Useless (But Fun!) Fact For Today

[Emerikol]

That's right, Tom Cruise was in the movie Young Guns! Even though he's one of the biggest, most bankable stars in Hollywood history, Tom Cruise doesn't mind having a bit of a laugh by taking on a smaller cameo role.

His brief stints in Austin Powers and Tropic Thunder are completely and utterly legendary, and though those rumours of him playing an Iron Man variant in Doctor Strange 2 didn't pan out, it's easy to imagine that he would've jumped at the chance to add another cool cameo to his already impressive lineup.

One of his earliest cameos occurred during the 1988 western Young Guns, but unlike his bit-parts in those aforementioned comedy hits, Cruise is totally unrecognizable.

Sporting a moustache, some sideburns, and a large hat that helps conceal his identity, Cruise - who happened to be visiting the set that day - appears for a handful of seconds as a rootin'-tootin' gunslinger who is quickly shot down by his opponents.

You can sort of make out his facial features underneath all that costuming, but because he doesn't appear onscreen for very long, it's a very easy cameo to miss.

[Nutlang]

Something I learnt today..

Cats are believed to be the only mammals who don't taste sweetness. Cats are nearsighted, but their peripheral vision and night vision are much better than that of humans. Cats are supposed to have 18 toes (five toes on each front paw; four toes on each back paw) and can jump up to six times their length.

[Bikenut]

I have 2 cats. They have one servant... me. And they do not hesitate to remind me of my place.

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by Bikenut

I have 2 cats. They have one servant... me. And they do not hesitate to remind me of my place.

One of mine has graciously allowed me to have 1/3 of the pillow.

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by Nutlang

Something I learnt today..

Cats are believed to be the only mammals who don't taste sweetness. Cats are nearsighted, but their peripheral vision and night vision are much better than that of humans. Cats are supposed to have 18 toes (five toes on each front paw; four toes on each back paw) and can jump up to six times their length.

https://www.hemingwayhome.com/our-cats

[Emerikol]

14 August 23 -

Beatrice Shilling was a notable British aeronautical engineer and motorcyclist. She was born on March 8, 1909, and passed away on November 18, 1990.
Beatrice Shilling is primarily known for her contributions during World War II to improve the performance of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines used in British fighter planes, particularly the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft. The issue she addressed was related to the engines' performance during negative-g maneuvers, specifically a problem called "engine cut-out."
During steep dives or maneuvers, the Merlin engines were sometimes affected by fuel flow disruption, causing a temporary loss of power. Beatrice Shilling designed a simple yet effective device called the "R.A.E. restrictor" (named after the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough where she worked) or "Miss Shilling's Orifice."
The orifice was a small metal disc with a hole in it that was placed in the fuel line of the carburetors. This orifice allowed a controlled amount of fuel to pass through, preventing an excess of fuel from flooding the engine during negative-g maneuvers. As a result, the engine cut-out issue was significantly reduced, and the aircraft's performance in combat improved.
Her invention was a valuable contribution to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and played a role in enhancing the effectiveness of British fighter planes during the war. Beatrice Shilling's work in aeronautics was recognized and appreciated, and she received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1947 for her contributions to aviation.
https://www.chinariders.net/attachme...1&d=1692047749

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by Bikenut

I have 2 cats. They have one servant... me. And they do not hesitate to remind me of my place.

That's why I'm a dog person... Dogs have masters; cats have staff!

[TominMO]

Originally Posted by Emerikol

14 August 23 -

Beatrice Shilling was a notable British aeronautical engineer and motorcyclist. She was born on March 8, 1909, and passed away on November 18, 1990.
Beatrice Shilling is primarily known for her contributions during World War II to improve the performance of the Rolls-Royce Merlin engines used in British fighter planes, particularly the Spitfire and Hurricane aircraft. The issue she addressed was related to the engines' performance during negative-g maneuvers, specifically a problem called "engine cut-out."
During steep dives or maneuvers, the Merlin engines were sometimes affected by fuel flow disruption, causing a temporary loss of power. Beatrice Shilling designed a simple yet effective device called the "R.A.E. restrictor" (named after the Royal Aircraft Establishment, Farnborough where she worked) or "Miss Shilling's Orifice."
The orifice was a small metal disc with a hole in it that was placed in the fuel line of the carburetors. This orifice allowed a controlled amount of fuel to pass through, preventing an excess of fuel from flooding the engine during negative-g maneuvers. As a result, the engine cut-out issue was significantly reduced, and the aircraft's performance in combat improved.
Her invention was a valuable contribution to the Royal Air Force (RAF) and played a role in enhancing the effectiveness of British fighter planes during the war. Beatrice Shilling's work in aeronautics was recognized and appreciated, and she received an OBE (Order of the British Empire) in 1947 for her contributions to aviation.
https://www.chinariders.net/attachme...1&d=1692047749

So she put a washer in a fuel line, and was knighted for it.

