Interesting Facts - Page 63

311
The Berlin Brandenburg airport was originally scheduled to open in 2011. After a few delays, invitations to the grand opening were sent in 2012. But then a problem appeared. And then another, and another. The airport finally opened in late 2020. So much for German efficiency.
312
Of all the legal tender coins made by the U.S. mint, every one is made mostly of copper except the penny which is 97.5% zinc.
313
The Basque language, spoken in parts of Spain and France, is not closely related to any other known language.
314
The Harlem Globetrotters used to be a serious basketball team. In 1948, they beat the Minneapolis Lakers, considered by many at the time to be the best team in the country.
315
Middle names weren't always common in the United States. Only three of the eighteen Presidents that served prior to 1868 had middle names.
+3
Level 88
Jul 21, 2019
#311 Never buy an Audi and try to work on it. Even the simplest of simple things requires removing the grill and radiator.
+5
Level ∞
Jul 24, 2019
Lol, you're not kidding. I own a VW. It started leaking coolant. It took the shop 10 hours to replace a simple seal. Also VW uses a special kind of coolant which costs 4x as much as regular coolant and is only available at dealerships.
+1
Level 88
Jul 28, 2019
Same thing here...for a windshield wiper fluid bottle. It also sticks down beyond the fender where it naturally gets hit.
+1
Level ∞
Dec 15, 2020
Honestly I still like the car though. It's very fun to drive. I just have to pray that it never needs repair, and also to accept that it costs $250 for an oil change.
+1
Level 54
Apr 18, 2021
A long time ago I thought an Audi was simply a less pretentious Mercedes.
+3
Level 67
Jul 22, 2019
I suggested #315, btw.
+6
Level 67
Aug 10, 2019
Theodore Roosevelt did not have a middle name as well just for the record.
+1
Level 78
Dec 11, 2019
#311: Also, German trains are notoriously unpunctual.
+2
Level 75
Apr 12, 2023
Are you German? The supposed unpunctuality of German trains has to be our favourite pet peeve. And as a commuter, I have to say they really are *horribly* unpunctual! :-( But is that true only by our own standards or also in international comparison? According to a 2018 survey I found, about 88% of German trains are punctual (within 5 min), with Germany coming in 19th out of 27 surveyed countries. Not too good. However, among the EU27 countries, the average is 90%, so not much higher. The survey may also be flawed because apparently, different definitions of punctuality apply in different countries.

https://www.statista.com/statistics/1255048/punctuality-regional-passenger-rail-services-europe-by-country/

+9
Level 67
Jan 11, 2020
You have to update #311, it is now 2020 and it is still not operational.
+3
Level 67
Sep 9, 2020
8 months later... not like it really needed to be.
+2
Level 67
Sep 16, 2020
lol
+7
Level 66
Nov 18, 2020
Now it is. And directly in danger to go into bankruptcy because of the Coronavirus ...
+3
Level ∞
Dec 15, 2020
Updated.
+5
Level 52
Jan 26, 2020
Having learned what little I know about basketball from the Simpsons, this is the first I realised the Globetrotters are not in fact a proper team.
+1
Level 57
Aug 17, 2020
he's spinning the ball on his finger! just take it!
+1
Level 50
Jan 31, 2021
Was #315 already on here? It might not have been, I just seem to remember it.
+4
Level 41
Aug 18, 2021
Re 313: It is actually not related at all to any extant language (at least that is the overwhelming scholarly consensus, unsurprisingly they are some fringe theories that try to claim otherwise, but they lack substance). If I am not mistaken, some Roman-era inscription fragments found in other parts of the Iberian Peninsula are conjectured to be cognate with Basque, but other than that, no other relations could be demonsrated (although the theory that Basque must have been cognate with Etruscan which likewise lacks known relatives was once popular).
+2
Level 41
Aug 18, 2021
Re 311: Few years ago, you could buy postcards in Berlin with a portrait of the late East German Communist leader Walter Ulbricht (who infamously said "No-one is going to build a wall" less than two months before it was build) and a caption "We are going to build an airport") :)
+1
Level 75
Apr 12, 2023
Re 311: That doesn't count. Berlin, just like Bavaria, is a cultural enclave within Germany. People there live in their own reality ;-)
+2
Level 33
May 1, 2023
There is a town in Norway that is called Hell. They named it that because the norweagen word for luck is hell.
+1
Level 24
Jan 19, 2024
The U.S. State of Georgia has a population almost 3x greater than the country of Georgia.