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  • Why did they think it was lead? I'm genuinely curious. Please someone tell me. Never heard people saying that.

  • @raydredX

    blame the romans, but the term lead pencil still gets used

  • @Mohrkai Hearing it explicitly I notice I've heard the expression but not very often. I speak a Romance language and I can't find a word that connects pencils to Lead.

  • @raydredX

    the romans used to use lead pencils that were actually made with lead

  • @Mohrkai I see. Interesting. Thank you.

  • Igor Sikorsky

  • 0:58 Woah that guy looks ridiculously like Josh Homme.

  • Where does the boomerang fit into the timeline?

  • What is Stephen Fry wearing? Is this some weird costume show whose theme I cannot guess?

  • Keep pressing "2"

    ....wut

  • 240p. We meet again.

  • seriously? ive known that it was graphite since i was probably 8 or 9, and youll find me to be a dumbass. HOW HAS NOBODY CAUGHT ON?

  • Is it wrong that whenever I see Peter Serafinowicz all I can think is "Fraaaaaaaan"?

  • i only watch the show for the buzzer going off, alan davies day job is to make that buzzer go off ;)

  • i didn't watch or listen to the advert

  • It goes dark before Rich even finishes saying 'Magellan'.

  • The Irish had one with an ejection seat.

  • @Leowen2 leave it out

  • @Uzzie101

    No theses answers are correct. Looking at it primarily in a sense of the basic pencil, it is true there is no lead in it but it was always referenced as lead. Additionally history based questions such as who invented this, and who did that first ect. , are realisticly never ultimately defined because history is almost utterly true. But because you are taught it you swear right down to the core that is it. So I say this not aggressively but you are not smarted but more closed minded.

  • The answers are designed for the players to get them wrong, so, when they get them wrong, they're actually getting them right!

    I'm not a genius, I'm just smarter than all of you are.

  • @Uzzie101 but ur not the most modest are ya

  • @daddlepops fuck off you scum and dont bother reposting it you are the cancer killing society

  • Watch from 2:29 again and again...lol

  • Fry got one wrong very close to the end: he said all pencils are pure graphite, and I had (and yes I know I'm a boring person) watched the How it's Made on pencils just a few days ago and it's actually a blend between graphite and clay (watch?v=iwYTibTbYHQ, it says it at the very beginning).

  • Fry's always so well dressed but in this show he looks like a hobo! WTF

  • Julia Morris!

  • I thought italian becase of the Bell Huey lol

  • china my ass

  • STOP ARGUING AND JUST WATCH THE BLOODY BRILLIANT VIDEO!!!!!!!!

  • @hempartist420 Sorry, did I forsake your chosen deity or something? You fucking dragon choked fucking twisp. I thought THC was supposed to dampen or inhibit your proneness to rage disorders. How's that for being a twat, you choke.

  • wow, this show has pretty much taught me everything I learned up to HS was just absolute bullshit...

  • "More HB than PB." What an ass.

  • @andrewhenman ᴵ ᵈᵘᶰᶰᵒ ᴳᵒᵈᵐᵒᵈᵉ

  • @seitenshow yeah, way to be a twat

  • ᴸᴹᴬᴼ

  • @seitenshow How did you make that tiny ass font? :)

  • Comment removed

  • i loooooooooooooooooooooovvvvvvv­eeeeeeee peter serafinowicz

  • "You might say they're more HB than PB!" Awesome.

  • I say that for people who want to watch shit things online, like Big Mommas house, we make them watch adverts for QI beforehand. Why should just the clever people be miserable?

  • JULIA MORRIS DOESN'T AND WILL NEVER REPRESENT AUSTRALIAN COMEDIANS. SHE IS NOT FUNNY. AUSTRALIANS BEST COMEDIANS ARE ADAM HILLS AND JOSH THOMAS! NOT THIS WOMAN!!!!

  • @EmKate23 Best is a point of view, Mrs. YellsALot, and yours does not represent the undeniable truth. Don't be so absolute, it makes you look silly and foolish.

  • @ThePitofSidLord Yes i do agree that comment was silly and foolish looking back but it is a free country...

  • @EmKate23 Actually, in Australia it isn't. We don't have freedom of speech and right to protest. Australia is, quite literally, not a free country.

    Also, this is the internet, you don't have the freedoms granted to you by your country here - they're called site rules, and they do tell you what you can and cannot do even if they go against the rights of whatever country you live in. The whole 'I agree to the terms of service' thing. :|

  • @ThePitofSidLord

    > We don't have freedom of speech and right to protest. Australia is, quite literally, not a free country.

