USELESS INFORMATION

[Rhonda]

USELESS INFORMATION

Have you ever wondered how Q-Tips got their name? Want to
find out how Band-Aids come from Listerine? Find out at
this site of stuff you don't really need to know, but are
curious about anyway!

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The Bath School Disaster
When people think about school violence, the tragic story of the Columbine shootings is the first thing that comes to mind. Few people, however, have any knowledge the most deadly act of school violence in American history. Even more surprising is that this was not a recent event , but actually occurred during the Roaring 20's.

US Camel Brigade
It’s hard to imagine the old west without images of the classic cowboy riding his horse off into the sunset. Yet, if things had gone differently, those old western movies would have had John Wayne riding into town on his camel. When the Lone Ranger was blurting out, “Hi yo Silver, away!” he would have been referring to his two-humped friend. And Roy Rogers would have had a dromedary named Trigger.

Eveready Batteries
The man that invented the Eveready battery gave away the company so that he could play with his model trains. As foolish as this may sound, it was the best decision that he ever made.
The Other Stories
M.I.T. students that paid admission to a dance based on their girlfriend's weight. A guy that had more than one hundred shoe tacks removed from his stomach. A kid that collected some 334,000 dead flies in jars. Naturally cooked apple pie. What it means to be "sucking brains". These are the oddball stories that almost got away.

The Pudding Guy
David Phillips is the type of guy that just loves pudding. Now, it just can't be any type of pudding. It must be Healthy Choice brand in those individual serving type containers. Phillips ended up buying 12,150 containers of this yummy stuff for his family. Why would anyone want so much pudding? Why did it have to be Healthy Choice brand? And what could any typical family do with all of this pudding. Check out this great story to find out...

The Matchstick Man
What do you do with your matchsticks after you burn them? Do you toss them away? What a complete waste of a natural resource. Could the landfills be filling up with these things? For an answer to this pressing problem, we need only to turn to a man named Jack Hall. He found the perfect solution to the used matchstick dilemma. He used the matches to build... Well, check out this incredible story to see what he used the matchsticks for.

The Electric Pickle
Edison may have missed the boat on this one. Why use the standard incandescent and fluorescent bulbs that we are so familiar with when we could be lighting our homes with pickle power? I am not kidding here... The guys at Digital Labs actually did research on this. And, the pickles really do glow!

Pink Flamingos
Love them or hate them, they are just hard to ignore. The plastic pink flamingo has become a part of the American landscape and has had more staying power than just about any celebrity. The subject of many jokes, this truly American object was actually designed by a real artist as a serious piece of art. Follow the path of the pink flamingo from its birth through to its gain of legendary status.

Antarctica's Red Light District
Yes, it appears that scientists may have finally found what appears to be Earth's southernmost red-light district. Your first impression may be that this sounds like a story about lonely scientists living at the South Pole, but it is not. Instead, this is a story about penguins and what they do in their spare time. This time, however, it is the betrayed husband who is left home crying.

1904 Olympics
The Olympic Committee probably wants to forget that these 1904 St. Louis games ever occurred. The whole affair ended up being one big circus sideshow. How about a gold medal in mud throwing, totem pole climbing, or spear throwing? Check out this story for a good laugh.

Hiroo Onoda
World War II ended way back in 1945. Someone forgot to tell Hiroo Onoda and his men, however. They kept fighting and fighting and fighting. And when that wasn't enough, they kept on fighting some more. Thirty years later, their war was still going on. It obviously ended, or you wouldn't be able to read this great story of survival.

Headless Mike
You've probably heard that old expression about running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Well, Headless Mike gives new meaning to this expression. Check out this article for one of the oddest stories that you may have read in a while. Warning: it's not pretty, but you'll probably remember it for the rest of your life.

Microwave Ovens
A melted candy bar and some egg on someone's face are responsible for the invention of the first microwave. Check out the interesting history of this product's development. Also, is there any truth to the rumor that people have cooked their babies alive in these cooking machines?

