Ponder
Points
Everyone knows there are 42 dots on a pair of
dice. Admit it, you’ve counted them, haven’t you?
Bet you didn’t know that in 1992 there was a
petition of 30,000 signatures sent to the governor of Hawaii to
change the name of Maui. Know what they wanted to change it to? Try
Gilligan’s Island. Yep, that’s right. As you know, it didn’t get
changed.
American Indians shaved…..but with what?
Clamshells that had been sharpened…could also be used as tweezers.
Limes were carried on English ships to prevent
scurvy. The Americans used cranberries.
Theodore Roosevelt made it a point not to use
the word “I” in his inaugural address. He was the first president to
do so.
If you were trying to find lemurs living in the
wild…you’d need to go to the island of Madagascar.
The actress, Anne Baxter was the granddaughter
of Frank Lloyd Wright.
So, when the French stormed the Bastille on
July 14, 1789, which started the French revolution…just how many
prisoners did they let out of that charming place? Seven.
Napoleon’s army of the North had 5,000 horses
pulling the artillery pieces. How much feed was required to for each
horse on a daily basis? About 20 pounds, which meant someone, had to
find about 10,000 pounds or 50 tons of feed each and every day.
Bet you didn’t know that Sitting Bull’s
father’s name was……Jumping Bull.
I didn’t know that China is the world’s largest
producer of tobacco, did you?
Ptolemy 1 of Egypt was the first living ruler
to have his face put onto a coin.
The boardwalk in Atlantic City…..It was the
first ever built in the world. Started on it in 1870. They used to
take the boards up and store them each year at the onset of winter.
Was built in 8-foot sections.
Ever hear of the Near Islands? What are they
near? Off the coast of Alaska…really closer to Russia, but became
part of the US in 1867 when Alaska was purchased.
We think of the apple as the forbidden
fruit…..What do they think it is in Middle Eastern cultures? The
banana….
Your kids will tell you that a pig makes a
sound like…’oink’. Ask a kid from France to describe it and it comes
out something like….’grwahng’….don’t ask me, I can’t say it either.
If you thought Hong Kong was one island, you’d
be wrong……there are 235 in the entire chain….
You can almost guess this one…How’d the pound
cake get its name? Come on, it’s because all of the ingredients
added up to a pound……
So far, James Madison has been our smallest
president. He was 5’ 4” and never weighed more 100 pounds.
Another president story…what kind of weird pets
did John Quincy Adams and his wife keep? Silkworms…they were taking
care of them and were trying to make raw silk.
Did you know that a pelican could hold about 25
pounds of fish in its beak?
The average human has 46 chromosomes. What does
a cabbage have? 18…and my question is why? Is this important…don’t
answer.
The asparagus is a member of what family……the
lily, same as the onion and garlic.
OK….what’s the name of the International
Association of Women Helicopter Pilots? …..Would you
believe….’Whirly-Girls’ ?
The B-B gun got its name from the fact that it
shoots …..Ball bearings…or ball bearing type pellets if you want to
be technical.
You’d probably be able to identify Sulfur
Island by its other name…Iwo Jima.
If you were up north and visiting some Eskimos
and they told you that what you were looking for was close to the
‘big nail’….what would they be referring to? The North Pole, of
course.
The letter “O” is the oldest letter in the
alphabet…..How do they know ?
So, if you want a bushel of apples…you’d be
looking at about 42 pounds of apples…right? Right….
Each person in Ireland eats over 15 pound of
cereal a year….makes them the country with the highest per capita
consumption of the stuff.
The Grand Canyon…you know the one where the
Colorado River runs …did you realize it was 217 miles long?
Snowflake, Arizona was named for two pioneer
settlers with last names of ..You guessed….Snow and Flake. Can’t
fool you can I?
The average child between the ages of 2 and 8
years old will wear down about 730 crayons during their coloring
book period.
The Liberty Bell weighs just over a ton.
Come on…you know that Moses was 120 years old
when he died, didn’t you?
If you don’t want to argue, stay out of your
kitchen…that’s the place in the house where the majority of the
arguments start.
In 1913, the United States had the first
million motor vehicles registered for the first time.
You are only allowed to catch grunion fish in
your bare hands in the state of California. Everything else is
illegal.
There were 342 chests of tea thrown overboard
at the Boston tea party…..
According to the Treasury Dept…there are
exactly 490 dollars to a pound of one-dollar bills….
Of the contiguous states there is only one that
touches only one other state…what is it? Maine…look at the map….
New York City paved its first street with
stones in 1657…..what was it called? Stone St. what else?
Savannah, Georgia was founded in 1733 as a
haven for British debtors……
What’s the foggiest place in the United States?
Place called Cape Disappointment, Washington. Fogged in about 106
days of the years…..Sounds dreary to me.
Al Capone was listed in the 1920 Chicago
telephone directory as ….”Second hand furniture dealer……2220 S.
Wabash Ave.”
The average person receives eight birthday
cards ever year according to Hallmark cards.
More on that Boston tea thing…what was the tax
on tea in 1773? Three cents a pound….
What state was the first to outlaw slavery? It
was Rhode Island in 1774.
The tallest monument in the United States? Why,
it’s the Gateway Arch in St. Louis at 630 feet.
