Archive of Weird, Bizarre and Unusual 2008

          Frank Perdue

When the third largest chicken processor in the U.S., Perdue Chicken Co., began expanding into Spanish speaking countries, they carried their slogan, "It takes a tough man to make a tender chicken" with them. After a Spanish translation, however, it stated, "It takes a hard man (sexually aroused) to make a chick affectionate."

               St Martin

In 2003, Rev. Stephen Earley of St. Martin's Church in Gloucestershire, England, announced an unusual way his church would raise money to aid women's groups in Rwanda. Their way? Sell 2004 calendars, featuring 13 female parishioners, posing in the nude. Jo Hofman, 50, who posed for the calendar said: "We wanted to celebrate womanhood, to heal a little of the pain suffered by our sisters in Rwanda."

                    Elephants doing the Dog Paddle

With an Indian elephant easily weighing 11,000 pounds, and an African one about 15,400 pounds, amazingly, they are able to swim for miles, even using their long snouts to snorkel if the water gets rough. At the same time, these huge pachyderms cannot jump, leap or gallop.

For centuries, champagne bottles were a nightmare for French glassblowers. The wine's pressure would reach about 90 pounds per square inch (about the same pressure as a small bicycle tire) and make the bottles unpredictable. Then, in 1828, weather conditions put extra sugar in the grapes, allowing pressure inside these bottles to go well over 90 PSI, causing 80% of them to explode. In fact, during that period, spending time in a wine cellar was considered more dangerous than going to war.

            P.J. O'Rourke      Brown, Black and Polar Bear     Mayflower Madam

(1) "Never steal anything so small that you'll have to go to an unpleasant city jail for it instead of a minimum-security federal tennis prison." P.J. O'Rourke (2) "Never drop your gun to hug a bear." H.E. Palmer, a member of the U.S. forces that settled the West in the later half of the 19th century (3) " Never say anything on the phone that you wouldn't want your mother to hear at your trial." Sydney Biddle Barrows, the Mayflower Madam.

    Rev. Samuel Parris

From February 1692 through May 1693, one of the oddest cases of mass hysteria was in Salem, Massachusetts. Newly appointed minister Samuel Parris told his congregation his daughter and niece were acting very strangely and were possessed by witchcraft. With fear of witches over-powering these simple people's common sense, the Salem Witch Trials soon began. Over the next several months, more than 150 people were arrested and imprisoned. Of the 29 convicted for witchcraft, 19 (14 women and 5 men) were exectuted by hanging.

Elliot's Gun Shop in Jefferson, Louisiana, was raided and shut down on May 16, 2007, by both the ATF (The Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives) and the Secret Service. Careful documentation showed Elliot's had sold more than 2,300 firearms in the past five years, which had all been tied to crimes in the New Orleans area. According to ATF agent Dave Harper, this included 125 guns linked to murder investigations and about 500 tied to illegal drug crimes.

     Joshua Mauldin            Ana Marie Mauldin

A wire service report on May 16, 2007, told of 19-year-old Joshau Mauldin, who had been arrested in Galveston for burning his 2-month-old daughter, Ana Marie,...... by heating her for several seconds inside a microwave oven. After the baby was rescued and examined at Shiners Burns Hospital, she was determined to have suffered third-degree burns on both face and hand.

 (Click on Picture to Enlarge)

If one page from an average book were measured, it would be about 1,000,000 atoms (Angstrom Units) thick. And from another perspective, if an apple were enlarged to the size of the planet Earth, each atom in the enlarged apple would be about the size of the original apple.

Outside Huntington Avenue Grounds and rooftop view of Game 3 in Boston

In 1903, in hopes of bringing the National and American Baseball Leagues closer together, the first World Series was held between the Boston Americans and the Pittsburgh Pirates. The entire series lasted 13 days. And, even though Boston beat Pittsburgh in the series, 5 games to 3, the owner of the Pirates was so proud of his team, he let them all split the profits he'd collected, making their pay much higher than that paid the winning Boston team. (FYI: Best-of-seven has been used to determine the winner in all series games, except in 1903, 1919-1921 when it consisted of a best-of-nine playoff.)

     Kimberly Mays

When 9-year-old Arlene Twig died from a heart defect in 1988, tissue samples proved beyond doubt she was not the biological child of her parents, Earnest and Regina Twiggs. An investigation soon determined another child, Kimberly Mays, born at the same hospital, had been switched with Arlene. The Twiggs sued, and the case dragged on for five years, until a judge ruled the Twiggs had no parental rights at all. (The story did not stop here. See The New York Times Custody and Support articles.)

              Bob Cerv                         

Bob Cerv played baseball for the New York Yankees off-and-on for 11 years. Once, when he was being traded away, manager Casey Stengel needed to come up with a "gentle" way to tell him. Stengel's answer was to corner Cerv in the dugout, smile, then quietly whisper, "Nobody knows this, but one of us has just been traded to Kansas City."

Rosie and Pete years earlier
at the Social Security office

The news media reported May 15, 2007, Rosie Costello, 46, had plead guilty to teaching her son how to act retarded, in order to collect Social Security benefits. She was sentenced to three years in prison, and ordered to repay the government $288,000. A few days before, her son, Pete Costello, 26, had been sentenced to 13 months in jail on the same offense.

  The two Pilings at the        Flooding Downtown
  Kinzie Street bridge           Basements

In 1991, contractors driving pilings (telephone poles bundled together) to prevent barges from bumping into the Kinzie Street bridge, penetrated a tunnel running underneath the river in downtown Chicago. The damage was discovered a few months later, but repairs were delayed, allowing a large hole to form in the tunnel's roof. On April 13, 1992, the water rushed in at a rate of 250 gallons per second, causing the flooding of basements in many buildings. This lasted for three days, and took several months before things were back to normal. The cost of this procrastination totaled $1.95 billion.

Lyndon Baines Johnson    The King and Queen

36th President of the United States, Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908-1973), with his crude manners and social flaws, was an embarrassment to all those around him. While visiting Thailand, and being televised live sitting next to King Bhumibol Adulyadej, LBJ deliberately hitched his foot up over his thigh, and pointed his toe directly at the King. (In Thailand, that is equal to the American gesture of extending one's middle finger at another person in traffic.) Next, another faux pas, this crude "leader of the free world" grabbed the Queen of Thailand, said "hi, honey," and gave her a great big old Texas hug. (No one is ever allowed to touch the queen.)

 Pioneers Wearable Computer
                     YukiEL

In 2002, Japanese designer Michie Sone, in collaboration with Pioneer Electronics, created a wearable- computer jacket for people on the go. It had a flat panel Organic Electroluminescent Display (OELD) screen built into one sleeve, along with a keypad on the cuff, and speakers in the collar. It never caught on in the U.S.

        George Eastman                    Kodak Patent           U.S. stamp and Kodak Ad

His invention of the Kodak camera in the late 1880's made George Eastman (1854-1932) very rich. And, even though he feared death almost to a phobia, he traveled far-and-wide, hunting bears and tigers. At the age of 77, he sent a friend a note reading, "My work is done. Why wait?" With that, Eastman shot himself dead.

When Parker Pen Co. decided to expand sales into Mexico, they had their slogan "It won't leak in your pocket and embarrass you," translated into Spanish. The translator, however, decided to use the verb embarazar, which sounds like "to embarrass," but really means, "to impregnate."

     Casimir Funk

In 1912, a Polish chemist, Casimir Funk (1884-1967), found that amine, a substance found in unpolished rice (a type of nitrogen-containing compound) could prevent beri-beri. Funk, understanding amine was vital to proper body function, called it vitamine (for vital amine - later known as Vitamin B1).

                                   Marcus Aurelius

Around 167 Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius Antoninus (121 -180) said it well: "Time is a sort of river of passing events, and strong is its current; no sooner is a thing brought to sight than it is swept by and another takes its place, and this too will be swept away."

Honey Bee/Honeycomb           Yummy Honey

Just how busy is a bee? To fill its honey sack, a bee must visit between 1,000 and 1,500 blooms. To produce a thimbleful of honey, a bee must make about 60 of these nectar collecting trips. This means an average sized hive can produce about two pounds of honey daily, equal to about 5,000,000 nectar gathering journeys.

Upper Darby Police Dept.          Lou's Loans

The Philadelphia Inquirer reported on May 20, 2007, that hundreds of guns, including illegal sawed-off shotguns and assault rifles, seized by the Upper Darby Police Department, were back in circulation. Two of the areas most notorious gun shops (Lou's Loans and Mac's Guns) offered many for sale the very day they had been confiscated. Under Pennsylvania law, police departments may resell collected guns, but not illegal guns. Also, there is some question about whether the proceeds went back to the township or into the pockets of the officers.

