“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”
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Fifteen fabulous and very random facts.
I don’t know how much of this information you retain, probably not that much if you’re like me, but hopefully you enjoy reading them all the same.
Here we go….
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The city of Austin, Texas,
was originally named “Waterloo.”
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The term “couch potato”
is the legal property of Robert Armstrong,
who trademarked it in 1976.
(I wonder where he got the energy?)
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Al Gore (1992, 1996),
Dick Cheney (2000, 2004)
and Joe Biden (2008, 2012)
are the first three consecutive vice presidents
to be elected to two terms.
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Worcestershire sauce was invented accidentally
when a British company was trying to recreate
the flavors in Indian food.
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The term “dogfight” originated during WWI.
The pilot had to turn off the plane’s engine from time to time
so it would not stall when the plane turned quickly in the air.
When a pilot restarted his engine midair, it sounded like dogs barking.
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Jim Henson said he made the first Kermit
out of his mom’s old coat.
He used Ping-Pong balls for eyes.
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The concept of community service as a form of probation
originated in Alameda County, California, in 1966.
It was first used as an alternative punishment for female traffic offenders.
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The name “The Birdman of Alcatraz” is not strictly accurate
because Robert Stroud was allowed to keep birds
when he was incarcerated at Leavenworth,
not when he was transferred to Alcatraz.
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Will Smith turned down the role of Neo in The Matrix.
Instead he starred in Wild Wild West.
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Mayan tradition dictated that a mother
should cover her newborn’s face for the first year of life
in order to drive away evil spirits.
The practice is still carried out in rural Guatemala.
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The modeling compound Play-Doh started out in the 1950s
as a wallpaper cleaner for coal residue.
Sales began to fall as coal was used less frequently in furnaces,
but the owner’s sister-in-law, a preschool teacher,
suggested it be used as a children’s toy.
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The 100-ounce pyramid-shaped capstone on top of
the Washington Monument is made of aluminum.
At the time it was placed (December 6, 1884)
it was the largest aluminum object cast.
In those days aluminum was very hard to produce
and was worth as much as silver.
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Chicago is America’s skyscraper capital.
The city has more 1,000-foot tall buildings
than any other U.S. city.
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If we define the “highest spot on the Earth”
as that which is closest to the moon, stars, etc.,
then Mt. Chimborazo in Ecuador is an
incredible 1.5 miles higher than Mt. Everest
due to the oblate spheroid shape of the earth.
(Y’all clumb the wrong mountain boyz!)
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The spooky theme song for Alfred Hitchcock Presents
is titled “Funeral March of a Marionette.”
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fasab 