Things Most Of Us Don't Know
(or could care less about.)

1. The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

2. Coca-Cola was originally green.

3. Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury.

4. Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

5. The state with the highest percentage of people who walk to work:  Alaska

6. The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% 

7. The percentage of North America that is wilderness:  38%

8. The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400

9. The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour:  61,000

10. Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

11. The world's youngest parents were 8 and 9 and lived in China in 1910.

12. The youngest pope was 11 years old.

13. The first novel ever written on a typewriter:  Tom Sawyer.

14. Those San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

15. Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:
      Spades - King David,
      Hearts - Charlemagne,
      Clubs -Alexander, the Great
      Diamonds - Julius Caesar

16. 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

17. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural  causes. 
{NOTE:  Recently found out that this is an urban legion.  Please read the following: 
I've consulted with a couple of our curators here, and they tell me this is all urban legend. There is no historical significance to this "phenomena" at all.
Hope that clears up your questions.
Stephanie

Stephanie Montgomery
Public Affairs Assistant
Smithsonian's National Museum of American History }

18. Only two people signed the Declaration of  Independence on July 4th,John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

19. "I am." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language.

20. Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that make them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.

21. No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Super bowl.

22. The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League all-stars Game.

23. What occurs more often in December than any other month?  Conception.

24. What separates "60 Minutes," on CBS from every other TV show?  No theme song.

25. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?  Their birthplace.

26. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?  Obsession

27. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?  One thousand

28. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?  All invented by women.

29. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?  Honey

30. There are more collect calls on this day than any other day of the year?  Father's Day

31. What trivia fact about Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) is the most ironic?  He was allergic to carrots.

32. What is an activity performed by 40% of all people at a party?  Snoop in your medicine cabinet.

33. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase "goodnight, sleep tight".

34. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month or what we know today as the honeymoon.

35. In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and  quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

36. Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

37. In Scotland, a new game was invented. It was entitled Gentlemen Only Ladies Forbidden.... and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

38. Money isn't made out of paper; it's made out of cotton.

39. The 57 on Heinz ketchup bottle represents the varieties of pickle the company once had.

40. Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks otherwise it will digest itself.

41. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.

42. The dot over the letter 'I' is called a tittle.

43. A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

44. Susan Lucci is the daughter of Phyllis Diller.

45. A duck's quack doesn't echo. No one knows why.

46. 40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

47. Every person has a unique tongue print.

48. The 'spot' on 7UP comes from its inventor who had red eyes. He was albino.

49. 315 entries in Webster's 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

50. During the chariot scene in 'Ben Hur' a small red car can be seen in the distance.

51. On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

52. Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.

53. Chocolate affects a dog's heart and nervous system; a few ounces will kill a small sized dog.

54. Most lipstick contains fish scales.

55. Orcas (killer whales) kill sharks by torpedoing up into the shark's stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.

56. Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants.

57. Ketchup was sold in the 1830s as medicine.

58. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.

59. American Airlines saved $40,000 in '87 by eliminating one olive from the salad served in first class.

60. Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

61. Upper and lower case letters are named 'upper' and 'lower' because in the time when all original print had to be set in individual letters, the 'uppercase' letters were stored in the case on top of the case that stored the smaller, 'lower case' letters.

62. There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

63. There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: month, orange, purple, and silver!

64. The name Wendy was made up for the book Peter Pan, there was never a recorded Wendy before!

65. Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa's lips.

66. If you pour a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will instantly mad and sting itself to death.

67. 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.

68. The mask used by Michael Myers in the original "Halloween" was a captain Kirk mask painted white.

69. The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law, which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

70. The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was the Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

71. By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand.

72. Celery has negative calories! It takes more calories to eat a piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.  It's the same with apples.

73. Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying!

74. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.

75. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space cause passing wind in a space suit damages them.

76. Back in the mid to late 80's, an IBM compatible computer wasn't considered a hundred percent compatible unless it could run Microsoft's Flight Simulator.

 77. How long did the Hundred Years War last?   116 years

78. Which country makes Panama hats?   Ecuador

79. From which animal do we get cat gut?   Sheep and Horses

80. In which month do Russians celebrate the October Revolution?  November

81. What is a camel's hair brush made of?   Squirrel fur

82. The Canary Islands in the Pacific are named after what animal?  Dogs

83. What was King George VI's first name?  Albert

84. What color is a purple finch?  Crimson

85. Where are Chinese gooseberries from?  New Zealand

86.  A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.

87.  A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.

88.  A group of geese on the ground is a gaggle; a group of geese in the air is a skein.

89.  A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.

90.  Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.

91.  Almonds are a member of the peach family.

92.  Babies are born without kneecaps. They don't appear until the child reaches 2 to 6 years of age.

93.  Butterflies taste with their feet.

94.  Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds. Dogs only have about 10.

95.  "Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

96.  February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

97.  In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak.

98.  In the last 4,000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

99.  If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.

100.  If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.

101.  In most advertisements, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10 .

102.  It's impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.

103.  Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.

104. Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.

105.  Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump.'

106.  "Stewardesses" is the longest word typed with only the left hand; "lollipop" with your right.

107.  The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.

108.  The characters Bert and Ernie on Sesame Street were named after Bert the cop and Ernie the taxi driver in Frank Capra's "It's a Wonderful Life."

109.  The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

110.  The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world.

111.  The longest one-syllable word in the English language is "screeched."

112.  The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.

113.  The only 15-letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable".

114.  The sentence: "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every
letter of the alphabet.

115.  The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.

116.  The words 'racecar,' 'kayak' and 'level' are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left (palindromes).

117.  There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.

118.  There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball.

119.  There are more chickens than people in the world.

120.  There are only four words in the English language which end in "dous":
tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

121.  There are two words in the English language that have all five vowels in
order: "abstemious" and "facetious."

122.  There is a word in the English language with only one vowel, which occurs five times: "indivisibility."

123.  Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur.

124.  Two-thirds of the world's eggplant is grown in New Jersey.

125.  "Typewriter" is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.

126.  Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.

127.  Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
 

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