# I Bet You Didn't Know. (Or: Useless Trivia)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [December 14, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853 "2004-12-14T21:00:40Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/1 "2004-12-14T21:00:40Z")
I bet you didn’t know that
- There are at least 18 species of hamster.
- Norfolk County, MA exists in two non-contiguous portions.
- New York City has a sheriff.
- The Great Boston Molasses Flood of 1919 claimed 21 lives.
- You can can count to 1023 on your fingers if you do it in binary.
- The first known stapler was invented for King Louis XV. It was red.
- Paper clips are sometimes called trombones, because they look like little trombones.
- The East River is not actually a river, but a tidal strait.
- Downtown Chicago has a network of abandoned tunnels which were used for a narrow-guage freight railway connecting major office buildings.
- The version number of TeX approaches _pi_, adding a digit with each subsequent release.
---
### Author:  [@Odinoneeye](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Odinoneeye)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/2 "2004-12-14T22:07:35Z")
I bet you didn’t know that…
3 out of every 4 people make up 75% of the population
and 100% of your time is spent either reading or not reading
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### Author:  [@UncleRojelio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UncleRojelio)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/3 "2004-12-14T22:14:58Z")
The first computer was built in 1823. The steam driven calculating machine, built by Charles Babbage, failed to work due to poor workmanship in the intricate parts. When rebuilt by the Science Museum of London in 1991 it worked.
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### Author:  [@Jenaroph](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jenaroph)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/4 "2004-12-14T22:44:30Z")
A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows wh- ow, OW, stop hitting.
Anyway, according to the Tilex bottle, 98% of all households have mold.
I’m thinking, wow, who owns these 2% of houses that never have mold?
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### Author:  [@Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greenback)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/5 "2004-12-14T22:54:09Z")
Man has visited the deepest part of the worlds oceans, Challenger Deep in the Mariana’s Trench, just once. In 1960. For 20 minutes.
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### Author:  [@DWToml815](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DWToml815)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/6 "2004-12-14T23:41:12Z")
A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
A cat has 32 muscles in each ear.
A crocodile cannot stick out its tongue.
A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.
A goldfish has a memory span of three seconds.
A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a
second.
A shark is the only fish that can blink with both
eyes.
A snail can sleep for three years.
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### Author:  [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 11:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/7 "2004-12-14T23:50:33Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> - You can can count to 1023 on your fingers if you do it in binary.
Not true. 255 is the maximum with fingers. Thumbs must be used to reach 1023.
😉
Now what’s that one about a pig’s orgasm lasting 30 minutes? 😛
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### Author:  [@screech-owl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/screech-owl)
#### Post date: [December 14, 2004, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/8 "2004-12-14T23:57:50Z")
> [@DWToml815](#):
>
> …A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours…
Not around my cat.
(Lizards average about 5 hours, frogs about 9 hours - they’re better at hiding than the lizards are.)
Only two species of penguins are found in Antarctica. None of the 18 species are native above the equator.
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### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/9 "2004-12-15T00:24:03Z")
> [@](#):
>
> New York City has a sheriff
Almost but not quite.
New York county has a sheriff. Not New York City itself.
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/10 "2004-12-15T00:24:06Z")
> [@DWToml815](#):
>
> A “jiffy” is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a
> second.
Cite?
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### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/11 "2004-12-15T00:33:29Z")
> [@Cisco](#):
>
> Cite?
> [@](#):
>
> In some publications, the term jiffy refers to 0.001 second.
[http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9\_gci822188,00.html](http://whatis.techtarget.com/definition/0,,sid9_gci822188,00.html)
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### Author:  [@Cisco](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cisco)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/12 "2004-12-15T00:36:43Z")
That’s 1/1000th
It just seems like any specific time associated with “jiffy” is retroengineered and :dubious:.
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### Author:  [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 12:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/13 "2004-12-15T00:47:28Z")
> [@DWToml815](#):
>
> A dragonfly has a life span of 24 hours.
Nope. Dragonflies can live anywhere from between [2 weeks to 2 months](http://www.pnl.gov/pals/resource_cards/Dragonflies.stm). You’re thinking of [mayflies](http://www.ent.iastate.edu/dept/courses/ent201/diversity/ephemeroptera/090lifespan.html)
> [@](#):
>
> A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes.
Sharks [don’t blink](http://www.sdnhm.org/kids/sharks/faq.html) at all, anymore than do any other fish.
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### Author:  [@Reeder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reeder)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/14 "2004-12-15T00:49:47Z")
> [@Cisco](#):
>
> That’s 1/1000th
>
> It just seems like any specific time associated with “jiffy” is retroengineered and :dubious:.
Dayum…I hate math.
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### Author:  [@Happy\_Scrappy\_Hero\_Pup](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Happy_Scrappy_Hero_Pup)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/15 "2004-12-15T00:51:19Z")
A “shake” is a measure of time as well. Nucular-something-or-other. It’s derived from the classic metaphor for quick, “two shakes of a lamb’s tail.” The nucular guys wanted to denote something faster than fast and came up with that.
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### Author:  [@Bippy\_the\_Beardless](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bippy_the_Beardless)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/16 "2004-12-15T01:06:26Z")
The majority of people in Scotland have more than the average number of legs.
Whilst the majority of people in Wales have more than the average number of arms.
But the majority of people in England have more than the average number of penises.
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### Author:  [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 2:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/17 "2004-12-15T02:37:59Z")
> [@Reeder](#):
>
> Almost but not quite.
>
> New York county has a sheriff. Not New York City itself.
No, sir. The sheriffs of the five counties were abolished by a charter amendment in 1942, and a single city-wide [Office of the Sheriff](http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/sheriff.html) was established. They even have tricked out Crown Vics that say “NYC Sheriff” on them.
Don’t get into an argument with me or **stuyguy** about NYC minutia. 🙂 (Especially **stuyguy** , he’ll kick your ass.)
Also,
Did you know that the state of Delaware styled their chief executive “President of the Delaware State” until 1793?
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### Author:  [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 3:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/18 "2004-12-15T03:06:03Z")
> [@DWToml815](#):
>
> A shark is the only fish that can blink with both
> eyes
And other fishes do what? I don’t get it. A blink with one eye is a wink.
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### Author:  [@LilyoftheValley](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LilyoftheValley)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/19 "2004-12-15T03:25:40Z")
> [@friedo](#):
>
> - Norfolk County, MA exists in two non-contiguous portions.
Isn’t it _three_ portions? ([cite](http://www.norfolkcounty.org/citiestowns.html))
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### Author:  [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)
#### Post date: [December 15, 2004, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-bet-you-didnt-know-or-useless-trivia/279853/20 "2004-12-15T03:31:55Z")
> [@LilyoftheValley](#):
>
> Isn’t it _three_ portions? ([cite](http://www.norfolkcounty.org/citiestowns.html))
Damn you. Damn you to heck! I just spent 5 minutes looking for a map to prove that it was 3.
[http://www.oultwood.com/localgov/usa/massachusetts/norfolk.htm](http://www.oultwood.com/localgov/usa/massachusetts/norfolk.htm)
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