Random Thursday

Reading That's a Fact Jack: A Collection of Utterly Useless Information [Updated] by Harry Bright and Jakob Anser makes me wonder where on earth they found out all this information! It's so weird and obscure! But I love it!

(image borrowed from New York Post)

"New York City taxi medallions--permits affixed to the hoods of New York City's 13,327 official yellow cabs--have provided a far greater return to investors than stocks. If you bought a medallion in 1970 and held on to it till today, you would have outperformed the S&P 500 by several thousand percent!"

Since my edition of this book has the "updated" to it, I'm taking it to mean it was republished in 2013. Whether this fact comes from 2006 or 2013 isn't clear, but just note that the TODAY could mean either year and not actually today in 2017!

(image borrowed from Daily Express)

"London cab drivers have big brains. Acquiring exhaustive knowledge of London's labyrinthine roundabouts, mews, and one-ways actually causes portions of the drivers' brains to grow to larger-than-average-sizes."

All I know is I would be reduced to a stressed-out mess! I can't even handle driving in downtown areas, mine included, as well as Chicago...and some other cities, but I might be repressing what they were and the experiences themselves! Needless to say I do not like this kind of driving!!

(image borrowed from Wikipedia)

"The term 'cop' most likely derives from the British police acronym for Constable On Patrol. Some believe it is a shortened version of 'copper,' which referred to the buttons worn by British bobbies."

More new to me information! Let's just hope I can retain some of this for whenever games of random trivia come up! LOL!

(image borrowed from Daily Express)

"In 1598, Queen Elizabeth I created a court appointment of the 'Uncorker of Ocean Bottles,' who was entrusted with opening every ocean bottle that contained a message in her royal presence. Uncorking such a bottle on your own was punishable by death."

Wow. That's severe!!

(image borrowed from Disney Wiki)

"According to maritime law, jetsam is anything deliberately thrown into the sea while flotsam is floating wreckage."

Strange names for eels, but I dig it! Lol!