Stuff (trivia) that you should have known but didn't...

[LikeDylanInTheMovies]

At the age of 36 I've discovered that

1. Shirley McClaine and Warren Beatty were brother and sister

2. Camels store fat and not water in their humps.

People I've told about my discoveries have universally responded with 'well yeah, everyone knows that'.

Any other factoids you were well behind the curve with?

I thought that when you used a compass you just held it out in front of you and the arrow pointed to the direction you were travelling/facing. I only recently discovered it's a bit more complicated than that. My 7 year old DD explained it to me. I'm 40. I'm not going to go into specifics because I'm still not entirely clear on it all. I've got a technical job and a science background...............

I only just learned that gherkins are simply small cucumbers. I always assumed they were a separate vegetable.....?

Rosetta Stone is a woman who started a language school.

Imagine my surprise when I went to the British Museum

That the Internet and World Wide Web are different!

Hi Fox - I don't mean to labour the point but it really hasn't changed and there is no national yeast shortage. Yes, there is now not enough from Burton breweries, but there is enough to make Marmite without anything changing. Yeast actually multiplies, it breeds, that is why there is huge amounts of it not needed by the breweries. They take loads away to sell to Unilever and then it grows again.

Marmite itself is naturally a variable consistency, and the they use the thinner stuff for the squeezy bottles.

It's the only thing I remember from my degree course Anne, don't take it away from me!

They don't have any roundabouts at all?

Tell that to people in Louisiana. They also have roadkill armadillos. Freaked me right out.

Chipped and Mavis Beacon isn't real apparently!

I just found out that the song 'Rivers of Babylon' is based on the Biblical Psalm 137.

Turn! Turn! Turn! by the Byrds is taken from Ecclesiastes making it the oldest set of lyrics to make it to number one.

Sorry Fox. I used to have a "connection".

I used to have a "connection".

You had a Marmite dealer?

Shh! Don't tell anyone!

We have roundabouts in California. They are called traffic circles

Blackcurrants are no longer banned in all of the U.S. just in some states.

Bovril and kinder eggs are another thing though.

Berwick is further north than East Kilbride.

Berwick is further north than East Kilbride.

Norwich is further north than Birmingham.

Sorry meant Berwick upon tweed in England is further noth than East Kilbride in Scotland.

Blackcurrants were banned in the US to protect the pine tress from White Pine Blister rust.

info on currant bushes

I apologise for my miss information about black currant bushes.

But you were right - just that some states now allow them. I live somewhere where there are/were lots of white pine, so no blackcurrants for me!

Shame they didn't also ban the robber barons who cut down all the white pines and all but destroyed the natural environment.

I'm so glad to have found other people who put potato waffles in the toaster! I just thought I was a lazy bastard and yes, you've got to do 2 toasting cycles at least -toaster dependent- to get optimum waffle browning.

Talking of bans, rabbits are banned here in Queensland, Australia. They are allowed in New South Wales though. Not sure about the other states.

How do they stop rabbits from spreading from one area to another?

Do Wallace & Gromit patrol the border and send them back where they came from? Rabbits are kind of known of breeding.

Myxomatosis was deliberately introduced to Australia to kill rabbits. In 1907, they had built a fence over 2,000 miles long across the country to keep rabbits from spreading.
All because a chap introduced 24 for hunting.
One New Zealand governor brought 4 zebras to pull his carriage.

Pet rabbits!