Fun facts!

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The worst avalanche in US History happened in the now abandoned town and train community of Wellington, Washington in February 1910, killing 96 people. It was so deadly that it took until late July of that year to find all the bodies. The town existed for 19 more years until a new railway system was built and everyone moved out; and since everyone moved out, they burned the entire town down.

Before:
800px-Wellington_before_the_Avalanche.jpg


After:
800px-Train_wreckage_from_Wellington_WA_avalanche_cph.3b13980.jpg



You can still find the train tracks and the snow sheds there

Just 3 days after that avalanche, another one happened in British Columbia just a few hours away from Wellington, killing 63 people. Coincidentally, that was also the deadliest avalanche in Canadian history.
 
Pepto Bismol is radioactive. Its active ingredient is bismuth subsalicylate. The main isotope of bismuth, bismuth-209, used to be believed to be the heaviest stable isotope, but it turns out that it is actually a weakly radioactive alpha emitter. Since its half-life is over a billion times the estimated age of the universe, though, it can still be treated as stable for most practical purposes.
 
Pepto Bismol is radioactive. Its active ingredient is bismuth subsalicylate. The main isotope of bismuth, bismuth-209, used to be believed to be the heaviest stable isotope, but it turns out that it is actually a weakly radioactive alpha emitter. Since its half-life is over a billion times the estimated age of the universe, though, it can still be treated as stable for most practical purposes.
I agree that it is not dangerous, but it reminds me of the common misconception that alpha radiation is generally not that dangerous. It is true that it is easy to shield against alpha radiation. A piece of paper will usually do it. However, if you are not shielded against alpha radiation, it is actually more dangerous than beta radiation, and even fairly intense gamma radiation. The helium nuclei emitted by an alpha radiator are large and heavy, and they can do a lot of damage to molecules. If you are exposed to alpha radiation, there's a pretty decent chance you're going to get some tumors out of the deal.
 
Native Americans in the northern coast where tobacco plants grew would often carry a few dried leaves in a pouch as a trade item when they traveled from village to village. European settlers would later adopt this method as an early form of currency Eventually this was replaced with a note promising the bearer a sum equal to the amount of tobacco. this in turn lead to the creation of the US banknotes and dollars.


in addition to tobacco, banknotes would also be backed up by the likes of animal pelts, sugarcane, spices, rum and or whiskey depending on how far south you were (whiskey was the preferred spirt in the north rum in sugarcane growing colonies)
 
At the turn of the 20th century, there was a moment in Brazil called Blanqueamiento. What was the moment about? It was based around through intermarriage and race mixing, that black brazilian would become extinct in times, as their children would become whiter and whiter.
Yes, BLEACHING was a thing.
The concept makes sense in theory, but it would just never ultimately work. Racism in Brazil is based more on skin color than actual racial content. You could almost call it colorism. The thing is, if lighter skin is favored, people are not willingly going to inflict darker skin on their children, because fuck the greater good, you favor your own kids over others. That's just how it works, at least among normal people. Self-loathing SJWs who hate themselves so much they even hate their own future kids enough to punish them might do it, but that's almost solely a white American thing.
 
Again, from Malcolm X:
(Warning: wall of text, but worth it.)
No Muslim smokes-that was another of our rules. Some prospective Muslims found it more difficult to quit tobacco than others found quitting the dope habit. But black men and women quit more easily when we got them to consider seriously how the white man's government cared less about the public's health than about continuing the tobacco industry's _billions_ in tax revenue. "What does a serviceman pay for a carton of cigarettes?" a prospective Muslim convert would be asked. It helped him to see that every regularly priced carton he bought meant that the white man's government took around two dollars of a black man's hard-earned money for taxes, not for tobacco.

You may have read somewhere-a lot has been written concerning it-about the Nation of Islam's phenomenal record of dope-addiction cures of longtime junkies. In fact, the _New York Times_ carried a story about how some of the social agencies have asked representatives of the Muslim program for clinical suggestions.

