AUGUST

Why do angels have halos?

To keep them from having a bad hair day? So they don't need one of those small lamps for reading in bed late at night?

The answer is actually odder. Becoming an angel would be quite a feather in anyone's cap, wouldn't it? Well, that's something like what the artists who originally depicted angels had in mind. Many of the customs and much of the iconography of our great religions were adapted from paganism. In the case of angelic halos, the source was sun worship. People who worshipped the sun emulated its rays by wearing rings of feathers on their heads. That would be too tacky for angels, so they were painted with actual rays of light.

Then, conversely, why not paint the devil with his head in a cloud? Because it's more important to hold his feet to the fire.

Source: EVER WONDER WHY? By Douglas B. Smith



Didja Know...
According to Greek myth, Athena sprang full-formed from the forehead of her father, Zeus?
(Source: Bullfinch's Mythology)

Where was the U. S. state of Franklin, and whatever happened to it?

Throughout history, many important things have been lost, including the Ark of the Covenant and my Christmas bonus one year in Las Vegas. But it takes a peculiar level of historical absent-mindedness to misplace an entire state.

However, that's if you think Franklin was a state, as most trivia books are only too glad to do. In 1784, this territory, controlled by North Carolina, was left unprotected when a series of complicated real estate negotiations between that state and the federal government went awry. The territory's settlers, in limbo, declared themselves the state of Franklin and elected a governor. But no one recognized them and four years later North Carolina reestablished control. Territory shifted a great deal in the early Republic, and in 1796, the former "state" of Franklin ended up in Tennessee.

Conclusion: people who take the "statehood" of Franklin seriously are living in a state of confusion.

Source: THE WORLD BOOK ENCYCLOPEDIA



Didja Know...
Panama hats actually originated in Ecuador?
(Shushan's Hats)

Who built the first bathrooms, and where?

Between the discovery of sex and the invention of television, you won't find anything more important on the timeline of indoor human history. So who, and where?

No, it wasn't King John. And they didn't originate in Flushing, New York. Bathrooms actually come from a place famous for its pipes, but of another kind: Scotland, known more for bagpipes than plumbing.

The place was the Orkney Islands, off the Scottish coast, ten millennia ago, where some nameless individuals finally took a stand for comfort. (Actually, I assume they took a seat.) They left their mark in the annals of latrinery by throwing together a primitive drain system that carried wastes directly from their huts to the local stream – the first in- house outhouse. It would take another 10,000 years for folks to notice that this created as many problems as it solved, waste-wise.

Source: EXTRAORDINARY ORIGINS OF EVERYDAY THINGS by Charles Panati



Didja Know...
The pirate Blackbeard's real name was Edward Teach?
(source: Absolute Trivia)

Why do they play "Taps" at military funerals?

Well, it's a lot more appropriate than reveille.

Taps was originally used in the military only to end the day. If you've ever been to summer camp you may recall singing to it's melody, "Day is done, gone the sun… yada, yada, yada."

It took on its additional, more solemn function during the American Civil War. Traditionally, a soldier's funeral included the firing of a three-shot salute. The Civil War produced fatalities wholesale, and the military usually lacked the means to ship the bodies home. This led to funerals on or near the battlefield after the shooting stopped. Firing a salute might have been misinterpreted by the foe as a resumption of hostilities, so Taps, with its evocation of day's end, was substituted. The custom has survived along with the rifle salute.

Source: JUST CURIOUS JEEVES by Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett



Didja Know...
The boat name most often registered by owners is 'Obsession?'
(Source: Yahoo.com)

Why do many newspapers have the word "gazette" in their name?

Well, the German word for "shrill" is Gezeter, and if you saw the headlines in one of the tabloids in my town, you would know why it comes to mind. But that ain't it. Nor does gazette have any relationship to gesundheit, although the power of the press is nothing to sneeze at.

Gazette comes from 16th century Venice, where reading was not a common skill. Upon payment of a gazeta, the penny of its day, you could have the newspaper read to you. (How do you say "Tom Brokaw" in Italian?) As "gazette," the word soon spread to English as a synonym for the newspaper itself.

Journalists were even called gazetteers. Then, as now, many of them didn't know where it was at, so a reference book of geographical information, The Gazetteer's Interpreter, was compiled for them. That's the source of the modern word, gazetteer.

