"Shoes For Industry"
  ----- Original Message -----
  From: <Dingotx1@aol.com>
  Sent: Sunday, June 13, 1999 5:23 AM
  Subject: Trivia


  > 1.     In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by
  ropes.
  >  When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed
  firmer
  > to sleep on. That's where the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight" came from.
  >
  > 2. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into
  > the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they
  used
  > the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase
  inspired
  > by this practice.
  >
  > 3. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a
  > letter is "uncopyrightable."
  >
  > 4. When possums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing They actually
  > pass out from sheer terror.
  >
  > 5. The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year
  > because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the
  weight
  > of all the books that would occupy the building.
  >
  > 6. The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the
  > Pacific.  When arming their airplanes on the ground, the . 50 caliber
  > machine-gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into
  the
  > fuselage.  If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the
  whole
  > 9 yards."
  >
  > 7. 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.
  >
  > 8. An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
  >
  > 9. The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the
  > "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.
  >
  > 10. The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each
  > gallon of diesel that it burns.
  >
  > 11. Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.
  >
  > 12. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old
  > England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to
  mind
  > their own pints and quarts and settle down.  Thus the phrase "mind your
  P's
  > and Q's."
  >
  > 13. The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver."
  >
  > 14. Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
  >
  > 15. In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting
  > license.
  >
  > 16. It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for year's
  > supply of footballs.
  >
  > 17. Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are
  > already married.
  >
  > 18. There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun.
  >
  > 19. The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.
  >
  > 20. The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and
  > Budweiser, in that order.
  >
  > 21. When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25
  > miles per year.
  >
  > 22. Ten percent of the Russian government's income comes from the sale of
  > vodka.
  >
  > 23. On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.
  >
  > 24. In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world's
  > nuclear weapons combined.
  >
  > 25. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a
  > month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law
  with
  > all the mead he could drink.  Mead is a honey beer, and because their
  > calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what
  we
  > know today as the "honeymoon."
  >
  >