikipedia
In the 1920s, Cincinnati, Ohio began to build a subway system. When the Great Depression hit, they abandoned the project.
It has never been completed or filled in, so there are still 3.5 km of abandoned subway tunnels below Ohio.
(Image: Jonathan Warren; CC BY-SA.)
1062
@qikipedia
According to a newspaper report from the 1950s, extras in London theatres would not only say ‘rhubarb, rhubarb’ to imitate dialogue, they would also say ‘sausage and mash’ (for softer sounds) and ‘Raspberries! Raspberries!’ through their teeth to make angry crowd noises.
1063
@qikipedia
‘Give orange me give eat orange me eat orange give me eat orange give me you’ was the longest string of words signed by Nim Chimpsky, the chimpanzee subject of an extended study into animal language in the 1970s.
Image: Herbert Terrace/Bantam
1064
@qikipedia
Made a typo in an important email? This may make you feel better.
For most of 2009, the Chilean Mint produced 50 peso coins that advertised that they were from the Republic of "Chiie".
1065
@qikipedia
"To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem." DOUGLAS ADAMS
1066
@qikipedia
Living amongst dying houseplants makes you more stressed than having none at all.
1067
@qikipedia
Word of the day: FRÜHJAHRSMÜDIGKEIT (German) - literally "spring fatigue", exhaustion felt in spring, possibly from allergies or the changing weather
About half of Germans report that they have suffered from Frühjahrsmüdigkeit.
1068
@qikipedia
"If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair." SHIRLEY CHISHOLM, first Black woman elected to the US Congress
1069
@qikipedia
An emordnilap is a word that, if read backwards, spells another meaningful word. For instance: ‘deliver’ — ‘reviled’, ‘reward’ — ‘drawer’, and ‘palindrome’ — ‘emordnilap’.
1070
@qikipedia
The Icelandic word for "echo" - BERGMÁL - literally translates as "rock language".
1071
@qikipedia
TROLL once meant "to sing loudly and clearly" - as in, "to troll the ancient Yuletide carol".
1072
@qikipedia
In Catalonia, there is a Christmas tradition of ‘feeding’ a hollowed-out log for several days and then beating it until it ‘defecates’ presents. The log is called ‘Caga Tió’, literally ‘Shit Log’.
1073
@qikipedia
It's not that we have too little time to do all the things we need to do. It's that we feel the need to do too many things in the time we have. GARY KELLER
1074
@qikipedia
In a 1666 paper for the Royal Society of London, physicist Robert Boyle listed things to be researched about coal mines including whether coal miners ever meet subterranean demons.
1075
@qikipedia
During the French Revolution, being guillotined was referred to as ‘being given the patriotic haircut’, ‘sticking your head through the cat-flap’, ‘poking through the window’, and ‘sneezing into the basket’.
@qikipedia
A Quite Interesting Twitter feed from the team behind the BBC TV show QI.
linktr.ee/TheQIElves