    Really? Is that something left over from the times Australia was a prison colony or something?

  • @laflugantabastardo We don't have a "bill of rights" like the USA. Most would say that it's because we're not silly enough to need one. We do, however, (supposedly) conform to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

  • @blockheadface

    We (in The Netherlands) don't have a bill of rights either, but we do have "the fundamental law", something like a constitution, which guarantees freedom of expression. That is, unless it conflicts with the law.

    I'm just wondering why Australia doesn't have that.

  • @laflugantabastardo, to define is to limit, mate. To define is to limit...

  • @laflugantabastardo We have a constitution, it doesn't guarantee any rights to my knowledge. Our laws do not restrict our human rights, but the government is theoretically able to make laws that do. You know what? It works marvellously. Its perfectly fine and I would argue that is the way it should be, a government should be able to restrict freedom of expression for the good of its people.

  • @EmKate23 Does there is any election on australian comedian? Not really... So, who give a damn that you find her not funny and say she does not represent australian comedians when no-one does? She is just on a show making a few joke and trying to win a few bucks - even if she is not funny, that always better than someone doing nothing.

  • If you believe Gavin Menzies "1421", it was the Chinese who first got around the globe. Even made it to NZ, if he's right. And yes, I'm pretty sure that's Peter S.

  • @madphilgreenballs New Zealand isn't exactly 'around the globe' from China though, is it !?! It's more or less just down the Pacific and a couple of longitudes to the left...

  • @sihaso it's almost half way around the globe from mainland China. I'm not talking about SEA here. And it's a tiny place that could easily have been overlooked for centuries. The point is, they headed out for places they'd already heard about and had maps for. If you bother to read the book, it shows how they (might have) gone around the globe. Don't comment unless you understand the comment and have knowledge of the source of the comment.

  • @madphilgreenballs Calm down! I am sinserely sorry for never having heard the book you speak of before, but with millions upon millions of books in the world, I sure you won't hold that against me.

    But if you want facts, here they are: the circumferance of Earth is approximately 40.000 km (24.900 miles). The distance between Auckland and Hong Kong is about 9.100 km (just over 5.650 miles). That equals less that a quarter of Earth's circumferance, and nowhere near 'half way around the globe'...

  • @ madphilgreenballs (Besides, I never argued with whether or not the Chinese had been to NZ, as I simply do not know. My comment referred to the distance only.)

  • I thought that Magellan *was* the first to circumnavigate the globe, because he had been further east than where he died when he was young. Hence, if you say he started his journey from where he was furthest east in his youth then when he passed that point years later he had circumnavigated the globe.

  • pencil 'lead' isn't pure graphite, its pulveriser carbon mixed with clay.

    more clay = harder point. just thought people should know...

  • @eutectics Thats quite interresting.

  • is that guy the one from shaun of the dead? HE WAS FOOKIN DARTH MAUL

  • "That's why they're not very heavy when you pick 'em up."

  • Anyone know what episode this is?

  • Peter Serafinowicz is also the radio announcer on an episode of Blackbooks

  • @MsCurry85 oh yeah! haha "fwaaan? is that you fwaan?"

  • Julia Morris sucks.

  • its not pure graphite all of the time they sometimes have clay in them!!

  • Werent the first modern pencils dipped in leaded paint though?

  • I say it was a maple tree who invented the helicopter.

  • Goddamnit I love this show...

  • the french started to make the helicopter, then gave up half way through.

  • So where did the phrase originate lead in pencil originate?

  • @fredb3 they thought what they dug up was lead. turned out to be graphite. good one scientists

  • "But it's Saturday!"

    "No it's not, it's Sunday -- and I've got work, in four fucking hours, because every other fucker in my fucking department, is fucking ill, NOW CAN YOU SEE WHY I'M SO FUCKING ANGRY!?"

    "Fuck yeah!"

  • I suspect that one could get lead poisoning via some imported pencils. I am thinking the paint might have some mildly toxic levels.

  • Ellehammer, 1912!

  • @1:48 I love Alan's suspicious look. What is he thinking?

  • @TheDSil "Damn french"

  • I love how Rich gets buzzed before he even gets a chance to finish his answer.

  • @TheClubPenguin57 How in god's name did you spot that? :D

  • This says 2008 not 2003.

  • Is this one of the first videos on youtube?

  • @Iadiesman2I7 holy shit, well spotted.... certainly the oldest video i have just happened across

  • @Iadiesman2I7 2003 was when the episode was released, youtube was invented at around 2006

  • @ghjuy101 That's what i thought, and if that be the case then it's kind of odd that it doesn't say when it was uploaded. Probably because it's the BBC channel.

