It's Fun Fact Friday!
Share your best facts for a chance to win 10k sats.
The best comment as voted by the "top" filter at 9am CT tomorrow will be the winner.
Drop some knowledge stackers. https://m.stacker.news/43028
Good Luck!
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“Big Ben” is Not the Famous Clock Tower, but Rather the Name of the Great Bell Inside the Tower.
If you’ve ever been to London, or even seen a picture of London, you’ve probably seen the giant clock tower at the corner of the Palace of Westminster. This tower is one of London’s major icons, ranking right up there with red double-decker buses, the London Eye, and Platform 9 ¾.
Contrary to popular belief, the clock tower itself is not named “Big Ben”. Rather, it is named “Elizabeth Tower”, after Queen Elizabeth II; named such during her Diamond Jubilee (the 2012 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne). Before that, it was just called “Clock Tower”. So why is it so often called “Big Ben”? That is due to the great bell inside the tower that chimes the hour out and goes by that name. Over time this has morphed into many calling the clock tower itself that even today, despite the recent, very public, name change.
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Solid fact.
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and fun.
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Most important part of Fun Fact Friday
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I was so wrong for so long. It's quite a story.
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Congrats winner winner!
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Athletes used to run or compete other games naked in ancient Olympics in Greece!

Orsippus (Greek: Ὄρσιππος) was a Greek runner from Megara who was famed as the first to run the footrace naked at the Olympic Games and "first of all Greeks to be crowned victor naked." Others argue that it was Acanthus instead who first introduced Greek athletic nudity. Orsippus won the stadion of the 15th Olympic Games in 720 BC.
It was said or believed that Orsippus lost his lion cloth midway of race and that made him run even faster and ultimately winning the race and gaining fame. After this, all athletes decided to run naked so as to gain fame!
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I've read that great Leonidas also took part in Olympics as naked
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I think you're talking about Leonidas of Sparta here. But the Leonidas that took part in Olympics was from Rhodes. He was so great that since then only Michael Phelps has come close to challenge his one record.
Running man design on a pot dating from c500BC found in Rhodes
Leonidas of Rhodes competed in four successive Olympiads in 164BC, 160BC, 156BC and 152BC and in each of these he won three different foot races.
An athlete who won three events at a single Olympics was known as a triastes, or tripler. There were only seven triastes and Leonidas is the only one known to have achieved the honour more than once. Remarkably, he was 36 when he did it on the fourth occasion - five years older than Phelps is today.
Read it more here
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Talking about ancient Egypt means talking about valour and great physical specimen! It's a great fact! Funny?
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It's funny because they used to be naked! 😂
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Great fact.
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Thanks! How do you see modern Olympics in comparison to the Olympics in ancient Greece when you know that they used to compete all naked?
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Albert Henry Woolson was the oldest veteran of the American Civil War, 1850-1956.
This man saw the Gatling Gun turn into the Hydrogen Bomb...
Even more fun, I had no idea until I looked it up just now, but he died August 2nd 1956.
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Very cool fact.
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the most expensive keyword for Google Adwords is “Insurance” – $54.91 Cost-Per-Click
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Did you know that plants can mine metals? It is called phytomining. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phytomining You can use it to get rid of heavy metals from soil so you can use the ground for growing food. But you can also use the plant to extract rare metals like cobalt for example. If you compare it to the traditional mining in congo where they call it blood cobalt, mining by plants is not harmfull to nature or people. In malaysia there is a tree that mines cobalt. Simultaneous hyperaccumulation of nickel and cobalt in the tree Glochidion cf. sericeum https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6018747/ So maybe the future is not about technology but about nature.
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Great fact.
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Fact: The world’s first animated feature film was made in Argentina
Even if you know a lot of Disney trivia, you might assume that the honor of first animated feature film belongs to Walt Disney’s 1937 movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs. But 20 years earlier, a full-length animated feature film was made in Argentina. It was a political satire called El Apóstol made up of 58,000 drawings and had a running time of 70 minutes, according to the Guinness Book of World Records.
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Did you know?

Gehenna or Gehinnom or the Valley Hinnom is a real Hell on Earth.