David Rice Atchison
What would you do if you could be President of the United States for one day? Would you start a war? Pardon all the criminals? It just so happens that David Rice Atchison is the only man in history to have had this honor. Find out what Atchison did during his 24 hours in power.

FastFacts
A collection of interesting tidbits that were just a bit too brief to write a complete web page about. Take a look.


S.O.S Pads
These little soapy pads were originally designed as a giveaway to help sell aluminum pots and pans to housewives. The cookware didn't sell, but the pads were an instant success. By the way, the pads are not named after the famous distress signal.

Band-Aids
I'm stuck on Band-Aid 'cause Band-Aid's stuck on me. Millions of these little adhesive strip have been sold over the years. Yet, their existence may never have been if it weren't for Listerine

[Rhonda]

- Bizarre Product Facts


In 4000 BC Egypt, men and women wore glitter eye shadow made from the crushed shells of beetles.

In M&M candies, the letters stand for Mars and Murrie, the developers of the candy in 1941.

In the 1700s, European women achieved a pale complexion by eating "Arsenic Complexion Wafers" actually made with the poison.

Kotex was first manufactured as bandages, during W.W.I.

Most American car horns honk in the key of F.

Most lipstick contains fish scales.

The condom - made originally of linen - was invented in the early 1500's.

[Rhonda]

Today's useless fact - How did they figure that there are seven dog years to one human year?

The old rule of thumb that dogs age seven times as fast as humans comes from dividing the average human life span by the average canine life span. But it's not very accurate.

As one link points out, most dogs reach adulthood in roughly 18 months, which would be the equivalent of a 10-year-old child. Also, while a 15-year-old dog would be considered the equivalent of a 105-year-old person, many more dogs live to be 15 than humans live to be 105.

The handy Online Conversion site suggests that a more accurate formula would be: 10 and 1/2 dog years for the first two years, then four dog years per year. Maxie Beagle offers a scaled chart that distinguishes between small and large dogs (smaller breeds tend to live longer).

Dog Age measures your dog's biological age in human years according to factors such as breed, weight, lifestyle, and behavior.


Dog Vs Human Ages
Is your dog a teenager, a young adult, a senior?

The common unit of measure to compare dog years to human years is:

1 human year = 7 dog years

Different breeds of dogs age at vastly different rates so this rule of thumb only goes so far. Giant dogs like Great Danes and St. Bernards may have a life expectancy of under 10 years. Chihuahuas might still be going strong at 15. You can think of some dogs as either aging faster or simply not living as long as others. In any case, a life that is significantly shorter than the average human life is one of the difficulties that dog lovers face.

Dog years
Human equivalent years

1
2
5
10
15
20
21
25
40
60
75
100


Alternatively, since dogs reach maturity in about 1 year, that could be seen as 16 in human terms. Then add about 7, 5 or 4 years for every year your dog ages depending on the size of your dog.

Giant breeds examples: Great Danes, Mastiffs
Large breeds: Retrievers, Collies
Small breeds: Chihuahuas, Pomeranians

A 5 year old giant breed dog would then be:
(5-1) x 7 +16 = 44 in human terms

A 5 year old large breed dog would then be:
(5-1) x 5 + 16 = 36 in human terms

A 5 year old small breed dog would then be:
(5-1) x 4 + 16 = 32 in human terms

Human equivalent years
Dog years
Giant breed
Large breed Small
Breed
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
16
23
30
37
44
51
58
65
72
79
86
93
100

16
21
26
31
36
41
46
51
56
61
66
71
76
81
86
91
96
101
16
20
24
28
32
36
40
44
48
52
56
60
64
68
72
76
80
84
88
92
96
100


Specific breeds such as Border Collies and Bulldogs can have shorter life expectancies than their size would suggest. This could be because Border Collies lead hyper active lives and Bulldogs are essentially dwarfed Mastiffs and share the shorter lives of their ancestors.