I bet you didnt know that

10-06-2017 9:40pm

One of the most overcrowded, diseased, and dangerous places to live in London at the turn of the 19th century was the South Bank, a miserable slum and home to the most squalid dwellings, the most destitute and the most dangerous people of the time. Huge numbers of people were arriving to live in London, and huge numbers were dying.

The cemetery situation was dire and they were filling up as fast as they were being opened, though in Cross Bones Cemetery the bodies weren't staying put for long. It's proximity to Guys Hospital meant that the bodies were plundered by career bodysnatchers to sell for medical teaching and research, and since the inhabitants of Cross Bones were drawn from the most destitute, prostitute and criminal fraternity, a blind eye was turned in gratitude that the graveyard wasn't filling up quite as fast as it appeared.

Cross Bones cemetery was closed in the mid 1800's, and was so overcrowded that during it's closure heavy rains often brought to the surface a raft of coffins that had be covered by mere inches of earth.

In the 1990's work began clearing the site for the construction of a mainly underground power station, but only 160 graves were excavated. More than half of the excavated graves belonged to children under five, and it's thought that less than 1% of the graves were relocated.

Dupont · 10-06-2017 9:52pm

How long is a piece of rope

Twice the length of half of it

Quazzie · 10-06-2017 10:29pm

Sudance wrote: »

Glass isn't a solid, it lquid, it just has very high viscosity.

if you look at very very old glass windows (over 100 years old e.g.) you might see that the bottom of the pane is thicker than the top

Not true

Capt'n Midnight · 10-06-2017 11:07pm

How long is a piece of string ?

String theory suggests it would be the Planck Length.

so about ‎1.616229(38)×10−35 meters

panevthe3rd · 11-06-2017 12:34am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How long is a piece of string ?

String theory suggests it would be the Planck Length.

so about ‎1.616229(38)×10−35 meters

Twice the length from the end to the middle.

PTH2009 · 11-06-2017 1:25pm

Aslans Christy Dignam never drank alcohol

I do find it hard to believe but unfortunately he took a lot of hard drugs

Sad news for him this week with him being told his cancer has returned. Best of luck too him

sunnysoutheast · 11-06-2017 10:41pm

Buford T. Justice V wrote: »

How? I'd like to see that explained.

I think this refers to Non-Euclidean geometry, such as spherical geometry. The Euclidian view of internal angles adding to 180 degrees is an only approximation on such a surface (e.g. Earth).

harry Bailey esq · 12-06-2017 12:33am

Dupont wrote: »

How long is a piece of rope

Twice the length of half of it

I'm writing that one down,well played.

begbysback · 12-06-2017 7:08pm

harry Bailey esq wrote: »

I'm writing that one down,well played.

Or, half the length of double it

BBDBB · 12-06-2017 7:11pm

How far can a dog run into a forest?

halfway, after that he's running out of it

Ray Palmer · 12-06-2017 8:31pm

Sudance wrote: »

Glass isn't a solid, it lquid, it just has very high viscosity.

if you look at very very old glass windows (over 100 years old e.g.) you might see that the bottom of the pane is thicker than the top

Nope it is an amorphous solid and it is the manufacturing method of old windows that cause them to be that way. Old windows were hand blown like a bottle and then cut and flattened out.

sbsquarepants · 13-06-2017 8:13am

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

How long is a piece of string ?

String theory suggests it would be the Planck Length.

so about ‎1.616229(38)×10−35 meters

I've a plank out my back garden and it's much, much longer than that, about 8 foot (what's that 3 or 4 times that length?)- and I've seen strings even longer, you clearly don't know what you're talking about:mad:

Kat1170 · 13-06-2017 10:09am

sbsquarepants wrote: »

I've a plank out my back garden and it's much, much longer than that, about 8 foot (what's that 3 or 4 times that length?)- and I've seen strings even longer, you clearly don't know what you're talking about:mad:

Well now you're into the realm of 'What does it take for some Plank to realise his piece of string is actually a rope'

:D:D:D

sbsquarepants · 13-06-2017 12:53pm

sunnysoutheast wrote: »

I think this refers to Non-Euclidean geometry, such as spherical geometry. The Euclidian view of internal angles adding to 180 degrees is an only approximation on such a surface (e.g. Earth).

