There is an elephant on the loo!

[vegaseat]

The strange title comes from a skit by Benny Hill, where he tells his wife all the facts she shouldn't know, but she always answers "I know! I know!"

Anyway, this thread is suppose to be a collection of strange facts. Let's have fun!

Here are a few facts to ponter:

A duck's quack doesn't echo, and no one knows why.

Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.

The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle or G.P.

The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was actually a Captain Kirk mask painted white.

[Salem]

People repost the same old urban legends, and no one knows why.
http://www.snopes.com/critters/wild/duckecho.asp

Actually, they'll believe anything printed shoved in front of their noses and never bother to conduct even the slightest bit of independent research.

[sneekula]

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades --> King David
Clubs --> Alexander the Great
Hearts --> Charlemagne
Diamonds --> Julius Caesar

[sneekula]

The airplane Buddy Holly died in was the "American Pie." Thus the name of the Don McLean song.

[sneekula]

James Doohan, who played Lt. Commander Montgomery Scott (Scotty) on Star Trek,
is missing the entire middle finger of his right hand.

[uniquestar]

Peanuts are an ingredient of dynamite

[sneekula]

Peanuts are an ingredient of dynamite

I will be more careful the next time I bite into a peanut.

The Eisenhower (US) interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

[Ezzaral]

Actually, they'll believe anything printed shoved in front of their noses and never bother to conduct even the slightest bit of independent research.

I believe you.
...

[sneekula]

~~~ Actually, they'll believe anything printed shoved in front of their noses and never bother to conduct even the slightest bit of independent research.

Oh good, then you will debunk the strange facts for us, thank you.

[MidiMagic]

A duck quack does echo. But unless the echo has a long enough time delay, you can't tell the echo from the original quack.

I once heard duck quack echoes bouncing off a large boathouse at the other end of the lake.

[vegaseat]

Scientifically speaking, there should be an echo! I assume ducks quack to communicate with other ducks nearby. However, wouldn't an echo confuse this rather addleheaded bird? Sorry, no ducks in the desert!

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases surprising the sleeping firemen upstairs.

[sneekula]

It's possible to lead a cow upstairs, but not downstairs.

[Ezzaral]

It's possible to lead a cow upstairs, but not downstairs.

I pity the person who verifies that one. No one wants a whole bunch of cows upstairs :(

[ZZucker]

My dad has a large collection of Benny Hill shows. Sometimes when I visit him we sit down and watch some of them and laugh a lot. Benny Hill is a very funny man!

I remember when he tells how he and his buddies drag the dead circus elephant upstairs and sit it on the loo, so he can surprise his all-knowing wife with it.

[ZZucker]

A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time equal to 1/100th of a second.

[Ene Uran]

There is no egg in eggplant.

An alarm goes off by going on.

When the stars are out, they are visible, but when the lights are out, they are invisible.

[vegaseat]

An ugly carpet lasts forever.

Did you know that with every passing hour, our solar system comes forty-three thousand
miles closer to globular cluster 13 in the constellation Hercules?

[uniquestar]

There is only one station on the London Underground that does not have any letters from the Word Mackerel in it. I'll give you a few hours to find it....

[stackOverflow]

You cannot sneeze keeping your eyes open ..;)

[uniquestar]

You cannot sneeze keeping your eyes open ..;)

Because Sneezes can reach speeds of over 200mph, and your eyeballs will blow out of your skull!