Archive of Fact of The Day 2008

      Mableton, Georgia

Preston Womack was arrested in Mableton, Georgia, for violating a local restaurant's dress code. Police Sergeant M. Toler explained Mr. Womack's attire, "Other than wearing his jockey shorts on his head, and his socks on his hands (and nothing else but a smile), he was well behaved."

"Fabric softeners," whether used during the washing or drying cycles, were never designed to "soften" anything. The ingredient that causes the fiber to feel soft is a lubricant commonly known by the name grease.

         Francis Bacon

Riding in his carriage, one very cold day in March of 1626, English philosopher, scientist and statesman Francis Bacon (1561-1626) asked his driver to stop at a house, where he bought a chicken. Next, he stuffed the bird with snow, to compare its putrefaction time with another bird he'd kept at room temperature. And, this experiment produced some unexpected results. Bacon, exposed to the snow and cold weather, caught pneumonia and soon died.

             Orville Wright                          Wilbur Wright                       The Wright Glider

                                    Gustave Whitehead and photo of his aircraft - Whitehead#21

        Clement Ader and his patent (Click on Picture to Enlarge Drawing)

Wilbur Wright, brother of Orville Wright, must have been having a bad day in 1901 when he said, "Man will not fly for 50 years." When Wilbur made that statement, Gustave Whitehead had already flown a well documented half mile on August 14th of that year in Fairfield, Connecticut. And,......... Frenchman Clement Ader, had already "flown" at least a short distance in 1890.

 Flea images and an             53 Story Heritage Plaza
 American Football Field     Building in Houston, Texas
(Click on Picture to Enlarge Drawing)

Champion jumpers of the bug world are common dog fleas (Ctenocephalides canis), which can jump 80 times their height and 150 times their length. If humans could do the same, they'd have no problem jumping over a 50 story building, or leaping the length of 3 American football fields.

     Karma Ram Bheel

     "I ain't got no-body - Mills Brothers on YouTube"

Karma Ram (Bhel, Bheel or Bhil), from the Sindhi tribe, was listed in the 1988 Guinness Book of World Records, as having the world's second longest mustache, with a length of 2.3876 meters (7’10”). In 1989, however, his mustache was stolen, along with his head, after it was amputated from his body. (His head should've sung "I ain't got no-body.")

The English philosopher and mathematical wizard, Bertrand Russell (1872-1970), was also a master at bluntness. When asked if he was willing to die for his beliefs, he replied, "Of course not. After all, I may be wrong."

Hospital emergency room doctors and nurses are exposed to so much pain and death, they often "cope" by making up silly names and speculating on their patient's personal habits. One formula for producing laughter contained this axiom: A patient's number of tattooes, times their number of missing teeth, equals the number of days since they've had a bath.

       William Whewell                   Queen Victoria            Bridge on the River Cam

In 1859, English polymath, scientist, Anglican priest, philosopher, theologian, Master of Trinity College, William Whewell (1794-1866), escorted Queen Victoria over a bridge on the River Cam, which at the time was still being used as an open sewer. When Her Majesty asked what the pieces of paper floating on the water's surface meant, Whewell, with his "suave," perfect English, explained, "Those, Madam, carry notices that the river is not good for swimming."

A swim meet was won by Army over the University of Pennsylvania in 1983, even though the two teams were never in the same swimming pool together, or even the same state. A blizzard prevented travel, so each college team swam in its own pool, while officials stayed in communication by phone, comparing times after each heat.

           Stan Musial

With ball players making millions, even during a bad season, compare the standards of baseball Hall-of-Famer Stan "The Man" Musial back in 1960. Playing for the St. Louis Cardinals, he received a record salary of $100,000 that year. However, his "numbers" were down, so he demanded, and got, a pay-cut of $20,000.

  John Calvin Coolidge             Dorothy Parker

John Calvin Coolidge (1872-1933), 30th President of the United States (1923-9), and a man of few words, was nicknamed "Silent Cal." A dinner guest (Dorothy Parker), seated next to him, once said "Mr. Coolidge, I've made a bet against a fellow who said it was impossible to get more than two words out of you." He smiled slowly and said, "You Lose." (Upon learning that Coolidge had died, Parker remarked, "How can they tell?")

