 To keep a corpse’s lips shut, undertakers pass a suture through the nasal septum and tie it to the lower lip, or use an injector needle gun to place wires into the lower and upper jaws; these are then twisted together to close the mouth.
The first women flight attendants in 1930 were required to weigh no more than 115 pounds, be nurses, and unmarried.
Nobel prizes are awarded for physics, chemistry, physiology or medicine, literature, peace, and economic science. Economic science was added in 1969.
To prevent some numbers from occurring more frequently than others, dice used in crap games in Las Vegas are manufactured to a tolerance of 0.0002 inches, less than 1/17 the thickness of a human hair.
The flag of the U.K. is properly known as the Union Flag. It is only called the Union Jack when it is flown from the jack mast of a ship
Nothing can be burned again that has already been burned once.
The four ghosts in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol were the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present, Christmas Yet to Come, and the ghost of Jacob Marley.
Obsidian balls, or occasionally brass balls, were placed in the eye sockets of Egyptian mummies.
Of all the professionals in the United States, journalists are credited with having the largest vocabulary – approximately 20,000 words.
To see how many children a newlywed couple will have, the Finns count the number of grains of rice in the bride's hair. Czechs send off the newlyweds under a barrage of peas. Italians throw sugared almonds. An African tradition is to throw corn kernels (to signify fertility).
Tony the Tiger, cartoon mascot of Kellogg's Frosted Flakes since the early 1950s, was called “Tom-Tom the Tiger” in the island nation of Grenada.
The game crambo, in which one person or team must find a rhyme to a word or a line of verse given by another, originated around 1600. The word "crambo" is from the Latin for “cabbage.”
Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult.
The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
Turning a clock's hands counterclockwise while setting it is not necessarily harmful. It is only damaging when the timepiece contains a chiming mechanism.
The handkerchief had been used by the Romans, who ordinarily wore two handkerchiefs: one on the left wrist and one tucked in at the waist or around the neck.
Twenty kinds of kisses are described in the "Kama Sutra," the classical Indian text on eroticism.
The hardness of ice is similar to that of concrete.
Two chapters in the Bible, 2 Kings and Isaiah 37, are alike almost word for word.
The harp's ancestor was a hunting bow, but the history of this complex instrument is far from clear. Epic tales, poetry, and works of art have shown that harps existed since at least the ancient times of Babylonia and Mesopotamia. They've been represented in paintings in the tomb of Egyptian Pharaoh Ramses III, in ancient Greece sculptures, in votive carvings from Iraq which date from 2900 B.C. Likely during the growth of Islam, the harp traveled from north Africa to Spain during the eighth century. Its use soon spread throughout Europe.
Two million years ago, the first truly humanlike creatures appeared on Earth. They were called Homo habilis or “handy man.”
The Indian epic poem the "Mahabhrata" is eight times longer than "The Iliad" and "The Odyssey" combined.
U.S. congressmen expressed surprise on learning in 1977 that it takes 15 months of instruction at the Pentagon's School of Music to turn out a bandleader, but merely 13 months to train a jet pilot.
The initials M.G. on the famous British-made automobile stand for "Morris Garage."
Undertakers report that human bodies do not deteriorate as quickly as they used to. The reason, they believe, is that the modern diet contains so many preservatives that these chemicals tend to prevent the body from decomposition too rapidly after death.
The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card.
Until the nineteenth century, solid blocks of tea were used as money in Siberia.
The kings in a deck of cards each represent a great king from history. The king of spades is King David, the king of clubs is Alexander the Great, the king of hearts is Charlemagne, and the king of diamonds is Julius Caesar.
The Leap-The-Dips roller coaster is the oldest roller coaster in the world. It is located within Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania. It was built in 1902, and replaced the Gravity Railroad which burned down in 1901. The Leap-The-Dips is the last known example in the United States of a side friction figure eight roller coaster. The roller coaster's configurations are 1,452 feet in length, 41 feet at the highest point, the largest dip is 9 feet, and the steepest dip descent is 25 degrees. The average ride time of Leap-The-Dips is 1 minute and the average speed is 10 miles per hour.
"Chopines" were platform shoes that became popular in Europe during the sixteenth century. Some chopines were over 20 inches tall. In the 1400s, a popular form of shoes called "crakows" sported extremely long toes. The length of the toes, which could measure over 20 inches, was an indication of the social status of the person wearing them.
