April27

Ponder
Points

    

Tough job, but someone
had to do it…..In 1811 DeWitt Clinton managed to serve as a senator
for the state of New York, Mayor of New York City and the Lt.
Governor for the State of New York. So what you ask? Well, he did
all three at the same time.

Of course you knew
that heavyweight champion Gene Tunney was a teacher on Shakespeare
at Yale. You knew that.

John Paul Jones,
the great American naval hero, was from Scotland. His real name was
just plain old John Paul. Changed it after he killed another sailor
involved in a mutiny. Fled to this country to avoid going to trial.
Won fame during the Revolutionary War…..You remember those famous
words he spoke during this battle……”Sirs, I have not yet begun
to fight…”

If you want life
insurance…don’t call Lloyds of London…they don’t sell life
insurance.

Back in the Middle
Ages it was thought that men had one less rib than women…the story
was the result of the story of Adam and Eve in the Bible.

I think last week,
I mentioned something about moths and caterpillars….anyway to keep
you up to date I thought I’d pass along the fact that there
isn’t any clear cut evidence that cedar chests or cedar closets
actually repels moths…..

Those rabbits that
run wild in Australia….eat millions of dollars worth of
agriculture…well, they are the direct descendants of 6 common
bunnies that were turned loose in the middle 1800’s.

The Emperors of
China during the Manchu empire (1644-1912) made slaves wear pigtails
so they could be identified easily.

So how come people
wear black at funerals? Well, folks used to think that when you went
to a funeral the dead spirits could somehow repossess the souls of
the living. People started painting themselves black in order not to
taken up by evil spirits. Naturally the practice evolved into
wearing black clothing. Now you know.

The life expectancy
for women in this country is double what it was 100 years ago.

As far as anyone
can tell, Martin Luther was the first to put lights on a Christmas
tree. The tree, called a tannenbaum, had candles placed on it to
symbolize the stars above Bethlehem at the time of the birth of
Christ. Started a fad that is with us today.

Bet you didn’t
know that the term…’stool pigeon’ originated from hunting.
Seems pigeon hunters used to tie a live pigeon to a stool in front
of a net…..then when unaware birds started flying the hunters
would release the wings of the ’stool pigeon’ in order to
attract and then trap the birds.

If you were looking
for Dracula, then you’d go to Transylvania, right? But where the
heck is that? Well, it’s in a wild and mostly unknown section of
Romania and Moldavia.  Of
course, Dracula was the product of fiction, but his character was
based on the life of a real bad guy named Prince Vlad. Not a nice
guy in any stretch of the imagination. 

How’s this for
government legalise? Takes over 20 pages to describe hot chocolate
by the Dept of Food Procurement at the Pentagon. That’s about 19
too many.

Never heard this
one……Reported that there was a nursery rhyme that starts out
with …”barber, barber, shave a pig…” I’ve never heard of
it, but maybe you have. Anyway, it originated in China. Seems it
used to be common to take a pig to bed with you to keep you warm. It
was common also to take the aforementioned pig into the barber to
have it’s hair and bristles shaved off.

Check this
out….only some sparrows and turnstones (a species of shorebird)
sing while on the ground. Other birds will only sing when in flight
or while sitting on something other than the ground..

Mozart must have
really been a genius…he wrote the opera Don Giovanni in one
day…then to top it off he played it completely the next afternoon.

The number
thirteen….well, for one thing…it was the decreed waist
measurement for ladies at court of Catherine de Medici…..also the
number of Coca-Cola’s sold each day for the first 8 months after
it was invented at Jacob’s Pharmacy in Atlanta, Ga. Also, thirteen
years of marriage is the ‘lace’ anniversary.

No one knows what
Albert Einstein’s last words were…he spoke them in German and
the nurse on duty didn’t speak it….

The longest word
that can be typed entirely with the left hand
is………stewardesses.

So, did you ever
wonder why Whistler painted his mother? Not literally, but the
painting of his mother…well, Whistler was scheduled to paint
another person one afternoon and that person skipped the
appointment. Old James asked his mother, Anne, if she would pose for
him and you know the rest.

You knew that the
word …Nepheligenous…was from the Greek word for cloud and meant
..’Producing clouds of smoke’. I’m certain this is what the
Cavalry shouted when they saw smoke signals coming from Native
Americans…..”Wow, something in those hills is nepheligenous.”

The first female
cabinet member in the Unites States was Frances Perkins. Appointed
by President Roosevelt as Secretary of Labor from 1933 until 1945.

