Number of Bibles sold worldwide each minute: 50
Percent of the human population that is left-handed: 14% (up from 11% a century ago)
Percent of world population under age 25: 50%
Day of the week most babies are born in the U.S.: Tuesday
The United States has a larger military budget than the next 12 nations combined
Country with the most movie theaters: Russia
Country with the most movie-goers: Lebanon
Day of the week when you are most likely to be involved in a fatal car crash: Saturday
Most common speed limit on U.S. roads: 25 miles per hour
Average amount a bank teller in the U.S. loses each year in transaction mistakes: $250
Around the world, the number of checks that will be deducted from or posted to the wrong bank account in the next hour: 22,000
Number one cause of daytime fatigue: Lack of water
Number of Americans who claim Irish ancestry: 34.5 million (9 times the population of Ireland)
1 in 50 residents of New York City is all or part Irish
Number of astronomers in the U.S.: 3,500
Number of astrologers in the U.S.: 15,000
Percent of Americans who have spent a night in jail: 13%
Chance of a white Christmas in New York: 25%
Number of different familial relationships for which Hallmark makes a card: 105
Percent of Americans who have visited Disneyland or Disney World: 70%
Icelanders consume more Coca-Cola per capita than any other country
$203 million is spent on barbed wire in the U.S. each year
About 3 million American women have at least one tattoo
On average, a business document is photocopied 19 times
The Governor of Arkansas is paid the lowest salary of any U.S. governor
John F. Kennedy was the first U.S. president born in the 20th century
The inventor of the Thigh Master was once a Buddhist monk
Most people who read the word YAWNING will yawn
Oak trees are struck by lightning more than any other tree
Satellite monitoring has demonstrated that the U.S. has the most violent weather of all nations in the world -- the U.S. averages 10,000 violent storms, 5,000 floods, 1,000 tornadoes and 5 hurricanes each year
There are more bacteria in your mouth than people in the world
People with blue eyes are better able to see in the dark
Last two European countries to grant women the right to vote: Sweden-1971, and Leichtenstein-1984
Since 1976 in the U.S., more than 100 pizza box patents have been issued to inventors
Since 1950, world population has doubled
The dial tone on a standard land-based telephone is emitted in the key of F
HIGHEST LIFE EXPECTANCY RATES:
Andorra -- 83.5
Japan -- 82
San Marino, Singapore -- 81.8
Sweden, Austria, Switzerland -- 80.6
France -- 80.5
Iceland -- 80.4
Canada -- 80.3
No prime number greater than 5 ends in 5
NEWS FEED:
In October in Seminole, Florida, near Tampa, two men, ages 36 and 52, sitting on a porch, drew the attention of two passersby, who made derisive comments and eventually beat up the porch-sitters, who were in costumes as beer bottles for the upcoming Halloween holiday
Sixty-two percent of the 12 million people of Mumbai, India, live in slums, but the city is also home to Mukesh Ambani's 27-story private residence (37,000 square feet, 600 employees serving a family of five), reported to cost about $1billion. According to an October New York Times dispatch, there are "terraces upon terraces," "four-story hanging gardens," "airborne swimming pools," and a room where "artificial weather" can be created. Ambani and his brother inherited their father's textile-exporting juggernaut but notoriously spend much of their time in intra-family feuding. A local domestic worker told the Times (after noting that both she and Ambani are "human being[s]") that she has difficulty understanding why the Ambanis have so much while she struggles on the equivalent of $90 a month
Safari World, the well-known and controversial zoo on the outskirts of Bangkok, has previously stupefied the world by training orangutans to play basketball, ride motorbikes, and kickbox (while outfitted in martial-arts trunks). In a photo essay in November, London's Daily Mail showcased the park's most recent success--training elephants to tightrope-walk (where they prance on a reinforced cable for 15 meters and then, displaying astonishing balance, turn around on the wire)
In the United States, more than 4,450 activities are federal crimes, and 300,000 federal regulations carry potential criminal penalties, according to an October feature by McClatchy Newspapers, and to illustrate its point that Congress has gone overboard in creating "crimes," McClatchy pointed to a Miami, Fla., seafood importer. Abner Schoenwetter, 64, just finished a six-year stretch in prison for the crime of contracting to purchase lobster tails from a Honduran seller who federal authorities learned was violating lobster-harvest regulations
Performers in New York's traveling Bindlestiff Family Cirkus protested in October against political campaign language referring to Washington, D.C., as a "circus. Said Kinko the Clown, "Before you call anyone in Washington a clown, consider how hard a clown works"
"Tiririca" ("Grumpy"), a professional clown, was elected by resounding vote to the Brazilian Congress from Sao Paulo in October under the slogan "It Can't Get Any Worse"
In June, Britain's traveling John Lawson's Circus announced a series of counseling sessions for people who avoid circuses for fear of clowns. "Coulrophobia" is reportedly Britain's third-leading phobia, after spiders and needles
Monday, November 29, 2010
Monday, November 22, 2010
PATRIOT ACT
The tip of a fencing weapon is the second-fastest moving object in the Olympics - The fastest is a bullet
The notorious Roman emperor Nero also wanted to be a musician - He employed 5,000 knights and soldiers to accompany him on his concert tours just to applaud his lyre-playing
The antennae sticking out the head of a snail aren’t feelers, but their eyes that are located at the tips of those long stalks
Despite their proximity to the Equator, Mount Cotopaxi in South America and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa are both snow-capped year-round
Pythagoras, the philosopher and mathematician, did not discover the Pythagorean Theorem. Many math historians now believe that the Egyptians used the same theorem in their construction projects a hundred years before Pythagoras was born
The “french” in french fries actually describes the way the spuds are sliced, not their country of origin
Minnows have teeth in their throats
The cost of a first-class postage stamp during the American Bicentennial was thirteen cents — one for each of the original colonies
The word “pie” can be traced to the 13th century, but in the old days, the dessert was more commonly known as a “coffin” or “coffyn.” In fact, “coffin” was used in this context for 300 years before it was applied to a burial casket
Before writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, author J.R.R. Tolkien worked for the Oxford English Dictionary with a focus on the etymology of Germanic words beginning with W
At more than 3.3 million square miles, the Sahara Desert is as large as the world’s next 20 largest hot deserts combined
The word “upset” came into use for a surprise outcome when a horse named Upset became the first to ever beat the legendary Man O’War
In Monaco, citizens aren’t taxed on their incomes, but there is a 19.6% “value-added tax” placed on most consumer purchases
Other than tap water, coffee is the favorite beverage among adult Canadians, who reportedly consume an average of 2.6 cups per day
Thought to be the original fast-food, Genghis Khan and his hordes carried around flat patties of ground up mutton under their saddles to eat on the go
A group of rhinos is called a crash
LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, existed in the Middle Ages as “ergot,” a fungus that grew on rye bread. People in Europe referred to its effects “St. Anthony’s Fire”
The inventors of bubble wrap, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, were originally trying to make plastic wallpaper
Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952 but declined the offer... he was quoted as saying, "How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of goodwill! In such a place even I would be an ardent patriot."
