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Did you know?

::LynEve
08/26/09 2:09 AM GMT
The first photograph, taken in 1826 in France, required an eight-hour exposure
!!!
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The question is not what you look at, but what you see ~ Marcel Proust

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+purmusic
12/20/11 1:25 PM GMT
DYK ... the Christmas candy cane, shaped as a shepherds' crook, represents the humble shepherds who were first to worship the new-born Christ?

DYK ... legend has it that the candy cane was invented in 1670 by a choirmaster at the Cologne Cathedral who handed out the bent sugar sticks among children to keep them quiet during the long Living Crèche ceremony?
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+purmusic
12/30/11 11:36 AM GMT
DYK ... the celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays?

It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago. In the years around 2000 BC, the Babylonian New Year began with the first New Moon (actually the first visible crescent) after the Vernal Equinox (first day of spring). The beginning of spring is a logical time to start a new year. After all, it is the season of rebirth, of planting new crops, and of blossoming. The Romans continued to observe the new year in late March, but their calendar was continually tampered with by various emperors so that the calendar soon became out of synchronization with the sun. In order to set the calendar right, the Roman senate, in 153 BC, declared January 1 to be the beginning of the new year. But tampering continued until Julius Caesar, in 46 BC, established what has come to be known as the Julian Calendar. It again established January 1 as the new year. But in order to synchronize the calendar with the sun, Caesar had to let the previous year drag on for 445 days. The first of January was dedicated by the Romans to their God of Gates and Doors, Janus. A very old Italian God, Janus has a distinctive artistic appearance in that he is commonly depicted with two faces ... one regarding what is behind and the other looking toward what lies ahead. Thus, Janus is representative of contemplation on the happenings of an old year while looking forward to the new.


DYK ... the first rooftop celebration atop One Times Square, complete with a fireworks display, took place in 1904?

The New York Times produced this event to inaugurate its new headquarters in Times Square and celebrate the renaming of Longacre Square to Times Square. The first Ball Lowering celebration atop One Times Square was held on December 31, 1907 and is now a worldwide symbol of the turn of the New Year, seen via satellite by more than one billion people each year. The original New Year's Eve Ball weighed 700 pounds and was 5 feet in diameter. It was made of iron and wood and was decorated with 100 25-watt light bulbs.


DYK ... throughout the year, visitors to Times Square in New York City write their New Year's wishes on pieces of official Times Square New Year's Eve confetti? At the end of the year, the wishes are collected and added to the one ton of confetti that showers the crowd gathered in Times Square in celebration of the New Year.


DYK ... according to statistics from the National Insurance Crime Bureau, more vehicles are stolen on New Year's Day than on any other holiday throughout the year?
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+animaniactoo
03/12/12 4:38 PM GMT
DYK that after having even minor invasive surgery, the body needs a lot more sleep to recuperate?
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Cleverly disguised as a responsible adult...
+purmusic
03/12/12 11:52 PM GMT
(*fluffs Cat's pillow for her, leaves behind a cup of green tea and some lace cookies that have had chocolate drizzled on them..*)

... ...

My work here is done, time to go and annoy the e-residents with some verbose and inane critiques!
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.gloopical
03/13/12 3:58 AM GMT
... Does anyone know why the Easter Bunny brings eggs... made of chocolate?

Actually, I have to admit I don't know. But I'm curious :)
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We as artists look upon the world in many different languages. There are those of us who see sadness, pain, suffering. But if we do not occasionally look and see that there is love and laughter, what's the point of looking at all?
+purmusic
03/13/12 4:36 AM GMT
DYK ... why the Easter Bunny brings eggs? And why they are made of chocolate?

"The Easter Bunny is not a modern invention. The symbol originated with the pagan festival of Eastre. The goddess, Eastre, was worshipped by the Anglo-Saxons through her earthly symbol, the rabbit. The Easter bunny has its origin in pre-Christian fertility lore. The Hare and the Rabbit were the most fertile animals known and they served as symbols of the new life during the spring season.

The Germans brought the symbol of the Easter rabbit to America. The bunny as an Easter symbol seems to have it's origins in Germany, where it was first mentioned in German writings in the 1500s. The first edible Easter bunnies were made in Germany during the early 1800s. The first bunnies were not made of chocolate; they were made of pastry and sugar.

It was widely ignored by other Christians until shortly after the Civil War. In fact, Easter by its self was not widely celebrated in America until after that time.

