Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up!
Page 9
When English author Geoffrey Chaucer was taken prisoner by the French in the Hundred Years’ War, his ransom was 16 pounds. The English refused to pay.
For four days in 1941, Nazi Rudolf Hess was the last state prisoner to be held in the Tower of London.
Later, Hess was the only occupant of Spandau Prison in Berlin.
Merle Haggard was in San Quentin State Prison in 1958 when Johnny Cash performed there.
Author Hunter S. Thompson (Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas) missed his high school graduation ceremony because he was in jail.
Mobster Charles “Lucky” Luciano was arrested 25 times but convicted only once.
Marie Antoinette took her bidet to prison with her.
Jazz legend Louis Armstrong was sent to reform school for firing a shot into a New Year’s Day parade.
The first sponsored fund-raising “walk” inside a prison occurred in an Oregon prison in 1988. The prisoners were raising money for organ transplants and walked a combined 3,400 miles.
The first indicted bank robber in the United States: Edward Smith, in 1831. He was sentenced to five years’ hard labor on the rock pile at Sing Sing Prison in New York.
Travel Abroad
Kyoto was the capital of Japan from 794 to 1868. Today, the capital is Tokyo.
Sweden was a major European military power until 1709, when it lost the Battle of Poltava to Russia’s Peter the Great.
In Asia, a black cat is considered lucky.
Most sparsely populated country in the world: Mongolia, with 4.5 people per square mile. Most crowded country: Monaco, with an average of 42,649 people per square mile.
Sixteen percent of all Africans live in Nigeria.
Switzerland hasn’t gone to war with another country since 1515.
The University of Bologna in Italy, founded in 1088, is the oldest still-operating university in the world.
Coal miners in Wales once believed that washing coal dust from their backs weakened their spines.
Before joining Canada, Newfoundland was technically an independent country.
The border between Italy and Vatican City is marked by a painted white line.
Star Trek & Star Wars
The crew of the Enterprise under Captain Kirk’s command: 430. Under Captain Jean-Luc Picard: 1,012.
The word “Jedi” in Star Wars is derived from the Japanese words jidai geki, which means “period drama.”
In the original draft of Star Trek, the Enterprise was called the USS Yorktown.
Nick Nolte was originally considered for the role of Han Solo in Star Wars.
Before he played Mr. Spock, Leonard Nimoy owned a pet store.
David Lynch turned down the chance to direct Return of the Jedi.
After the death of James “Scotty” Doohan at age 84 in July 2005, William Shatner, 74, became the oldest surviving cast member of the original Star Trek.
Only one shot in The Phantom Menace included no digital effects: the moment where gas blows out of a vent into one of the meeting rooms.
Captain Jean-Luc Picard’s fish was named Livingston.
Before the original Star Trek series aired, publicity for the new show included photos in which Mr. Spock’s eyebrows and ears were airbrushed to be more rounded. NBC, the network that was producing the series, was afraid his pointed ears and eyebrows would offend viewers because they made Spock look like the devil.
The character of Luke Skywalker in Star Wars (1977) was originally written as a girl.
Only person to appear as himself in the Star Trek franchise: Stephen Hawking on Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1993. (He beat Data at poker.)
Shopping
Minnesota’s Mall of America has more visitors every year than Disney World, Graceland, and the Grand Canyon combined.
Sixty-seven percent of consumers say they would switch to a different brand if it supported a cause they believed in.
First major coupon campaign: Coca-Cola in 1887.
The average supermarket shopper makes 14 impulse decisions on each visit.
Every week, about a third of all Americans shop at a Wal-Mart store.
If you’re average, you’ll look around a store for about 15 minutes before you buy anything.
The most frequent “strange” customer request, according to supermarket managers: asking for a refund on food the customer bought and ate, but didn’t like.
A new shopping mall opens somewhere in the United States every 7 hours.
What does “100% Natural” signify on food labels? Absolutely nothing official.
Everyday Origins
The first commercial typewriter was produced by gun manufacturer E. Remington and Sons in 1874.
