Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up!

by Bathroom Readers' Institute

  In 1955, Marian Anderson became the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

  In Pretty Woman (1990), the opera Richard Gere takes Julia Roberts to is La Traviata… which is about a prostitute who falls for a wealthy man.

  Record number of curtain calls after an opera performance: Luciano Pavarotti, with 165.

  Hawaii’s Spooky Spots

  THE NU’UANU PALI LOOKOUT

  Today, this is a tourist attraction overlooking the northeastern coast of Oahu, but in 1795, it was the site of one of the deadliest battles in Hawaii’s history. That year, King Kamehameha I, who became one of the islands’ most powerful rulers, had nearly completed his quest to unite the islands’ various tribes under one king. He’d already conquered several other islands, and only Oahu stood in his way. So he gathered 10,000 soldiers and attacked the island’s chief. As the battle raged, the fighting spread into the mountains and Kamehameha’s army gained ground. Finally, his soldiers trapped their enemies on a cliff atop the Nu’uanu Pali, a pass through the mountains. Kamehameha pressed on, eventually driving hundreds of enemy soldiers over the cliff—a 1,000-foot plunge to their deaths. Eventually, the leader of Oahu surrendered, and soon after, Kamehameha seized power and became the first official monarch of the Kingdom of Hawaii.

  In the years that followed, rumors about the pass being haunted began circulating. The Hawaiians already observed many superstitions: They didn’t carry pork over the pass, because they believed the fire goddess Pele, who lived on the eastern side of the mountains, didn’t approve. (She was in an ongoing battle with a half-man, half-pig god.) In another story, a lizardlike creature that could take the form of a beautiful woman would lure men into the mountains and kill them. Finally, during the 1800s, men building a road through the pass found several hundred skulls, believed to be the remains of Kamehameha’s enemies. That just fueled the legends, and today, locals aren’t surprised when tourists report hearing whispers and cries in the fierce winds atop the Pali lookout.

  THE PU-U O MAHUKA HEIAU

  This particular site on Oahu’s North Shore was one of Hawaii’s largest and most sacred heiaus, or religious temples. It was a place where tribal chiefs held important meetings, their wives gave birth, and their subjects sacrificed humans to the gods.

  Supposedly, the heiau is also in the path of a group of mythical apparitions called the Night Marchers. They look like ancient warriors, carry shields and weapons, and pound on battle drums. No one’s sure where they’re headed or what they’re looking for, but locals and tourists who visit the heiau’s ruins after dark have reported seeing footprints in the sand and hearing drumbeats and chants in the distance. Fortunately, according to legend, as long as human interlopers don’t interrupt a night march or make eye contact with one of the ghosts, they won’t be harmed.

  THE KONA BEACH HOTEL

  Located on the Big Island of Hawaii, this hotel was completely renovated in 2008, but couldn’t erase its eerie past: the hotel sits on a plot of land where King Kamehameha I lived until his death in 1819, and his body is buried somewhere beneath the structure. (In accordance with ancient Hawaiian custom, his exact burial site was never disclosed.)

  Strange occurrences at the hotel include whispered battle cries, the sound of marchers, and footsteps. But most unsettling is the portrait of Lilioukalani, Hawaii’s last queen, on the hotel’s first floor. Guests report that the portrait—which hangs at the end of a series honoring the islands’ monarchs—glares at people who stop to look at it…and appears to breathe.

  * * *

  REAL TOMBSTONE INSCRIPTIONS

  • “Here lies the body of Jonathan Blake; stepped on the gas instead of the brake.”

  • “I told you that I was sick!”

  • “Looked up the elevator shaft to see if the car was on its way down. It was.”

  Celebrity Hodgepodge

  Princess Diana was Armenian.

  First left-handed pitcher to win a Cy Young Award: Warren Spahn, in 1957.

  Tommy Tune won his third Tony Award for directing the Broadway musical Nine in 1982.

  When Nicole Richie was nabbed for DUI in 2006, the arrest report listed her weight as 85 pounds.

  What position did George W. Bush play for the Midland, Texas, Central Little League? Catcher.

  Teddy Roosevelt invited Booker T. Washington to dine at the White House.

