The skipper's name was Jonas Grumby. I watch WAY too much television.
The modern military salute comes from the tradition of a knight, opening his faceplate when approaching the King. And, the handshake was used to make sure there wasn't something up your enemy's sleeve.
The shortest war on record was fought between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes. I'm not sure, but I think England paid reparations for twelve minutes after that.
There are more statues of Sacajawea, Lewis & Clark's female Indian guide, in the United States than any other person.
Sacajawea is pronounced suh-cock-uh-way-uh. Create your own oral sex joke here.
In a typical season major league baseball will require 4,800 ash trees worth of Louisville sluggers. It's a pity Detroit doesn't use them to their advantage.
In the Middle Ages, young men and women drew names from a bowl to see who their valentines would be. They would wear these names on their sleeves for one week. To wear your heart on your sleeve now means that it is easy for other people to know how you are feeling. Now, don't you feel smarter?
"Kemo Sabe" means "soggy shrub" in Navajo. I don't know WHY I know this. Perhaps somebody told it to me when I was drunk, and I laughed so hard at the very THOUGHT of it.....
"Second string," meaning "replacement or backup," comes from the middle ages. An archer always carried a second string in case the one on his bow broke. The third string was originally referred to as, "oh, give it up, you're CONQUERED already."
The phrase "raining cats and dogs" originated in 17th Century England. During heavy downpours of rain, many of these poor animals unfortunately drowned and their bodies would be seen floating in the rain torrents that raced through the streets. The situation gave the appearance that it had literally rained "cats and dogs" and led to the current expression. Once again, given the choice between knowing this and knowing next week's lottery numbers.....but this is what I get. Thanks, BRAIN!
The term "honeymoon" is derived from the Babylonians who declared mead, a honey-flavored wine, the official wedding drink, stipulating that the bride's parents be required to keep the groom supplied with the drink for the month following the wedding. Does anybody want to speculate why the groom had to maintain his buzz for a month after the wedding?
The word "assassination" was invented by Shakespeare.
Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt. I learned this on a tour of the factory in 1971.
In M&M candies, the letters stand for Mars and Murrie, the developers of the candy in 1941. But, when asked by a friend of mine what I would write on a personalized M&M, I said, "You don't want me! You want SKITTLES!"
The first toy product ever advertised on television was Mr. Potato Head®. Introduced in 1952. Presently, I have a Star Wars Mr. Potato Head on my shelf. DARTH TATER.
The yo-yo was introduced in 1929 by Donald F. Duncan. The toy was based on a weapon used by 16th-century Filipino hunters. So you see, we've been giving our children weapons for almost eighty years...
A person will die from total lack of sleep sooner than from starvation. Death will occur about 10 days without sleep, while starvation takes a few weeks. And, I have nothing to add about this. The longest I went without sleep was 72 hours back in grad school.
The average human body contains enough: iron to make a 3 inch nail, sulfur to kill all fleas on an average dog, carbon to make 900 pencils, potassium to fire a toy cannon, fat to make 7 bars of soap, phosphorous to make 2,200 match heads, and water to fill a ten-gallon tank. Okay, I looked this one up. But it's still pretty cool.
The Ouija board is named for the French and German words for yes - oui and ja.
"The Mouse Trap," by Agatha Christie is the longest running play in history. It opened in 1952, and is still running in London. "The Fantasticks" ran forty two years off Broadway. "Phantom of the Opera" is the current Broadway leader, at 20 years.
Margaret Mitchell wrote Gone with the Wind between 1926 and 1929. In her early drafts, the main character was named "Pansy O'Hara" and the O'Hara plantation we know as Tara was called "Fountenoy Hall." And it all started with a broken leg.
Influenza caused twenty and fifty million deaths, or about 5% of the world population, between 1918-1920. It is believed that 50 million people worldwide were affected.
Cockroaches can live for nine days without their heads, at which point they die of starvation. This entry can live for a nine days without a point, at which point the author dies of.....something.....he can't think of.....right now....because of all the useless trivia whipping about his poor noggin.
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2 comments:
Seems to me the tradition of the honeymoon and the wedding veil are closely related.
re: Shakespeare, nuh uh! Really?
If you've ever seen a kid with a yo yo you know that the fact we've been giving them weapons has not escaped them.
What's that book from about a decade ago about the 1919 flu outbreak?
My source (more or less) is FLU by Gina Kolata. It was published in 1999. I believe there was also one called PANDEMIC, but I haven't read it. And, there are oodles of sites that will give you a list of shakepeare's literary inventions...there are like 1700 of them.
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