The @ symbol is about 500 years old.
When and where was the wheel invented? Around 4000 BC, in Mesopotamia (now Iraq).
Stilts were invented by French shepherds who needed a way to get around in wet marshes.
The first ballpoint pen cost $12.50 in 1945…and sold out on its first day.
The degree sign (°) is an ancient symbol representing the sun.
The tape measure was patented in 1868.
The people of India and the Mayans were the only ancient people who used the number zero in their mathematics.
The first telephone book ever issued (in New Haven, Connecticut, in 1878) contained only 50 names.
Eyeglasses were invented in Europe in 1286.
What is businessman Oliver Pollock’s claim to fame? He invented the dollar sign in 1778.
Espresso Yourself
Dark-roasted coffee is “weaker” than medium roast. Roasting burns off caffeine.
Prussia’s Frederick the Great liked his coffee made with champagne and mustard.
Until 2004, caffeine was on the International Olympic Committee’s list of prohibited substances.
King Louis XIV is credited with being the first person to add sugar to coffee, in 1715.
Beethoven counted out 60 beans for each cup of coffee.
Nationwide, 7-Eleven sells 10,000 pots of coffee per hour, every day of the year.
You can absorb only 300 mg of caffeine (the amount in four cups of coffee) at a time—any more goes right through you.
Technically speaking, coffee is a fruit juice.
In the 1700s, people added butter to their coffee.
A single serving of espresso has less caffeine than a cup of coffee.
Voltaire drank between 50 and 70 cups of coffee every day.
Coffee is the second most traded product in the world. The first: petroleum.
The average American consumes enough caffeine in one year to kill a horse.
Historians believe author Honoré de Balzac died of caffeine poisoning.
One pound of coffee makes about 50 cups of coffee. But one pound of tea leaves makes about 300 cups of tea.
The first coffee pot with a sieve to strain the grounds was invented in 1806.
BIG Debuts
James Earl Jones’s film debut: Lieutenant Lothar Zogg in Dr. Strangelove (1964).
Richard Gere’s first three big films: Days of Heaven, American Gigolo, and An Officer and a Gentleman. All had been turned down by John Travolta.
Comedian Bill Maher costarred with Mr. T in D.C. Cab (1983).
Quentin Tarantino’s first screenplay: Captain Peachfuzz and the Anchovy Bandit.
On his first night hosting The Tonight Show in 1962, Johnny Carson was introduced by Groucho Marx.
Jack Nicholson’s first role: Jimmy Walker in The Cry Baby Killer (1958).
Leonardo DiCaprio’s first TV appearance was on Romper Room.
James Dean made his first television appearance in a 1950 Pepsi commercial.
What presidential daughter appeared in the 1964 Elvis Presley film Kissin’ Cousins? Maureen Reagan.
About Pitchers
“Poets are like baseball pitchers. Both have their moments. The intervals are the tough things.”
—Robert Frost
“You don�
��t save a pitcher for tomorrow. Tomorrow it may rain.”
—Leo Durocher
“My pitching philosophy is simple—keep the ball away from the bat.”
—Satchel Paige
“Hitting is timing. Pitching is upsetting timing.”
—Warren Spahn
“The dumber a pitcher is, the better. When he gets smart and begins to experiment with a lot of different pitches, he’s in trouble. All I ever had was a fastball, a curve, and a change-up, and I did pretty good.”
—Dizzy Dean
“Good pitching will always stop good hitting, and vice versa.”
—Casey Stengel
“The pitcher has to find out if the hitter is timid. And if the hitter is timid, [the pitcher] has to remind the hitter he’s timid.”
—Don Drysdale
“I hated to bat against Drysdale. After he hit you, he’d come around, look at the bruise on your arm, and say, ‘Do you want me to sign it?’”
—Mickey Mantle
“I became a good pitcher when I stopped trying to make them miss the ball and started trying to make them hit it.”
