I just learned a bunch of things I never realized before..

One.

According to the Guiness Book of World Records, the most commonly stolen book from bookstores each year is... the Guiness Book of World Records.

Two.

The first woman to ever perform a 'nude' scene within a movie was also the designer of the revolutionary frequency jumping. Which is used in modern day cell phones, wi-fi, etc. She was quoted for saying, ironically enough, 'Any woman can be glamorous. All she has to do is stand there and look dumb.'

Three.

Betty Crocker, who in her early days, held an audience to equal that of modern day American Idol doesn't exist. She was a made up character by General Mills.

Four.

The free world already knew the world was round BEFORE 1492 when Columbus was proclaimed to have proven its validity. The globe was already invented prior to. (Though it didn't include America, because that wasn't known to exist yet.)

Five.

Franklin Pearce (Pierce, idk how you spell his last name) got his old buddy, a famed author, to write his biography. This author, who I can't recall the name of off hand, was famous at the time but the biography was only partially true and failed to mention that Pearce was an alcoholic among other things. He then became one of the worst presidents in history.

Relevance? Barbara Bush's maiden name is Barbara Pearce; which makes her a direct descendant of Franklin Pearce... Yup, that explains alot.

Six.

Paul Revere didn't ride his horse through three states or whatever it was; a man named Israel Bissell did. Revere actually only rode 15 miles; which in that time, meant he probably only warned about 15 people.

Seven.

"Yankee Doodle came to town riding on his pony, he stuck a noodle in his hat and called it macaroni." This catch phrase was actually the British mocking American's because of a club called the 'Macaroni Club'. (A group of men who got around and discussed fashion.) This song was actually made up to make fun of Yankees, but instead, as Americans, we know a catchy beat when we hear one.

Eight.

Jose Cuervo opened one of the first mexican winery's in a little place called, 'Tequila'. How ironic...

Nine.

While Little Debbie and Chef Boyardee (who changed the spelling of his real name, though it was said the same) are both real people; Aunt Jemima wasn't. Aunt Jemima is actually a woman named Nancy Green. 1983, Chicago World's Fair, where the Ferris Wheel and Electricity were both introduced to the public, Nancy Green was 'said to be' one of the most popular ideas there. A former slave, she was also the first African-American spokes(wo)men of our time. Based on a hit pop song of that time; Aunt Jemima was so impressed with her, that made her their spokesmodel for life! Unfortunately, she was run over by a car and passed away in 1923.

Ten.

During the 100 year war between the French and the English, the English had a weapon called the longbow (or something like that) which was made from a strong tree called the Yew. The French hated and feared this bow, well, anyway, after having the English surrounded the French began to celebrate their victory prematurely. However, long story short, the english had to use their middle finger to pull back the string and flick it and the arrows would launch 250 feet. To counter this, when the French captured and English soldier they would chop off their middle fingers.

During this battle, in which the English ended up upsetting the French, the English taunted the French by holding up their middle fingers and saying, idk, some wierd word.. Later to be translated as eff you. Thus, point in fact, this was the origin of the middle finger.

Eleven.

The term 'Upset' was actually derived years ago when a horse named, whatever it was, raced seemingly unstoppable and finished it's career 20-1. That one loss came to a nobody horse named, 'Upset'. So, from that point on, anytime an underdog defeats a projected winner, it's referred to as an 'upset'.

Twelve.

The first 15 presidents of the USA had no facial hair. The next 7 of 8 did. The only reason that one didn't, well, after Lincoln was assassinated it's safe to assume he didn't have time to grow a beard.

:D

Interesting things..
I just never knew...

Number Five:

The author, his name was Nathaniel Hawthorne.

Hawthorne wrote back-to-back best sellers:

"The Scarlet Letter"

and

"House of the the Seven Gables"

Holla!

interesting things indeed...thanks, some I didn't know either.

I'm impressed you know any of them.
All news to me. =]

Just these...the rest is news to me...



Two.

The first woman to ever perform a 'nude' scene within a movie was also the designer of the revolutionary frequency jumping. Which is used in modern day cell phones, wi-fi, etc. She was quoted for saying, ironically enough, 'Any woman can be glamorous. All she has to do is stand there and look dumb.'

Six.

Paul Revere didn't ride his horse through three states or whatever it was; a man named Israel Bissell did. Revere actually only rode 15 miles; which in that time, meant he probably only warned about 15 people.


Eight.

Jose Cuervo opened one of the first mexican winery's in a little place called, 'Tequila'. How ironic...

Beauty and brains...
Who'd'a thunk it, eh?
:D

yeah whoa...imagine that

Ever wonder where the word "cocktail" came from?

