Useless Trivia: Places to Drive on Left

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The discussion revolves around sharing 'useless' trivia, prompting participants to contribute interesting but obscure facts. Key points include lists of places where driving is on the left, the distinction between Norway's highest mountains, and various E-numbers associated with food additives. Participants also touch on quirky laws, such as those regarding sexual conduct in different states and countries, and trivia about historical figures like Gerald Ford. Other notable facts shared include the world's longest mountain range, the origins of certain words, and peculiar records like the longest fingernails and the first toy advertised on television. The conversation highlights the blend of humor and curiosity in trivia, emphasizing its entertainment value despite its perceived lack of utility.
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'Useless' Trivia

After being prompted by the bathroom reading thread, I decided that I'd better start one of these.

Post your snippets of information which are of use to few people, but of (possible) interest to many.


I'll kick off, with a list of places where you must drive on the left:

Anguilla, Antigua, Australia, Bahamas, Bangladesh, Barbados, Bhutan, Botswana, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Cayman Islands, Channel Island, Cooke Islands, Cocos Island, Cyprus, Dominica, Falkland Islands, Fiji, Grenada, Guyana, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Isle of Man, Jamaica, Japan, Kenya, Kiribati, Lesotho, Macao, Malawi, Malaysia, Malta, Mauritius, Montserrat, Mozambique, Namibia, Naunu, Nepal, New Zealand, Norfolk Islands, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, Pitcairin Island, St Helena, St Kitts and Nevis, St Lucia, St Vincent, Seychelles, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Somalia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Surinam, Swaziland, Tanzania, Thailand, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turke and Caicos Islands, Uganda, United Kingdom, Virgin Islands, Zambia, Zimbabwe.
 
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Physics news on Phys.org
All right:
The mountain Galdhøpiggen ("The peak by the trail across the mountain plateau")
is Norway's highest mountain, but if you add the 10 meters on snow lying on top of Glittertind ("The Glittering Mountain") to its actual (rock) height, then Glittertind is the highest.
 
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brewnog said:
Post your snippets of information which are of use to few people, but of (possible) interest to many.
I was about to offer Sylvia's phone number, but thought better of it. That would violate the decency laws of at least half the countries represented here. :biggrin:
 
"Useless trivia" is redundant. Trivia is, by definition, useless.

(Or it was, until the invention of 'Trivial Pursuit'. Now, Trivia is useful.)
 
DaveC426913 said:
"Useless trivia" is redundant. Trivia is, by definition, useless.

(Or it was, until the invention of 'Trivial Pursuit'. Now, Trivia is useful.)

I was under the impression that trivia was insignificant, rather than useless, but hey ho.

Anyway, I'll continue...


A list of E-numbers:

100-199 Colourings
200-299 Preservatives
300-399 Antioxidants, phosphates and complexing agents
400-499 Thickeners, emulsifiers, and gelling agents
500-599 Salts and related compounds
600-699 Flavour enhancers
700-899 Things which aren't used in food for human consumption
900-999 Gases, sweeteners, surface coating agents
1000-1399 Miscellaneous
1400-1499 Starch derivatives
 
Smoking is bad for you. Crack is supposedly bad too but i woulndt know. Its the only one i haven't done.
 
Norway never gave up sovereignty over the Hebridean islands (around 1250 or so); we just pawned them off to the Scots, that's all. It's still Norwegian land.
 
People from Norway are not called Norweeds and they do not speak Norweedish. (my sister in law is from Norway)
 
NORWEEDS?
 
  • #10
arildno said:
NORWEEDS?
I was driving my daughter and some of her friends one day and someone asked what people from Norway were called. One kid piped up "I think they're called Norweeds" and another kid said "oh, that's right, they speak Norweedish". :smile:
 
  • #11
It's not funny at all; it sounds horrendously wimpish.