Polar bears can grow to be over 10 feet tall (3.1 meters) and weigh 1500 pounds (680kg) - taller than an elephant and heavier than the average compact car
Foie gras is a delicacy made out of duck or goose liver. It is banned in Turkey, the European Union, and Israel due to a process called force-feeding. To make foie gras, birds are force-fed corn mash or some other type of food about 8 days before they are slaughtered in order to enlarge the liver and give it a fatty consistency - in 2005 foie gras was banned in Chicago, but the ban was lifted in 2008. Many states within the U.S. have attempted to have foie gras banned, but none have succeeded as of yet
In 1956, Disneyland opened its doors in the US, but banned male employees from having facial hair - It took until 2000 for the theme parks to renege on the policy, which now allows male employees to have neatly trimmed moustaches
NEWS FEED:
About 20 percent of Japan's adult-video market is now "elder porn" with each production featuring one or more studly seniors and Shigeo Tokuda, 76, among the most popular. He told Toronto's Globe and Mail in October that he still "performs physically without Viagra," in at least one role a month opposite much younger women. His wife and adult daughter learned only two years ago, by accident, of his late-onset career (which began at age 60 when a filmmaker hired him for his "pervert's face"). Tokuda figures the "elder porn" genre will grow with Japan's increasing senior population
In Afghanistan, as in many less-developed countries, boy babies are much preferred to girls for economic reasons and social status, but some thus-unlucky Afghan parents have developed a workaround for "excess" girls: simply designate one a boy. All references to her are male, and she dresses as a boy, plays "boy" games, and does "boy" chores, at least until puberty, when many parents of the "bocha posh" convert her back. In some tribal areas, according to a September New York Times dispatch, superstition holds that creation of a bocha posh even enhances prospects of the next child's being a boy
Cheerful, articulate Catholic Opus Dei official Sarah Cassidy, 43, granting a long interview to London's Daily Mail in September about her joy of life, waxed eloquent about bringing herself pain for two hours every night as reminders of God's love. Complained another Opus Dei "numerary," our "materialistic, hedonistic society" understands pain "if you go jogging and pounding the streets . . . just because you want to be thinner" (or endure Botox injections or cram your toes painfully into tiny shoes) but somehow they don't understand when Cassidy wraps the spiked "cilice" tightly around her leg every night for God
The charity Brain Injury New Zealand, organizing a community benefit in the town of Rotorua, decided in October to stage--of all things--a "zombie walk," inviting townspeople to shuffle around in support. The TV station TVNZ reported numerous complaints alleging BINZ's insensitivity
For months, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has been indifferent to humanitarian appeals on behalf of sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott, who were convicted in 1993 of luring two men to a robbery (total take, $11; no injuries) but who were each mysteriously sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. (The actual robbers got two years.) Beyond the questionable sentence is Jamie's extremely poor health (double kidney failure). Gov. Barbour's unyielding position is to direct the appeals to the state's parole board. In 2008, bypassing the parole board, Gov. Barbour independently pardoned four murderers who were serving life sentences, even though none had particularly claimed unfair conviction. The four had participated in a prison-sponsored odd-jobs program, helping out around the governor's mansion
The notorious Roman emperor Nero also wanted to be a musician - He employed 5,000 knights and soldiers to accompany him on his concert tours just to applaud his lyre-playing
The antennae sticking out the head of a snail aren’t feelers, but their eyes that are located at the tips of those long stalks
Despite their proximity to the Equator, Mount Cotopaxi in South America and Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa are both snow-capped year-round
Pythagoras, the philosopher and mathematician, did not discover the Pythagorean Theorem. Many math historians now believe that the Egyptians used the same theorem in their construction projects a hundred years before Pythagoras was born
The “french” in french fries actually describes the way the spuds are sliced, not their country of origin
Minnows have teeth in their throats
The cost of a first-class postage stamp during the American Bicentennial was thirteen cents — one for each of the original colonies
The word “pie” can be traced to the 13th century, but in the old days, the dessert was more commonly known as a “coffin” or “coffyn.” In fact, “coffin” was used in this context for 300 years before it was applied to a burial casket
Before writing The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, author J.R.R. Tolkien worked for the Oxford English Dictionary with a focus on the etymology of Germanic words beginning with W
Octopuses have rectangular pupils
At more than 3.3 million square miles, the Sahara Desert is as large as the world’s next 20 largest hot deserts combined
The word “upset” came into use for a surprise outcome when a horse named Upset became the first to ever beat the legendary Man O’War
In Monaco, citizens aren’t taxed on their incomes, but there is a 19.6% “value-added tax” placed on most consumer purchases
Other than tap water, coffee is the favorite beverage among adult Canadians, who reportedly consume an average of 2.6 cups per day
Thought to be the original fast-food, Genghis Khan and his hordes carried around flat patties of ground up mutton under their saddles to eat on the go
A group of rhinos is called a crash
LSD, Lysergic acid diethylamide, existed in the Middle Ages as “ergot,” a fungus that grew on rye bread. People in Europe referred to its effects “St. Anthony’s Fire”
The inventors of bubble wrap, Alfred Fielding and Marc Chavannes, were originally trying to make plastic wallpaper
The first VCR, developed by the Ampex Corporation in 1956, weighed nearly 1,500 lbs. It took another 15 years before a version small and light enough for home use hit the scene (Pictured below is the first commercialVCR, circa 1956)
Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952 but declined the offer... he was quoted as saying, "How I wish that somewhere there existed an island for those who are wise and of goodwill! In such a place even I would be an ardent patriot."
