roller skates, black cats, 'over a barrel'
Champagne was invented by Dom Perignon, a monk at the Benedictine abbey of Hautvilliers in the region of Champagne, northern France. On sipping the first results of his doubly fermented brew he is said to have called out: "Come quickly, brother. I am tasting the stars." He was the cellar master at Hautvilliers for forty-seven years until his death in 1715. The discovery is said to have been made on August 4, 1693.
The first reported appearance of roller skates was not a success. They were worn by a Belgian entertainer, Joseph Mervin, who appeared on them, playing a violin, at a party in Carlisle House in London. Unfortunately, he lost control and crashed into a mirror, injuring himself and causing some $950 worth of damage. The accident happened on April 22, 1760.
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The US Weather Bureau began operation on Nov. 1, 1870.
The 1st known meteorite to have struck a woman happened on Nov. 30, 1954 in Sylacauga, Alabama.
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Turtles can breathe through their rear end.
Black cats are considered good luck in Japan.
Twelve people have walked on the moon between 1969 and 1972. All were men and all were American.
Scientists believe the frog's ability to jump helped it escaped being eaten by dinosaurs.
The largest frogs are the Goliath Frogs of Cameroon, West Africa, with bodies nearly a foot long.
The name 'pound cake' comes from the fact that the original pound cakes contained one pound each butter, sugar, eggs and flour. No leaveners were used other than the air whipped into the batter. In the days when many people could not read, this simple convention made it simple to remember recipes.
The slangy expression over a barrel , first recorded in 1938, supposedly alludes to reviving a drowning victim by placing the body head down over a barrel and rolling it back and forth, so as to empty the lungs of water. The expression survives, although happily the practice does not.
Harry S. Truman ordered the Boulder Dam to be renamed the Hoover Dam.
The cost of the first tour arranged by travel entrepreneur Thomas Cook in 1841 was the equivalent of fourteen cents. It was 48-mile round trip by British rail between Leicester and Loughborough for Temperance meeting.
Sources: encyclopedia of useless information by Thomas Hartston; www.funfactz.com; www.weisegeek.com; www.funfunny.com; www.answers.yahoo.com; www.idioms.thefreedictionary.com; www.triviacountry.com; picture-www.amazon.com