[Emerikol]

Originally Posted by TominMO

So she put a washer in a fuel line, and was knighted for it.

Not only that, she worked on Ram Jet propulsion systems in response the German V-1 bombs (powered by Pulse Jet engines), and also was a pioneer for the development of high-altitude life support systems for aircraft.

[Emerikol]

18 August 23 -

Robert Liston (28 October 1794 – 7 December 1847) was a British surgeon. Liston was noted for his speed and skill in an era prior to anesthetics, when speed made a difference in terms of pain and survival. In the most famous amputation in history, he amputated the leg of a patient in under 2 and half minutes (the patient died afterwards in the ward from hospital gangrene; they usually did in those pre-Listerian days). He was so fast (and arguably careless) that he also amputated the fingers of his young assistant (who died afterwards in the ward from hospital gangrene). At the same time time, he slashed through the coat tails of a distinguished surgical spectator, who was so terrified that the knife had pierced his vitals he fainted from fright (and was later discovered to have died from shock). This episode has since been dubbed as the only known surgery in history with a 300 percent mortality rate.

[Emerikol]

19 August 23 -

Horse racing was quite a popular sport in England back in the '90s. However, being a jockey wasn't everyone's cup of tea. It was so difficult sometimes that you had to pay with your life to win a race.

A jockey named Frank Hayes won a horse racing competition despite suffering a fatal heart attack near the end of a two-mile contest at Belmont Part in New York, US. The man's limp and lifeless body however was still lying intact in the saddle as the horses kept racing on the tracks, jumping fences in a rush to the winning post. No one could match the 20-1 outsider Sweet Kiss who was a surprise winner at the race.

But when the horse won the race, people were left in shock when they saw Hayes's body dropping off the saddle. Reports said track doctor John Voorhees ran over to examine Hayes but pronounced him dead 'immediately'. According to the doctor, the jockey whose age was categorized between 23 and 35 suffered a mid-race heart attack.

The incident occurred back in 1923. However, what exactly caused the heart attack is still quite a mystery. One theory was that it may have been brought on by his extreme weight cut before the race. A report from the time said he had lost just under a stone (that's 14 pounds for us American types) in the days leading up to the contest. Another report said the weight loss was only a contributory factor and that his excitement of riding in the pack ultimately led to his demise.

Poor Hayes technically never got to celebrate his first and only win because he was dead by the time he won the race. According to a report by CNN, the horse Hayes was riding, Sweet Kiss never ran again. The horse even acquired the pet name - Sweet Kiss Of Death.

Hayes' achievement landed him a place in the Guinness Book of Records for being the 'only jockey to ride to victory after his own death'. "Despite his sudden death, Hayes somehow remained in the saddle long enough for the 20-1 long shot to jump the final fence and cross the finish line in the first place," it says.

A week after his death, Hayes was buried in the same riding silks he wore during his first win.

[Emerikol]

1 Sept 23 -

The Zadar Sea Organ:

The Sea Organ is an architectural object and at the same time an experimental musical instrument located in the western part of the Zadar peninsula in Croatia. They are designed as a group of pipes that run under large marble stairs, and the sea waves create air pressure that produces random but fairly harmoniously arranged tones in the pipes. The Sea Organ was designed by Nikola Basic as part of a project to restore the old town coast (waterfront) and was presented to the public on 15 April 2005.

Technical Side
The organ studio "Heferer" gave calculations for flutes (slits that articulate the sound). Fearing corrosion that could primarily harm the flute, it was first thought to use ociten tubes, but as this is a thermally labile material, which is not suitable due to the gap that changes the sound in the labium (labiumi = whistles), Goran Jezina suggested ociten tubes in system, and the stainless steel flute itself, which can be controlled and precisely processed.

Music Side
Acoustician and musician Ivica Stamac composed seven sound clusters of 2 major chords (G and C6) that alternate steps. The choice of tones and chords was made on the musical matrix of the klapa song.

[Emerikol]

9 Sept 23 - The Original Olympic Flag

It was symbol of peace, a token of renewed hope after World War I, and when the Olympic flag with the five rings representing five parts of the world - Africa, Asia, Australia, the Americas and Europe - was raised for the first time at the opening ceremonies of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp Belgium, it was a cause for immense celebration. A new chapter in sportsmanship and humanity had begun.

But by the end of the Games, the first ever Olympic flag had mysteriously vanished. Gone. Disappeared. Lost forever.

Hal Prieste (previously Haig Keshishian) was born in Fresno, Calif., on Nov. 23, 1896, to Haiganoosh and Mamas "Mark", a shoemaker. The couple had arrived in America that same year, escaping the looming troubles in the Ottoman Empire.

During the first World War, Prieste joined the Navy. He discovered he could swim and dive. He had a natural talent for it. When he left the Navy, he was told that he should try out for the Olympics. So he did.