Rock Hudson was a
postman…delivered mail to the home of Henry Wilson, a screen
agent. Hudson told Wilson he was tired and bored with delivering
mail got him a meeting with director Raoul Walsh. Walsh got him his
first acting job in the movie Fighter Squadron.

Some folks don’t
have any luck…Charles VIII of France…ruled from 1483- 1498 had
great manners. He was allowing his wife to enter a tennis court at
one of his homes, bent down to bow as she walked past. When he
raised up he hit his head so hard on a low wooden beam it fractured
his skull and killed him.

Bet you didn’t
realize that pigs could sunburn.

Cyrus McCormick
went bankrupt in 1837….everything he owned got put up at auction
for sale…as you recall he invented and patented the reaper….no
one thought it had any value so he got to keep it….you know the
rest.

In China the crane
is the symbol of what? Longevity…

Hawaii is the only
state that grows coffee.

While I was talking
about patents, I forgot to tell you that the first patent was issued
to a Samuel Hopkins in July 1790. It was for a process to make pot
and pearl ash. Whatever that is.

While I’m on old
stuff….the oldest state capitol in continuous use is in Annapolis,
Maryland. It was first used in 1772.

Once was a motion
picture actress named Marguerite Clark. Her husband had a clause
written into her contract that did not allow her to kiss anyone on
screen. The no kissing rule ruined her career and she retired in
1921

Years ago, they may
still be…..dances were called ‘cotillions’…..why? Well, the
word originally meant ‘petticoat’. The dance made the women lift
their dresses and show their petticoats, thus the name came into
use.

In New York City
the administrative law still dictates that hitching posts be erected
in front of City hall to allow reporters to tie up their horses. I
wonder if they are still there?

You’ve heard of
‘red tape’…..who hasn’t? Well, the term originated from
about 1658 from the practice of using red ribbons to tie up official
papers.

In the 1830’s you
bought ketchup from the doctor. It was thought to have medicinal
properties. Even had a patented product on the market called “Dr.
Miles Compound of Extract of Tomato.”

Speaking of
medicine..the gimlet was invented in 1890 by a Dr. T.O. Gimlette. He
was a British Naval Surgeon who believed the drink he had invented
was to be taken as a health food.

So, what was the
only animal ever cursed by God? Come on you know it was the
serpent….in Genesis 3, verse 14.

If you’ve ever
wondered if you can boil eggs up on Pikes Peak, the answer is yes.
Must be done in a closed vessel though. It takes a lot longer due to
the lower atmospheric pressure. Pikes Peak is 14,108 feet high. The
peak boiling point of water at this attitude is 187 degrees as
opposed to 212 degrees at sea level.

Contrary to popular
belief, Columbus did not die in prison, nor did he die broke. He was
disappointed that the Court failed to recognize his great
achievements, but he was not destitute when he died in 1506.

That quarter inch
square silicon chip that you have in your computer? Well, to
duplicate the computing capacity of that chip in 1949, you’ve have
had to use the 1949 model ENIAC which occupied an entire city block.

The first American
novel was titled …”The Power of Sympathy”. Written in 1789 by
William Hill Brown. Was a story about murder, rape, suicide and
incest. Just like those on the market today.

Our 43^rd
state of Idaho was admitted to the Union in 1890. Can’t find
anything that tells me what Idaho means or where it came from. There
have been several suggestions…such as the word Idahi used by the
Kiowas to describe the Comanches. Another possibility is the
Shoshone word Ee-dah-how which means …sunup. Need some help on
this one.

It may not be any
big deal to you, but be aware the International Pickle Week is
coming up …just around the corner …May 22-May 31. Now you know.

Herbert Hoover was
the first president to have a telephone in his office. The phone had
been around for some 53 years. Until it was installed in 1929, the
President has a phone booth in the hallway where he made calls.

Pittsburgh is the
only US city having three rivers running through it. The Allegheny,
the Monongahela and the Ohio all flow inside of the city limits.

New Jersey is the
most crowded state…..up there they have more people per square
mile than anywhere else.

You knew there
really is such as place as Hometown. It’s in Illinois close to
Chicago.

Where’d we get
the word ….’Hoodlum’? Funny story, this one…seems a reporter
was trying to make up a name for a San Francisco gang. The leader
was named …Muldoon…the reporters handwriting was bad and he
reversed the name making it come out 
..’Noodlum’ . The typesetter couldn’t read the
reporters writing and set the type up to read…you got
it…hoodlum.