             Alex Fowler

In 2001, Alex Fowler of the University of Massachusetts at Dartmouth, was trying to create a material for making clothing which could eat its own dirt and even sweat. This can be done, at least theoretically, by impregnating fabric fibers with different bacteria engineered to eat organic materials. Only problem, if that article of clothing is not worn very often, the bacteria will starve to death. Fowler added, "You could end up having to feed your shirt instead of washing it." (Contacted in January of 2008, Fowler said, "We have turned most of our attention to creating living bandages that would create drugs to promote healing, but the basic concept remains the same - fabrics that are alive.")

                            Wayne Gretzky

The world's greatest hockey player, Wayne Gretzky, followed the same routine during the warm-up before each game. He'd shoot his first puck way off to the right of the goal. Then, when he went back to the dressing room, he'd drink a Diet Coke, a glass of iced water, a Gatorade and another Diet Coke.

On May 21, 2007, a former Dallas Big Lots store manager, William Gary Garrard Jr., 38, was sentenced to five years in prison for setting fire, twice, to the store he managed. On September 23, 2003, court records show, Mr. Garrard used gasoline to start a fire in his office, which the sprinkler system extinguished before firefighters arrived. When Mr. Garrard was called and told to return to his office to secure loose cash found, he returned and started another fire, this time accidentally setting fire to a plaster-of-paris cast he wore over an injured arm. (He was also ordered to pay $256,455 in restitution.)

        Carl Sandburg

Here are 3 great quotes from celebrated poet and author Carl Sandburg (1878-1967): (1) "I want money in order to buy the time to get the things that money will not buy." (2) "Someday they'll give a war and nobody will come." (3) "Those who fear they may cast pearls before swine are often lacking in pearls."

       Hans Friedenthal                  Bearded Lady

In 1914, Hans Friedenthal (1870-1943), a University of Berlin professor, warned women that "brain work" could cause them to go bald, while increasing their masculinity, and even cause a beard to grow on their faces, adding "In the future, therefore, women will be bald and wear long moustaches and patriarchal beards."

A least one study indicates young male ducks have little or no interest in sex, even turning away females ready to mate. Some being observed went so far as to "make excuses" by taking a sudden unneeded bath, or chasing away imaginary enemies. This attitude is only temporary, however. Once they select a mate, these young males can't wait to enjoy fun-and-games.

  Old Bank Building      John Whittelsey                    The Whittelsey House

On January 25, 1876, John Whittelsey, chief cashier of the Northampton National Bank in Massachusetts, had his home taken over by a group of masked men, demanding the combinations to all 3 of the bank's safes. His unwanted house guests, combinations in hand, took a total of $1.6 million from that bank. (This remained U.S. history's largest bank heist, until the Brinks Robbery in 1950, when $1,218,211.19 in cash and over $1.5 million in checks, money orders, and other securities were stolen.)

In the 1500's, the sophisticated rich of Europe began buying pricey pewter dinner dishes. This created the "silent killer" of the Middle Ages. When food containing high acid was served on this pewter wear, it would leach lead onto the food, just before it was eaten. People noticed the poisonings appeared to occur more often when tomatoes were served. Until the 1800's, Europeans thought tomatoes were poison, and refused to eat them.

(1) A mouse's heart is smaller than an M & M candy piece. (2) All elephants, be they African or Asian, suffer from the same digestive "problem," excessive flatulence -- even more than man. (That'd be a weird way to have your hat blown off.) (3) What is a natal cleft? That is the medical term for your butt crack.

          Virginia Woolf                         River Ouse                   James Joyce - 1904                     Ulysses

British novelist Virginia Woolf (1882-1941) was a very harsh critic of Irish novelist James Joyce's literary masterpiece Ulysses. Woolf's critique, quoted: "It is a misfire. It is brackish. It is pretentious. It is under-bred, not only in the obvious sense, but in the literary sense. A first-rate writer, I mean, respects writing too much to be tricky." (Woolf committed suicide by drowning herself in the River Ouse near her home. Guess she didn't like herself either?)

             Nazi Rally

Six months before World War II began in Europe, the Rockefeller family's Chase National Bank offered a unique service to German Nazis. This bank volunteered to help raise money to promote Adolph Hitler, from Nazi sympathizers living inside the United States.

Truman knew of what he spoke. The Chicago Daily Tribune
ran this headline the morning after the 1948 election.

Perhaps the most sage U.S. President of the 20th century was Harry S. Truman (1884-1972). He did have a way with words. For Instance: (1) "These polls that the Republican candidate is putting out are like sleeping pills designed to lull the voters into sleeping on election day. You might call then sleeping polls." (2) "I really look with commiseration over the great body of my fellow citizens who, reading newspapers, live and die in the belief that they have known something of what has been passing in the world in their time." (3) "Men don't change. The only thing new in the world is the history you don't know."

    The Bambino with
George H.W. Bush at Yale

Profession baseball legend George Herman (Babe) Ruth, Jr. (1895-1948) was a heavy, two-fisted drinker. Once when a police officer found Ruth trying to start his car while drunk, he offered to help. This made the Babe angry, and he showed the policeman how much by knocking him to the ground. But, instead of arresting his hero, the officer started the slugger's car, then drove him home.

    Earnest Rutherford

Earnest Rutherford (1871-1937) was smart enough in 1908 to win the Nobel Laureate in Chemistry, for his investigations into the disintegration of the elements, and the chemistry of radioactive substances. Yet, in 1933, this learned man said, quote: "The energy produced by the atom is a very poor kind of thing. Anyone who expects a source of power from the transformation of these atoms is talking moonshine."

          Carl Sagan

Astronomer Carl Sagan (1934-1996), in his 62 years, said many profound things. An example: "In science it often happens that scientists say, 'You know, that's a really good argument; my position is mistaken,' and then they would actually change their minds and you never hear that old view from them again. They really do it. It doesn't happen as often as it should, because scientists are human and change is sometimes painful. But it happens every day. I cannot recall the last time something like that happened in politics or religion." (1987 CSICOP Keynote Address)

        Luftwaffe fighter aircraft                                     ITT Logo                                        ITT Capital Stock

Throughout World War II, International Telephone and Telegraph (ITT) chose to invest heavily in the making of Hitler's war machines. Through its subsidiary, Lorenz Company, they owned 25% of Foeke-Wolfe, builder of Luftwaffe fighter aircraft used against U.S. troops and their allies, making ITT a healthy profit. They also supplied telephones, switchboards, alarm gongs, buoys, air raid warning devices and radar equipment to the Nazis, as well as 30,000 fuses per month for artillery shells (used to kill American and British troops), beginning soon after the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

 Henry David Thoreau

Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) was an American writer, poet, philosopher and naturalist. While lying on his death bed, he was asked by his aunt if he had made peace with God? To this, Thoreau, in eloquent innocence, replied, "I did not know that we had ever quarreled."

Jean-Dominique Bauby

Writer Jean-Dominique Bauby, editor in chief of Elle magazine in Paris, suffered a brain hemorrhage in 1995, at the age of 42, leaving him completely paralyzed, except to open and close his left eyelid. But, with that one eye lid, and a very patient friend to translate the code, Bauby blinked an estimated 200,000 times to complete his memoirs, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly. (Bauby died only two days after the books publication.)

Leif Erikson 1968 stamp                                L’Anse Aux Meadows

Almost 500 years before Columbus discovered the Americas, around the year 1003, Viking Leif Erikson (Eiríksson) landed in North America. Erikson colonized a land called "Vinland", believed to be L’Anse Aux Meadows, on the island of Newfoundland.

                                                        King Francis's Royal Château of Fontainebleau                     Mona Lisa
                                                                               - view from the lake

King Francis I of France purchased the famous Mona Lisa from Leonardo da Vinci, around 1518. Where in his castle did the king hang this masterpiece? His bathroom.

On May 20, 1960 U.N. Ambassador Henry Cabot Lodge, Jr. accused the Soviet Union of hiding a microphone inside a wood carving of the Great Seal of the United States, which had been presented to the U.S. embassy in Moscow.

      Jim Thorpe - the athlete and the town

When Jim Thorpe, one of the world's best known athletics, died in 1953, he was totally broke. This caused his widow to ask his home state, Oklahoma, to pay for a memorial to her husband. When they refused, she offered to bury his remains in any U.S. town which would change its name to Jim Thorpe. A deal was struck with a small town desperately seeking to attract business, and the town that was once Mauch Chunk, Pennsylvania, became Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania.

         Samuel Pepys

In the latter half of the 17th century, gentlemen of the English elite shaved their heads bald, then wore stylish wigs. But famous diarist Samuel Pepys (1633-1703) did them one better. He shaved his head, alright, but he then had his loose hair made into a wig, which he wore regularly.

Ever see an old pecan tree bent down to the ground, then turned upward? The Comanche were nomadic Plains Indians who marked their campsites by twisting over pecan saplings, then tying them to the ground. The last known specimen of this shaped tree died in 2003. (If you ever spot one, "the labelers" might name it after you?)

