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100 Things We Didn't Know This Time Last Year
An anonymous reader wrote to mention a BBC list of 100 topical pieces of information that they've reported on over the course of 2005. While some of them are very Brit-specific ("16. The London borough of Westminster has an average of 20 pieces of chewing gum for every square metre of pavement."), there are some interesting, touching, and humorous stories in there. "20. The Queen has never been on a computer, she told Bill Gates as she awarded him an honorary knighthood. 32. 'Restaurant' is the most mis-spelled word in search engines. 65. Actor James Doohan, who played Scotty, had a hand in creating the Klingon language that was used in the movies, and which Shakespeare plays were subsequently translated into."
Uh, 65 is incorrect. I think we all remember Star Trek VI where Chancellor Gorkon mentions that Shakespeare was originally written in Klingon. I can't believe they let this one through.
19. The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing "is equal to" in his equations. He chose the two lines because "noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle".
16th Century? I'm pretty sure that guy posts on slashdot regularly. "oi got frist psot"
Clearly, you haven't been playing Japanese games like Final Fantasy. I spent years inbreeding my chokuegambos until I got the illustrious Golden Chokuegambo!
One in 10 Europeans is allegedly conceived in an Ikea bed.
That must be a pretty sturdy bed.
32. 'Restaurant' is the most mis-spelled word in search engines.
There is a lot of money to be made if you could get the top list of mispelled words in search engines.
66. The hotter it is, the more difficult it is for aeroplanes to take off. Air passengers in Nevada, where temperatures have reached 120F, have been told they can't fly.
Funny. I was sure my flight instructor told me this the first day of flight school. I guess this explains the success of the European aerospace industry.
No Stairway? Denied!
One Hundred & Ninety-Nine Barrels of Whiskey v. United States, 94 U.S. 86
UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. ONE 1988 PREVOST LIBERTY MOTOR HOME, Measuring 40 Feet in Length, also known by Vehicle Identification Number 2P9M33403J, and Bearing Oregon License Plate H998173, Defendant
7 Fifths Old Grand-Dad Whiskey v. U.S., 158 F.2d 34
Pennsylvania v. $7,000 in U.S. Currency, 742 A.2d 711
Mayo v. Satan and His Staff 54 F.R.D. 282 This one is interesting because the judge threw out the case based on the fact that the plaintiff could not prove he served notice to the defendent (that being the aforenamed Mr. Satan and his staff in Hell).
Duh, it disguises as a coconut to be carried by swallows. It even includes the string.
Tordek, Dwarven Warrior - Juegos de Rol en Argentina