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Thomas Edison got patents for a method of making
concrete furniture and a cigar which was supposed to burn forever
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Elton John’s real name is Reginald Dwight. Elton
comes from Elton Dean, a Bluesology sax player. John comes from Long John
Baldry, founder of Blues Inc. They were the first electric white blues
band ever seen in England–1961
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Elton John’s uncle was a professional soccer player. He broke his leg
playing for Nottingham Forest in the 1959 English FA Cup Final.
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The saying “it’s so cold out there it could freeze the balls off a brass
monkey” came from when they had old cannons like ones used in the Civil
War. The cannonballs were stacked in a pyramid formation, called a brass
monkey. When it got extremely cold outside they would crack and break off…
Thus the saying.
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S.O.S. doesn’t stand for “Save Our Ship” or “Save Our Souls” — It was just
chosen by an 1908 international conference on Morse Code because the
letters S and O were easy to remember and just about anyone could key it
and read it, S = dot dot dot, O = dash dash dash..
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Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise
it will digest itself.
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When a female horse and male donkey mate, the offspring is called a mule,
but when a male horse and female donkey mate, the offspring is called a
hinny.
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A donkey will sink in quicksand but a mule won’t.
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Cyano-acrylate glues (Super glues) were invented by accident. The
researcher was trying to make optical coating materials, and would test
their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light
through them. When he tried the cyano-acrylate, he couldn’t get the prisms
apart.
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A walla-walla scene is one where extras pretend to be talking in the
background — when they say “walla-walla” it looks like they are actually
talking.
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The “chapters” of the New Testament were not there originally. When monks
in medieval times translated it from the Greek, they numbered the pages in
each “book.”
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According to the ceremonial customs of Orthodox Judaism, it is officially
sundown when you cannot tell the difference between a black thread and a
red one.
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A ‘jiffy’ is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
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The growth rate of some bamboo plants can reach three feet (91.44 cm) per
day.
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Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your
heart.
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U.S. Interstates which go north-south are numbered sequentially starting
from the west with odd numbers, and Interstates which go east-west are
numbered sequentially starting from the south with even numbers.
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The phrase “rule of thumb” is derived from an old English law which stated
that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.
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Cranberry Jell-O is the only Jell-O flavor that comes from real fruit, not
artificial flavoring.
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The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
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‘Stewardesses’ is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand.
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101 Dalmatians and Peter Pan (Wendy ) are the only two Disney cartoon
features with both parents that are present and don’t die throughout the
movie.
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One of the longest English words that can be typed using the top row of a
typewriter (allowing multiple uses of letters) is ‘typewriter.’
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The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continually held sports event in the
United States (1875); the second oldest is the Westminster Kennel Club Dog
Show (1876.)
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AM and PM stand for “Ante-Meridian” and “Post-Meridian,” respectively, and
A.D. actually stands for “Anno Domini” rather than “After Death.”
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During conscription for WWII, there were nine documented cases of men with
three testicles.
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Ever think you’re hearing something in a song, but they’re really singing
something else? The word for mis-heard lyrics is ‘mondegreen,’ and it
comes from a folk song in the ’50’s. The singer was actually singing “They
slew the Earl of Morray and laid him on the green,” but this came off
sounding like ‘They slew the Earl of Morray and Lady Mondegreen.’
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Impotence is legal grounds for divorce in 24 American states.
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Some biblical scholars believe that Aramaic (the language of the ancient
Bible) did not contain an easy way to say “many things” and used a term
which has come down to us as 40. This means that when the bible — in many
places — refers to “40 days,” they meant many days.
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When a giraffe’s baby is born it falls from a height of six feet, normally
without being hurt.
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To “testify” was based on men in the Roman court swearing to a statement
made by swearing on their testicles.
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A group of unicorns is called a blessing.
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Twelve or more cows are known as a “flink.”
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A group of frogs is called an army.
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A group of rhinos is called a crash.
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A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
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A group of whales is called a pod.
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A group of geese is called a gaggle.
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A group of ravens is called a murder.
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A group of officers is called a mess.
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A group of larks is called an exaltation.
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A group of owls is called a parliament.
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The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
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Dartboards are made out of horsehairs.
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The nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosey" is a rhyme about the plague.
Infected people with the plague would get red circular sores (”Ring around
the rosey…”), these sores would smell very badly so common folks would put
flowers on their bodies somewhere (inconspicuously), so that it 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!”)
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The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time television were
Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
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Barbie’s measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33. (Are those
measurements worth diamond rings?)
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In the 1983 film “JAWS 3D” the shark blows up. Some of the shark guts were
stuffed animals (ET dolls) being sold at the time.
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The “huddle” in football was formed due a deaf football player who used
sign language to communicate and his team didn’t want the opposition to
see the signals he used and in turn huddled around him.
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111,111,111 multiplied by 111,111,111 equals 12,345,678,987,654,321.
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Iguanas and Komodo dragons don’t have two penises. In fact, they have a
single penis, but it is split in two (pretty much ‘Y’-shaped.) This organ
is known as a hemipenes. Snakes also share this interesting feature.
Apparently, the dual penis is for ease of left-handed or right-handed
mating.
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No animal, once frozen solid (i.e., water solidifies and turns to ice)
survives when thawed, because the ice crystals formed inside cells would
break open the cell membranes. However there are certain frogs that can
survive the experience of being frozen. These frogs make special proteins
which prevent the formation of ice (or at least keep the crystals from
becoming very large), so that they actually never freeze even though their
body temperature is below zero Celsius. The water in them remains liquid:
a phenomenon known as ’supercooling.’ If you disturb one of these frogs
(just touching them even), the water in them quickly freezes solid and
they die.
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The term, “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye” is from
Ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was, “No eye
gouging.” Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified
is to poke someone’s eye out. (Unfortunately progesterone wasn’t available
in Ancient Rome, so if you lost the match, you were still prone to eye
gouging from the wife.)
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Jethro Tull is not the name of the rock singer/flautist responsible for
such songs as “Aqualung” and “Thick as a Brick.” Jethro Tull is the name
of the band. The singer is Ian Anderson. The original Jethro Tull was an
English horticulturalist who invented the seed drill.
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Studies show that if a cat falls off the seventh floor of a building it
has about thirty percent less chance of surviving than a cat that falls
off the twentieth floor. It supposedly takes about eight floors for the
cat to realize what is occurring, relax and correct itself. At about that
height it hits maximum speed and when it hits the ground it’s rib cage
absorbs most of the impact. (Don’t try this. Just take our word for it.)
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Ivory bar soap floating was a mistake. They had been over-mixing the soap
formula causing excess air bubbles that made it float. Customers wrote and
told how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since.
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“Freelance” comes from a knight whose lance was free for hire, (i.e. not
pledged to one master.)