Polar bears can grow to be over 10 feet tall (3.1 meters) and weigh 1500 pounds (680kg) - taller than an elephant and heavier than the average compact car
Foie gras is a delicacy made out of duck or goose liver. It is banned in Turkey, the European Union, and Israel due to a process called force-feeding. To make foie gras, birds are force-fed corn mash or some other type of food about 8 days before they are slaughtered in order to enlarge the liver and give it a fatty consistency - in 2005 foie gras was banned in Chicago, but the ban was lifted in 2008. Many states within the U.S. have attempted to have foie gras banned, but none have succeeded as of yet
In 1956, Disneyland opened its doors in the US, but banned male employees from having facial hair - It took until 2000 for the theme parks to renege on the policy, which now allows male employees to have neatly trimmed moustaches
NEWS FEED:
About 20 percent of Japan's adult-video market is now "elder porn" with each production featuring one or more studly seniors and Shigeo Tokuda, 76, among the most popular. He told Toronto's Globe and Mail in October that he still "performs physically without Viagra," in at least one role a month opposite much younger women. His wife and adult daughter learned only two years ago, by accident, of his late-onset career (which began at age 60 when a filmmaker hired him for his "pervert's face"). Tokuda figures the "elder porn" genre will grow with Japan's increasing senior population
In Afghanistan, as in many less-developed countries, boy babies are much preferred to girls for economic reasons and social status, but some thus-unlucky Afghan parents have developed a workaround for "excess" girls: simply designate one a boy. All references to her are male, and she dresses as a boy, plays "boy" games, and does "boy" chores, at least until puberty, when many parents of the "bocha posh" convert her back. In some tribal areas, according to a September New York Times dispatch, superstition holds that creation of a bocha posh even enhances prospects of the next child's being a boy
Cheerful, articulate Catholic Opus Dei official Sarah Cassidy, 43, granting a long interview to London's Daily Mail in September about her joy of life, waxed eloquent about bringing herself pain for two hours every night as reminders of God's love. Complained another Opus Dei "numerary," our "materialistic, hedonistic society" understands pain "if you go jogging and pounding the streets . . . just because you want to be thinner" (or endure Botox injections or cram your toes painfully into tiny shoes) but somehow they don't understand when Cassidy wraps the spiked "cilice" tightly around her leg every night for God
The charity Brain Injury New Zealand, organizing a community benefit in the town of Rotorua, decided in October to stage--of all things--a "zombie walk," inviting townspeople to shuffle around in support. The TV station TVNZ reported numerous complaints alleging BINZ's insensitivity
For months, Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has been indifferent to humanitarian appeals on behalf of sisters Jamie and Gladys Scott, who were convicted in 1993 of luring two men to a robbery (total take, $11; no injuries) but who were each mysteriously sentenced to two consecutive life sentences. (The actual robbers got two years.) Beyond the questionable sentence is Jamie's extremely poor health (double kidney failure). Gov. Barbour's unyielding position is to direct the appeals to the state's parole board. In 2008, bypassing the parole board, Gov. Barbour independently pardoned four murderers who were serving life sentences, even though none had particularly claimed unfair conviction. The four had participated in a prison-sponsored odd-jobs program, helping out around the governor's mansion
Monday, November 15, 2010
HOT AND COLD
The first British bungee jump occurred on April Fool’s Day, 1979. Dressed in a tux and hugging a bottle of champagne, 33-year-old David Kirke did a back-flip off the Clifton Suspension Bridge in Bristol. The crowd, who thought they were witnessing a suicide attempt, watched him plunge 250 feet toward the Avon, but to their surprise, never saw him hit water when the bungee eventually flung him up and down instead - he was arrested for the stunt once untethered from the bungee cord
In the 1950s David Attenborough and a BBC film crew brought back footage of the "land divers" of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, young men who jumped from tall wooden platforms with vines tied to their ankles as a test of their courage and passage into manhood. A similar practice, only with a much slower pace for falling, has been practiced as the Danza de los Voladores de Papantla or the 'Papantla flyers' of central Mexico, a tradition dating back to the days of the Aztecs
The bikini style bathing suit was named for the Bikini atoll in the Pacific. When the suit debuted on July 5, 1946, it was named for the island on which nuclear testing was commenced by the US only 4 days earlier. The suit was so scandalous that a Parisian stripper, Micheline Bernardini, had to be hired to model it
The human bone most often broken is the clavicle (collar bone)
During the Great Depression couples could neither afford to become wed, nor to divorce - Not surprisingly, both numbers spiked highly following World War II. In the United States during the current recession, divorce and marriage rates are both on the decline with the falling rates being taken as an economic indicator
Stephanie Kwolik invented Kevlar in 1965, the material used in bulletproof vests
When Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, the 110°F temperatures melted the asphalt on Main Street and caused many high-heeled shoes to become stuck in the pavement
In 1557, European doctors recommended smoking to combat bad breath and cancer
The concept of “community service” as a form of probation originated in Alameda County, California, in 1966. It was first used as an alternative “punishment” for female traffic violators
Spiders use their silk in many ways. Aside from building webs (which each spider does on its first try, suggesting inherited behavior), some species of male spiders wrap food in silk and present these “presents” to females - (Pictured below is a large spider web shimmering in the sun with morning dew)
Not a single witch was burned at the stake after being convicted in the Salem witch trials - most were hanged
Nearly $40 billion in U.S. coins are currently in circulation
The first US president to earn a PhD was Woodrow Wilson - the first US president born in a hospital was Jimmy Carter
