Tuesday Trivia [delayed brodcast version]

Oh, my gosh! I forgot to set up Trivia for today! Here goes ....

Since I didn't take time to research a topic, this is a conglomeration of miscellaneous trivia tidbits that I've stored. They didn't seem to fit in any of my categories, but I thought they were interesting enough to hang onto. If you're wondering about something, it just might be here!

The five most stolen items in a drugstore are batteries, cosmetics, film, sunglasses, and Preparation H. One of Preparation H's main ingredient is shark liver oil. The oil not only helps shrink hemorrhoids, but will shrink any tissue. [I could spin a funny story about those items!]

The phrase "Often a bridesmaid but never a bride" actually comes from an advertisement for Listerine mouthwash. The text was written by Milton Feasley and first appeared in 1925. The advertisement was so successful that it ran for more than ten years.

Armored knights raised their visors to identify themselves when they rode past their king. This custom has become the modern military salute.

At the height of its power, in 400 BC, the Greek city of Sparta had 25,000 citizens and 500,000 slaves.

Captain Cook lost 41 of his 98 crew to scurvy (a lack of vitamin C) on his first voyage to the South Pacific in 1768. By 1795 the importance of eating citrus was realized, and lemon juice was issued on all British Navy ships.

In 1947, Toys for Tots started making the holidays a little happier for children by organizing its first Christmas toy drive for needy youngsters.

On April 12, 1938, the state of New York passed a law requiring medical tests for marriage license applicants, the first state to do so. [Is this still done? I don't remember taking a test when I married the second hub in 1974.]

President George Washington created the Order of the Purple Heart in 1782. It's a decoration to recognize merit in enlisted men and non-commissioned officers.

Michigan has the longest-inland shoreline. It's more than 3,100 miles of freshwater shoreline includes four of the five Great Lakes - Michigan, Superior, Huron, and Erie. [Quick, name the missing lake!]

If you were to take a square inch column of the air extending six hundred miles above the earth, its weight and pressure exerted on the earth at sea level would be 14.7 lbs. This is called atmospheric pressure.

The Taliban ordered demolition experts to blow up the Great Buddhas of Bamiyan, carved in the 5th century. At 175 feet and 120 feet, the twin monuments were two of Asia's greatest archeological treasures. [Such a sad loss.]

RICE - According to Shinto belief, the Emperor of Japan is the living embodiment of the god of the ripened rice plant, Ninigo-no-mikoto.

RHUBARB - Its primary function was to induce vomiting, although rhubarb is also a mild astringent. This medicinal role caused the price of the dried root to rise. In 1542, rhubarb sold for ten times the price of cinnamon in France and in 1657 rhubarb sold for over twice the price of opium in England.

SHRIMP - Some 40% of the shrimp eaten in the U.S. is farmed raised shrimp from Asia and South America. World shrimp production is over 5 billion pounds a year, about 20 % of which is farmed.

Any month that starts on a Sunday will have a Friday the13th in it.

Easter is the first Sunday after the first Full Moon after March 21.

During pregnancy, the average woman's uterus expands up to five hundred times its normal size. [Ouch! OK, guys, what organ in your bodies can do that?]

The average home size in the United States is now 2,200 square feet, up from 1,400 square feet in 1970, according to the National Association of Home Builders. [Like we need that much space when the average family spends less than 1/2 of their time at home these days.]

In 1957, the Shipping port Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. It was taken out of service in 1982.

The last thing to happen is the ultimate. The next-to-last is the penultimate, and the second-to-last is the antepenultimate.

The first trans-Atlantic cable message was sent on August 16, 1858 and said "Europe and America are united by telegraph. Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace and good will towards men."

Ian Fleming, creator of the James Bond adventure novels also wrote "Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang". [I didn't know that!!]

What is usually considered to be the first modern battery was created by Alessandro Volta in 1800, but a device for storing an electrical charge was discovered in Iraq and is estimated to have been invented around 200 BC.

The Fab Four: The Beatles played Shea Stadium in New York City on August 15, 1965 playing for 35 minutes and sang 12 songs in front of 56,000 fans. They were paid $160,000. [Can you imagine that?]

Old Glory: There were 15 stripes on the official American flag before Congress passed a law forever setting the number to 13. The number had increased to 15 in 1795 to include Kentucky and Vermont. Since more and more states were joining the Union, the number of stripes was reduced to 13 as of July 4, 1818 to represent the original 13 states.

The Panama Canal: The United States gained control of the Panama Canal because it learned to eradicate disease. during construction of the canal, the French spent $260 million and lost over 20,000 lives to yellow fever before finally giving up. When the Americans took over in 1904 the U.S. Army physician in charge, William Crawford Gorgas, learned that the disease was passed on by mosquitoes and was able to eradicate yellow fever in Panama within a year.

In 1883, the explosion of the volcano Krakatoa put so much dust into the atmosphere that sunsets appeared green and the moon appeared blue around the world for almost 2 years.

Adhesive tape (specifically masking tape) was invented in the 1920's by Richard Drew of Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, Co. Duct tape (the WWII military version) was first created and manufactured in 1942 by the Johnson and Johnson Permacel Division.

Tremendous erosion at the base of Niagara Falls undermines the shale cliffs and as a result the falls have receded approximately 7 miles over the last 10,000 years. [Who was around to measure 10,000 years ago??]

Language - The "invention" of language is not known except for references in the Bible. It is not known what language Adam and Eve spoke. The first mention of different languages is the reference to the tower of Babel when different tongues were bestowed.

The invention of writing, however, is credited to the Sumerians of Mesopotamia in the 4th millennium BC. Their descendants, the Sumero-Babylonians, developed the time system that we use today: an hour divided into 60 minutes, which are divided into 60 seconds.

Today, there are more than 2,700 different languages spoken in the world, with more than 7,000 dialects. In Indonesia alone, 365 different languages are spoken. More than 1,000 different languages are spoken in Africa.

The average lifespan for a strand of hair is five and a half years.

Next to bone marrow, hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body.

The lifespan of an eyelash is approximately 150 days.

A survey done by Clairol 10 years ago came up with 46% of men stating that it was okay to color their hair. Now 66% of men admit to coloring their hair.

On average, a man spends about five months of his life shaving.

A cowlick is caused from hair growing in a spiral pattern. This causes the hair to stand up straight or go to a certain angle.

This is an amusing quote I ran across and it seems miscellaneous, too.

"By common consent gray hairs are a crown of glory;
the only object of respect that can never excite envy."

George Bancroft, (1800-1891), American historian and statesman who was
prominent in promoting secondary education.

Bonjour, mes amis!!

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