The useless bits of info to see if we can make a million posts thread

[cAstAgeAr]

In order for a deck of cards to be mixed up enough to play with properly, it should be shuffled at least seven times.

[cAstAgeAr]

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

[cAstAgeAr]

The bubbles in Guiness Beer sink to the bottom rather than float to the top like all other beers. No one knows why.

[cAstAgeAr]

The right side of a boat was called the starboard side due to the fact that the astronavigators used to stand out on the plank (which was on the right side) to get an unobstructed view of the stars. The left side was called the port side because that was the side that you put in on at the port. This was so that they didn't knock off the starboard!

[cAstAgeAr]

The now retired architect, then a draftsman, who drew the plans for the original "Golden Arches" (McDonalds) building in Fontana, California, in the early 1950s, was Charles W. Fish

[cAstAgeAr]

The next-to-last event is the penultimate, and the second-to-last event is the antepenultimate.

[cAstAgeAr]

Everyone in the Middle Ages believed -- as Aristotle had -- that the heart was the seat of intelligence.

[cAstAgeAr]

In many ancient religions the mistletoe was regarded as a sacred plant. The Druids believed that a sprig of mistletoe fastened above a doorway would ward off all sorts of ills, such as witchcraft, disease, bad luck and fire. In addition, it would enhance the hospitality -- and fertility -- of the household. Hence the English Christmas custom of kissing under the mistletoe.
But to the Norsemen the mistletoe was a baleful plant, because it caused the death of Baldur, the shining god of youth

[cAstAgeAr]

Nearly 50% of all bank robberies take place on Friday

[cAstAgeAr]

A device invented as a primitive steam engine by the Greek engineer Hero, about the time of the birth of Christ, is used today as a rotating lawn sprinkler

[cAstAgeAr]

In the next seven days, roughly 800 Americans will be injured by their jewelry.

[cAstAgeAr]

Personal letters make up only 4.5 percent of the mail delivered by the U.S. Postal Service.

[cAstAgeAr]

During the time that the atomic bomb was being hatched by the United States at Alamogordo, New Mexico, applicants for routine jobs like janitor were disqualified if they could read. Illiteracy; in other words, was a job requirement. The reason: The authorities didn't want their trash or other papers read.

[cAstAgeAr]

The foundations of the great European cathedrals go down as far as forty or fifty feet. In some instances, they form a mass of stone as great as that of the visible building above the ground.

[cAstAgeAr]

A person uses more household energy shaving with a hand razor at a sink (because of the water power, the water pump and so on) than he would by using an electric razor.