This ‘N’ That

2011 November 2011 Vivian Molick

By Vivian Molick from the November 2011 Edition

Did you know that…

  • Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them would burn their houses down – hence the expression “to get fired”.
  • The term “the whole 9 yards” came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet before being loaded in the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got “the whole 9 yards”.
  • An ostrich’s eye is larger that it’s brain.
  • If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.
  • The first toilet ever seen on television was on
    “Leave it to Beaver”.
  • The nursery rhyme “Ring Around the Rosey” is a rhyme about the plague. Infected people with the plague would get red circular sores (Ring around the Rosey). These sores would smell very badly so common folks would put flowers on their bodies somewhere (inconspicuously) so that it would cover the smell of the sores (…a pocket full of posies…). People who died from the plague would be burned so as to reduce the possible spread of the disease (…ashes, ashes, we all fall down!).
  • The more wrinkles your brain has, the more intelligent you are. (At least those wrinkles are good for something.)
  • A polar bear’s fur is not white, but clear, and its skin is black.
  • The longest word typed with the left hand is stewardesses.
  • Bernard Clemmens of London managed to sustain a fart for an officially recorded time of 2 minutes and 42 seconds. (I thought you guys would like that.)
  • If you farted consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb. (Another one for you guys.)
  • Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour.
  • Humans and dolphins are the only species that have sex for pleasure.

 

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