  American rock band with the most Top-40 hits: the Beach Boys, with 36.

  Actor William Bendix, who played Babe Ruth in The Babe Ruth Story, was a batboy for the New York Yankees.

  Donald Sutherland starred in the 1975 film Day of the Locust as a character named Homer Simpson.

  The F in F. Murray Abraham’s name stands for Fahrid. He’s of Italian and Syrian descent.

  In the 1951 film The Tall Target, Dick Powell played a reporter who tried to stop the assassination of Abraham Lincoln. His name? John Kennedy.

  Ronald Reagan asked to use “Born in the U.S.A.” for his 1984 campaign song. Bruce Springsteen said no.

  In two episodes of TV’s Batman, Liberace played both the villain Chandell…and his twin brother Harry.

  Presidential Numbers

  After the Library of Congress burned down in 1814, Thomas Jefferson replenished it with his own 6,000-book collection.

  Ronald Reagan saved the lives of 77 people when he worked as a lifeguard.

  Oldest presidential candidate: Peter Cooper was 85 when nominated in 1876.

  James A. Garfield’s monthly wage as a 17-year-old boatman on the Ohio Canal: $14.

  Alben W. Barkley, Harry S. Truman’s vice president, married his 38-year-old girlfriend while in office. Barkley was 71.

  Of all the presidents, Warren G. Harding had the biggest feet. He wore size-14 shoes.

  Heaviest U.S. president: William Howard Taft (332 pounds). Lightest: James Madison (100 pounds).

  Harry S. Truman’s first day as president was on Friday the 13th, 1945.

  Tallest U.S. president: Abraham Lincoln (6' 4"). Shortest: James Madison (5' 4").

  After William McKinley’s assassination, Teddy Roosevelt became the youngest U.S. president at age 42.

  President Lyndon B. Johnson flew to his Texas ranch 74 times during his time in office.

  William Henry Harrison’s inaugural address lasted nearly two hours.

  The person most often featured on the cover of Time magazine: Richard Nixon, with 55 appearances.

  John Tyler was so poor after leaving office that he was unable to pay his bills until he sold his corn crop.

  From Our Sponsors

  Coca-Cola slogan from 1906: “The Great National Temperance Beverage.”

  In 1955, Quaker Oats gave away deeds to one square inch of Yukon land with boxes of its cereal.

  1940s Wurlitzer Jukebox slogan: “The magic that changes moods.”

  Ad that enticed Paul “Ace” Frehley to audition for KISS: “Lead guitarist wanted with flash and ability. Album out shortly. No time wasters please.”

  Ernest Hemingway appeared in magazine ads for Parker Pens and Ballantine Ale.

  In 1984, a Canadian farmer rented out ad space on his cows.

  First spokesman for Mr. Coffee: Joe DiMaggio.

  In the 1890s, Nancy Green became the first living person whose image was trademarked…as Aunt Jemima.

  Grape-Nuts cereal was once advertised as an aid to maintaining sobriety.

  International Landmarks

  The Eiffel Tower is repainted by hand every seven years.

  World’s tallest cathedral spire: the Ulm Cathedral in Germany, at 528 feet.

  Largest bell on earth: the Tsar Kolokol in Moscow. It weighs about 200 tons…and has never been rung.

  Amsterdam’s Homomonument—a pink, triangle-shaped granite platform on one of the city’s canals—is a memorial to persecuted gays and lesbians.

  World’s tallest “pyramid”: the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco, at 853 feet. World’s tallest Egyptian p
yramid: the Great Pyramid of Giza, at 481 feet.

  The Itaipú Dam on the border of Paraguay and Brazil is the largest hydroelectric complex in the world.

  Construction of Milan’s great cathedral, the Duomo di Milano, lasted more than 450 years. The first bricks were laid in 1386, and the structure was finished in the 1880s.

  It took 20,000 people 22 years to build the Taj Mahal.

  More Communications

  In 1996, approximately 45 million people worldwide were using the Internet. By 2002, there were 544 million people online.

  The average person makes 1,140 phone calls a year.

  How much would a year’s worth of New York Times newspapers weigh? About 520 pounds.