The Muslim program began with recognizing that color and addiction have a distinct connection. It is no accident that in the entire Western Hemisphere, the greatest localized concentration of addicts is in _Harlem_.

Our cure program's first major ingredient was the painfully patient work of Muslims who previously were junkies themselves.

In the ghetto's dope jungle, the Muslim ex-junkies would fish out addicts who knew them back in those days. Then with an agonizing patience that might span anywhere from a few months to a year, our ex-junkie Muslims would conduct the addicts through the Muslim six-point therapeutic process.

The addict first was brought to admit to himself that he was an addict. Secondly, he was taught _why_ he used narcotics. Third, he was shown that there was a _way_ to stop addiction. Fourth, the addict's shattered self-image, and ego, were built up until the addict realized that he had, _within_, the self-power to end his addiction. Fifth, the addict voluntarily underwent a cold turkey break with drugs. Sixth, finally cured, now an ex-addict completes the cycle by "fishing" up other addicts whom he knows, and supervising their salvaging.

This sixth stage always instantly eliminated what so often defeats the average social agencies- the characteristic addict's hostility and suspicion. The addict who is "fished" up knew personally that the Muslim approaching him very recently had the same fifteen to thirty dollar a day habit. The Muslim may be this addict's buddy; they had plied the same dope jungle. They even may have been thieves together. The addict had _seen_ the Muslim drifting off to sleep leaning against a building, or stepping as high over a matchstick as if it were a dog. And the Muslim, approaching the addict, uses the same old junkie jungle language.

Like the alcoholic, the junkie can never start to cure himself until he recognizes and accepts his true condition. The Muslim sticks like a leech, drumming at his old junkie buddy, "You're hooked, man!" It might take months before the addict comes to grips with this. The curative program is never really underway until this happens.

The next cure-phase is the addict's realization of why he takes dope. Still working on his man, right in the old jungle locale, in dives that you wouldn't believe existed, the Muslim often collects audiences of a dozen junkies. They listen only because they know the clean-cut proud Muslim had earlier been like them.

Every addict takes junk to escape something, the Muslim explains. He explains that most black junkies really are trying to narcotize themselves against being a black man in the white man's America. But, actually, the Muslim says, the black man taking dope is only helping the white man to "prove" that the black man is nothing.

The Muslim talks confidentially, and straight. "Daddy, you know I know how you feel. Wasn't I right out here with you? Scratching like a monkey, smelling all bad, living mad, hungry, stealing and running and hiding from Whitey. Man, what's a black man buying Whitey's dope for but to make Whitey richer-killing yourself!"

The Muslim can tell when his quarry is ready to be shown that the way for him to quit dope is through joining the Nation of Islam. The addict is brought into the local Muslim restaurant, he may occasionally be exposed to some other social situations-among proud, clean Muslims who show each other mutual affection and respect instead of the familiar hostility of the ghetto streets. For the first time in years, the addict hears himself called, genuinely, "Brother,""Sir" and "Mr." No one cares about his past. His addiction may casually be mentioned, but if so, it is spoken of as merely an especially tough challenge that he must face. Everyone whom this addict meets is confident that he will kick his habit.

As the addict's new image of himself builds, inevitably he begins thinking that he can break the habit. For the first time he is feeling the effects of black self-pride.

That's a powerful combination for a man who has been existing in the mud of society. In fact, once he is motivated no one can change more completely than the man who has been at the bottom. I call myself the best example of that.

Finally, vitally, this addict will decide for himself that he wants to go on cold turkey. This means to endure the physical agonies of abruptly quitting dope.

When this time comes, ex-addict Muslims will arrange to spend the necessary days in around- the-clock shifts, attending the addict who intends to purge himself, on the way to becoming a Muslim.

