[MCaver]

We have lots of intelligent people here with useless information about the past rattling around in their head. Anyone care to share some interesting but useless info? I'll start: Around the year 1450, the British and French were heading into battle. The French threatened to cut off the middle fingers of the British so they couldn't draw their crossbows if they showed up. At the battle, the British displayed their middle fingers, showing they still had them, and thus was born...The Bird. Source: Mail Call, The History Channel

[MCaver]

Another... The Great Pyramid on the Gaza Plateau was the tallest man-made structure on Earth for over 4000 years, until 1889 when the French built the Eiffel Tower. Source: History's Mysteries, The History Channel

[Backpacker Joe]

The moon is made of cheese. Source: Bugs Bunny

[Dante]

IIRC the Koreans first used armored ships in a naval battle (to defeat the Japanese). The covered them with shields and called them "turtle boats". I don't remeber where I learned it, but it impressed the hell out of a Korean classmate in business school...

[mb]

or maybe the middle finger insult is older than that http://www.3rdcoa.courts.state.tx.us/opinions/HTMLopinion.asp?OpinionID=12238#N_1_

[MCaver]

Interesting. The episode of Mail Call that mentioned it was during a segment about military hand signals. Maybe they meant that was the origin of it's military use, although they didn't say that explicitly.

[polarbear]

Kamakaze, the divine wind

[forest gnome]

Well gnomes are full of useless info.( one of our silent monk-like mental exercises) Half of the population on this planet lives on less than 2 $ a day. Well that is all I have for now..... no wonder I got kicked out of the monestary.

[touron]

Won't $2 a day buy you two Big N' Tasties? That's probably enough calories for a whole week.

[forest gnome]

I don't know but interesting that you should mention mac.'d's... the average time an american works to buy a big mac? 10 min. then they went on to say up to a full day for some third world countries.(Heard on the radio) Ostriches can see for 4 miles in good detail. 4 miles is a long way! Prince Vladamire used to impale his enemys (you know where), set them at the dinner table and then have dinner while they took a few days to die. Happy Happy. average gnome life-span? 325 years. average foot size? 10.5 height? 3'5" Ok...OK... History....Hmmmmmm....

[polarbear]

In New York it is illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs. If they are wide awake reading a book, maybe it is ok, who knows?

[MooseAndSquirrel]

If you read Mike Mailway every day you become a veritable library of useless, quirky facts & figures.

[MooseAndSquirrel]

I think our measuring system based on inches, feet, yards has so much more of an interesting origin- being based as it is on a King's hand width, spread of his arms or size of his vunderschtupper. Again, though, we are faced with the perplexing English usage of words with multiple meanings: feet, measurement and appendage...and yard, measurement and residential plot of land.

[Malachai Constant]

In Alabama it is illeagal to posses a firearm of the type "generally used by enemy agents". source NRA compendium of state gun laws