A melted candy bar and some egg on someone's face are responsible for the invention of the first microwave.
If you put four cell phones in a circle around popcorn kernels and they all go off at the exact same time, the kernels will make popcorn.
The most played song on American radio during the twentieth century was You've Lost That Loving Feeling which was written by Barry Mann, Phil Spector, and Cynthia Weil.
Weird" Al Yankovic received a Bachelor's degree in Architecture in 1981. He also served as valedictorian of his high school at age 16.
The oldest business in the United States of America is the cymbal company Zildjian which was founded in Constantinople in 1623. (Yes, the drum makers!)
Every act that has had a Billboard Top 40 hit whose title included the name of a different recording act, that other act had at least one Top 40 hit at the same exact time. Some examples (not a complete list):
* 1964: The song We Love You Beatles by the Carefrees was on the charts while The Beatles had seven songs of their own in the Top 40.
* 1984-85: Rick Springfield had the minor hit Bruce while Bruce Springsteen was charting himself with Born in the U.S.A.
* 1987: Both the ABC song When Smokey Sings and Smokey Robinson's song One Heartbeat were in the Top 10 at the same time.
* 1992: Weird Al had the hit Smells Like Nirvana at the same time that Nirvana had the hit Come As You Are.
The five most stolen items in a drugstore are batteries, cosmetics, film, sunglasses, and, get this, Preparation H. Apparently people are just too embarrassed to purchase the last item.
And, just in case you are curious, one of Preparation H's main ingredient is shark liver oil. The oil not only helps shrink hemorrhoids, but will shrink any tissue. As a result, many older women in Florida use the stuff to help reduce the appearance of wrinkles!
Charles Lindbergh achieved great fame for being the first man to fly nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. What most people don't know, however, is that two men had achieved the same goal eight years earlier! Flying for sixteen and a half hours from June 14 to June 15, 1919, Captain John Alcock and Lieutenant Arthur Whitten-Brown had copiloted a Vichers-Vimy twin-engine plane nonstop from Newfoundland across the Atlantic to Ireland. Lindbergh was just the first person to do it alone.
A South Korean movie theater owner decided that the movie The Sound of Music was too long. His solution? He shortened the movie by cutting out all of the musical scenes!
IT LITERALLY RAINS FROGS! In four separate instances between October 1987 and February 1988, small pink frogs rained down from the sky on to various parts of Great Britain. Scientists are still uncertain as to where these frogs originated, although some have traced them back to the Sahara desert.
Two hundred and twenty six soldiers lost their lives way back in 1850 when they crossed a suspension bridge that spanned the Maine at Angers, France. It turns out that they were all marching in step and had caused an increased resonance (vibration) to the bridge. Ever since, troops are ordered to rout step (march out of step) when crossing a bridge.
Did you ever wonder what the WD in WD-40 stands for? The name was lifted right out chemist Norm Larsen's laboratory notebook. Way back in 1953, he was trying to concoct an anti-corrosion formula, which worked on the basic principle of displacing water. On his 40th try, Larsen finally got it right. Hence the name WD-40. It literally means Water Displacer, 40th try.
The Bank of Vernal, in Vernal, Utah (where else?) is the only bank in the world that was built from bricks sent through the mail. Way back in 1919 the builders realized that it was cheaper to send the bricks through the United States Postal System (seven bricks to a package) than to have them shipped commercially from Salt Lake City.
Frenchman Michel Lotito has a very unusual diet. Born on June 15, 1950, he has been consuming large quantities of metal and glass since he was nine years old. To date, he has eaten supermarket carts, television sets, bicycles, chandeliers, razor blades, bullets, nuts and bolts, lengths of chain, phonograph records, computers, and an entire Cessna 150 light aircraft (which took him nearly two years to consume). It seems that his body has adjusted to this unusual diet, as he eats nearly two pounds of metal every day. His technique includes lubricating his digestive tract with mineral oil, cutting the parts into bite-size pieces, and then consuming a large quantity of water while eating this junk. Most people would prefer a nice glass of wine with their dinner.
Marijuana was not illegal in the United States until October 1, 1937, when Congress passed the "Marijuana Tax Act". Total debate time on the House of Representatives floor concerning this issue: 90 seconds. This act did not actually ban the substance - it simply said that one could not sell marijuana without a license. Of course, Congress refused to issue any licenses. Congress finally banned marijuana outright in 1970.
It is rumored that in many third world countries, a popular contraceptive is Coca-Cola. It seems that the drink is very acidic and when used as a douche, it annihilates everything in its path. Pow! Zap! Wham! Harvard University actually did a scientific study of this and confirmed that it works. Should you ever decide to use this method (I hope you are very desperate if you do), be aware that Diet Coke is better than Classic Coke.
A Russian man who wore a beard during the time of Peter the Great had to pay a special tax.