 Spiro Theodore Agnew

Spiro Theodore Agnew (1918-1996), the 39th Vice President of the United States (1969-1973), serving under Richard Nixon, played in the Pro-Am portion of the Bob Hope Desert Classic golf tournament in 1971. When his first two shots injured 3 spectators, he put his clubs away and joined the audience.

            Elvis Costello                   Oswald Mosley                 Lee Harvey Oswald

Elvis Costello's memorable song Less Than Zero was written about Oswald Mosley (1896-1980), founder of the British Union of Fascists. On Costello's first visit to the United States, he rewrote the lyrics to refer to Lee Harvey Oswald (1939-1963), motivated by a common misconception among American fans that Lee Harvey was the Oswald referred to in the original lyrics. (This rewrite is referred to as the "Dallas version".)

2002 Mercedes-Benz S430

Universal Press Syndicate reported in May 2002, that Ruth Shepard of Uniondale, New York, was extremely thrilled to find a new gold Mercedes-Benz sports sedan sitting in her driveway. Figuring it was a Mother's Day gift from her children, Ms. Shepard began driving it immediately, and persisted ....until she was arrested for not allowing the real owner to take possession. (After the dealership explained their error, she'd hidden "her" car from them.)

   Carl Friedrich Gauss

German mathematician and scientist Carl Friedrich Gauss (1777-1855) contributed greatly to many fields, including analysis, differential geometry, astronomy, geodesy, electrostatics and optics. One day in his lab, while deep in thought, he was told his wife was dying. His only comment was said to have been, "Tell her to wait a moment till I'm done."

              Scrooge

One way Christmas was "celebrated" in 2004: Cameron Keith Miller, 19, of Alexandria, Louisiana, told his family all he wanted for Christmas was cash. But, when they gave him CDs, Cameron took a shotgun and tried to kill all 4 of his family members. Another celebration example, in that same year: Steven Murray, 21, of Feasterville, Pennsylvania, did not receive any Christmas presents, so he held a house warming by burning down his parents home. (Baa, humbug!)

           Anthony Lane                     Roland Joffe                         Scarlet Letter

Movie critic Anthony Lane's review of Roland Joffe's The Scarlet Letter: "Roland Joffe's film is, in the words of the opening credits, 'freely adapted from the novel by Nathaniel Hawthorne', in the same way that methane is freely adapted from cows."

            George III

George III (1738-1820), King of Great Britain (1760-1820), had five nervous breakdowns between 1780 and 1820. During these demented periods, he'd often be found sitting in the woods, talking to the trees and clouds, and was thought dangerous enough to spend some years locked in padded rooms at Windsor Castle. Theory is, he may have suffered the blood disease porphyria, exacerbated by the arsenic-based powder in his wig. Or, perhaps, just as possible, the lead contained in the cooking vessels used to prepare his favorite meal, sauerkraut and lemonade, could have caused intense paranoia and hallucinations.

  Justice Antonin Scalia       Dick Cheney Hunting    Justice Clarence Thomas

In 2004, the Associated Press reported, while Vice President Dick Cheney's case linked to Haliburton was being scrutinized by the U.S. Supreme Court, he took Judge Antonin Scalia on a free duck hunt to Louisiana aboard Air Force II. (Scalia later recused himself from the case.) The Dallas Morning News reported Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas had accepted many thousands of dollars and gifts from "friends." The Ethics in Government Act of 1989 prohibits all federal employees (including "His Honor") from accepting "anything of value" from a person, or group, with official business before that court. (If they do not have "official" business, there is no limit.)

Waiting on his Congressional confirmation to become head of the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, as part of U.S. President Reagan's administration, Alfred Regnery personal car's bumper sticker read: HAVE YOU SLUGGED YOUR KID TODAY?

         Nikola Tesla

Nikola Tesla (1856-1943), inventor of the radio, the coil transformer, wireless communication, fluorescent lights and the alternating-current motor, owned about 700 patents, worth millions of dollars. Yet, with no business skills, he spent his last years feeding pigeons outside New York's Public Library, totally broke. Had he not signed away his AC royalties to George Westinghouse and patent rights to a wireless broadcasting system to J.P. Morgan, he could've died a millionaire many times over.

There was never a Roman emperor named Julius Caesar. There was, however, Gaius Julius Caesar (101- 44 B.C.), who was classified as a dictator. The Roman Empire didn't come into existence until almost two decades after Caesar's death.

