Little known facts

[pornoboy]

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[Araucaria]

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I once had a Shirley Chisholm campaign button. She spoke at the junior college my father taught at campaigning for the Florida Primary that year, and my father gave me that button.

 

[belamyi]

The longest place name in the city of BCN is "Gardens of Queen Elisabeth Christine of Brunswick-Wolfenbüttel".

 

[gsdx]

Humans cannot feel the sensation of 'wet'. They can only feel a change in temperature.

 

[pigface]

Oh, then just fly perpendicularly, and let's forget about this fantasy...

Arthur C Clarke "invented" the polaron beam in one of his 1950s short stories - as an explanation/construct so beam weapons used in space would be visible.

 

[gsdx]

Blue lights on emergency vehicles are the last colour which disappears in fog.

 

[Kulindahr]

Humans cannot feel the sensation of 'wet'. They can only feel a change in temperature.

Essentially true, but there's more than just temperature involved, there's also the feeling of contact with tiny hairs on the skin.

 

[gsdx]

^ But we still can't feel 'wet'.

 

[belamyi]

Rain has not been this scarce in BCN since 1878.

 

[Kulindahr]

Rain has not been this scarce in BCN since 1878.

Meanwhile, we had over two feet last week. I don't have a gauge; I left a tub sitting in the yard and it filled up, and it's two feet high.

 

[Yuki Sohma]

Lucille Ball first bank rolled Gene Roddenberry's "Star Trek" television production & programming

 

[belamyi]

Since porn actors use injectables for their work, some of them take anti-congestion as an antidote to later put the erection down: it is said that one of the ingredients within somehow [un]works the miracle.

The real antidote, though, is an adrenaline injection that is almost impossible to get, even with a prescription.

 

[rareboy]

for valentines

 

[Kulindahr]

A star that exploded two billion light years from us was bright enough to light up gas clouds in our galaxy!

Astronomers dubbed it "BOAT", for Brightest Of All Time.

 

[pornoboy]

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[belamyi]

^They do not think it because they do it all the time.

 

[Kulindahr]

The majority of the ships attacked and captured by Blackbeard the Pirate were slave ships. He freed those slaves.

That's why he had to be hunted down -- not because he was harming shipping, but because he was interfering in the slave trade.

 

[Kahaih]

The majority of the ships attacked and captured by Blackbeard the Pirate were slave ships. He freed those slaves.

That's why he had to be hunted down -- not because he was harming shipping, but because he was interfering in the slave trade.

@ freed those slaves

It's said that a lot of those 'freed' slaves 'joined up' with the pirates. But, what options did they have? Surely they wouldn't survive 'freedom' for long on dry land -- if they were close enough to swim for it.

I think it would be more likely that he basically enslaved them himself -- on his ships.

And, it is also said that cannibalism was quite common among pirates. More incentive to 'join up'.

 

[pigface]

And, it is also said that cannibalism was quite common among pirates. More incentive to 'join up'.

Suddenly a ditty I knew at a very young age makes more sense :

"He joined a band of pirates who was hiding in the wood They had no eats for 40 days and that, me boy, ain't good. So they ate the mate for curry and the cabin boy for pud."

 

[Kulindahr]

It's said that a lot of those 'freed' slaves 'joined up' with the pirates. But, what options did they have? Surely they wouldn't survive 'freedom' for long on dry land -- if they were close enough to swim for it.

He put a lot ashore on islands along the coasts of the southern colonies. Some of his crew sold some they were supposed to just let go, though I can't find if they were punished. As for joining up, the attrition rate among pirates was fairly high, so he could always use replacements. One source states that he dropped off freed slaved wherever it was convenient, including Jamaica and Haiti.

There's also evidence he kept some to serve him, though where he had an estate that needed any I can't find.

I think it would be more likely that he basically enslaved them himself -- on his ships.

He didn't need to -- all he had to say was that he would hunt more slavers and there were plenty of volunteers. Though that makes me wonder about the language barrier problem.

And, it is also said that cannibalism was quite common among pirates.

I can't find any evidence that Blackbeard practiced such a thing. He actually apparently hated killing anyone; he designed his own pirate flag (a heart with a dagger in it, dripping blood), dressed wildly and excessively armed, and 'decorated' his ship strangely, all to look as terrifying as possible so others would just surrender (not that it always worked!).

Something that fascinates me is that at first he could have gotten a commission as a privateer for Britain; I don't know if he didn't try, or if he tried and was rejected, but his original motivation was stealing silver from Spanish ships -- something he started when, while he was a British sailor, the captain he was serving under sank some Spanish ships with their silver because the Royal Navy ship couldn't carry it all.