  • @Iadiesman2I7 why would you think that.........

  • @bradfordbulls4lyf Maybe the fact that it says, 'release: Nov 6, 2003'...

  • @Iadiesman2I7 the fact that Youtube went online in 2005 rings a bell

  • @Iadiesman2I7 and when have you ever seen a video on youtube say 'released'

  • @bradfordbulls4lyf Never really, which is why i hadn't noticed that it said "released" until further observation of it. I just saw the date and had just assumed it'd say uploaded, though if you notice now it seems to have changed to it's upload date.

  • @Iadiesman2I7 that is quite strange isnt it

  • @bradfordbulls4lyf 'Tis indeed, 'tis indeed. (Also, not everybody knows when youtube went online, so using that as a device to make it seem like the question i asked was stupd doesn't work as well)

  • I find the virgin media ad quiet ironic... they say you can stream with fewer interruptions, did they magically get rid of annoying ads like their own from youtube?

  • @Laseranders Your response…gave me a good laugh. Bravo and thank you.

  • @EddieTheFishReturns yeah... its Peter Serafinowicz

  • I love Serafinowicz. Also, I never believed that lead poisoning was misattributed to pencils. Lead is far too posionous to be let into pencils.

  • You can get lead poisoning from some old pencils because some bright spark thought is would be a good idea to coat them in lead paint.

    What do you get if you suck the end of your pencil? Splinters!

  • 0:00

  • which episode is this?

  • I wish I had known this show existed when I was in school so that I could appear smart...lol

  • thumbs up for add blocker :D

  • @Chardude15 How do you block it?

  • @FmBm2 download the add blocker for firefox, search on google

  • @Chardude15 Thank you!

  • @FmBm2 np :D

  • I don't know if anyone gave this awnser already. But wasn't the first proper helicopter ever made, made by a russian man named sikorsky ?

  • @Thesupermachine2000: correct. You win some points.

  • Stephen Fry Without A Tie? Dang It The World's Gone Mad

  • Is that pete?

    I'd love watch an episode of Qi wherein Fry plays 'Hip hop Be-bop' and asks what genre of music it is. Pete says: "Rap music"... "Wrong, that is the wrong answer, the correct term is electro... prick."

  • @casdebom2 aren't you weird.

  • No plumbum for MY pencil.

  • joke at the end was just not funny :|

  • @blokoman It was intentionally awful, as with most puns

  • Is one of the panellists the bloke from Shaun of the Dead who shouts

    "It's four in the FUCKIN' MORNING!!" ?

  • @EddieTheFishReturns which one?

  • @bububububak: Pete. Or, as Ed calls him, "PRICK!" :D

  • Comment removed

  • @EddieTheFishReturns He was also the voice of Darth Maul in the Phantom Menace...

  • @EddieTheFishReturns

    Peter Serafinowicz, yeah, youtube him, there are loads of sketches from his old show online, he's hilarious.

  • @EddieTheFishReturns yes Peter Serafinowicz plays pete shaun and ed's flat mate who doesnt like him and says "It's four in the FUCKIN' MORNING!!" :-) (hope this helped)

  • @gareth4 He was also the voice of Darth Maul in the Phantom Menace. Can't imagine Pegg letting him off with that one :p

  • @EddieTheFishReturns IF YOU WANNA LIVE LIKE AN ANIMAL GO LIVE IN THE SHED YOU THICK FUCK

  • @titusbrambleisahero Don't you mean FUNK?

  • @EddieTheFishReturns Peter Serafonowicz, yes

  • @EddieTheFishReturns Yep, it's the comic actor Peter Serafinowicz. His sketch show is highly recommended.

  • @EddieTheFishReturns hes also the voice of darth maul, & also a funny funny guy

  • @EddieTheFishReturns He's also 'Duane Benzie' in Pegg's 'Spaced'.

  • @EddieTheFishReturns funking**

  • @EddieTheFishReturns Peter Serafinovic and please look up something like "Look around you" to find out he's more than just a small time actor XD

  • @EddieTheFishReturns Sort yer fuckin life out, mate!

  • @EddieTheFishReturns Ye its peter serafinowicz

  • loic says there used to be lead in the pant around a pencil so if you suck a pencil your sucking the lead pant

  • The siren went off before he was even half way through saying Magellan's name. Either this was a retake or a staged answer.

  • Alan looked really devastated when he found out theres no lead in pencils :L

  • Igor Sikorsky developed the Sikorsky R-4, the first stable, single-rotor, fully-controllable helicopter to enter large full-scale production in 1942, upon which the majority of subsequent helicopters were based (though he did not invent the helicopter itself).

