Fun Friday Fact - hope you respond weekly to give us all a smile

[Ivy]

2 hours ago, miz miranda said:

it can likewise be made into a variety of products, including toilet and tissue paper

This is serious recycling

[Heather Shay]

https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/shutterstock_1008999640.jpg?fit=700,467NATALIA BARSUKOVA/SHUTTERSTOCK

Flamingos bend their legs at the ankle, not the knee

They essentially stand on tip-toe. Their knees are closer to the body and are covered by feathers. 

https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/shutterstock_243273610.jpg?fit=700,461JANOSSY GERGELY/SHUTTERSTOCK

Sloths can hold their breath longer than dolphins can

By slowing their heart rates, sloths can hold their breath for up to 40 minutes. Dolphins need to come up for air after about ten minutes.

https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/GettyImages-1039230186.jpg?fit=700,467CHONESS/GETTY IMAGES

Froot Loops loops are all the same flavor

No point in eating around the purple ones—all Froot Loops taste like, um, froot. Other than the Wild Berry Froot Loops, of course. 

[miz miranda]

In honor of fruit loops

 

The word “cereal” comes from ‘Ceres’, the name of the Roman goddess of harvest and agriculture.

 

Dr. James Caleb Jackson created the world’s first cold breakfast cereal in 1863. The cereal never became popular, due to the inconvenient necessity of tenderizing the heavy bran and graham nuggets by soaking them overnight.

 

A health clinician accidentally spilled a wheat bran mixture onto a hot stove, creating what would come to be called Wheaties. Its famous slogan, “Breakfast of Champions,” would first appear on a billboard for a minor league baseball team in Minnesota in the 1930s.

 

After World War II, cereal consumption increased with the advent of the baby boom, and sugar became a selling point. Kellogg’s invented Frosted Flakes and its pitchman, Tony the Tiger, and a new era of television advertising began.

 

Kellogg and his younger brother, Will Keith Kellogg, had figured out how to make a flaked cereal they called Corn Flakes. The younger Kellogg added sugar and began mass-marketing them, including the first in-box prize. Post developed a similar cereal called Elijah’s Manna, which he later renamed Post Toasties after religious groups protested.

 

Between 1970 and 1998, the number of different types of breakfast cereals in the US more than doubled, from about 160 to around 340 – and there were about 5,500 in 2020.

 

The largest cereal breakfast was attended by 1,852 participants and was achieved by Daher International Food Company/Poppins (Lebanon) at Jounieh Old Souk in Jounieh, Lebanon, on 2 October 2016.

[awkward-yet-sweet]

Sticking with the breakfast theme, here is a little fact: the idea that breakfast is an important meal is mostly a late 19th century invention, as is the association of certain foods with a morning meal. 

 

The cultural change was initiated primarily by a preacher named James Caleb Jackson, in collaboration with John Harvey Kellogg.  The purpose was kind of a combination of 19th century moralizing, an early diet and fitness fad, and the Kellogg family's desire to sell more of their products. 

 

In other words, breakfast is mostly corporate propaganda. 😆

[Heather Shay]

 

Competitive art used to be in the Olympics.

https://bestlifeonline.com/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2018/04/painter-artist.jpg?quality=82&strip=all Shutterstock

Between 1912 and 1948, the Olympic Games awarded medals in sculpture, music, painting, and architecture, according to Smithsonian magazine. After a heated debate in the post-war years, the competitions were scrapped. John Copley of Britain won one of the final medals: At 73, he would be the oldest medalist in Olympic history if his silver, awarded for his 1948 engraving Polo Players, were still counted.

[miz miranda]

A chef's hat has exactly 100 pleats.

Bon Appétit magazine brings us this tasty tidbit. A chef's tall hat (officially known as a "toque") is traditionally made with 100 pleats, meant to represent the 100 ways to cook an egg.

 

The majority of your brain is fat.

You can literally call someone a fathead, but it's still unkind: According to Psychology Today, 60 percent of human brain matter is made of fat.

 

You might be drinking water that is older than the solar system.

As the The New York Times reports, water on our planet may have originated from ice specks floating in a cosmic cloud 4.6 billion years ago. Not impressed? It follows that "the same liquid we drink and that fills the oceans may be millions of years older than the solar system itself." Something to keep in mind while you're staying hydrated!

 

It takes 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop.

At least, according to some studies. Engineering students from Purdue University designed a licking machine—built to function like a real human tongue—and found that it took an average of 364 licks to get to the center of a Tootsie Pop. For what it's worth, 20 volunteers tried the experiment using their actual tongues and averaged 252 licks. And other studies averaged out to 144 (Swarthmore Junior High School) and 411 (University of Michigan) licks. Honestly, just bite it.