                        Mummy at British Museum

Between 3100 B.C. to 649 A.D., mummification was performed on Egyptian kings and high officials upon their deaths. This involved splitting open the body and removing most all the organs, which were then preserved in ceremonial jars. But these embalmers of excellence had little use for the human brain. It was shredded and removed with hooks inserted through the nostrils. Next they packed the entire corpse in oil of cedar and natron, because of its high salt content. The chemicals dried out the body for 40 to 70 days, leaving it shrunken and ready to have sawdust, cloth or other scraps stuffed into it to fill out its mouth, nose and chest cavity.

     Chauncey Depew

New York Senator (1899-1911) Chauncey Depew (1834-1928) attending a dinner party, was seated next to an attractive young lady, wearing a very low-cut, off-the-shoulder dress. This caused the aging politician to look over and ask her, "My dear, what is keeping that dress on you?" "Only your age, Mr. Depew," she laughed.

     Guilty As Charged!

In 2003, Octavia Williams, 44, was found guilty by a New York City jury of stealing $160 from a woman in Times Square. Because it was her first conviction, the judge told Williams she would probably get probation at her sentencing, then court was adjourned. But that's when things got out of hand. The defendant rushed over to a departing jury member, Geraldine Goldring, 53, screamed "So I'm guilty, bitch?" and punched her in the face. Williams then faced up to four years in jail.

                       The Alamo                     Clara Driscoll         Adina De Zavala           Restored Church Building

Probably Texas' most famous landmark, the Alamo, is where Davy Crocket and others fought and died in 1836. Bought and sold many times over the next 70 years, the structure was once turned into a grocery store and then almost torn down to erect a hotel. Thanks to Adina De Zavala (1861-1955), Clara Driscoll (1881-1945) and other members of the Daughters of the Republic of Texas, it was preserved and eventually designated a National Historic Landmark in 1960. (It is still the job of the DRT to keep and maintain the Alamo, at no charge to the state.)

 Lucius Licinius Lucullus

One of the wealthiest men in ancient Rome, Lucius Licinius Lucullus (118-56 B.C.), often threw elaborate dinner parties, complete with tickle slaves. What were tickle slaves? They were used so guests could enjoy the huge feasts until full, vomit, then eat again. The tickle slaves would help them vomit by forcing turkey feathers down their throats.

In August 2004, the Croatian government lowered auto drivers' legal blood-alcohol limit from 0.05% to zero. This struck a sour cord with Catholic church officials, who explained priests had to first drive to their parishioners' homes, then to their own homes, directly after drinking small amounts of ritualistic wine. (The priests had asked to be exempt from the new law, but their request was denied.)

After the invention of video close-ups, some political analysts took to counting the candidates' eye blinks per minute, in attempts to decipher inner thoughts. For instance, Richard Nixon doubled his number of eye blinks when discussing Watergate. While Bill Clinton's blinks went from 51 per minute, to 71 when discussing Monica Lewinsky.

In the countries of Egypt, Mauritania, Morocco and Sudan, barely half the female population is ever taught to read even basic words. And, the literacy rate for women in Bangladesh, Benin, Nepal, Pakistan and Senegal is even worse, with seven out of ten lucky if they can write their own names.

             Bill Maher

The host of the late-night television talk show "Politically Incorrect," Bill Maher, made this observation: "America is the only country in the world that's still in the business of making bombs that can end the world and TV shows that make it seem like a good idea."

        Franklin Pierce                  Ulysses. S. Grant

During the first year of his term as the 14th President of the United States (1853-1857), Franklin Pierce, was arrested for running down an elderly woman with his carriage. The case was dropped due to insufficient evidence. Also, the 18th President (1869-1877), Ulysses. S. Grant, was arrested and fined $20 for speeding in his horse carriage.

        Luis Gonzalez

After the wife of Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Luis Gonzalez had triplets, he began tapping home plate three times with his bat, each time before stepping up. While playing for the Houston Astros, he sent his favorite bat to church. And, the last day of the 1993 season, his bat went to the chapel service in the clubhouse, while he prayed his batting average of .299 would increase to the magical .300 mark. Later that day, Gonzales knew God answered his prayers because he did hit .300.

Zeke Zzyzus was so determined to regain his name's last position in the Montreal city phone directory, he added another "z" to become Zeke Zzzyzus, beating out both Pol Zzyzzo and Zzzap Distribution.

     Antoine Lavoisier     With his wife / replica of his lab          Guillotine

The French chemist who recognized and named oxygen, Antoine Lavoisier (1743-1794), was sentenced to beheading by the guillotine during the Reign of Terror. Always the scientist, Lavoisier told a friend he would continue blinking his eyes for as long as he could after his head was removed. His friend recorded the eyes in the bodiless head blinked up to 20 times.

At one time the U.S. Army sent soldiers to private colleges to study engineering. The bureaucrats assigned students to various schools in alphabetical order. That's how 298 of 300 sent to one school were all named Brown.

           Minnie Pearl                                                                            Brian Kiley

(1) Minnie Pearl: "Getting married is a lot like getting into a tub of hot water. After you get used to it, it ain't so hot." (2) Anita Milner: "In August, my husband, Morris, and I celebrated our 38th wedding anniversary. You know what I finally realized? If I had killed the man the first time I thought about it, I'd have been out of jail by now." (3) Brian Kiley: "I love being married. I was single for a long time, and I just got so sick of finishing my own sentences."

      Patrick Reynolds

Richard J. Reynolds Jr., tobacco heir of R.J. Reynolds , died of emphysema in 1964. Richard J. Reynolds III (Josh), his son, died of emphysema in 1994. As a result, Josh's half-brother, Patrick Reynolds, sold all his R.J. Reynolds stock, and became an anti smoking activist. (See www.tobaccofree.org/famobit.htm )

  Satellite View - Sahara          Relief Map - Gobi

What do the Sahara Desert and Gobi Desert have in common? "Sahara" in Arabic translates to "desert," and "Gobi" in Mongolian means something very large and dry, or "desert." In other words, they are Desert Desert and Desert Desert. (The Sahara is the second largest desert in the world and the Gobi is fourth.)

Scientists from the Australian Antarctic Division, working in small boats in August of 2003, attached satellite-tracking devices to whales in order to study their habitats. The scientists also captured a photo, called a first ever "event" detected from a whale. In the photo, water patterns made from bubbles near one of these aquatic mammals indicated it had just released several cubic yards of flatulence. Researcher Nick Gales said he and others were lucky to escape the above water air turbulence just before it surfaced.

      Colonel Sanders

After Colonel Sanders sold Kentucky Fried Chicken in 1964, he remained its spokesman for many years, well paid to espouse his old products' continuing good quality and taste. In July 1975, however, the Colonel told a Bowling Green, Kentucky, newspaper, KFC's "Extra Crispy" was a "damned fried doughnut stuck on some chicken," and referred to the gravy as "sludge" and "pure wallpaper paste." Then, a year later, while visiting a New York City location, he declared the food "the worst fried chicken I've ever seen."

           Liszt - 1839                   - at the piano in 1885

After Hungarian composer and pianist Franz Liszt (1811-1886) became popular in much of Europe, his fans far and wide began requesting locks of his hair. Unwilling to go around close to bald, Liszt began sending locks of fur from his dog. (Pressed between pages of diaries all across Europe, even today, the question remains, "Did he, or didn't he?")

In January 2004, those eating breakfast at a Denny's restaurant in Spokane, Washington, were surprised when 3 young men ran through the dining room wearing nothing but their shoes and hats. The real surprise came when the three streakers ran outside, looking for the car they had left with the motor running. It had been stolen, leaving them to hide in the bushes until police arrived. (Police spokesman Dick Cottam said "We always tell people to not leave their car running.")

Despite the depiction in many movies of murder investigators picking up a handgun by its trigger guard with a pencil to protect any fingerprints, fingerprints do not usually stick to the slick metal surfaces of firearms. In fact, one expert of many years said the odds of this occurring are close to one-thousand-to-one.

     Harriet Monroe

When poet Harriet Monroe was asked to compose a poem for the 1892 World Columbian Exposition in Chicago, she had no idea what to charge, so she asked $1,000. The exposition committee had no idea of its worth, so they paid it. When the New York World newspaper printed her poem without permission, she sued and was awarded $5,000. Monroe used that $6,000 to travel Europe several years. Upon returning to Chicago, she rented a hall to give a poetry reading, but no one came to hear her. While she had been away in Europe, folks forgot. (Not one to give up, Harriet founded a small magazine called Poetry.)

Didn't she know there
is a size limit too?

The Pakistan Daily Times reported a woman, Gerda M., was walking her dog, Leonie, in Nuremberg, Germany, when a policeman noticed the condition of her animal, and had it immediately taken to an animal shelter. There, the large skinny dog was found to weigh only 12 kg (26 pounds), instead of a normal weight of 25 kg (55 pounds). The starving animal's owner explained, when traveling by plane she wished to take it on board as part of her carry-on luggage. And, for that, it could weigh no more than 5 kg (11 pounds), so she had it on a "diet."

