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. That’s where the phrase, “Goodnight, sleep tight,” came from.
The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; “7” was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. “UP” indicated the direction of the bubbles.
The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as substitute for blood plasma.
No piece of paper can be folded more than 7 times.
The sentence, “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog,” uses every letter in the alphabet. Developed by Western Union to test telex/twx communications.
The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is uncopyrightable.
When opossums are playing ‘possum, they are not “playing.” They actually pass out from sheer terror.
The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because when it was built, engineers failed to take into account for the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.
The term, “the whole 9 yards” came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got “the whole 9 yards.”
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.
Mosquito repellents don’t repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they don’t know you’re there.
Dentists have recommended that a toothbrush be kept at least six feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush.
Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes.
1 in every 4 Americans has appeared on television.
You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television.
Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty years of age or older.
The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley’s gum.
The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache.
A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother’s first flight.
American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating 1 olive from each salad served in first-class.
Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise.
The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen’s “Born in the USA.”
Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning.
The 57 on the Heinz ketchup bottle represents the number of varieties of pickles the company once had.
The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.
Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin.
The first owner of the Marlboro company died of lung cancer.
Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts.
Betsy Ross is the only real person to ever have been the head on a Pez dispenser.
Adolph Hitler’s mother seriously considered having an abortion but was talked out of it by her doctor.
Marilyn Monroe had six toes.
All US Presidents have worn glasses. Some just didn’t like being seen wearing them in public.
Walt Disney was afraid of mice.
The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in jelly.
Debra Winger was the voice of E.T.
Pearls melt in vinegar.
It is possible to lead a cow upstairs…but not downstairs.
Average life span of a major league baseball: seven pitches.
A duck’s quack doesn’t echo and no one knows why.
The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
Richard Milhouse Nixon was the first US president whose name contains all the letters from the word “criminal.” The second? William Jefferson Clinton.
An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain.
The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the “General Purpose” vehicle, G.P.
The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.
No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Super Bowl.
The first toilet ever seen on television was on “Leave It To Beaver.”
Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.
In Cleveland, Ohio, it’s illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.
It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year’s supply of footballs.
Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.
There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald’s Big Mac bun.
The world’s termites outweigh the world’s humans 10 to 1.
The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola and Budweiser in that order.
When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.
Ten percent of the Russian government’s income comes from the sale of vodka.
On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.
In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world’s nuclear weapons combined.
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.”
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It’s where we get the phrase “mind your P’s and Q’s.”
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.