           Katherine Hepburn and John Barrymore

After the completion of filming A Bill of Divorcement (1932), the great actress Katherine Hepburn showed her dislike for her co-star, John Barrymore, by exclaiming "Thank God we're finished. I never want to act with you again." To this, Barrymore said, with a tone of confusion, "My dear girl, I wasn't aware that you had."

     A Distant Prospect         Gerald Tyrwhitt-Wilson

Gerald Hugh Tyrwhitt-Wilson (1883-1950), 14th Baron Berners, grew tired one day of listening to an upper-middle-class couple telling of their problems getting seated in a restaurant. The wife of the couple said, "Finally we had to tell them who we were." To this, Lord Gerald questioned back, "And who were you?"

George Georgieff, was a Florida assistant attorney general in charge of the criminal division, in the early 1980's. During that time, he once told reporters he knew for sure the death penalty was a deterrent to murder. That he, himself, was once strangling his wife during a domestic dispute, when he stopped because, "I found myself choking her, and I saw her eyes start to pop out. and suddenly, off to the left or the right, I saw the electric chair."

          Roslin Institute

Farmers who market chicken eggs know laying hens can get depressed and angry jailed inside their small cages, which reduces their egg production greatly. Researchers at the Roslin Institute in Scotland, found a simple solution. They installed television. The chickens soon became addicted viewers, and egg production went back up.

On January 17, 1950 between 6:55 P.M. and 7:30 P.M., the "great Brinks robbery" occurred. Stolen: $2.7 million. Amount of money recovered: $56,541, approximately 2% ($4,635 in Baltimore and $51,906 in Boston). What happened to the other 98%? (Rumor is that it is hidden in the hills just north of Grand Rapids, Minnesota.)

   Robert Penn Warren

Robert Penn Warren (1905-1989) never wrote a line of poetry after becoming Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress. Upon accepting his title in 1986, and a $35,000 salary, he commented, "I don't expect you'll hear me writing any poems to the greater glory of Ronald and Nancy Reagan."

       Hefner 1979              Playboy Bunny                             Hefner 2006

Hugh Hefner, creator of Playboy magazine and the Playboy Bunny, said he created the sexy bunny uniform because when he was a small boy his bed "blankie" was bordered with bunnies. Then, when his puppy got sick, Hefner wrapped the dying animal in his blanket. After the animal died, his mother buried the dog and burned that blanket. Hefner said, "That, when the blanket went up in flames, is when the bunny empire began."

 Or, It Will Take A Bite Out Of You!

The Dallas Morning News reported in January of 2005, that Lonnie B. Howard had been found guilty in a Fort Worth court of indecency with a child. Hearing this verdict, defendant Howard became upset, first throwing a pitcher of water across the courtroom, then lunging at the victim's family. When the bailiff intervened, Lonnie bit him in the face. For this act, Mr. Howard was charged with aggravated assault on an officer. (Howard's mother, was also arrested for taking part in the melee.)

      Charlotte Whitton

Canadian feminist and mayor of Ottawa, Charlotte Whitton (1896-1975), was hosting a reception for the Lord Mayor of London. On her dress, Whitton wore a rose. On the Lord Mayor's chest rested his huge chain of offices. After a few drinks, Lord Mayor asked his hostess, "If I sniff your rose, will you blush?" To this she replied, "If I pull your chain, will you flush?"

          P. T. Barnum

To attract attention to his traveling circus, P.T. Barnum often hooked an elephant to a plow and turn furrows next to the big top (or even beside the train track). One farmer, seeing his land plowed, became so upset, he pushed a bill through the state legislature making it illegal for an elephant to plow cotton fields in North Carolina.

   Fecal Matters in Early
Modern Literature and Art

Brunswick Court Regulations of 1589 stated (and reported to be posted inside Windsor castle in 1590): "Let no one, whoever he may be, before, at, or after meals, early or late, foul the staircases, corridors, or closets with urine or other filth, but go to suitable, prescribed places for such relief." Back then, fancy dress balls inside castles (300 years before toilets), left scores of guests to "go" someplace. So, "after-the-party," servants were left to clean up human waste from almost any place in the castle, which was not occupied during the party, be it kitchen, pantry or library.