Author Robert May considered the names of Reginald and Rollo before he settled on "Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer."
For 47 days in 1961, the painting "Matisse's Le Bateau (The Boat)" was hanging upside down in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. Apparently none of the over 116,000 visitors seem to have noticed.
Playwright Shakespeare was only 18 years old when he married Ann Hathaway, who was 26 years old at the time.
The colours yellow, red, and orange are used in fast food restaraunts because those are the colours that stimulate hunger.
TIME magazine's Man of the Year for 1982 was the computer.
45% of Americans don't know that the sun is a star.
70% of the poor people in the world are female.
According to a study by the nation's largest auto insurer, most accidents occur between 3 and 6 p.m. on Friday.
Four out of five brides in the U.S. have a job.
In an year, an average person makes 1,140 phone calls.
On average Americans spend 18% of their income on transportation.
On average, Americans spend five times more of their time in their cars than they do on vacation. (Wow, so says the story of my life!)
Amish people do not believe in the use of aerosal air fresheners.
Amish people also do not believe in having your photo taken.
In India, a 9-year-old girl was "married" to a stray dog, which tribal custom requires in order to protect a child whose first tooth appears on the upper gum.
On April 4, 1974, John Massis of Belgium pulled two New York Long Island railroad passenger cars totaling 80 tons with a thick rope, with a small bit attached, using only his teeth.
The average day is actually 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. We have a leap year every four years to make up for this shortfall.
The longest engagement lasted 67 years, and the couple ended up marrying when they were 82 years old.
The strike note of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is e-flat.
There are over 1,000,000 swimming pools in Florida, eventhough the ocean is no farther than 80 miles away.
There is a large brass statue of Winnie-the-Pooh in Lima, Peru.
The White House has 35 bathrooms, 3 elevators, 132 rooms, and 412 doors in it.
Hell, Michigan, USA
There are a couple of stories on how this town's name originated. One theory suggests that one of the original residents, George Reeves, was asked just what he thought the town should be named. George reportedly replied, "I don't care, you can name it Hell if you want to." The second theory suggests that since the area is lower and swampy and in the olden days it was…
…"hell" to cross the rivers in the area.
People show up every year to Hell's post office to have Hell postmarked on their tax return.
Half.com, Oregon, USA
In 1999, Half.com's marketing team made a visit to the town of Halyway, Oregon to ask the mayor to change the name to Half.com. Although reluctant at first, the mayor took the request up with city council for further discussion. Half.com offered financial support to the community if they agreed to change the name. On January 19, 2000, Half.com become the first dot com city in the world.
Nameless, Tennessee, USA
Local legend suggests that this town was named after the Post Office had rejected numerous suggestions for the town's name. The frustrated residents of the town wrote back to the post office, saying, "Then let the post office be nameless, and be damned!"
F**king, Austria
Yes, a town name that is a swear word. The correct way to actually pronounce the town name is "fooking," which was founded in the 6th century after a man whose name was Focko. This town has a serious sign-stealing problem, as you can imagine. I guess people just don't believe it when you tell them, "I've been to F**king, Austria!"
Dildo, Newfoundland, Canada
This town's name definitely raises a few eyebrows when people first hear it. No, it is not the Hollywood of the adult movie industry, nor is it a town of perverts. Although residents of the town have tried to have the name changed, it has been to no avail. The origin of the name comes from two possible sources that I could find: 1. It is thought the name came from a place in Portugal/Spain or, 2. It comes from the shape of the headland that forms Dildo harbour.
Okay, Oklahoma, USA
This town was named after the O.K. Truck Manufacturing Company, which was the city's largest employer in 1919. It would have been fun if they had spelled the city as OK. You could send a letter to OK, OK. Ha!
And to top it off... some dumb quotes... they must think "chicken of the sea" tuna is really chicken...
"I can't really remember the names of the clubs that we went to."
- Shaquille O'Neal, basketball player, on whether he had visited the Parthenon during his visit to Greece
"It is wonderful to be here in the great state of Chicago"
- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice-President
*Oh the Irony...*
"Politics gives guys so much power that they tend to behave badly around women. And I hope I never get into that."
- Bill Clinton, former U.S. president
"You guys line up alphabetically by height."
- Bill Peterson, Florida State football coach
"I get to go to lots of overseas places, like Canada."
- Britney Spears, Pop Singer
"My sister's expecting a baby, and I don't know if I'm going to be an uncle or an aunt."
- Chuck Nevitt, North Carolina State basketball player, explaining to Coach Jim Valvano why he appeared nervous at practice.
"Most lies about blondes are false."
- Cincinnati Times-Star, headline
"It isn't pollution that is hurting the environment, it's the impurities in our air and water that are doing it."
- Dan Quayle, former U.S. Vice-President
"We can repair anything. (Please knock hard on the door - the bell doesn't work.)"
- Sign on door of repair shop
