US History Trivia

My apologies, but once again I have failed to come up anything vaguely creative or interesting to put up as a weekend posting. It might have something to do with the fact that the Columbus Blue Jackets went down without a win this spring in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs (much like my Cubs did in the first round of the World Series playoffs last fall). Perhaps it is simply that the weather is warming up (especially in the South where I have been traveling) and I am suffering from a bit of spring fever. More likely it is simply that the pressure of nonsense in my head has been temporarily relieved, and nothing therefore is forcing it's way out. Since I have become an even more voracious reader of history in recent years, as well as a collector of trivia, I decided to regale you with some interesting tidbits about the history of our country.

• If a statue in a park of a person on horseback has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
• Our first president was elected by almost unanimous acclaim, riding on the coattails of his success as the head of the Continental armies. This is pretty amazing when you realize that he lost approximately 70% of the battles he fought. Of course he won the last one, which was why the position of president was available in the first place.
• Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2nd, with the last signature being added 5 years later.
• The most well-known version of the song “Yankee Doodle”, adopted by American colonists as an anthem during the Revolutionary War, was actually created by the British, and as an insult. The song described a Yankee ‘doodle’ which was another word for a fool going to a club in London notorious for its membership of foppish dandies. So it could be said that Yankee Doodle was not only one of our first anthems, but possibly our first “gay anthem”.
• Andrew Jackson’s opponents called him a “jackass” during his run for the presidency in 1828. He liked the image so much that he made the image of the animal the new symbol of his national party, the Democrats.
• The only war that the United States could actually be considered to ever have lost was not the Vietnam War, as most people think, but was in fact the War of 1812. During this war the US lost almost every land and sea engagement, and had its capital burned to the ground. Ironically the most significant battle that the US won during this war was the “Battle of New Orleans”, which made Andrew Jackson famous and launched his political career. It fought on January 8th, which was two weeks after the war was technically already over.
• ·Every day, more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treasury. (I'm not so sure on this one any more, as I believe that the Treasury has put the presses on overtime and into overdrive.)

While I recharge my batteries this weekend with sunshine and warm weather (and perhaps some single malt lubricant), I hope that you too get a chance to enjoy Toledo's belated spring.

Trivial Pursuit #2

Once again, I have decided to subject you to the fruits of my hobby of collecting bits of totally useless information. I do this because I find such information endless fascinating, and because the creative spirit occasionally abandons me. Unrepentant about my occasional lapses, it is my hope that you will enjoy them as much as I do.
 

• Two classic expressions are in fact related to each other. The first "Saved By The Bell" comes from a device used to keep from burying people alive. During the 17th century, people were sometimes buried with a bell tied to their hands. If for some reason the newly interned should have been buried mistakenly, they could ring the bell, and be released from their premature grave. The person who monitored this bell (usually at night, since the burial had been performed during the previous day) worked "The Graveyard Shift". As time passed and embalming became a more common practice, the "Saved By The Bell" expression passed into boxing lexicon. It was transformed in the 19th century, where it was used to describe being saved from a knockout by the sound of the bell signaling the end of the round (at the time boxing matches often went 50 or more rounds). The "Graveyard Shift" likewise changed in meaning, becoming the act of working the shift corresponding to those earlier graveyard labors.
• The Chimney was developed during the 13th Century in Europe to help heat houses during a climactic change that was called a mini “Ice Age”
• In old Siam (Thailand), white elephants were so rare that they were automatically considered the property of the emperor when born. To punish people for offense, that emperor would sometimes give them a white elephant, because while they had to care for it, they could neither ride nor work it. Hence the expression, "as useless as a white elephant".
• In the Middle Ages, much like today, no one really much trusted anyone else. With paranoia running rampant, people would often hold their hand out palm up (and empty) to show that they were not going to attack you with a sword when they got to you. This gesture, used to put everyone at ease, evolved into the modern custom of the handshake.
• In the days when the foxhunt was considered good sport, dogs were trained to hunt for that fox by scent. Initially the dogs were trained to follow a scent by dragging a dead fish commonly found in the local waters along the ground. Later as their training progressed, the same kind of fish would be used, dragging it across the scent trail of an actual fox to see if the dogs would now follow the actual prey or the distraction from their earlier training. Hence the expression, “following a red herring". 
• Global warming (if it actually exists) is more likely to produce another Ice Age rather than the flooding of the world’s coasts currently being touted. The most likely scenario is that the melting of the polar cap in the north would reach a tipping point, changing the percentage of fresh water in the North Atlantic. This change, if drastic enough, could potentially stop the Atlantic conveyor belt which is part of the planet’s heat exchange system. This system brings heat to the northern hemisphere from the equator, and is more commonly known as the Gulf Stream. It's loss would cause the entire northern hemisphere to freeze under rampant glaciation.

 

Trivial Pursuit #1

I have gotten awfully serious in some of my most recent postings, and while these are things that I very much believe in, the concept of being serious for any length of time is something foreign to my nature. I was looking through the lexicon of useless and nonsensical information which I use as a reference source for the normally more silly postings that I do each week when I realized that simply sharing some of information from this wealth of lunacy could do three things:  

1. Provide a bit of potential humor in what has seemed like a humorless week in my life (well, this stuff makes me laugh anyway).
2. Provide some insight into my thinking while doing these postings (a process so dangerous that only the most foolish should attempt it).  
3. Provide me the opportunity to assemble a posting with little or no effort (and doing things with little or no effort is one of things that I do best).  

Since I have this reference source divided into (3) parts, the information shared here is likewise divided. Please enjoy this humble offering in the spirit of laziness with which it is offered:

FACTS (?)  
There was no chemical fertilizer available during the 16th and 17th Century, only the natural fertilizer manure. Like any other bulk product of the time, it was predominantly shipped by water, and was shipped dry in order to reduce its shipping weight. During the shipping process however, water coming up from the bilges was often introduced to this product while being stored below decks, not only increasing its weight, but beginning again the natural fermentation process of decomposition. This fermentation process produces, as most know, methane gas; which then began to build up below decks in the hold of the ship. When sailors went down below decks to inspect the cargo with an oil lamp – BOOM!  After several ships were lost because of this, manure began to be labeled Ship High In Transit, to keep it as far away from water exposure as possible. Thus did manure become SHIT. (I have to say that this one seems a little shaky to me, but even if it's not true, it's too good a story to pass up.)  

Honey is the only food that doesn’t spoil.  

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time television was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

MY WISDOM (wisdom being a relative term in this case)  
The most dangerous single word in the English language is “Blasphemy”. It is a word of accusation that requires no proof and can carry the most terrible of consequences.

The level of intelligence, common sense, and good manners of a group of people often seems to have an inverse relationship to its numbers.  

Life consists of a series of glorious successes and monumental failures. The trick is to be able to survive them both.  

If you think that stealth technology is restricted to (or was invented by) the military, than you have never been a supervisor looking for an employee who just screwed up big time.

TRUE WISDOM  

Confusion is always the most honest response. - Marty Indik  

Books have the same enemies as people: fire, humidity, animals, weather, and their own content. – Paul Valery 

Experience comes from bad judgment.- Unknown  

Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. - Malcolm Forbes  

An intellectual is a man who takes more words than necessary to tell more than he knows. - Dwight D. Eisenhower  

Just so you know, I may use this trick again from time to time to help conserve what little creativity and talent that I have. Have a great week!