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Well that's Quite Interesting

maudgonner

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!)

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mud

Owls aren't waterproof.

ThisRegard

The Guinness World Record for the most faces painted in 4 hours by a team took place last Sunday in Blanchardstown Town Centre. They painted 738 faces, breaking the previous record of 680 which was done at an Aston Villa game.

Rubberlegs

Mike the headless chicken was a chicken from Colorado who lived for 18 months after having his head chopped off in 1945. Some vein or something wasn't severed, so he didn't die. His owner fed him with an eye dropper down his neck. He toured with a freak show, but he eventually died from choking. There's a festival dedicated to him, and a Mike the headless chicken day too. Only in America

Speedsie

mud wrote: »

Owls aren't waterproof.

Neither are donkeys.

recylingbin

ThisRegard wrote: »

The Guinness World Record for the most faces painted in 4 hours by a team took place last Sunday in Blanchardstown Town Centre. They painted 738 faces, breaking the previous record of 680 which was done at an Aston Villa game.

Those guys must be millionaires

After Bruce Willis, Louis pasteur is responsible for saving more lives than anyone else in history.

shamrock2004

Griffith avenue in dublin, is the longest tree-lined avenue in the northern hemisphere!!

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glasnevin

Huntergonzo

Chimborazo (an inactive stratovolcano in Ecuador) is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, but its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earth's surface from the Earth's centre.

Laois_Man

When George W Bush arrived at the White House on January 20 2001 having just been sworn in, it was discovered that members of Bill Clinton's staff had removed the letter 'W' from almost every keyboard in the building!

CaraMay

whatismyname wrote: »

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

Who knows...?

It would be for Adam Johnson. He not only likes kids, seemingly he likes animals too.

holy guacamole

The phrase "your name is mud" derives from Dr Samuel Mudd who treated the injured John Wilkes Booth after he'd assassinated Abraham Lincoln.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Nekarsulm

A pig can only sweat from the tip of its nose.

ToddyDoody

Japan, in general.

http://www.toptenz.net/10-strange-things-japan-baffle-foreigners.php

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

ISBN 978-0-571-30894-1

https://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=ISBN+978-0-571-30894-1+

buried

Have much respect for Japan. Hollywood basically stole every single genius idea Japanese film directors utilised in the 50's and 60's. There would be no 'Star Wars' if it wasn't for Akira Kurosawa and no Tarantino either only for Masaki Kobayashi

maudgonner

Brian Rua Ó Cearbháin was Mayo's answer to Nostrodamus. In the early 1600s he predicted that "carriages on iron wheels, emitting smoke and fire would carry coffins to Achill both at the beginning and end of a new era of transport".

The Westport to Achill railway line (now repurposed as the Greenway) was near completion in 1894 when the Clew Bay drowning tragedy happened. A boat carrying islanders to a steamer bound for Glasgow capsized in Westport quay. 32 bodies were recovered and it was decided that the best way to transport them home would be to finish the remaining work on the railway. The first train into Achill Sound carried the coffins of the victims.

The Westport-Achill railway closed in 1937 due to falling profits and people thought that Brian Rua's prophecy had not been fulfilled. As the line was being dismantled news reached Achill of a tragic fire in Glasgow. Ten islanders had burned to death in the house where they had been staying. A special train was laid on from Dublin to Achill and the line reopened one last time to bring the bodies home.

Alf Stewart.

buried wrote: »

Have much respect for Japan. Hollywood basically stole every single genius idea Japanese film directors utilised in the 50's and 60's. There would be no 'Star Wars' if it wasn't for Akira Kurosawa and no Tarantino either only for Masaki Kobayashi

Why, is that Tarantinos dad?

buried

Alf Stewart. wrote: »

Why, is that Tarantinos dad?

All the 'revenge' themed blockbuster films Tarantino has been bleeding to death for over the last decade started with Masaki Kobayashi's movie "Harakiri" (1962), if that film was never made Tarantino would still be working/laid off in an american xtravision

Capt'n Midnight

Eugene Norman wrote: »

The biggest exporter of bananas in Europe is Ireland.

Actually at one stage we were the biggest manufacturer of bananas in Europe.

Iceland is the biggest grower of bananas in Europe.

The Backwards Man

Polar bears are Irish

Capt'n Midnight

buried wrote: »

There would be no 'Star Wars' if it wasn't for Akira Kurosawa

That's untrue.

Lucas also took huge chunks from Dune.
Desert planet.
Magic religion.
Moisture farming.
Orphan seeking revenge on the Evil Empire with it's special soldiers.
Baddies related to hero.

Dogfight scenes were lifted from WWII movies

Yes Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars was a scene by scene remake of Yojimbo. But he reinvented the western while he was doing it.

maudgonner

The Backwards Man wrote: »

Polar bears are Irish

And should immediately be reintroduced to the wild here.

Wibbs

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

That's untrue.

Lucas also took huge chunks from Dune.

+ 1000. Star Wars is basically Dune watered down(no pun) mixed with the aforementioned Japanese flics. Though his earliest drafts owed much more to the Japanese stuff. To the degree that his first few drafts were vetoed because studio lawyers were sure the same Japanese dudes would sue and win.

Capt'n Midnight

Huntergonzo wrote: »

Chimborazo (an inactive stratovolcano in Ecuador) is not the highest mountain by elevation above sea level, but its location along the equatorial bulge makes its summit the farthest point on the Earth's surface from the Earth's centre.

Actually the tallest mountain on earth is Mauna Kea, because the bottom of the mountain is below sea level.

The Beatles' had a song about Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.

And 50 light-years away in the constellation Centaurus there is a star called Lucy. The diamond is 4000 Km across, the size of Australia.

buried

Capt'n Midnight wrote: »

That's untrue.

Lucas also took huge chunks from Dune.
Desert planet.
Magic religion.
Moisture farming.
Orphan seeking revenge on the Evil Empire with it's special soldiers.
Baddies related to hero.

Dogfight scenes were lifted from WWII movies

Yes Sergio Leone's Fistful of Dollars was a scene by scene remake of Yojimbo. But he reinvented the western while he was doing it.

Dd you ever see "The Hidden Fortress"? IMO That movie is the actual 'Star Wars'

Wibbs

buried wrote: »

Dd you ever see "The Hidden Fortress"? IMO That movie is the actual 'Star Wars'

+1 That's the "oh god George, we can't take this early script or we'll be sued into penury" film in question.

bnt

Just heard that comedian Garry Shandling has died. One of his last public appearances was on Jerry Seinfeld's web show Comedians In Cars Getting Coffee, in an episode entitled “It's Great That Garry Shandling Is Still Alive”.

failinis

Apparently if you did not have nipples you could not be High King in Ireland.

“Sucking a king’s nipples was a gesture of submission in ancient Ireland,” says Kelly. “Cutting them would have made him incapable of kingship.”

http://archive.archaeology.org/1005/bogbodies/clonycavan_croghan.html

buried

"The Hidden Fortress" is so f**king brilliant, I wish i never seen or heard of it just so I could watch it again without having seeing it the first time

maudgonner

So Eskimos (or Inuits if you prefer) have 500 words for snow? Well Irish has around 90 words for potatoes.

A small sample:

buirillín: a potato in seed
cailleach: a bad or shrivelled potato
caistín: a potato shrivilled from frost or heat
cnámharlach: A potato stalk
cnámhthóg: potatoes with the starch extracted
cnap phráta: a good lump of a potato
creataide: a small seed potato
creathán: a small potato
croidhealacán: the portion of a potato remaining after sets (scioltáin) have been cut off for sowing

Etc etc...