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Random facts

Elvis facts: Not accounting for inflation, by the time Elvis dies in 1977, he was estimated to have earned over $4.5 billion. And since then, he has continued to top the Forbes list of top dead celebrity earners in multiple years. And in several years, he was the greatest single taxpayer in the US, and always insisted on paying his fair share, and having everyone who worked under him do the same..

He was also known to be exceedingly generous. One day, while driving around in Memphis, he saw an elderly lady struggling with her wheelchair, so he immediately arranged for her to get a motorized wheelchair, even going so far as to personally assist in seating her in it, and showing her how it worked. Her son remarked how nice Elvis' car was, so he gave it to the man on-the-spot, and even gave the man's son a job. He was also a staunch admirer of Martin Luther King and the civil rights movement in general, but Elvis' manager resisted arranging a meeting between the two because of concerns that people in the South at the time would disown or boycott Elvis for meeting MLK.

In the year he died, he was the largest concert draw of the year, despite only touring for less than a month. And despite being considered very simple & nonconfrontational, after one concert in the '50's, an opera singer approached Elvis backstage, and told him that he sang like a Hillbilly. Elvis, in an uncharacteristically laconic response, stated "And how many came to hear you sing tonight?"
 
Fast fact: The majority of the weapons used in the Okinawan styles of Karate, which many believe is the place where karate originated, were derived from farming implements, because peasants were forbidden from owning weapons, so they had to improvise.
 
Science fact: The reason why ice floats is because water is one of the few molecules in nature where the solid form (ice) has a lower density than when it's a liquid. Most every other molecule, it's usually the other way around. The molecule is also coincidentally in the shape of Mickey Mouse's head, and because of that shape, the bonds when water freezes, make ice bear a resemblance (on the molecular level) to the inside of a beehive.
 
Computer fact: While Charles Babbage is credited with creating the first analog computer, Ada Lovelace, a contemporary of Babbage is credited as the first computer programmer because of her papers concerning calculation algorithms based on Babbage's machine...
 
Food fact: Doritos were originally a popular appetizer offered at the Casa De Fritos in Disneyland. An executive at the Frito-Lay was on vacation with his family there, and noticed to popularity of the chips. Initially, Doritos were offered only regionally, but proved so popular, Frito Lay eventually took the product national in the 1966.
 
Paulyk... I DARE you to make less sense :)
 
This one's for you, Paulyk :)

Science Fact: The Pauli Effect (not to be confused with the Pauli Exclusion Principle), was an effect named after physicist Wolfgang Pauli, known in the physics community as the "conscience of physics," for holding everyone to the highest standards. The effect in question was the tendency of laboratory equipment to mysteriously break down or otherwise stop working merely because a theoretical physicist was in the vicinity, and the general rule being the more talented the physicist, the more expensive the equipment that broke down. Pauli was the worst offender, even getting himself banned from several university labs for this alone, despite his high status in the physics world. Pauli himself was pleasantly amused whenever it manifested, and while most considered it pseduoscience at best, Pauli considered the topic, and parapsychology in general, worthy of serious inquiry, even co-authoring a paper with famed psychologist Carl Jung on the Pauli effect.

In one famous instance, an expensive measuring device at the University of Gottingen broke down for absolutely no reason, and Pauli was nowhere to be found in the room. Many of the scientists present breathed a sigh of relief as they though this was proof that the Pauli effect was bubkis and that this time at least, he was innocent. They later discovered that he was, in fact, across the street at the train station at the exact moment the equipment broke, because he was forced to catch a later train to Copenhagen than he had originally planned.
 
Food fact: Cinnamon is one of the only foods derived directly from the bark of a tree. There are several species of tree that produce such a bark, and in addition to being a food, may also have medicinal properties. It is shown to be effective in vitro against several types of herpes simplex virus, and is a good antiviral agent in general. In addition, studies show some effectiveness against diabetes.
 
Astronomy fact: French cosmologist and astrophysicist Georges LeMaitre, the man who first proposed what eventually became known as the Big Bang Theory, was also an ordained Catholic priest, and his theories concerning the origin of the Universe were accepted by the Vatican, and especially by Pope Pius XI. LeMaitre was also one of the first to apply Einstein's theory of general relativity to the study of cosmology, and also helped invent the Fast Fourier transformation computing algorithm.
 
Chemistry fact: Nitrogen Triiodide is so sensitive to shock, something as slight as the touch from a feather, leaf, or even breathing in proximity to it is sufficient to cause a pile of it to detonate. It can even be detonated by the slightest exposure to alpha radiation.

Even pure nitroglycerine isn't that sensitive...
 
Legal fact: Under British law, it is illegal for any sitting member of Parliment to resign without first accepting a paid government position. This law created so many issues when scandals arose because bureaucrats ended up creating no shortage of completely fictional jobs on paper that often had no duties except to allow MP's to resign without breaking this law, which has yet to be rescinded since it was enacted over 300 years ago.
 
Food/medical fact: Honey has long been known to have antibacterial and bacteriostatic properties, meaning that not only does it kill bacteria, it also prevents any further bacteria that may have survived from growing & multiplying. It's why many doctors in ancient cultures would put it on wounds, or soak bandages in it to prevent infections. Also, if properly stored, honey has an indefinite shelf life, and has even been found in the tombs of Egyptian Pharaohs, still perfectly edible.
 
Medical fact: The myth that hair and nails continue to grow after death is because after people die, one of the first things to leave the body is water. Because of the gradual dehydration during rigor mortis, the skin from both nail beds and hair follicles retract, giving the illusion that hair & nails continued to grow. In mideval times, this was sometimes shown as proof that the person was a vampire.
 
Considering you'll be dead at the time, I doubt it'd matter either way lol
 
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