Archive for the ‘unusual’ Tag

10-10-2013   Leave a comment

I’ve always been intrigued by strange and unusual facts, synchronicity, and coincidences.  Common sense tells me that they’re just random happenstances that mean nothing and have not been caused by anything paranormal or magical.  If you research as many of them as I have it can easily seem that something unearthly is causing the occurrences.

I’ve collected reference material from wherever I could find it and I’m still occasionally stunned  and amazed by what I’ve found.  Let me pass on to you a few facts that are true and bizarre.  Feel free to make your own decision as to what causes things like this to happen.  I certainly have no answers. Maybe it’s just luck, if you believe in that.

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Angel Santana, of New York City, escaped unharmed when a robber’s bullet bounced off his pants zipper.

In 1942, Lieut. I. M. Chisov, a Russian pilot, fell 21,980 feet from his fighter plane and survived (his chute failed to open).

Sgt. Joseph Charles was in a fox hole in New Guinea during World War II when the mail boys called him to come out for a letter from home. He crawled out approximately 10 feet when a Japanese plane flew over and dropped a bomb that completely destroyed the foxhole he’d just left.

Lieut. Cmdr. Robert W. Goehring was swept off the Coast Guard cutter U.S.S. Duane by a gigantic wave during a storm. The ship then turned around to rescue him, when suddenly another huge wave tossed him back on board to safety.

An ambulance in Nykroppa, Sweden, sent to pick up Lars Elam, a patient with a high fever, returned to the hospital with the patient driving it and the regular driver lying dead in the back from a heart attack.

Actor Sean Connery, who played the film character James Bond was once stopped for a traffic offense by a policeman named Sgt. James Bond.

Two automobiles that collided in Ajax, Ontario, on a slippery winter day were owned by motorists named Snow and Blizzard.

A bottle of prescription pills was swept out of the bedroom of Mrs. Lena McCovey when a flood destroyed her home on the Klamath River. It was found 200 miles away at Coos Bay, Oregon, by Mrs. McCovey’s sister.

Abraham Lincoln was the second member of his family to die by an assassin’s bullet. The other was his grandfather. Both victims were named Abraham, both had wives named Mary, and both had a son named Thomas. The name Abraham has never again been given to any member of the family.

In Bermuda, brothers Erskin L. Ebbin and Neville Ebbin both died one year apart after being struck by the same taxi, driven by the same driver, and carrying the same passenger.

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What do you think now?  As I read through these kinds of facts there are just times when I can’t wrap my head around what I’m reading. Does it mean I believe there’s more at work here than meets the eye? There are times when I do think that but then the cynic and pragmatic part of me began screaming,  “Are you effing crazy?”.  Maybe I am.

Posted October 11, 2013 by Every Useless Thing in Humor, Looking Back, Trivia, Useless Crap

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08-14-2013   Leave a comment

During my wanderings yesterday I stumbled on a new treasure trove of absolutely useless information expanded to include virtually every country on the planet.  I felt just like a little kid in a candy store.  These factoids and tidbits are much more interesting than some I’ve previously found and I’m happy to be sending them along to you.  Where I can I’ll note the source of the material and if you dispute the information call them.

There is no rhyme or reason as to how they are listed so just wade on through and enjoy.

  • At birth, most babies cry at C or C Sharp. – Financial Times
  • Five people were killed by falling icicles in the central Russian town of Samara between February 23 and 25, 2008. – Reuters
  • On a QWERTY keyboard, 32% of keystrokes take place on the middle row, 52% on the upper row, and 16% on the bottom row. – Discover Magazine
  • In ninety days a single toad can consume nearly 10,000 insects. – State of the World
  • Hitler was on the short list for the 1938 Nobel Peace Prize. – The Guardian
  • Two thirds of the world’s people have never seen snow. – Canadian Weather Trivia Calendar
  • The average British woman spends two years of her life gazing in the mirror. – The Times
  • Every year, an average of twelve Japanese tourists in Paris have to be repatriated due to severe culture shock. – Foreign Policy Passport
  • Henry David Thoreau once burned down three hundred acres of forest trying to cook a fish he had caught for supper. – The Times
  • On an average day, about 3.3% of the worlds population has sex.  Less than 0.4% of these acts result in births. – Financial Times
  • Asians make up 35% of the undergraduate body at MIT but only 4% of the US population. – New York Book Review
  • There are an estimated 10,000 trillion ants on earth – roughly 1.6 million for each human.  Their combined weight is equivalent to that of the entire human population. – MSN
  • Spammers typically need to send one million emails to get fifteen positive responses. – The New Yorker
  • Jack Bauer, the lead character from the series 24, personally killed 112 people in the first five seasons of the show. – The Guardian
  • About 85% of Chinese people share only a hundred surnames.  Wang is the most popular (with 93 million people), followed by Li (92 million) and Zhang (88 million). At least 100,000 people are named “Wang Tao,” making it the most popular full name. – China Daily

There you have it.  The first installment of International Trivia.  It’s nice to see that we Americans are not alone when it comes to weirdness and odd behavior.  Carry on.

Posted August 15, 2013 by Every Useless Thing in Humor, Trivia, Useless Crap

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