Marie Curie’s notebooks are still radioactive - she is the chemist and physicist who was the first person ever awarded two Nobel Prizes, the first female professor at the University of Paris, and the first to discover radium
During the year 1881, three men served as President of the United States: Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield and Chester A. Arthur
Blue eyes are the result of an ancient genetic mutation
Swearing to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” dates back to English Common Law. Interestingly enough, there were no penalties for perjury until the 1600s; prior to that time, it was believed that the fear of God’s wrath was enough to keep witnesses honest
Habitual singing causes the lungs to release leptin, a protein manufactured by the body’s fat cells that is involved in the regulation of appetite - This may partially explain why opera stars tend to be overweight
During World War II, Navajo Indians were inducted into the Marine Corps to become “code talkers” on the front lines. Navajo Code Talkers prove to have the only code that was never cracked during World War II
NBC was the first network to pioneer the “credit squeeze.” They started the trend in 1994 by showing the closing credit scroll in a split-screen format, with the right half of the screen filled with station promos and clips from upcoming programs
Only 17 existing paintings are attributed to famed artist Leonardo da Vinci
“Iron Eyes Cody” the famous Native American icon from the Keep America Beautiful public service announcements in the early 1970s was actually Italian
Ronald Reagan’s first Inauguration Day (Jan. 20, 1981) was the warmest January inauguration on record, at 55°F. When reelected, his second Inauguration Day (Jan. 21, 1985) was the coldest on record, at only 7°F
NEWS FEED:
Ingrid Paulicivic filed a lawsuit in September against Laguna Beach, California, gynecologist Red Alinsod over leg burns she bafflingly acquired during her 2009 hysterectomy--a procedure that was topped off by the doctor's nearly gratuitous name-"branding" of her uterus with his electrocautery tool. Dr. Alinsod explained that he carved "Ingrid" in inch-high letters on the organ only after he had removed it and that such labeling helps in the event a woman requests the return of the uterus as a souvenir. He called the branding just a "friendly gesture" and said he did not know how the burns on Paulicivic's leg occurred
Convicted Pennsylvania embezzler Lanette Sansoni pleaded guilty in August and agreed to reimburse the victim the remaining $200,000 of the $475,000 she had stolen. Judge Joseph Smyth then sentenced Sansoni to house arrest--for 21 years. She can remain out of jail as long as she works and contributes at least $750 a month for restitution
In the 1950s David Attenborough and a BBC film crew brought back footage of the "land divers" of Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, young men who jumped from tall wooden platforms with vines tied to their ankles as a test of their courage and passage into manhood. A similar practice, only with a much slower pace for falling, has been practiced as the Danza de los Voladores de Papantla or the 'Papantla flyers' of central Mexico, a tradition dating back to the days of the Aztecs
The bikini style bathing suit was named for the Bikini atoll in the Pacific. When the suit debuted on July 5, 1946, it was named for the island on which nuclear testing was commenced by the US only 4 days earlier. The suit was so scandalous that a Parisian stripper, Micheline Bernardini, had to be hired to model it
The human bone most often broken is the clavicle (collar bone)
During the Great Depression couples could neither afford to become wed, nor to divorce - Not surprisingly, both numbers spiked highly following World War II. In the United States during the current recession, divorce and marriage rates are both on the decline with the falling rates being taken as an economic indicator
Stephanie Kwolik invented Kevlar in 1965, the material used in bulletproof vests
When Disneyland opened on July 17, 1955, the 110°F temperatures melted the asphalt on Main Street and caused many high-heeled shoes to become stuck in the pavement
In 1557, European doctors recommended smoking to combat bad breath and cancer
The concept of “community service” as a form of probation originated in Alameda County, California, in 1966. It was first used as an alternative “punishment” for female traffic violators
Spiders use their silk in many ways. Aside from building webs (which each spider does on its first try, suggesting inherited behavior), some species of male spiders wrap food in silk and present these “presents” to females - (Pictured below is a large spider web shimmering in the sun with morning dew)
Not a single witch was burned at the stake after being convicted in the Salem witch trials - most were hanged
Nearly $40 billion in U.S. coins are currently in circulation
The first US president to earn a PhD was Woodrow Wilson - the first US president born in a hospital was Jimmy Carter
Marie Curie’s notebooks are still radioactive - she is the chemist and physicist who was the first person ever awarded two Nobel Prizes, the first female professor at the University of Paris, and the first to discover radium
During the year 1881, three men served as President of the United States: Rutherford B. Hayes, James Garfield and Chester A. Arthur
Blue eyes are the result of an ancient genetic mutation
Swearing to tell “the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” dates back to English Common Law. Interestingly enough, there were no penalties for perjury until the 1600s; prior to that time, it was believed that the fear of God’s wrath was enough to keep witnesses honest
Habitual singing causes the lungs to release leptin, a protein manufactured by the body’s fat cells that is involved in the regulation of appetite - This may partially explain why opera stars tend to be overweight
During World War II, Navajo Indians were inducted into the Marine Corps to become “code talkers” on the front lines. Navajo Code Talkers prove to have the only code that was never cracked during World War II
NBC was the first network to pioneer the “credit squeeze.” They started the trend in 1994 by showing the closing credit scroll in a split-screen format, with the right half of the screen filled with station promos and clips from upcoming programs
Only 17 existing paintings are attributed to famed artist Leonardo da Vinci
“Iron Eyes Cody” the famous Native American icon from the Keep America Beautiful public service announcements in the early 1970s was actually Italian
Ronald Reagan’s first Inauguration Day (Jan. 20, 1981) was the warmest January inauguration on record, at 55°F. When reelected, his second Inauguration Day (Jan. 21, 1985) was the coldest on record, at only 7°F