When the addict's withdrawal sets in, and he is screaming, cursing, and begging, "Just one shot, man!" the Muslims are right there talking junkie jargon to him. "Baby, knock that monkey off your back! Kick that habit! Kick Whitey off your back!" The addict, writhing in pain, his nose and eyes running, is pouring sweat from head to foot. He's trying to knock his head against the wall, flailing his arms, trying to fight his attendants, he is vomiting, suffering diarrhea. "Don't hold nothing back! Let Whitey go, baby! You're going to stand tall, man! I can see you now in the Fruit of Islam!"

When the awful ordeal is ended, when the grip of dope is broken, the Muslims comfort the weak ex-addict, feeding him soups and broths, to get him on his feet again. He will never forget these brothers who stood by him during this time. He will never forget that it was the Nation of Islam's program which rescued him from the special hell of dope. And that black brother (or the sister, whom Muslim sisters attend) rarely ever will return to the use of narcotics. Instead, the ex-addict when he is proud, clean, renewed, can scarcely wait to hit the same junkie jungle he was in, to "fish" out some buddy and salvage _him_!

If some white man, or "approved" black man, created a narcotics cure program as successful as the one conducted under the aegis of the Muslims, why, there would be government subsidy, and praise and spotlights, and headlines. But we were attacked instead. Why shouldn't the Muslims be subsidized to save millions of dollars a year for the government and the cities? I don't know what addicts' crimes cost nationally, but it is said to be _billions_ a year in New York City. An estimated $12 million a year is lost to thieves in Harlem alone.

An addict doesn't work to supply his habit, which may cost anywhere from ten to fifty dollars a day. How could he earn that much? No! The addict steals, he hustles in other ways; he preys upon other human beings like a hawk or a vulture-as I did. Very likely, he is a school drop-out, the same as I was, an Army reject, psychologically unsuited to a job even if he was offered one, the same as I was.

Women addicts "boost" (shoplift), or they prostitute themselves. Muslim sisters talk hard to black prostitutes who are struggling to quit using dope in order to qualify morally to become registered Muslims. "You are helping the white man to regard your body as a garbage can-"

Numerous "exposes" of the Nation of Islam have implied that Mr. Muhammad's followers were chiefly ex-cons and junkies. In the early years, yes, the converts from society's lowest levels were a sizable part of the Nation's broad base of membership. Always Mr. Muhammad instructed us, "Go after the black man in the mud." Often, he said, those converted made the best Muslims.
 
The dog playing...Dog in Mad Max 2 was according to George Miller, "a last minute rescue from a dog pound that was a very well behaved and trained actor." after filming a crew member adopted him and he spent the rest of days happy on a ranch in Queensland. Also the dog needed to wear earplugs whenever he rode in the interceptor car, as the loud noises of the engines would make him too frightened.

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related to this month's avatar pic.


The movie silent night deadly night 2 was originally meant to be the first film re edited in a piss poor attempt to pass it off as a sequel because the initial budget was very low. the director fought and managed to secure enough money to film additional scenes , but even then almost 40 minutes of the first film pads out the runtime of the sequel.

when the first DVD release of the movie was planned, the actor playing Ricky, Eric Freeman was considered to record a commentary track but the distributors couldn't find him. A few years after this, Freeman made a surprise appearance at a midnight screening of the film, and expressed that he was amazed people still cared about his role in the film.
 
A breed of white dog, known as the Salish Wool Dog, were kept by the indigenous people in the British Columbia in the 18th century. They were small, fluffy, and were kept for their fleece which was spun into blankets. In order to keep the breed pure white, these dogs were kept from crossing with other dogs, and each summer the dogs were sent to offshore islands where they fed on buried salmon. As sheep arrived with European colonalists, these dogs lost their use and the breed went extinct in the 20 century.

Salish-Wool-Dog-feature-image..jpg
 
Speaking of shit being radioactive...

There is a perhaps obscure but thriving industry for recovering steel from shipwrecks dated earlier than 1945—the date of the Trinity test. From then on, any steel produced after that date is *very* slightly radioactive. Nowhere near enough for it to be any kind of health issue to anyone, because we've all evolved to be tolerant to background radiation through things like programmed cell death, DNA repair and whatnot.

