November 2010
29 posts
2 tags
List of Cats →
This is a list of specific natural cats.
Includes…
Baby, world’s oldest cat, born in 1970, died 30 March 2008
Kaspar, wooden cat used at the Savoy Hotel in London to round out unlucky parties of thirteen
Towser, cat that held the record for most mice killed (over 28,000) through at least 1997
October 2010
34 posts
1 tag
2 tags
Secret Museum, Naples →
The term Secret Museum or Secret Cabinet (Gabinetto Segreto) principally refers to the collection of erotic or sexually explicit finds from Pompeii, held in separate galleries in the Naples National Archaeological Museum, Naples, Italy, the former Museo Borbonico. The British Museum also contained secret rooms.
Irony punctuation →
Though in the English language there is no standard accepted method to denote irony or sarcasm in written conversation, several forms of punctuation have been proposed. Among the oldest and frequently attested are the percontation point, — also known as an ironicon — invented by Henry Denham in the 1580s, and the irony mark, furthered by Alcanter de Brahm in the 19th century. Both of these marks...
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Tzadikim Nistarim →
It is said that at all times there are 36 special people in the world, and that were it not for them, all of them, if even one of them was missing, the world would come to an end.
Tradition holds that their identities are unknown to each other and that, if one of them comes to a realization of their true purpose then they may die and their role is immediately assumed by another person.
1 tag
Coca-Cola slogans →
1887 - Delicious! Refreshing! Invigorating! Exhilarating!
1891 - The Ideal Brain Tonic/The Delightful Summer-Winter beverage.
1927 - Pure as Sunlight
1939 - Coca-Cola goes along.
1959 - Be really refreshed.
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List of ghost ships →
Chicken hypnotism →
A chicken can be hypnotized, or put into a trance, by holding its head down against the ground, and continuously drawing a line along the ground with a stick or a finger, starting at its beak and extending straight outward in front of the chicken. If the chicken is hypnotized in this manner, it will remain immobile for somewhere between 15 seconds and 30 minutes, continuing to stare at the...
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List of names in English with counterintuitive... →
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Magical negro →
The magical negro is a supporting, sometimes mystical stock character in fiction who, by use of special insight or powers, helps the white protagonist get out of trouble.
The word negro, now considered by many as archaic and sometimes offensive, is used intentionally to suggest that the archetype is a racial throwback, an update of the “Sambo” and “Noble savage”...
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Voluntary Human Extinction Movement →
The Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, or VHEMT (pronounced “vehement”), is a movement which calls for the voluntary gradual self-extinction of the human species through abstaining from reproduction. VHEMT’s motto is May we live long and die out. Proponents of its philosophy call themselves extinctionists.
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French leave →
French leave is “Leave of absence without permission or without announcing one’s departure”, including leaving a party without bidding farewell to the host. The intent behind this behaviour is to leave without disturbing the host. The phrase was born at a time when the English and French cultures were heavily interlinked.
In French, the phrase “filer à...
Final girl →
The final girl is a horror film (particularly slasher film) trope that specifically refers to the last woman or girl alive to confront the killer, ostensibly the one left to tell the story.
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People sniffer →
People sniffer was the field name for a series of U.S. Army personnel detectors used during the Vietnam War. The purpose was to detect enemy soldiers in hidden positions, as very frequently happened in the jungle combat conditions of Vietnam.
The detection method used by people sniffers depended on effluents unique to human beings; such as those found in urine and sweat. The U.S. military used...
One red paperclip →
The website One red paperclip was created by Kyle MacDonald, a Canadian blogger who bartered his way from a single red paperclip to a house in a series of online trades over the course of a year.
Serpent seed →
Serpent seed, dual seed or two-seedline is a controversial doctrine according to which the serpent in the Garden of Eden mated with Eve, and the offspring of their union was Cain.
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Patikulamanasikara →
Paṭikkūlamanasikāra is a Pāli term that is generally translated as “reflections on repulsiveness.” It refers to a traditional Buddhist meditation whereby thirty-one parts of the body are contemplated in a variety of ways.
In addition to developing mindfulness and concentration, this form of meditation is considered conducive to overcoming lust.
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Serendipity →
Serendipity is a propensity for making fortunate discoveries while looking for something unrelated.
The word has been voted as one of the ten English words that were hardest to translate in June 2004 by a British translation company.
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Rumination syndrome →
Rumination syndrome is an under-diagnosed chronic eating disorder, characterized by effortless regurgitation of most meals following consumption. There is no retching, nausea, heartburn, odours, or abdominal pains associated with the regurgitation, as there is with typical vomiting.
The disorder has been historically documented as affecting only infants, young children, and people with cognitive...
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Cocktail party effect →
The cocktail party effect describes the ability to focus one’s listening attention on a single talker among a mixture of conversations and background noises, ignoring other conversations.
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Delphine LaLaurie →
Delphine LaLaurie, also known as Madame LaLaurie (born Marie Delphine Macarty), was an American socialite and supposed serial killer, who according to legend helped torture, mutilate and kill nearly 100 black slaves.
luv-bug asked: your blog is my home page.
it's where i get my random facts from.
it's where i get my random facts from.
Leblouh →
Leblouh is the practice of force-feeding young women, including girls as young as five, in Mauritania, where obesity was traditionally regarded as desirable.
List of unusual deaths →
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Stargate Project →
The Stargate Project was the umbrella code name of one of several sub-projects established by the U.S. Federal Government to investigate the reality, and potential military and domestic applications, of psychic phenomena, particularly “remote viewing”: the purported ability to psychically “see” events, sites, or information from a great distance.
These projects were...
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Hollow Earth →
The Hollow Earth hypothesis says that the planet Earth is either wholly hollow or otherwise contains a substantial interior space.
A book allegedly by a “Dr. Raymond Bernard” which appeared in 1964, The Hollow Earth, exemplifies this idea. “Bernard” argued that the inhabitants of Atlantis took refuge in the Earth’s interior before the city was destroyed in great...