The word “train” comes from the Latin trahere, meaning to pull or draw.
Very early automobile models didn’t have steering wheels. Drivers used a lever to control the car’s direction.
The first commercial jet—the de Havilland Comet—made its inaugural flight in 1952.
The first flying device: the Pigeon, invented around 400 BC, looked like a bird and was propelled by steam.
World’s steepest railroad: Switzerland’s Pilatus Railway. It climbs 7,000 feet to the top of Mt. Pilatus at a grade of 48 percent.
Most car horns in the United States beep in the key of F.
Fighting Women
First women’s boxing match in the United States: 1876 in New York City. The prize was a silver butter dish.
First female boxing star: Barbara Buttrick, from England. She was 5'0" and weighed 100 pounds. In 1954, in a match in Canada, she fought in the first female boxing bout broadcast on the radio.
In 1987, former world women’s lightweight champion Marion “Lady Tyger” Trimiar staged a hunger strike outside promoter Don King’s New York office. She wanted more money and better promotion for female boxers. (It worked.)
Three female boxers have famous prizefighters for dads: Laila Ali (daughter of Muhammad Ali), Jacqui Frazier-Lyde (daughter of Joe Frazier), and Freeda Foreman (daughter of George Foreman).
During her boxing training for Million Dollar Baby, actress Hillary Swank gained about 20 pounds…most of it pure muscle.
Three rules that make women’s boxing different from men’s: 1) Women have to wear breast protectors; 2) They must prove they aren’t pregnant; and 3) Rounds last two minutes instead of three.
Under the Sea
Bottlenose dolphins don’t sleep at all until they’re one month old. And when they do nap, they always keep one eye open.
The blue whale’s tongue weighs as much as an adult female brown bear.
Sea otters sometimes tie themselves together with kelp to avoid being separated while they sleep.
Humans are responsible for the deaths of as many as 73 million sharks every year.
Sea slugs can have as many as 25,000 teeth.
Dolphins can recognize themselves in a mirror.
There are at least 34 shark species in the Gulf of Mexico.
Orcas (killer whales) live in every ocean on Earth.
Mudskippers are fish that live in tide pools and can breathe through their skin. As long as they stay moist, they can climb out of the ocean and walk around on land.
Found in a shark’s belly in 1941: 3 belts, 9 shoes, 14 stockings, and 43 buttons.
The Senses
On average, human taste buds live only 7 to 10 days before they die and are replaced with new ones.
A cricket’s hearing organ is located in its front legs.
Your tongue can detect sweetness in a solution of 1 part sugar to 200 parts water.
Snakes have no ears, but they can still “hear.” Their tongues sense sound vibrations.
The human eye can tell the difference between about 500 shades of gray.
If you lost an eye, you would lose only about 20 percent of your vision.
Women tend to have wider peripheral vision than men do.
Animal and fish brains devote more space to the sense of smell than human brains do.
The cornea is the only body part with no blood supply. It gets oxygen directly from the air.
First sense to develop in human infants: touch.
Music Men
Ted Nugent has been a Michigan sheriff’s deputy since 1978.
Marilyn Manson’s real name: Brian Hugh Warner.
When Elvis Presley was three years old, his father altered a check from his employer (raising his pay from $3 to $8). The punishment: the King’s dad spent eight months in the Mississippi State Penitentiary.
Rob Zombie’s first job in entertainment: as a production assistant on the 1980s TV show Pee-wee’s Playhouse.
Michael Jackson’s first onstage moonwalk: 1983.
What does LL Cool J’s name stand for? “Ladies Love Cool James.” (His real name is James Todd Smith.)
B. B King was playing a concert in 1949 when two men fighting over a woman named Lucille accidentally set fire to the club he was playing in. King risked his life to save his $30 guitar, and when the ordeal was over, he named it— and all his future guitars—after the woman at the center of the ruckus.
Bathroom Break
According to one study, a toilet has 49 germs per square inch. A desktop has 20,961.
Toilet paper was first produced on rolls in the 1870s, but they didn’t become popular until the 1900s.
King Louis XIV had more than 250 personal chamber pots in and around the Palace of Versailles.
Britain’s Prince Charles owns a collection of toilet seats.
Emperor Vespasian introduced pay toilets to Rome in the first century AD.
Golfers Walter Hagen and Joe Kirkwood once played a round in downtown Tijuana, Mexico, using the toilet in their hotel room as the 18th hole.
British government toilet paper used to be stamped with “Govt. Property, Now Wash Your Hands.”
In Australia, outhouses are called “dunnies.”
The Spike Jones Orchestra used an instrument called the latrinophone—a toilet seat with strings.
Montana’s Cow Pasture Open golf tournament includes a toilet-seat hole.
Liberace owned a retracting toilet that sank into the bathroom floor.
Jack Nicholson has a rattlesnake embedded in his toilet seat.
During the 1790s, the White House lavatory consisted of an outdoor wooden privy. In 1801, Thomas Jefferson had two outhouses installed, one at each end of the house.
Thirty-three percent of Americans flush the toilet while still sitting on it.
