Random interesting facts

[JHG]

Teutonic knights wore horned helmets and some were descended from Vikings. That’s the closest thing to horned helmets on Vikings.

Did they wear them in battle, then? And if so, did it work - or were the horns just an easily-exploitable vulnerability ?

Yes and it was a way to distinguish the commanding officer among his troops.

[Kyng]

Teutonic knights wore horned helmets and some were descended from Vikings. That’s the closest thing to horned helmets on Vikings.

Did they wear them in battle, then? And if so, did it work - or were the horns just an easily-exploitable vulnerability ?

Yes and it was a way to distinguish the commanding officer among his troops.

I suppose that makes sense - but I hope it didn't just turn the commanding officer into an easy target!

[Kyng]

The knight is the only chess piece that hasn't change its move since the earliest form of chess. All the other pieces had different moves then:

• The king and the rook couldn't castle;
  
• The pawn couldn't move two steps forward on its first move (or do en passant);
  
• The bishop and queen weren't invented yet - and instead, there were much weaker pieces . The bishops' places were taken by 'elephants' (which jumped two squares diagonally), and the queen's place was taken by a 'minister' or 'counsellor' (who could only move one square diagonally).

A bit odd how the knight's move is the oldest, since it's probably the weirdest!

[Kyng]

The phrase "rock and roll" originally described a ship moving in the ocean (because the waves caused it to rock forwards and backwards, and roll from side to side ).

It didn't go directly from there to its modern meaning... it was used to describe other types of music in the first half of the 20th century, until the music we now know as "rock and roll" was developed in the 1950s.

[Moonface]

Not sure if this one has come up before since my wife acted like this was a well-known fact, but I learned yesterday that the snow used on "The Wizard of Oz" was actually pure asbestos. The paint used on the wicked witch was also laced with actual copper that not only caused her to get skin burns but also dyed her skin green for a few weeks after it was removed. I'm sure there's a slew of other awful things that the actors went through on that movie set that would leave me surprised if anyone on it managed to naturally die of old age and not from some sort of disease or illness caused by that set.

[JHG]

Ivan the Terrible’s epithet is based on a more archaic definition of terrible. A more literal translation would be Ivan the Awesome, Formidable, or Great.

[Kyng]

Not sure if this one has come up before since my wife acted like this was a well-known fact, but I learned yesterday that the snow used on "The Wizard of Oz" was actually pure asbestos. The paint used on the wicked witch was also laced with actual copper that not only caused her to get skin burns but also dyed her skin green for a few weeks after it was removed. I'm sure there's a slew of other awful things that the actors went through on that movie set that would leave me surprised if anyone on it managed to naturally die of old age and not from some sort of disease or illness caused by that set.

Wow, that is quite incredible . If it was a well-known fact, then I must be one of the few who didn't know it until today!

I guess they just didn't know any better at the time, but looking back at it with the benefit of the subsequent 80+ years of scientific research, it is quite shocking.