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 |  One hundred facts that are interesting but ultimately useless. |
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presenting: A Catalogue of Useless Facts - introduction - Whether I'm at work or out with friends, I have a reputation as the person who knows things. Not useful things, mind you; not once has it been profitable to know the reason why dogs have wet noses, or the meaning of the linguistic term "glottal stop", or the difference between a bug and an insect. If anything, all the aimless wandering on Wikipedia keeps me from finishing my other writing projects. But there is a purpose to this eclectic mishmash of trivia, and it ties into my own major philosophy: stuff is interesting. The world is often rough and depressing, but if I can find one neat little factoid, everything seems a little less meaningless. And this brings us to the point of this blog. Lately, it feels like my various newsfeeds are full to bursting with anger and bickering. As a generally positive person, I wanted to counteract this in some way -- only I'm not so adept with inspirational quotes or pithy wisdom. What I can offer, though, are useless facts. Over the past few months, instead of filing these accidental info-bits in some dusty corner of my brain, I've been taking notes. Before long, I had enough for a solid month of trivia. I collected a few more and thought instead I'd do a "Factoid Friday" every week for a year. But I'm a curious person by nature, and can't help but stumble on new things. Maybe I'm eating lunch one day, I suddenly wonder where ketchup comes from, and bam! I learn something new! So here come the facts. They may be short, or they may be long. They may cover language, biology, history, mythology, or any number of other subjects. Many of you may know some of these, and some of you may know many of these. But hopefully, at least once between now and the time my collection runs dry, you'll be inspired to say, "Huh! That's actually kind of interesting!" -BD Mitchell Blog is currently on hiatus. Blog Info ▼ Categories ▼
Comments, corrections, and suggestions are welcome at all times! |
| "Sandwich" - cuisine / etymology / history - The word "sandwich" ultimately derives from Sandwich, a town in south-east England (whose name means "market town on sandy soil" in Anglo-Saxon). In the 18th century, John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, became popularly known for his habit of eating quick meals of salted beef between two slices of bread. Though the concept of a meal wrapped in bread was historically nothing new, the scandalous idea of an aristocrat eating with his hands may be responsible for the association between Sandwich and sandwiches. #070 |
The Fisher King - history / literature / mythology - The "Fisher King" is a character in the mythology of King Arthur whose ancestors were responsible for guarding the Holy Grail. A wound rendered the Fisher King unable to walk; consequently, he spent most of his days fishing by the river near his castle. His injury also left him impotent, and therefore unable to provide an heir to continue protecting the Grail. The Fisher King's lands withered as a result. In most versions of the story, the King is healed by Percival -- one of Arthur's knights -- though methods differ from tale to tale. #069 |
| Carmine - miscellaneous - "Carmine" is a bright red pigment often used as a food coloring or cosmetic dye. It is historically made by processing a type of scale insect, the cochineal. When the insect is dried, carminic acid can be extracted, which is then blended with aluminum or calcium to produce carmine dye. #068 |
Coral Castle - landmarks - Coral Castle is a landmark in southern Florida made chiefly from massive blocks of coral- and oolite-limestone. The castle was designed, quarried, and constructed by Latvian immigrant Edward Leedskalnin, who would continue to work on the structure from the 1920s until his death in 1951. The site is the subject of much speculation. Throughout his lifetime, Leedskalnin was notoriously evasive about how he was able to extract and manipulate more than a thousand tons of solid limestone with no apparent help. Urban legend suggests he was capable of levitating the stones through a deep understanding of magnetism. Leedskalnin himself had alternatively credited magnetism, proper applications of weight and leverage, or a tool called a "perpetual motion holder". It is commonly believed that the structure was built as Leedskalnin's way of coping with a broken engagement before he left Latvia, but again, he remained vague on any details. #067 |
False Friends - linguistics - "False friends" is a linguistic term for a word in one language that sounds similar or is spelled similarly to a word from another language. However, the two words may have different connotations (e.g. English "demand" means "an order" vs. French "demande" means "a request") or different definitions altogether (e.g. English "rat" means "rodent" vs. Danish "rat" means "wheel"). #066 |
| Moray Eels - biology - Many species of fish possess a second set of jaws, located at the start of the throat. These "pharyngeal jaws" are typically used to further process food before transferring to the stomach. The pharyngeal jaws of the moray eel, however, serve a different function. While most predatory fish swallow by swelling their mouths open to inhale prey with vacuum pressure, the moray's head structure doesn't allow for this. Instead, the eel will bite food with its main jaws, then reach forward with its pharyngeal jaws to drag prey down the throat. #065 |
Trenchers - cuisine / history - A "trencher" was a thick piece of stale bread used during medieval meals in place of plates or other flatware. After the meal, the food-soaked trencher could then be eaten directly or -- in the case of wealthy diners -- might be given to beggars. #064 |
| The Red-Eye Effect - physiology - The "red-eye effect" is a phenomenon associated with flash photography. A camera flash occurs too fast for a human pupil to react, allowing much of the light to pass through the iris and reflect off the back of the eye. If the camera lens is placed too close to the camera flash, the light reflects directly back to the camera and is captured on the photograph. The red coloration is caused by a dense concentration of blood vessels at the back of the eye. The intensity of the phenomenon varies with the amount of melanin (a light-absorbing pigment) behind the retina. Resultantly, red-eye is more prominent in people with lighter skin and lighter eye color due to a genetic lack of melanin. #063 |
The Photophone - history / technology - The photophone -- invented in 1880 by Alexander Graham Bell and Charles Sumner Tainter -- was the first operational wireless telephone. Predating radio transmitting by nearly twenty years, the photophone worked by linking a microphone to a focused beam of sunlight; when sound waves interacted with the microphone, the light beam would become interrupted and modulated. The modulated light could then be transmitted to a separate receiver containing a light-reactive selenium cell, which converted the beam back to sound waves. In one experiment, Bell and his assistant transmitted clearly over a distance of nearly seven-hundred feet (over two-hundred meters). With numerous technological limitations at the time -- including interference by weather and the requirement of direct line-of-sight -- the photophone was largely neglected in favor of radio telegraphs. Despite the technology's shortcomings, the photophone is often cited as Bell's favorite invention -- so much so that it was nearly the namesake of his second daughter. #062 |
| "Pomegranate" - etymology - The word "pomegranate" derives from a Latin term "pomum granatum", meaning "many-seeded fruit". The Old French version ("pomme grenate") is the namesake of the modern military "grenade", owing to superficial similarities between the seed-filled fruit and the shrapnel-filled explosive. #061 |
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Initial posting ran from January 1 to April 10, 2017.
And as the sunsets, we bid adieu to Mitch the Elder 
Thank you for such a fun read.
Cool! I saw one once and wondered what on earth is was!!