  • i promised myself only one more over an hour ago

  • @LastSasquatch ditto

  • Is that Julia Morris with a different voice? because I can't convince myself it's her for the life of me.

  • Damn adverts! Surely the BBC don't use adverts?

  • What is the punishment for being wrong? just impressment 

  • Alan looks like he's holding back an incredible retort after learning that the first modern helicopter may have been french. Gotta love him !

  • i learn alot form watching these shows

  • "Not a silly bamboo thing" ahahaha I love this show!!

  • 24 people got the wrong answer XD

  • @Xcuz1 Actually the French pronounce Barack Obama correctly

  • its so funny to hear say Magellan because his name is Magalhães...

    I had heard so many times Magellan on tv shows and movies and i as a Portuguese,didn't know who Magellan was because is name is Fernão de Magalhaes lol it has nothing to do with Ferdinand Magellan...

    its like from 500 years from now the first black president of the US was Barry Ama...lol because french is the most spoken language and they cant pronounciate Barack :) know what i mean? :) its weird

  • my god, steven fry looks soo much younger here!!!

  • what i don't get is, this show proves a lot of so called 'common knowledge' wrong. E.g everything we're taught in school. Why isn't the curriculum changed?? There teaching us lies! haha

  • that was a classic joke at the end by peter :D more hb than pb. Genius!

  • wasnt the lead poisoning more to do with the lead based paint that was used to coat the wood ?

  • in theory, is it possible then to get the graphite from millions of pencils, then compress them so tightly they become diamond?

  • @Trinitykill Yeah in theory it makes sense. Diamonds are already being artificially produced with almost exactly this method. The pressure used is incomprehensibly high and the diamonds produced are tiny. These artificial diamonds are used in industrial applications, usually for coating blades and such.If that interests you then find some documentaries about samurai swords and 'tamahagane' steel. Totally unrelated but just as fascinating for all the same reasons.

  • @clickradiouk They can make diamonds big enough for an expensive ring now.. good shit.

  • @Trinitykill Well in "theory" yes because they are both formed from pure carbon. The issue lies in the structural formation of the carbon. Graphite is formed in "sheets" of square linked carbon atoms. Diamonds are more of a face centres cubic structure. Reforming it from graphite would require an immense amount or energy to be put it. It would be cheaper to form it from charcoal :)

  • @lsax001 Especially if Superman is around. :p

  • @Trinitykill yes, but why not just buy graphite in bulk instead of removing it from a bunch of pencils. Anyway the electricity to power the compressing machine costs more than the puny little diamond it makes. This is because most of the value of a diamond comes from the hard work and skill needed to cut it into shape, which you would have to do anyway even if you amde it artificially. .

  • Utter bollox - By definition an Helicopter is an aircraft - the chinese toy is an airscrew - it is no more an aircraft than a radiator fan is.

  • @ginganz13 I gave my son a radiator fan for his birthday because he asked for a model aircraft, but times are tough and I got sacked from the factory last month so I couldn't afford a fancy one. I let him go on the internet because our electricity finally got connected after three weeks of almost freezing to death, and the first thing he reads is a spiteful man saying his new model aircraft isn't actually an aircraft at all, it's just a radiator fan. You crushed a little boy's dream, jerk.

  • @homobarbie - Sounds like his biggest problems have nothing to do with me...LOL

  • lol hilarious...

    I love QI

    and this one has Darth Maul!!! epic XD XD lol

  • I thought everyone knew pencils wer made from graphite and not lead. I knew that when I was 12...

  • not pure graphite is it? has some other stuff in small amounts

  • @StopDropAndROFL Well it's in a pencil, to be used by snotty nosed 6 year olds.

    I doubt stadler care how how pure it is. they are more conxerned with getting the outside the right shade of yellow.

  • Because of the Pencil Question I got everyone in my chemistry class marked down a mark because they thought there was lead in a pencil

  • One thing I've learned from this show is: The Chinese Invented Everything.

  • @madpickin26

    Unless the inventions are scottish

  • @madpickin26

    They didn't invent glass! That was their fatal mistake!

  • @madpickin26 And they make everything too!

  • @madpickin26 AH! but not glass. which I also learned from QI xP

  • @madpickin26 except for glass ;o)

  • @madpickin26 everything except glass.

  • @madpickin26 no they didn't.

  • @madpickin26 And the Scottish...

  • @Botchur Yeah I was about to say that :) As far as i remember if you compare the inventions to the actual population of a country, scottish have the most. Makes me proud