Well that's Quite Interesting

maudgonner · 24-03-2016 06:14PM #1

So many serious threads in AH these days, how about we entertain each other with obscure facts?

There's a staggering breadth and depth of knowledge in AH, much of it useless, which is of course the best kind

To kick things off:

Raymond O'Brien* was the shortest Irish man in recorded history. He was 1ft 11inches tall.

Charles Byrne was the tallest, he was 7ft 7inches tall. When he died a British doctor bought his body and boiled the flesh off with acid to reveal the skeleton. You can still view it in the (very cool, but very creepy) Hunterian Museum in London.

(*not Raymond D'Arcy. But I think we know what the first question would have been if they had been around to be guests on his chatshow, eh!)

whatismyname · 24-03-2016 06:47PM

Female kangaroos have three vaginas.

EndaHonesty · 24-03-2016 06:49PM

If you do a search on "facts" in After Hours you get 132,402 results!

interesting.

whatismyname · 24-03-2016 06:52PM

EndaHonesty wrote: »

If you do a search on "facts" in After Hours you get 132,402 results!

interesting.

This is no longer a fact :P

24-03-2016 07:07PM

Big Bertha, a cow on a farm in South Kerry, held 2 Guinness world records in the early 90s, the oldest cow (dying at 48) and the most calves (39)

130Kph · 24-03-2016 07:08PM

I served the actress who played Maggie Channing on Falcon Crest in a hotel at the height of the show’s popularity here in the 80’s in two channel land. She’s in Castle at the moment I believe. (photo: standing, front right)

Obscure fact:- She was the only global superstar I served booze to!! :cool:

stimpson · 24-03-2016 07:10PM

Dogs can't look up.

maudgonner · 24-03-2016 07:11PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Big Bertha, a cow on a farm in South Kerry, held 2 Guinness world records in the early 90s, the oldest cow (dying at 48) and the most calves (39)

Now that's what I'm talking about. That's quality useless local knowledge Conor!

RIP Bertha.

whatismyname · 24-03-2016 07:12PM

maudgonner wrote: »

Now that's what I'm talking about. That's quality useless local knowledge Conor!

Ooops... yes you're right... so useful to know that a female kanagroo has three vaginas

Who knows...?

Funkfield · 24-03-2016 07:13PM

Typewriter is the longest word you can type on one line of a qwerty keyboard

The flying mouse · 24-03-2016 07:13PM

Harold’s Cross in Dublin got it’s name because a tribe called the ‘Harolds’ lived in the Wicklow Mountains and the Archbishop of Dublin would not let them come any nearer to the city than that point.

Alf Stewart. · 24-03-2016 07:13PM

whatismyname wrote: »

Female kangaroos have three vaginas.

The males must ride em left right n centre?

24-03-2016 07:14PM

maudgonner wrote: »

Now that's what I'm talking about. That's quality useless local knowledge Conor!

RIP Bertha.

Nothing local about that, quite the national superstar at the time!

When she died she was stuffed and afair put on wheels with an electronic device that made a "moo" sound.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bertha_(cow)

Alf Stewart. · 24-03-2016 07:15PM

stimpson wrote: »

Dogs can't look up.

Pretty sure its pigs mate.

maudgonner · 24-03-2016 07:15PM

whatismyname wrote: »

Ooops... yes you're right... so useful to know that a female kanagroo has three vaginas

Who knows...?

Oh, I'm not dissing your knowledge whatismyname, it's more the fact that I can't imagine Bertha is on wikipedia that I was impressed by.

(Checks wikipedia....jeez I take it back, she is on there!)

ETA: I should have just waited for Conor to give me the link

Zaph · 24-03-2016 07:15PM

130Kph wrote: »

I served the actress who played Maggie Channing on Falcon Crest in a hotel at the height of the show’s popularity here in the 80’s in two channel land. She’s in Castle at the moment I believe. (photo: standing, front right)

Obscure fact:- She was the only global superstar I served booze to!! :cool:

Not so obscure fact - 130Kph plays fast and loose with the definition of "global superstar".

Slightly more obscure fact - since 1940, 85% of those who have attempted to break the world water speed record have died in the attempt.

maudgonner · 24-03-2016 07:17PM

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

The males must ride em left right n centre?

By males you mean male kangaroos? Or do you have a confession to make, Alf Stewart?

whatismyname · 24-03-2016 07:18PM

maudgonner wrote: »

Oh, I'm not dissing your knowledge whatismyname, it's more the fact that I can't imagine Bertha is on wikipedia that I was impressed by.

Ah I wasn't thinking you were dissing the uselessness of my knowledge. I was trying to be funny, but always figure I've failed at that whenever I then have to explain that I was trying to be funny

:P

lazygal · 24-03-2016 07:18PM

The flying mouse wrote: »

Harold’s Cross in Dublin got it’s name because a tribe called the ‘Harolds’ lived in the Wicklow Mountains and the Archbishop of Dublin would not let them come any nearer to the city than that point.

And they were understandably quite cross about this.

DEFTLEFTHAND · 24-03-2016 07:18PM

Antoine Louis invented the 'Guillotine.'

Joseph Guillotine as a member of the French Assembly recommended it's usage.

Caoimhgh1n · 24-03-2016 07:19PM

In Ireland, cow's milk has 400 million puss cells per litre, multiply that by 10 for the amount in cheese. Yum yum.

maudgonner · 24-03-2016 07:19PM

Deleted User wrote: »

Nothing local about that, quite the national superstar at the time!

When she died she was stuffed and afair put on wheels with an electronic device that made a "moo" sound.

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Big_Bertha_(cow)

Please tell me this still exists. If so, I think we should arrange an After Hours road trip to see her.

whatismyname · 24-03-2016 07:20PM

Harold’s Cross gets its name, according to F.E. Ball in his History of County Dublin, from a cross erected to mark the extent of the lands of the Archbishop of Dublin and to warn the Harold family of Rathfarnham not to encroach.

lazygal · 24-03-2016 07:21PM

The youngest girl to give birth was only five years old.

whatismyname · 24-03-2016 07:22PM

lazygal wrote: »

The youngest girl to give birth was only five years old.

I remember once reading up on that.

Scary.

The flying mouse · 24-03-2016 07:22PM

Maewyn Succat,

Thats St patricks real name :-)

Alf Stewart. · 24-03-2016 07:23PM

The Australian Gum leaf skeletoniser caterpillar sheds its casings up to thirteen times in its lifetime.

Each time it sheds a skin it puts aside its old skeletal head casing (its skull) and stacks them on top of each other, which it wears on its head like a hat.

Truth.

Coopaloop · 24-03-2016 07:24PM

Billy goats urinate on their own heads to smell more attractive to females.

The flying mouse · 24-03-2016 07:25PM

of tea.:eek::pac::pac::pac:

Eugene Norman · 24-03-2016 07:25PM

Ireland is a third world country.

Caoimhgh1n · 24-03-2016 07:26PM

Eugene Norman wrote: »

Ireland is a third world country.

No it is not.

Well that's Quite Interesting

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