WTF?! (Strange But True Facts)

Male_uk said:
To further go on from this, although not true and more of a myth but a good one.

Chinese fighting styles are generally regarded as filtering down from the Shoalin temple (which isn't really true but fuck it I'm on a roll so I'm derailing, sorry). As the story goes a Buddhist monk did a bit of wandering and came across a temple and the monks struggled to meditate/fight. Mr Buddhist monk happened to be quite the handy fellow so taught them so badass fighting skills. And thus Chinese Kung Fu was born!

But if we go back further Buddhism was developed in India. So it's fairly safe to assume that the monk was of Indian descent. One of the oldest martial arts in India is an art called Kalaripayattu. It's a theory that this mink knew Kalaripayattu and taught the Chinese monks this fighting system.

But to go back again, its theorised that Kalaripayattu comes from another fighting system that was brought in by conquers of the country.

Meet Alex
alexander_athens2.jpg

He was kind of Great.

This bad mother fucker loved nothing more than murder, war and Pankration.

You recognise that word I see.

Apparently, although probably mostly wrong, Alexander the Great conquered India, taught the art of Pankration to Indians who produced their own art of Kalaripayattu then a wayward monk pissed off to China and taught some other monks with ADD a bit of hand to hand combat and BOOM.

Kung Fu was born.

So thank the Greeks for your badass democracy and even badasser fighting skills.
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According to the Greeks, Alexander was not defeated militarily. He defeated King Porus at the Battle of Hydaspes, albeit with high casualties.

However, the King did not advance any further on India, because his army mutinied, and somewhat forced Alexander to retreat. The reasons that the army mutinied were

  1. Soldiers missed their families, and became tired of endless battles.
  2. Greek soldiers feared the might of Nanda army, which had 6,000 war elephants.
  3. Alexander himself was probably wounded. Indian arrow penetrated one of his lungs in the Mallian Campaign even though he won the siege.
At the Battle of Hydaspes and in the Mallian Campaign, Indian resistance was fierce. Unlike in Persia that most cities surrendered, Alexander had to siege each Indian city one by one to capture it. If he invaded the Nanda Empire, he then had to face this kind of fierce resistance, and probably ended up in defeat. Greek soldiers knew this, and lost their spirits to fight.

More importantly, Chanakya, the son of an important minster in the Nanda court, recognized the threat Alexander posed to India and decided to warn the king. However, the king did not heed his advice as there was bad blood between the two. Shortly afterwards, Chanakya trained his new disciple Chandragupta and his other students to drive out the Greek invaders as well as overthrow the many corrupt kingdoms at the time. To achieve this, he used guerrilla warfare, asymmetric warfare and a network of spies to unify India for the first time politically under Chandragupta. Growing insurgency and discontent in the Greek army made it harder to administer the areas where Alexander had made gains. So, they left.

Chanakya was the first person to conceive of a politically not only culturally unified India possibly due to the fact that he travelled a lot and was very educated which made him aware of the many similarities between Princely states.

According to Plutarch, the courage of the Macedonians evaporated when they came to know the Nandas “were awaiting them with 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8000 war chariots and 6000 fighting elephants”. Undoubtedly, Alexander’s army would have walked into a slaughterhouse.

To conclude, the might and fighting spirit of the Indian army defeated Alexander, and hindered his ambitions to be the Emperor of the World. Although, have to admit that the traditional forms of Chinese martial arts was inspired from the the ancient art form of Kalaripayattu. Elements from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, as well as finger movements in the natadances, were incorporated into the fighting arts. A number of South Asian fighting styles remain closely connected to yoga, dance and performing arts.