We pillaged, burned and raped as much of the globe we were able to,
And what did we get out of it in the end?
We are called norweeds by a bunch of kids..
 
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  • #12
arildno said:
It's not funny at all; it sounds horrendously wimpish.

We pillaged, burned and raped as much of the globe we were able to,
And what did we get out of it in the end?
We are called norweeds by a bunch of kids..


It's alright, we call them Norsemen. :smile: Obviously we know it's inaccurate, but it sounds a lot better, you've got to agree.



The only palindromic hit song by a palindromic artist is S.O.S by ABBA.
 
  • #13
brewnog said:
The only palindromic hit song by a palindromic artist is S.O.S by ABBA.

And this only goes to stregnthen the general consensus that palindromes are evil by nature.
 
  • #14
You are more likely to be killed by a pig than by a shark

At over 22 inches long, the longest fingernails took 27 years to grow.

Techtonic plates move about as fast as your fingernails grow ~ 1 cm per year.

In Trivial Pursuit[if anyone still plays this], if the answer is a city but you don't know which one, guess Paris.

There are between 330 and 500 dimples on a golfball

The longest boxing match lasted seven and a half hours and went 110 rounds
 
  • #15
Mr. Potato Head revolutionized the toy industry in 1952 - he was the first toy to be advertised on televesion.

In spite of being the first toy to realize the power of television, Mr. Potato Head only received four votes (all write-in) in Boise's 1985 Mayoral election.
 
  • #16
isnt it illegal to chew gum in spain?
 
  • #17
The only death directly by an animal in Yosemite was by a deer.

At least 3 people drown in Yosemite Valley and you never hear about them.
 
  • #18
Ivan Seeking said:
You are more likely to be killed by a pig than by a shark
On land or in the water?
 
  • #19
Ivan Seeking said:
At over 22 inches long, the longest fingernails took 27 years to grow.

Techtonic plates move about as fast as your fingernails grow ~ 1 cm per year.

Something here doesn't quite add up... :P

On the subject of tectonics- The world's longest mountain range is the spreading ridge that stretches from Mexico, round the South Pacific, southern Indian Ocean, and up the legnth of the Atlantic. It breaks the sea's surface very infrequently, most notably at Iceland.
 
  • #20
My first name is not Warren.

- Warren
 
  • #21
Then it is christopher, as in chroot.
 
  • #22
My first name is also not Christopher.

- Warren
 
  • #23
chroot's mailbox is at the moment full, so it is impossible to send him "Thank you!" PM's
(Believe me, I've tried 3 times already..)
 
  • #24
chroot's mailbox is no longer full.

- Warren
 
  • #25
Indeed it is not.
 
  • #26
arildno said:
And what did we get out of it in the end?
We are called norweeds by a bunch of kids..
Not just kids any more. I know I'll never stop using it. :-p

brewnog said:
The only palindromic hit song by a palindromic artist is S.O.S by ABBA.
Hey, SOS! Did you see this?

Ivan Seeking said:
You are more likely to be killed by a pig than by a shark
Hey, SOS! Did you see this?
 
  • #27
matthyaouw said:
Something here doesn't quite add up... :P

I guess that's what happens when you cross a Geologist with a Guinness? Maybe the world record fingernails grew unusually fast. I just checked and this is what my Guiness book says.

It also says that the only known instance of a go-kart being driven around the world was a circumnavigation by Stan Mott, of New York, who drove a Lambretta-engined 175 cc Italakart with a ground clearance of two inches, 23,300 land miles throught 28 countries from Feb 15, 1961, to June 5th, 1964, starting and finishing in New York.
 
  • #28
  • #29
matthyaouw said:
Something here doesn't quite add up... :P
Yes, but a centimeter and an inch are only a factor of 2.5 different. A physicist would call such an excellent agreement (within an order of magnitude) a good day's work! :smile:

- Warren
 
  • #30
chroot said:
Yes, but a centimeter and an inch are only a factor of 2.5 different. A physicist would call such an excellent agreement (within an order of magnitude) a good day's work! :smile:

- Warren

...and a horse is approximately a sphere.
 
