Some Catholics urged Pope Clement VII to ban coffee,calling it "devil's
beverage".After tasting the beverage,the Pope is said to have remarked that the
drink was "...so delicious that it would be a sin to let only miss-believers drink
it".

Ben Cohen,co founder of Ben and Jerry's ice cream,cannot smell.The reason the ice
cream is characteristically chunky is because in order to compensate for his
lack of taste he would add big pieces of fruit to the ice cream to satisfy his need
for texture in food.

In 2002,a 86 year old man was held 45 min at the airport due to a strange metal item
in his pocket that TSA couldn't understand - it was a Medal of Honor.

http://www.snopes.com/politics/military/airportmedal.asp

A city called Masdar City is currently being built in United Arab Emirates that
will rely entirely on renewable energy sources,with a sustainable,zero-carbon and
zero-waste ecology.

http://renewableenergyfacts.org/masdar-city-one-of-the-most-sustainable-communities-on-earth/#

Edgar Mitchell,the sixth person to walk on the moon,has claimed that "aliens have
contacted humans several times."

Before the English speaking world was exposed to the fruit,the color orange was
referred to as "geoluhread" which is Old English for red-yellow.

More people have walked on the Moon than have sailed around Britains coastline.

thread suicide to post bollox without  some cursory checking imo

Did you know the internet is full of ****

The world's longest recorded hangover lasted 4 weeks after a Scotsman consumed 60 pints of beer.

http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/worlds-longest-hangover/story-e6freuy9-1111114523917

The writer Roald Dahl's mission,as a spy for the British Government,was to seduce powerful US women in order to gather useful intelligence.For this reason he had to sleep with countless high society women.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/books/booknews/7931835/Roald-Dahl-was-a-real-life-James-Bond-style-spy-new-book-reveals.html

An effective treatment for sleep apnea is playing the didgeridoo.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1360393/

Saudi Arabia is working to reverse decades of favoring religious over scientific
studies in schools and universities.The country is pouring billions into improving
science curricula,endowing new research-oriented universities and establishing
scientific agencies.

http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/education/101011/saudi-arabia-science

In the 1800s gay men in London made up an entire slang language so they could
communicate in public without fear of being arrested.

The background noise you hear in cellphone conversations is actually generated by
your mobile provider to ensure you that the person on the other end didn't hang up
on you.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comfort_noise

Yahoo turned down the chance to buy Google for $1 million in 1997.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/web/10-random-facts-about-google/

Venice Island was built on a foundation of tree trunks.1200 years later,those same trunks still support almost all of central Venice.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venice#Foundations

Lawns have been a sign of great wealth since the Middle Ages.Neighbors assumed you were wealthy if you had cultivated land,but didn't have to grow food on it.

There’s an annual nail art competition called Nail Olympics or Nailympics.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2274549/Nail-Art-Olympics-sees-long-pointy-acrylics-adorned-feathers-toys-figurines.html

The retina display in Apple's iPad is actually manufactured and supplied by Samsung.

A woman painted the man of her dreams two months before meeting him in real life
Chloe Mayo, an amateur artist from Surrey, England, painted a depiction of her dream man two months before meeting him on an online dating site. She was so shocked by the resemblance that she hid the painting for fear he would think she was a stalker. They are now married for three years.

I did that for wife number 1


.
http://i42.tinypic.com/3094ftc.jpg

North and South Korean armies choose their physically toughest looking soldiers to have a constant ongoing "stare down" across the Korean border to determine who is more powerful.

A Japanese model underwent 30 cosmetic surgeries to look like a French doll.

There are 8 movie industries within India named after Hollywood known as Bollywood,Kollywood,Ollywood,Tollywood,Mollywood,Punjwood,Sandalwood and Sollywood!

"Johnny Depp plans on having his cremated remains poured into a cask of whisky,and
requests every attendee at his funeral take a sip."

That's gross!