The Red Sea got its name from the occasionally extensive blooms of algae that, upon dying, turn the sea's normally intense blue-green waters to red
Two rats can become the progenitors of 15,000 rats in less than a year
Poi, a Hawaiian/Polynesian dip, is made by cooking breadfruit, sweet potatoes, bananas, or taro root until it is soft enough to mash with water in a bowl. Cooked taro is very firm and has to be mashed with a strong hand. In earlier times, a stone and a pounding board would be used to mash it. Traditionally, Hawaiians preferred to let poi stand for a few days until it fermented and turned sour
The National Fresh Water Fishing Hall of Fame in Hayward, Wisconsin is shaped like a muskie
The Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History houses the world's largest shell collection, some 15 million specimens. A smaller museum in Sanibel, Florida owns a mere 2 million shells and claims to be the world's only museum devoted solely to mollusks
Mother prairie dogs will nurse their young only while underground in the safety of the burrow. If an infant tries to suckle above ground, the mother will slap it
On August 12, 1895, Minnie Dean became the first woman to be hanged in New Zealand. Her crime was "baby farming." She would adopt unwanted babies for a certain fee and then dispose of them, a "service" she began in 1889. The police caught on to Minnie after six years and found her to be most certainly guilty when they dug up three bodies of infants in her flower garden
NEWS FEED:
Ingrid Paulicivic filed a lawsuit in September against Laguna Beach, California, gynecologist Red Alinsod over leg burns she bafflingly acquired during her 2009 hysterectomy--a procedure that was topped off by the doctor's nearly gratuitous name-"branding" of her uterus with his electrocautery tool. Dr. Alinsod explained that he carved "Ingrid" in inch-high letters on the organ only after he had removed it and that such labeling helps in the event a woman requests the return of the uterus as a souvenir. He called the branding just a "friendly gesture" and said he did not know how the burns on Paulicivic's leg occurred
Convicted Pennsylvania embezzler Lanette Sansoni pleaded guilty in August and agreed to reimburse the victim the remaining $200,000 of the $475,000 she had stolen. Judge Joseph Smyth then sentenced Sansoni to house arrest--for 21 years. She can remain out of jail as long as she works and contributes at least $750 a month for restitution
Monday, November 8, 2010
GIN AND JUICE
An infant human has about 300 bones, some of which fuse together as the youngster grows up - An adult human’s body typically contains 206 bones
To assemble the Wizard’s wardrobe for The Wizard of Oz, MGM costumers shopped at thrift stores to find clothes that projected “shabby gentility.” In an incredible coincidence, the previous owner of the coat they purchased was Wizard of Oz writer L. Frank Baum
When he died in 1977, Elvis Presley had $1,055,173.69 in a non-interest-bearing checking account
Chemotherapy drugs are designed to kill any rapidly dividing cells. Human hair follicles are some of the fastest-growing cells in the body, which is why most cancer patients lose their hair during treatment
The only state highway in the U.S. that prohibits motorized vehicles is M-185 on Mackinaw Island in Michigan. You can travel on foot, bicycle or horse
The first bumper stickers appeared prior to World War II and usually promoted political candidates. At that time, they weren’t adhesive-backed; they were affixed to the car bumper with wire
The state fish of Hawaii is the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. The Hawaiian name roughly translates to “the fish with a pig-like nose” - It's English name is the Reef Triggerfish
The last state to ban eugenics based castration was Oregon in 1983 - The last castration took place in 1978. A woman died in the program during a hysterectomy at age 29 in 1975. Eugenics, in the broadest sense, means taking action to improve the human gene pool, but often meant practices that aimed to rid societies of people of color, people with disabilities, and people deemed less intelligent
The two busiest commercial ports in the United States do not border the Atlantic or Pacific, but the Gulf of Mexico: They’re in New Orleans and Houston
The Beach Boys were the founders of "surf rock"; however, only Dennis Wilson knew how to surf, and he died of drowning in 1983
A cricket’s ears aren’t located on its head, but just above the knee on its front legs
The Pony Express only lasted a single year before the transcontinental telegraph made the route unnecessary
Stephen Perry patented his idea for the rubber band in 1845 - The London businessman came up with the invention after Charles Goodyear introduced rubber to the world in 1839
Chocolate chip cookies were made by mistake when the chocolate in the cookie did not melt properly
The United Kingdom was the first nation to issue adhesive postage stamps; as a result, today British postage stamps are the only ones in the world that do not indicate their country of origin
Henri Breault, a pediatrician from Windsor, Ontario, invented the child-resistant medicine cap in 1967
The first registered domain name was symbolics.com, registered on March 15, 1985
The first documented bank notes come from China. The bills were one-foot-square pieces of white deerskin with colorful borders, and were used as early as 118 BC
Within an hour’s drive of Neuquén in southwestern Argentina lie three important paleontologic sites, each home to record-breaking finds from about 90 million years ago, including Argentinosaurus huinculensis, considered the world’s largest dinosaur (coming in at 130 feet long and 60 feet tall), Giganotosaurus carolinii, thought to be the world’s largest carnivorous dinosaur (46 feet long), and fossilized footprints so large that locals once used them as community barbeque pits
Octopuses have no bones, their bodies are incredibly flexible - They can slither through openings not much bigger than their eyeballs
If a foreign-born female gives birth on an airplane in U.S. airspace, or on a ship within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. coast, her child automatically becomes a U.S. citizen - citizenship is not conferred to the parents
Opossums are the only marsupials native to North America
Although both aardvarks and anteaters feed on ants, they’re members of different families and live in different areas of the world - anteaters are found in Central and South America, while aardvarks are native to Africa
Although oil is known as “black gold,” it isn’t black to begin with - When it spurts from the ground, crude is most often dark green
