| Entrepreneur extraordinaire and global adventurer Victor Colantanio recently sent me a list of factoids that I would like to share: In the old west a cartridge for a six-gun cost 12 cents and so did a glass of whiskey. If a cowhand was low on cash, he would give the bartender a cartridge in exchange for a drink. This became known as a “shot” of whiskey. During World War I soldiers were given life insurance policies worth $5,000. This was about the price of an average farm so if you died you “bought the farm” for your survivors. Travelling by steamboat was considered the height of comfort. Passenger cabins on the boats were not numbered. Instead they were named after states. That’s why cabins on ships are called staterooms. In the days before CPR a drowning victim would be placed face down over a barrel and the barrel would be rolled back and forth in an effort to empty the lungs of water. It was rarely effective. If you are over a barrel you are in deep trouble. Steamboats carried both people and animals. Since pigs smelled so bad, they would be washed before being put on board. The filth that washed off was considered useless “hog wash”. The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma. No piece of paper can be folded in half more than seven times. Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes or shark attacks. You burn more calories sleeping than you do watching television. Oak trees do not produce acorns until they are fifty (50) years of age, or older. The first product to have a bar code was Wrigley’s gum. The King of Hearts is the only king without a moustache. Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. (Since Venus is normally associated with women, what does this tell you?) (That women are going in the ‘right’ direction…?) Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning. Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin. The first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer. So did the first ‘Marlboro Man’. Walt Disney was afraid of mice! It is possible to lead a cow upstairs…But, not downstairs. A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why. And then we have these Mel Blanc, the voice of Bugs Bunny was allergic to carrots. The electric chair was invented by a dentist. Most American car horns honk in the key of F. The name Wendy was made up for the book “Peter Pan.” Barbie’s full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts. ‘Stewardesses’ is the longest word that is typed with only the left hand. To escape the grip of a crocodile’s jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs – it will let you go instantly. No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver or purple. A pregnant goldfish is called a twit. A whale’s penis is called a dork. The average person spends 6 months of their life sitting at red lights. One quarter of the bones in your body are in your feet. You were born with 300 bones, but by the time you are an adult you will only have 206. Women manage the money and pay the bills in 75% of all Americans households. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets. Only female mosquitos bite and most are attracted to the color blue twice as much as to any other color. It is illegal to hunt camels in the state of Arizona. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes. For those looking for more excitement this summer Count the number of cricket chirps in a 15-second period, add 37 to the total, and your result will be very close to the actual outdoor Fahrenheit temperature Have a great weekend. If you are looking for top-notch marketing support, contact ted@blackdotmessaging.com |
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