Interesting or Unusual Facts / Stats / Whatever
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The US standard railroad gauge (distance between the rails) is 4 feet, 8.5 inches. That's an exceedingly odd number. Why was that gauge used?
Well, because that's the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that's the gauge they used. So, why did 'they' use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And what about the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses' asses.)

Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.
And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? Ancient horse's asses control almost everything.
Well, because that's the way they built them in England, and English engineers designed the first US railroads. Why did the English build them like that?
Because the first rail lines were built by the same people who built the wagon tramways, and that's the gauge they used. So, why did 'they' use that gauge then?
Because the people who built the tramways used the same jigs and tools that they had used for building wagons, which used that same wheel spacing. Why did the wagons have that particular odd wheel spacing?
Well, if they tried to use any other spacing, the wagon wheels would break more often on some of the old, long distance roads in England . You see, that's the spacing of the wheel ruts. So who built those old rutted roads?
Imperial Rome built the first long distance roads in Europe (including England ) for their legions. Those roads have been used ever since.
And what about the ruts in the roads?
Roman war chariots formed the initial ruts, which everyone else had to match or run the risk of destroying their wagon wheels. Since the chariots were made for Imperial Rome , they were all alike in the matter of wheel spacing. Therefore the United States standard railroad gauge of 4 feet, 8.5 inches is derived from the original specifications for an Imperial Roman war chariot. Bureaucracies live forever.
So the next time you are handed a specification/procedure/process and wonder 'What horse's ass came up with this?', you may be exactly right. Imperial Roman army chariots were made just wide enough to accommodate the rear ends of two war horses. (Two horses' asses.)

Now, the twist to the story:
When you see a Space Shuttle sitting on its launch pad, there are two big booster rockets attached to the sides of the main fuel tank. These are solid rocket boosters, or SRBs. The SRBs are made by Thiokol at their factory in Utah . The engineers who designed the SRBs would have preferred to make them a bit fatter, but the SRBs had to be shipped by train from the factory to the launch site. The railroad line from the factory happens to run through a tunnel in the mountains, and the SRBs had to fit through that tunnel. The tunnel is slightly wider than the railroad track, and the railroad track, as you now know, is about as wide as two horses' behinds.
So, a major Space Shuttle design feature, of what is arguably the world's most advanced transportation system, was determined over two thousand years ago by the width of a horse's ass.
And you thought being a horse's ass wasn't important? Ancient horse's asses control almost everything.
Archaeologists in Peru have unearthed the remains of what they believe are a 4,000-year-old temple and theater, shining a new light on the origins of complex religions in the region.
The team began studying the new archaeological site of La Otra Banda, Cerro Las Animas, in June. Last year, the local government alerted them to looting that had been taking place near the northern Peruvian town of Zaña, according to a press release from the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, Wednesday.
They excavated a plot roughly 33 feet long and 33 feet wide, finding signs of ancient walls made of mud and clay at just six feet deep.
“It was so surprising that these very ancient structures were so close to the modern surface,” Luis Muro Ynoñán, a research scientist at the Field Museum who led the team, said in the release.
After digging deeper, archaeologists found “one section” of a large temple, Muro Ynoñán said, adding that “one of the most exciting” finds was a small theater “with a backstage area and a staircase that led to a stage-like platform.”
“This could have been used to perform ritual performances in front of a selected audience,” he added
Pieces of what appear to be parts of a 4,000-year-old ceremonial temple in Peru. - Peru's Pontifical Catholic University/Reuters
One of the theater’s staircases was flanked by mud panels with an elaborate carved design of a mythological bird-like creature, according to the release. The figure resembled other images of mythological creatures dating to the Initial Period, around 2,000 to 900 BC, giving clues to when the temple was built.
“The Initial Period is important because it’s when we first start to see evidence of an institutionalized religion in Peru,” Muro Ynoñan said, adding that the discovery “tells us about the early origins of religion” in the region.
“We still know very little about how and under which circumstances complex belief systems emerged in the Andes, and now we have evidence about some of the earliest religious spaces that people were creating in this part of the world,” he said.
The finds predate the country’s best-known archaeological site, the ancient citadel of Machu Picchu, which is believed to have been built by the Inca Empire in the 15th century, by about 3,500 years. They also predate the pre-Inca cultures of Moche and Nazca, researchers said.