Jupiter has 63 moons
Today, about five percent of the entire U.S. potato crop goes to make McDonald’s French fries
Pearls dissolve in vinegar
In the 1920’s and early 1930’s, French surgeon Serge Voronoff perfected the technique of transplanting testicle tissue from various primates into men, supposedly to increase longevity and sex drive. Discredited by the 1940’s, the once-fashionable procedure had a cocktail named after it: the ‘Monkey Gland’ (gin, orange juice, grenadine and absinthe)
NEWS FEED:
In September 2010, the Romanian Senate rejected a proposal by two legislators to regulate, and tax, fortune-tellers and "witches," even though the government is otherwise desperately seeking new sources of revenue. A prominent witch had complained about potential record-keeping burdens on the "profession," but one of the bill's sponsors told the Associated Press he thinks opposition came from lawmakers who were frightened of having spells and curses placed on them
As an alternative to the surgical scalpel, zapping a penis with electricity can produce a cleaner cut and with much less blood, according to a team of doctors from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in Taiwan. Best of all, their July report noted, since the experiments were too risky for ordinary test volunteers, they performed all procedures on themselves
To assemble the Wizard’s wardrobe for The Wizard of Oz, MGM costumers shopped at thrift stores to find clothes that projected “shabby gentility.” In an incredible coincidence, the previous owner of the coat they purchased was Wizard of Oz writer L. Frank Baum
When he died in 1977, Elvis Presley had $1,055,173.69 in a non-interest-bearing checking account
Chemotherapy drugs are designed to kill any rapidly dividing cells. Human hair follicles are some of the fastest-growing cells in the body, which is why most cancer patients lose their hair during treatment
The only state highway in the U.S. that prohibits motorized vehicles is M-185 on Mackinaw Island in Michigan. You can travel on foot, bicycle or horse
The first bumper stickers appeared prior to World War II and usually promoted political candidates. At that time, they weren’t adhesive-backed; they were affixed to the car bumper with wire
The state fish of Hawaii is the humuhumunukunukuapua’a. The Hawaiian name roughly translates to “the fish with a pig-like nose” - It's English name is the Reef Triggerfish
The last state to ban eugenics based castration was Oregon in 1983 - The last castration took place in 1978. A woman died in the program during a hysterectomy at age 29 in 1975. Eugenics, in the broadest sense, means taking action to improve the human gene pool, but often meant practices that aimed to rid societies of people of color, people with disabilities, and people deemed less intelligent
The two busiest commercial ports in the United States do not border the Atlantic or Pacific, but the Gulf of Mexico: They’re in New Orleans and Houston
The Beach Boys were the founders of "surf rock"; however, only Dennis Wilson knew how to surf, and he died of drowning in 1983
A cricket’s ears aren’t located on its head, but just above the knee on its front legs
The Pony Express only lasted a single year before the transcontinental telegraph made the route unnecessary
Stephen Perry patented his idea for the rubber band in 1845 - The London businessman came up with the invention after Charles Goodyear introduced rubber to the world in 1839
Chocolate chip cookies were made by mistake when the chocolate in the cookie did not melt properly
The United Kingdom was the first nation to issue adhesive postage stamps; as a result, today British postage stamps are the only ones in the world that do not indicate their country of origin
Henri Breault, a pediatrician from Windsor, Ontario, invented the child-resistant medicine cap in 1967
The first registered domain name was symbolics.com, registered on March 15, 1985
The first documented bank notes come from China. The bills were one-foot-square pieces of white deerskin with colorful borders, and were used as early as 118 BC
Within an hour’s drive of Neuquén in southwestern Argentina lie three important paleontologic sites, each home to record-breaking finds from about 90 million years ago, including Argentinosaurus huinculensis, considered the world’s largest dinosaur (coming in at 130 feet long and 60 feet tall), Giganotosaurus carolinii, thought to be the world’s largest carnivorous dinosaur (46 feet long), and fossilized footprints so large that locals once used them as community barbeque pits
Octopuses have no bones, their bodies are incredibly flexible - They can slither through openings not much bigger than their eyeballs
If a foreign-born female gives birth on an airplane in U.S. airspace, or on a ship within 12 nautical miles of the U.S. coast, her child automatically becomes a U.S. citizen - citizenship is not conferred to the parents
Opossums are the only marsupials native to North America
Although both aardvarks and anteaters feed on ants, they’re members of different families and live in different areas of the world - anteaters are found in Central and South America, while aardvarks are native to Africa
Although oil is known as “black gold,” it isn’t black to begin with - When it spurts from the ground, crude is most often dark green
Jupiter has 63 moons
Today, about five percent of the entire U.S. potato crop goes to make McDonald’s French fries
Pearls dissolve in vinegar
In the 1920’s and early 1930’s, French surgeon Serge Voronoff perfected the technique of transplanting testicle tissue from various primates into men, supposedly to increase longevity and sex drive. Discredited by the 1940’s, the once-fashionable procedure had a cocktail named after it: the ‘Monkey Gland’ (gin, orange juice, grenadine and absinthe)
NEWS FEED:
In September 2010, the Romanian Senate rejected a proposal by two legislators to regulate, and tax, fortune-tellers and "witches," even though the government is otherwise desperately seeking new sources of revenue. A prominent witch had complained about potential record-keeping burdens on the "profession," but one of the bill's sponsors told the Associated Press he thinks opposition came from lawmakers who were frightened of having spells and curses placed on them
As an alternative to the surgical scalpel, zapping a penis with electricity can produce a cleaner cut and with much less blood, according to a team of doctors from the Institute of Biomedical Engineering in Taiwan. Best of all, their July report noted, since the experiments were too risky for ordinary test volunteers, they performed all procedures on themselves
Monday, November 1, 2010
DRINK TO THAT!
