Today's useless facts

Picked up while driving to work this morning:

On the floor of the British House of Commons are two red lines, 2.5 meters apart¹, which separate the two front benches. According to tradition, these lines are just over two sword lengths apart and were meant to keep MPs from resorting to duels to settle debates. Protocol forbids crossing this line while speaking and may be the origin of the expression "toe the line".

The two oldest parliaments in continuous existence are the Tynwald, the Parliament of the Isle of Man, and the Althing, the Parliament of Iceland.

[1] Appendix A of "The Palace of Westminster" factsheet.

Argentina...

Possible winner of the Greatest Orwellian Euphemism Ever Conceived: The series of military dictatorships of that country between 1976 and 1983 was called (by its leaders)...

The "National Reorganization Process".

Wait, so you're telling me....

...that roaches aren't going to survive a nuclear war? From this Slate.com article:

The cockroach survival myth seems to have originated with the development of the atom bomb. In The Cockroach Papers: A Compendium of History and Lore, journalist Richard Schweid notes that roaches were reported to have survived the blasts at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, leading some to believe that they would inherit the Earth after a nuclear war.

...

But studies over the last half-decade, such as those conducted by the United Nations Scientific Committee on the Effects of Atomic Radiation, have found that these "other insects" are more likely to reign in the age after humans; the cockroach might, in fact, be one of the first bugs to go.

Not the most science heavy article, but definitely a great short read.