There are several claims about the origin of the term "cocktail," many of which are fanciful and few of which are supported by documentary evidence. Among them are:

Barrel taps are known as (the other word for rooster) and the term tails usually referred to the dregs of distillate left at the end of a run in a distillery or at the bottom of a cask. Colonial taverns kept their spirits (rum, brandy, whiskey, gin, applejack) in casks, and as the liquid in the casks lowered the tavern keeper would combine the tails into an additional cask kept for that purpose, to be sold at a reduced price. The patrons would request the "(the other word for rooster)tailings" or the tailings from the stop (the other word for rooster) of the cask.

Fighting (the other word for rooster) were given a mixture of spirits by their trainers before a fight. This mixture was known as a (the other word for rooster)-ale.

In Campeche, Mexico, local bartenders used wooden spoons carved from a native root known as cola de-gallo ((the other word for rooster)'s tail) to stir the local spirits and punches before serving.

In tribal Ireland, clan chiefs would gather to consult on matters such as border disputes, and to discuss cooperative plans when the island's residents were faced with a common foe. These meetings would typically take place in the great hall of the hosting clan. The clan chiefs would seat themselves at a communal table and their mugs of mead would be adorned with a (the other word for rooster)'s tail to signify their status.

A tavern near Elmsford, New York was popular with the officers of the Revolutionary soldiers of Washington and Lafayette. The American troops preferred whiskey or gin, the French preferred wine or vermouth. All enjoyed a bit of brandy or rum. Sometimes late in the evenings, in a spirit of camaraderie, the spirits were mixed from one cup to another during toasts. A soldier stole a rooster from the tavern owner's neighbor, who was believed to be a Tory supporter of George III of the United Kingdom. The rooster was promptly cooked and served to the customers, with the tail feathers used to adorn the accompanying drinks. The toasts accompanying this meal were "vive le cocktail" and the mixed drinks were so called ever after.

Cocktails were originally a morning beverage, and the cocktail was the name given as metaphor for the rooster (cocktail) heralding morning light of day. This was first posited in 2004 by Ted Haigh in "Vintage Spirits & Forgotten Cocktails". And can be distinguished from the theory "take two snips of the hair of the dog that bit you", which refers to consuming a small bit of alcohol the morning after a "binge drinking night" to curb the effects of the symptoms of the hangover, in the belief that these symptoms are the result of a form of withdrawal.

A (the other word for rooster)'s tail has feathers in many varied colours as a cocktail has varied alcoholic drinks mixed together.
Some say that it was customary to put a feather, presumably from a (the other word for rooster)'s tail, in the drink to serve both as decoration and to signal to teetotalers that the drink contained alcohol.

Another etymology is that the term is derived from coquetier, a French double-ended egg-cup which was used to serve the beverage in New Orleans in the early 19th century.

In the 1800s it was customary to dock the tails of good horses of mixed breeds. These horses were referred to as (the other word for rooster)-tails. The beverage known as a "(the other word for rooster)-tail", like the horse, was neither strictly spirit nor wine — it was a mixed breed, but a good horse nonetheless.

After cokstele or (the other word for rooster)-stick, a type of weighted stick used for throwing at (the other word for rooster) as a sport.

The word could also be a distortion of Latin [aqua] decocta, meaning "distilled water".

In the book, Under the Mountain, by Margaret Robson, published in 1958, the author states, "James Fenimore Cooper stayed (at Hustler's Tavern) in Lewiston, New York in 1821 while writing The Spy. In The Spy, Cooper wrote of (the other word for rooster)-tails being served in Betsy Flanagan's tavern. Cooper researched the novel by using information taken from war veterans and used the owners, Thomas and Catherine Hustler, as the models for Sergeant Hollister and Betty Flanigan. According to Cooper, it was Catherine Hustler who invented the gin cocktail, stirring it with a feather from a stuffed rooster's tail." Catherine Hustler described her drink by saying, "it warms both the soul and body and is fit to be put in a vessel of diamonds." Hustler's Tavern, which stood at the northeast corner of 8th and Center Streets in Lewiston, NY, is no longer standing.

Mingle doesn't like that "C" word even though it is printed on my Chinese Restaurant Zodiac placemat. Good thing we have euphemisms.

I actually knew numbers

3,6,7,9 and 10. lol

Impressive Just A Dude.
I didn't know any of them!
So thanks to everyone who loves making me feel stupid.
=D

Oh, uh, nope didn't know bout the (another name for a rooster) tail thing either, but I never actually wondered that..