The only U.S. president to have been the head of a union was Ronald Reagan, who became US President in 1980 and had president of the Screen Actors Guild when he was still an actor
Invented in the 1940s in Tennessee, Mountain Dew was meant to be mixed with whiskey. In fact, its bottles were designed to look like moonshine, and the original Mountain Dew labels featured outhouses, stills, and hay-chewing yokels
While Antarctica is very cold, it’s not all ice and snow - About 1,200 square miles of the continent are made up of “dry valleys,” where mountains and ridges keep out any precipitation
The celery stick garnish became a staple of the Bloody Mary only after an impatient patron at Chicago’s Pump Room couldn’t wait for his server to bring him a swizzle stick. He took matters into his own hands and snatched a celery stalk from a nearby relish tray
In the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, Ariel and her sassy crab friend, Sebastian, overcome the wicked sea witch, and Ariel swims off to marry the man of her dreams. In the original tale, however, the mermaid’s fins-for-feet exchange comes at a price- namely, that every step on her new legs causes her excruciating pain - And in the end, the prince marries someone else
Queen Victoria used a tincture of marijuana to relieve menstrual pains
Contrary to popular belief, a camel’s hump does not store water. Instead, it’s filled with fat, which allows the animal to go for a month without food. If the hump becomes depleted, it will shrink, flop over, and hang at the camel’s side
Every diamond above ground is very, very slowly altering into graphite, another form of pure carbon
William Wrigley originally started in the baking powder business. With his powder, he gave a free pack of his gum. He later abandoned the baking powder business when he learned that people were buying it just to get the gum
Although the word “earthling” today conjures visions of science-fiction stories, it is actually the Old English word for a farmer
Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, owned more than 3,000 of shoes
Near the event horizon of a black hole (the boundary in spacetime surrounding said black hole), ’spaghettification’ will occur, stretching matter into thin strips
Two of America’s greatest national symbols were made overseas: The Liberty Bell was cast in England, and the Statue of Liberty was crafted in France
If an Oscar winner has any inklings about selling his/her statue, it must first be offered to the Academy who can purchase it for $1
In 1944, as a WWII war correspondent, Ernest Hemingway led Free French resistance fighters in the defense of the town of Rambouillet, an act for which he was almost tried under the Geneva Conventions
In the classic movie-musical, The Wizard of Oz, the many-hued Horse of a Different Color that leads Dorothy and gang through the Emerald City wasn’t actually painted. Instead, animal rights activists advocated that the white horse be sponged with different flavors (and colors) of gelatin and then physically restrained from licking it off
The North Pole is not considered a continent like the South Pole because the ice of the North Pole floats on the ocean, while the ice of the South Pole sits on actual ground – the continent of Antarctica
About 39,000 gallons of water are used to produce the average car
Cheesecake was invented in Ancient Greece and served to athletes at the very first Olympic Games
The first plastic-bodied car was manufactured in 1941 by Ford
In Ireland, Jack O’Lanterns were once carved from turnips
When table tennis was originally created in 1889, it was called gossima - in the US, it is commonly known as "ping-pong"
Chimpanzees are excellent tool makers and have been documented to make very primitive spears to kill bush babies hiding in the trees during the night
Only one breed of dog is mentioned by name in the Bible: the Greyhound. (Proverbs 30:29-31, King James Version)
Sleeping through the winter is called hibernation, while sleeping through hot and dry periods like summer is called estivation
The song “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash was actually written by Shel Silverstein who also wrote “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “The Giving Tree” children’s books. The song was recorded at San Quentin Prison in California and became Cash’s biggest hit
Billiards was once a lawn game played outdoors, which is why today’s pool tables have a green felt cover
Each year, about 450 men die of breast cancer in the US
In Paris, there are more dogs than there are children
Fish can taste with their fins and tail as well as their mouth
NEWS FEED:
Eugene Palmer, 40, wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun, was arrested in Brunswick, Georgia, in March as he tried to rush into a SunTrust bank during business hours but became frustrated by the locked doors--in that it was a drive-thru-only branch
After surveying 374 waitresses, Professor Michael Lynn, who teaches marketing and tourism at Cornell University, concluded that customers left larger tips to those with certain physical characteristics such as being slender, being blond, or having big breasts. Lynn told the Cornell Daily Sun in May that his study was important in helping potential waitresses gauge their "prospects in the industry"
University of Central Lancashire (England) researchers writing in a recent Archives of Sexual Behavior reported that women achieve orgasm more often during foreplay than intercourse but that they more frequently emit orgasm-signaling "vocalizations" just before, or simultaneously with, male ejaculation
To most, the toilet is a functional appliance, but to thoughtful people, it can be an instrument upon which creativity blossoms. Thus, the price tags were high this summer when commodes belonging to two literary giants of the 20th century went on sale. In August, a gaudily designed toilet from John Lennon's 1969-71 residence in Berkshire, England, fetched 9,500 pounds (about $14,740) at a Liverpool auction, and a North Carolina collectibles dealer opened bids on the toilet that long served reclusive author J.D. Salinger at his home in Cornish, N.H. The dealer's initial price was $1 million because, "Who knows how many of Salinger's stories were thought up and written while [he] sat on this throne!"
