Fun_People Archive
4 Nov
Yet Another Installment of Interesting but Suspicious "Facts"

Content-Type: text/plain
Mime-Version: 1.0 (NeXT Mail 3.3 v118.2)
From: Peter Langston <psl>
Date: Wed,  4 Nov 98 02:26:30 -0800
To: Fun_People
Precedence: bulk
Subject: Yet Another Installment of Interesting but Suspicious "Facts"

X-Lib-of-Cong-ISSN: 1098-7649
Forwarded-by: Matthew Kleinosky <mkleinosky@bigfoot.com>
Forwarded-by: JLewis@acdivoca.org (Jerry Lewis)

* The Andy Griffth Show was the first spin-off in TV history. It was a
  spin-off of the Danny Thomas Show.

* Goat's eyes have rectangular pupils.

* Walt Disney's autograph bears no resemblance to the famous Disney logo.

* Other than humans, black lemurs are the only primates that may have
  blue eyes.

* The United States has never lost a war in which mules were used.

* The United States has never lost a war in which all tactical decisions
  were made by female astrologers. [Oops!  Just thinking out loud... -psl]

* The two longest one-syllable words in the English language are "screeched"
  and "strengths."

* Great Britain was the first county to issue postage stamps. Hence, the
  postage stamps of Britain are the only stamps in the world not to bear
  the name of the country of origin. However, every stamp carries a relief
  image or a silhouette of the monarch's head instead.

* Artist Constantino Brumidi fell from the dome of the U.S. Capitol while
  painting a mural around the rim. He died four months later.

* Elephants and camels both have four knees.

* The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II
  killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

* The real name of the "I've fallen and I can't get up" lady is Edith Fore.

* Ancient Romans ate flamingo tounges and considered them a delicacy.

* Betsy Ross was born with a fully formed set of teeth. Betsy Ross's other
  contribution to the American Revolution, beside sewing the first American
  flag, was running a munitions factory in her basement.

* The only real person to be a Pez head was Betsy Ross.

* Devo's original name was going to be De-evolution. They shortened it to
  Devo. Steely Dan got their name from a sexual device depicted in the book
  'The Naked Lunch'. Bob Dylan's real name is Robert Zimmerman.

* Andy Warhol created the Rolling Stone's emblem depicting the big tongue.
  It first appeared on the cover of the 'Sticky Fingers' album.

* Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr were the [only] two left-handed Beatles.

* Chris Ford scored the first ever NBA three-point shot.

* Maine is the only state that borders only one other US State.

* Of all the East Coast States, New Hampshire has the shortest coastline,
  about fourteen miles. New Hampshire is also the only State name the has
  four consecutive consonants in it (in the same word).

* Ontario is the only Canadian Province that borders the Great Lakes.

* Alaska has the longest border with Canada of all the fifty states. Montana
  has the longest border with Canada of the lower forty-eight States.
  Montana also borders the most Canadian Provinces of all the fifty states.
  It borders three of them.

* Arkansas is the only US State that begins with the letter "a" but does not
  end with "a."

* Only three angels are mentioned by name in the Bible: Gabriel, Michael,
  and Lucifer.

* Dr. Seuss pronounced "Seuss" such that it rhymed with "rejoice."

* Wilma Flinestone's maiden name was Wilma Slaghoopal, and Betty Rubble's
  Maiden name was Betty Jean Mcbricker.

* Lenny Kravitz's mother played the part of "Helen" on "The Jeffersons."

* A Macintosh LC575 has 182 speaker holes.

* In 1963, baseball pitcher Gaylord Perry remarked, "They'll put a man on
  the moon before I hit a home run." On July 20, 1969, a few hours after
  Neil Armstrong set foot on the moon, Gaylord Perry hit his first, and
  only, home run.

* Panama hats come from Ecuador not Panama.

* Urea is found in humna urine and dalmatian dogs and nowhere else.