I actually ponder over even more retarded (Can I say that?) things..

Like, in one of my earlier posts, was my one dollar bill ever in the crack of a stripper?

Why didn't Albert Einstein like wearing socks and why did his inspiration for science begin with a compass??

or knowing stupid things like...

Coca-Cola would actually be green it coloring wasn't added.
Did you know that there is a city called Rome on every continent?
Or that and Ostrich's eyes is bigger than it's brain.

Did you know elephants are the only mammal that can't jump?
or that most dust particles in your home are actually made up of dead skin?

I know retarded things..
..and idk why..

Oh yeah, and let's not forget that giraffes can clean their own ears with a 21-inch tongue! Nasty!

A raisin dropped into a glass of fresh champagne will 'bounce' from the top to the bottom of the glass continously.

When Elvis Presley was young he worked at a trucking company that was owned by Frank Sinatra.

If you hold your nose and cover your mouth while sneezing, you can actually blow your eyeballs out of the socket.

..and lastly..

Why did a man named Charlie Osborne have the hiccups for 26 years straight?!

I don't know about Charlie, but I know about hiccups. They are the result of spasms of the diaphram muscles. If he had them for 26 years, it would be because he had a physical problem the surgeons of the time couldn't correct.

I had heard about most of the stuff you listed, but it IS a very good list, as I didn't learn most of them myself until relatively recently (and me a real Historian! Shame on me!)
I especially like the one about the lady who invented jumping frequencies and went nude in a movie. I encourage ALL women to get naked, as it is obviously an indication of superior intelligence.

By the by, Paul Revere's ride wasn't so short because of laziness (or stop-offs at pubs), it was because the British Regulars (we were all British back then, remember) CAPTURED him after 15 miles.

Yeah, only dose dumb commies before CC were stupid enough to realize that the earth is flat.

I don't buy eleven.

Ok, i'm a curious...In 9- didn't you mean 1883?

Ack!

No, I didn't mean 1883, I actually meant 1893. I'm dyslexic, what can I say. :D

Oh, and Wux, I didn't believe it either.
Go to Youtube.
Do a search for:

"Assume the Position"

There's like 4 or 5 videos.

101, and 201 has I think 4 or 5 parts.

I'm not sure which part he says it in; but that video has a crap load of things I never knew or realized.

The whole segment is about how History is Pop Culture.
It's pretty interesting, if you're into history and what not that is.

Oh, and if you don't know where the middle finger's meaning came from.. It tells you in that video as well.

I looked up some of things after he said them, and well, to my shock, most of them are true; unless everyone is telling the same lie, which this day and age, wouldn't surprise me, lol.

So, forgive me Shasta:

I meant 1893, not 1983, or 1883.

So you say not all of them were true. Which ones were false?

I don't know... I think lying is an ancient art, a gift from the gods, it has not much to do with technology. Although technology, talking politics, and using statistics all can contribute to the cause just nicely, don't you think?

I hope they are true because I have known and believed almost all f them. Don't ask for exceptions, I didn't memorize the list! LOL

No, no, I didn't say any of them WERE false.
I merely was saying that I, personally, as in when I first heard them, didn't believe them either..
Then I looked them up.

Like the globe being made before Columbus's story..
I hadn't a clue when the first globe was made..
So, thus, I found out and it was right.
Of all the ones stated in those videos..
I only put up the ones I checked the validity of.

He said a smack of a lot more than just those 12.
Like the middle finger one, for example.
I didn't look that one up for the truth behind it..
So, I didn't put it up on this list.

I hope that clears things up.

And thanks for reading seamac. =D

About the holding your nose while sneezing or forcing your eyes open while sneezing, that myth was busted on Mythbusters.

The five second rule: there is indeed bacteria aquired on the food even after just 5 short seconds after being on the floor, but the amount is so negligable that most people's immune systems can handle it.

Money is indeed dirty, most denominations of currency including $1 bills have trace amounts of cocaine, fecal matter, and several forms of harmful bacteria on the surface.

Elephants have actually been scientifically proven to be afraid of mice.

You can actually raise a sunken ship with ping pong balls, several thousand of them, but it can be done.

The thrust of a 747 powered up at take off is enough to make a school bus airborne in its wake.

Ya know...I didn't know any of them... .just the date looked a little suspicious...I knew it was a typo, surprised no one caught it or did and aren't as nutso as I to mention it. Thanks for the history lesson. My brother and ma could answer any q on Jeopardy (and I'd think 'how do they KNOW these things?..mid 80's before the internet was the new encyclopedia to alot of people)...you should think about it makes lots of $