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Great! What a fact! Coincidence that Israel is becoming more and more hell everyday!!
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The first one and the last one are the best ones!
14 times per day! I'm sure it's more than that!
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Funny, right! For the first one there's a saying that women do it more than men.
The last one is a pure fact. In case you don't know....
Carotinemia
Carotenemia is a condition in which yellow- or orange-colored skin develops due to high levels of beta-carotene in the blood. It is often caused by eating excessive amounts of foods or supplements high in the nutrient carotene. https://www.britannica.com/story/can-eating-too-many-carrots-make-your-skin-turn-orange.
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Last week, @Athena posted the same fact.
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Don't you like Carotinemia or the fact that the milk of Hippopotamus is pink?
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It's not that I dislike any of the facts but I don't think the contest should be who can find the best graphic on the internet. But again, doesn't matter what I think. Top rank decides it.
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Personally I don't think these types of facts should count. It is just a graphic taken from the internet with a bunch of facts but it is not up to me. It is up to stackers to vote.
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It's Fun + Fact right?
I thought if I just post a fact, it would miss the fun or if I just post a fun comment, it's gonna lack a fact. Found it on the internet and liked it for Fun + Fact effect. Isn't it we are hosting it for?
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It's not a fact it's an image with a number of facts on it. Again, stackers will decide. I just gave my opinion.
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Ok! Let the Stackers decide.
The Stacker who objected it also posted an image. That's also not a fact then. For today, I'll go with this and next time I'll try come up with an exclusive fact not an image.
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Agree. Stackers will decide. I don't want to be the judge. I just want to help SN by doing the friday fact and meme monday posts.
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This are no facts! Its nonsense. Gary Larson was a cartoonist who created the idea of a fear of being watched by a duck.
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In 1895, the entire state of Ohio had only 2 cars.
Both cars managed to still smash into each other
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31 sats \ 2 replies \ @MB 2 Aug
Most people can’t lick their own elbow.
A very small number of people with massive tongues can do it.
Reckon you will probably have a go after reading this 😂😂
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Can’t do it
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @MB 2 Aug
Good effort
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I also tried. So funny
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I tried 3. I looked like a dog.
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Did you know that honey never spoils? Archaeologists have found pots of honey in ancient Egyptian tombs that are over 3,000 years old and still perfectly edible. Honey’s natural properties, like its low water content and high acidity, make it an inhospitable environment for bacteria and microorganisms.
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Sorrell Booke "Boss Hogg" spoke 12 languages fluently. Booke was fluent in French, Latin, Japanese, Korean, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Ukrainian, Belarusian, German, Greek and Italian. He said that he also “fussed" with a half-dozen other languages such as Arabic, Mandarin Chinese, Dutch, Persian, Polish, and Swedish.....https://image.nostr.build/955cd44e899211be47d6407e95d475344374c9b8c337cb73855f710e3b35e551.jpg During the Korean Conflict Booke served in counter-intelligence, utilizing his mastery of languages to fight persistent intelligence efforts by Communist forces. https://www.warhistoryonline.com/instant-articles/boss-hogg-sorrell-booke.html
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Peak oil is here and expect high energy prices and demand. Look into Matthew Simmons and Arthur Berman on peak oil sessions
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Funny how commodities producers always say their commodity is rare and we are running out, but we just keep producing more and more.
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The American Civil War had many contributing factors, but the main issue was the North's tariffs, which were detrimental to the South. There is a common misunderstanding that slavery was the primary cause, but tariffs played a more central role in the conflict. For instance, the Tariff Convention of 1831 highlighted these tensions. Due to the lack of benefits from tariffs and growing economic strain, South Carolina even attempted to nullify federal tariff laws in 1832, leading to a crisis that foreshadowed the broader conflicts leading up to the Civil War.
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This isn't true. You can tell because all historical documents primarily talk about one issue. Even all the war songs are about one thing only. John Browns truth keeps marching on.
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Well, as I said, slavery was a factor, but not the main factor. There was also a correlation between tariffs and slave labor. We could even add cotton as a factor in the war. However, the truth is that the war happened primarily because of these tariffs.