As I mentioned the Easter bunny was introduced to American folklore by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 1700s. The arrival of the "Oschter Haws" was considered "childhood's greatest pleasure" next to a visit from Christ-Kindel on Christmas Eve. The children believed that if they were good the "Oschter Haws" would lay a nest of colored eggs.

The children would build their nest in a secluded place in the home, the barn or the garden. Boys would use their caps and girls their bonnets to make the nests. The use of elaborate Easter baskets would come later as the tradition of the Easter bunny spread

From the earliest times, the egg was a symbol of rebirth in most cultures. Eggs were often wrapped in gold leaf or, if you were a peasant, colored brightly by boiling them with the leaves or petals of certain flowers.

German settlers believed a white hare would leave brightly colored eggs for all good children on Easter morning. Early American children built nests of leaves and sticks in their gardens for the Easter Hare to fill with colored eggs. By the 19th century in America, the Easter Hare had become the Easter Bunny delighting children with baskets of eggs, chocolates, candy chicks, jelly beans and other gifts on Easter morning.

Today, children hunt colored eggs and place them in Easter baskets along with the modern version of real Easter eggs - those made of plastic or chocolate candy."


("The History of Easter and the Easter Bunny" - Arlene Wright-Correll

Note: "One time publishing rights granted.")
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.LOL2112
03/13/12 4:43 AM GMT
Seems to me a bunch of immigrants made where we live the greatest place on the planet so I wondering why a bunch of immigrants want to keep the "immigrants" out.
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::LynEve
03/13/12 10:05 PM GMT
DYK - anything about Kiwis?

Kiwi live in pairs as monogamous couples. They are together for up to 30 years . They live together in burrows and the female rules over the smaller males. They can be agressive and protect their territory which can be as large as 40 hectares.
They are not blind as often believed and are not stupid either and can easily adapt their behaviour.
They lay huge eggs, 20% of the the females body weight (ostrich eggs weigh 2%)
"According to many Maori traditions, the kiwi is the oldest of all Tanemahuta's bird family. It was Tane, the god of the forest who, with different wives, created much of the natural world, including birds, trees, stones and humans.
For Maori, kiwi are, in effect, our elder siblings. And, like a good older brother or sister, they are very protective of us. That's partly why they patrol the forests nightly."

and DYK your foot and your forearm are the same length?
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.gloopical
03/14/12 4:52 AM GMT
Thaaaaaank you Les :) Also, talking of Easter, I've just had a brainwave... nyahahaha >:D

Although I won't have an Easter Kiwi egg... poor thing having to lay something that size! They should rest over Easter :)
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We as artists look upon the world in many different languages. There are those of us who see sadness, pain, suffering. But if we do not occasionally look and see that there is love and laughter, what's the point of looking at all?
::LynEve
03/15/12 8:00 AM GMT
DYK

In Liverpool it is illegal for a woman to be topless in public except as a clerk in a tropical fish store.

In Chester, it's legal to shoot a Welsh person with a bow and arrow inside city walls after midnight.

In Alaska, it is legal to shoot bears. However, waking a sleeping bear for the purpose of taking a photograph is prohibited.
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+purmusic
03/15/12 10:52 PM GMT
DYK ... one out of ten children in Europe are conceived on an IKEA bed?

DYK ... intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair?

DYK ... every time you lick a stamp, you're consuming 1/10 of a calorie?

DYK ... recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to watch TV for 3 hours?

DYK ... owls are the only birds who can see the color blue?


DYK ... proportional to their weight, men are stronger than horses?

(And no.. 'we' are not talking about smell here.. ... maybe..)
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::LynEve
03/26/12 1:57 AM GMT
DYK

The AC voting system is broken?
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+purmusic
03/28/12 6:38 AM GMT
Yep.. knew that it was broken for months.

:oP
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.Jhihmoac
03/29/12 4:33 AM GMT
DYK that contrary to floklore, the most famous (or, rather infamous) haunted houses are neither abandoned, nor in a state of disrepair?
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"Put up...or SHUT UP!" Visit Jhihmoac's Gallery
::LynEve
04/04/12 2:14 PM GMT
English Nursery Rhyme/Riddle

As I was going to St Ives
I met a man with seven wives
Each wife had seven sacks
Each sack had seven cats
Each cat had seven kits
Kits, cats, sacks and wives,
How many were going to St Ives?

DID YOU KNOW that something very similar appeared in the Rhind Mathematical Papyrus dated around 1650 BC, which was excavated from the Ramesseum, the memorial temple of Pharaoh Ramesses II.

