useless facts

[Platapus]

IKEA is an acronym that stands for Ingvar Kamprad Elmtaryd Agunnaryd, which is the founder’s name, the farm where he grew up, and his hometown.


I wonder how long it took him to assemble that naming combination?

[Jimbuna]

A flamingo’s pink color comes from its food.

These long-legged birds are actually born gray and turn pink as a result of what they eat. Flamingos dine on algae and brine shrimp, which contain natural red, yellow, or orange pigments, or carotenoids, the same ones responsible for color of carrots and tomatoes. As their bodies metabolize the carotenoids, their feathers turn pink.

[Jimbuna]

McDonald’s once sold a Hawaiian ‘burger’

The Hula Burger, which came on the scene in the early 1960s, consisted of a slice of grilled pineapple and cheese on a bun. Created by McDonald’s founder Ray Kroc, it was offered as alternative for Catholics who didn’t eat meat on Fridays.

[Platapus]

Although GPS is free for the world to use, it costs $2 million per day to operate. The money comes from American tax revenue.

[Jimbuna]

Mood lighting in Japan’s train stations help curb suicides.

[Ostfriese]

German law requires that in an emergency the first responding fire truck or ambulance must reach any point in built up areas within 15 minutes of the call, even in the most rural areas. Some states and some large cities have even stricter time limits of 12 or 10 minutes.

On average (national), the first responding vehicle arrives within less than 7 minutes after the call.

[Platapus]

Monowi, Nebraska is the smallest incorporated town in the U.S.


Elsie Eiler is the only resident. She serves as its mayor, librarian, clerk, and treasurer. She turns 90 this year.



The town has a total area of 0.21 square miles (0.54 km2)


The good news is that there is a bar named Monowi Tavern, operated by Eiler for passing travelers and tourists.
As mayor, Elier issued herself a liquor license.

[Sean C]

On Christmas Eve, 1945, in Fayetteville, West Virginia, a fire broke out at the Sodder family's home. The fire chief's house was two and a half miles away.


The firemen arrived seven hours after the fire chief was notified. Five of the nine children in the house were never accounted for.

[Jimbuna]

You can make a diamond out of peanut butter.

[Platapus]

Mercury and Venus are the only two planets in our solar system that do not have any moons.

[Jimbuna]

The oldest piece of cake is nearly 4,000 years old.

Go to the Alimentarium food museum in Vevey, Switzerland, and you’ll be able to see the world’s oldest slice of cake, according to Guinness World Records. Discovered in an ancient Egyptian tomb in 1913, the cake consists of two slices of wheat flatbread with a milk and honey filling. Estimated to date back to the reign of Pepi II (2251 to 2157 BCE), it’s the cake’s two copper molds that served as a vacuum, resulting in its preservation.

[Platapus]

In English, there is an order to adjectives


To properly write adjectives in order, you would list them by amount, value, size, temperature, age, shape, color, origin, and material.

[Jimbuna]

In Delaware, you can get your marriage annulled if it was a joke.

If either or both spouses tied the knot in jest or as part of a dare in Delaware, the marriage can be annulled. You just need to file within 90 days of learning the nuptials weren’t on the up and up.

[Platapus]

Vanilla flavoring is sometimes made from something called castoreum, a scented oil which is naturally secreted by beavers’ butts.

[Jimbuna]

Fiat once sold a car with an espresso machine.