Thursday, July 31, 2008

I Did Not Know That...

I love lists. I admit it. Sometimes, I find myself looking at lists for hours at a time while I sit in Coffee Underground or at my apartment. I especially like fun lists that are specifically opinion based. Entertainment Weekly online always has great lists. They have everything from the top 25 Rock Albums to 50 of the Greatest Movie Villians. I love it. Many times I disagree, but it is still a treat to read.

Every now and then a list comes around that is not opinion based, but quite factual. And, believe me, those are fun too. Especially if they are little known facts. So, I share this list with you. Enjoy it. I shared some already with Russell and Kate. We had some very interesting conversations. A particular one centered around #8...

THINGS YOU SHOULD KNOW BUT PROBABLY DON'T
1. Money isn't made out of paper, it's made out of cotton.
2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.
3. The dot over the letter 'i' is called a 'tittle'.
4. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.
5. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
6. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.
7. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.
8. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents, daily.
9. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.
10. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
11. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
12. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.
13. Ketchup was sold in the 1830's as medicine.
14. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the upper case' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.
15. Leonardo Da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time, hence, multi-tasking was invented.
16. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.
17. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.
18. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan; there was never a recorded Wendy before!
19. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple, and silver!
20. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.
21. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will make it instantly go mad and sting itself to death.
22. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original 'Halloween' was a Captain Kirk's mask painted white.
23. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
24. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand.
25. 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.
26. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.
27. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with. It's the same with apples.
28. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!
29. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher..
30. Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries.
31. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit damages it.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Ok BRock, I had to chuckle at the last one :-)