         Tycho Brahe

Sixteenth century Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe (1546-1601) often over drank when attending feasts, resulting in a big problem. During that time in history, it was considered rude to leave the banquet table before all others had finished. And, with time, Brahe's developed a bladder which needed frequent emptying. Unfortunately, one banquet lasted too long. It caused Brahe's bladder to burst, killing him very painfully over the next 11 days.

          Billy Werber                   Marilyn Monroe and                Charlie Keller
                                                    Joe DiMaggio - on
                                                    their wedding day

Infielder Billy Werber once asked Joe DiMaggio's teammate Charlie Keller what the great Yankee center fielder was really like. Keller's reply was, "I can't say. The man has never said a word to me." (DiMaggio and Keller played together for eight years.)

A contestant on the popular TV game show Wheel of Fortune, Will Wright, won a total of $48,400. Hoping to increase his winnings, a few days later he used some of the money to hire an attorney to sue the producers of the show for $2 million. Over what? Wright claimed when he stuck out his hand to be congratulated, host Pat Sajak assaulted him with a full weight embrace. The "hug" he received resulted in him having to undergo back surgery. (Last heard, the case was still pending.)

The Brown-throated three-toed sloth (Bradypus variegatus) and other types of that species, have something in common with humans that few other land creatures do. Most of the time, the male and female face each other while mating. There's one thing very different, however. While sloth copulate, they hang from tree branches by their arms.

Entomologists think two-hundred years ago it took an awfully powerful air updraft to cause large swarms of grasshoppers to fly high enough to freeze to death over the mountains of Montana. These snow-covered peaks are covered with the frozen remains of millions of these crop destroyers. Occasionally, the sun will melt a layer of ice mixed with these bugs, giving local birds a two century old feast bonanza.

                Penguin                        Ellen DeGeneres

Penguins (Spheniscidae - includes all penguins, living and extinct) mate for life, and stand-up comedian Ellen DeGeneres explains why: "Penguins mate for life. Which doesn't really surprise me, 'cause they all look exactly alike. It's not like they're gonna meet a better-looking penguin someday."

                Old Photo of Ben                               Movie Poster of Bill                          Stamp with Ben's Face

          Stamp with Bill's Face               Legends of the West stamp pane

In December 1993, the U.S. Postal Service unveiled a new set of commemorative stamps named Legends of the West. One honored rodeo star Bill Picket, "the nations most outstanding black cowboy." His picture had been taken from a stack of old pictures, with his name inscribed on it. However, after millions of these stamps were released, a member of Bill's family came forward and said it was a picture of Ben, his brother, not Bill. The Postal Service made a decision to recall the stamps, at a cost of roughly $1 million. (Clerks had already sold some of the incorrect stamp panes, making it so rare and valuable that most collectors would not be able to afford one. So, the Postal Service made another great decision. They sold 150,000 of the faulty panes though a lottery, diminishing their value.)

                         Hampshire outline                                                         Lymington Harbour

When Samuel Baldwin of Hampshire, England, died on May 20th, in 1736, he left definite burial instruction for his body to be thrown from a ship in the sea at Lymington, Hants. Was this because he was once a sailor? Nope. Baldwin demanded he be buried at sea because his wife had mocked him constantly nagging "When you die, I'm going to dance on your grave," but he would not allow it.

                                                          Two Nigerian National Petroleum Companies

Graeme Kenneth Rutherford was an experienced, level-headed money manager and former executive at a Citibank in New Zealand, when he was offered a deal he could not resist; what he thought was a bona fide offer to help a Nigerian oil company manage proceeds from a $50 million contract. Only catch, he would have to pay several million in fees and shift the money to a European account. From that account he would be able to reclaim his expenses and receive 1% a year for his skills. Rutherford quickly became involved by first sending $600,000 of his own money, eventually borrowing from his father and trusting friends a total of $7 million, which he then wired to Nigeria. After that, Rutherford never heard from the scam artists again. (Rutherford was eventually sentenced to six-and-one-half years in prison on 23 counts of forgery and fraud.) See www.quatloos.com/scams/nigerian.htm for information about Nigerian fraud scams.

          W. C. Fields

W.C. Fields (1880-1946), Vaudeville juggler, radio funnyman, comic writer, and movie star, was a tightwad in many ways, especially when it came to his family. Upon his death, Fields only left his wife and son $10,000, with the rest of his roughly $800,000 going to build "The W.C. Fields Home for Orphan White Boys and Girls, where no religion of any type is to be taught." But his son, Claude, a successful lawyer by then, had the will overthrown.

In ancient Europe, if a clan decided to rid itself of a person, they would burn down his house as the final act. Today, we still say one losing their job is "fired."

Six of the Seven Ancient Wonders of the World could last be seen in 224 B.C. It was never possible to see all seven during any one time period. The Seven Wonders of the Modern World are: the Empire State building, the Itaipu Dam, the CN Tower, the Panama Canal, the Channel Tunnel, the Delta Works, and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The phenomenon of the "fainting goats" is very real. Other than a genetic trait that causes them to stiffen up and fall over when frightened, these goats are no different than any others. First noticed in Tennessee in the 1800's, their inability to flee from predators left them almost extinct. Today the IFGA (International Fainting Goat Association) and its members breed and keep careful count of these four-legged oddities, making sure they flourish for future frightening.

  Steve Jobs, the iPod
  and iTunes

Steve Jobs is the CEO of Apple Inc., which he co-founded in 1976. Now, over 30 years later, Apple has gone beyond computer sales, with 100 million of its iPod portable music players sold, and over 2.5 billion songs legally downloaded from its iTunes online store.

    Austen Chamberlain         Party location - Polesden Lacey Villa

Esquire magazine tells of a party held one Sunday evening in 1921 by the legendary London hostess Mrs. Ronald Greville. During this socially important gathering, to her disgust, Mrs. Greville noticed her butler was drunk, and wrote him a note, "You are drunk. Leave the room at once." The blurry-eyed servant, without reading it, placed the note on a silver tray, and presented it to the guest of honor, British Foreign Secretary Austen Chamberlain.

(1) "LAWYERS GIVE POOR FREE LEGAL ADVICE" (2) "THANKS TO PRESIDENT CLINTON, STAFF SGT. FRUER NOW HAS A SON" (3) "L.A. VOTERS APPROVE URBAN RENEWAL BY LANDSLIDE"

          Mitch Williams                        John Kruk

When professional baseball players join another team, often their favorite uniform number is already taken. That's when negotiations usually begin between the two players involved. When pitcher Mitch Williams joined the Philadelphia Phillies in 1991, star slugger John Kruk already wore #28, his favorite. So, after some dickering, Kruk let Williams have 28 for two cases of beer. Williams later said of the overweight Kruk, "I knew it would take beer or Ding Dongs." Adding, "I just didn't know which."

 Goering 1932

Pope John Paul II and
President Reagan in Miami 1987

When Pope John Paul II (1920-2005) visited Miami in September 1987, vendors sold T-shirts reading "I saw the Pope," in Spanish (el Papa). Some, however, incorrectly translated, read "I saw the potato" (la papa).

Edison and phonograph

Even the great inventor Thomas Alva Edison (1847-1931) made mistakes. Examples: (1) Speaking of his own invention, "the phonograph has no commercial value at all." - 1880's (2) He proclaimed, "The talking motion picture will NOT supplant the regular silent motion picture." - 1913 (3) Concerning electricity, Edison confidently said, "In five years more electricity will be sold for electric vehicles than for light." - 1910

                      Coca Plant                      Coca Leaves / an Immature Poppy                    Poppy Field

In 2001, The Chicago Sun-Times reported the U.S. government had spent $1.3 billion on its "War on Cocaine" in Colombia. To do this, they re-assigned specially equipped planes and helicopters, usually used to find poppy plantations. This allowed these same poppy growers the freedom to manufacture record amounts of heroin, then ship it into North America.

The Egyptians did not limit their mummifying to just fellow humans, but also prepared animals and birds. Egyptologists have opened tombs to find baboons, cats, bull cattle, crocodiles, scorpions and fish. One tomb, in fact, contains an estimated one-million mummified birds.

       Robert Saudek

In the early 1950's, Robert Saudek, a top executive at ABC TV, expressing his views on the possibilities in televising football games, "Then we'll have silent football.... the players won't be bothered by the roar of the crowd, because the crowds will all be watching at home, and they'll be comfortable. There'll be no one at the games except the sponsor, and he'll be behind a glass cage."

(1) The Roman poet Virgil spent the equivalent of £50,000 on his pet fly's funeral. (2) Jeanne Antoinette Poisson, Marquise of Pompadour, mistress of King Louis XVI, was the first person known in France to have a pet goldfish. (3) The oldest cat was probably the tabby Puss, owned by Mrs. T. Holway of Clayhidon, Great Britain, who celebrated his 36th birthday on 28 November 1939 and died the next day. (4) In 1931, Miss Ella Wendel of New York, bequeathed to her standard poodle, Toby, $75 million. (5) Lena, an American foxhound, produced a litter of 23 on 19 June 1944. All the puppies survived.