“We don’t know what these people called themselves, or how other people referred to them. All we know about them comes from what they created: their houses, temples, and funerary goods,” Muro Ynoñan said.
He added that the “people here created complex religious systems and perceptions about their cosmos,” with religion being “an important aspect of the emergence of political authority.”
Muro Ynoñán said he has a “special” and “deep” connection to the discovery since both his mother’s and father’s families come from the area, “so it was really incredible to come face to face with these depictions of an ancient god that was so important for these ancient groups.”
A team of archeologists work on what appear to be parts of a 4,000-year-old ceremonial temple buried in a sand dune in northern Peru. - Peru's Pontifical Catholic University/Reuters
Archaeologists also found several large murals painted on the walls. Muro Ynoñán collected samples from paint pigments that he said he plans to analyze in a lab, as well as send samples off for carbon dating to confirm the age of the site.
The Andean country hosts an array of archaeological finds from pre-Hispanic times.
In August, Peruvian archaeologists unearthed a 3,000-year-old tomb that they believe might have honored an elite religious leader.
A few months prior, a more than 1,000-year-old adolescent mummy wrapped in a funerary bundle was discovered on the outskirts of the modern capital, Lima.
The team began studying the new archaeological site of La Otra Banda, Cerro Las Animas, in June. Last year, the local government alerted them to looting that had been taking place near the northern Peruvian town of Zaña, according to a press release from the Field Museum in Chicago, Illinois, Wednesday.
They excavated a plot roughly 33 feet long and 33 feet wide, finding signs of ancient walls made of mud and clay at just six feet deep.
“It was so surprising that these very ancient structures were so close to the modern surface,” Luis Muro Ynoñán, a research scientist at the Field Museum who led the team, said in the release.
After digging deeper, archaeologists found “one section” of a large temple, Muro Ynoñán said, adding that “one of the most exciting” finds was a small theater “with a backstage area and a staircase that led to a stage-like platform.”
“This could have been used to perform ritual performances in front of a selected audience,” he added
Pieces of what appear to be parts of a 4,000-year-old ceremonial temple in Peru. - Peru's Pontifical Catholic University/Reuters
One of the theater’s staircases was flanked by mud panels with an elaborate carved design of a mythological bird-like creature, according to the release. The figure resembled other images of mythological creatures dating to the Initial Period, around 2,000 to 900 BC, giving clues to when the temple was built.
“The Initial Period is important because it’s when we first start to see evidence of an institutionalized religion in Peru,” Muro Ynoñan said, adding that the discovery “tells us about the early origins of religion” in the region.
“We still know very little about how and under which circumstances complex belief systems emerged in the Andes, and now we have evidence about some of the earliest religious spaces that people were creating in this part of the world,” he said.
The finds predate the country’s best-known archaeological site, the ancient citadel of Machu Picchu, which is believed to have been built by the Inca Empire in the 15th century, by about 3,500 years. They also predate the pre-Inca cultures of Moche and Nazca, researchers said.
“We don’t know what these people called themselves, or how other people referred to them. All we know about them comes from what they created: their houses, temples, and funerary goods,” Muro Ynoñan said.
He added that the “people here created complex religious systems and perceptions about their cosmos,” with religion being “an important aspect of the emergence of political authority.”
Muro Ynoñán said he has a “special” and “deep” connection to the discovery since both his mother’s and father’s families come from the area, “so it was really incredible to come face to face with these depictions of an ancient god that was so important for these ancient groups.”
A team of archeologists work on what appear to be parts of a 4,000-year-old ceremonial temple buried in a sand dune in northern Peru. - Peru's Pontifical Catholic University/Reuters
Archaeologists also found several large murals painted on the walls. Muro Ynoñán collected samples from paint pigments that he said he plans to analyze in a lab, as well as send samples off for carbon dating to confirm the age of the site.
The Andean country hosts an array of archaeological finds from pre-Hispanic times.
In August, Peruvian archaeologists unearthed a 3,000-year-old tomb that they believe might have honored an elite religious leader.
A few months prior, a more than 1,000-year-old adolescent mummy wrapped in a funerary bundle was discovered on the outskirts of the modern capital, Lima.
Before his NFL career got under way, Alex Karras signed a contract as a professional wrestler on December 13, 1957, earning $25,000 during the six-month off-season. Karras was the tenth selection of the 1958 NFL draft, taken by the Detroit Lions (in December 1957). He signed with the Lions, spurning an offer from the Canadian Football League's Winnipeg Blue Bombers. He quickly became one of the dominant defensive tackles in the NFL, playing for 12 seasons (1958–1962, 1964–1970) with the same team.
