Ponder
Points
So, can you tell me
which war was the first one in history in which the soldiers wore
machine made uniforms? The American Civil War or as some call
it…”The War Between the States….” Whatever.
Speaking of
war….General ‘Black Jack’ Pershing won a Pulitzer Prize in 1932 for
his book called…”My Experiences in the World War.”
One more then I’ll
quit….The French automaker, Renault made the first tanks for the
United States. They were first used at the battle of St. Mihiel in
September of 1918. The United States didn’t make any tanks during
WW1.
Shame, shame we
know your name….so can you guess who was Judge Wapner’s (The
People’s Court) girlfriend in high school? None other than Lana
Turner.
Howdy Doody…..(can
you remember this far back?) had 48 freckles on his face….one for
each state in the Union at the time….long time ago…..
The Hope Diamond is
owned by the United States……the 45 carat diamond was given to the
Smithsonian Museum by Harry Winston in 1958.
Rhode Island takes
in fewer tourist dollars than any other state. California takes in
the most.
Did you remember
that Jesse James was the first bandit to rob a train? Did so in July
of 1873….didn’t think you’d remember. Neither did I.
So, why won’t the
telephone number 800-555-0199 ever be issued to anyone? It’s the
number that movies use in their films.
Wild Bill Hickok
used to lay crumpled newspapers around his bed at night. Claimed
that anyone trying to sneak up on him would be heard as they did
so…..Must have worked, he was shot while asleep.
Bet you didn’t know
that a con man named Arthur Ferguson ‘leased’ the White House to a
wealthy cattle rancher in 1925. Terms of the ‘lease’ was $100,000 a
year. Don’t know how much he got paid. He got caught trying to sell
the Statue of Liberty.
What are the 2
cities linked by the Orient Express? Paris and Istanbul……
If you were in the
banana growing business, you’d refer to a bunch of bananas as a
hand….an individual banana is called what? Come on, think…it’s
called a …….that’s right a finger.
Lunar
Cheesecake…ever hear of it? Well, it was the flavor that Baskin
Robbins invented to honor the US landing on the moon in July, 1969.
Coffee first
appeared in cans in what year? Came out in 1879…made by Chase and
Sanborn.
Television
transmits pictures at 30 frames per second….Movies are at 24 frames
per second……
Frank Sinatra’s
code name given to him by the Secret Service was “Napoleon”.
You probably knew
that coconut and licorice were the 2 flavors of jellybeans most
liked by Ronald Reagan
If you have a
eucalyptus tree in your yard, you’d better not have a koala bear as
a pet…that’s the only food they will eat….
Don’t expect to
lose any weight if all you’re doing is typing…..only burn 110
calories per hour….just 30 more per hour than if you’re at sleep.
A healthy slug can
cover 50 yards in a 24-hour period….now that’s moving out….
Speaking of
speed….know how fast microwaves can travel? 186,282 miles per
second…the same as light.
We’ve already
discussed this one, but I had to tell you….the slug has 4 noses and
3,000 really little teeth
The Hundred Years
War…it lasted how long? This war was between England and France and
lasted just over 116 years…took place from 1337 until 1453…..Why
didn’t they call it the 116 Years War? Too long, I guess.
While we’re on war
stuff. The War of the Roses….was between the House of York and the
House of Lancaster….Both of these English families had a rose as
part of its family crest…..The war was from 1455 until 1485.
Who cleans those
600 rooms in Buckingham Palace? Who needs 600 rooms? Who uses 600
rooms? For what?
So, did you ever
stop to think that the only country in the Middle East without a
desert was Lebanon?
Brigham Young, the
Mormon leader, had 57 children…also had 27 wives. Does that mean he
had 27 mothers-in-laws? Poor man.
Police arrested 42
men in Atlantic City in 1935….for one new crime….any idea of what it
was? Going topless while swimming….
Another desert
fact…..only about 20% of the Sahara Desert is actually sand…the rest
is rock and gravel…
This is
weird…Attila the Hun died of a nosebleed on his wedding
night…..Serves him right.
Did you know that
the Queen of Sheba’s first name was Balkis? Now you do.
The artist James
Whistler…you know the one that painted …”Whistler’s Mother”…..what
did his father do that made him famous? Invented the railroad
whistle….old George Washington Whistler did.
The symbol for
Planters Peanuts is …”Mr. Peanut”….was created by a schoolboy in
1916 as a entry in a contest…He got $5.00 as the prize.
The first
Volkswagen (1936) was designed by Ferdinand Porsche.
In 1950, if you
lost a tooth…the average amount of change the tooth fairy left was a
quarter. Bet it isn’t so today.
1838….Boston
becomes the first city in the country to appoint it’s own police
force.
Bet you didn’t know
that Albert Einstein once said….”The hardest thing to understand in
the world is the income tax.”
So if you went to
the patent office and asked to see designs for …”Scenic railways…”
what would you be looking for? Roller coaster designs….So classified
in 1886.
In 1900 what was
America’s 2nd most favorite book? Well, first was the
Bible…followed up by the Sears Roebuck catalog…..times have changed
haven’t they?
Napoleon met his at
Waterloo….how long was the battle? Took place over 9 ½ hours…
The United States
was first interested in the Atom bomb in 1940….want to know how much
they gave out in grants for research? Little over $6,000.
The word Alamo
actually means Cottonwood in Spanish…Now you know.
Can you guess where
Leonardo da Vinci was born? Town called Vinci…it’s in Italy….in case
you forgot.
Meriwether Lewis
along with William Clark were the first Americans to cross the
continental divide on August 12, 1805.