P.S: Disclaimer: History is like a Russian doll; or a mystery with many versions of the truth. Usually colored with people's perceptions; but still this is the most circulated narrative. ;)

Sources :-
- Wiki,
- Quora,
- https://www.rbth.com/blogs/2013/05/27/marshal_zhukov_on_alexanders_failed_india_invasion_25383,
-http://googleweblight.com/i?geid=1005&hl=en-IN&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpenelope.uchicago.edu%2FThayer%2FE%2FRoman%2FTexts%2FPlutarch%2FLives%2FAlexander*%2F9.html
 
CosmicGypsy92 said:
According to the Greeks, Alexander was not defeated militarily. He defeated King Porus at the Battle of Hydaspes, albeit with high casualties.

However, the King did not advance any further on India, because his army mutinied, and somewhat forced Alexander to retreat. The reasons that the army mutinied were

  1. Soldiers missed their families, and became tired of endless battles.
  2. Greek soldiers feared the might of Nanda army, which had 6,000 war elephants.
  3. Alexander himself was probably wounded. Indian arrow penetrated one of his lungs in the Mallian Campaign even though he won the siege.
At the Battle of Hydaspes and in the Mallian Campaign, Indian resistance was fierce. Unlike in Persia that most cities surrendered, Alexander had to siege each Indian city one by one to capture it. If he invaded the Nanda Empire, he then had to face this kind of fierce resistance, and probably ended up in defeat. Greek soldiers knew this, and lost their spirits to fight.

More importantly, Chanakya, the son of an important minster in the Nanda court, recognized the threat Alexander posed to India and decided to warn the king. However, the king did not heed his advice as there was bad blood between the two. Shortly afterwards, Chanakya trained his new disciple Chandragupta and his other students to drive out the Greek invaders as well as overthrow the many corrupt kingdoms at the time. To achieve this, he used guerrilla warfare, asymmetric warfare and a network of spies to unify India for the first time politically under Chandragupta. Growing insurgency and discontent in the Greek army made it harder to administer the areas where Alexander had made gains. So, they left.

Chanakya was the first person to conceive of a politically not only culturally unified India possibly due to the fact that he travelled a lot and was very educated which made him aware of the many similarities between Princely states.

According to Plutarch, the courage of the Macedonians evaporated when they came to know the Nandas “were awaiting them with 200,000 infantry, 80,000 cavalry, 8000 war chariots and 6000 fighting elephants”. Undoubtedly, Alexander’s army would have walked into a slaughterhouse.

To conclude, the might and fighting spirit of the Indian army defeated Alexander, and hindered his ambitions to be the Emperor of the World. Although, have to admit that the traditional forms of Chinese martial arts was inspired from the the ancient art form of Kalaripayattu. Elements from the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, as well as finger movements in the natadances, were incorporated into the fighting arts. A number of South Asian fighting styles remain closely connected to yoga, dance and performing arts.

P.S: Disclaimer: History is like a Russian doll; or a mystery with many versions of the truth. Usually colored with people's perceptions; but still this is the most circulated narrative. ;)

Sources :-
- Wiki,
- Quora,
- https://www.rbth.com/blogs/2013/05/27/marshal_zhukov_on_alexanders_failed_india_invasion_25383,
-http://googleweblight.com/i?geid=1005&hl=en-IN&u=http%3A%2F%2Fpenelope.uchicago.edu%2FThayer%2FE%2FRoman%2FTexts%2FPlutarch%2FLives%2FAlexander*%2F9.html
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This was a good read and worded much better than mine.

I enjoyed it :)
 
TallulahBlue said:
Sea otters often hold hands when they sleep to keep from drifting apart.

Sea_otters_holding_hands.jpg.638x0_q80_crop-smart.jpg
Click to expand...

