Did You Know . . .

Thanks to my friend Sarah, I had a chance to remember just how much I've forgotten. But I also got a free blog post :) I didn't verify, but some I've seen before. Some may be outdated, but they're still fun.

• In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thick er than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"
• Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"....and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.
• The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.
• Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.
• Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
• Coca-Cola was originally green.
• It is impossible to lick your elbow.
• The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska
• At least 75% of people who read this just tried to lick their elbow.
• The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%
  
• The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%
• The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $ 16,400. Unless we're talking about Argus, in which case, that just gets them out of puppy-hood.
  
• The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000
• Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
• The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.
  
• The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
• 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
• 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321
• 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.
• 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.
• If you were to spell out numbers, you would have to go until one thousand before you would find the letter "A."
• Bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers were all invented by women.
• Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil.
  
• 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, which we know today as the honeymoon.
• In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. In old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down. This is where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"
• Also around that time, 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.
• Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it:

"I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos n ot raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe."