In 1981, a Los Angeles man was arrested for hiding under tables and painting women’s toenails.
About 509 million songs were legally downloaded in 2006—in the same year, 5 billion were downloaded illegally.
Your risk of being murdered is greater on January 1 than on any other day of the year.
Four most common arrests in the United States: drunk driving, theft, drug possession, and public drunkenness.
First rock star ever arrested onstage: Jim Morrison. (It happened twice—in 1967 and 1968.)
* * *
BIG OOPS
In 1965, Johnny Cash accidentally started a fire in California’s Los Padres National Forest. He destroyed 508 acres.
…Punishment
In 2008, one out of every 100 Americans spent time in jail.
When the FBI was founded in 1908, it had 34 investigators. Today there are more than 15,000.
Only seven women have ever made the FBI’s 10 Most Wanted list.
In convict lingo, “Getting a Valentine” means to receive a one-year jail sentence.
Last state to abolish flogging as a legal punishment: Delaware…in 1972.
In Charleston, South Carolina, people who are arrested can be charged $1 for the ride to jail.
The only formal qualification needed to be appointed a Florida executioner: You must be at least 18 years old.
* * *
BORED?
A Virginia man made an eight-mile-long chain of chewing-gum wrappers. (It took him 38 years.)
Average Humans
On average, people can hold their breath for one minute. (World record: nine minutes, eight seconds.)
According to polls, more people sing in the car than in the shower.
It’s estimated that a third of all adults have difficulty distinguishing right from left. But…
Ninety-five percent of people put on their left sock first.
Eighty-five percent of people can curl their tongue into a tube.
Approximately 50 million Americans snore.
About 27 people die each year of suffocation from a dry-cleaning bag.
People with schizophrenia rarely yawn.
Fifteen percent of Americans bite their toenails.
You’re four times more likely to choke to death on a nonedible object than on food.
Dim Bulbs
“It’s time for the human race to enter the solar system.”
—Dan Quayle
“The skin is an important interface between man and the environment.”
—OSHA pamphlet
“We’ve got to ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?”
—Lee Iacocca
“I don’t really think, I just walk.”
—Paris Hilton
“I am for the death penalty. Who commits terrible acts must get a fitting punishment. That way, he learns the lesson for the next time.”
—Britney Spears
“For your convenience, we will be closed Christmas Day.”
—Sign at a Boston supermarket
“I don’t want to make the wrong mistake.”
—Yogi Berra
“Solutions are not the answer.”
—Richard Nixon
Bodies at Work
When you see something you like, your pupils dilate.
The average person swallows 295 times while eating a meal.
Right-handed people tend to chew their food on the right side of their mouths.
Between death and the onset of rigor mortis, muscle contractions sometimes cause the body to turn onto its side.
Talking on the phone, laughing, or taking notes burns about 1.3 calories per minute.
More than 90 percent of the actions performed by the nervous system are reflexes.
Fastest-healing part of the human body: the tongue.
With each breath, humans exchange about 17 percent of the air in their lungs.
Chewing gum can help improve your memory (but you have to remember to buy the gum).
It’s physically impossible to tickle yourself because your brain anticipates the tickle.
World War II
Exclusive supplier of rice to the U.S. military during World War II: Uncle Ben’s.
James Bond creator Ian Fleming worked with the United Kingdom’s Naval Intelligence during World War II.
Boy Scouts founder Robert Baden Powell once wrote a book on how to recognize German spies by their walk.
After the end of World War II, Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel. He declined.
Missionary John Birch was killed by the Chinese 10 days after World War II ended; some consider him the first victim of the Cold War.
Iva Toguri D’Aquino, an American citizen who lived in Japan during World War II and was convicted of being a “Tokyo Rose,” served six years in prison for treason. Much later, in 1977, she was pardoned by President Gerald Ford.
Nazi doctor Josef Mengele escaped from Germany at the end of the war and moved to South America. He drowned in Brazil in 1979, where he had been living under the name Wolfgang Gerhard.
Founded in 1923 in Vienna, Austria, Interpol was absorbed into the Gestapo during the Nazi era.
8 Ways to Crack a Safe
Your Aunt Selma died recently, and among her possessions is an old safe. The only problem is that she didn’t tell you the combination. Here are some ways to get inside:
1. Many people either write the combination down somewhere or don’t change the one set by the company that made the safe. First, try to find that.
2. Listening with a stethoscope might do the trick. Each number is connected to a wheel right behind the dial. When the combination’s numbers are chosen correctly, the wheels click into place. A safecracker listens for the sound of each wheel’s clicking, and when the corresponding numbers line up, the safe can be opened.
3. Drill through the back of the safe and unscrew the lock from the inside with a long screwdriver.
4. Drill all the way around the lock in the front, right through to the wheels, then insert a metal rod to push out the bolt that locks them.
5. Burn out the lock with a blowtorch if it’s an old-fashioned safe. Newer safes will need a “metal-cutting torch,” a device that heats and cuts through metal.
6. If noise isn’t a problem— and if you can take a chance on damaging or destroying the safe’s contents—you can always blow it up. Pour a liquid explosive like nitroglycerin into the safe’s door frame and attach a fuse.
