Misc Info Dept:

[qnr]

Did you know that you can thank old dollar bills for the size of most monitors?

It's true. Most monitors were 80 columns wide because of the old punched cards. The punched cards were 80 columns, and they were the size they were because when they were first being used by the U.S. Census back around the turn of the century, there were a number of dollar bill storage cabinets available. So they made the cards the size of the old US currency, which was significantly larger than the bills you see these days.

Have any miscellaneous information of your own?

[Kerrytravelers]

1. Misc Info Dept:

The classic film Psycho was the first time people had to wait to enter the theater. Films were played on a constant loops and you could come and go as you please. Psycho was the first film where you had to wait for the next time it started to enter the theater.

It was also the first time a toilet was shown as it was flushing.


And Hitch always said "it's only a movie.' It completely changed the way we see movies today.

[qnr]

2. oooo good one! Thanks :) n/t

[trof]

7. I remember not going at the beginning. "This is where I came in."

When I was a kid, and old enough to go to the movies by myself, I just went in whenever I got there.
If you got in at the middle, you just watched it through to where you came in.

In fact, that gave birth to the catchphrase "This is where I came in.", meaning that you had heard this argument/story before.

[krispos42]

3. Damn you!

EVERY miscellanious fact that I know (and I know a lot) flew South for the winter as soon as I clicked your post!
:argh:

:-) :-) :-)

[qnr]

6. I certainly know /that/ feeling :) n/t

[Robeson]

4. Yes, here's some misc. info....

...you can request two dollar bills from your bank, and they'll give them to you. A lot of people don't know that. But, banks keep two dollar bills in supply. It's always fun to do, in order to keep them in circulation, and every time you present them somewhere, people always want to pocket them, as if they'll never see them again. It's a great conversation starter!

[qnr]

5. Yeah :) Either pocket them, or call security because they think you're trying to

pass bad counterfeits.

[eppur_se_muova]

14. You know that's really happened, don't you?

Someone posted it here at DU. Manager called the COPS over a $2 bill!

[qnr]

16. Yup, I've seen it here and elsewhere, I've also had people that I had to argue

with, though it never reached that level. Same thing with Sacagawea and Susan B. Anthony coins.

[eppur_se_muova]

17. *snark* -- Susan B. Anthony -- NO, that is NOT a quarter! I gave you a DOLLAR!

"That's not a dollar." lather, rinse, repeat.

[SteppingRazor]

8. FACT! The first Harley-Davidson motorcycle used a tomato can...

as its carburetor.



FACT! In the days before toilet paper, the French aristocracy used fine linen to wipe ... everyone else used whatever they could find.


FACT! In some countries, the crushed bodies of cockroaches are used as a pain-relieving rub or balm


FACT! In Idaho, it is illegal to give someone a box of candy weighing more than 50 pounds!


FACT! The Web site hookedonfacts.com is totally awesome!

[azmouse]

10. Did you know that at one time kings in England

had a servant to wipe their behinds for them? Saw that on some show about medieval royalty.
What a crappy job!

[zingaro]

13. wow I actually knew the H-D tomato can thing.

[azmouse]

9. Underground is the only word in the English language

that begins and ends with the letters "und" .

...

I found this fact last night after watching Chicken Run. I wondered if chickens could really fly. Turns out the longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds.
sheesh... that would have been more than enough to get those darn birds over the fence and to freedom. :eyes:

[Midlodemocrat]

11. Dreamt is the only word in the English language that ends in mt.

Heard it on the radio last year. Never knew that.

[AllegroRondo]

12. My only misc. fact

the first product to carry a bar code was Wriggly's Gum.

[qnr]

15. I think that means that William Wrigley Jr. was the neighbor of the beast or something... n/t