This is it in a nut shell.
If you picture lines of longitude on a globe, they are parallel - ie they cross the equator at a 90 degree angle - therefore you've reached 180 degrees just in those 2 angles before you even count the third angle at the poles. (well it's not really a triangle - it's more of a bendy wendy triangly thingy:D)

Digital Solitude · 13-06-2017 1:38pm

sbsquarepants wrote: »

This is it in a nut shell.
If you picture lines of longitude on a globe, they are parallel - ie they cross the equator at a 90 degree angle - therefore you've reached 180 degrees just in those 2 angles before you even count the third angle at the poles. (well it's not really a triangle - it's more of a bendy wendy triangly thingy:D)

Like if you had a quarter sphere shape is it?

seagull · 13-06-2017 1:58pm

sbsquarepants wrote: »

This is it in a nut shell.
If you picture lines of longitude on a globe, they are parallel - ie they cross the equator at a 90 degree angle - therefore you've reached 180 degrees just in those 2 angles before you even count the third angle at the poles. (well it's not really a triangle - it's more of a bendy wendy triangly thingy:D)

I always thought the definition of a triangle included it being a two dimensional shape.

GritBiscuit · 14-06-2017 8:38am

Men can also get a positive result by peeing on a pregnancy test stick - but in their case it's not a sign of impending parenthood, it's a sign they have a tumour.

Pregnancy tests look for the presence of elevated levels of the hormone beta human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG), a hormone also produced by a certain testicular (seminoma) cancers.

Only 20%-40% of seminomas and 40%-50% of non-seminomas give off elevated levels of hCG so while any man getting the two lines should make an appointment with their Dr pronto - it's not a reliable form of checking if you are testicular cancer free.

IvyTheTerrible · 14-06-2017 9:02am

In 1631, Ottoman slavers raided the seaside village of Baltimore in Cork and captured between 100 and 200 villagers, and brought them to North Africa for a life of slavery. Only 3 of those captured ever saw Ireland again, and the remaining villagers moved to Skibbereen (further inland), leaving Baltimore virtually deserted for generations.

Persephone kindness · 14-06-2017 9:20am

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

In 1631, Ottoman slavers raided the seaside village of Baltimore in Cork and capture between 100 and 200 villagers, and brought them to North Africa for a life of slavery. Only 3 of those captured ever saw Ireland again, and the remaining villagers moved to Skibbereen (further inland), leaving Baltimore virtually deserted for generations.

Kinda shocking.

Bandana boy · 14-06-2017 9:36am

Daniel Stern the other robber beside Joe Pesci in the home Alone movies was also the Narrator and modern day Fred Savage in "the Wonder years "

steddyeddy · 14-06-2017 3:29pm

It might surprise you to find out who came up with the word "meme".

The meme is defined as a unit of cultural symbolism, idea or behavior that can be transmitted from one person to another through writing, media, gestures, rituals and human contact. The handshake is an example of one of the most successful memes. The meme and its definition might strike you as being very gene like. This might be because a very famous developmental biologist called Richard Dawkins came up with the term when he was writing "The Selfish Gene".

Ipso · 14-06-2017 5:38pm

IvyTheTerrible wrote: »

In 1631, Ottoman slavers raided the seaside village of Baltimore in Cork and captured between 100 and 200 villagers, and brought them to North Africa for a life of slavery. Only 3 of those captured ever saw Ireland again, and the remaining villagers moved to Skibbereen (further inland), leaving Baltimore virtually deserted for generations.

Weren't most of the slaves English settlers?

snowflaker · 14-06-2017 5:42pm

YMCA was number one the day the current Taoiseach was born!

IvyTheTerrible · 14-06-2017 6:26pm

Ipso wrote: »

Weren't most of the slaves English settlers?

Yes, still an awful thing to happen.

castletownman · 14-06-2017 7:09pm

Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor isn't actually Irish but originates from Essex.

In the 1970s, Gilbeys decided to come up with an uniquely Irish drink to appeal to the modern market.

Well the Irish were believed to be among the first people to distill whiskey, and at the time Ireland had a reputation for producing the best quality fresh cream worldwide, so two executives from Gilbey's decided to combine the two to make a new drink.

