| Piggy Bank Origin in Middle Ages, when people stored money in "pygg jar," so called 'cause made of pygg clay. 18th cent., English began storing $ in "pig bank," looked like pig. Sesquipedalian Person has extensive vocabulary. All vowels Only English word to use vowels (a, e, i, o, u) in sequence: facetious \fe-`se-shus\ adj: witty, humorous. 7 letter word contains 10 words Without rearranging letters, "therein": the, there, he, in, rein, her, here, here, ere, therein, herein "Flammable," "inflammable" Both mean "capable of catching fire easily." Normally, "in" in front of word means "not." "Not burnable" is "nonflammable." "Inflammable" from Latin "inflammare" meaning "to burn." Mugs 100s of yrs ago, popular to make mugs with ugly faces on them. Reversed order, call faces "mugs". Difference between ship, boat Boat can be hauled on ship. Double jeopardy Automysophobia: fear of being dirty. Ablutophobia: fear of washing. Extra problematic if have both. Taphephobia Fear of being buried alive. Truth or Consequences Hot Springs, New Mexico, changed name to "Truth or Consequences"1950 to win free publicity promised by Ralph Edwards, host of radio show "Truth or Consequences;" still that name. Levels of angels 9 choirs of angels in Christian theology; at top nearest God: seraphim (3 wing pairs;) then cherubim, thrones, dominions, virtues, powers, principalities, archangels, angels. Bad luck to spill salt Ancient Rome soldiers given salt rations called "salarium"--modern word "salary." If spill, bad luck 'cause very valuable; supposed to throw pinch over left shoulder to nullify bad luck. Da Vinci's Last Supper, Judas spilled salt foreshadowing tragedy to follow. "Bikini" named for Bikini Atoll Summer 1946, US announced plan for 1st public atom bomb test on Pacific's Bikini Atoll. Some thought it'd be end of world--go out happy: end-of-world "Bikini" parties. Same summer, swimwear fashion show Paris; promoters took advantage of "Bikini" craze, created two piece "bikini" swimsuit. Oldest US public library In 1780's, Wrentham, MA split. Church commonly cultural/social/religious/gov'tal center. No bell to summon citizens for services, emergencies, so named town "Franklin;" wrote B. Franklin to donate bell. "Sense being preferable to sound," Franklin sent crate of books, suggested they start library. They did. Prime Numbers 1 is unique #, neither prime nor composite. May seem obvious 1 is prime (1x1) but prime is # with factors 1, itself. 1 fits criteria to a point. Can be multiplied by itself, result in itself, but prime can't have 2 of same factors. 2 is prime. Seive of Erostophinies has as 1st step, 1 eliminated, which means it's not prime. $1,000,000 prize if solve Riemann hypothesis which holds key to primes. Prize announced April by Clay Mathematics Institute, Cambridge, MA. A possible way of solving is through Quantum Mechanics & quantum chaotic systems. Math & physics ideas relating to primes, article "Prime Time" N 11, 2000 New Science mag. Zero scores in tennis called "love" When tennis became popular in France, zero on scoreboard looked like & called egg. Egg in French is "l'oeuf;" transferred to US, pronounced "love." 1752 calendar England & Amer. colonies 1752 had 354 days; changed calendar, 11 days lost. Easter date determined by formula 1st Sun. after 1st full moon after vernal equinox (Mar. 20, 1st day of spring.) Occurs between Mar.22-Apr. 25. Eastern Orthodox formula: 1st Sun. after 1st full moon after vernal equinox after Jewish Passover. 2 Easters rarely coincide. Record grooves Monty Python Matching Tie & Handkerchief album LP advertised having 3 side 2s, no side 1. In Python-esque fashion both sides were labeled side 2, but 1 side had 2 parallel grooves. Could play entire side through on 1 groove, then play again on other groove, entirely different content! Random as to which groove needle would select. No clue so unsuspecting listener wondered what was happening as content would apparently randomly change. Wile E. Coyote Caught Roadrunner in 1 cartoon, "Soup or Sonic." Empire State Building Clear day, see 80 mi to NJ, PN, CN, MS, NY; observ. deck 102nd floor, clouds usually about 70th fl. Wind goes up/down/sideways/ricochets off buildings; make rain/snow appear going up. '45, Army Air Force B-25 hit between 79/80th fls, 1 mil $ damage, structural integrity not affected, killed 14, plane parts thrown quarter mi. '90 fire, 51st fl tenant, messy office, tons of paper/files; all equipment plugged into 1 exten. cord, smolder, papers burned, spread; contained to office, water damage fl below, adjoining offices. A. Robert (Spiderman) scaled it, arrested at top. 1986 2 chutists