—Sandy Koufax
“[Sandy Koufax’s] fastball was so fast, some batters would start to swing as he was on his way to the mound.”
—Jim Murray
“You know you’re pitching well when the batters look as bad as you do at the plate.”
—Duke Snider
“Pitchers, like poets, are born, not made.”
—Cy Young
Counting Costs
In 1941, a gallon of regular gas cost 19.2¢.
Cost to renovate the Statue of Liberty in 1984: $62 million. Yankee Stadium’s 1976 renovations: $167 million.
If your dog lives to age 11, you will probably have spent more than $13,000 on it.
It costs a zoo five times more to keep a panda than to keep an elephant.
Cost of the 13-year Apollo program to put a man on the Moon: $23 billion.
It costs 3¢ to make a dollar bill—and 7.8¢ to make a half-dollar coin.
Cost of a cellular phone in 1984: $4,195.
Estimated cost for having your whole body tattooed: $30,000 to $50,000.
A fifth of the world’s population earns just $425 a year—the cost of a day’s golf at Pebble Beach.
The Louisiana Purchase cost the United States just 3¢ an acre.
World Leaders
Alec Douglas-Home, former prime minister of the United Kingdom (1963–64), was a world-class cricket player.
From 1951 to 1960, future Ugandan dictator Idi Amin was the country’s light heavyweight boxing champion.
Richard the Lionheart (1157–99) was a member of the brotherhood of troubadours and wrote song lyrics.
The CIA once considered killing Fidel Castro by dousing his scuba gear with LSD.
Lester Pearson, Canada’s prime minister from 1963 to 1968, was asked to play for Britain’s Olympic hockey team.
Hirohito, Japan’s 124th emperor, was an internationally respected marine biologist.
Former British prime minister Tony Blair was once in a rock band called Ugly Rumours.
Adolf Hitler personally saved one Jew from the death camps—the daughter-in-law of composer Richard Strauss.
Until World War II, Winston Churchill was known mostly for disastrous political failures.
After he lost the Battle of Waterloo, Napoléon Bonaparte tried to escape to the United States but was captured by a British warship.
U.S. statesman Alexander Hamilton wasn’t born in the United States but on the Caribbean island of Nevis.
Beethoven originally dedicated his Symphony No. 3 (titled Eroica, or “heroic” in Italian) to Napoléon because he thought the leader embodied the democratic ideals of the French Revolution. But when Napoléon took on the undemocratic title of “emperor,” Beethoven scratched out the dedication with a knife.
Law & Disorder
Most common reason for hiring a private detective in the United States: tracking down someone who owes you money.
In 1976, Bruce Springsteen got arrested for trying to climb over the gates of Graceland.
John Dillinger was the first criminal designated “Public Enemy Number One” by the FBI.
Pro wrestler and actor Dwayne “the Rock” Johnson has a degree in criminology.
Confucius’s day job: he became China’s minister of crime in 501 BC.
Like they do with movies and TV today, in 19th-century London, many people blamed the growing crime rate on violence in the theaters.
In 1969, Neil Young and Jimi Hendrix stole a truck to get to Woodstock in time to perform.
The first law school in the United States: the Litchfield Law School in Connecticut, established in 1773. Its graduates included Aaron Burr, Horace Mann, and John C. Calhoun.
Alibi means “elsewhere” in Latin.
The original Draconian (someone who’s extremely harsh or cruel), Draco of Athens, executed people for stealing cabbage.
Mary Jenkins Surratt was the first woman executed by the U.S. government. She was hanged in 1865 for conspiracy in the assassination of President Abraham Lincoln.
What crime led to Billy the Kid’s first run-in with the law? Stealing cheese. He was 15.
Singer Eddie Money (who had hits in the 1970s and 1980s) is a graduate of the New York City Police Academy.
The Women’s Room
The tambourine was traditionally a “woman’s instrument.” In many Islamic countries, it still is.
Twelve girls have played in a Little League World Series game.
As a high school senior, Nancy Reagan had a part in her school’s production of the comedy First Lady of the Land.