WELL, THAT'S A GIVEN...LOL EVER SEE BOATS TIED UP TOGETHER OUT ON THE OCEAN?... SAME THING, IT'S TO KEEP THEM FROM DRIFTING APART, WE DID THAT ALL THE TIME, WHEN WE WOULD GO SAILING OUT ON THE OCEAN WITH FRIENDS ON THEIR YACHTS TOO... LOOK AT THE LIFE BOATS OF ANY MAJOR SHIP SINKING, THEY ALL TIE UP TO STICK TOGETHER... ALSO, LOOK AT A MARINA, SAME THING... EXCEPT THE BOATS ARE TIED TO PIERS, AND DOCKS...:):cool:

EASY TO FIGURE OUT WHY, IF YOU JUST PAY ATTENTION TO THE OBVIOUS, AND THE DETAILS... ALSO, YOU MAY NOT KNOW THAT SEA OTTERS WRAP THEMSELVES IN KELP TO SLEEP, WHEN THEY ARE ALONE... SO,THEY THEMSELVES WON'T DRIFT OUT ON THE CURRENTS, AND BECOME EXPOSED IN OPEN WATERS TO GREAT WHITE SHARKS, AND OTHER SHARKS THAT PREY ON THEM...;):cool:

TC TTYAL,

♥StarFire♥:cool:

P.S. SEA OTTERS ARE JUST SO DARN CUTE!...:p:D;):cool:
 
Jane29 said:
d7e90b3727da04db85db704f37a0de15--funny-weird-facts-crazy-facts.jpg
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I KNEW THAT, BEING FROM NEW ENGLAND, OF COURSE I KNEW THAT ONE!...LOL ALSO, DID YOU KNOW THAT ONCE IN A WHILE PEOPLE WILL REQUEST THE RETURN, RESURRECTION OF A KILLED OFF FLAVOR?... IT'S TRUE, SADLY THOUGH, THE SAME FLAVOR FAILS TO MAKE A COME BACK, AND RETURNS TO THE FORLORN GRAVEYARD OF FAILED, ICE CREAM FLAVORS... OH, THE CREAMERY! SAD, SO, VERY SAD!...LOL :p:D:cool:

TC TTYAL,

♥StarFire♥:cool:
 
O.K. NOW FOR SOME NASTY FACTS ABOUT DAIRY COWS, YOU MAY NOT, "GOT MILK", AFTER THIS ONE!...LOL

1) A COW'S UDDER DOESN'T ALWAYS COME WITH 4 TEATS!... SOMETIMES HEIFER CALVES ARE BORN WITH MORE THEN 4 TEATS, AND SINCE THE MILKING PARLOR MACHINES ONLY HAVE 4 SUCTION CUPS... PLUS, MORE THAN 4 MEANS THE EXTRA'S CAN PRODUCE, AND LEAK MILK LEADING TO UDDER INFECTIONS(MASTITIS)... DAIRY FARMERS CUT OFF THE EXTRA TEATS, WITH NO ANESTHETIC, AND USING BASICALLY A PAIR OF SCISSORS... UGH... YUCK, BEEN THERE SEEN THAT ONE...SMH... ALSO, COWS CAN LIKE HUMANS HAVE ONE SIDE LARGER THAN THE OTHER...LOL THEY CALL THIS BEING "SLACK", QUARTERED... DOESN'T HURT THE COW, AND OFTEN THE COW IS STILL USED AS A MILKING COW...

A 1 A A COW'S UDDER 11.jpg

2) WHY DO CATTLE WITH HORNS HAVE THEM REMOVED?... BECAUSE OF THE OBVIOUS, THEY CAN GORE NOT ONLY THE CATTLEMEN, OR, DAIRY FARMERS... BUT, THEY OFTEN HAVE AS A HERD, A PECKING ORDER... THE DOMINANT ANIMALS WILL USE THEIR HORNS TO TAKE THEIR PLACE IN THE HERD... THUS, THEY'RE REMOVED FOR THE SAFETY OF THE HUMANS INVOLVED WITH THEM, AND FOR THEIR OWN SAFETY, AND WELL BEING...