jumped from 86th fl observ., arrested when landed. Eary 80s, 2 wth backpacks hiding chutes jumped off 86th, landed in street, got into cabs, disappeared; visitors wth backpacks now searched. Penny tossed from top won't hit ground due to building's shape, wind current updraft created by shape; would blow against facade, land on setback roof 81, 72, 30, 25, 21 or 6 fl.; reach ground 175 mph if fall sideways, little wind resist.; straight through car roof; but coins tumble, wind resist. when fall. '72, World Trade Tower tallest in world; now: Malaysian Petronas Tower 1 1st, Petronas Tower 2 2nd, Sears Tower 3rd, ESB 7th. 7 Wonders of World (recorded by Antipater of Sidon 2nd cent. BC) 1.) Egypt Pyramids 2.) Babylon Hanging Gardens 3.) Rhodes Colossus 4.) Ephesus Temple of Artemis 5.) Halicarnassus Mausoleum 6.) Olympia Zeus Statue 7.) Alexandria Lighthouse. Only pyramids are standing. Manholes always round Ensures that manhole cover never accidentally falls inside. Any other shape could be placed at angle & slip in. WI forest fire Over 1200 died, all 800 buildings in Peshtigo, WI burned, 1871. Newspapers barely mentioned it. Same day, Great Chicago fire. Deadliest US forest fire largely unnoticed. Barbers pole Middle Ages to end of 19th cent., barbers did bloodletting, wound treatment, dentistry, minor operations, bone-setting. Striped red pole originated in Middle Ages--to grip while patient was bled. 1st-year sales of famous products 1. VW Beetle (U.S.)--330 2. Liquid Paper--1,200 3. Cuisinart--200 4. Remington typewriter--8 5. Scrabble--532 6. Coca-Cola--25 Frisbee William Frisbie, CT bakeshop owner. Last name stamped on metal pie pans. Yale college students threw like discus, yell "Frisbie!" warning. Got Wham-O to sell. 1959 changed name from "Flyin' Saucer." Early swimsuits Made of wool; 20 lbs wet. Glow in dark paper 10 yr old R. Schroeder wanted to write in dark; bioluminescence (like fireflies) didn't work. Painted clipboard with phosphorescence (glow after exposed to light;) paper on top, see well enough to write. Age 12, invented Glo-Sheet; US Navy, NASA wanted to buy. NASA thought she might be former employee--NASA worked on similar project. Self-cleaning house F. Gabe modified her house: each room has clean/dry/heat/cool unit on ceiling. Press button, sprays room, rinses, blow dries. Floors slanted so water runs to drains; coated water resistant furniture. Kitchens designed for elderly U of Oulu, Linnanmaa, Finland,Work Science Division; 55 elderly puttered around sample kitchen. Best chair height 17.7 inches; shelves at least 12" above floor; work surface 33.4". 1st fatal plane crash 1st fatal plane crash 9-17-08; propeller broke, plane fell; plane's only passenger killed; pilot Orville Wright: multiple fractures (he/Wilbur: 1st controlled, sustained power-driven plane flights 1903.) Home fatalities Top fatal home events: falls ('98 10,700, most 65+ yrs old,) poisonings, fires/burns, suffocation by ingested object. 86+% 65+ yrs old. More movies than Hollywood Twice as many movies (800) are produced in India than Hollywood each yr. Olympics Modern medals: Modern Olympics began 1896; silver medals: 1st place. Gold inferior to silver. 1904, gold: 1st place (sterling silver covered wth thin gold.) 1st American woman to win 1st place Olympics medal: died wthout knowing she'd won it, 1900 Olympics, Paris, poorly organized; many contestants didn't know they were participating in Olympics. Other sporting events held wth Olympics over 6 months. Amer. art student Margaret Abbott entered 9-hole tournament on a lark; won. Nothing she saw identified it as Olympic. 20 yrs later, historians identified Olympic honor. Outhouses Symbols to differentiate outhouses: moon--women; star or sun--men. 2 holes: 2 sizes for different size people. Not cleaned--when full, cover wth dirt, move outhouse over new holes. Symbols on dollar bill Many founding fathers were Freemasons, but eye, pyramid in dollar, seal, not of Masonic. Misunderstanding; most Masons believe it. Explained http://thelonious.mit.edu/Masonry/Essays/eyepyr.html $5 bill 26 states listed across top of Lincoln Memorial. Presidential line of success'n VP, House Speaker, Senate President Pro Tempore, Sec. of State, Treasury, Defense, Attorney General, Interior, Agriculture, Commerce. Not independent countries Puerto Rico (US commonwealth,) Greenland (Kingdom of Denmark,) Bermuda (UK territory.) Malloy Michael Malloy, 60, Irish, poor, alcoholic, murder-for-insur. victim early 1930s. Frequented bar of 1 of NY crime group. Figured he wouldn't be missed, easy kill. 3 policies. Try to let drink self to death, unlimited bar credit; liver wouldn't