What do you know today that you didn't know yesterday?

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Adolf Hitler was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize, after he occupied Czechoslovakia and just before he invaded Poland to start the most deadly and destructive war humanity had ever known.

This was after he banned German nationals from accepting the Nobel Prize.

So were Mussolini and Stalin. Funny how many warlords get nominated (and occasionally win) the NPP.

Boru

[Disagreeable]

Today I learned nothing.

[Anomalocaris]

in 1904,  The cuban marathoner Felix Carbajol arrived in New Orlean by boat, hitchhiked his way to the marathon venue in St. louis,   and ran the olympic marathon dressed in a white long sleeve shirt, beret, long dark pants, and street shoes.

[Rev. Rye]

Ice melts in a manner related somehow to the ratio of surface area to volume. The higher the ratio, the quicker it melts. The longest-lasting shape, therefore, is the sphere.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

The role of Ruby Rhod in The Fifth Element was originally offered to Prince, who was reportedly interested, but declined due to scheduling conflicts with a concert tour. The part went to Chris Tucker, and the rest (as they say) is history.

Boru

[Anomalocaris]

The Italian town of Matera is believed to have been continuously occupied since the Paleolithic era 8000 BC, making it a strong candidate for the longest continuously inhabited town in the world,

The urban core of Matera consist of cluster of dwellings, paths, and open squares carved into limestone cliffs on the side of the canyon of river Gravina. These are believed to date to the earliest part of Matera’s history and are the oldest continuously inhabited dwellings known.

[Rev. Rye]

Of all the plans to circumnavigate the globe, Harry Bensley's plan might have been the weirdest, because he made a bunch of bizarre conditions, apparently as part of a bet:

• His itinerary was strange, but probably downright normal in comparison with the rest of the items: he first had to cover 169 British cities and towns in a specific order, getting an autograph from a resident in each locale. After this, he would have to visit 18 countries (also in a specific order.)
  
• Nobody was to identify him, and, to aid this, he was to wear a 2 kg iron mask from a suit of armour at all times.
  
• He was to push around a baby carriage at all times, which would be filled with postcards and pamphlets explaining what the fuck he was doing. This would be his only source of income, since his starting money was to be exactly £1.
  
• His only other baggage was to be a change of underwear.
  
• On his journey, he was to find a wife without her seeing his face (for the record, he was already married.)
  
• Another man was to make sure he was to fulfill all the conditions of the bet.
  

Apparently, he went as far as Tuscany, and then World War I broke out. Also, apparently, there never was a bet, and this was probably just his way of raising money after leaving jail on charges of fraud and bigamy.

[Fake Messiah]

Bill Gates is the largest private farm landowner in the country, owning more than 250,000 acres (101,000 hectares) across dozens of states.

[Anomalocaris]

Seiko, the Japanese watch maker known mainly for mid-range mass production quartz analogue watches costing one to a few hundred dollars, also makes a separate line of extremely exclusive, completely hand made, all mechanical watches called the Grand Seiko.    Within the Grand Seiko line the top end watch movements are each individually made by a single master watch maker from the beginning to the end, and may take up to a year to create.    Only 20 or so of these top drawer Grand Seiko are made each year.   These top end Grand Seiko movements cost many times as much as the top end movements of such swiss watch making Icons as Rolex, omega, bristling, and Patek Phillippe, and are considered amongst the finest and most accurate mechanical watch movements ever made.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Seiko, the Japanese watch maker known mainly for mid-range mass production quartz analogue watches costing one to a few hundred dollars, also makes a separate line of extremely exclusive, completely hand made, all mechanical watches called the Grand Seiko.    Within the Grand Seiko line the top end watch movements are each individually made by a single master watch maker from the beginning to the end, and may take up to a year to create.    Only 20 or so of these top drawer Grand Seiko are made each year.   These top end Grand Seiko movements cost many times as much as the top end movements of such swiss watch making Icons as Rolex, omega, bristling, and Patek Phillippe, and are considered amongst the finest and most accurate mechanical watch movements ever made.

Bugger if I’ll spend that much money for something I’m going to eventually drop in the karzey.

Boru