 Juvenile Macaca nigra

In 2003, researchers at Plymouth University in England decided to test the intelligence of Celebes Crested Macaque monkeys (Macaca nigra) by giving them a computer. And, the monkeys soon reacted much as some humans do, by going into a rage. Next they showed their disgust by defecating and urinating on the keyboard, all without producing a single word.

      Peter Minuit                                           Guilders                                          Type of beads used for payment

History tells of Peter Minuit buying Manhattan island, in 1626, for 60 guilders worth of beads and fish hooks. Not true. He made his deal and gave his booty to the Canarses people, who were only visiting. They lived in what today is Brooklyn. Minuit should have been dealing with the Weckquaesgeek tribe.

Amin with Archbishop
Janani Luwum (right).
(The archbishop was
later murdered.)

Idi Amin Dada (1924-2003) was dictator of Uganda from 1971 to 1979. During those eight years he deported the entire Asian population (over 70,000) and murdered as many as 500,000 people.

               Dean L. Wooten

Dean L. Wooten, 65, was fired from his job greeting customers at a Wal-Mart in Muscatine, Iowa, for showing them pictures of himself totally naked, except for a Wal-Mart sack and hat — and of telling customers that the sack was the company's new uniform. Wooten, who was later refused unemployment benefits, said he saw no harm in the photos.

      Darryl F. Zanuck

Darryl Francis Zanuck (1902-1979), actor, director, Hollywood producer, was not impressed seeing his first television transmission in 1946. In his opinion: "(Television) won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at a plywood box every night."

Charles I, King of England,           Black Cat
from Three Angles

It was told that Charles I of England (1600-49) believed his good luck charm was his black house cat. As war ripped through his country, Charles had this cat guarded day-and-night, fearing the worst should it die. He could've been right? The day after the cat died, Charles was arrested and invited to his own execution.

                 Her Heros

A 55-year-old woman was rescued by firemen in Alameda, California, five days after she accidentally fell from her bed and wedged her body between it and the dresser.

Before the invention of the telephone, few office buildings were built higher than four stories because of the problem with inter-office communications. The other options were vacuum-tubes and office boys (to run the messages). When asked his thoughts on telephones in 1876, William Preece, Chief Engineer of British Post Offices, explained, "The Americans have need of the telephone, but we do not. We have plenty of messenger boys."

                     Judith Barsi (1978-1988)

In 1984, actress Judith Barsi (1978-1988) played the part of a girl murdered by her father, in the made-for-television movie Fatal Vision. In reality, four years later her father did kill her, before killing her mother and then himself.

          Shawnna Hughes

The Stranger, a Seattle, Washington, newspaper, reported in December 2004, that Shawnna Hughes of Spokane, had applied for a divorce from her husband, Carlos, who was under a restraining order and in jail for beating her. (Carlos was willing to sign divorce papers.) The divorce was granted, but four days later it was revoked by Superior Court Judge Paul Bastine when he learned Mrs. Hughes was pregnant. The judge forbid the divorce until the birth of the child, solely because the father of the unborn child was not proven.

                 Is foot-in-mouth contagious?

Canadian Prime Minister (1993-2003), Joseph Jacques Jean Chrétien once questioned, "Am I the only one around here with half a brain?" And, on another occasion, perhaps on a full stomach, "When you look at the future of agriculture, you realize that food will become very important in the years to come."

In January 2005, Pastor Jack Arnold was preaching from the pulpit at the Covenant Presbyterian Church in Oviedo, Florida, when he raised his voice and exclaimed, "... and when I go to heaven..." With that statement, the 69-year-old church leader fell dead of a heart attack.

Fourth Earl of Sandwich     Statue of John Wilkes

The common name for a piece of meat between two pieces of bread, was named after the Fourth Earl of Sandwich, who liked to play poker without stopping to eat. His name was John Montagu (1718-92). Here are lines from a noted conversation he had with John Wilkes, Lord Mayor of London. "Upon my soul, Wilkes, I don't know whether you'll die upon the gallows, or of syphilis." To which Wilkes, replied, "That will depend, M'Lord, on whether I embrace your principals or your mistress."