Source: THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY



Now ear this

If you happen to be an elephant with criminal inclinations, be advised that the pachyderm police could be on your tail before you know it. While elephants don't leave fingerprints, each bears an identifying marker almost as good: a unique pattern of veins in its ears. You can and will be traced, as soon as we develop a big enough inkpad.

Source: WILDLIFE CONSERVATION



Didja Know...
Bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers were all invented by women?
(Source: Yahoo.com)

Why do we say that an annoying person who won't let up is nagging?

If you're trying to figure out if there's some connection between horses and being annoyed, or if you think you're being set up for a pun involving some nag, fuhgedaboutit. I wouldn't saddle you with such a thing.

The only way a horse gets into this is if he or she has sharp teeth. Nag comes from a Scandinavian or Low German word, nagga or gnaggen, to gnaw or chew. You may pick up the connection if you think of a nag as someone characterized by oral aggression, someone who has his or her teeth sunk into you and won't let go. Nag, nag, and nag.

Or think of it this way. You answer, "He/she is nagging me" to the question, "What's eating you?"

Source: THE OXFORD DICTIONARY OF ENGLISH ETYMOLOGY




Didja Know...
The fact that blood circulates was discovered by the British physician William Harvey?
(Source: Encarta.com)

What do hospitals mean when they say that someone's condition is "stable," "serious," "critical" or some other melodramatic adjective?

I've often suspected that HMO's reimburse the hospitals on a schedule that takes into account the weight of these adjectives. But conjecture aside, there are general, although not rigidly explicit rules for the use of these words to frighten patients' friends and relatives.

On the low end of the scare scale are "good," "fair," "stable" and "satisfactory" (to whom, their creditors?). Put away the Valium, the greatest threat to these patients is hospital food. "Serious" is a question mark. It means pretty darn sick, possibly not stable, but in no immediate threat of falling into a coma or dying.

"Critical" is the flashing red light. This patient is unstable, may not even be conscious, and his or her life is in danger. But at least they don't have to eat the Jell-O.

Source: WHY DO DOGS HAVE WET NOSES? By David Feldman



…with one to spare

Did you ever wonder why there are exactly 10 pins in bowling? There used to be 9. But when Connecticut outlawed ninepins in the 18th century, the clever locals simply added an extra pin.

While we're on the subject, what would you call a bowling fanatic? A pinhead?

Source: JUST CURIOUS JEEVES by Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett





Didja Know...
'One thousand' is the lowest number containing the letter 'a' in its spelling?
(Source: Yahoo.com)

Where did people first eat chocolate, and when?

Notwithstanding what you read in the supermarket tabloids while waiting to pay for the groceries, there is no proof that chocolate was brought to earth by aliens. However, it IS plausible that the smell of chocolate attracted them TO our galaxy.

Sticking to established fact, civilization as we know it began about the year 1000 AD in South America when several cultures started to use a bitter concoction made from the cocoa bean in important rituals. Columbus, who also discovered America, made a significant contribution to European culture when he brought this liquid back from the New World. Sweetened, it became "cocoa." By the 17th century, cocoa was the cat's meow among the nobility and was spreading to the lower classes.

Chocolate remained a drink exclusively until the middle of the 19th century, when chocolate candy was developed in Europe. Now if we can just figure out how to smoke it…

Source: PANATI'S BROWSER'S BOOK OF BEGINNINGS by Charles Panati



Didja Know...
Half of all American live within 50 miles of their birthplace?
(Source: Yahoo Message Board)

Are there any animals that never sleep?

My cat, who may or may not honestly mistake my prone figure for a trampoline during the night, will never let me see him with his eyes closed. He thinks it's a sign of weakness that might allow me to permanently assert MY dominance in the house I paid for. But cats aside, it's the dolphin that comes to mind.

Dolphins can't go to sleep. They are mammals, need to surface to breathe and will drown if they doze off. And underwater is the only place you won't find a Starbucks.

Not to worry. For eight hours a day dolphins are fully awake, but the rest of the time they're on cruise control. In those 16 hours, half of their brain is asleep for one eight-hour stretch, while the other half snoozes during the next eight-hour shift. Moral: to beat a dolphin at chess, first check his schedule.

Source: DO FISH DRINK WATER? By Bill McLain