On September 16, 1787, 55 people attend a gathering where they consumed 60 bottles of claret, 54 bottles of Maderia, 22 bottles of port wine, 12 bottles of beer, 8 bottles of whisky, and 7 large bowls of spiked punch. Why were these 55 people brought together? They were there to sign the Constitution of the United States. (They didn't get around to signing it until the next day, the 17th.)

 Billy Wilder

Outstanding movie director Billy Wilder (1906-2002) expressing his opinion: "Television... I'm delighted with it because it used to be that films were the lowest form of art. Now we have something to look down on."

       Kinky Friedman

Musician, humorist, writer, political candidate, Kinky Friedman says, quote: (1) "The distance between the limousine and the gutter is a short one." (2) "If you have the choice between humble and cocky, go with cocky. There's always time to be humble later, once you've been proven horrendously, irrevocably wrong." (3) "A happy childhood... is the worst possible preparation for life."

Just before the Titanic began its fatal voyage April 10, 1912, one of the ship's lookouts reported that the standard two pairs of binoculars were missing. On April 14, the huge ship struck an iceberg and sank the following morning, drowning more than 1,500 passengers and crew. Lookout Fredrick Fleet, one of 705 survivors, later told investigators, had the binoculars been available, the Titanic could have avoided the iceberg and the tragedy. (Also, the Titanic's position was given as 41o 46' N, 50o 14' W, fourteen miles in error.)

Krispy Kremes being made

One morning in 1847, fifteen-year-old Maine resident Hanson Crockett Gregory complained to his mother her sweet cakes were soggy. Then, with a stroke of ingenuity, young Hans poked a hole with his fork in the middle of an uncooked cake, then asked his mother to deep-fry it. And...............the ring-shaped doughnut was born.

According to the Associated Press, Shanghai, China, waiters Wang Luole and Ling Hong were not honest. After one of their diners (identified only by his surname, Zhu) finished his meal, and waited for the return of his credit card and his receipt, his cell phone rang. It was his credit card company asking if he had just charged 25,000 yuan (Over $3,000) for new cell phones? Luole and Hong had taken his card and gone on a fast shopping spree at a nearby electronics mart. (These two can probably forget about a TIP.)

(1) A deaf man in Bennettsville, South Carolina, filed for divorce because his wife would not stop nagging him in sign language. (2) A Smelterville, Idaho, man divorced his wife because she dressed up like a ghost, and tried to scare his mother out of the house. (3) A woman in Canyon City, Colorado, filed for divorce because her husband made her hide under the dashboard when they drove by his girlfriend's house.

       Breast Harness                        Horse Collars          Horse Wearing Horse Collar

Centuries before the horse collar was invented, around the fifth century, horses were used to pull carts and heavy objects. How were horses hooked up for the job at hand? By a breast-harness, which pressed upon the animal's windpipe and severely restricted its power. The harder the horse pulled, the more it choked its breathing.

     Pseudis paradoxa

The Paradoxical Frog (Pseudis paradoxa) which is found on the island of Trinidad and in the Amazon Basin, starts as a tadpole which can reach 250mm (almost 10 in) long, yet the adult frog it becomes rarely measure more than 75mm (less than 3 inches).

Albert Goodwill Spalding           Spalding Ball                       Spalding Glove

Albert Goodwill Spalding was one of the greatest baseball pitchers in the history of the sport. He played for the Boston Red Stockings (becoming the Milwaukee Braves, then the Atlanta Braves) and the Chicago White Stockings (now the Chicago Cubs) in the 1870s. Between 1871 and 1875 he pitched 301 games and won 241, becoming baseball's first 200-game winner. But, more unusual, he and his brother opened a sporting goods company, where Spalding made his own baseballs. Later, when the National Baseball League was founded in 1877, the Spalding ball was made the official ball of the league.

A popular myth is too funny to pass up. Reportedly printed in Hints from Heloise, and then again in the National Enquirer, a widow came up with a productive use for her husband's ashes. After he was cremated, she had his ashes made into an egg timer. She added, this was her husband's first time ever to be useful in the kitchen.

 (Click on Picture to Enlarge)

For those needing reassurances as often as possible, the "High Five" Stimulator was invented in 1993 (U.S. Patent #5,356,330). This spring-loaded arm can be mounted on any wall. A fake hand attached to the forearm piece connects to a lower arm section with the elbow-joint for pivoting. When the hand is slapped, it responds with a back-slap, giving the receiver's ego the positive feedback required.

Studies indicate there are about 22 million prostitutes worldwide, with some 2 million of those being male. In August of 1996, a meeting in Stockholm was attended by representatives from over 100 nations, to discuss child prostitution. Of the estimated 2 million "hookers" working in Thailand, almost 20% were between the ages of 11 and 17. But, even worse, some members of the Yellamma Cult perform an illegal ritual celebrating the deflowering of virgins. These children, some not yet 10-years-old, are violated, then kept inside the temple as prostitutes available to all who "believe."

If it were possible to count all the animals on earth, including humans, and count all the insects as well, 15% would be animals, including people, while insects would make up the other 85%.

Britney would NOT be
allowed in Louisiana

Representative Derrick Shepherd went before fellow Louisiana State Legislators during their 2004 session to tout a bill which would criminalize the public wearing of any low-slung pants or other clothing which would intentionally expose underclothing, pubic hair, cleft of buttocks, or genitals. House Bill 1626, also known as the "Baggy Pants Bill" caused much laughter, and a couple of catcalls, while Representative Tommy Wright chanted, "No more crack! No more crack!"

X-ray of Pneumocystis
jirovecii caused pneumonia.

June 5, 1981, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported five gay men in Los Angeles had a rare type of pneumonia. Later it was determined they were the first recognized cases of what was to be called AIDS.

   Joseph Montgolfier    Jacques Etienne Montgolfier    June 4, 1783 Flight

Joseph and Jacques Étienne Montgolfier gave the first public demonstration of their hot-air balloon, which flew over Paris with no one on-board, June 4, 1783. Then, one year later, on June 4, 1784, Elizabeth Thible became the first woman to fly aboard a Montgolfier hot-air balloon, over Lyon, France.

                 Imelda Marcos and her shoes

When first lady of the Philippines, Imelda Marcos, was put on trial for embezzlement in 1990, she was so shocked at the number of witnesses against her, she exclaimed, "I get so tired listening to one million dollars here, and one million dollars there. It's so petty."

An amendment to Indonesia's anti-pornography bill passed by parliament, puts a fine of 250,000,000 Rupiah (around $26,947 U.S./18,550 EUR) and five years in jail for any couple caught kissing in public. Head of the committee who drafted the bill, Aisyah Hamid Baidlowi, said, "I think there must be some restrictions on such acts because it is against our traditions of decency."

In 1947, a Bedouin boy looking for his goats on a cliff overlooking the Dead Sea, tossed a rock into a cave and heard something shatter. Crawling inside to see what had broken, the boy found large clay jars containing the famous "Dead Sea Scrolls," with versions of the Holy Bible 1,000 years older than any copies known before.

Caisha Gayles was cheered
during her Commencement

Five Galesburg, Illinois, graduating students (in the class of 2007) were denied their diplomas, according to school officials, because they cheered during the graduation ceremonies. Gainsburg High School officials said they would not hand over diplomas unless they received apologies. (They did, and they did. Case closed.)

    Sir George Everest                 Mount Everest

Sir George Everest (1790-1866), British surveyor and geographer of India 1830 to 1843, must have made a lasting impression? In 1865, Andrew Waugh (1810-1878), successor to Sir George, upon publishing his survey results, named the tallest mountain in the world (29,028 feet/8,848 meters) Mount Everest, stating "...as the duty devolves on me to assign...a name whereby it may be known among citizens and geographers and become a household word among civilized nations."

 Coolidge - Amherst
Undergraduate

Back when he was still a lawyer, Calvin Coolidge, thirtieth President of the United States (1923-1929), stopped off in a tavern offering a special, two martinis for twenty-five cents. Drinking one, Coolidge stood up and told the bartender, "I'll be back tomorrow for the other one."

         Cow Patties

In January of 2004, according to the Economic Times, Dilubhai Rajput, a diamond merchant in Gujarat, India, hid a bag containing 1,722 small diamonds in a pile of hay outside his home. Unfortunately, a hungry cow came along and ate both hay and the bag of jewels. Rajput, seeing the animal, and unable to find his diamonds, followed this bovine for three days, while combing his small fortune from among the dung of many droppings. (He was only able to recover around 310 diamonds. The rest remained inside the ruminant.)

         Moshe Dayan

Israeli General Moshe Dayan (1915-1981) was once stopped by a policeman for speeding. Blind in one eye, and wearing a patch, Dayan asked the officer, "I have only one eye. What do you want me to watch, the speedometer or the road?" (No info whether he got a ticket or not?)

My Beagle, Charlie Brown
How Could They?!