But while it isn't a problem for basically every application, it *is* a problem as far as certain special instruments go, think Geiger counters, aerospace sensors, medical equipment, and other things that require the 'cleanest' steels possible. Because there is nowhere on earth that has been spared from any amount of fallout from weapons tests etc, and because water is decent at blocking radiation, it just so happens that the best place to find low background steel (as it's called) are pre-1945 shipwrecks.

Although the supply of this steel is dwindling, both because of scavenging, and because the ocean and time is destroying whatever it is that's down there. Its said thst in another 100 years or so, the Titanic will have completely vanished.

Lastly, I don't know if this one is true or not, but I've heard that Japanese steel in particular can be detected with sensitive enough instruments due to the bombings.

Edit: using one right now, so it came to me. White LEDs aren't really a thing. If you take the phosphor off, which is possible on some surface mount LEDs without destroying it, you'll find it's actually blue. Blue light flouresces through the phosphor to create something akin to white. If you've ever wondered why some white LEDs (particularly cheaper ones) look off, or why some very high power LEDs like car headlight bulbs look blueish, it's because they are.

I'm full of random little bullshit facts like this.
 
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Sylvester Stallone's knuckles are completely level. During the filming of the first Rocky, Stallone punched the slabs of beef for so long and so hard, that he ended up flattening his knuckles.
 
Sylvester Stallone's knuckles are completely level. During the filming of the first Rocky, Stallone punched the slabs of beef for so long and so hard, that he ended up flattening his knuckles.
Sly's body just can't get a break huh? From the day he was born he suffered nerve damage from the forceps uses to birth him, Dolph lundgern really put him the hospital when they filmed the fight scenes for Rocky IV @Hollywood Hulk Hogan broke his ribs throwing him across the ring in Rocky III and in his own words on the set of the expandables
"When I do The Expendables I break my neck, my spine, and dislocate shoulders. I fell on my back and had to put some metal in there, so if I'm squeaky, then deal with it, it's not my shoe, it's my back"

The guy was 66 when he went through all that, one year past what's considered Senior citizen age, jet lee was like late 40s and Jean claude van damme was 62...so yeah give new meaning to the term respect your elders doesn't it?
 
I Don't know if Dish Network still does this, but they have a special channel specifically for people using unauthorized equipment, telling you "sign up right now and we'll pretend this never happened. Don't sign up and we'll sue your ass"

 
Before the 19th century european people thought gorillas were a myth. Only in 1847, physician and naturalist Thomas Savage obtained several gorilla bones and it wasnt until 1902, when the mountain gorilla was first identified by German captain Robert von Beringe.

Reports of gorillas date way back to writings of the greeks and romans of course but they were always considered fantastical zoology or misstranslations of other animals like monkeys, similar to tall tales of dragons in arabia. This helps explain the apparent Gorilla craze that was happening around the start of the XXth century were gorillas seemed to appear in everything pop culture, they were literally a cryptid that turned out to be real so that got people really excited and curious about them.

The platypus was another real animal that zoologists labeled as a hoax, even when receiving the taxydermized bodies from far off places in the 18th century they would simply discard them as another artist pulling their leg. In their favor, they had good reason to do so, chopping and then stiching together pieces of different animals was a common ocurrence by fraudsters, circuses and conmen. Ex: mermaid corpses so naturalists back then had all the good reasons to be skeptical, same with gorillas, they just needed definite proof and not just testimony.
 
At the Paris peace conference the French circulated a detailed agenda with lists of guiding principles and problems to be addressed, ranked in order of importance. Dealing with Germany came first (duh), but the league of nations of barely rated a mentioned. Because of that, Woodrow Wilson, with support from Lloyd George, rejected the agenda. Tardieu, its author, saw this as "the instinctive repugnance of the Anglo-Saxons to the systematized constructions of the Latin mind."
Based Med
 
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