Dr. Cook's Trivia Thread

[TransWarpDrive]

This new thread is named after Dr. Cook, that know-it-all trivia master from the Space Center we met in the KP short Truth Hurts. Here we can post and share all those little snippets of trivia we've each learned in our daily lives. If possible (no pun intended), please try and name the source of your trivia as you post it. I'll start off with one:

"A manned rocket can reach the moon in less time than it took a stagecoach to travel the length of England."

~ Snapple "Real Fact" #914, from the inside of one of their product's bottle caps

Go to it, gang!

[campy]

In the 80+ years that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences has been handing out gold "Oscar" statuettes in their annual awards ceremony, only one person named Oscar has been so honored: Oscar Hammerstein II (in 1941 & 1945).

wikipedia.org

[jeriddian]

The size and width of the space shuttle booster rockets were ultimately determined by the width of a horse's a**.

http://www.astrodigital.org/space/stshorse.html

[TransWarpDrive]

The size and width of the space shuttle booster rockets were ultimately determined by the width of a horse's a**.

http://www.astrodigital.org/space/stshorse.html

Interesting chain of logic there! Reminds me of something from James Burke's PBS series, "Connections," from the 1980's.
BTW, that series is still available on DVD. Here's a link:
Connections presented by James Burke

[campy]

French painter Paul Gauguin worked as a laborer on the Panama Canal project for two weeks. (Wikipedia)

[lunchmeat]

French painter Paul Gauguin worked as a laborer on the Panama Canal project for two weeks. (Wikipedia)

That would explain the striking color palette around Gatun Locks.....

[TransWarpDrive]

"A cubic mile of fog is made up of less than a gallon of water."

~ Snapple "Real Fact" #911