He attended the tryouts in Alameda, California and came first in diving, beating the national champion Clyde Swendsen. The L.A. Athletic Club paid for his trip to New York to train at the New York Athletic Club and prepare for the Olympics.

At the 1920 games, Prieste was representing the USA diving team. He won a bronze medal in platform diving. His diving medal came with a third-place finish behind his teammate Clarence Pinkston and Erik Adlerz of Sweden.

''It was a very cold, damp day,'' Prieste recalled in an interview with The Asbury Park Press of New Jersey in 1999. ''I remember there were two guys holding a bathrobe and I would wear it and they would call my name and say, 'America,' and I would take it off and go dive and then come back and put the bathrobe on.’'

He was in last place after the three compulsory dives from a height of 16 feet. Then, at 32 feet, he said, things changed.

''They let you do whatever you wanted. You could get more points by doing harder dives. I did the hardest because I wanted to get the most points.''

He believed that if he had done better on the compulsory dives, ''I probably would have won.’’

As the games drew to a close, his friend and fellow medal winning athlete Duke Kahanamoku, who is credited for popularizing the ancient Hawaiian sport of surfing, set Prieste a challenge: get the Olympic flag.

Prieste took the dare.

He climbed up a 15-foot flagpole at the end of the 1920 Summer Olympics in Antwerp, Belgium, and stole the official flag.

The Irish linen flag came home, alongside Prieste's bronze olympic medal, to Los Angeles.

In the years that followed, Prieste would pursue a career in show business. He became an original Keystone Kop (a group of incompetent cops featured in various silent films), played vaudeville houses, did a comedy act on Broadway, performed as an acrobat in a traveling circus and was a figure skater in an ice show.

He also appeared in 25 films, working alongside Harold Lloyd and Charlie Chaplin, who he considered a friend. He was in the studio when the comedy duo Laurel and Hardy was formed.

In 1997, when Prieste was 100 years old, he was invited to a United States Olympic Committee banquet, as the oldest surviving Olympic medal winner in the world.

During an interview with Prieste, a reporter mentioned that the Olympic Committee had never been able to find out what had happened to the original Olympic flag.

''I can help you with that,'' said Prieste. ''It's in my suitcase.”

For 77 years, unbeknownst to anyone, he had kept the flag neatly folded in a suitcase.

''It's very pretty with lots of rings in it.'' he told the NY times.

He did not regard the flag as valuable or worth returning until being informed by the reporter that the International Olympic Committee had been unable to find the missing Antwerp flag, the first one with the five rings.

But, he knew the time had come to give it back.

''I had it a long time,” he said.” “A lot of my friends have seen it. You can't be selfish about these things. It's no good to me. I can't hang it in my room. People will think more of me by giving it away than by keeping it.’'

When told that he would be giving the flag to Juan Antonio Samaranch, the Olympic Committee president, Prieste said, ''What's he going to do with it?’'

He returned the flag 3 years later at the start of the Olympic Committee’s annual meeting in Sydney, Australia, ahead of the 2000 games that year.

Vice president Anita DeFrantz introduced Prieste to the session as a “living legend,” adding that he had run in the Olympic torch relay at Atlanta in 1996 at the age of 100. At that age, he was still doing push ups and had just quit ice skating.

The flag was slightly discolored and tattered along the edge where Prieste ripped it off the flagpole, but otherwise in good condition, the Olympic Committee said.

“I thought I ain’t going to be around much longer — it’s no good in a suitcase,” Prieste said after handing the folded linen flag to committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch, who gave him a commemorative Olympic medal in a box.

"What is it? Kleenex?" the 103-year old reacted.

''To him, his whole life has been a comedy routine,'' said Carolyn LaMaina, a longtime friend who acted as his career in recent years.

''He danced with the girls and had himself a great time.’' she said, speaking of the event that day.

According to LaMaina, Prieste kept in great shape his whole life, but also enjoyed pizza and root beer and the occasional chocolate-coated cherry.

He died on April 19, 2001 in Camden, New Jersey, at the age of 104.

[Texas Pete]

Here's a fun fact: The Romans used urine to clean their clothes. They believed that the ammonia in urine could help remove stains and whiten their garments so they would collect urine and use it as a cleaning agent. Urine was such a valuable commodity that there were even special urine collectors called "fullones" in ancient Rome.

Lends new ponderings on the phrase: Pisciarti addosso!

[Bikenut]

Originally Posted by Texas Pete

Here's a fun fact: The Romans used urine to clean their clothes. They believed that the ammonia in urine could help remove stains and whiten their garments so they would collect urine and use it as a cleaning agent. Urine was such a valuable commodity that there were even special urine collectors called "fullones" in ancient Rome.

Lends new ponderings on the phrase: Pisciarti addosso!

The Romans used urine for many more things than laundry detergent. They also used it to whiten their teeth. Glad I didn't live in ancient Rome!

https://www.mentalfloss.com/article/...ces-daily-life