Lobsters are functionally immortal.They show no measurable signs of aging (no loss of appetite,no change in metabolism,no loss of reproductive urge or ability,no decline in strength or health),and seem to only die from external causes.

http://www.npr.org/2007/11/16/16349118/the-long-and-happy-lives-of-lobsters

In addition to the sword taps on the shoulder,one was often slapped across the face when being knighted.These together were "the last affronts he could accept without redress."

http://www.goldenstag.net/peerage/chivcer.htm

A former bonded child laborer from Pakistan escaped the carpet factory at the age of 10,helped free over 3000 kids from slavery,before being murdered at the age of 13.

http://articles.latimes.com/1995-05-31/business/fi-8016_1_child-labor

In 1994,a man walked into a Washington middle school and killed his former teacher.11 years later,the killer won $250,000 from the school district after it was revealed that the teacher sexually abused him.

http://seattletimes.com/html/localnews/2002162113_cloud26m.html

BBC staff openly smoked marijuana at the corporation's headquarters during the 1960's and 70's and play school presenters even went on-air stoned.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/bbc/9242648/BBC-Play-School-presenters-went-on-air-stoned.html

Tolkien did not want the third LOTR publication to be called "Return of the King",as he felt it revealed too much of the story.This title was chosen by the publisher.

Ancient Rome had a 4 stories tall shopping mall with 150 shops and offices.

http://www.history.com/interactives/ancient-rome

Magnum condoms are designed for most men to fit into so that most men get an ego boost.

http://www.howaboutwe.com/date-report/why-are-so-many-men-suddenly-buying-magnum-condoms/#

Female wallabies have been known to "throw" their Joeys from the pouch if they are being pursued
or feel threatened.This is a defence mechanism designed to ensure their ownsurvival by sacrificinf a Joey.

http://www.fnqwildliferescue.org.au/a/Stories-and-Pictures

When Ernest Seton turned 21,his father charged him for all his expenses associated
with his childhood,including the fee for his delivery at birth.He paid the bill,but
changed his name and never spoke to his father again.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernest_Thompson_Seton

A Texas Hospital billed a woman $4800 after she was in an accident.Once the hospital
found out she received an insurance settlement they sent her a new bill for $20,000+ and
filed a lien against her property to get it.

http://blog.chron.com/newswatch/2012/01/hospital-er-visit-racks-up-20211-bill/

Bill Murray wanders around New York,randomly crashing parties and giving fatherly advice to people.

http://www.nypost.com/pagesixmag/issues/20081207/Bill+Murray+NYCs+New+Party+Boy#axzz2VP7Zcrtp

Whoopi Goldberg once worked as a phone sex operator.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/12/16/whoopi-goldberg-phone-sex-operator_n_1154374.html

You can send an Internet "postcard" with a message to the crew of the International Space Station.

http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/postcard/

Tetris has had 100+ million downloads,and is the best-selling mobile game of all time.

http://www.ea.com/news/tetris-game-surpasses-100-million-mobile-downloads

Ross Perot is "the biggest individual loser ever on the New York Stock Exchange";in April 1970,he lost 450 million in a single day.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ross_Perot#Business

A size 8 at "Banana Republic is a size 2 at The Gap".

http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2011/04/24/business/20110425_SIZE_graphic.html?ref=business

World’s biggest ‘Winnie the Pooh’ fan has collected over 9,000 different bear-themed items.

http://www.mostpooh.com/index.php

Soccer Balls Can Act as Generators

In June, as national soccer teams from around the world resume playing qualification
games for the 2014 World Cup, a group of 20-somethings will kick off a soccer-related project
with a global purpose that goes beyond athletic competition.

They will start full-scale manufacture of soccer-style balls that generate and store electric power
when kicked around. After playtime with these “Soccket” balls, families and communities
that lack reliable access to electricity can use the balls’ power for lighting
and – eventually – other electrical applications.

http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news/2013/06/soccer-balls-can-act-generators

Stilton blue cheese is known to frequently cause odd,vivid dreams.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stilton_cheese#Effect_on_dreaming

Mini golf was invented in 1867 because women couldn't play "real golf" because Victorian manners
meant women couldn't raise their clubs over their shoulders on backswings.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/19567/zany-history-mini-golf

Freddie Starr the comedian and Steve Evans the football manager are actually brothers who were split up as kids

The Beaver is a Fish !

The Bishop of Quebec approached his superiors in the Church and asked whether his flock would be permitted to eat beaver meat on Fridays during Lent, despite the fact that meat-eating was forbidden. Since the semi-aquatic rodent was a skilled swimmer, the Church declared that the beaver was a fish. Being a fish, beaver barbecues were permitted throughout Lent. Problem solved!