It translates as

There are seven houses;
In each house there are seven cats;
Each cat catches seven mice;
Each mouse would have eaten seven ears of corn;
If sown, each ear of corn would have produced seven hekat of grain.
How many things are mentioned altogether?



and . . . .DYK
The Dickin Medal is the animal equivalent of the Victoria Cross medal for bravery during war. It was instituted by Maria Dickin, founder of the Peoples Dispensary for Sick Animals in England. The only cat to receive the Dickin Medal was Simon, a small black and white cat that served on the HMS Amethyst. He received the medal for disposing of rats even after he had been wounded by a shell blast.
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.gloopical
04/04/12 2:42 PM GMT
Solved! :D

And that's a cool cat. Or an angry one.

DYK... unless food is mixed with saliva, you cannot taste it?

I'd test this out but it's very hard for me not to salivate where jelly beans are involved. So someone else will have to :P
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We as artists look upon the world in many different languages. There are those of us who see sadness, pain, suffering. But if we do not occasionally look and see that there is love and laughter, what's the point of looking at all?
.Jhihmoac
04/07/12 4:06 AM GMT
DYK that the jet whine you hear on a commercial plane that is on the ground during boarding is not from the main engines, which are shut down...but a smaller turbine engine that runs the aircraft's main electrical generator(s)?
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"Put up...or SHUT UP!" Visit Jhihmoac's Gallery
.Tootles
04/07/12 12:37 AM GMT
No, but it sounds like it OUGHT to be the role of a smaller engine. :-)

DYK that a little salt enhances the flavour of sweet items, such as melon?
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::LynEve
04/07/12 12:44 AM GMT
I did not know about melons but did know its good on pineapple :)
A tablespoon of sugar in savoury cheese muffins enances the flavour too.

DYK that New Zealand has more bookshops and more golf courses per capita than any other country.
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.gloopical
04/07/12 3:48 PM GMT
All the more reason to want to visit relatives in NZ! :)

Did you know, a lobsters blood is completely colourless. But when you expose it to oxygen, it goes blue?
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We as artists look upon the world in many different languages. There are those of us who see sadness, pain, suffering. But if we do not occasionally look and see that there is love and laughter, what's the point of looking at all?
.Jhihmoac
04/26/12 10:58 PM GMT
...There is NO "666" area code...It jumps from 665 (Mexico), to 667 (Maryland)...

So, if you see one on your caller ID...I would strongly suggest you DO NOT pick it up!!!
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"Put up...or SHUT UP!" Visit Jhihmoac's Gallery
+purmusic
04/30/12 12:01 AM GMT
DYK ... that watermelon is actually a VEGETABLE!

It is from the botanical family Cucurbitaceae and is most closely related to cucumbers, pumpkins and squash. The watermelon is composed of 92% water and early explorers often used hollowed out watermelons as canteens.


DYK ... in 1905, an 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson invented the first Popsicle. He created it completely by accident. Frank accidentally left a mixture of powdered soda and water, with a stirring stick, on his porch. He awoke the next morning and found a frozen pop! He first named his frozen pop an "Epsicle", but when he got older his kids asked for "Pop's" sicle and the new name was born. Popsicles are more popular than ever today, with Cherry being the number one favorite flavor.


DYK ... the average American eats around 5 1/2 gallons of ice cream a year, more than any other nationality. The late President Reagan declared July National Ice Cream month. It is also the month the most ice cream is sold.

5 1/2 gallons?

Is that all?

Lightweights..

:oP
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=Samatar
04/30/12 10:52 PM GMT
I always thought the definition of a fruit is anything that contains seeds (hence the well known DYK that the toimato is actually a fruit...) I guess by that definition pumpkins would be fruit too... confusing.

On another note, DYK that the banana is actually a herb? Or so I've heard. Who knows???
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-Everyone is entitled to my opinion-
.mxvirgil
05/01/12 10:17 AM GMT
DYN . . . the currently and exclusively enjoyed banana cultivar -- the "Cavendish" -- replaced the "Big Mike" variety in the 1950's due to the decimating Panama Disease which threatened its extinction? See the fascinating history of bananas.
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'Let's eat Grandma!' or, 'Let's eat, Grandma!' Punctuation saves lives...
::LynEve
05/05/12 11:59 AM GMT
I always thought bananas were actually berries - berries can be herbs I guess :) The banana plant is the largest herbaceous flowering plant.
100 Things To Do With A Banana

http://www.endlesssimmer.com/2010/05/17/100-things-to-do-with-a-banana/


DYK New Zealand has more Scottish Pipe Bands per head of population than Scotland does.

