MENTAL FLOSS

Welcome Back, SUNFUN Fans...
     One of the benefits of doing this weekly amusement is that I
am among the first to receive nearly every rumor, spam, virus
warning, bit of trivia or urban legend that circulates on the
World Wide Web.  Over the years, I've located a number of very
reliable reference sites for fact-checking - and a vast number of
useless sites.  I've come to the conclusion that the web is not a
safe place for folks who lack a healthy dose of skepticism.  The
two most amazing things about the web are: the huge array of
interesting trivia floating around in cyberspace, and, how much
of it is completely wrong.  I have become convinced that there's
a small factory in the Ural mountains where dozens of natives
working at Russian-modified Apple II's turn out these flawed
factoids as part of a plot to destabilize the world.  At least,
that's one explanation.  Another is that people copy and recopy
the same lists without ever bothering to check the real facts.
     I don't know how many times we've seen the one about Coca-
Cola being originally green.  Considering that caramel color is a
major ingredient of Coca-Cola - and has been since Old Man
Pemberton brewed up the first batch in his back room in Atlanta -
it is easy to verify the fact that Coke was always the same
unhealthy-looking brown.  This was often done in patent medicines
of the day to hide ingredients and the "real thing" was
originally sold in the snake oil section of the local pharmacy.
     Then there's the one about Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs
Bunny in all those cartoons, being allergic to carrots.  Ironic,
isn't it?  Would be if it was true, anyway.  What's odd is,
people would rather believe the fake fact than accept Mel's word
denying that he was allergic.  Here's the real scoop from Mel's
1988 autobiography, "That's Not All Folks":

     "I don't especially like carrots, at least not raw. 
     And second, I found it impossible to chew, swallow, and
     be ready to say my next line. We tried substituting
     other vegetables, including apples and celery, but with
     unsatisfactory results.  The solution was to stop
     recording so that I could spit out the carrot into a
     wastebasket and then proceed with the script.  In the
     course of a recording session I usually went through
     enough carrots to fill several."

     Misquotes, phony word origins, faked history, folklore
presented as fact and just plain lies come in every day.  A lot
of it is interesting, but much more is just the result of
inadequate research.  Even though most of this stuff is
completely useless, we do try to be accurate.
     An invaluable source of everything funny and factual is our
own SUNFUN investigation squad, especially:  Eva & Tiffany Lu,
Charles Beckman, Fumiko David, R. J. Tully, Tim McChain, Wallace
Adams, Jerry Taff, Bruce Gonzo, Jan Michalski, Caterina Sukup,
Len Garver, Paul Weyrich, Ken Josephson, Carol J. Becwar, Mark
Becwar, Chuck Maray, Nnamdi Elleh, Etsuko Hori and Judy McCallum. 
Thanks for setting me straight on a few things, folks.
     A warning to the SUNFUN regulars...  The next person that
sends me the one about: "All 50 states are listed on the Lincoln
Memorial on the back of a U.S. $5 bill" had better be prepared to
bet the five spot (and lose).  A little peek with the old
magnifier shows that there are only 26 states visible.  We even
mentioned that in SUNFUN #236 (02/18/2001), and STILL get the
same claim in the mail at least once a month.  
     I'm beginning to get the sense that straightening this out
is going to take far longer than I first thought.  Maybe it is
what mathematicians would describe as a "non-trivial problem." 
That's math-speak for "kinda impossible."  Maybe so...
     Have A Great Week,

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SPECIAL NOTE TO THE SUNFUN GANG...
-------------------------------
     Not so trivial is the move to move SUNFUN to a new
cyberhome.  For a few decades now, the return address of this
weekly weirdness has been "billbb@compuserve.com"  Over the
years, Compuserve has become progressively more like AOL in all
respects, enough that it is probably time to pull the plug.
     You'll be seeing a new Email address here as soon as I get
everything working, in the meantime, the old Compu$erve address
will continue to work.  Stay tuned...


--:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)-----:-)--


   - According to the owners of the copyright (Warner/Chappell
     Music Group) it is OK with them for you to sing "Happy
     Birthday" for free only as long as you don't charge for it. 
     Commercial performances of the song have to pay for a music
     license through at least 2011.


   - Audrey Hepburn's full name was Edda Kathleen van Heemstra
     Hepburn-Ruston


   - The average typist's left hand does 56% of the typing.


   - At the time of Pearl Harbor in 1941, the top US Navy command
     in the Pacific was called CINCUS (pronounced "sink us"), the
     shoulder patch of the US Army's 45th. Infantry division was
     the Swastika, and Hitler's private train was called the
     "Amerika".  All three were soon changed for PR purposes.


   - The same guy who made car rental commonplace also invented
     and popularized the "Yellow Cab," John Hertz of Chicago.


   - Average Americans spend six months of their lives stopped at
     red lights.


   - According to tradition, it's bad luck to say 'MacBeth' in a
     theater


   - Gray whales migrate 12,000 miles each year, farther than any
     other mammal.


   - The winged hat worn by the ancient Greek god Hermes (or, in
     Roman mythology, Mercury) was called a "petasos."


   - Besides humans, the only other creatures that commonly get
     leprosy are armadillos.


   - This isn't something the Honey Marketing Association is
     going to advertise, but the fact is that honey is made from
     nectar the worker bees regurgitate, which is a polite way of
     saying honey is bee vomit.


   - A flea can jump 350 times its body length (compares to a
     human jumping the length of a football field).


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


   - Wild flamingos are not really born pink.  They turn that
     color because of their diet of reddish brine shrimp, which
     contain carotene.  In captivity, they quickly lose their
     color unless fed a diet high in coloring agents.


   - Many explorers and zookeepers consider the hippopotamus the
     most dangerous animal in Africa, far worse than the
     crocodile or cape buffalo.  Lions are far down the list.


   - There are currently four colors for United States passports:
     Black diplomatic passports; Maroon (red) for official
     government business; Blue for us average schlubs and Green,
     commemorating the 200th anniversary of the State Department. 
     It's the same as the blue.  Bet the folks with Black
     passports don't have to wait in line much.


   - The largest pig on record was a Poland-China hog named "Big
     Bill"  that weighed in at a portly 2,552 lbs and was so
     large that he dragged his belly on the ground.


   - In World War II, the US Army had more ships than the US Navy
     (though they were mostly landing craft and amphibious
     vehicles).


   - Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than
     women.


   - In World War II, the first German serviceman killed in the
     war was killed by the Japanese (China, 1937), the first
     American serviceman killed was killed by the Russians
     (Finland 1940), the highest ranking American killed was Lt.
     Gen. Lesley McNair, killed by the US Army Air Corps.  So
     much for allies.


   - In 1944, Fidel Castro was voted Cuba's best schoolboy
     athlete.  Southpaw pitcher Fidel was later given a tryout by
     the Washington Senators, but was turned down.


   - Reykjavik, Iceland is warmer than Chicago, Illinois in the
     winter.


   - The average American eats at McDonalds 1,811 times in their
     life.


   - The average person swallows about 295 times while eating.


   - To fall over, a bowling pin must be tilted at least 7.5
     degrees.


   - Golf balls can reach speeds of 170 miles an hour.


   - George Armstrong Custer was the youngest man to ever become
     a general in the U.S. Army - he was 23 years old.


   - the M's in M&M's stand for the names of candymaker Forrest
     Mars, Sr., and his associate Bruce Murrie.


   - Technically, there are only 45 "States" in the U.S.
     (Kentucky , Maryland, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia 
     are "Commonwealths").


   - George Washington's salary as President was $25,000 a year.


   - A collector paid $14,000 for the bra Marilyn Monroe wore in
     "Some Like It Hot."


   - 55,700 people in the US are injured by jewelry each year.


   - Pennsylvania was the first colony to legalize witchcraft.


