Friendship is like peeing on yourself: everyone can see it, but only you get the warm feeling it brings.
~ Robert Bloch~
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Weird But Wonderful Facts That Will Leave You Totally Amazed41. Movie trailers were originally shown after the movie.
Movie trailers are a big part of the cinematic experience. Some people love them, and others show up 20 minutes after a film’s start time to avoid them. But did you know they used to be shown after the feature film in the early 1900s? That’s how they got the name “trailers.” But because many people leave when the feature film’s credits start rolling, trailers started playing before the feature film began to reach the maximum number of eyeballs. That’s why they’re now called previews or coming attractions.
42. A 155-year-old mousetrap successfully caught a mouse in 2016.
They say if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it—and that turned out to be the case for a very early design of the mousetrap. In the mid-1800s, inventor Colin Pullinger unveiled his “perpetual mousetrap” and claimed that it would last a lifetime. More than a century later, Pullinger could still make that claim.
The 155-year-old device, on display at England’s Museum of English Rural Life, managed to catch a mouse that snuck into it in 2016…even without bait! The mouse entered the trap attempting to build a nest and ended up activating its see-saw mechanism. Sadly, the rodent didn’t survive. But clearly, the perpetual mousetrap does!
43. A human could swim through a blue whale’s veins.
The blue whale is the largest living creature—it’s even larger than most dinosaurs. The biggest blue whales can be over 100 feet in length and weigh more than 100 tons. Their hearts alone can weigh 1,300 pounds, and are the size of a small car. Unsurprisingly, blue whales therefore have enormous arteries, which pump blood through their massive hearts and into their vital organs. The arteries are so big that a full-size human could swim through them—not that you should try it.
44. ABBA turned down $1 billion to do a reunion tour.
The Swedish pop group ABBA, who sang the 1970’s mega-hits “Mamma Mia” and “Dancing Queen,” is one of the best-selling groups of all time. Unfortunately, the band broke up in 1982, but their songs continue to be pop culture favorites. In 2000, an American-British consortium offered $250 million to each of the group’s four members to reunite, but they turned down the $1 billion offer. “We decided it wasn’t for us,” member Benny Andersson said at the time. Who exactly isn’t $1 billion for?
45. The chicken came before the egg.
What came first: the chicken or the egg? Astrophysicist Stephen Hawking believed the egg came first. But in 2010, British scientists claimed to have come up with the final answer. They identified the protein, ovocleidin-17, that is required to speed up the production of an eggshell within the chicken. In 24 hours, an egg is ready to be laid. This proves that an egg cannot be produced without a chicken, so, therefore, the chicken had to come first.
46. Crying makes you feel happier.
They don’t call it a “good cry” for nothing. Tears are your body’s way of releasing intense emotions. They also contain stress hormones, which leave the body through crying. Actually, studies suggest that crying stimulates the production of endorphins, our body’s natural painkiller, and feel-good hormones, like oxytocin. In short, crying more will lead to smiling more.
47. Cherophobia is the fear of happiness.
Yes, there are actually people who have a fear of being happy. In fact, there is a word for it: cherophobia. Cherophobes may deliberately avoid experiences that would bring about positive emotions. The root of their fear comes from the idea that some people—in Western and Eastern cultures—are wary of being happy because they believe that bad things tend to happen to happy people.
48. International astronauts must be able to speak Russian.
As the International Space Station (ISS) has modules and operations in Russian, all astronauts going to the ISS must know how to speak Russian. Some astronauts have claimed that learning this new language was the biggest challenge of their training. According to the U.S. State Department Foreign Service Institute, English-speaking astronauts can expect to spend 1,100 class hours to reach a reasonable level of fluency in Russian. That’s twice as many hours as it typically takes to learn other languages like French, Spanish, and Dutch.
49. The most popular websites are banned in China.
Under mainland China’s Internet Censorship Policy, the websites we all regularly visit are banned. The sites that are blocked include Google, Facebook, YouTube, Wikipedia, Twitter, Instagram, The New York Times, Pinterest, and many more. Don’t even get them started on Pornhub.
50. The electric chair was invented by a dentist.
In 1881, dentist Alfred Southwick witnessed a drunk man die quickly after touching a live electric generator in 1881. Southwick soon realized that electricity could be a quick and more humane alternative to hanging for executions. And thusly, the electric chair was born and was first used in 1890. Though it wasn’t an initial success—a second jolt needed to be used—Southwick eventually worked out the kinks.
51. Even the man who created Comic Sans only used it once.
Comic Sans is the iconic cute, upbeat, light-hearted, informal, good-for-a-child’s-birthday-party-invitation font. But it also comes across as immature and unprofessional and has been called the world’s most hated font. Actually, Comic Sans was designed by Vincent Connare in 1995, but even he isn’t a fan. “I’ve only ever used Comic Sans once. I was having trouble changing my broadband to Sky so wrote them a letter in Comic Sans, saying how disappointed I was,” he told The Guardian. “I got a £10 refund.” Worth it, we guess.