Why’s It Called That?
Canned herring are called sardines because the canning process was developed in Sardinia.
Producer Terry Melcher wrote “(untitled)” as a placeholder for the name of the Byrds’ ninth album. It mistakenly went to press with the title (Untitled).
In the 1920s, the nickname “the Big Apple” was popularized by New York newspaper columnist John J. FitzGerald.
Pink Floyd got its name from two Georgia bluesmen, “Pink” Anderson and Floyd Council.
The original “quisling” (traitor) was Norwegian fascist Vidkun Quisling, who helped the Nazis invade his own country.
The word “maverick” came into common use in 1845. It referred to unbranded cattle owned by Texas rancher Samuel Maverick.
The term “ritzy” comes from the posh European hotels run by Swiss innkeeper César Ritz.
Billboard magazine was founded in 1894 as a trade publication for people who manufactured and used billboards.
Bingo was originally called “beano” because players used beans to mark their cards.
In golf, the word “green” once meant the entire course.
The Pet Shop Boys claim they titled their album Please so people would have to ask for it politely.
The word “aftermath” was originally “aftermowth,” and it referred to the new growth of grass after mowing.
“Acid rock,” “country rock,” and “hard rock” were all geological terms before they were musical genres.
Loony
Loons are aquatic birds that look like small ducks with black and white spots and red eyes.
There are five species of loons: common, red-throated, Pacific, arctic, and yellow-billed.
Loons get their name from their high-pitched yodeling cry. Many people say that it sounds like maniacal laughter.
Minnesota’s state bird: the common loon.
The birds have sharp beaks that they use to stab prey.
Loons are clumsy on land, and typically leave the water only to nest. They’re much faster and more agile when swimming.
Unlike most birds whose bones are hollow, loons’ bones are solid.
Loons can fly as fast as 75 m
ph.
A swimming loon appears on Canada’s one-dollar coin, nicknamed the “loonie.”
In England, loons are also called “divers” because they can dive as deep as 250 feet to look for fish, and can stay underwater for five minutes.
Food!
Gerber once tried to market premade foods for adults.
Until about 200 years ago, people in many Asian countries used bricks of tea as money.
Huey Lewis’s grandfather invented the red wax sealant used on some varieties of cheese.
Most widely used herb in the world: parsley.
Throughout The Big Lebowski, the Dude (Jeff Bridges) drinks nine White Russians.
There are more than 20,000 brands of beer worldwide.
Seventeenth-century Italian cardinal Jules Mazarin took his personal chocolate-maker with him everywhere.
Before he made it big in films, actor Alan Ladd operated a hot-dog stand called Tiny’s.
The world’s most expensive spice: Spanish saffron. It can cost more than $1,000 a pound.
In the 1600s, thermometers were often filled with brandy instead of mercury.
When dropped in water, a fresh egg will sink; a stale one won’t.
Around the World
Thirteen percent of the world’s population lives in deserts.
World’s largest urban national park: Golden Gate National Recreation Area (74,820 acres).
Fifty-one countries were involved in World War II, the most of any war in human history.
Sweetwater, Texas, boasts the world’s largest rattlesnake roundup. The annual festival began in 1958 as a way for local farmers to get rid of rattlesnakes on their property. In the years since, it’s grown to include a parade, a snake-charmer competition, and a cook-off. (And they still collect snakes. More than 120 tons’ worth have been caught over the years.)
More people have seen magician David Copperfield perform live than any other entertainer in the world.
The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
World’s biggest army: China’s People’s Liberation Army, with 2.2 million active troops.
Since 1495, the world has never seen 25 consecutive years without at least one war.
What’s in a Name?
Most popular names for U.S. high school sports teams: Eagles and Tigers.
The troll dolls of the 1960s were also known as Dam Dolls, after their creator, Thomas Dam.
The first Atlantic storm to carry a man’s name was Hurricane Bob (1979). (Before that, they were all named after women.)
The O’ prefix in Irish surnames means “grandson of.”
Babe Ruth’s residence in Sudbury, Massachusetts, was named Home Plate Farm.
There are approximately 600 different surnames in China but more than a million in the United States.
Author Douglas Adams (The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy) chose the name of Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell.
To enter the Bob Jones Open golf tournament, you must be named Bob Jones.
The world’s most common name: Muhammad.
According to some studies, the surname Baer has the most spelling variations—36. Snyder is second with 29, and Bailey has 22. (But these are the most common spellings.)
Malcolm X named his first daughter, Attalah, after Attila the Hun.
Miss Ima Hogg, the “First Lady of Texas,” was a beloved philanthropist and patron of the arts.
Pete Townshend and John Entwistle of the Who played in a Dixieland band called the Confederates.
According to legend, Paul Bunyan’s cook was named Hot Biscuit Slim.
Hail to the Chief
To date, every U.S. president with a beard has been a Republican.
Only one person in ten is left-handed, but three of the past six presidents have been.
The first president to be impeached was Andrew Johnson.
Midnight Cowboy was the only X-rated movie shown to a U.S. president (Jimmy Carter) in office.
