Random thoughts

[AndrastVitesse]

Does any one have any random thoughts that the want to share? Or any meaningless info or little know facts they want to unload.

Ok i'll start

leif ericson, a Norwegian viking is actually the first person to discover america(sometime in the 11th century), he landed somwhere between cape cod and Newfoundland.

[mrbiggs]

leif ericson, a Norwegian viking is actually the first person to discover america(sometime in the 11th century), he landed somwhere between cape cod and Newfoundland.

Actually, a Native American was.

And anywho, Leif Ericson doesn't count because he didn't kill or enslave the natives. He therefore didn't explore in the true European style, thus disqualifying him from that credit.

[MHS Fencer]

leif ericson, a Norwegian viking is actually the first person to discover america(sometime in the 11th century), he landed somwhere between cape cod and Newfoundland.

I'll bet the indigenous people who lived here would be shocked to know that. Saying that he's the first European might be more accurate, but then what good is discovery without follow-up and with the information being lost? Columbus' "discovery" is celebrated because it led to the eventual colonization of the Americas (and a rather large genocide to boot).

Like Eriksson (or whichever of the myriad ways you choose to spell it) the Chinese reportedly discovered America in 1421, but this was never followed up on (Zheng He's fleet dwarfed Columbus' with his flagship being many times larger - i believe over 400 feet). Now, to be fair, there is still argument over whether the Chinese actually reached America, although they did explore rather prolifically in the Indian Ocean and certainly had the means to reach America, although their fleet was scrapped as a result of increased isolationism and a shift in internal power. I'd be interested to here from somebody who's read the book detailing the purported discovery of America by the Chinese.

Anyway, my point was just that Eriksson was not the first to "discover" America, although he may have been the first European to reach it, the lack of follow-up really does not constitute meaningful discover (although it may have been nordic maps that were recopied that inspired the eventual trip across the atlantic - there are many theories about pre-existing maps before Columbus, and Eriksson's voyages seem to be the most likely candidate for their orgiins).

Sorry for the rant, but, those are my random thoughts

[Capt. Slo-mo]

In a similar vein, a fair portion of Greenland may have actually been "green" between 1100-1300 a.d., due to a temporary warming spell in the region.

It was just long enough to lure some of the Viking families to settle there, only to starve and abandon their homesteads later when the more typical climate kicked in, making the growing season far too short for traditional European agriculture.

[neevel]

Our Lady of the Runestone parish in Lowry, Minnesota is named for the Kensington Runestone. This stone was "discovered" by a Swedish-American farmer in Kensington, MN in 1898, and is inscribed with a runic inscription which implies that Vikings reached the Great Lakes in the 14th century. The fact that the inscription, aside from being made in the runic alphabet, is in modern Swedish, and that arabic numerals are used for the date given in the inscription makes for rather convincing evidence that the stone is a hoax.

[AndrastVitesse]

Wow so many thought about vikings

[BrianH]

I'll bet the indigenous people who lived here would be shocked to know that. Saying that he's the first European might be more accurate...

To confuse things further, there is some evidence that Europeans were here nearly 10,000 years ago, including the former occupant of the Kennewick Man skeleton and artifacts associated with it. Dennis Stanford of the Smithsonian Institution suggested this hypothesis and there have been some studies of the skeleton's DNA and the artifacts (including a projectile point embedded in the pelvis). It probably will be argued about for another ten years before there is a consensus. But the idea is there: Europeans here 9,600 years ago.

Kennewick Man is a human skeleton discovered in southwest Washington State (in the northwest US) in 1996, and was claimed by Native Americans under a federal law called NAGPRA (Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act) . A group of quite distinguished scientists claimed that the bones did not have to be repatriated to the tribes for reburial because they were not "Native American". The government and tribes claimed they were, because they are older than 1492, and by definition of the law, any person here before then was a Native American. The scientists convinced a federal judge that on morphological and genetic grounds, the bones could not have been a person ancestral to the claimant tribes. And there it now stands, with the materials available for scientific analysis.

For further info, see: http://www.friendsofpast.org/

[Phoenix]

The guy who invented the toliet was named Sir Thomas Crapper. You guys probably know that anyways..

[mrbiggs]

The guy who invented the toliet was named Sir Thomas Crapper. You guys probably know that anyways..

Actually, that's a myth. Crapper didn't invent the toilet, he just made several significant improvements to the then-current design.

[Phoenix]

But it still sounds cool! I mean, how often do you hear of someone named Crapper who works on a toilet. Pretty cool.

[mrbiggs]

It would suck to be him during elementary school. "Hey, here comes Crapper!" It would be almost too easy for the kids...

[Phoenix]

It would suck to be him during elementary school. "Hey, here comes Crapper!" It would be almost too easy for the kids...

Totally. One time I was at this cemetery and there was this HUGE square gravestone (like at least 5 feet high) and there in big letters was the word
"Butt". I swear I'm not lying. I think I would change my name. Phoenix Butt. Not what I was looking for...

[KShan5[PrFC]]

I think I would change my name if it were Phoenix

[mrbiggs]

I think I would change my name if it were Phoenix

Phoenix Biggs would be the coolest name ever.

Anyway, Biggs would be a great name to have, as a pickup line. The question of WHY you're called mrbiggs is just begging to be asked...

[KShan5[PrFC]]

And then when they find out it's your ego that's bloated not your....well you know....they kick where you're lacking.

[KShan5[PrFC]]

My friend and I were having a conversation and we came to the conclusion that all Hummers need to come with a vanity plate of "Small Penis"

[ThatReallyHurt]

Totally. One time I was at this cemetery and there was this HUGE square gravestone (like at least 5 feet high) and there in big letters was the word
"Butt". I swear I'm not lying. I think I would change my name. Phoenix Butt. Not what I was looking for...

There's a (living) comedian named Brent Butt... he's got a TV show and everything, too... pretty funny guy.

[ThatReallyHurt]

Erm... the Z80 is the most popular microprocessor ever. It was first made in 1975 and is still being produced today.

[neevel]

Actually, that's a myth. Crapper didn't invent the toilet, he just made several significant improvements to the then-current design.

And as a result had his name on a very large percentage of toilets in the UK at one point. That fact enabled this exchange from an NPR travel show I once heard, an interview with the bright, bubbly curator of the Sanitary Plumbing Museum concerning Thomas Crapper's place in sanitary plumbing history:

"So, wouldn't you be embarrassed to have your name on toilets everywhere?"

Bright, bubbly curator, in brightest, bubbliest sounding voice: "No you wouldn't-- you'd be rich!"

[noodle]

Erm... the Z80 is the most popular microprocessor ever. It was first made in 1975 and is still being produced today.

'76, wasn't it?