52. At least one of the colors of the Olympic flag appears on all the national flags.
Fresh aristocrat Baron de Coubertin designed the Olympic flag in the early 1900s and he was very intentional with his creation. At least one of the colors on the Olympic flag appears on the flags of every nation that competed in the games at the time, but only if you count the white background of the flag itself. “A white background, with five interlaced rings in the centre: blue, yellow, black, green and red … is symbolic,” Coubertin said in 1931. “It represents the five inhabited continents of the world, united by Olympism, while the six colors are those that appear on all the national flags of the world at the present time.”
53. Viagra can make flowers stand up straight.
Viagra not only helps male impotence, but it also extends the lifespan of cut flowers. In 1999, researchers discovered that just 1 milligram—compared to 50 milligrams usually taken by impotent men—dissolved in a vase of water could make flowers stand up straight for as long as one week longer than they normally would. Viagra was tested on strawberries, legumes, broccoli, and other perishables, and the same results were found. Perhaps they should start marketing to florists and grocery stores!
54. Australia has pink and purple lakes.
Lake Hillier sits on the edge of Middle Island, which is off the coast of Western Australia. It’s known for its vibrant pink color, which is due to the presence of the algae Dunaliella salina. It causes the lake’s salt content to create a red dye, which helps produce its bubble gum color. And, despite the high salt content, Lake Hillier is safe to swim in.
Hillier also has a purple-ish lake sibling. Hutt Lagoon, in Port Gregory on Western Australia’s Coral Coast, has a large amount of Dunaliella salina, too. Depending on the season and the amount of cloud coverage, Hutt Lagoon can be different colors, ranging from red to pink to lilac.
55. The tea bag was an accidental invention.
In 1908, New York tea merchant Thomas Sullivan sent samples of tea leaves to some of his customers in small silken bags. Many of the recipients assumed that the bags were supposed to be used in the same way as the metal infusers. So, they put the entire bag into the teapot, rather than emptying out its contents.
After such positive feedback from the happy accident, Sullivan designed intentional teabags for commercial production. In the 1920s, his sachets made of gauze—and later paper—included the string with the tag hanging over the side so the bag could be easily removed. Some things really do stay the same.
56. You’re more likely to get a computer virus from visiting religious sites than porn sites.
According to research from security firm Symantec, religious websites carry three times more malware threats than pornography sites. Symantec found that the average number of security threats on religious sites was around 115, compared to adult content sites which carried around 25. In fact, only 2.4 percent of adult sites were infected with malware. The researchers hypothesized that’s because porn sites need to generate a profit, so there’s a financial interest in keeping them virus-free to encourage repeat business.
57. Almost 163,000 pints of Guinness are wasted in facial hair each year.
An actual research study commissioned by Guinness found that an estimated 162,719 pints of Irish stout go to waste every year…via mustaches. The study found that 0.56 milliliters of Guinness is trapped in the ordinary beard or mustache with each sip. And it takes about 10 sips to finish a pint.
An estimated 92,370 Guinness consumers every year in the U.K. have facial hair. Figuring they consume on average 180 pints each a year, the total cost of wasted Guinness annually is about $536,000. The moral of this story? Shave and save!
58. Queen Elizabeth II is a trained car mechanic.
During World War II, then 16-year-old Princess Elizabeth, heiress to the British throne, was eager to join the armed forces. But her father, King George VI, was wary. Eventually, he relented and she was commissioned as an honorary second subaltern in the Auxiliary Territorial Service.
When she began training in 1945, at 19 years old, she became the first woman in the royal family to be a full-time active member in the women’s service. She passed a military driving test, learned to read maps, and repaired engines. There is a famous photograph of her working on a vehicle, which is currently displayed at the International Museum of World War II in Massachusetts.
59. There is one Blockbuster store left in the world.
As of August 2018, only one Blockbuster store still remains, and it’s in Bend, Oregon. This Blockbuster is beloved by locals, and it’s a hotspot for tourists who often visit to see the last standing Blockbuster in America. It even has that recognizable smell of popcorn, boxed candy, and plastic cases.
For a $30 monthly fee, you can continue to rent movies but only on DVD, not VHS, which is no longer available. Sure, it’s pricier than Netflix, but it’s also more nostalgic.
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Good morning everyboomie.
Welcome to the weekend! I got up this morning (Friday) thinking it was the weekend already.
The 20s Ana?? Brrr I would not care to be up there. I hear that next week is going to be worse.....for the whole country practically.
I have nowhere to be all weekend. We're showing to be 68 and 74 the next two days so I'll be getting out with Missy and parking as much as possible I guess.
Now I'm going to go have a good cry.
I hear it's good for me.
Have a happy day everyone.
joe
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Hope everyone has a Happy Saturday! 