"Erin go bragh" means "Ireland forever."
"The Washington Post March" by John Phillip Sousa was named after the newspaper, the Washington Post.
The king of hearts is the only king without a moustache on a standard playing card.
“Hoosier” Indiana’s state nickname came from a generic Southern word, meaning bumpkin or backwoodsman.
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, written by Mark Twain, was the first novel ever to be written on a typewriter.
The Boston Nation, a newspaper published in Ohio during the mid-nineteenth century, had pages seven and a half feet long and five and a half feet wide. It required two people to hold the paper in proper reading position.
The Pennsylvania Packet & General Advertiser, launched in 1784, was the first successful regular daily newspaper in the United States.
The Salinas Valley was the original, yet rejected, title of John Steinbeck's East of Eden.
USA Today went on sale on September 15, 1982. The paper was ridiculed by critics as “McPaper” and “News McNuggets,” but is still in wide circulation.
A "funambulist" is a tight-rope walker.
When a military contractor referred to a "manually powered fastener-driving impact device," he was talking about a hammer.
When glass breaks, the cracks move faster than 3,000 miles per hour. To photograph the event, a camera must shoot at a millionth of a second.
The LEGO company was founded by Ole Kirk Christiansen in Billund, Denmark, in 1916. Today it has over 9,000 employees worldwide. The Danish words Leg and Godt were put together to make "LEGO." Later, it was discovered that in Latin, the term "Lego" means "I put together" or "I assemble."
Whether or not you are relaxed or braced during a car accident makes little difference in the injury department according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. What makes a difference is being properly restrained in the vehicle.
The little bits of paper left over when holes are punched in data cards or tape are called "chad."
Whether visiting Zimbabwe, Botswana, South Africa, or Swaziland, most big game areas offer safari by horse. The adventure offers a more one-on-one experience with nature than that available from a vehicle-driven safari, and the drone of camouflaged Land Rovers’ engines don’t spoil the solitude. Safari outfits offer two-hour rides as well as day trips and overnight camping rides. Novices as well as accomplished riders are welcome. Experienced guides lead the ride.
The longest name in the Bible is Mahershalalbaz (Isaiah 8:1).
Whirly Girls is the name of the International Association of Women helicopter pilots.
The loop on a belt that holds the loose end is called a "keeper."
White light is a mixture of every other color in the spectrum.
The Lord's Prayer appears twice in the Bible, in Matthew VI and Luke XI.
Winnie, from Winnie the Pooh, was named after a bear at the London Zoo. The animal had been born in Canada but brought to London in 1914 as the mascot of a Canadian regiment.
The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.
With an exchange rate running at an average of 428,287.55 Ukranian Karbovanets to the dollar, total assests of just six American dollars will qualify a person as a Ukranian millionaire.
The minimum safe distance between a wood-burning stove and flammable objects is three feet.
Wolf was the name of the dog that was with Rip Van Winkle when he fell asleep for 20 years.
The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. It was the fashion in Renaissance Florence to shave them off.
Woodbury Soap was the first product to show a nude woman in its advertisements. The year was 1936. Edward Steichen's photograph showed a rear, full-length view of a woman sunbathing – wearing only sandals.
The Mona Lisa measures less than 2 feet by 2 feet.
The most popular first name in the world is Muhammad.
Writer L. Frank Baum chose "Oz" as the name of the fantasyland in his The Wizard of Oz stories while making up the stories for his children and their friends. He spotted a file cabinet marked O-Z, and impusively named the magical land was "Oz."
X-rays of the Mona Lisa show that there are three completely different versions of the same subject, all painted by Leonardo, under the final portrait.
You can call it Britain, Great Britain, United Kingdom, or U.K.– however, if you purchase a stamp there, you won't find any name. Great Britain was the first country in the world to issue postage stamps, and they're the only nation in the world today that doesn't use a national name on their stamps.
Zhen (pronounced Jen, and meaning “genuine” in Mandarin), the first American makeup line specifically for Asian women in 1994. Zhen earned an estimated $8 million in 1999.
A balloon released into the jet stream would take two weeks to travel completely around the globe.
A mile on the ocean and a mile on land are not the same distance. On the ocean, a nautical mile measures 6,080 feet. A land or statute mile is 5,280 feet.
A nanosecond is one billionth of a second.