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Motor boat sailing, hot air ballooning, and tug of war all used to be Olympic sports!

Over time, different sports and events are voted into (or out of) the Olympic Games. Some disappear, then return (like golf, or rugby), while others (like running deer shooting, or duelling pistols) go out of fashion forever – thankfully!
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I we had a stacker news tug of war who would you want on your team?
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You tell me yours now.
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I'm ready. We're gonna compete with the latest team ever.
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Logic: Turd- dunked on Julius Peppers Blok- from Buffalo, must be tough Pub- Played pro paintball, gotta be quick and a good strategist need- big strong dude Car- looks like a big strong dude Bell- scrappy loves to spar on SN so I assume he loves to spar in meatspace as well.
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💪💪
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I gave a thought about you. I had a chance but that's okay. I've some muscle 💪 😂 as well.
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Bills fans are good people. So are Minnesota fans. Unlike Philadelphia and Boston
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Agree. Philly, especially Eagles fans, are the worst. Boston fans are knowledgeable but arrogant. Sorry @needcreations_
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🤣 this is true generally
Why are the eagles fans the way that they are?? It's just so unnecessary.
Haha I'd be honored. I have a great tug of war record through my schooling and teaching duties. Most schools have a fun competition day towards the end of the year 😄
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I knew we could count on you.
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I've a match to match in @k00b. Surrender now!
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I think the zaps on both our comments should decide the outcome of this short SN tug of war. What do you say? Or, should we make a bigger team? Or should we ask Stackers if they like to play a virtual tug of wars on SN??
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Good question. Let's think about this.
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Okay. I suggest we create a game where two sides shall compete each other. There shall be two teams. The Stackers shall decide which team they wanna join. 10-10 or 15-15 players shall be max. We play it weekly. The side that posts the most valuable (have to be decided on number of factors) content wins.
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I like it. We just need to figure out how the game will work.
Semi pro :/ but also... I do lift XD hit 200kg DL for the first time the other day was well happy with that.
Cheers for the vote of confidence 👊
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Me love to spar?
I have no idea what you are talking about.
I can’t spell spar unless it’s a female boxer from Algeria
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You like to mix it up. Aren't afraid of a scuffle. You're on the team now, too late to back out.
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Never backing out.
Never back down!
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From a BlueSky thread I came across talking about how smoking used to be allowed on airplanes:
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Interesting.
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1BTC=1BTC 🌽
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The number of 256 bit private keys(2 to power of 256) is roughly the same size as atoms in the known universe(10 to the power of 80).
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10 sats \ 0 replies \ @ken 2 Aug
Atoms are really small.
Consider the number of water molecules in a 12 ounce glass of water, compared to the number of water molecules in all of the oceans combined:
12 ounces of water = 355ml = 355g = 19.7 mol =~ 10^24 molecules
The volume of the ocean is 1.335 * 10^24 ml = 1.335 * 10^24 g water = 7.4 * 10^22 mol =~ 10^45 molecules of water in the ocean.
Let's assume the water molecules in our glass are special, and are the color red, so we can keep track of them. We dump the glass into the ocean and stir it up such that the red molecules are evenly distributed:
The fraction of molecules in the ocean that are colored red = 10^24 / 10^45 = 10*^-21.
Thus, if we were to take a new 12 oz glass of water from the ocean, we would have roughly 10^-21 * 10^24 = 1000 red water molecules in our glass.
Have a nice day!
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They were pretty hardcore, and stupid, back then.
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Indeed, I hope that they were at least well paid.
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There's a planet where it rains glass sideways. (Hd 1897 33b NASA)
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Fact: The first person processed at Ellis Island was a 15-year-old girl from Ireland
On January 1, 1892, Annie Moore was the first passenger to disembark at Ellis Island on its opening day. She had traveled to the United States with her two younger brothers aboard the SS Nevada after departing from Queenstown, Ireland (now known as Cobh). Another amazing fact? The busiest day at Ellis Island was April 17, 1907.
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stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.
stackers have outlawed this. turn on wild west mode in your /settings to see outlawed content.