DYK Banging your head against a wall uses a 150 calories an hour.
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+mimi
05/06/12 6:17 AM GMT
DYK that the names of all the continents end with the letter they start with.

and.....

DYK that on every continent there is a city called Rome or Roma).





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~mimi~
::LynEve
05/06/12 8:17 AM GMT
Friggatriskaidekaphobia .. . . . DYK what it means ??


It is a morbid, irrational fear of Friday the 13th.

DYK . . Any month starting on a Sunday will have a Friday the 13th

DYK . . . On average, there is a Friday the 13th once every 212.35 days
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+purmusic
06/17/12 4:41 AM GMT
DYK ... the world's biggest hot dog was 1,996 feet long, created by Sara Lee Corp?

In honor of the 1996 Olympics.

A 1,983 foot hot dog was made in May 1983 by Bill-Mar Foods of Zeeland, Wis. A 2,377-foot chicken dog was made in 1985 by Maple Lodge Farms in Norval, Canada. In 1978, David Berg of Chicago made a six-foot, 681-pound beef hot dog in a 100-pound poppy seed bun covered with two gallons of mustard.

The most popular hot dog topping among adults is mustard (87.6%).

Among children, it is ketchup.


DYK ... Marlene Dietrich said that her favorite meal was hot dogs and champagne?

DYK ... the average hot dog is consumed in 6.1 bites (average sized mouth tested ... (<-- what the what??) )?

DYK ... NASA has approved hot dogs as a regular item on Apollo moon flights, Skylab missions and space shuttle flights?


DYK ... President Franklin Roosevelt served King George VI of England hot dogs & beer during a White House visit in 1939?

Mrs. Jimmy Carter served hot dogs at a White House picnic in 1977. Queen Elizabeth II served hot dogs at a royal banquet held for the American Bar Association.
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.Jhihmoac
11/02/12 12:23 AM GMT
DYK ... There is no song entitled Houses of the Holy on the Led Zeppelin album/CD of the same name? The song is featured on Physical Graffiti, the next album...

...Speaking of Led Zeppelin, With the exception of the centerpiece image of the man in the white suit and hat burning a "Dear John" letter, DYK ...the 1979 In Through the Out Door album featured six different album covers that show point-of-view images (front and back cover) from each of the 12 other bar patrons in the bar scene? More info here...
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"Put up...or SHUT UP!" Visit Jhihmoac's Gallery
+purmusic
01/25/13 5:31 PM GMT
DYK ... "Mum's the word" is a popular English idiom and is related to an expression used by William Shakespeare, in Henry VI, Part 2?

Shakespeare's Henry VI, Part 2, Act 1, Scene 2:

"Seal up your lips and give no words but mum."


"Mum's the word" means to keep quiet, to say nothing. "Mum" is a Middle English word meaning "silent". [2] The word may be derived from the "mmm" sound made when one tries to speak with lips closed. [3] Note the phonetically similar German word "stumm" (Old High German "stum", Latin "mutus") meaning "silent, mute".
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+purmusic
01/25/13 11:28 PM GMT
DYK ... "a normal size litter for mice is six to eight babies?

The one problem with mice is that they have multiple litters each year. One male and female mouse can produce up to 40 babies in one year.

Multiply that by the fact that each litter will start producing babies as well within the year and you can see how quickly a couple of mice can get out of control."

Oh oh..
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::LynEve
01/26/13 4:35 AM GMT
A cheery bit of news . .

DYK that diseases spread my mice can be fatal to humans ???
CLICK
Set the traps, bring out the vanilla !
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+purmusic
01/29/13 9:51 PM GMT
/\ Eeeeeee.. and I was aware of Hantavirus.

Side note: At least I know that 'she' is feeding as well as gathering nesting material.

(*shakes fist at shredded plastic/paper that greets him e -very morning*)

Managed to steal the cheese from a trap without tripping it.

And of course, when I tested the trap.. hair trigger. :o\


DoYK ... the odds at making a hole-in-one?

