Random Thursday

Time for more fascinating facts about obscure topics with That's a Fact Jack: A Collection of Utterly Useless Information [Updated] by Harry Bright and Jakob Anser!

(image borrowed from European Summer School)

"The word 'deadline' originated in Civil War prisons, where lines were drawn that prisoners passed only at risk of being shot."

Whoa. Definitely gives new meaning to writers on deadlines!!

(image borrowed from Steam Community)

"The 'D' in D-Day doesn't stand for anything. In military terms, D-Day and H-Hour are sometimes used for the day and hour on which a combat operation is to be initiated."

That's interesting! Always had scarier thoughts about what D-Day meant. Which in essence I supposed could still be true for whoever is using it!

(image borrowed from BBC.com)

"The term 'the whole nine yards' dates from World War II. When fighter pilots armed their planes, the .50 caliber machine-gun ammunition belts loaded into the fuselage measured exactly 27 feet. If a pilot freed all his ammo at one target it got 'the whole nine yards.'"

Never really knew that term had military connotations!