The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) fed over 3,500 beagles radiation-laden dog food over one-and-a-half years, before retiring the project. Later, it dawned on those in the lab that the dog poop gathered was all radio-active, and should have been treated as hazardous waste.

    Mussolini and Hitler         Mickey Mouse in 1935

In 1938, Italy's dictator Benito Mussolini banned the publication of American comic strips in his country, with the exception of Disney's Mickey Mouse. The comics were seen as a vehicle for imparting the values of Anglo-Saxon democracy. However, Mickey was a particular favorite with Mussolini's children and they managed to get the mouse excluded from the edict, but eventually even their requests were ignored and Mickey was banned too.

             Height: 64"                           Height: 72"

James Madison, the fourth President of the United States (1809-1817), known as "Father of the U.S. Constitution," stood 5'4" and weighed less than 100 lbs. One observer, seeing Madison walking with his friend Thomas Jefferson, said they looked more like father and young son.

       Bernard Palissy

When Huguenot Bernard Palissy (c. 1510 - c. 1589) announced in 1588 that fossils he'd found were once living creatures, religious zealots of the day didn't like that "ungodly" idea. He was imprisoned for his beliefs and died in one of the dungeons of the Bastille.

     Carl Sandburg

1951 Pulitzer Prize winning poet Carl Sandburg (1878-1967) said it: "Time is the coin of your life. It is the only coin you have, and only you can determine how it will be spent. Be careful lest you let other people spend it for you."

       Dry Rice Powder              Moist Rice Powder

The ancient Chinese had what they felt was a sure-fire method to know if a person was lying. They would force the person in question to chew a mouthful of rice powder and then spit it out. If the rice was still dry, the suspect was found guilty. Reasoning was, the fear of being caught would reduce the production of saliva in their mouth.

 Christopher Morley

American novelist, poet, journalist, scholar, Christopher Morley (1890-1957), while preparing to give a lecture, found he had lost his glasses. Needing a place to fix his gaze in the audience, Morley looked into the second row, picking a well dressed "most gorgeously furred-up woman", then began. After he spoke, feeling all had gone off without a hitch, he learned who "the lady" in the second row was. That is, when a friend asked him why he kept staring at the "pile of coats" in the second row!

Arnold Schwarzenegger          Rhonda Miller

While Arnold Schwarzenegger was running for California governor in 2003, he was accused by several women of inappropriate touching. When Rhonda Miller, a stunt double while Schwarzenegger was filming Terminator 2, made the same claim the day before the election, Schwarzenegger's press secretary, Sean Walsh, released a web site to the media. There, voters could see the arrest record of Rhonda Miller for such charges as prostitution and theft. Yet, Walsh knew all the time this was a different Rhonda Miller.

       Jackie Robinson                  Minnie Minoso                         Lou Gehrig

(1) Jackie Robinson would never step into the batter’s box until he walked in front of the catcher. (2) Chicago White Socks' Minnie Minoso showered without undressing to wash away "evil spirits", and the next day he got three hits. After that, eight of his teammates jumped in the shower wearing their uniforms. (3) One time when Lou Gehrig's mother sent a jar of pickled eels to the Yankee clubhouse, they won, causing the entire team to begin eating a few bites of that food before each game.

In both Great Britain and Japan rat breeding is a popular hobby. Before competition, some of these rat raisers use toothbrushes on their rodents' fur to help them look their best.

          Ben Wilson                      Lawrence Dill                      Robert Batty                Magnus Wahlberg            Hakan Westerberg

Robert Batty of the Scottish Association of Marine Science, and four other researchers, won the Ig® Nobel Prize in biology in the year 2004. These men of knowledge were rewarded for their diligence and expense, learning that herring (Clupea harengus) communicate by releasing high-pitched tones of flatulence through their anus. These "farts" are oxygen captured on the surface. (The Ig® Nobel Prizes are a parody of the Nobel Prizes and have been awarded since 1991, for those scientific achievements that first make people laugh, and then make them think. The name is a play on the word ignoble.)

          Dolly Parton                         Hippocrates

Even in ancient Greece women worried about the size of their breasts. When asked about a "cure" for the not so generously endowed, the Father of Medicine, Hippocrates (460 BC-370 BC), told these women to simply "Sing loudly."

   Rhinoderma Darwinii

An unusual example of tadpoles is the mouth-brooding of Darwin's frog (Rhinoderma darwinii). The females lay 20-30 eggs then leave them behind to be guarded by several male frogs for about 2 weeks. After that period, the males pick up the surviving tadpoles into their mouths. There, the youngsters enter a vocal pouch to mature for several weeks before swimming from their host "father's" mouth.

Wall of Supreme Court Bldg                     Buzz                        Swedish Calendar in 1712

(1) There is no legal way, under the Constitution of the United States, to remove a mentally incompetent Supreme Court Justice, other than by impeachment and subsequent conviction. (2) Astronaut Buzz Aldrin can brag he was the first to urinate in his pants on the moon." (3) What's so important about February 30? Its first and last appearance was on a Swedish calendar in 1712.

When avid Pittsburgh Steelers fan James Henry Smith died, his family wanted to see him as natural as possible one last time. So, following their instructions, the funeral director had Smith's embalmed body dressed in black-and-white Steelers pajamas and robe, placed in an easy chair, with cigarette and beer near by, a remote control in his hand, and a TV playing highlights from Steelers' games. ( www.wpxi.com/news/4690146/detail.html)

                                                                                                                   (Click on Picture to Enlarge)

For at least a century, Florida's mild winters and beautiful beaches have made it a favorite among retirees. Seeing this trend, in 1935, lawmakers voted to make the official state song, Stephen C. Foster's "The Swanee River (Old Folks At Home)," replacing "Florida, My Florida."

                              What's his name? Adam Sandler

While vacationing with his family in New Hampshire, movie star Adam Sandler stopped off and ordered a pizza. When the young man behind the counter saw him, he stated, "You look a lot like Adam Sandler. What's your name?" When the star said the obvious, "Adam Sandler," the lad responded, "Wow, what a coincidence."

Joan Murray, an amateur skydiver, jumped from a plane in 1999, but her chute failed to open. Falling to a level of about 700 feet, her emergency chute did open, but then malfunctioned. From there she fell to the ground, hard, on top of a fire ant hill. Badly injured, Ms. Murray began to slip into a coma, while the ants continual stinging kept shocking her back awake. Doctors later said the ant bites may have helped keep her heart beating until she was rescued.

 Warren G. Harding    Florence Harding  Carrie Fulton Phillips  Nan Britton/Nan and daughter Elizabeth

Twenty-ninth president of the United States (1921-1923), Warren G. Harding (1865-1923), owed much of his political success to his ambitious wife, Florence. Yet, he was not faithful to her. In one case, during his 1920 campaign, the Republican National committee paid one of his lovers, Carrie Fulton Phillips, over $50,000 and then sent her on a trip to Japan to keep her away from reporters. (Thereafter, Carrie received monthly payments of $2,000 to keep quiet.) Harding also had an affair and conceived a child with Nan Britton, the daughter of a friend. (They often made love in a large White House closet.)

(1) In September of 2006, an average of 1,000 people were dying daily in the Democratic Republic of Congo. That country, about the size of Europe, was formerly know as Zaire. Some 5 million humans had already died there during a war lasting more than six-years. (2) The female lobster is called a hen or a chicken (when it weighs about one-pound). (3) Horses are no longer used operationally by any unit in the Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The last patrol on horseback was around 1936.

        Click on Picture             Click on Picture to see           Hemp Harvesting
            to Enlarge                        Magazine Article

In 1937, the growing of hemp inside the U.S.A. became punishable by law. The decorticator, invented in 1917 (U.S. patent #1,308,376), was just beginning to catch on. It was capable of processing three tons of hemp per hour, turning out very high quality fiber. According to a February 1938 issue of Popular Mechanics, 10,000 acres growing hemp could produce as much paper as 40,000 acres of average forest pulp land. (FYI, it takes over 60,000 trees just to print the average Sunday edition of the New York Times.)

      Gerard de Nerval

Parisian poet and translator Gerard Labruine (1808-1855) pseudonym: Gerard de Nerval, known for his mental instability, often strolled through the Palais-Royal gardens, walking his pet lobster on blue ribbon. (Said he preferred the lobster because it did not bark like a dog.)

           Vatican City                          Monaco                Nauru                 Tuvalu                        San Marino

The five smallest countries in the world, Vatican City (0.17 sq. mi./0.44 km²), Monaco (0.75 sq. mi./1.95 km²), Nauru (8.12 sq. mi./21 km²), Tuvalu (10.04 sq. mi./26 km²), San Marino (23.55 sq. mi./61 km²), could almost fit inside Walt Disney World (39.06 sq. mi./101.17 km²). Then, add the next twelve smallest countries, for a total of seventeen, and combined they are just a bit bigger than the state of Rhode Island.

