The 'I didnt know that' Thread

[Sonygamer455]

Something I didn't know until this past hour is some of the old perk jingles from COD zombies were originally from APM Music, who also have a few songs in Need for Speed Undercover as well. Treyarch apparently just added their own vocals to the track when they made the perk jingles for the game but didn't actually compose the tracks themselves it would seem.

Years of playing zombies and I never knew this!

 

[Sonygamer455]

Something I didn't know until just the other day is if I change the time on my computer before adding music to iTunes, it will actually think I added them on that date. I happen to care an awful lot about this, so this is good to know! Upon learning this, I actually took the time to set my clock back to the exact time I had added an album I had before back to my library that I accidentally removed earlier.

 

[W3H5]

R.E.M (of musical fame) played a version of Happy People on Sesame St, Gloomy Monsters or something to that effect, and it was truly disturbing. I discovered this during a Cookie Monster session with a 3 year old.

Really disturbing

 

[Pupik]

This is sillier than it sounds. I feel like I ran into a fan-fic version of headgear history.

Straw Hat Riot - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Initially it was not considered good form for men to wear these in big cities even at the height of summer (women's hats were different). By the early 20th century, straw boaters were considered acceptable day attire in North American cities at the height of summer even for businessmen, but there was an unwritten rule that one was not supposed to wear a straw hat past September 15 (which was known as "Felt Hat Day").

This date was arbitrary; earlier it had been September 1, but it eventually shifted to mid-month. It was socially acceptable for stockbrokers to destroy each other's hats, due to the fact that they were “companions”, but it was not acceptable for total strangers. If any man was seen wearing a straw hat, he was, at minimum, subjecting himself to ridicule, and it was a tradition for youths to knock straw hats off wearers' heads and stomp on them.

 

[W3H5]

This is sillier than it sounds. I feel like I ran into a fan-fic version of headgear history.

My next project: create a ridiculous, fictitious historical event and get it Wiki’d as actual history.

 

[JohnBM01]

I didn't know Mr. T graduated from Prairie View A&M. "I pity the fool!"

 

[Sonygamer455]

Something I didn't know until just the other day is on Xbox Series X, theirs a "Quick Resume" feature for games that allows you to get right back into whatever game you were playing previously. Probably common sense for most people by now, but since I hadn't played Xbox much at all prior to getting my Series X and didn't get any games for it until this week, I am just now learning this. Great feature though!

 

[Michael88]

I just learned that the distance between the moon and earth is so large you could fit all the planets of the solar system between them.

 

[Scaff]

I just learned that the distance between the moon and earth is so large you could fit all the planets of the solar system between them.

Yes and no, it depends on the distance between the Earth and the Moon, which varies; it also depends on which bits of gas giants you count as 'planet'.

 

[W3H5]

I just learned that the distance between the moon and earth is so large you could fit all the planets of the solar system between them.

The average car could drive that distance over its lifespan.

 

[Michael88]

What fascinates me so is that the gravitational pull of the tiny moon has such significant impact on our planet yet it is so far away you'd never guess that it had ANY effect from that distance.

 

[W3H5]

What fascinates me so is that the gravitational pull of the tiny moon has such significant impact on our planet yet it is so far away you'd never guess that it had ANY effect from that distance.

Gravity is a weird ol’ thing

 

[Sonygamer455]

Something I just now learned about is if I tap on my avatar next to a thread I posted in, it will tell me how many times I’ve posted there.

Neat feature!

 

[JohnBM01]

I learned that SPAM (as in the meat product) is made of pork shoulder, or mostly pork shoulder. It is supposedly the leanest piece of pork meat. I was looking at SPAM meat lately in case I had any air fryer meal ideas.

 

[Pupik]

The voice of Optimus Prime and Eeyore is the same actor. (Peter Cullen)

 

[TexRex]

I suppose this is more "I didn't think of that" but it's not a distinction that justifies a new thread.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Something I didn't know until just a little while ago is Florida Georgia Line actually had an EP they did back in 2010 called "Anything Like Me". And here I thought they didn't make any music until late 2012 when "Cruise" came out, sort of reminds me of what I said about Maren Morris earlier but hey, got to start somewhere I guess.

 

[JohnBM01]

I lately have kept hearing of the Michelin Star. The Michelin Star is given to restaurants and restaurateurs of high quality. A high-class restaurant can earn as many as three stars with the Michelin Star program. An example of restaurateurs with Michelin Star recognition is Gordon Ramsay. What I didn't know, however, is that the Michelin Star and the Michelin tire company are one in the same. So Michelin tires also runs this program to promote high-quality restaurants and restaurateurs the world over.

 

[W3H5]

I lately have kept hearing of the Michelin Star. The Michelin Star is given to restaurants and restaurateurs of high quality. A high-class restaurant can earn as many as three stars with the Michelin Star program. An example of restaurateurs with Michelin Star recognition is Gordon Ramsay. What I didn't know, however, is that the Michelin Star and the Michelin tire company are one in the same. So Michelin tires also runs this program to promote high-quality restaurants and restaurateurs the world over.

As I understand, the Michelin guide was created for motorists in the early days of driving, so that they would have somewhere to go and enjoy their drive.
This also resulted in increased tyre wear so they might have to replace their white-walls more frequently.

A win win for Michelin.

