Useless Trivia of the Day

[Jason Tandro]

A place to spout all the mostly useless, semi-interesting trivia you discover.

"The United States police rank model is generally quasimilitary in structure. Although the large and varied number of federal, state, and local police departments and sheriff's office have different ranks, a general model, from highest to lowest rank, would be:

Chief of police/police commissioner/superintendent/sheriff
Deputy Chief of police/Deputy Commissioner/Deputy Superintendent/undersheriff
Inspector/commander/colonel
Major/deputy inspector
Captain
Lieutenant
Sergeant
Detective/Inspector/Investigator
Officer/Deputy Sheriff/corporal"

From: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_rank#United_States

[Yet One More Idiot]

At first glance at military ranks, it seems odd that a Major is ranked higher than a Lieutenant, but a Lieutenant-General ranks above a Major-General.
This is because the full title of the latter is actually Sergeant-Major-General (and Sergeant-Major is indeed below Lieutenant).

[Jason Tandro]

Yomi's Evil Twin Intern wrote:

At first glance at military ranks, it seems odd that a Major is ranked higher than a Lieutenant, but a Lieutenant-General ranks above a Major-General. This is because the full title of the latter is actually Sergeant-Major-General (and Sergeant-Major is indeed below Lieutenant).

Eh, that's actually only part of it.

Lieutenant is french for "place-holder".

1st Lieutenant and 2nd Lieutenant are Lieutenant Captains. If the Captain is unable to perform his duty they are the 1st and 2nd in line after him.

Then there is major and Lieutenant Colonel. The Lt. Colonel is the placeholder for the Colonel should the Colonel be unable to perform his duty.

Then Colonel.

Brigadier General and Major General are the lowest general ranks, but all ranks are appointed. General is the highest rank that one can ordinarily attain (there is five-star General of the Army and six-star General of the Armies). Therefore Lieutenant General is the placeholder for the General.

[Edit: Fun Fact. In the UK, they use the term "left-tenant"]

[Jason Tandro]

Seriously, man WTF?

"In April 2007, a dark brown leather sofa set, sold by Vanaik Furniture and Mattress Store in Toronto, Canada, was labelled as “Nigger-brown” colour. Investigation determined that the Chinese manufacturer used an outdated version of Kingsoft's Chinese-to-English translation software for writing the tags; it translated the Chinese “dark-brown” characters to “Nigger-brown”, and neither the Canadian supplier nor the store owner had noticed the incorrectly translated tag; subsequently, Kingsoft corrected its translation software.[39][40][41][42] In Hong Kong English, the phrase nigger-brown was, decades earlier, routinely used in newspapers without racist connotation"

[Yet One More Idiot]

Jason Tandro wrote:

Yomi's Evil Twin Intern wrote: At first glance at military ranks, it seems odd that a Major is ranked higher than a Lieutenant, but a Lieutenant-General ranks above a Major-General. This is because the full title of the latter is actually Sergeant-Major-General (and Sergeant-Major is indeed below Lieutenant). Eh, that's actually only part of it. Lieutenant is french for "place-holder". 1st Lieutenant and 2nd Lieutenant are Lieutenant Captains. If the Captain is unable to perform his duty they are the 1st and 2nd in line after him. Then there is major and Lieutenant Colonel. The Lt. Colonel is the placeholder for the Colonel should the Colonel be unable to perform his duty. Then Colonel. Brigadier General and Major General are the lowest general ranks, but all ranks are appointed. General is the highest rank that one can ordinarily attain (there is five-star General of the Army and six-star General of the Armies). Therefore Lieutenant General is the placeholder for the General. [Edit: Fun Fact. In the UK, they use the term "left-tenant"]

If I recall correctly, (though I may be mistaken), the rank of 5-star General of the US Army was created so that the most senior member of the US Army would have equal seniority with the most senior member of the British Army (ie. Field Marshal).

Mainly because they couldn't stand to be one-upped by another country. (Just kidding...)