3) WHAT IS THE AVERAGE AGE OF A DAIRY COW?... 4 TO 6 YEARS FOR A COMMERCIAL DAIRY COW... THE OBVIOUS AGAIN... FOR A DAIRY COW LIFE IS NOTHING BUT BEING PREGNANT ALL THE TIME, AND PRODUCING CALVES, WHICH IN TURN, PRODUCES MILK, MEANT FOR HER CALF, BUT USED BY HUMANS... CALVES THEMSELVES IF MALE, GO TO SLAUGHTER RIGHT AFTER BIRTH, NOT ALL CAN GROW INTO BREEDING BULLS, OR, COMMERCIAL BULLS... MOST DAIRY BREEDS GO TO SLAUGHTER FOR PET FOOD, SINCE BEEF CATTLE IS MUCH MORE PREFERRED FOR HUMAN CONSUMPTION...

A A 1 A A CALF VEAL Question... 1 2.jpg

4)DAIRY FARMERS CUT COW'S TAILS, WHY?... AGAIN, THE OBVIOUS, AND A CRUEL PRACTICE THAT NEEDS TO BE STOPPED!... IF DAIRY COWS HAVE LONG TAILS THEY GET IN THE WAY OF THE FARMER BEING ABLE TO MILK THEM, FOR A SIMPLE ANNOYANCE!... HOW CRUEL IS THAT!?...

5)DID YOU KNOW THAT CATTLE HERDS ARE LEAD BY A FEMALE "LEAD", COW?... IT IS A FAMILY LEAD BY THE FEMALE, AND NOT THE BULL... CATTLE ARE LIKE ELEPHANTS LEAD BY A DOMINANT FEMALE...

6)WHY A DAIRY COW GIVING BIRTH TO TWINS ISN'T A GOOD IDEA?... TWINS IN CATTLE OFTEN ARE STERILE, AND UNABLE TO REPRODUCE, THUS LESS DESIRABLE BY THE FARMER, AND SENT TO SLAUGHTER INSTEAD(IF A DAIRY BREED)...

A 1 A A COW GIVES BIRTH TO QUADS 1.jpg
GOT QUADS?... TALK ABOUT HAVING A COW MAN!...LOL

TC TTYAL,

♥StarFire♥:cool:
 
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TallulahBlue said:
Oh, HELL YEAH!! Having grown up near NOLA, I can tell you it was well worth it!!

(Actually strange but true fact: despite growing up only an hour from New Orleans, I participated in Mardi Gras festivities only once in my life. And you would be surprised how this is true for many natives. It is similar to the fact that many residents of NYC have never stepped foot in the Empire State Building. More for the tourists and visitors!)

But I love NOLA. It's home.
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Well I live in Maryland and have been to Pimlico once and on the Bay twice so I'm with you on the tourist thing lol
 
One of the most "quoted" lines in film history is a misquote; the line doesn't even appear in the movie. In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart never says the words "Play it again, Sam."

The actual dialogue:

Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
Sam: Well, I don't think I can remember...
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it!
 
TallulahBlue said:
One of the most "quoted" lines in film history is a misquote; the line doesn't even appear in the movie. In Casablanca, Humphrey Bogart never says the words "Play it again, Sam."

The actual dialogue:

Rick: You played it for her, you can play it for me!
Sam: Well, I don't think I can remember...
Rick: If she can stand it, I can! Play it!
Click to expand...
I would have said this is more misquoted
inspirational-i-am-your-father-meme-luke-i-m-your-father-said-no-darth-vader-ever-darth-i-am-your-father-meme.jpg

The actual line being

"I am your father"
 
Dcdevon said:
Well I live in Maryland and have been to Pimlico once and on the Bay twice so I'm with you on the tourist thing lol
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When it's on your door step you don't appreciate it. My old house you could see and walk to Leeds castle never went till I moved out of the area.
 
Wang Enlin, A Chinese farmer quit primary school and spent 16 years studying law to sue a chemical company for polluting his village. He did not have money to buy the books, so he paid the bookstore bags of corn in return for letting him study in the bookstore. He wrote all his notes by hand and learned enough from the law books and dictionary to win the court case in 2017
 
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