"The Golf Digest study provided many great nuggets of information, even breaking the odds down by quality of play:

* Tour player making an ace: 3,000 to 1

* Low-handicapper making an ace: 5,000 to 1

* Average player making an ace: 12,000 to 1

Some other highlights from Scheid's calculations:

* Average player acing a 200-yard hole: 150,000 to 1

* Two players from the same foursome acing the same hole: 17 million to 1

* One player making two holes-in-one in the same round: 67 million to 1"

(Source: Primary source is Golf Digest; more info on acer odds and holes-in-one can be found in the Sept. 2005 issue.

But as close to an official source as exists on this topic is Golf Digest. That publication has provided "acer odds" since the 1950s, and in the year 2000 hired Francis Scheid, Ph.D., the retired chairman of the math department at Boston University, to calculate the odds using the latest and best information available at that time.)
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::LynEve
01/30/13 1:07 AM GMT
Did you know most lipsticks contain fish scales

Did you know the word laser stands for 'Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation'

Did you know the wheelbarrow was invented in China

Did you know Isaac Newton invented the cat door

Did you know the yo-yo was originally used as a weapon for hunting the in the Philippines
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+purmusic
01/31/13 11:05 PM GMT
DYK ... "Attention Spans are short...Like 2 Seconds Short."

And I quote;

"According to a study published at the University of Massachusetts by Ramesh Sitaraman, video & site buffering can kill a user's attention span. According to NPR, the study looked at close to 6.7 million viewers who watched almost 23 million videos play. That's around 216 million minutes of video time. They found that "viewers are less tolerant to startup delay for a short video such as a news clip than a long video such as an hour-long TV episode".

They also found that users give up in 2 seconds if a video starts buffering. Two seconds!"

(Source: DemoDuck.com)
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.Jhihmoac
02/01/13 7:37 AM GMT
DYK that an old gas-fired gravity heat type furnace (octopus) has no moving parts?

...Unless of course, you have one that is possessed!
OMG...They killed it! :O
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"Put up...or SHUT UP!" Visit Jhihmoac's Gallery
+purmusic
02/19/13 2:53 PM GMT
DYK ... the largest snowflake on record measured 38 centimetres in diameter, according to the Guinness Book of World Records?

It allegedly fell in 1887 at Fort Keogh, Montana. Ranch owner Matt Coleman took the measurement, and described the snowflakes as being "larger than milk pans." For their part, international weather stations do not measure snowflake dimensions.

DYK ... snow crunches when you step on it because snow is composed of ice grains surrounding tiny air pockets?

Each layer of snow is largely of empty space. When you take a step on the surface, you are compressing layers and causing ice grains to compress. The colder the temperature, the louder the crunch because the ice grains are harder and less likely to melt during compression.

DYK ... 'watermelon snow' is snow with algae growing on it?

This particular algae thrives in cold water and has a reddish pigment that shows up especially when the snow is walked upon and compressed. It is even said to emit a subtle watermelon scent and is commonly found in alpine meadows in the Canadian Rockies.
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+purmusic
11/04/14 1:01 AM GMT
DYK ... that all of the gold mined in the history of the world would more or less fit into a 20x20x20 meter cube?

"A total of 165,000 tonnes of gold have been mined in human history, as of 2009.1 This is roughly equivalent to 5.3 billion troy ounces or, in terms of volume, about 8,500 cubic meters, or a 20.4m cube."
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+purmusic
12/03/14 2:29 AM GMT
DYK.. that since 1982, Santa's Post Office has employed mailroom elves from Canada, and he has received more than 20 million letters from children around the world?

Canada Post volunteers donate over 200,000 hours of their time each year to help Santa respond to every letter that arrives on his doorstep.


DYK.. according to Statistics Canada, 5.8 million litres of eggnog were consumed in December 2009?


DYK.. that Rudolph Was Canadian?

If you were born in Canada after 1964, your Christmases probably involved an annual viewing of the 'animagic' holiday special, 'Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer.' Rankin-Bass, an American production company, created this beloved Christmas program, but did you know that there's a secret Canadian connection? All the characters' voices (with the exception of Sam the Snowman) were performed by Canadian actors, singers and voiceover artists at the RCA Victor Studios in Toronto.
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::Constance52347
04/15/15 7:27 AM GMT
The origin of the phrase "peeping tom"...I wondered about this recently when my neighbor's tom cat was peeping in our back French doors! lol

Legend has it that Godiva sent advance word to the townspeople of Coventry, asking them to avert their eyes as she rode naked through the market. Out of respect for Godiva, all complied with her wishes. All except one tailor named Tom, who could not help but sneak a peek as she rode by. Immediately after viewing her, Tom was struck blind.
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.Tootles
07/14/15 5:31 PM GMT
The Pluto Flyby again. This -- directly to NASA -- is a better link than the one I posted on the haiku thread. :-P
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.Tootles
10/26/15 4:06 PM GMT
Hunter's Moon coming up very shortly...