  Every day, 7 million new documents are added to the World Wide Web.

  One million phone calls are made from the Pentagon every day.

  The word “Internet” was coined in 1982.

  The first world leader to send an e-mail: Queen Elizabeth II, in 1976.

  Martin Cooper created the first cell phone in 1973. It weighed two pounds and looked like a brick.

  The first spam e-mail went out on May 3, 1978, and advertised a computer system.

  More Americans read supermarket tabloids than newspapers.

  Religion

  The three largest religions in the world: Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism.

  Worldwide, 16 percent of people say they’re non-religious.

  Sedlec Ossuary, a Catholic church in the Czech Republic, has a chandelier made out of human bones.

  Members of the Old Order Amish speak German during worship services.

  Followers of Wicca, a nature-based religion, use pentagrams as symbols of their faith.

  About 70,000 people in Australia follow the Jedi religion (inspired by the Star Wars films).

  In Arabic, the word Islam means “submission.”

  The Bible has been translated into pig latin and Klingon.

  In a poll, 12 percent of adults believed Joan of Arc was “Noah’s wife.”

  Shinto originated in Japan around AD 700.

  Membership in the Church of Scientology doesn’t rule out membership in another religion—some Scientologists cite another religion as their primary one.

  According to studies, only three in ten Anglican ministers know how to recite the Ten Commandments correctly.

  The seven archangels: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel.

  When the world’s first automatic telephone answering machine was invented in 1935, it was a big hit with Orthodox Jews—their religion forbids them from answering the phone on the Sabbath.

  Don’t Mess with Texas

  Texas was an independent nation from 1836 to 1845.

  Sam Houston (the first president of Texas) was adopted into the Cherokee Nation at age 16 and married a Cherokee woman.

  In 1860s Fort Worth, a buffalo hide was worth about $1.

  In 1844, Dallas consisted of “two small log cabins, and two families of ten to twelve souls.” The next year, the United States annexed Texas, and by 1850, Dallas had nearly 1,000 people.

  The earliest known Texas pottery dates back to around 500 BC.

  The Louisiana Purchase established the northeastern boundary of Texas in 1803.

  Despite popular mythology, there were 20 survivors of the 1836 Battle of the Alamo.

  The first black man in Texas: a slave named Esteban who traveled with Spanish explorer Cabeza de Vaca during the 1500s.

  The first Texas ranches were the 18th-century Spanish mission ranches along the San Antonio River.

  Between 1867 and 1887, about 5 million cattle traveled along the Chisholm Trail, a cattle-drive trail from Texas to Kansas, to be shipped and sold to buyers in the East.

  First European exploration of the Texas coastline: Spaniard Alonso Alvarez de Pineda in 1519.

  Theodore Roosevelt owned the Texas ranch El Capote, which provided horses for him and his Rough Riders at the Battle of San Juan Hill.

  The state sport of Texas: rodeo.

  Found in the Ground

  Worldwide, about 152,000 metric tons of gold have been mined to date…enough to fill about 3,800 tractor-trailers.

  What’s fulgerite? “Fossilized lightning,” which occurs when a bolt melts sand or soil into a glass tube.

  If you hit a diamond hard with a hammer, it will shatter.

  Chemical most used by humans: salt. It has more than 14,000 known uses.

  New Mexico’s White Sands National Monument is in the world’s largest field of gypsum sand, a fine white rock that dissolves in water.

  More than 10 percent of the world’s annual salt supply is used to de-ice American roads.

  Obsidian—volcanic glass—is so sharp it’s used in cardiac and eye surgery.

  Petrified wood was once so abundant that the Pueblo Indians in New Mexico and Arizona used it for building material.

  About 130 million carats of diamonds are mined every year.

  Why you’re not supposed to touch stalactites or stalagmites in a cave: the oil and sweat on human hands can stop the growth of these natural calcite formations forever.

  The Dead Sea contains about 11.6 billion tons of dissolved salt.

  Fossilized termite farts have been found preserved in amber.

  Salt has been found in meteors in outer space.

  All marble starts out as limestone.