quit. Antifreeze for whiskey 1+ wk, so add turpentine, then rat poison, horse liniment. Rotten raw oysters coated wth wood alcohol. Spoiled sardine & crushed carpet tacks sandwich. Drag to wet snow, open shirt, pour H20 buckets on him; unconscious, -14 degrees. Hire $100 hit man for accident: got M. drunk, took to secluded place, middle of road; killer to run M. down wth taxi; stumble out of way last sec. Drove cab at M. again; scan paper for obit. 3 wks. M. walks into bar, said had bad accident, ask for drink. Stuff rubber hose into mouth; gas to death. Never got $; investigators uncovered plot. Buttons on men's/women's clothes on opposite sides Most people are right-handed; men's buttons on right, easier to push through holes. Women's buttons on opposite side so maids can dress them. 1st buttons used were expensive; only wealthy women had them. Maid faces woman she's dressing; buttons on left places them on maid's right. Bermuda Triangle--mysterious disappearances of ships 4 yrs cruising in BT, US's expense, early 50s. Saw lot of sea life, none threatening. Lot of water spouts (tornadoes) when condit'ns right; kept well clear. Easy to accomplish in powered ship, not so easy in sailing ship. If sailing ship tangles wth one, result disastrous. Ability to send distress signal next to impossible. Wedding customs Custom of bride carrying "something old, something new, something borrowed, something blue" originate--no one knows for sure. Rhyme originated in Victorian times, though some customs referred to it are much older. "Old" supposed to be garter from happily married woman. "New:" wedding dress. "Borrowed:" often coin from groom, worn in bride's shoe, or something (preferably old/valuable) from bride's family. Make sure you return item or you'll be unlucky! "Blue" maybe moon symbol, associated wth fertility; or blue ribbon, symbolize fidelity. Engagement/wedding rings worn on 4th finger, left hand; believed in ancient times that vein of love led straight to heart from that finger. Throwing rice at bride/groom largely replaced in US wth birdseed; nothing to do with myth that uncooked rice causes birds' stomachs to explode; can eat uncooked rice wthout rice swelling in stomachs, exploding (how many exploded birds have YOU seen?) Uncooked rice hardness isn't problem; birds swallow gravel/stones! Birds don't like uncooked rice; usually leave it alone. Birdseed makes church custodian's job easier. Czech newlyweds: peas instead of rice/birdseed. Throwing things originates in pagan times, to ensure union is fruitful (i.e. fertile.) Leonardo Da Vinci's La Giaconda (Mona Lisa) Louvre employee Peruggia walked out wth it (20 7/8" x 30") hidden under painter's smock, hid it in false bottom of trunk. Felt belonged to Italy, not France. Argentine's de Valfierno encouraged stealing, hired forger, made 6 copies, sold to collectors who thought was real, made mil.s in today's $. Returned to Louvre 1913 when P. tried to sell to Florence dealer. Monha Lisa Supposed to be a portrait of wife of middle-class Florentine merchant Francesco del Giacondo. No eyebrows--was the fashion in Renaissance Florence. In his records of model sittings, didn't record Mona Lisa sitting. Could be self-portrait; analyze facial features; flip self portrait, merge with Mona Lisa--features align perfectly. 4 organic gemstones Ivory, pearl, amber, coral. Other precious/semi-precious gems considered minerals. Illegal ivory Convent'n on Internat'nal Trade in Endangered Species treaty, 120 nat'ns; Asian elephants... Importing ivory from African elephants illegal in US; can purchase/sell ivory product. Extinct (mastadon, mammoth...) not restricted, also warthogs, hippopotamus. Difficult to distinguish ivory among species. Early swimsuits Made of wool; 20 lbs wet. Vikings from Scandinavia From Denmark, traveled along Europe coastlines; from Norway, sailed to Amer.; from Sweden, up Russian rivers. Sails made of wool. "Taps" & 3 shots at military funerals Started as "lights out" song. During Civil War, North/South troops camped close to each other; Taps at funerals instead of 3-shot salute; feared shots might restart fighting. 