   - Ketchup leaving the bottle travels at a rate of about 25 
     miles per year.


   - The United States National Anthem is the only anthem in the
     world that doesn't have the name of the country in it.


   - Americans eat close to 10 billion donuts every year.


   - Dr. Seuss coined the word "nerd" in his 1950 book "If I Ran
     the Zoo".


   - Cheap eats?  Buying a value meal at McDonald's in Russia,
     costs approximately a month's salary for the average Russian
     worker.


   - A commercial farmer named Jack Simplot has provided potatoes
     to McDonalds since the chain began.  He is now the richest  
     man in Idaho.


   - On January 1, 1907, U.S. President Teddy Roosevelt shook
     hands with 8,513 people.


   - The word "Checkmate" in chess is believed to derive from the
     Persian phrase "Shah Mat," which means, "the king is dead".


   - The youngest pope was 11 years old.


   - Iceland consumes more Coca-Cola per capita than any other
     nation.

   - Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are at least
     fifty years old.


   - In 1987, American Airlines reportedly saved $40,000 by
     eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class.


   - The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called
     aglets.


   - Walt Disney was afraid of mice.


   - If she were life size, Barbie's measurements would be:
     39-23-33.


   - 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.


   - By weight, hamburgers cost more than new cars.


   - Five Jell-O flavors that flopped: celery, coffee, cola,
     apple, and chocolate.


   - San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National
     Monuments.


   - "Hang On Sloopy" is the official rock song of Ohio.


   - 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.


   - In Minnesota it is illegal to cross state lines with a duck
     on your head.


   - The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England
     in 1896.  Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.


   - More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed
     in plane crashes.


   - More people in China speak English than in the United
     States.


   - A modest-size cloud, one kilometer in diameter and 100
     meters thick, has a mass equivalent to a fully loaded 747
     (875,000 pounds or about 400,000 Kg).


   - Most lipstick contains fish scales.


   - One ragweed plant can release as many as one billion grains
     of pollen.


   - A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second!


   - There are more plastic flamingos in the U.S., than real
     ones.


   - Recycling one glass jar saves enough energy to run a TV set
     for 3 hours.


   - The average person eats about 35,000 cookies in a lifetime.


   - Since 1912, Cracker Jack has distributed 17 billion toys. 
     One day's production of Cracker Jack uses ten tons of
     popcorn and 1.5 tons of molasses, along with 2 tons of 
     peanuts.


   - The penny has by far the lowest seigniorage (profit) rate of
     any U.S. coin.  Each one cent coin costs four-fifths of a
     cent to make, netting Uncle Sam just one-fifth of a cent, or
     20 percent.  The "profit" on a quarter, by comparison, is
     more than 20 cents.


   - Though it will repel every mammal from mice to bears to
     elephants, birds can eat the hottest of chili peppers
     without Chernobyl-ing because they lack the receptors for
     the active "hot" chemical, capsaicin.


   - Banging your head against a wall uses 150 calories an hour. 
     Licking a stamp, consumes 1/10 of a calorie.


   - In total, Americans eat an average of 18 acres (about 7.3 
     hectare) of pizza every day.


   - On the old, 1950's "Mickey Mouse Club," that bald fat guy,
     Roy Williams seemed so out-of-place on a kids' show that you
     had to wonder what he was doing there.  Maybe Walt gave him
     the job because he was the guy who invented the "mouse ears
     hat," still the most popular item at the Disney Theme parks. 
     (Roy got the idea from a 1929 short called "The Karnival
     Kid" where Mickey tips his ears to Minnie as if they were a
     hat).


   - Though an amazing number of people are extremely afraid of
     poisonous spiders, more people are killed every year by
     champagne cork-related injuries than by noxious arachnids.


   - In the United States, the most commonly shoplifted book is
     The Bible.  Obviously, folks doing the thefts hadn't had
     time to get to the part about "Thou Shalt Not..." yet.


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© 2001 by Bill Becwar. All Rights Reserved.