  Go International

  At the Wangfujing Snack Street in Beijing, you can nibble on deep-fried centipedes, insect pupae, scorpions, sea horses, and snakes.

  Almost 20 percent of South Korean residents are named Kim.

  n 2009, politicians in Volkach, Germany, proposed setting up a DNA database for all the dogs in town. That way, they could run tests on any dog poop left behind on streets or lawns, match it to the database, and find—and fine—the dogs’ owners. The idea never took off.

  The Emirates Palace—one of only three seven-star hotels in the world—is in the United Arab Emirates. (The others are in Dubai and Italy.) Room rates include a $15,000 bottle of cognac and a 24-hour butler.

  As early as the fifth century BC, vendors in Greece’s outdoor markets sold snow cones made with ice, honey, and fruit.

  World’s tallest people: residents of the Netherlands. Men average 6'; women average 5'7".

  The world’s only remaining grand duchy (a country whose head of state is a grand duke or duchess.): Luxembourg.

  Baby Animals

  A baby oyster is called a spat, beluga whales are piddlins, infant beavers are called kittens, and baby eels are elvers.

  On average, an elephant’s gestation takes 660 days.

  Seventy-five percent of wild birds die before they’re six months old.

  Why do puppies lick your face? They’re instinctively searching for food.

  Odds that a baby sea turtle will survive to adulthood: one in 10,000.

  Dusty, a tabby cat from Texas, gave birth to a record 420 kittens in her lifetime.

  Baby sea lions have to be taught how to swim.

  Whales are born tail first.

  Porcupine babies (called porcupettes) can climb trees within an hour of birth.

  Buffalo milk has more protein than cow’s milk.

  Puppies from the same litter can have different fathers.

  George Washington

  George Washington’s salary as president: $25,000 a year.

  He was the only president to be elected unanimously, and the only one for whom a state was named.

  Washington designed a stercorary, a special building to compost horse manure.

  Some of Washington’s pets: Polly the parrot and 36 hounds.

  Washington is the only president who didn’t live in Washington, D.C., while he was in office.

  Washington lost his first tooth at age 22. Over the next 35 years, he lost all but one.

  Washington is credited with introducing the mule to America.

  Washington divided his estate, covering more than 3,
000 acres, into five farms named Union Farm, Dogue Run, Muddy Hole, Mansion House, and River Farm.

  At 16, Washington was an enthusiastic spelunker—he loved exploring caves.

  Sybil’s Personalities

  Sybil was a 1973 best-selling book based on the work of psychiatrist Cornelia B. Wilbur and a patient with multiple personality disorder (now called “dissociative identity disorder”). The patient’s name in the book (Sybil) was a pseudonym; her real name (Shirley Ardell Mason) wasn’t revealed until after her death in 1998. During their sessions, Wilbur discovered that her patient had 16 separate personalities:

  • Sybil Isabel Dorsett: the original self.

  • Vicky Scharleau: a sophisticated blonde.

  • Peggy Lou Baldwin: an often angry pixie type.

  • Peggy Ann Baldwin: similar to Peggy Lou but more fearful than angry.

  • Mary Dorsett: a plump, little old lady type.

  • Marcia Dorsett/Baldwin: a writer and painter.

  • Nancy Lou Ann Baldwin: similar to the Peggys, hence the middle names Lou and Ann.

  • Mike Dorsett: a boy/ carpenter with olive skin, dark hair, and brown eyes.

  • Vanessa Dorsett: an intensely dramatic redhead.

  • Ruthie Dorsett: a toddler.

  • Sid Dorsett: a boy/carpenter with fair skin, dark hair, and blue eyes.

  • Sybil Ann Dorsett: a pale and timid type.

  • Clara Dorsett: an intensely religious type, highly critical of the original Sybil.

  • Helen Dorsett: a fearful but determined woman with light brown hair.

  • Marjorie Dorsett: a vivacious brunette.

  • The Blonde: the girl Sybil would like to be.

  Living Colors

  Three top-selling towel colors: navy, burgundy, and hunter green.

  Most of the villains in the Bible have red hair.

  In 1976, the Rolling Stones took down their billboard for the album Black and Blue after feminists complained it promoted violence.