They initially spend an afternoon in work mixing the two and recording the results- it was meant to taste awful. One of them decided to add cocoa to the combo which instantly improved the taste. Of course, they hadn't taken exact measures, and that process was carried out by distillery scientists, and eventually patented as Bailey's Irish Cream CHOCOLATE liquor. The chocolate was eventually dropped as it became the drink we know today.

Furthermore, the signature you see on the label of the bottle is entirely fictional. Gilbey's contacted Tony O'Reilly for advice how to approach the Irish diaspora, and they discovered that the less "Irish" the name of a brand, the more authentic looking it would appear. "Paddy O'Reilly's Irish cream liquor" wouldn't have the same ring to it. The eventual name Bailey's was actually gleaned from Bailey's Hotel in London

Ipso · 14-06-2017 7:16pm

castletownman wrote: »

Bailey's Irish Cream Liquor isn't actually Irish but originates from Essex.

In the 1970s, Gilbeys decided to come up with an uniquely Irish drink to appeal to the modern market.

Well the Irish were believed to be among the first people to distill whiskey, and at the time Ireland had a reputation for producing the best quality fresh cream worldwide, so two executives from Gilbey's decided to combine the two to make a new drink.

They initially spend an afternoon in work mixing the two and recording the results- it was meant to taste awful. One of them decided to add cocoa to the combo which instantly improved the taste. Of course, they hadn't taken exact measures, and that process was carried out by distillery scientists, and eventually patented as Bailey's Irish Cream CHOCOLATE liquor. The chocolate was eventually dropped as it became the drink we know today.

Furthermore, the signature you see on the label of the bottle is entirely fictional. Gilbey's contacted Tony O'Reilly for advice how to approach the Irish diaspora, and they discovered that the less "Irish" the name of a brand, the more authentic looking it would appear. "Paddy O'Reilly's Irish cream liquor" wouldn't have the same ring to it. The eventual name Bailey's was actually gleaned from Bailey's Hotel in London

We still have Guinness.

15-06-2017 12:05am

The discovery of the remains of people buried with dogs in Switzerland over a hundred years ago tells us that the human-dog relationship likely dates back about 15,000 years. It's thought that wolves first approached us to scavenge scraps and waste from the human table, and that the wolves who would be most likely to be bold enough and friendly enough to come to us were those with the characteristics to survive and thrive more readily. Dogs certainly appear to have been domesticated before any other animal and it appears to have been a multi-regional development rather than of single origin, and we've been together ever since.

The human relationship with cats isn't quite as long lived but also appears to be multi-regional in origin. It's estimated we were first tolerated by cats between 11,000 - 12,000 years ago around the advent of the first neolithic (or agricultural) revolution, and a symbiotic relationship arose as cats preyed on the rodents that early crops attracted. Humans quickly realised the benefits of keeping the rodent population down and encouraged cats to maintain a presence, and this likely gave cats the inflated sense of importance and entitlement that they've displayed ever since.

Interestingly, cats in the Middle Ages developed a bad rep and were thought to be evil agents of witches and carriers of all kinds of nasty business and were culled in the belief they spread the bubonic plague. A bad move since the disease was spread by rat borne fleas, the population of which would have been kept down by plenty of hungry cats.

EDIT: Nope, the cats are blameless, and the plague was airborne.

osarusan · 15-06-2017 12:09am

In Rainman there is a scene in which Dustin Hoffman's character refuses to fly because of his fear of plane crashes, listing off a catalogue of accidents. It's the scene which explains why they have to make the roadtrip which makes up so much of the film, but because of the content, it was cut from the in-flight version of the film by many airlines.

Can anybody guess one airline which left the scene in their in-flight version?

15-06-2017 12:15am

osarusan wrote: »

In Rainman there is a scene in which Dustin Hoffman's character refuses to fly because of his fear of plane crashes, listing off a catalogue of accidents. It's the scene which explains why they have to make the roadtrip which makes up so much of the film, but because of the content, it was cut from the in-flight version of the film by many airlines.

Can anybody guess one airline which left the scene in their in-flight version?

United?

Quantas!

osarusan · 15-06-2017 12:21am

Candie wrote: »

United?

Eh...no.

Quantas!

Eh...yes.

I bet you didnt know that

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