3 shots at military funeral: once used during battle to let sides know that dead were cleared off battlefield so fighting/maiming/killing could begin anew. Bat bombs (Project X-Ray) PA dental surgeon Lytle S. Adams returned from Carlsbad Caverns, NM, trip just after Pearl Harbor attack. Remembered cavern bats, suggested attaching bombs to bats, drop over Japan. Bats would seek shelter in buildings, ignite. Testing: bats in hibernat'n, many didn't wake on way down; others broke wings from dramatic descent; others escaped test facility, set fires to outlying buildings. Army gave project to Navy; more success. March '44, 1+ mil bat-bombs set to begin product'n; halted; $2 mil spent. Maybe US didn't want biological weapon percept'n, or atom bomb ready. Balloon bombs (Fu-Go) Japan meteorologists thought military could use jet stream (runs west-east,) send hydrogen balloons wth bombs across Pacific to US. 5 kids/mom, Bly, Oregon, died when dragged balloon bomb from woods. Late '44-spring '45, launched 9+k; about 1k reached N Amer. Stopped launching 'cause had no idea they reached destinat'n, as US kept quiet. Peace symbol Invented by Direct Action Committee, 1958; composite of semaphore signals N, D; stands for nuclear disarmament. IA ed best in US Amer. Legislative Exchange Council. 100+ ed resource/achievement categories. IA followed by MN, WI; top public elem. & secondary schs. measured by several standardized tests. MS, DC, LA at bottom. Webster's 1934 2nd ed. Dictionary "Dord" entry didn't exist, claimed meant "density" in physics/chemistry; mistake not noticed 'til 5 yrs later. 1st ed. placed entries for words/abbrev. together. 2nd ed., abbrev. separate sect'n. Note to staff to include "D or d" for density, but note went to "words" pages staff, read as "Dord." Continued in non-Webster's dict. after taken out of Webster--compilers added it to theirs. Psst! Pass this on # of times a rumor is passed along makes it more believable; the more people you tell, more you'll believe it. Barbies' last name Roberts. Lincoln Logs John Lloyd Wright, Frank Lloyd Wright's son, invented miniature hardwood beam kit, became known as Lincoln Logs. On 1920 trip to Tokyo with father, inspired by Imperial Hotel's ceiling interlocking beam construction. Fortune cookies Invented/popular in US, not China. Chinese restaurants are beginning to serve them, call them American fortune cookies, imported from US, written in English. Diamond legend Some ancient Greeks believed diamonds were splinters from fallen stars. Amphicar Amphicar--the only amphibious (drives on land & water) passenger car to be mass-produced, made by the Germans, 1960s. Most of 3,700 cars produced were imported into US. 4-cylinder rear engined convertible; front wheels are rudders. 500+ Amphicars still in regular use. Driving on right or left England drive on the left, France on right. Parts of world colonized by British followed the British way, parts colonized by French followed French way. 25% of drivers now drive on left. Interstates US interstate highway system requires 1 mile of every 5 to be straight so can be used as emergency airstrips. Great Molasses Floods Boston 1-15-1919, 21 people, 12 horses, died (150 people injured) in gooey 35 mph hot molasses flood. It poured out of 58 ft high, 90 ft wide, 2.2 mil. gal. cast-iron tank. Poured down street like an 8 ft lava wave; destroyed everything including the fire station; crushed buildings, lifted an elevated train off tracks, buried things. Sucarnoochee, Missisippi 12-11-1932, killed 21 people; tank exploded, hot molasses roared through town. Monkey wrench Named after inventor Charles Moncky. London Bridge falling down 1st built by Romans, 43 AD. Danes controlled London, 1014; their enemies--Saxons, Norwegians--rowed to the wooden bridge, tied ropes around pilings, pulled it down. Rebuilt of stone. British government auctioned it to Robert McCulloch, Founder of Lake Havasu City, AZ, $2,460,000, 1962; dismantled, each stone carefully marked 'fore shipped to Long Beach, CA, trucked to Lake Havasu City. Reconstruction began 1968, dedicated 1971. Monolopy game Charles Darrow invented Monopoly, based streets on Atlantic City, NJ, resort area wehre he vacationed. A Japanese WW II officer surrendered in 1974 After WW II, several small groups of Japanese soldiers hid for decades, convinced war was still happening. Continued to fight, unwilling or unable to believe Japan surrendered. Taught that surrender wasn't an option. Intelligence Officer 2nd Lt. Hiroo Onoda emerged from Lubang Island jungle with weapons about 30 yrs after war. He & small band of soldiers were the only survivors of an American attack on the island near the end of war. Refused to believe fighting was over, even when planes flew dropped leaflets telling them war was over--thought it was a trick. Search parties, often including relatives, were unsuccessful in convincing them that Japan surrendered. By 1974, Lt. Onada was the only one left; retired to Brazil ranch; revisited Lubang Island, 1996. Volkswagon Beetle Ferdinand Porsche (founder of Porsche) designed the Volkswagon Beetle. |
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