7. Electronic safes (the kind with a number pad) can often be opened easily by spraying the keypad with ultraviolet ink. Then shine a UV flashlight to reveal finger marks.
8. Another way of opening an electronic safe is to connect it to a computer with safecracking software installed and let the machine do the work.
Beatlemania
The Beatles’ last concert was at Candlestick Park in San Francisco on August 29, 1966. Last song they played: “Long Tall Sally.”
In 1964, the BBC reported that Ringo Starr had his toenails removed. (It was actually his tonsils.)
George Harrison owned a musical toilet that played “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds.”
Second-highest album sales in the United States after the Beatles (106 million): Garth Brooks (92 million).
John Lennon and Paul McCartney met at a church picnic.
John Lennon recorded and produced under 15 different aliases.
The Beatles’ White Album is officially titled The Beatles.
Beatles song that has been recorded more than any other in history: “Yesterday.”
The Beatles were the first living celebrities to be featured in an animated TV show. They had their own Saturday morning cartoon (1965–69).
Linda McCartney and Wings released one single under the name Suzy and the Red Stripes.
Former Rolling Stone Brian Jones played sax on the Beatles song “You Know My Name.”
The Beatles were once known as Johnny and the Moondogs.
&nbs
p; The Beatles recorded their first album, Please Please Me, in 10 hours. It cost about $1,000 to make.
First person on the cover of Rolling Stone: John Lennon (1967).
First, Last & Once
Carole King’s first single as a performer was called “Baby Sittin’” (1959).
Ted Williams’s final major-league hit was a home run.
First culture to serve meals in courses: the Russians. It was called dining a la russe, and Russian prince Alexander Kurakin introduced the technique to the French around 1800.
Golfer Arnold Palmer once hit balls off the second tier of the Eiffel Tower. His longest: 403 yards.
French tailor Barthelemy Thimonnier developed the first sewing machine in 1829.
In the rough: Nils Lied drove a golf ball 2,640 yards…on a sheet of ice in Antarctica.
Bob Dylan’s first professional performance: opening for John Lee Hooker in New York City in 1961.
The first (and only) unassisted triple play in the World Series: Bill Wambsganss of the Cleveland Indians, in 1920.
The last legal spitball in the minor leagues was thrown by Burleigh Grimes on September 10, 1934.
Pamela Anderson was named Canada’s “Centennial Baby” in 1967 for being the first person born on the centennial of Canada’s independence.
John L. Sullivan (1858–1918), the “Boston Strong Boy,” was the last bare-knuckle fighting champion.
Mark Twain published his first short story when he was 30.
Honus Wagner was the first baseball player to have his signature branded into a Louisville Slugger bat (1905).
Mozart’s last composition: Requiem Mass in D Minor (1791).
It’s an Honor
Charles Lindbergh was Time magazine’s first Man of the Year, in 1927.
Baseball player with the most World Series rings: Yogi Berra (10).
Only 17 Negro League players are members of the National Baseball Hall of Fame.
Pope John Paul I once wrote a fan letter to Pinocchio, and Pope John Paul II was an honorary Harlem Globetrotter.
Tom Brokaw and KISS’s Gene Simmons have both been honored by bobblehead nights at baseball parks.
Two British prime ministers are named in the Beatles’ song “Taxman”: Harold Wilson and Edward Heath.
Manager Tommy Lasorda has been inducted into both the Canadian and American baseball halls of fame.
Steve Miller was given—and taught to play—his first guitar by Les Paul.
Colette, author of Gigi, was one of the few Frenchwomen to become a grand officer of the French Legion of Honor.
Easter in Sweden
THE EASTER WITCH. Since the 1800s, children in Sweden have dressed up as witches to celebrate Easter. According to Scandinavian legend, in the week before Easter, witches (disguised as townspeople most of the year) flew into the mountains to dance and celebrate spring with the devil. Traditionally, the Swedes lit fires to drive the witches away. Today, people light bonfires and set off fireworks, and children paint their faces, wear long skirts, and go from house to house, handing out small pictures they’ve drawn in the hopes of getting a piece of candy.
DINNER. Instead of ham, the traditional meal consists of pickled herring, salmon, deviled eggs topped with caviar, meatballs, Swedish sausage, and a type of cola called Paskmust.
BY ANOTHER NAME. Easter is called Paskafton, and most celebrations take place on Holy Saturday, the day before Easter, because that’s when the witches supposedly left the mountains and turned back into regular people…just in time to go to church on Easter Sunday.
SOLEMN DAYS. Over the years, as people drifted away from the church, religious traditions became less strict, but Easter used to be one of the most revered holidays in Sweden. It was so important that other religious events (like weddings and christenings) were forbidden from taking place during Holy Week—from Palm Sunday (the Sunday before Easter) to Holy Saturday.
TWIGS. The Swedes decorate birch or willow twigs with feathers and beads and display them around their houses. The twigs represent the palms spread before Jesus on Palm Sunday.
Nicknames
James Earl Carter Jr. was the first president sworn in using his nickname—“Jimmy.”
