Tell Me Something I Don't Know

[AnaKhouri]

The only cast member of The Lord of the Rings/Hobbit movies to have met JRR Tolkien was Christopher Lee, currently 92years old. At their meeting, Tolkien told Lee that if his novels were ever adapted into movies, he thought Lee would be a good Gandalf.

[Jay 2K Winger]

Scottish surgeon Robert Liston was famed for his speed with his surgeries, since this was in a time before anesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival.

In 1847, Liston performed an amputation in 25 seconds, but worked so quickly he accidentally amputated his assistant's fingers as well. Both later died of sepsis. In addition, a spectator died of shock. This marks the only known operation in human history with a 300% mortality rate.

[KhirasHY]

Just a joke one: "If you need to survive, you can drink your own wee for up to three weeks before they ask you to leave the library."

[EricKei]

The standard QWERTY keyboard was designed back in the days of typewriters; its purpose was to slow down typing so that the typewriter would not be jammed by hitting the keys too quickly.

I've also heard that they were specifically designed to favor left-handed typists -- having AS and ER close together on the left side (all of which are exceedingly common in English) seems to support this. Note that the layout also facilitated speed demonstrations -- you can type out the word "typewriter" without ever leaving the top row of keys.

[El Pollo Guerrera]

What's worn under a Scotsman's kilt?

His shoes.

[wolfie]

Kit - Lay also has other meanings At least one of which, i'm sure, certain of our members would be all to happy to enlighten us about.

"Lay" can also refer to how a rope (term is normally used with wire rope) is made (do the "bundles" twist in the same direction, or opposite direction, from the individual wires within each "bundle"?). The 2 kinds are "regular lay" and "lang lay". One is stronger but less flexible (the combination of twists has the individual wires running parallel to the direction of the cable), while the other is weaker but more flexible (individual wires run more side-to-side). Can't recall which term applies to which combination.

A true Scotsman, when asked what he wears under his kilt would never tell you. He would, however, be all too happy to show you.

What's worn under a Scotsman's kilt? "Nay, lassie, 'tis not worn at all. 'Tis in excellent condition."

[Jay 2K Winger]

Another quite interesting fact from QI--

The man who wrote the novel Ben-Hur (on which the movies were based), Lew Wallace, also signed legendary outlaw Billy the Kid's death warrant.

[Sheldonrs]

I thought it was lipstick.

I don't wear lipstick.

[fireheart]

A true Scotsman, when asked what he wears under his kilt would never tell you. He would, however, be all too happy to show you.

I thought it was lipstick.

[KhirasHY]

Totally looked that up on youtube and am becoming fond of them. I always liked white mice, but rat tails freaked me out for some reason.

Domestic rats are adorable, and their tails are nothing to be afraid of



Here's some more QI facts:

The part of a plant that sticks your finger is not called the thorn, it is called the prickle (which is a part of the skin). The thorns are modified branches or stems, not including the sharp prickle part at the end.

The original Geishas in Japan were all male.

Regarding flatulence, the average person produces three pints of gas per day released in 10-15...er...episodes. QI panelists noted that you can get the box set as well, or just have a feature-length episode

Leo Allatius, a greek astronomer, genuinely believed that the rings around Saturn are where the foreskin of Jesus Christ was put after his circumcision. He did not, during his lifetime, care to explain how they are 50,000 miles across (that's some foreskin).

Regarding Saturn's rings, there's an interesting fact about how they were formed: No one knows. Despite tons of research, no one has found any evidence to explain how and why they exist.

The standard QWERTY keyboard was designed back in the days of typewriters; its purpose was to slow down typing so that the typewriter would not be jammed by hitting the keys too quickly. Though it is no longer necessary in the modern age, people became so used to it that it remained the standard format. Oddly, it's been shown that people who are initially trained on a keyboard that runs alphabetically starting with A where the Q is are able to type quite a bit faster once they have practiced doing so, since the letters always follow in the correct alphabetical order.

A true Scotsman, when asked what he wears under his kilt would never tell you. He would, however, be all too happy to show you.

[firecat88]

Newsies trivia, for reasons of 'Kim has watched the movie 5 times within the past week'.

1) Originally, the movie was going to just be a drama. The script was rewritten to include several musical numbers.

2) Several of the movie's characters were inspired after real people. Anthony "Racetrack" Higgins, Louis "Kid Blink" Ballat, Nick "Mush" Meyers, and Crutch Morris (amongst others) were the names of actual newsies in 1899, several of whom were mentioned in the media coverage of the strike

3) Spot Conlon was real as well, but he wasn't actually a newsie. He was the District Master Work Boy of the Brooklyn Union.

4) Though the character of Jack Kelly was inspired by Mike "Jack" Sullivan, he wasn't the real leader of the strike. Kid Blink is largely attributed as having started the whole thing.

5) Dominic Lucero, Ivan Dudynsky, David Sidoni, and Mark David, as well as being cast members in Newsies, were all actors in the sketch comedy show 'Roundhouse'.

6) The beginnings of the strike were different in the movie from how it actually happened. In the movie, Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst decided on a whim/because of their popularity war to increase the distribution price of their papers from 50 to 60 cents per hundred. In real life, the price increase was a move made by all of the major newspaper companies...during the Spanish-American War several years before the strike. The constant influx of stories from the battlefield meant that the newsies could still make a profit despite paying more for their papers. After the war, though, the news declined and most of the papers dropped the price down to 50 cents per hundred. The only ones that didn't were the New York World and New York Journal.

7) Three of the songs that appear on the soundtrack have bits cut out of them in the actual movie. From 'Santa Fe' in particular, they removed a scene in which Christian Bale does some cool lasso tricks. A portion of this deleted scene (and others) can be found in the Making Of feature on the DVD.

Oh, and one more thing that not many people know-

8) In 1992, Christian Bale starred in a live-action Disney musical called 'Newsies', which was based on the 1899 Newsboys' Strike in New York. The movie's villain, Joseph Pulitzer, was played by Robert Duvall.

[Mytical]

Just curious -- I have hazel eyes -- meaning, they alter colors based on the dominant colors around me (they're usually greenish-to-brownish with amber flecks).

We just call them Autumn eyes. Because like the tree leaves, they change colors.

[dalesys]

... To "lay in" ...

Means "wait for the baby."

[EricKei]

Kit - Lay also has other meanings At least one of which, i'm sure, certain of our members would be all to happy to enlighten us about. The title of that work is one which can definitely be interpreted along those lines.

I'll not go that route -- too easy. So, here's another alternate: To "lay in" supplies means to stock up so that one is prepared for possible future emergencies or other events.

[Kit-Ginevra]

A lay is also a type of poem. I have in my possession the wonderfully titled 'Great Lays of Ancient Rome'