* Human birth control pills work on gorillas.

* The Earl of Condom was a knighted personal physician to England's King
  Charles II in the mid- 1600's. The Earl was requested to produce a method
  to protect the King from syphillis.(Charles the II's pleasure-loving
  nature was notorious.) The result should be obvious.

* Cheryl Ladd (of Charlie's Angels fame) played the voice, both talking and
  singing, of Josie in the 70s Saturday morning cartoon "Josie and the
  Pussycats."

* The abbreviation for pound, "lb.," comes from the astrological sign Libra,
  meaning balance, and symbolized by scales.

* Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and
  Australia have participated in every Games.

* There were no squirrels on Nantucket until 1989.

* Cathy Rigby is the only woman to pose nude for Sports Illustrated.
  (August 1972)

* Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

* Will Clark of the Texas Rangers is a direct descendant of William Clark
  of Lewis and Clark.

* Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33.

* When ocean tides are at their highest, they are called "spring tides."
  When they are at their lowest, they are call "neap tides."

* February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.
  [What about September 1752?  -psl]

* The last NASCAR driver to serve jail time for running moonshine was Buddy
  Arrington.

* Many Japanese golfers carry "hole-in-one" insurance, because it is
  traditional in Japan to share one's good luck by sending gifts to all your
  friends when you get an "ace." The price for what the Japanese term an
  "albatross" can often reach $10,000.

* The difference between male and female blue crabs is the design located
  on their apron (belly.) The male blue crab has the Washington Monument
  while the female apron is shaped like the U.S. Capitol.

* It takes a lobster approxiamately seven years to grow to be one pound.

* The ridges on the sides of coins are called reeding.  [Also milling. -psl]

* The lot numbers for the cyanide-tainted Tylenol capsules scare back in
  1982 were MC2880 and 1910MD.  [Hard to believe, huh?  -psl]

* Montpelier, Vermont is the only U.S. state capital without a McDonalds.

* The Roman emperor Caligula made his horse a senator.

* At latitude 60 degrees south you can sail all the way around the world.

* A Chinese checkerboard has 121 holes.

* The hyoid bone, in your throat, is the only bone in the body not attached
  to another bone.

* Mice, whales, elephants, giraffes, and man all have seven neck vertebrae.

* Sunbeams that shine down through the clouds are called crespucular rays.

* Very small clouds that look like they have been broken off of bigger
  clouds are called scuds.

* On a dewy morning, if you look at your shadow in the grass, the dew drops
  shine light back to your eye creating a halo called a heilgenschein
  (German for halo.)

* The correct response to the Irish greeting, "Top of the morning to you,"
  is "and the rest of the day to yourself."

* Giraffes have no vocal cords.

* The straw was probably invented by Egyptian brewers to taste in-process
  beer without removing the fermenting ingredients which floated on the top
  of the container.

* Joe DiMaggio had more home runs than strikeouts during his career.

* All porcupines float in water.

* Hang On Sloopy is the official rock song of Ohio.

* A-1 Steak Sauce contains both orange peel and raisins.

* Many northern parishes (counties) of Louisiana did not agree with the
  Confederate movement. To show their disapproval, they changed their names.
  That's why there is a Union Parish, Jefferson Parish, etc.

* The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is
  necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still
  had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and
  whites.

* Residents of the island of Lesbos are Lesbosians, rather than Lesbians.
  (Of course, lesbians are called lesbians because Sappho was from Lesbos.)

* The Chinese ideogram for 'trouble' symbolizes 'two women living under one
  roof'.

* In Chinese, the words for crisis and opportunity are the same.

* No word in the English language rhymes with month.

* Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without
  killing them use to burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get
  fired."

* The poisonous copperhead smells like fresh cut cucumbers.

* In Disney's "Fantasia", the Sorcerer's name is "Yensid" (Disney
  backwards.)

* The smallest mushroom's name is "Hop-low."

© 1998 Peter Langston