  • #31
Ivan Seeking said:
...and a horse is approximately a sphere.
*ahem*

I think you mean a chicken. We're not -that- unabashed.

*narrows eyes*

- Warren
 
  • #32
Danger said:
That reminds me...





http://img104.echo.cx/img104/2310/pf7ka.th.jpg


sorry
Should I be keeping track of these things?

This one is a bit more subtle than the others. I can't tell you how many times I've said those exact words in a bar to someone who reminded me of Mr. Potato Head. OK, I could tell you, but I won't
 
  • #33
Author, Ernest Vincent Wright, wrote a book called "Gadsby" which is over 50,000 words long and it does not contain the letter "E".
The world's largest pyramid is 177 feet tall and covers 15 acres it in Cholula de Rivadabia, Mexico.
 
  • #34
I found this tidbit while looking up information on exploding frogs, so will share it here since it seems more appropriate:
If you feed tomato hornworms cornmeal, they can't digest it and will blow up! :biggrin:
 
  • #36
Huckleberry said:
Freud would be proud. And very busy. Take a look at these sex hangups from around the world.
In Minnesota, it is illegal for any man to have sexual intercourse with a live fish.
So a dead fish is okay? Or does that violate the no-sex-with-a-corpse law?

In Detroit, couples are not allowed to make love in an automobile unless the act takes place while the vehicle is parked on the couple's own property.
Makes one wonder how much time Hypatia must have spent in prison...

In Kingsville, Texas there is a law against two pigs having sex on the city's airport property.
Hey SOS! Did you see this?

Women can sell items and be topless in Liverpool, England—but only in tropical fish stores.
That's just cruel. Get the guys all worked up, and then tell 'em they can't use the fish...

In the quiet town of Connorsville, Wisconsin, it's illegal for a man to shoot off a gun when his female partner has an orgasm.
Can he fire a rocket?

In the state of Washington there is a law against having sex with a virgin under any circumstances (including the wedding night).
Does anyone else see a paradox here? I suppose this has something to do with Clinton's definition of 'sex'.
 
  • #37
Makes one wonder how much time Hypatia must have spent in prison...

None,..lol I have a lot of property~! o:)
 
  • #38
If you repeatedly use your microwave oven to heat a sodium acetate solution sufficiently such that supersaturation is achieved, your microwave will forever smell like an aspirin.
 
  • #39
Ivan Seeking said:
If you repeatedly use your microwave oven to heat a sodium acetate solution sufficiently such that supersaturation is achieved, your microwave will forever smell like an aspirin.
Will that keep it sterile?

You can also heat water past the boiling point in a microwave without it breaking the surface tension. As soon as the surface is disturbed the water can explode into steam and cause serious burns.
 
  • #40
007 is the ISD telephone code for Russia.
 
  • #41
Pierre Trudeau's favourite snack food was/were chocolate chip cookies

Canada's founders considered the following names for the new country in 1867:
Albertoria (I guess after Prince Albert, Queen Victoria's husband)
Cabotia
Efisga (england, france, italy, scotland, germany, aborigines)
Hochegela (former name of Montreal, the Toronto of the day)
Norland
Tuponia (short form of the United Provinces of North America)
Victorialand
West Britainnia

-- simultaneous translation in Canada's House of Commons was introduced by Dief the cheif early in 1959. i don't know how non-bilingual people could have got by before then.

