Two million people just attended a free Lady Gaga concert in Brazil.
The concert on Copacabana beach was paid for by Rio de Janeiro city to help boost the economy. Rod Stewart's 1994 New Year's Eve concert also in Rio, had an estimated 3.5 million attendees.
How did Lego get its name? Lego: In 1934, Danish carpenter Ol Kirk Kristiansen, the founder of what we now know of as Legoยฎ, asked his staff to come up with a good name for his growing toy company. The two names that ended up being finalists were โLegioโ and โLegoโ. The first was a reference to a โlegionโ as in a โLegion of toysโ. The second, which won out, was made from a contraction of โleg godtโ, which is a Danish phrase meaning โplay wellโ.
On average, the right nostril has 112 hairs, while the left has 120. (From a study of 20 cadavers). Nose hair serves important health functions:
1. Filtration of Particles: Acting as a first line of defense, nose hair traps larger airborne particles like dust, pollen, and allergens, preventing them from entering the lungs. This reduces irritation and potential harm.
2. Humidification and Warming: By creating turbulence in airflow, nose hair helps slow inhaled air, allowing it to be moistened and warmed by nasal tissues. This process ensures air reaching the lungs is at an optimal temperature and humidity, protecting delicate respiratory tissues.
3. Pathogen Trapping: Nose hair captures bacteria, viruses, and other pathogens, which are then often expelled via mucus, sneezing, or blowing the nose. This reduces the risk of infections.
4. Immune System Support: By filtering out harmful substances, nose hair lessens the burden on the immune system, allowing it to focus on other threats.
5. Sensory and Reflex Functions: Nerve endings in nasal hair follicles can detect irritants, triggering sneezing or coughing reflexes to expel foreign particles quickly.
6. Synergy with Mucus and Cilia: Nose hair works alongside mucus (which traps smaller particles) and cilia (tiny hairs that move mucus toward the throat for expulsion), forming a layered defense system.
Caution: Over-trimming nose hair can compromise these protective functions, potentially leading to increased respiratory issues. Moderate grooming is advisable to balance aesthetics and health.
***
Through a process called โunconscious selective attentionโ, our brains block out our ability to see our own nose. BTW, what do you call a guy with no nose or no body?
No body noseโฆ
***
Millions of years ago 6 foot high and 250 pound penguins roamed Antarctica. They could hold their breath for up to 40 minutes while diving.
Do you see that the โFโ and โJโ keys have raised bumps on them on a qwerty keyboard? This is how we can anchor our hands to the home row as we have memorized the whole alphabet over time in relation to these 2 keys. That is not the case, of course, if you are a hunt and peck typist as I am.
According to a 2023 survey conducted by Piper Sandler, 87% of teenagers in the United States own an iPhone. There are several reasons for the iPhone's popularity among teenagers. One reason is that iPhones are seen as being cool and stylish. Teenagers are also attracted to the iPhone's large app ecosystem and its easy-to-use interface.
After the iPhone7, the phones have 3 microphones. Each microphone on your iPhone serves a distinct purpose:
Bottom Microphone: Handles most audio input, including regular phone calls, Siri commands, and audio recordings.
Front Microphone: Primarily used for FaceTime calls and speakerphone mode, focusing on audio capture from the front of the phone.
Rear Microphone: Dedicated to recording audio during video capture, ensuring balanced sound with your visual content.
A woman in France accidentally received a phone bill of โฌ11,721,000,000,000,000 (million billion). This was 5000x the GDP of France at the time. It took several days of wrangling before the phone company finally admitted it was a mistake and she owed just โฌ117.21. They let her off. Be careful with that decimal point out thereโฆ
The founder of match.com Gary Kremen, lost his girlfriend to a man she met on match.com.
All U.S. aircraft carriers are Nuclear Powered, meaning they can continuously sail for up to 25 years without needing to refuel.
The phrase "Bob's your uncle" meaning: In 1887, the UK Prime Minister Robert "Bob" Cecil appointed his nephew, Arthur Balfour as Chief Secretary for Ireland. Whatever other qualifications Balfour might have had, "Bob's your uncle" was seen as the conclusive one.
In materials science, "goo" often refers to โnon-Newtonian fluidsโ, which behave unpredictably under stress. For example, a mixture of cornstarch and water (sometimes called "oobleck") acts like a liquid when poured but solidifies when struck forcefully. This happens because the particles in the fluid temporarily lock together under pressure, defying traditional classifications of solids or liquids.
There is a ghost town in California named California City.
https://www.sfgate.com/travel/article/california-city-planned-community-explained-18476273.php
***
In Japan, establishments like banks & convenience stores visibly keep baseball-sized orange orbs behind the counter. These โanticrime color ballsโ are filled with bright pigment that burst on impact & are for employees to throw at robbers and getaway cars to improve the chance of arrest.
***
The hacking group Anonymous sent thousands of all-black faxes to the Church of Scientology to deplete all their ink cartridges in early 2008.
The 100 Most Beautiful Words in English:
The restโฆhttps://www.alphadictionary.com/articles/100_most_beautiful_words.html
The Big Maple Leaf (BML) is a $1 million (CAD) gold coin weighing 100 kilograms (220 lb) (3,215 troy ounces). A set of five of these coins was produced by the Royal Canadian Mint (RCM) in 2007, at their Ottawa facility where the first BML produced remains in storage.
The Big Maple Leaf was recognized by the Guinness World Records in 2007 not only for its status as the world's biggest gold coin but also for its unparalleled gold purity of 99.999 per cent.
As of May 5, 2025, the price of gold is approximately CAD $147.52 per gram. A 100-kilogram gold coin (which is 100,000 grams) made of 99.999% pure gold would be worth:
CAD: 100,000 grams ร CAD $147.52/gram = CAD $14,752,000
USD: 100,000 grams ร CAD $147.52/gram ร 0.73 = USD $10,768,960
The Big Maple Leaf remained the largest gold coin ever minted until 2011, when the 1 tonne (1000 kg) Australian Gold Nugget ("Gold Kangaroo") was minted.
***
What do you see in this photo? A dank musty old unfinished basement in an ancient castle?
Itโs a photo of the inside of a violin! https://www.thisiscolossal.com/2025/04/charles-brooks-insturments/
A Fata Morgana is a type of mirage. It happens when light bends as it passes through layers of air with different temperatures. This creates distorted or stacked images that look like floating ships, cliffs, or even cities on the horizon. Sailors used to think they were seeing ghost ships or fairy castles. Itโs all an optical illusion caused by the atmosphere. Here are a couple of examples:
The Unusual Suspect edited 331 movies to recreate the lyrics of Eminem's "Lose Yourselfโ:
Cindi Lauper sang the intro song to Pee Weeโs Playhouse:
***
Adidas acquired its signature 3-stripe logo from the Finnish athletic footwear brand Karhu Sports, for two bottles of whiskey and $1,805 in 1952.
Which was the most surprising today? I kinda liked the match.com guy one. Irony can be fun!
Couple of Chuckles :
- Chuck Norris once shot an enemy plane down with his finger by yelling, โBang!โ
- Chuck can pee his name into concrete
- He can do a wheelie on a unicycle
Two additional purposes of nose hairs are date revulsion and repulsion, thus placing the hairy nosed individual in a dilemma. Trim the protruding offenders and score the date, or keep the nostril shrubbery for better health but lose the date. These are the little challenges in life.
I believe I've used some of those beautiful words in my pieces!