442much

With the combined knowledge of the people here, there must be some trivia that some know but most don't. Post your trivia here so we all can all learn something new. You want the people reading to say to themselves ""Gee I didn't know that." What you post, must be true. I'll start.

On December 7, 1941 (69 years ago today) Canada delared war on the Japanese Empire. The USA declared war on Japan on December 8, 1941

Jamesbo

Ken,

I didn't know that............interesting.

Oldsguy

It only takes four things to make beer; Water, Barley, Hops and Yeast!

BEER.............................................. ......Liquid Bread!

arodenhiser

How about that the US shot a sank a Japanense submarine near Pearl Harbor 1 hour and 15 minutes BEFORE the aerial assult. Some Japanese officials claim that the USA started the fighting and the Japanese were retaliating. But why were they there?

See the info on the sub here....

http://www.soest.hawaii.edu/HURL/midget.html

Adam

Jamesbo

Don't tell Rob, Richard, or Sicky but if you cut Alaska in half. Texas would be the 3rd largest state.

442much

If the World were 100 PEOPLE:

442much

I cannot verify this. It was told to me by an old soldier. In 1940 Canada was at war with Germany and Italy. As we built our forces and equipment, the Germans would complain to the "neutral" United States.

Apprently, On the Canada/USA border at Alberta/Montana, US Army and Air Force servicemen would park their fighter planes with the nose wheel on the line that defines both countries. Canadian Army and Air Force servicemen would drive up in a truck and tie a rope around the plane and drag it over the border into Canada.

The Germans and Italians were incensed. They charged that the US was supplying war material to an enemy country and threfore was not neutral. The US replied that "Canadian raiders" had stolen the planes from US soil without permission, but it was not worth going to war over.

Every country in the world has a telephone code. The UK is 44, France is 33, Australia is 61, Mexico is 52, Sweden is 46 etc. Number 1 is shared by Canada and the USA.

Jamesbo

Ken,

I actually used to know a Scotish gentleman who trained for the RAF in Albany, Georgia [pronounced All Benny] He flew a Huricaine during "Operation Market" Garden [ a la " A Bridge too Far] and married a lady from Camilla, Ga. [Talk about culture shock.]

Oddly enough, he's the only person I ever knew who was a scrap metal yard appraiser by trade.

442much

My dad was a Lt. Cmdr in the Greek Royal Navy and because he spoke 7 languages (at the time - he would learn 3 more)they put him aboard a (British) Royal Navy ship as first officer. His ship sailed with Canadian RCN (Royal Canadian Navy) ships convoying food and other things between Halifax and Brittan during the battle of the Atlantic.

He said once that while have dinner some officers got up looked at him and toasted " There will always be an England". My father responded "Yes, as long as Canada can afford it." It's hard to believe that he went through all this and was only 20. He came to Canada at wars end and met my mom years later and got married.

Higgins

When Billy Durant, founder of GM, died, he was the manager of a bowling alley in Flint, MI.

Warhead

Louis Chevrolet was an assembly line worker in the factory that bore his name.

The luftwaffe had an experimental jet powered flying wing bomber in late 1944. It was built from mostly wood, and was virtually invisible to radar. The first prototype crashed (engine flamed out), and the second was discovered by the allies.

Pete Best (from the early Beatles) had a friend named Neil Aspinall. He drove the van for the Beatles when they first toured in Germany, later managed the group for a short time.
Neil had an affair with Pete's mother, she bore a son. Pete's brother is his friend's son.

Ewww.

Jim

442much

Buddy Holly booked a plane from Clear Lake, IA to their next gig because the bus’ heater broke down. Waylon Jennings lost the coin toss to The Big Bopper who went on the plane with Buddy Holly and Richie Valens. Waylon had to take the cold damp bus and was mad at his bad luck. As the Bopper laughed and ribbed him about it Waylon jokingly said "I hope your plane crashes." It bothered him ever since.

arodenhiser

On Thursday, October 20, 1977 Lynyrd Skynyrd's chartered Convair 240 developed mechanical difficulties near the end of their flight from Greenville, South Carolina to LSU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and crashed.

Singer/songwriter Ronnie Van Zant, guitarist/vocalist Steve Gaines, backing vocalist Cassie Gaines, assistant road manager Dean Kilpatrick, pilot Walter McCreary and co-pilot William Gray were all killed on impact.

2 weeks before Lynyrd Skynyrd chartered that plane, Aerosmith was going to buy it. They chose not to, however; because the manager said he had a "bad feeling" about it.

Adam

442much

• Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
• John F Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.
• Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
• John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.
• The names Lincoln and Kennedy each contain seven letters.
• Both were particularly concerned with civil rights.
• Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.
• Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
• Both Presidents were shot in the head.
• Both were assassinated by Southerners.
• Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.
• Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
• Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.
• John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
• Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.
• Both assassins were known by their three names.
• Both names are composed of fifteen letters.
• Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.'
• Kennedy was shot in a car called 'Lincoln'made by Ford
• Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
• Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.
• Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials.
  