[Heather Shay]

https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/31-Incredible-Facts-About-Practically-Everything2.jpg?fit=700,467RD.COM, SHUTTERSTOCK (2)

Fact: T. S. Eliot wore green makeup

No one is sure why the poet dusted his face with green powder, though some guess he was just trying to look more interesting.

[Ivy]

IDK.  Perhaps dye your hair black, let it grow out, stay out of the sun, green makeup -- Yeah interesting.

[Heather Shay]

https://www.rd.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/31-Incredible-Facts-About-Practically-Everything2.jpg?fit=700,467RD.COM, SHUTTERSTOCK (2)

Fact: T. S. Eliot wore green makeup

No one is sure why the poet dusted his face with green powder, though some guess he was just trying to look more interesting.

[MaybeRob]

Well poets and author's need exposure to the hardship of life to develop their skills!

 

And to quote a famous philosopher "It's not easy being green".

 

[miz miranda]

Some additional eccentric folks

 

William Archibald Spooner

 

William Archibald Spooner is forever locked into history because the linguistic phenomenon known as a “spoonerism” is named after him. A spoonerism involves the accidental (or sometimes intentional) swapping of letters, words, or vowels in a sentence – for example: “Go and shake a tower” (meaning “go and take a shower”). Spooner was a professor at Oxford and he became so famous for his spoonerisms that people would attend his lectures just to hear him make a mistake. He was not pleased about the great publicity that surrounded him but as he neared death his attitude softened and he gave interviews to the press. Spooner not only got his words wrong: he once wrote to a fellow professor to ask him to come immediately to help solve a problem. At the end of the letter he added a post-script that the matter had been resolved and he needn’t come. Some spoonerisms attributed to Spooner are:

“Mardon me padam, this pie is occupewed. Can I sew you to another sheet?” (Pardon me, madam, this pew is occupied. Can I show you to another seat?)
“Let us glaze our asses to the queer old Dean” (…raise our glasses to the dear old Queen)
“We’ll have the hags flung out” (…flags hung out)

 

Oscar Wilde

 

Oscar Wilde is undoubtedly the most famous member of this list – and for good reason. During a time of moral conservatism, Wilde managed to survive his youth decked out in flamboyant clothing exuding eccentricity, because of his stunning wit – the true cause of his celebrity. While studying at Oxford University, Oscar would walk through the streets with a lobster on a leash. His room was decorated with bright blue china, sunflowers, and peacock feathers. He was the direct opposite of what Victorian England expected a man to be and he flaunted it for all he was worth. Unfortunately an affair with Lord Alfred Douglas brought an end to a brilliant career when Wilde was jailed for sodomy.

 

Jemmy Hirst

 

Jemmy (James) Hirst was so famous an eccentric in his own time, that King George III summoned him to tea. When he received the invitation, Hirst declined – stating that he was training an otter to fish. Eventually he did visit the King where he threw a goblet of water over a courtier who was laughing; Hirst believed the man was having a fit of hysteria. The King gave him a number of bottles of wine from the royal cellar. Jemmy loved animals and he trained his bull to behave like a horse. The bull (named Jupiter) would draw his carriage about the village and Hirst even rode him in fox hunts. Instead of dogs, he used pigs that he had trained as hunt dogs. He regularly blew a horn to invite the poor to his home for free food – which was served out of a coffin. When he died, he requested 12 old maids to follow his coffin to the grave, as well as a bagpiper and a fiddler to play happy music.

[Heather Shay]

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/cm/AOLgnvsHRlTSFkqTljBVSggRNP8X7k9rmrcu_5oOMCPxT8hwEb61L_DAnfPDGHIC6UGm=s40-p

Not only are sea lions totally adorable, but they're also very musical. They are the only animal that can clap to a beat.

[Heather Shay]

For millions of people, the coffee break is a key but often underappreciated part of each day. To stop and give the break its proper due, the town of Stoughton, Wisconsin, hosts an annual Coffee Break Festival. The gathering includes coffee tastings, "brew-offs," and bean-spitting contests.

Why Stoughton? According to city officials, the coffee break was "born" in the city in the late 1800s, as women working at the local Gunderson Tobacco Warehouse began the ritual of pausing during the workday to brew up some coffee and have a chat.

[Ivy]

5 hours ago, Heather Shay said:

women working at the local Gunderson Tobacco Warehouse began the ritual of pausing during the workday to brew up some coffee and have a chat

So we can thank the ladies for this treat.