Hunter's Moon 2015
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::Constance52347
10/27/15 9:55 AM GMT
Maybe I'll go for a moonlit walk!
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::Constance52347
11/15/15 5:51 AM GMT
The longest time between two twins being born is 87 days. (I'm proud of the fact that I'm a few minutes older than my sister)
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::Constance52347
11/15/15 5:53 AM GMT
Everyone has a unique tongue print, just like fingerprints.

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::Constance52347
11/15/15 5:54 AM GMT
The northern leopard frog swallows its prey using its eyes--it uses them to help push food down its throat by retracting them into its head.
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::Constance52347
11/15/15 5:54 AM GMT
The largest snowflake ever recorded reportedly measured 15 inches across.
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+purmusic
08/31/16 3:41 PM GMT
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+purmusic
09/09/16 3:52 AM GMT
Did you know.. that the 365-Gigapixel Panorama of Mont Blanc is the World's Largest Photo?

Check this out..

"Using a Canon 70D DSLR, a Canon EF 400mm f/2.8 II IS, and a Canon Extender 2X III on a special robotic mount, they captured 70,000 photographs in every direction over 35 hours of shooting.

Post-processing and stitching the 46 terabytes afterwards took 2 months, and the resulting 365-gigapixel photo would be as large as a soccer field if printed out at 300dpi."

Here's the interactive site..

In2White
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::Constance52347
09/09/16 8:37 PM GMT
That's an incredible image and what work went into it!
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+purmusic
10/01/16 2:56 PM GMT
Somewhat topical..

Did you know.. that 60.7 percent of eligible voters participated in the 2004 presidential election, the highest percentage in 36 years?

However, more than 78 million did not vote. This means President Bush won re-election by receiving votes from less than 31% of all eligible voters in the United States.

... ...

It will be interesting to see what the voting turnout will be for the upcoming U.S. election.
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::Constance52347
11/01/16 3:43 AM GMT
Did you know that 11% of people are left handed? My husband was, and my brother is. (not me!)
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+purmusic
11/11/16 3:42 PM GMT
Did you know.. every day more than 20 billion videos are viewed on YouTube, Snapchat and Facebook, meaning each visitor to those sites watches more than 10 videos per day?
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+purmusic
02/26/17 10:23 AM GMT
DYK.. artist Stuart Semple has created the world's pinkest pigment - anyone can buy it, well, anyone except Anish Kapoor?

When you go to purchase the paint, which is available at culturehustle.com for £3.99 ($4.95) for 50g of powder, you are required to make a legal declaration at the checkout stating that "you are not Anish Kapoor, you are in no way affiliated to Anish Kapoor, you are not purchasing this item on behalf of Anish Kapoor or an associate of Anish Kapoor. To the best of your knowledge, information and belief this paint will not make its way into the hands of Anish Kapoor."
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.Tootles
04/01/17 11:33 AM GMT
DYK...

it's possible to scroll *quickly* in Safari on an iPad if you have a bluetooth keyboard? The following shortcuts work for me:

(1) one page down:
SPACE key

(2) one page up:
SHIFT + SPACE

(3) go straight to the foot of the page:
ALT + DOWN ARROW

(4) go straight to top of page:
ALT + UP ARROW

(5) Gradually scroll down the page:
Hold DOWN ARROW
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::LynEve
04/21/17 12:05 AM GMT
DYK
The hashtag is really called an "octotroph".


Aeschylus, a Greek tragedy playwright, was killed in 455 BC when an eagle, mistaking his bald head for a convenient rock, dropped a tortoise on it. According to Pliny, Aeschylus was spending a lot of time in the open to avoid a prophecy that he would be killed by a falling object.


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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.Tootles
04/22/17 8:03 AM GMT
DYK...

"[Google] assesses the number of people who leave your page by hitting the back button to return to the search listing page. If Google sends 1,000 people to one of your web pages and each of those 1,000 people hit the back button within a few seconds, it tells Google your web page isn't relevant."

(From Quicksprout).

I didn't know that... that's good. I've often backed swiftly out of a site that was annoying me too much with ads or whatnot. and it's good to know that Google notices... and starts bumping such pages downwards.
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::LynEve
04/25/17 3:43 AM GMT
DYK
. Banging your head against a wall burns 150 calories an hour?