All U.S. presidents have worn glasses, though some didn’t like wearing them in public.
William Henry Harrison is one of two presidents to have double letters in both his first and last names. The other: Millard Fillmore.
Presidential film screenings began in 1915, when Woodrow Wilson watched The Birth of a Nation.
Most common presidential religious affiliation: Episcopalian, followed by Presbyterian.
Presidential candidate who ran the most times: Socialist Norman Thomas, six times.
Candidate with the most electoral and popular votes: Ronald Reagan, in 1984.
The film Lyndon B. Johnson most often requested be shown in the White House while he was in office: a 10-minute short about himself.
Herbert Hoover was the last president whose term ended on March 3. They now end on January 20.
Last U.S. president with a mustache: William Howard Taft.
In 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson became the first Southerner to hold the office since Andrew Johnson in 1869.
Women’s Fashion
Go-go boots, popular in the 1960s, got their start in the collection of André Courreges, a Parisian designer.
Most costume changes in a movie: 85, by Madonna in Evita.
In 1968, the Ladies Professional Golf Association officially sanctioned miniskirts for tournament play.
After Faye Dunaway wore a beret in the 1967 film Bonnie and Clyde, thousands of the hats were sold in the United States.
Chinese brides traditionally wear red wedding dresses.
Cleopatra’s eye makeup was blue-black (upper lid) and green (lower).
Mae West was only 5'1". To compensate in films, she wore platform shoes.
Vivien Leigh often wore gloves because she thought her hands were too large.
Hot pants, all the rage in the early 1970s, were worn years earlier by European prostitutes.
Science
A paleoscatologist is an archaeologist who studies ancient poop.
Every minute, there are two minor earthquakes somewhere in the world.
The first U.S. patent was issued in 1790 for a process to make potash (potassium carbonate).
Liquid air (below –310°F) looks like water with a bluish tint.
French physicist Jean-Antoine Nollet did some incredible experiments during the 1700s. In one demonstration, an electric jolt tossed 200 monks into the air.
During a total solar eclipse, the local temperature can drop as much as 20°F.
Hydrofluoric acid will dissolve glass—but can be stored safely in plastic containers.
The “Armstrong limit” is the altitude at which blood begins to boil (63,000 feet above sea level).
A typical hurricane lasts nine days.
Kevlar is five times stronger than steel.
Scientists have revived bacteria that were 250 million years old.
Forest fires move faster uphill than downhill.
Glow sticks contain an ingredient called luciferin.
In 2005, scientists found fossilized blood vessels from a T. rex.
The human eye blinks more than 4 million times a year.
Botulism bacteria are so toxic that one pound of it could kill every human on earth.
Famous Siblings
3 DUCKS
1. Huey
2. Dewey
3. Louie
9 KENNEDYS
1. Joe Jr.
2. John
3. Rosemary
4. Kathleen
5. Eunice
6. Patricia
7. Robert
8. Jean
9. Edward (Ted)
3 BARRYMORES
1. Lionel
2. Ethel
3. John
6 BRADYS
1. Greg
2. Marsha
3. Peter
4. Jan
5. Bobby
6. Cindy
5 ROMANOVS
1. Olga
2. Tatiana
3. Maria
4. Anastasia
5. Alexei
4 CAMERONS
1. Kirk
2. Bridget
3. Melissa
4. Candace
2 MOZARTS
1. Marianne
2. Wolfgang
6 JOLIE-PITTS
1. Maddox
2. Pax
3. Zahara
4. Shiloh
5. Knox
6. Vivienne
3 REDGRAVES
1. Vanessa
2. Lynn
3. Corin
9 JACKSONS
1. Rebbie
2. Jackie
3. Tito
4. Jermaine
5. La Toya
6. Marlon
7. Michael
8. Randy
9. Janet
4 TUDORS
1. Arthur
2. Margaret
3. Mary
4. Henry VIII
4 JONAS
1. Kevin
2. Joe
3. Nick
4. Frankie
5 TRUMPS
1. Donald Jr.
2. Ivanka
3. Eric
4. Tiffany
5. Barron
Inspired By…
Pink plastic lawn flamingos were inspired by a photo of real flamingos in a 1957 National Geographic magazine.
The polka is thought to have been the inspiration for polka dots, which, in turn, were the inspiration for the game Twister.
According to Jude Law, he was named after the Beatles song “Hey, Jude.”
Crooner Michael Feinstein named his production company, Bing Clawsby Music, after his cat.
The film Stand by Me (1986) is based on Stephen King’s short story The Body.
Orson Welles admired John Ford’s film Stagecoach (1939) so much that he watched it about 40 times while making Citizen Kane (1941).
In A Few Good Men, Tom Cruise’s Jack Nicholson impersonation was ad-libbed.
Author Anne Rice’s real name is Howard O’Brien. (She was named after her father.)
Young Albert Einstein became interested in science when he was given a magnetic compass.
The villain in Scream was based on a Florida serial killer known as “the Gainesville Ripper.”
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up! Page 3