Useless facts

[KarlMarx]

Three presidents died on July 4th, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day.

Calvin Coolidge is the only president born on July 4th.

The original Declaration of Independence is enshrined at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Because of poor preservation techniques, the original has faded. It is stored in a helium filled glass case to prevent further damage.

The Liberty Bell was made by bellmakers Pass and Stow and originally weighed 2088 pounds.

 

[Adam's Apple]

The country of Brazil was named after a tree that produces red dye.

 

[jillian]

Three presidents died on July 4th, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and James Monroe. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams died on the same day.

Calvin Coolidge is the only president born on July 4th.

The original Declaration of Independence is enshrined at the National Archives in Washington, DC. Because of poor preservation techniques, the original has faded. It is stored in a helium filled glass case to prevent further damage.

The Liberty Bell was made by bellmakers Pass and Stow and originally weighed 2088 pounds.

The Bell achieved an iconic status when abolitionists adopted the Bell as a symbol for the movement. It was first used in this association as a frontispiece to an 1837 edition of Liberty, published by the New York Anti-Slavery Society. . William Lloyd Garrison's anti-slavery publication The Liberator reprinted a Boston abolitionist pamphlet containing a poem about the Bell, entitled, The Liberty Bell, which represents the first documented use of the name, "Liberty Bell."

http://www.virtualtourist.com/trave...ngs_To_Do-Philadelphia-Liberty_Bell-BR-1.html

 

[KarlMarx]

If you look closely at the back of a penny, you'll notice that the statue of Lincoln shown in the Lincoln Memorial

 

[Joz]

The only non-Presidents to adorn US currency are: $1 coin, Susan B. Anthony; $10 bill, Alexander Hamilton; $100 bill, Benjamin Franklin; $10,000 bill, Salmon P. Chase.

Grover Cleveland's real first name is Stephen, Grover is his middle name.

William Howard Taft was the first President to own a car.

The first President to be a Navy veteran was John F. Kennedy. Since JFK, all Presidents have been Navy veterans except Reagan (Army) and Clinton, who didn't serve.

Ronald Reagan and his wife Nancy Davis appeared opposite each other in the movie "Hellcats of the Navy."

When Harry Truman left office in 1952 he got in his own car and drove himself back to Missouri.

 

[KarlMarx]

The various colors in fireworks are the result of the oxidation of metal based salts... some examples....

Sodium Chloride (common table salt) - Yellow

Calcium Chloride - Orange

Strontium Chloride (and Strontium Hyrdoxide, which is not a salt) - Red

Green - Barium Chloride

Blue - Copper Chloride


Gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, as were the use of paper money, the compass, the printing press, pasta, the use of coal for fuel.... but NOT fortune cookies!

 

[Joz]

Tickets for Frank Sinatra's first solo performance at the Paramount Theatre in New York City in 1942, sold for 35 cents each.

Bill Haley and the Comets, one of rock and roll's pioneer groups actually began their career's as Bill Haley's Saddle Pals - a country music act.

The song with the longest title is 'I’m a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin’ Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues' written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1943. He later claimed the song title ended with "Yank" and the rest was a joke.

In 1764 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart played for the Royal Family at Versailles in France. He was even given the honor of standing behind the Queen at dinner - Mozart was only eight years old.

Brian Setzer, of the Brian Setzer Orchestra, started out in a garage band called Merengue.

 

[KarlMarx]

Mozart's full name was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart

Because Beethoven was totally deaf by the time his 9th symphony was composed (its fourth movement is "Ode To Joy"), he actually heard his last symphony.

 

[Joz]

The Beatles played the Las Vegas Convention Center in 1964. Some 8,500 fans paid just $4 each for tickets.

Paul McCartney's younger brother, Michael, formed a group of his own, known as "The Scaffold" and goes by the name "Mike McGear". He is mentioned in the lyric of "Let 'Em In" as "Brother Michael" (available on McCartney's "Wings At The Speed Of Sound" album).

The Beatles held the Top Five spots on the April 4th, 1964 Billboard singles chart. They're the only band that has ever done that.

The most recorded song of all time - with more than 2,000 versions - is 'Yesterday'. Included on the 'Help!' soundtrack, it was number one for four weeks in 1965.

 

[Hobbit]

Gunpowder was invented by the Chinese, as were the use of paper money, the compass, the printing press, pasta, the use of coal for fuel.... but NOT fortune cookies!

Not entirely true. The fortune cookie was invented by the Chinese, but it was invented by a Chinese immigrant who ran a restaurant, so, technically, it was invented by the Chinese.

 

[KarlMarx]

Not entirely true. The fortune cookie was invented by the Chinese, but it was invented by a Chinese immigrant who ran a restaurant, so, technically, it was invented by the Chinese.

picky picky picky

true, but the restaurant was in San Francisco (I believe)


The "cookies" your browser uses are small files that store state information, e.g. your user name and password (USMB uses cookies). I believe they got their name from fortune cookies, which are small and hold a small amount of information. NOTE: That's speculation on my part, I don't actually know that is actually the case.

Gosh... I suddenly have a craving for Chicken Chow Mein!

 

[Jimmyeatworld]

The earliest cookie-style cakes are thought to date back to 7th century Persia (Iran), one of the first countries to cultivate sugar.

 

[Jimmyeatworld]

Right before this post, if you clicked on my name and went to "Find all posts by JimmyEatWorld", then clicked on "Last" at the bottom of the screen, it would take you back to October 22, 2005.

What Clay said... especially that last part.

Good credit is becoming more and more important, and if you have no credit or bad credit it can help you get back on the right road.

 

[Joz]

The reason for the bat symbol on Bacardi is for the sugar cane used grows fertile from the excessive guano (bat droppings)

Cats don't have tastebuds for "sweet" taste

1 kg (2.2 pounds) of lemons contain more sugar than 1 kg of strawberries.

Only food that does not spoil: honey.

As much as 50 gallons of Maple Sap are used to make a single gallon of Maple Sugar.

 

[jillian]

In Nebraska, it is illegal to picnic in the same place twice within a 30-day period.

 

[Adam's Apple]

Here are some mind-boggling facts about the human body that are useless information for most of us.

The human body has 100 trillion cells, 100,000 genes, and 3 billion pairs of chemical code letters responsible for making proteins, the basic building blocks of life.

How difficult is it for scientists to find a gene that might be responsible for a terminal or disabling disease? Locating such a gene is like trying to find a burned out light bulb in a closet in a basement of a house located somewhere between the East and West Coasts without knowing the street or town it is located in, much less the state it is in. (from An Incomplete Education)

 

[Adam's Apple]

The donkey became the symbol of the Democrat Party when Andrew Jackson's opponents called him a jackass.

The elephant became the symbol of the Republican Party because of its size, intelligence and strength.

 

[fuzzykitten99]

The donkey became the symbol of the Democrat Party when Andrew Jackson's opponents called him a jackass.

Or, they could also be called 'dumb-asses'

 

[no1tovote4]

No "witches" were ever burned in Salem.

 

[Jimmyeatworld]

Motorists traveling outside Salem, Oregon will see one of the "litter cleanup" signs crediting the American Nazi party. Marion County officials had no choice but to let that group into the adopt-a-road program.