[miz miranda]

You Can Thank Goats for Coffee

Did you know goats were the reason why coffee was invented? According to legend, in the 9^th century, Ethiopian farmers noticed the way their goats danced when they ate the Coffea plant. A local monk decided to give it a try and realized the drink kept him up at night and thus, coffee was born.

 

Finland Loves Coffee

According to the International Coffee Organization, the people of Finland are the world’s biggest coffee lovers. Most adults in the country drink an average of 27.5 pounds of coffee per year.

 

Coffee May Help You Live Longer

According to the American College of Physicians, it’s possible.  A study done by the team showed that people who drank coffee long-term had longer mortality than many of those who were not coffee drinkers.

 

Coffee Drinkers Were Once Punished

During the reign of the Ottoman Empire, people were punished for drinking coffee. This may sound a bit drastic, especially since the punishment was usually death, but rulers believed coffee was a narcotic and banned it from consumption.

[Davie]

Transgender Beings

Clownfish are born to one sex but are able to switch from male to female when necessary.
The humphead wrasse is able to change from female to male at nine years of age.  Lycaeides butterflies display a rare dual condition that can cause male and female traits to be arranged either haphazardly or bilaterally with one side male and the other side female.
They all find a place in the Pride parade.

 

 

[Heather Shay]

Humans have been performing dentistry since 7000 B.C., which makes dentists one of the oldest professions.

[miz miranda]

A bit of a challenge to find something fun about dentistry but here goes:

 

During the Middle Ages, a barber could not only give you a shave; this individual could also pull teeth. The processes they used could be quite barbaric, and many people didn’t survive the process or its aftermath, particularly if infection set in. For this reason, barbers were not especially popular in the neighborhood.

 

Today, we have a wide array of toothpaste options. The ancients, it seems, didn’t have lots of options, but they did have toothpaste. In ancient Greece, for example, people brushed their teeth with water, gum arabic, and soot. Ancient Romans used a mixture made of eggshells, honey, and oyster shells to clean teeth. Interestingly, honey is also known for its antibacterial properties.

 

In ancient India, people didn’t brush their teeth with a paste or brush. They chewed on twigs with bristled edges. The sticks helped to clean the teeth. This practice dates to 4000 BC.

 

Paul Revere, who achieved historic acclaim by warning the colonists that the ‘British were coming,’ also worked as a dentist. Not only that, but he also seems to have pioneered the field of dental forensics. He was able to identify a fallen soldier by the bridge he had installed in his mouth years before.

 

Want to try to reduce gum disease and cavities naturally? Eat more coconuts. Coconuts have natural antibacterial properties that support various aspects of oral health.

[_Kira_]

Paul Revere, who achieved historic acclaim by warning the colonists that the ‘British were coming.

 

Interesting fact about Paul Revere's ride. He was one of several riders that night. He didn't actually make it to Concord, he was captured outside of Lexington. It was his companion rider Dr. Prescott who completed this legendary part of the warning system. 

[Ivy]

One of whom was a woman, Sybil Ludington.

 

"The last of the famous night riders was, surprisingly, a woman. Although she would not make her journey until April 26, 1777, her service to the American forces was remarkable. The daughter of Colonel Henry Ludington, Sybil, at the young age of sixteen, would make a journey double to that of Revere (totaling 40 miles) to warn the colonists at Danbury, Connecticut of the approach of the British."

 

https://www.constitutionfacts.com/us-declaration-of-independence/the-five-riders/#:~:text=Four men and one woman,William Dawes%2C and Sybil Ludington.

 

[Heather Shay]

The Stonewall Uprising took place early morning on June 28, 1969 when police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar known as a safe place for LGBTQIA+ individuals. The raid sparked riots, six days of protests, and clashes with police. Although the uprising was not the start of the LGBTQIA+ movement, it was seen as a critical moment and spark in the movement. The Stonewall Inn is still open today in New York City and is a national monument!

 

The first Pride flag was designed by gay artist Gilbert Baker in 1978. It originally had eight stripes with each color symbolizing a different concept. The flag first flew on Gay Pride Day in San Francisco on June 25, 1978.

[Jani]

Even though others claim Stonewell as their own, it was started by transgender women.

[Davie]

1 hour ago, Jani said:

Even though others claim Stonewell as their own, it was started by transgender women.

Stonewell is a huge historical event, but the transgender women leadership is not so well known. Yay for transgender women! Tell everyone in Texas and Florida. They need to know.

[Ivy]

2 hours ago, Jani said:

Even though others claim Stonewell as their own, it was started by transgender women.

Which makes me wonder about the "LGB" crowd wanting to exclude trans people.

[Heather Shay]

The voices of Mickey and Minnie Mouse got married in real life.