Which means if you attempt cryptic clues in this thread you could quite easily fade away completely
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.Tootles
04/25/17 7:09 AM GMT
:-P It sounds a painful way to fade, though.
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::LynEve
04/25/17 12:33 AM GMT
Yes and it gives one a terrible headache :)
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+purmusic
06/30/17 10:36 AM GMT
DYK .. that Canada has been celebrating it's 150th anniversary which will culminate this weekend?

Canada Day

"A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of the July 1, 1867, enactment of the Constitution Act, 1867 (then called the British North America Act, 1867), which united the three separate colonies of Canada, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick into a single Dominion within the British Empire called Canada."

We don't look a day over 149, eh?
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::LynEve
06/30/17 1:01 PM GMT
Well done Canada! I did not know that- congrats on your day.
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
::Tootles
06/30/17 2:35 PM GMT
The Voice -- your poem analysis for the day. :-)

Came across it just now and was reminded of a recent Cryptic Clue on these forums.
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::LynEve
07/03/17 12:33 AM GMT
I have read the poem several times. It makes me sad. Hardy was sad as he faced his own mortality but dreamed of his youth
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
::Tootles
07/04/17 1:52 PM GMT
Something more cheerful... maybe you know this one, which is a friend's favourite. We had a tussle over it, with me saying it was a bit sad, and her saying, "What?? But it's a HAPPY poem!"

Its just that certain words fall like leaden notes, as though she's staring determinedly out of the window after a bout of hysterical weeping. :-P
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.timw4mail
07/10/17 5:56 PM GMT
Did You Know...

Some older camera lenses are radioactive, because they use thorium dioxide in some of the glass to improve the optical properties.

For the vast majority of uses, these lenses aren't dangerous, though, as a long-distance flight would expose you to more radioactivity.
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Timothy J. Warren | My homepage | My Gallery | My Lens Collection
::Tootles
07/19/17 10:14 PM GMT
DYK some could tell from Google searches that Trump would win?
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+purmusic
08/31/17 4:15 PM GMT
DYK.. Steven Sasson went to work for Kodak in 1973 and was tasked with figuring out whether a "charged coupled device" (C.C.D.) had any practical application?

This led him, through a series of steps, not only to invent the first digital camera but also to invent a device to display it on.

And.. and his bosses at Kodak never let it see the light of day?
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.timw4mail
08/31/17 5:16 PM GMT
Not too surprising... film was (and I think still is) the majority of Kodak's business.

But then in the 90s, Kodak partnered with Apple to bring the first digital camera to market as the Apple QuickTake.

It seems really difficult to re-orient a company with a majority share of a market when the market changes.

All of this to say...
DYK...Kodak still produces film, for Cinema, and for photography.
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::LynEve
09/04/17 10:38 AM GMT
No use to me Tootles. I stopped reading after being told to rise early 'You need to wake up before the insanity starts'
Huh
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.Tootles
09/04/17 2:45 PM GMT
I can't see myself falling for it either. :-)
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+purmusic
09/04/17 3:39 PM GMT
Right, so..

Back in university, I would get up.. early.. and get into the gym/workout room to get that out of the way.

What I found was.. it charged me up to take on the rest of the day, mentally.

Going against the thinking that the physical exertion should have done the exact opposite.

With the added bonus of.. when it did come to night time, I was tired and looking for my bed at a more appropriate hour. And off I went.. rinse, lather and repeat the next day.
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.Tootles
09/04/17 4:34 PM GMT
Still not falling for it! (Turns over and pulls pillow over head).

Oh, all right, OK, I'll look at my timetable again, but I usually look at it then do something else. Or I think "I'm not doing that!" and move it to another square, then when I reach that square, switch it back again. Am beginning to think timetables are a waste of time.

Pfft.
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+purmusic
09/05/17 11:43 AM GMT
If you had read the article you linked (it alludes to what is to follow).. the way to set yourself up for a good good productive day, is to tackle the hardest tasks.. first.

Now, me?

I don't do any of this stuff, really.

That's what butlers are for.

Jeeves?

A cup of tea would be nice.

(*jumps out of chair to face chair*)

'Very good, sir. I shall go put on the kettle.'

(*ambles off to the kitchen*)

... ...

(*makes a mental note to clean butler's uniform*)

^ It helps with the illusion.