On January 7, 1963, Karras's ownership in Detroit's Lindell AC Bar became a source of controversy when league officials urged him to sell his financial interests in the place because of reports of gambling and organized crime influence. After first threatening to retire rather than give it up, Karras admitted placing bets on NFL games and was suspended by the league, along with Green Bay Packers' running back Paul Hornung, for one season (1963). During his exile, Karras returned to pro wrestling, taking on such memorable characters as Dick the Bruiser. He was reinstated, along with Hornung, on March 16, 1964, by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Upon returning to action in 1964, Karras once refused when an official asked him to call the pregame coin toss. "I'm sorry, sir," Karras replied. "I'm not permitted to gamble."
Karras's sense of humor came to the attention of writer George Plimpton, who heard many stories about Karras while training with the Lions for his book "Paper Lion" during the summer of 1963. Karras himself was under suspension and thus absent during Plimpton's training camp tenure with the Lions, making him a constant topic of tall-tale discussion among his past (and future) teammates.
When the film version of the book was made in 1968, Karras made his film debut playing himself.
Following his release by the Lions in 1971, Karras soon began acting on a full-time basis, playing a Tennessee boy turned Olympic weightlifter named Hugh Ray Feather in 1973's "The 500 Pound Jerk." A minor but memorable role came one year later in the western parody "Blazing Saddles" (1974, below): the very strong and slow-witted thug Mongo, who rode into town on a huge brahman (marked with "yes" and "no" passing signals), knocked out a horse with one punch, and famously responded to a question from Sheriff Bart with, "Don't know ..." (looking straight into the camera) "... Mongo only pawn in game of life." Additional roles included playing Sheriff Wallace in 1981's "Porky's "(in which his wife, Susan Clark, also starred), James Garner's closeted gay bodyguard in the 1982 Blake Edwards' film "Victor Victoria" and Hank Sully, the right-hand-man of villain Jake Wise (played by James Woods) in the 1984 film, "Against All Odds". (Wikipedia)
Happy Birthday, Alex Karras!
View: https://youtu.be/vhpaOHdcPIY
On January 7, 1963, Karras's ownership in Detroit's Lindell AC Bar became a source of controversy when league officials urged him to sell his financial interests in the place because of reports of gambling and organized crime influence. After first threatening to retire rather than give it up, Karras admitted placing bets on NFL games and was suspended by the league, along with Green Bay Packers' running back Paul Hornung, for one season (1963). During his exile, Karras returned to pro wrestling, taking on such memorable characters as Dick the Bruiser. He was reinstated, along with Hornung, on March 16, 1964, by NFL commissioner Pete Rozelle. Upon returning to action in 1964, Karras once refused when an official asked him to call the pregame coin toss. "I'm sorry, sir," Karras replied. "I'm not permitted to gamble."
Karras's sense of humor came to the attention of writer George Plimpton, who heard many stories about Karras while training with the Lions for his book "Paper Lion" during the summer of 1963. Karras himself was under suspension and thus absent during Plimpton's training camp tenure with the Lions, making him a constant topic of tall-tale discussion among his past (and future) teammates.
When the film version of the book was made in 1968, Karras made his film debut playing himself.
Following his release by the Lions in 1971, Karras soon began acting on a full-time basis, playing a Tennessee boy turned Olympic weightlifter named Hugh Ray Feather in 1973's "The 500 Pound Jerk." A minor but memorable role came one year later in the western parody "Blazing Saddles" (1974, below): the very strong and slow-witted thug Mongo, who rode into town on a huge brahman (marked with "yes" and "no" passing signals), knocked out a horse with one punch, and famously responded to a question from Sheriff Bart with, "Don't know ..." (looking straight into the camera) "... Mongo only pawn in game of life." Additional roles included playing Sheriff Wallace in 1981's "Porky's "(in which his wife, Susan Clark, also starred), James Garner's closeted gay bodyguard in the 1982 Blake Edwards' film "Victor Victoria" and Hank Sully, the right-hand-man of villain Jake Wise (played by James Woods) in the 1984 film, "Against All Odds". (Wikipedia)
Happy Birthday, Alex Karras!
View: https://youtu.be/vhpaOHdcPIY