Maine, Minnesota and Missouri? – It Must Be Fasab Fact Day!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

.

Yes it is fasab fact day. Another random selection of interesting things, some of which you may know some you may not.

The only way you will find out is by taking a look.

Enjoy.

.

did you know5

.

Maine is the only state that

borders on only one state.

Maine map

.

.

The only person ever to decline a Pulitzer Prize for Fiction

was Sinclair Lewis for his book Arrowsmith.

Sinclair Lewis Arrowsmith

.

.

Michigan was the first state to plow it’s roads

and the first to adopt a yellow dividing line.

Michigan road with yellow line

.

.

The word ‘byte’ is a contraction of ‘by eight.’

byte

.

.

The roads on the island of Guam are made with coral.

Guam has no sand. The sand on the beaches is actually ground coral.

When concrete is mixed, the coral sand is used instead of

importing regular sand from thousands of miles away.

roads on the island of Guam

.

.

The shortest verse in the Bible

is “Jesus wept.” John 11:35

John 11.35

.

.

Zaire is the world leader in cobalt mining,

producing two-thirds of the world’s cobalt supply.

cobalt mining Zaire

.

.

The St. Louis Gateway Arch had a

projected death toll while it was being built.

No one died.

missouri-st-louis-gateway-arch

.

.

Vincent Van Gogh comitted suicide

while painting Wheat Field with Crows.

Wheat Field with Crows

.

.

Jelly Belly jelly beans were the first jelly beans in outer space

when they went up with astronauts in the June 21, 1983 voyage

of the space shuttle Challenger

(the same voyage as the first American woman in space, Sally Ride).

Jelly Belly jelly beans

.

.

A flea expert is a pullicologist.

pullicologist

.

.

The Dodge brothers Horace and John were Jewish,

that’s why the first Dodge emblem had a star of David in it.

first Dodge emblem

.

.

Ham radio operators got the term “ham”

coined from the expression “ham-fisted operators”,

a term used to describe early radio users who sent Morse code

(i.e. pounded their fists).

Ham radio operators

.

.

The word “hangnail” comes from Middle English:

ang- (painful) + nail. Nothing to do with hanging.

hangnail

 

 

It’s almost hard to believe it,

but the quintessential Tom Hanks role

as Forrest Gump was initially offered to

John Travolta who declined to take part in the film.

.

.

========================================

.

Did You Know? – Americans, Chinese, French, Greeks, There’s Facts About All Of Them In Here!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

.

Yes, today is a bit of a multi-cultural fact feast.

Hope you enjoy.

.

did you know2

.

Brown eyes are actually blue,

under a layer of melanin.

blue eyes

.

.

Billionaire Chuck Feeney donated most of his fortune

anonymously and with no recognition,

while flying coach, owning a $15 watch,

and having no cars or homes.

Billionaire Chuck Feeney

.

.

George Washington was surprised to discover

that the Chinese were not white.

(I wonder how surprised they were to find out he was?)

chinese drawing

.

.

When it first opened in 1955 Disneyland had

a lingerie store on Main Street called The Wizard Of Bras

The Wizard Of Bras

.

.

In the mid 1800s France gave a crucial patent

in photography as a free gift to the world…

except for Britain who had to pay for it!

photographing the eiffel tower

.

.

Disaster comes from the Greek

“dis” meaning bad,

and “aster”, meaning star.

The ancient Greeks used to blame calamities

on unfavorable planetary positions.

disaster-sign

.

.

If you are in a room with 23 people,

there’s more than a 50% chance that

two of the people have the same birthday.

Birthday_Paradox.svg

.

.

There are more tigers living in Texas

than in the rest of the world.

tiger

.

.

While serving as sheriff of Erie County, N.Y.,

Grover Cleveland had to spring the trap

at a hanging on two occassions.

This earned him the unflattering nickname

“Buffalo Hangman.”

Grover Cleveland

.

.

Workers at Amazon’s distribution centers

can be expected to walk up to 11 miles per shift,

picking an order every 33 seconds.

Amazon's distribution centers

.

.

The shortest French word with all

five vowels is “oiseau” meaning bird.

oiseau

.

.

Des Moines has the highest per capita0

Jello consumption in the U.S

Des Moines jello capital

.

.

In 1770 the British parliament passed a law

condemning lipstick, stating that

” women found guilty of seducing men

into matrimony by a cosmetic means”

could be tried for witchcraft.

law condemning lipstick

.

.

Mr Feng, a Chinese father, hired a bunch of assassins

to kill his son’s online World of Warcraft character.

Apparently his son was wasting too much time after being laid off.

Mr Feng, World of Warcraft

.

.

Spencer Eldon was the name of the naked baby

on the cover of Nirvana’s album

.

.

============================================

.

A Very Strange Case Of Mistaken Identity

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

 .

Throughout history opposing factions, whether in politics, racial campaigns, sports competitions or even wars, have used cartoons as a medium to promote their side and to denigrate the opposition.

Nowhere was this better seen than during WWII when both sides used thousands of derogatory cartoons to depict the ‘enemy’.

But one of the most humorous incidents occurred much earlier, during the Napoleonic war between France and England.

It allegedly took place in the little town of Hartlepool on the north-east coast of England.

As part of the propaganda campaign in England during this war the enemy, the French, had been portrayed as short and hairy, sort of monkey-like. The cartoon below will give you the idea.  

Napoleonic Wars propaganda cartoon of a Frenchman
Napoleonic Wars propaganda style cartoon of a Frenchman

Also, during the Napoleonic Wars there was great fear that the French had plans to invade Britain and therefore much public concern about the possibility of French infiltrators and spies.

As a consequence the fishermen of Hartlepool kept a close watch on French vessels sailing near the English coast.

One day, as they watched, a French vessel was seen struggling against a storm. It took a severe battering in the rough seas and eventually sunk.

The Hartlepool fishermen then turned their attention to the wreckage washed ashore.

Among the wreckage lay one wet and sorrowful looking survivor. It was the ship’s pet monkey and, to amuse the sailors, it had been dressed in a military style uniform.

Stupid individuals are one thing, annoying but they can be handled. Group stupidity on the other hand is extremely dangerous. The stupidity level seems to increase by at least ten times the number of morons gathered together. I’m sure there’s a mathematical formula for this, there should be.

So, severely intellectually challenged, and thinking they had captured the enemy, the Hartlepool fishermen apparently questioned the monkey and held a beach-based trial.

Unfamiliar with what a Frenchman looked like, and unable to understand what he (the monkey) was saying (presumably “ooh ooh aah”, as opposed to “oh la la”), they came to the conclusion that this poor primate was a French spy.

They quickly sentenced the French spy (monkey) to death and the unfortunate creature was hanged, with the mast of a fishing boat (a coble) providing a convenient gallows.

A very strange case of mistaken identity indeed!

Hartlepool Fishermen Hanging Of The French Monkey Spy
Hartlepool Fishermen Hanging Of The French Monkey Spy

.

 .