Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Strange & Fascinating Facts

Did You Know?

1) The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time were Fred and Wilma Flinstone.

2) Coca-Cola was originally green.

3) Everyday more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.

4) Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

5) The state with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:
Alaska

6) The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%

now get this...

7) The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

8) The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400

9) The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000

10) Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

11) The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.

12) The youngest pope was 11 years old

13) The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

14) Those San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

15) Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David, Hearts - Charlemagne, Clubs-Alexander the Great, Diamonds - Julius Caesar

16) 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

17) If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.
If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle.
If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

18) Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

19) "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

20) Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.

21) No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Super bowl.
Numerous people wrote to correct this - The St. Louis
Rams did it in 2000! (And again in 2002?)

22) The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League
Baseball All-star Game.

23) How about this.... The nursery rhyme "Ring around the Rosy"
is a rhyme about the plague. Infected people with the plague would get red circular sores ("Ring around the rosy..."), these sores would smell very bad, so common
folks would put flowers on their bodies somewhere inconspicuously so that they would cover the smell of the sores ("...a pocket full of posies..."). People
who died from the plague would be burned so as to reduce the possible spread of the disease ("...ashes, ashes, we all fall down!").

24) In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes when you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on.
Hence the phrase goodnight, sleep tight".

25) It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all
the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the "honeymoon".

26) In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their own pints
and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's".

27) Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a fill, they used the whistle
to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

28) In ancient England a person could not have sex unless you had consent of the King (unless you were in the Royal Family). When anyone wanted to have a baby,
they got consent of the King, the King gave them a placard that they hung on their door while they were having sex. The placard had F.*.*.*.
(Fornication Under Consent of the King) on it. Now you
know where that came from.

29) In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden ... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

Q. What occurs more often in December than any other month?
A. Conception.

Q. What separates "60 Minutes," on CBS from every other TV show?
A. No theme song.

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?
A. Their birthplace.

Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?
A. Obsession

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshieldwipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by WOMEN!

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey

---------------------------
This list was featured in the Vol 39, 1-28-02
e-letter. Many wrote to correct #21 regarding the
Rams.
Regarding Point # 28, the following is what one
StrangeCosmos e-letter member wrote:

One of your "Fascinating Things to Ponder" items
presented the origin of the word F _ _ _ as
"Fornications Under Consent of the King".

Actually the practice arose in Puritanical times that
an unmarried woman caught in the act of having sex
with a man who could be married or unmarried was put
in the stocks on public view for as much as week with
only water to drink, no food nor breaks for toilet
use. She became a disgusting sight after only a half a
day or so. The plaquard place around her neck to
describe her crime read; " For Unlawful Carnel
Knowledge ". Which was reduced to the initials of our
familiar term today.

The practice replaced the Hebrew mandate that she be
stoned to death, and was a consession allowing her
punishment without directly ascribing to the laws of
the Jews who were considered the murderers of Jesus.
Lucky for the woman. Nothing is ever said about the
guy she was caught with however.

-- sent by a friend :)

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