Delusion?
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::LynEve
09/05/17 12:29 AM GMT
To rise early one needs to be a Lark. If one is an Owl one is an owl for ever and this can not be changed - it goes against nature !! :)
I blame my owl like habits on being on the opposite side of the world to where I was born - no wonder I don't sleep much LOL

The thought of going to a gym before anything else to me seems totally alien and verging on insanity. Easing slowly into the day with coffee or tea and toast and soothing music and hoping no one expects conversation sounds far more attractive.

For a more in depth and backed up analysis of Lark v Owl this is quite an interesting read. CLICK HERE
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
::LynEve
09/05/17 12:53 AM GMT
DYK Cookie Monster's real name is Sid ?
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.Tootles
09/05/17 2:16 PM GMT
Thanks for the link, Lyn. I don't get up energy or enthusiasm till after lunch, partly because on the run-up to lunch I'm lacking energy because of lack of sustenance!

Possibly that needs to be looked at when comparing owls and larks? And are larks happier because they get up early, or do they get up earlier because they're happier, or at least more optimistic?

At a young age I leapt up early and looked forward to the day because of all the nice people who would be in it. :-P Something changed. Dark mornings, grumpy janitors and freezing winters... And now I'm an owl.
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+purmusic
10/04/17 5:28 PM GMT
DYK.. the "Longest We Can Go Without Food: 382 Days"?

(^ The article is a bit clunky.. but.. still interesting?)
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::LynEve
10/06/17 11:41 AM GMT
I will believe that but have no intention of putting it to the test
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.Tootles
12/18/17 11:02 PM GMT
DYK we can no longer hide under the title 'Tortured Artist'?

Admittedly, this is less 'DYK' than 'Up For Discussion' :-P.
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.timw4mail
12/19/17 1:51 PM GMT
Did you know that film is still produced, and demand is actually back up?
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.Tootles
04/28/18 11:43 PM GMT
Did you know... it takes a lot of work for YouTubers to stay visible in YouTube, but sometimes that's not enough, even for quality content. Tim Pool explains.

I like the directness of his delivery... he's not one of those speakers who go round and round in circles before finally making their point -- though you might not get the joke unless you watch. :-)
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+purmusic
07/31/18 7:11 AM GMT
DYK.. that a camera with 4,000,000+ ISO exists?

Indeed.. it does.

"ME20F-SH

Canon's new ME20F-SH Multi-Purpose Camera features a newly designed Canon 2.2MP high sensitivity CMOS sensor helping users to shoot crisp, clean high definition full-color video in extreme low light conditions. The camera's versatile, rugged, modular design, combined with a 35mm full frame CMOS sensor with an equivalent sensitivity in excess of 4,000,000 ISO, make it ideal for a wide variety of markets."

Yes.. a "wide variety of markets".
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::LynEve
07/31/18 1:48 PM GMT
Wide variety! yikes - it costs >$30,000.00!!
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
.Tootles
08/31/18 11:40 PM GMT
"I saw a lost white butterfly wandering among the treetops. Do they often fly that high?" I asked Mum. She looked puzzled, and shrugged, but I saw two more flapping skywards right afterwards. According to the internet, butterflies quite often fly very high, so high we can't see them, and some get caught by storms and transported long distances. Others simply *fly* long distances. So now we know.
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+purmusic
09/04/18 2:12 AM GMT
DYK.. San Francisco Giants pitcher Gaylor Perry once remarked that "they'll put a man on the moon before I hit a home run"?

An hour after Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon's surface in 1969, Perry hit his first, and only, homer.
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divya_30
09/06/18 3:10 PM GMT


"According to a study published at the University of Massachusetts by Ramesh Sitaraman, video & site buffering can kill a user's attention span. According to NPR, the study looked at close to 6.7 million viewers who watched almost 23 million videos play. That's around 216 million minutes of video time. They found that "viewers are less tolerant to startup delay for a short video such as a news clip than a long video such as an hour-long TV episode". (https://studiotale.com/)

They also found that users give up in 2 seconds if a video starts buffering. Two seconds!"

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::LynEve
09/10/18 11:58 AM GMT
DYK No part of New Zealand is more than 128km from the sea

and

DYK New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals per capita than any other country.
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My thanks to all who leave comments for my work and to those of you who like one enough to make it a favourite. To touch just one person that way makes each image worthwhile. . . . . . . . . .. . . . "The question is not what you look at, but what you see" ~ Marcel Proust
+purmusic
01/05/20 2:33 PM GMT
DYK.. I have a new pc?

Now you do.

:o)
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