Fascinating Facts and Trivia

There is a prison in Bolivia where inmates rent their own cells, can live with their families, charge tourists for tours, and at one point produced almost all of the cocaine in Bolivia.

Ketchup is a Malaysian word I believe.

Stan Laurel of Laurel and Hardy fame was born Arthur Stanley Jefferson in the village of Ullveston in the north of England. I can't remember which film it was but he does actually mention that fact in one scene, although personally I never found them that funny.

Boss Cat the cartoon series was based on Phil Silvers' creation of fast-talking Sgt.Ernest 'Ernie' Bilko a con man and thorn in the side of his commanding officer Colonel John 'Melonhead' Hall. Incidentally (and this will be in the cartoon thread I am working on) Boss Cat was actually called Top Cat in America but had to have its name changed here as there was a brand of cat food with the same name.

In the film version of the board game Cluedo called Clue in the US, you can clearly see the sound microphone several times in shot.

The first MacDonald's opens in Moscow Russia on January 31st 1990 and breaks MacDonald's world record for the most customers served on an opening day.

In 1985,Skywalker Ranch organised its own Fire Brigade that consisted of 12 full time firefighters and a few volunteers.

On August 31st 1985,oceanographer Robert Ballard found the wreck of the RMS Titanic,which had lain undiscovered since 1912.

The Ancient Rome civilisation began on the Italian Peninsula as early as the 8th century BC.

At its peak the Roman Empire comprised only 12% of the world’s population.

During the 7th century BC, ancient Roman ‘vestal virgins’ were required to keep their hymens intact as proof of their virginity until the age of 30 or they would be buried alive.

Europe and Africa are only separated by 14.3 km (8.9 mi) of ocean and there are talks of creating the longest bridge ever.

South Africa is called the "Rainbow Nation" because it has 11 official languages.