        Queen of Scots                        Marmalade

Mary I (1542-1587), Queen of Scots (1542-1567), was a moody woman, often refusing to eat anything except a type of jelly made from pulp and fruits. Still today, people having breakfast often smear their toast with Marie malade (French for "sick Mary"). It has become a popular myth that the name Marmalade was derived from Marie malade. However, the word first appeared in English in 1480, borrowed from the French marmelade, which came from the Portuguese marmelada.

    Summer 2004 Issue

In 2004, a magazine catering to nudists, Travel Naturally, offered an easy and obvious way to make America safer. Because it is a sin for a Taliban male to see any woman naked except his wife, they suggested every American female should leave their houses totally naked. Any terrorists would then be forced to commit suicide. (Perhaps the Department of Homeland Security could use a method similar to this to end the U.S. involvement in Afghanistan and other "hot spots"?)

       Channel Catfish                       Fried Catfish

While Midwestern states are known for their crops of wheat and corn, and most southern states for cotton and pecans, Mississippi is most proud of the 150,000 tons of catfish they produce yearly. (According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, Mississippi led the nation in 2007 with about 94,000 water surface areas in catfish production.)

Today, phone users take for granted the good quality of conversations, even over inexpensive telephones. But in the past, well after the turn of the 20th century, phone wires were still strung on any available upright, including fence posts, silos, barns, windmills, even trees and an outhouse or two. During those times, conversations were often interrupted from such things as a breezy day, or a cow rubbing its itchy back against a pole.

  Lincoln and Son Tad                 William Seward

While Abraham Lincoln was president (1861-1865), his Secretary of State, William H. Seward, found the nation's leader polishing his own boots. Seward objected, telling Lincoln that in Washington, "we do not blacken our own boots". Lincoln's reply was, "Indeed, then whose boots do you blacken, Mr. Secretary?"

Pigeons (Columbidae) give milk. That's right. The parents of newly born pigeons (called squabs), produce milk, both male and female, from a chamber at the bottom of their esophagus.

David Flick of The Dallas Morning News reported in June of 2007, that Ken Giddens, 75, of East Tawakoni, Texas, had sold his phone number, of many years, to pizza parlor entrepreneur Montra Land. That occurred because Mr. Giddens' last five digits (74992) spelled out the word PIZZA. He agreed to $500, plus two free pizzas monthly, for life. (Giddens' new phone number ends with 4646, which spells HO HO.)

            Coleridge                             Shakespeare

English lyrical poet, critic, and philosopher Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834) did not like Shakespeare. He tried to have all "the Bard's" plays banned throughout the United Kingdom around 1815, finding each and every play to be vulgar and crude. Coleridge's complaint had the opposite effect, however. It led to England's first real academic look at Shakespeare's works.

            Gans Bay                    Great White breaching                 Crayfish
                                                         to catch a seal

According to South African's Sunday Times, an Englishman named Robert Blackwood applied for permission, upon his death, to be fed to sharks off the coast of Gans Bay, Cape Town. But long time Gans Bay resident George Smit, who'd been diving with sharks there for over 20 years, said white sharks had no interest in human blood and then added, "The sharks will not give it a second glance. It would rot and be eaten by crayfish".

World wire services reported on June 4, 2007, that Doctor Pedro Cavadas, at the Virgen del Consuelo hospital in Valencia, Spain, had successfully transplanted a man's right hand onto his left arm, changing the location of the thumb in the process. The operation, on April 29, took 13-hours. Doctor Cavadas also performed Spain's first double hand transplant in 2006.

Floccinaucinihilipilification containing 29 letters, means the act or habit of estimating or describing something as worthless. It's also the longest word in Oxford English Dictionary. (Several dictionaries agree that disproportionableness, with 21 letters, is the longest in common use.)

John, a 13-year-old crossbreed suffering from
a terminal illness, is supported by a nurse while
waiting for his cage to be cleaned at the Soladi
Care Home

The Dallas Morning News, reported a first-of-its-kind opening in Japan, the Soladi Care Home, a nursing facility for dogs. Here, they promise around-the-clock monitoring by veterinarians and a team of puppies to play with old dogs to help maintain their exercise. That is if the aging dog's owner can afford 98,000 yen ($800) a month.

 Gansu province, China

In June of 2007, the Xinhua News Agency reported from Beijing that a teacher, Cheng Laifu, (in Changhe township, Dingxi city, Gansu province, China) had been sentenced to death for the rapes of 18 third and fourth-grade school girls. In July of 2005, Li Guang, another school teacher in the same area, was sentenced to death for the rape of 23 fourth and fifth-graders.

           Dolly Parton

From that sweet, neat singer and business woman, Dolly Parton: "After Mama gave birth to 12 of us kids, we put her up on a pedestal. It was mostly to keep Daddy away from her."

       Pope Gregory III                Ground Horsemeat           Horsemeat Sandwich

In pre-Christian northern Europe, the eating of horses (hippophagy) was very common, except in Jewish or Islamic countries, where it violated Mosaic Law (horses are neither cloven-hoofed or chew their cud). In 732 A.D., Pope Gregory III began an unpopular campaign to stop the eating of horse meat. Some historians think this may have been the reason Iceland took so long to convert to the Christian belief.

       Head Home Run                    José Canseco              Carlos "Café" Martinez

The Texas Rangers were playing the Cleveland Indians on May 26, 1993, when Ranger's outfielder José Canseco (1964-) went back for a ball hit by Carlos "Café" Martinez (1964-2006). Not only did the ball miss his glove, but it bounced off Canseco's head, then up into the stands for a home run. (After this head hit, the Harrisburg Heat offered Canseco a soccer contract.)

                 Just call him MR. EASTWOOD

In 1959, an executive at Universal Pictures dismissed an aspiring actor with this statement, "You have a chip on your tooth, your Adam's apple sticks out too far, and you talk too slow." And who did he give that advice to? Clint Eastwood.

Click on Map to Enlarge       Red-crowned Crane          White-naped Crane

At the end of the Korean War in 1953, an area, 155 miles (248 km) long and approximately 2.5 miles (4km) wide, between North and South Korea was designated a no-man's-land and named the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The absence of humans over the next fifty-plus years has permitted a wide variety of endangered plants and animals to multiply there, making it an automatic refuge. According to scientists, over 3,000 species (including two of the most endangered birds in the world: the Red-crowned and White-naped Cranes) reside there.

             Sawdust

In the late 1970's, ITT Continental Bakeries' (Twinkies and Wonder Bread bakers) advertising claimed, "Fresh Horizons bread contains five times as much fiber as whole wheat bread." The Federal Trade Commission frowned when they determined the extra fiber was coming from wood.

     Joseph Conrad               His Coat of Arms

When Polish-born English novelist Joseph Conrad (1857-1924) received a letter from the English government marked "On His Majesty's Service," he figured it was just a tax bill and threw it aside. Several weeks later, an official from the Prime Minister's Office visited Conrad, to inform him that envelope had contained an offer for him to become a British knight. No matter, he declined.

          Lee DeForest                        Triode tube

Lee DeForest (1873-1961) invented the vacuum tube (known as the Audion), which made radio possible. But when he tried to sell shares in his idea, to develop a radio broadcasting system, he was charged with fraud in federal court, stating that his claim was an "absurd" promise. Fellow inventor Thomas Edison gave no support when he commented publicly, "The radio craze will die out in time." (Even though DeForest was eventually acquitted, he was nearly bankrupt from legal bills.)

After Kellogg's introduced Frosted Rice to the cereal market in 1976, it was discovered the added iron caused the rice to cling to magnets. A Kellogg's spokesman informed the Wall Street Journal, in 1977, the amount of iron had been reduced and, in the future, a much stronger magnet would be required.

             Cast of Superman

The original Superman TV series (1951-1957), was on a cheap budget, with only $15,000 to spend on each episode. This made it necessary to film 4 programs per 10 days. In order to speed-up production, often several scenes from different stories were shot back-to-back, while the set was still in place. Because of that, except for Superman's necessary changes, each actor had to always wear the same clothing, day in and day out.

     Sammy Kershaw

In the 1990's, a woman's cologne called Starclone was introduced, its main ingredient being armpit sweat from country singer Sammy Kershaw. Absorbent pads worn under Kershaw's shirts during concerts were removed and rushed to a University of Colorado laboratory, distilled, then sent to the manufacturer to complete the process. Packaged and placed on the market, two ounces Retail: $19.95. (Starclone is no longer on the market.)

Spencer Tracy and Katharine Hepburn in Adams Rib

One of the greatest movie actresses of the 20th century, Katherine Hepburn (1907-2003), who never married, giving her opinion of matrimony: "Sometimes I wonder if men and women really suit each other. Perhaps they should live next door and just visit now and then."