Invented in the 1940s in Tennessee, Mountain Dew was meant to be mixed with whiskey. In fact, its bottles were designed to look like moonshine, and the original Mountain Dew labels featured outhouses, stills, and hay-chewing yokels
While Antarctica is very cold, it’s not all ice and snow - About 1,200 square miles of the continent are made up of “dry valleys,” where mountains and ridges keep out any precipitation
The celery stick garnish became a staple of the Bloody Mary only after an impatient patron at Chicago’s Pump Room couldn’t wait for his server to bring him a swizzle stick. He took matters into his own hands and snatched a celery stalk from a nearby relish tray
In the Disney version of The Little Mermaid, Ariel and her sassy crab friend, Sebastian, overcome the wicked sea witch, and Ariel swims off to marry the man of her dreams. In the original tale, however, the mermaid’s fins-for-feet exchange comes at a price- namely, that every step on her new legs causes her excruciating pain - And in the end, the prince marries someone else
Queen Victoria used a tincture of marijuana to relieve menstrual pains
Contrary to popular belief, a camel’s hump does not store water. Instead, it’s filled with fat, which allows the animal to go for a month without food. If the hump becomes depleted, it will shrink, flop over, and hang at the camel’s side
Every diamond above ground is very, very slowly altering into graphite, another form of pure carbon
William Wrigley originally started in the baking powder business. With his powder, he gave a free pack of his gum. He later abandoned the baking powder business when he learned that people were buying it just to get the gum
Although the word “earthling” today conjures visions of science-fiction stories, it is actually the Old English word for a farmer
Imelda Marcos, the former first lady of the Philippines, owned more than 3,000 of shoes
Near the event horizon of a black hole (the boundary in spacetime surrounding said black hole), ’spaghettification’ will occur, stretching matter into thin strips
Two of America’s greatest national symbols were made overseas: The Liberty Bell was cast in England, and the Statue of Liberty was crafted in France
If an Oscar winner has any inklings about selling his/her statue, it must first be offered to the Academy who can purchase it for $1
In 1944, as a WWII war correspondent, Ernest Hemingway led Free French resistance fighters in the defense of the town of Rambouillet, an act for which he was almost tried under the Geneva Conventions
In the classic movie-musical, The Wizard of Oz, the many-hued Horse of a Different Color that leads Dorothy and gang through the Emerald City wasn’t actually painted. Instead, animal rights activists advocated that the white horse be sponged with different flavors (and colors) of gelatin and then physically restrained from licking it off
The North Pole is not considered a continent like the South Pole because the ice of the North Pole floats on the ocean, while the ice of the South Pole sits on actual ground – the continent of Antarctica
About 39,000 gallons of water are used to produce the average car
Cheesecake was invented in Ancient Greece and served to athletes at the very first Olympic Games
The first plastic-bodied car was manufactured in 1941 by Ford
In Ireland, Jack O’Lanterns were once carved from turnips
When table tennis was originally created in 1889, it was called gossima - in the US, it is commonly known as "ping-pong"
Chimpanzees are excellent tool makers and have been documented to make very primitive spears to kill bush babies hiding in the trees during the night
Only one breed of dog is mentioned by name in the Bible: the Greyhound. (Proverbs 30:29-31, King James Version)
Sleeping through the winter is called hibernation, while sleeping through hot and dry periods like summer is called estivation
The song “A Boy Named Sue” by Johnny Cash was actually written by Shel Silverstein who also wrote “Where the Sidewalk Ends” and “The Giving Tree” children’s books. The song was recorded at San Quentin Prison in California and became Cash’s biggest hit
Billiards was once a lawn game played outdoors, which is why today’s pool tables have a green felt cover
Each year, about 450 men die of breast cancer in the US
In Paris, there are more dogs than there are children
Fish can taste with their fins and tail as well as their mouth
NEWS FEED:
Eugene Palmer, 40, wearing a ski mask and carrying a gun, was arrested in Brunswick, Georgia, in March as he tried to rush into a SunTrust bank during business hours but became frustrated by the locked doors--in that it was a drive-thru-only branch
After surveying 374 waitresses, Professor Michael Lynn, who teaches marketing and tourism at Cornell University, concluded that customers left larger tips to those with certain physical characteristics such as being slender, being blond, or having big breasts. Lynn told the Cornell Daily Sun in May that his study was important in helping potential waitresses gauge their "prospects in the industry"
University of Central Lancashire (England) researchers writing in a recent Archives of Sexual Behavior reported that women achieve orgasm more often during foreplay than intercourse but that they more frequently emit orgasm-signaling "vocalizations" just before, or simultaneously with, male ejaculation
To most, the toilet is a functional appliance, but to thoughtful people, it can be an instrument upon which creativity blossoms. Thus, the price tags were high this summer when commodes belonging to two literary giants of the 20th century went on sale. In August, a gaudily designed toilet from John Lennon's 1969-71 residence in Berkshire, England, fetched 9,500 pounds (about $14,740) at a Liverpool auction, and a North Carolina collectibles dealer opened bids on the toilet that long served reclusive author J.D. Salinger at his home in Cornish, N.H. The dealer's initial price was $1 million because, "Who knows how many of Salinger's stories were thought up and written while [he] sat on this throne!"
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