Actress Charlize Theron and her mother have matching fish tattoos.
Most Grand Slam tennis singles titles won by any player, male or female: Australian Margaret Court with 24.
In ancient Greece, if a woman attended an Olympic event, she could be executed.
Longest-running play in history: The Mousetrap, by Agatha Christie.
In 1980, Sherry Lansing became the first woman president of a movie studio: 20th Century Fox.
Women earn about half of the bachelor of science degrees in the United States.
Only winner of a Golden Globe award for “Most Glamorous Actress”: Zsa Zsa Gabor, in 1958.
Unlike the word Mr. (Mister), the word “Mrs.” cannot be spelled out.
Violet Jessup—a stewardess and ship’s nurse—survived three major ocean-liner disasters: the Olympic, the Britannic, and the Titanic.
Most popular jukebox song of all time: “Crazy,” by Patsy Cline (1962).
Before the year 1000, the word “she” didn’t exist in the English language.
Reds
RED LIGHTS. Some darkrooms are lit with red bulbs, or “safe-lights,” because red light doesn’t expose black-and-white film.
ERIK THE RED. He was most famous as the Viking explorer who established the first settlement in Greenland in 985. But Erik the Red is also a pseudonym used by three characters in the X-Men comic series: Magneto, Cyclops, and alien agent Davan Shakari.
RED POPPIES. One of the most famous literary references to these flowers appears in the poem “In Flanders Fields,” written in 1915. Canadian soldier John McCrae composed the poem after seeing his friend Alexis Helmer killed during World War I’s Second Battle of Ypres, the first time Germany used chemical weapons. McCrae presided over Helmer’s funeral at a cemetery in Flanders (because the military chaplain was unavailable) and scribbled the poem in his notebook the next day while watching fields of poppies in the cemetery. McCrae didn’t think much of his poem; in fact, he threw it away. But one of his fellow soldiers rescued it and submitted it to a British newspaper. Today, “In Flanders Fields” is one of the most famous symbols of World War I and an important part of Canada’s culture. Its first verse is even printed on the Canadian $10 bill.
RED CARDS. The first penalty cards in soccer were used during the 197
0 World Cup in Mexico. The sport’s penalty card system (red for expulsion, yellow for a warning) was modeled after traffic lights (red for stop, yellow for caution).
RED-LIGHT DISTRICT. The first use of this term appeared in the Milwaukee Sentinel in 1894. It probably comes from the red lanterns that railroad brakemen used to carry to brothels (or bars). They then left the lanterns outside. That way, if there were an emergency with their trains, their colleagues could find them easily and summon them back to the tracks.
First Americans
Three largest Native American tribes in the United States: Navajo, Cherokee, Choctaw.
Oldest continuously inhabited U.S. town: the 1,000-year-old Hopi village of Oraibi, Arizona.
Sitting Bull’s Teton Sioux Indian group was known as the Hunkpapa band.
Twenty-eight U.S. states and four Canadian provinces have names with Native American origins.
Charles Curtis, vice president of the United States under Herbert Hoover, was part Kaw Indian.
Many Western movies make it seem like more, but only 0.1 percent of all people on wagon trains were killed by American Indians.
Why “Badlands”? The Sioux thought the South Dakota territory was “bad” because of its rugged terrain and lack of water. They called it Mako Sica, or “land-bad.”
Canadian Indians couldn’t vote in national elections until 1960. American Indians got the right to vote in 1924.
Presidential Dining
Dwight D. Eisenhower liked to watch Westerns while he ate TV dinners.
James Madison’s favorite snack: gingerbread. Richard Nixon’s favorite: cottage cheese and ketchup.
Lyndon B. Johnson was the first president to host a barbecue on the White House lawn.
Thomas Jefferson thought that sitting around a circular table was “democratic.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt’s three favorite foods: frog legs, pig knuckles, and scrambled eggs.
To help curb his appetite, John Adams ate boiled cornmeal pudding before a meal.