And if you’ve even been to clermont-Ferrand, you’ll know if a place worth touring. It’s a beautiful place.

 

[toastet]

I lately have kept hearing of the Michelin Star. The Michelin Star is given to restaurants and restaurateurs of high quality. A high-class restaurant can earn as many as three stars with the Michelin Star program. An example of restaurateurs with Michelin Star recognition is Gordon Ramsay. What I didn't know, however, is that the Michelin Star and the Michelin tire company are one in the same. So Michelin tires also runs this program to promote high-quality restaurants and restaurateurs the world over.

Started as a simple guide for garages and points to get petrol (no petrol stations in 1900) in France for the only ~3000 car owners in 1900. ~20 years later they added hotels and restaurants and started to rate them with stars for accomodation and food quality shortly after this.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Something I didn’t know until today is that heroes can be turned on in instant action on the original Star Wars Battlefront.

17 years of owning this game and I feel so dumb for not knowing it sooner! I’m honestly disappointed in myself for not realizing it because theirs numerous times me and my brother needed one, but we thought it was only on Galactic Conquest. Well, I guess now I know!

 

[Pupik]

Today I learned about the US Senate Gavel. It's not the hammer-like device you might imagine in a courtroom or in a croquet match.

1. The current model comes from India - crafted from ivory - and given as a gift from their Vice President in 1954.

2. The original one was crafted in 1789! Impressive, but...

3. Richard Nixon broke it during a heated discussion about the commercialization of nuclear power. (If you were ever looking for an obscure bit of history that just writes itself, you've found it.) While this should have been seen as some sort of sign, it turns out it had been repaired a few times over the previous few years.

 

[JohnBM01]

SHAZAM! I recently discovered the popular music identifying service, Shazam. I learned of a lot of songs I would commonly hear in some videos using this as a Chrome extension. What I didn't know, though, is that Apple bought Shazam back in 2018. That's why if you find a Shazam'd song, you get taken to the Apple Music site to hear the full song on there.

 

[Pupik]

SHAZAM! I recently discovered the popular music identifying service, Shazam. I learned of a lot of songs I would commonly hear in some videos using this as a Chrome extension. What I didn't know, though, is that Apple bought Shazam back in 2018. That's why if you find a Shazam'd song, you get taken to the Apple Music site to hear the full song on there.

I'm terrible at identifying lyrics for some songs, so it answers some nagging questions (also because sometimes DJs are terrible at telling you what you've just heard, especially if the song is many decades old).

Long Cool Woman sounds like it was recorded in a tunnel, with the microphone placed about 200 feet from the band, so I'd never been able to mentally parse the lyrics over the lossy medium of radio. (30 year mystery solved!)

According to its history, I've only used it a half-dozen times.

 

[shadow0460]

Everywhere you go, you're in MRI zone 1, meaning there is no concern that anything metal you have will be snatched away by an MRI machine.

At one point, the record for most AA batteries eaten by a human was 37. The person survived.

If it shocks you from one open wound to another, a cordless tool battery can kill you.

Sonic Drive In has it's headquarters in Oklahoma City... and there's an actual Sonic restaurant you can sit down in to eat.

 

[Liquid]

The invention of the term "assault rifle" is attributed to Adolf Hitler. The successor to the Machinepistole 43 (MP43) was called a Sturmgewehr 44 (StG44) to differentiate its function from its predecessor, apparently at Hitler's insistence.

Sturmgewehr literally means assault rifle.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Something I didn't know until recently is Need for Speed Carbon had DLC with the PC and Xbox 360 releases. The PS3 version sadly never got it for some reason and why, I don't know, but for years I assumed the game had none in general since the PS3 version didn't. Oddly, the DLC was available for quite some time and it didn't get pulled from the stores until about a year or 2 ago if I read correctly.

 

[Sonygamer455]

Something I didn't know until yesterday is Need for Speed Underground 2 actually has a bad ending if you lose against Caleb Reece:
Given how insanely easy he is to beat, I imagine a lot of people didn't even know this existed because I sure didn't.

 

[JohnBM01]

I didn't know Sears Tower in Chicago was previously known as Willis Tower. I hear some locals in Chicago still call it the Willis Tower. I also didn't know the tower was constructed in 1973, when I thought it was the world's first skyscraper. Another building in Chicago is credited as the first modern skyscraper- the Home Insurance Building (1885).

 

[Pupik]

I didn't know Sears Tower in Chicago was previously known as Willis Tower. I hear some locals in Chicago still call it the Willis Tower. I also didn't know the tower was constructed in 1973, when I thought it was the world's first skyscraper. Another building in Chicago is credited as the first modern skyscraper- the Home Insurance Building (1885).

It's kind of the other way around; it was known as the Sears Tower until 2009, and the naming rights were sold to the Willis Group. By then, the Sears Corporation had long since unoccupied the building.

Like the renaming of companies, sports teams, stadia, bridges, highways, etcetera...there's lots of folks that think of the old name, because it's burned into their consciousness. (Heck, I still immediately think of NASCAR's top tier series as "Winston Cup".) So a lot of Chicagoans still hold onto that name because Sears was once a massive employer to the area that carried a lot of pride. Now they have just a handful of stores, but could have been the equivalent of Amazon had they timed their moves just right.

Weirder still, the Willis Insurance company later merged with another risk management company called Towers Watson. How oddly prophetic is that?