Text Version One day on Mercury (i.e -the time it takes to rotate around its axis once) lasts 176 earth days. A year on Mercury (i.e – the amount of time for Mercury to orbit the sun once) is 87.97 earth days. In that sense, it remains daytime for a full year on Mercury and it stays night for one […]
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Perhaps the most popular and beloved U.S. President, Abraham Lincoln is famous for many of his great and historic deeds. As these have been frequently documented, there seems no reason to repeat them here. But few know and realize President Lincoln’s great love for animals. Like many young boys, Lincoln would sometimes do cruel things to animals, but Lincoln quickly […]
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Text Version: John C. Calhourn was the only Vice President to serve under two presidents, John Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson. He also married his first cousin Floride Bonneau Calhoun. Together they had 10 kids over 18 years, however three of their children died in infancy.
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John asks: Why do people tell actors to “break a leg” before a performance? The term, of course, means “do well” or “have a great show” and is typically used before a stage performance, a show, or an audition. (I have never heard it used before filming a movie on any of the movies I’ve been involved with, but I […]
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Today I found out the origin of the term “jackpot”. Jackpot originally popped up around the 1870s and was from the poker game “Jacks or Better”. This is much like traditional five card draw, except in this case, if a player does not have a pair of “jacks or better” in the first round of betting, he has to pass. […]
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On this day in history, November 13th… 1927: A tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting the Island of Manhattan to New Jersey was opened. Originally known as the “Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel” or the “Canal Street Tunnel”, the Holland Tunnel (named after chief engineer, Clifford Milburn Holland) as it is known today was the first of two tunnels built under […]
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So I thought I should post this interview I did on WGN Radio last night for those of you that like to listen, rather than read. In it Bill Leff and I discuss a variety of interesting facts ranging from from Spy Kitties to Nuking the Moon.
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Text Version: Canada has over 3 million lakes, making them home to 60% of the World’s lakes. In other words, they have more lakes than all other countries combined.
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Text Version: The tentacles that stick out from the head of a snail are not its “feelers” as most people believe. On the ends of those tentacles are the snail’s eyes. Land snails have two sets of tentacles that stick out, the longer set of tentacles are the ones that have the snail’s eyes. This way they can move their […]
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It was the autumn of 1960 in Hamburg, Germany. The young, fledgling group who had recently changed their name officially to “The Beatles” were playing at a local club called The Kaiserkeller. Hamburg was a vice-ridden city, a 24-hour-a-day unofficial red light district in itself. Hookers, pimps, thugs, gangsters, drug dealers, and various sundry “characters” and habitues roamed the streets […]
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On this day in history, November 12th… 1799 : The Leonids meteor shower was the first known meteor shower to be recorded in North America. According to the journal entry on this day, astronomer Andrew Ellicott Douglass who was onboard a ship off the Florida Keys, wrote “whole heaven appeared as if illuminated with sky rockets, flying in an infinity […]
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Text Version: Even a nuclear war won’t get you out of paying your taxes or keep the Internal Revenue Service from coming after you. Since the 1960s, the U.S. Treasury Department, has had an Internal Revenue Manual, guiding IRS employees on how to function in the event of wars, natural disasters, pandemic influenza, terrorist attacks and yes, nuclear explosions. According […]
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Text Version: The late Michael Jackson had once approached J.K. Rowling about the possibility of doing a musical version of Harry Potter. J.K. Rowling said no to the idea. In an interview with Oprah Winfrey, she said that she felt that it wouldn’t be successful. She told Oprah, “Michael Jackson wanted to do a musical. I said no to a […]
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On this day in history, November 11th… 1620 : The Mayflower anchors in Cape Cod, Massachusetts (what is now known as Provincetown Harbor), instead of their intended destination of Virginia. The Pilgrims also signed what is known as the ‘Mayflower Compact’. This was the first governing document of the Separatists (who were also known as the Saints, Pilgrims, and Plymouth […]
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Text Version: Giraffes spend about 80 percent of their day eating and they are said to be able to eat up to 77 pounds (35 kilograms) of food a day. Their favorite tree is the thorny acacia, which provides them all the necessary nutrients they need. The high water content in the leaves and fruit they eat even make it […]
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