                    1900 Storm                      Destruction after Hurricane Andrew           Louisiana after Katrina

In 1900, a hurricane generating a 15-foot "storm surge" super-tide hit the island of Galveston, Texas, killing more than 6,000 people. In 1992, a 24-foot storm surge, created by hurricane Andrew, left behind $44.9 billion in damages, with most of the devastation in Florida. But, thanks to weather warnings, no one was killed. (Twenty-three others did die in other areas, as well as three in the Bahamas.) Hurricane Katrina, hit the U.S. Gulf Coast, in August of 2005, with a vengeance. It caused over $80 billion in damage and killed 1,836 people.

From Leland Gregory's book What's the Number for 911 again? "Dispatcher: 911. Caller: Help! Help! Send the police! I been shot! Dispatcher: You said you've been shot? Caller: I been shot! Dispatcher: How many times were you shot? Caller: This be the first time!"

Before a landing attempt on May 9, 1994, over Arkhangelsk, Russia, Aeroflot Flight #2315 lost hydraulic fluid, making it impossible for the landing gear to unfold. In desperation, the crew poured every liquid they could find (water, wine, milk, juice and liquor) into the pumps chamber, allowing the plane to land safely.

          Northern Jacana

The most promiscuous creature known is the female Jacana bird. This needy party girl copulates more times per hour than any other on earth. (Their mating system is called polyandry.) DNA studies have shown on average, out of four eggs in a nest, two or three will have different fathers.

Joe Kay was a basketball star at his high school in Tucson, Arizona, as well as a top student, until February 6, 2004. That day, after he made the final basket to win the game for his school, something happened that changed Joe's entire life. Almost the instant Joe Kay made that basket, his fans swarmed the court and, in a frenzied attempt to raise their hero upon their shoulders, they dropped him instead. The 6' 6" player was knocked down and then trampled. Sadly, after being transported to a hospital, doctors found Kay had a torn carotid artery, which had caused a stroke, leaving him unable to speak, or move his right arm and right leg.

         Ginny Conley

The Dallas Morning News reported January 13, 2005, that charges would not be filed against workers who were accused of torturing chickens at the Pilgrims Pride Corp. plant in Moorefield, West Virginia. Ginny Conley, Wood County prosecutor, admitted struggling to try and find an attorney willing to prosecute. (Apparently, no one wanted to end-up with egg on their face?)

       "Green" Cows

Near the beginning of serious recycling, in 1980, at a California Energy Commission symposium in Fresno, California, a Holstein cow was milked by an automatic milking machine, powered by the methane gas produced from the animal's own manure. (Of course, some politicians have used this method their entire lives......)

  Elvis with parents      Elvis at fairgrounds         Elvis in concert

On October 3, 1945, at the Mississippi-Alabama fairgrounds, a grade school teacher entered one of her 10-year-old male students in a talent contest. He sang the song Old Shep and won $5. Between then and June 26, 1977 (his last concert) Elvis Aaron Presley changed music history. He died August 16th, 1977, after Dr. George Nichopoulos prescribed more than 5,300 pills for him during the last seven months of his life.

         Daniel Auber

French composer Daniel Auber (1782-1871), while attending a funeral at a late age, told one of his fellow mourners, "I believe this is the last time I'll take part as an amateur."

Great way to save money one last time is to make an "anatomical gift" of your own body to a medical school. Upon death, they will gladly pick up your body, store it, freeze it, pick it, poke it, slice it into many pieces, then cremate those meaty chunks and broken bones, all totally free.

          Carine Desir

On February 25, 2008, The Dallas Morning News reported on Carine Desir, 44, an American Airlines' passenger on flight #896, from Port-au-Prince, Haiti, to New York City. During that flight, Ms. Desir experienced difficulty breathing, and asked a flight attendant for oxygen. According to the news article, she was twice denied oxygen. Then, with two doctors and two nurses attending her, Ms. Desir died, perhaps because not only one, but both of the emergency oxygen tanks on board were empty.

              Rwanda

A news brief from Parade magazine in February 2008, told of genocide occurring in Congo where 45,000 people were dying weekly. And, in the last decade, disease and Second Congo War had taken the lives of some 5.4 million, making it the deadliest conflict since World War II.

Scott Goldstein of The Dallas Morning News reported on February 26, 2008, Maria Victoria Hoffman, 48, and two male accomplices had been arrested for trying to sell fake Federal Reserve notes. And not just any notes. Some of the denominations had a phony face value of $500,