• A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.
• A week before Kennedy was shot, he was in Marilyn Monroe.
  
  OK, maybe the last one isn't true

joe_padavano

And after the crash, the surviving members of the band vowed to never tour under the name Lynyrd Skynyrd again...

442much

At the start of 1945 Canada, a country of 12 million people, had the worlds third largest navy, after Britain and Germany

Superman was the creation of Canadian Joe Schuster and American Joe Seigal. The Daily Planet was modeled after the the Toronto Daily Star where Schuster had a paper route as a kid

joe_padavano

Boy, that was a LOT of work for that joke...

mmurphy77

All this stuff is great but I was hoping for some Oldsmobile trivia.

66ninetyeightls

Don't pigeon hole us Mike!!!!!

arodenhiser

The Passenger Pigeon or Wild Pigeon is an extinct bird, which existed in North America. The species went from being one of the most abundant birds in the world during the 19th century to extinction early in the 20th century. Some estimate that there were three billion to five billion passenger pigeons in the United States when Europeans arrived in North America. Martha, thought to be the world's last passenger pigeon, died on September 1, 1914

Adam

66ninetyeightls

Just for Mike.

The Oldsmobile Pirate was a world speed record setting automobile:
In 1903 the Pirate traveled a distance of 5 miles in 5:49 minutes at Ormond Beach, FL.
This computes out to a whopping 52 M.P.H.!

Nilsson

Martha died @ the Cincinatti Zoo, where she is stuffed and on display.

arodenhiser

Would you want to go 52 mph in this?




Some how I do not think safety was the first priority.

Adam

Jamesbo

Just fer my Canadian friends.

Everybody knows Sgt. Preston of the RCMP dog was named Yukon King. But in the summer he sometimes rode a horse named Rex.

442much

It's called "cut and paste"

Jamesbo

Ok

Insted of jes writing out trivia,Let's make it a game.

What was the Lone Rangers real name? [NOT who played him]

arodenhiser

That's how my car USED to held together.

Adam

arodenhiser

John Reed or John Reid, something like that, maybe a Jon too.

Adam

Jamesbo

Very good and his nephew was?

442much

Tonto Reed!

arodenhiser

His sister's or brother's son.

Got me there.

Adam a.k.a. Silver

- Actually that was my Dad, his nickname was Silver. When he was a kid he had silver/white hair.

Jamesbo

Dan Reid.

66ninetyeightls

A steering wheel first appeared on an Oldsmobile when?

Jaybird

A: The tiller rod was replaced by a steering wheel in 1904.


Here's one for you...

Q: What technological advances were introduced by Oldsmobile in 1934?
Name one.

greenslade

a brass monkey is a round brass ring which was used to stack cannon ***** on,when it got very cold the ring would get smaller and the ***** would roll off, hence,cold enough to freeze the ***** off a brass monkey.

Col Wickham

Independent Front Suspension, hydraulic brakes & a synchro manual transmission.


Where is the only place manufacturing Rattle Snake antivenom?

Col Wickham

Rubbish

It is often stated that the phrase originated from the use of a brass tray, called a "monkey", to hold cannonballs on warships in the 16th to 18th centuries. Supposedly, in very cold temperatures the "monkey" would contract, causing the ***** to fall off.[7] However, nearly all historians and etymologists consider this story to be an urban legend. This story has been discredited by the U.S. Department of the Navy,[8] etymologist Michael Quinion, and the Oxford English Dictionary (OED).[9]
They give five main reasons:

1. The OED does not record the term "monkey" or "brass monkey" being used in this way.
2. The purported method of storage of cannonballs ("round shot") is simply false. Shot was not stored on deck continuously on the off-chance that the ship might go into battle. Indeed, decks were kept as clear as possible.
3. Furthermore, such a method of storage would result in shot rolling around on deck and causing a hazard in high seas. Shot was stored on the gun or spar decks, in shot racks—longitudinal wooden planks with holes bored into them, known as shot garlands in the Royal Navy, into which round shot were inserted for ready use by the gun crew.
4. Shot was not left exposed to the elements where it could rust. Such rust could lead to the ball not flying true or jamming in the barrel and exploding the gun. Indeed, gunners would attempt to remove as many imperfections as possible from the surfaces of *****.
5. The physics does not stand up to scrutiny. The contraction of both ***** and plate over the range of temperatures involved would not be particularly large. The effect claimed possibly could be reproduced under laboratory conditions with objects engineered to a high precision for this purpose, but it is unlikely it would ever have occurred in real life aboard a warship.

greenslade

I stand corrected.

Col Wickham

Cool. You had me going there for a while. Wikipedia once again got my life back in order.
To more important issues: Does your user name "greenslade" have anything to do with the early 70's english rock band by the same name. I used to have a couple of their albums too many years ago.

Diego

Greenslade never really gained popularity in America, relatively speaking. I have one of their CDs.