ESPN’s pick for best nickname in baseball history: Ted “the Splendid Splinter” Williams.
Real name of 50 Cent: Curtis James Jackson III.
As a girl, Sophia Loren was called “Stechetto” (Italian for “stick”) because she was so skinny. Cameron Diaz was called “Skeletor.”
Where did Harry Lillis Crosby get the nickname “Bing”? From the comic strip The Bingsville Bugle.
At Choate prep school, John F. Kennedy was nicknamed “Rat Face” for his scrawny appearance.
Dolly Parton’s CB handle was “Booby Trap.”
Prince William’s nickname is “Wombat.”
Cy Young’s real name was Denton True Young. His nickname, “Cy,” was short for “cyclone.”
Samuel L. Jackson was called “Machine Gun” as a child because of his stutter.
Francisco Franco adopted the nickname “El Caudillo” (the Leader).
Whitey Ford nicknamed Pete Rose “Charlie Hustle” in 1963 after Rose ran to first base on a walk.
George Herman “Babe” Ruth got his nickname as a young player on the Baltimore Orioles. The team’s manager, Jack Dunn, adopted him, and he was known as Dunn’s “baby.”
Houston Oilers running back Charlie Tolar was known as “the Human Bowling Ball.”
Jesse James’s nickname: “Dingus.”
Myth-conceptions
Until about 100 years ago, jump rope was considered a boy’s game.
The 1969 Woodstock concert was not held in the town of Woodstock, but at a farm in Bethel, New York.
Charles Lindbergh was actually the 61st person to fly across the Atlantic. His was the first solo flight.
Morse code is named for Samuel Morse, but it was invented by Alfred Vail, one of Morse’s colleagues.
Although it is widely attributed to him, William Shakespeare never used the word “gadzooks.”
Napoléon Bonaparte was not that short—he was slightly taller than the average Frenchman.
In the 19th century, “Shirley” was a popular name for boys.
Anthony “Zorba the Greek” Quinn was born in Chihuahua, Mexico.
Aristotle believed that the most important purpose of the human brain was to cool the blood.
Benito Mussolini never did make the trains run on time in Italy.
Real Headlines
Dead Man Remains Dead
Purgatory Tickets to Remain at $27
High-Crime Areas Said to Be Safer
Drunk Gets Nine Months in Violin Case
Slow Driver Arrested After 4-County Chase
Woman Born Feb. 29 Has Baby Same Day
Helicopter Powered by Human Flies
Clinton Wins on Budget, but
More Lies Ahead
Outside Consultants Sought for
Test of Gas Chamber
Man Is Fatally Slain
Mortuary Adds Drive-Through
Man Stuck on Toilet; Stool Suspected
Man Thought Hurt, but Slightly Dead
One-Legged Man Competent to Stand Trial
For What Ails You
Sixty percent of all chicken soup sold in the United States is bought during cold and flu season.
A fever can cause brain damage if it goes above 107.6°F.
What do your tailbone and appendix have in common? Nobody knows what they’re for.
Penicillin causes about 300 deaths per year in the United States.
Most frequently broken bone: the clavicle (collarbone).
Streptomycin, an antibiotic, was discovered in fungus found in a chicken’s throat.
Fifty-five percent of Americans are registered organ donors.
Country with the most kidney donors per capita: Iran. (The United States is second.)
About one in five humans has no reaction to t
he toxic oil in poison oak or poison ivy.
Best-selling medicines worldwide: cholesterol reducers, antidepressants, and ulcer drugs.
Chance of getting a cold within a week after taking a two-hour flight: 20 percent.
Among amateur golfers, lower-back injuries are the most common ailment.
Old English word for “sneeze”: fneosan.
Sales of Rolaids, Alka-Seltzer, and Tums jump 20 percent in December.
According to medical texts from 1552 BC, the ancient Egyptian cure for indigestion was to crush a hog’s tooth, put it inside four sugar cakes, and eat one a day for four days.
Range of Facts
Mount Everest’s name in Nepali (the main language of Nepal) is Sagarmatha, which means “Goddess of the Sky.”
Officially, the definition of a mountain is “a landmass that projects conspicuously above its surroundings and is higher than a hill.”
Utah is home to the United States’ only major east-west mountain range, the Uintas.
Until the 1830s, most Americans thought the Rocky Mountains were impassable.
Washington State’s North Cascades are often called “the American Alps.”
Most mountainous state in the United States: Nevada, with more than 300 ranges.
The Himalayas cover one-tenth of the land on earth.
The dinosaurs were already extinct by the time the Alps were formed.
World’s longest mountain range: the Andes, which stretch more than 4,000 miles through seven nations.
Number of corpses abandoned and still remaining on Mount Everest: about 120.
Animal Tales
In Old English, snakes were called “nadders” until a misspelling turned them into “adders.”
Fifteen people have died during the annual “Running of the Bulls” in Pamplona, Spain.
During the Great Depression, armadillos were a popular food in the American Southwest. Many people nicknamed them “Hoover hogs.”
More than 40 horse “actors” appeared in Seabiscuit (2003), with 10 sharing the title role.
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up! Page 13
