The Plainsman Press - South Plains College

Shea Chancey, staff writer

Pointless information seems to stick with me more than anything I remember from my intellectual lectures.

In fact, if it doesn’t interest me, I seem to forget it quite quickly.

This information doesn’t make a difference for anyone as far as increasing your intelligence, but it is good to know if you ever are on “Who Wants to be a Millionaire” or “Jeopardy.” Useless information is something to take up space.

It is the information that is gathered over time in everyday conversations. Well, I’m here to provide you with some more useless information that I found to be cool, interesting, and kind of educational. Yet, the information still has no importance or value, but still good to know.

For starters, if you have a cat, they have five pads on their front paws and four on their back feet, kind of ironic, huh? A frog throws up its stomach, removes the contents inside its stomach with its forearms, and then swallows its stomach again. Can you imagine having to go through all of that? No thanks!

To save you some embarrassment and from feeling stupid, if anyone happens to ask you where Terlingua or Billy Bob’s is, just a hint, they are in Texas and famous. Terlingua is located near the border of Mexico and is known for the site of the world’s largest barbeque/chili cook-off. Billy Bob’s is a famous bar located in the stockyards area in Fort Worth. Unfortunately, no one was there to save me from making a fool of myself. I had to learn the hard way.

Interestingly, did you know that the only state flag that is allowed to fly at the same height as the United States flag is the Texas flag?

Strangely, if you find yourself in a conversation with a biker and the words “Mothers” enters the conversation, they are not referring to their mommy. “Mothers” is what a biker uses to wax their bikes. It makes the chrome nice and shiny. Yes, you may never need this information, but hey, it could save you from getting laughed at by a group of rough bikers.

Ever wonder when something you use everyday was invented? I found some educational background information on some unique, off-the-wall inventions, such as the electric chair that was invented by a dentist and the toothbrush that was invented in 1498. Norm Larsen invented WD-40 in 1953. The W stands for water, the D is for displacer and the 40 is how many tries it took before he got it right. In 1869, the waffle iron was born. Dr Pepper was created in Waco in 1885. If you look at Dr Pepper, it doesn’t have a period between Dr and Pepper, crazy. There are many other inventions, but I thought these were some of the more interesting items.

Pay close attention to your money and you could find some interesting details on them. On the back of the $5 bill, the names of all 50 states are on the top of the Lincoln Memorial. Another bill with some cool detail is the $1 bill. It has an owl in the upper right-hand corner in the shield, and there is a spider in the upper left-hand corner. Look closely and you will find them.

For anyone who wants more unique information, go look it up on the Internet. There is loads of collected information. If you don’t have a computer, take the time to visit a wise person, such as your instructor. Just make sure it is true before spreading it. It may be useless, but at least it is true.