Hollow Earth Monument          Click on Picture
    to John Symmes                         to enlarge

Besides fighting for America in the War of 1812, army officer John Cleves Symmes, Jr. (1779-1829) collected money for an expedition, proposing to enter a "hollow" earth at the South Pole, then emerge through the North Pole, after walking through an empty middle. Symmes, and his investors, believed God was way too pragmatic to waste that much matter, so He'd made the planet so people could live inside. One of Symmes most enthusiastic followers, Jeremiah Reynolds, eventually led a voyage, in October 1829 (just months after Symmes' death), but was unable to penetrate the ice surrounding Antarctica.

      Brazilian Indians

The Uape Indians of the upper Amazon in Brazil cremate their dead, then mix the ashes with casiri, the local favorite alcoholic drink. Family and friends then get drunk on the mix to absorb that person's best qualities.

            Vern Miller

During a more conservative time, in the 1970's, the Attorney General of Kansas, Vern Miller, declared his state extended above ground into the sky, therefore, commercial airlines shouldn't serve alcoholic drinks while flying over his "dry" Kansas.

The Duke and Duchess     Queen Elizabeth II - 2007      Prince Phillip - 2007
of Edinburgh on their
wedding day

Queen Elizabeth II of England and her husband, Prince Phillip, are 4th cousins, 3rd cousins and 2nd cousins once removed.

            Marc Chagall                         Signatures                           Gary Cooper

French Painter and Stained Glass Artist Marc Chagall (1887-1985) and American movie star Gary Cooper (1901-1961) both played on their fame to save money. Each paid his small bills with personal checks, knowing most creditors would value their signatures more, and not cash them.

The earliest known usage of the phrase "caught red-handed", alluding to being caught having blood on one's hands, appears in the English novelist George Alfred Lawrence's work Guy Livingstone or, Thorough, 1857. The term "red-hand" originated in the Scottish Acts of Parliament of James I, 1432 and was used in many legal proceedings from the 15th century forward. (For example, in Sir George Mackenzie's A discourse upon the laws and customs of Scotland in matters criminal, 1674: "If he be not taken red-hand the sheriff cannot proceed against him.")

        November, 1976               In the White House       Keeping one's mouth shut

When James (Jimmy) Earl Carter, Jr., thirty-ninth U.S. president (1977-81), visited Poland in 1977, his translator made three errors converting English to Polish. First, when Carter said he "left the United States that day," the translation said he had "abandoned" his country. Second, when the U.S. President referred to the Poles' "hopes for the future," it was translated to "lust for the future." And, lastly, when Carter said "I have come to learn your opinions and understand your desires for the future," it became "I desire the Poles carnally."

           Haydn Head             His tomb, after 145 years   Bergkirche in Eisenstadt

Upon his death, Classical music composer Franz Joseph Haydn (1732-1809) was buried in Vienna. Eleven years later, in 1820, his remains were exhumed in order to transfer them to the family seat in Eisenstadt. That is when it was discovered the skull was missing. It had been stolen a few days after his death, by a phrenologist to examine it for "the bump of music". From there, facts are scarce, but the head eventually turned up displayed in a glass case in the main hall of Gesellschaft de Musikfreunde in Vienna. After many delays, on June 5, 1954, Haydn was reunited with his body inside a burial crypt in the Bergkirche in Eisenstadt.

          Pope Boniface                     Roasted Fowl

Pope Boniface VIII (1235-1303) had an unusual view for a pope. When asked the odds of the faithful achieving life after death, he responded, about the same as "a roasted fowl on the dinner table."

       Self Portrait                                The Artist's Mother
                                                 (Perhaps this gave Prince the idea
                                                 of The Artist Formerly Known As...?)

"I want you to stand still for a painting," James Whistler (1834-1903) said to his mother, Anna, in October of 1871. According to some sources, she tired after standing for three days, causing him to finish the second most recognized painting on earth (after the Mona Lisa) with her sitting in a chair. (FYI: The official name of this painting is Arrangement in Grey and Black: Portrait of The Artist's Mother.)

Virginia Military Institute         During World War II
                1907

An American hero through both World Wars, General George Patton (1885-1945) claimed no fear of dying, having done so many times before. Openly he'd tell of serving once with Alexander the Great and being a Roman guard for Julius Caesar. Also, that he was one of Napoleon's marshals and a knight at the Battle of Crécy in 1346. (Last time he died of an embolism caused by a minor auto accident.)

In 1970, a brand of underarm deodorant, Soft and Dri, became popular in the U.S. by showing commercials with a cartoon octopus dabbing the product under each of its eight "arms." But a problem arose when that cartoon commercial was shown in the Far East. There, it was learned the hard way, folks did not look upon octopus appendages as arms, but thought of them as legs.

      Florence Harding         President and First Lady                 Dr. Sawyer

Even though she hated her husband for his infidelities, Warren G. Harding's wife, Florence, was the reason he got to be the 29th President of the United States. Did she get even? Maybe, maybe not. When her husband died, she forbid an autopsy. Then, a year later, while the widow visited former Surgeon General Charles E. Sawyer (1860-1924), the White House physician who treated her husband until his death, he too unexpectedly died in his sleep. The New York Times reported Sawyer appeared to have died from the same condition as the President.

  Jay Bernard Gillilland

News services reported in June of 2007, from Tucson, Arizona, former U.S. Customs agent Jay Bernard Gillilland, 38, had been found guilty of 174 counts of sexual contact with a minor, 100 counts of child molestation, 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of child abuse. For these 111 counts of violating a child, his own daughter, when she was between the ages of 6 and 8 years old, he was sentenced to a total of 6,242 years.

           It looks easier to collect from the back

The federal Environment Protection Administration (EPA) gave $500,000 to Utah State University to fit cattle with breathing devices to collect and measure the amounts of methane gas coming from their mouths. Apparently not wishing to over-tax these cattle, the EPA then gave Washington State University $300,000 to measure the amounts of flatulence released from the back-ends of their cattle.

                                                              Dan Marino

Miami Dolphins quarterback Dan Marino did not mind wearing an "unlucky #13" jersey. He first wore that number as a child, playing Little League baseball. Dan's father was the coach, leaving him last choice in most everything, even in picking out his uniform, which is how he wound up with #13.

                                                                              Great Wall of China

Several walls, called the Great Wall of China, have been built since the 5th century BC. The final was built from the end of the 14th until the beginning of the 17th century, during the Ming Dynasty. It was to protect China from raids by the Mongols and Turkic tribes. It stretches out over 6,508 km (4,044 miles).

      Frances Perkins            Roosevelt Inauguration     Perkins and Roosevelt    Perkins looks on as FDR
                                                                   1933                                                                   signs the National Labor Relations Act

When Franklin D. Roosevelt became 32nd President of the United States, in 1933, he appointed Frances Perkins Secretary of Labor. During her tenure, this first female cabinet member, crusaded for the working class, orchestrated social security, minimum wage and unemployment insurance.

          His Dinner?

Some years ago, with China's estimated loss of fifteen-million tons of grain yearly to rats, they, the rats, became a fast food fad. Yep, in this most populated country on earth, rodent meat is considered both wholesome and tasty. And, served on a sesame bun, it is one less crop eater. (Fujian Province is considered the rat-meat capital of China.)

       Howard Hughes          A Lockheed Super Electra
                                                like the one he flew in 1938

Before aviator, movie producer, billionaire, hypochondriac, Howard Hughes, Jr. (1905-1976) set out to break the world speed record for circling the earth in 1938, he had his plane filled with thousands of ping-pong balls. Why? He believed, should his plane crash in water, it would continue to float.

     Common Cuckoo             Reed warbler feeding
                                                   Common Cuckoo Chick

The Common Cuckoo bird does not raise their own offspring. When egg-laying time comes near, the female Cuckoo will search for other birds' nests, hopefully containing eggs similar to hers. Then, over the next 48 hours, she will lay 4 or 5 eggs, always in a different nest. Also, it seems, if a nest has larger eggs than hers, the cuckoo will push one or more of those out to fall and burst on the ground.

Those who think their dog is human, should visit Paw Palace online. There you can add quality to your canine's life with designer dog clothing, carriers, strollers and pens, dog jewels and sliders, dog shampoos and conditioners, spritzers and balms, perfumes and colognes, spa accessories, gift and grooming sets, tear stain removers, bows and flower barrettes, dog nail polish, dog hair dyes and styling, dog boots and foot wear, sun glasses and life vests, ......

When Electrolux, a Swedish home-appliance maker, tried to market their vacuum cleaners in the United States, this slogan did not work at all: "Nothing sucks like an Electrolux."

Visit just about any coastline or island in the temperate zones on earth and you will most likely find coconut palms growing. That's because when the coconuts fall from the trees into the ocean, they float. This allows them to drift indefinitely until washed upon some shore, to start the whole tree cycle over again.

           Oscar Wilde                         Walt Whitman

Playwright, novelist, poet, Oscar Fingal O'Flahertie Wills Wilde (1854-1900) shared a shrewd observation when he said: "Children begin by loving their parents. After a time, they judge them. Rarely, if ever, do they forgive them." (Fun trivia: Wilde was proud to brag that when he visited America in 1882, he kissed poet Walt Whitman on the lips.)