-- a Canadian photographer (the toronto star's norman similas) took a photo of dealy plaza or whatever that clearly showed 2 assassins in the window of the texas school book depository. the rcmp took them & the negatives but then they got "lost"

-- in Canada the correct way to address a mayor is "your worship"

-- the town of niagara-on-the-lake doesn't have a mayor, it has a lord mayor

-- "screech" (flavoured jamaican rum made in st. john's nfld) comes from the scottish word "screigh" which means 'whiskey"
 
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  • #42
Safe ice thicknesses, in inches:

Single person on skis 1.5"
Single person on foot 2.5"
Groups in single file 3"
Snowmobile 3"
Small car 7.5"
Large car, small truck 9"
7 tonnes 10"
25 tonnes 20"
70 tonnes 30"








Don't walk on ice kids, it's dangerous.
 
  • #43
fourier jr said:
-- simultaneous translation in Canada's House of Commons was introduced by Dief the cheif early in 1959.
You blacken this site with mention of that treasonous bastard? If he were alive today, I would cheerfully assassinate him in the most hideous manner imaginable for what he did to the Arrow. :mad:

fourier jr said:
-- "screech" (flavoured jamaican rum made in st. john's nfld) comes from the scottish word "screigh" which means 'whiskey"
I always thought that the name came from the sound you make when you first taste it. :-p
 
  • #44
brewnog said:
Safe ice thicknesses, in inches:
So that'd be about 4" for you and your armload of Guinness? :-p
 
  • #45
The worlds record for rope quoit throwing is an unbroken sequence of 4,002 pegs by Bill Irby, Sr., of Australia, in 1968.
 
  • #46
Plimsoll Line markings:

TF Tropical Fresh Water
F Fresh Water
T Tropical Sea Water
S Summer Sea Water
W Winter Sea Water
WNA Winter North Atlantic

There are also apparently different markings for vessels on the Great American Lakes, and for Timber Load Lines etc.
 
  • #47
Longest midget toss was by an English truck driver named Jimmy Leonard. He tossed Lenny the Giant (4'4'' , 98 lbs.) 11 feet, 5 inches.

All pet hamsters are descended from a single female wild golden hamster found with a litter of 12 young in Syria in 1930.

Elvis Presley was not a King and his manager Col. Tom Parker was not an actual Colonel

If you are locked in a completely sealed room, you will die of carbon dioxide poisoning first before you will die of oxygen deprivation.

Pop Tarts actually taste better chilled in a refrigerator than heated in a toaster.

The Chinese were using aluminum to make things as early as 300 AD, Western civilization didn't rediscover aluminum until 1827

Adolf Hilter liked to dump sauerkraut on his ice cream as a snack before bedtime.
 
  • #48
There's an interesting religion from Vietnam called Caodaism. It's formed from a fusion of secular and religious philosophies of the East and West and is based on messages received in seances to Ngo Minh Chieu, the group's founder, from various historical figures such as Joan of Arc, Shakespeare, Lenin and Elvis. There are three saints, Viatnamese peot and prophet Trang Trinh, Chinese revolutionary Dr Sun Yatesen and Victor Hugo. The main temple in Tay Ninh is really gaudy and there's a big globe covered in stars in the centre with a big creepy eye painted on it.
 
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  • #49
Gerald Ford once had a job as a male model. He was also the only President to have two women attempt to assisinate him.

He was the only person to serve as both Vice-President and President without being elected to either position.

He not only pardoned Nixon and draft dodgers, but also pardoned Robert E Lee of all charges of treason (post-humously, of course).

His name at birth was Leslie Lynch King, Jr.

Daniel Webster's biggest desire was to become President of the United States. The closest he came was when first William Henry Harrison asked Webster to be his running mate and, again, when Zachary Taylor asked him to be his running mate. Webster turned them down both times. Both candidates won the election and then died in office. However, Webster did include the words "misjudgement, blunder, error, fault, flub, fumble, goof, miscue, misstep, slipup, stumble; foul-up, muff; miscalculation" in his dictionary.
 
  • #50
The German word for nightmare, Albtraum, means "elf dream". The archaic form Albdruck means "elf pressure"; it was believed that nightmares are a result of an elf sitting on the dreamer's chest.
 

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