[Jason Tandro]

Yomi's Evil Twin Intern wrote:

Jason Tandro wrote: Yomi's Evil Twin Intern wrote: At first glance at military ranks, it seems odd that a Major is ranked higher than a Lieutenant, but a Lieutenant-General ranks above a Major-General. This is because the full title of the latter is actually Sergeant-Major-General (and Sergeant-Major is indeed below Lieutenant). Eh, that's actually only part of it. Lieutenant is french for "place-holder". 1st Lieutenant and 2nd Lieutenant are Lieutenant Captains. If the Captain is unable to perform his duty they are the 1st and 2nd in line after him. Then there is major and Lieutenant Colonel. The Lt. Colonel is the placeholder for the Colonel should the Colonel be unable to perform his duty. Then Colonel. Brigadier General and Major General are the lowest general ranks, but all ranks are appointed. General is the highest rank that one can ordinarily attain (there is five-star General of the Army and six-star General of the Armies). Therefore Lieutenant General is the placeholder for the General. [Edit: Fun Fact. In the UK, they use the term "left-tenant"] If I recall correctly, (though I may be mistaken), the rank of 5-star General of the US Army was created so that the most senior member of the US Army would have equal seniority with the most senior member of the British Army (ie. Field Marshal). Mainly because they couldn't stand to be one-upped by another country. (Just kidding...)

I'm not sure about that. My understanding was it designed to create a central figurehead that oversaw all of the Generals, aside from the President. The General of the Armies, has command over all five branches of the US military (although technically there's only three, Marines and Coast Guard are sub branches of the Navy). He or she is basically the second most powerful man in the military aside from the President.

[EverPhoenix]

Jason Tandro wrote:

Seriously, man WTF? "In April 2007, a dark brown leather sofa set, sold by Vanaik Furniture and Mattress Store in Toronto, Canada, was labelled as “Nigger-brown” colour. Investigation determined that the Chinese manufacturer used an outdated version of Kingsoft's Chinese-to-English translation software for writing the tags; it translated the Chinese “dark-brown” characters to “Nigger-brown”, and neither the Canadian supplier nor the store owner had noticed the incorrectly translated tag; subsequently, Kingsoft corrected its translation software.[39][40][41][42] In Hong Kong English, the phrase nigger-brown was, decades earlier, routinely used in newspapers without racist connotation"

rofl

[Yet One More Idiot]

According to some sources, Mount Everest is reportedly growing at a rate of 1/4inch per year, which would put it at about 1.4 million years old.

The largest mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons, is so tall (~3 times the height of Everest) and so wide (550km across), that it's shallow incline all around the mountain (~3-5 degrees), that a person standing on the surface of Mars (at mean surface level, effectively "sea level") would be physically unable to see the top of the mountain because it would extend well beyond the horizon. In fact nowhere on the planet's surface is there a place from which an observer could see the whole mountain (standing on the top of the mountain, the slope would extend in all directions far beyond the horizon as well).

[EverPhoenix]

99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns.

courtesy of my friend's fun facts generator on his server.

[Yet One More Idiot]

EverPhoenix wrote:

99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns. courtesy of my friend's fun facts generator on his server.

Really? I would've thought that the % of them used in Pumpkin pies would'a been larger than 1%....

[inferiare]

Yomi's Evil Twin Intern wrote:

EverPhoenix wrote: 99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns. courtesy of my friend's fun facts generator on his server. Really? I would've thought that the % of them used in Pumpkin pies would'a been larger than 1%....

I would think that since we scoop out the guts it would go toward it, but I think it's mainly made with pre-made from-a-can pumpkin stuff.

[psychokind]

EverPhoenix wrote:

99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns. courtesy of my friend's fun facts generator on his server.

what? what about pumpkin creme soup, pumpkin in the salad and all the other things you can eat pumpkin with?

[Yet One More Idiot]

psychokind wrote:

EverPhoenix wrote: 99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns. courtesy of my friend's fun facts generator on his server. what? what about pumpkin creme soup, pumpkin in the salad and all the other things you can eat pumpkin with?

Not to mention, if you divide the circumference of your Jack'o'lantern by it's diameter, you get Pumpkin Pi!

*Ba-Doom Tsh!*

[EverPhoenix]

Yomi's Evil Twin Intern wrote:

psychokind wrote: EverPhoenix wrote: 99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns. courtesy of my friend's fun facts generator on his server. what? what about pumpkin creme soup, pumpkin in the salad and all the other things you can eat pumpkin with? Not to mention, if you divide the circumference of your Jack'o'lantern by it's diameter, you get Pumpkin Pi! *Ba-Doom Tsh!*

[Blade]

psychokind wrote:

EverPhoenix wrote: 99% of the pumpkins sold in the US end up as jack-o-lanterns. courtesy of my friend's fun facts generator on his server. what? what about pumpkin creme soup, pumpkin in the salad and all the other things you can eat pumpkin with?

SIR, PUMPKIN SEED OIL, SIR! (02'37'')
(its german, but it gets english from 02'10'' on)