A perfectly clean fire produces almost no smoke. Smoke simply means that a fire is not burning properly and that bits of unburned material are escaping.
A person uses more household energy shaving with a hand razor at a sink (because of the water power, the water pump, and so on) than he would by using an electric razor.
A person who is lost in the woods and starving can obtain nourishment by chewing on his shoes. Leather has enough nutritional value to sustain life for a short time.
A Polaroid emulsion transfer is an image made by "cooking" a Polaroid in hot water until the image separates from its paper backing. The emulsion of the image can then be placed on practically any surface.
A quality, fully-faceted round brilliant diamond has at least 58 facets. These are important for the maximum sparkle and brilliance of the stone.
A quarter has 119 grooves on its circumference. A dime has one less.
A quart-size pail holds 8 million grains of sand.
A rawhide with the hair removed by soaking it in water and lye is called a parfleche.
Both Shakespeare and Cervantes died on the same day – April 23, 1616.
Brontology is the study of thunder.
Buttons were used for the first time in political campaigns in the election of 1896. The presidential race was between McKinley and William Jennings Bryan, whose campaigns were fought over gold and silver coinage ratio; many of the buttons luxuriously reflected this.
By the end of the Civil War, between one-third and one-half of all U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit. This served as the catalyst behind the creation of the U.S. Secret Service. On July 5, 1865, the Secret Service was created under the U.S. Treasury Department. In less than a decade, counterfeiting was sharply reduced.
Candles burn more slowly and evenly with minimum wax drippings if they are placed in the freezer for an hour before using.
Castor oil is used as a lubricant in jet planes.
Charles Dickens’ initial choice for Scrooge's statement “Bah Humbug” was “Bah Christmas.”
Charles Lindbergh was not the first man to fly the Atlantic. He was the sixty-seventh. The first sixty-six made the crossing in dirigibles and twin-engine mail planes. Lindbergh was the first to make the dangerous flight alone.
Children playing on a beach made the first discovery of a South African diamond.
China was the first country to introduce paper money in 812, but it wasn't until 1661 that a bank (Banco-Sedlar of Sweden) issued banknotes.
A scalene triangle is one with unequal sides and angles.
A small nick in the rim of a glass can easily be smoothed out by using an emery board.
A study of American coins and currency revealed the presence of bacteria, including staphylococcus, E. coli, and klebsiella, on 18 percent of the coins and 7 percent of the bills.
A supertanker (fully loaded) traveling at normal speed of 16 knots needs at least 20 minutes to stop.
A systemic infection is one that spreads throughout the entire body; such as measles, colds and the flu.
A tanka is a Japanese verse form of 31 syllables in five unrhymed lines, the first and third having five syllables each, and the others seven.
A ten-gallon hat holds less than a gallon of liquid.
A vamp is the upper front top of a shoe.
A violin contains about 70 separate pieces of wood.
A Visa Global ATM Network survey of international travelers revealed that the best restaurants in the world are in Paris, France. Second place was awarded to Rome, and third place went to Hong Kong.
The Pennsylvania Packet & General Advertiser, launched in 1784, was the first successful regular daily newspaper in the United States.
Christendom did not begin to date its history from the birth of Christ until 500 years after his death. The system was introduced in 550 by Dionysius Exigus, a monk in Rome.
Cockney rhyming slang began in London around the 1850's as a statement of independence felt by those who prided themselves on having been born within the sound of Bow Bells.
The Salinas Valley was the original, yet rejected, title of John Steinbeck's East of Eden.
Crayola crayons are manufactured by Binney and Smith.
According to the Public Carriage Office, a branch of the Metropolitan Police that licenses all cabs and drivers, there are more than 23,000 cabbies working in London, England. All are self-employed and none has a police record.
USA Today went on sale on September 15, 1982. The paper was ridiculed by critics as “McPaper” and “News McNuggets,” but is still in wide circulation.
According to U.S. Treasury, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, there were more than 10 billion pennies minted in the United States in 1998. The actual number of coins produced, by denomination, was as follows: pennies, 10,257,400,000; nickels, 1,323,672,000; dimes, 2,335,300,000; quarters, 1,867,400,000; and half-dollars, 30,710,000.
Air pressure at sea level is roughly equal to the weight of an elephant spread over a small coffee table.
Valley of the Dolls, Jacqueline Susann's best-selling novel, was originally titled They Don't Build Statues to Businessmen.
|
Home
