In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's Channel 1 to mobile services (two-way radios in taxicabs, for instance) but did not re-number the other channel assignments. That's why your TV set has channels 2 and up, but no channel 1.

The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of old when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history. Spades - King David, Clubs - Alexander the Great, Hearts - Charlemagne, and Diamonds - Julius Caesar.

The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.

The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P.

The cruise liner, Queen Elizabeth II, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously.

No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Super Bowl.

The law governing the Eisenhower interstate highway system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of emergency.

The nursery rhyme "Ring Around the Rosey" is a rhyme about the bubonic plague. Infected people with the plague would get red circular sores ("Ring Around the Rosey..."). These sores smelled pretty bad so common folks would hide flowers on their person to cover the smell of the sores ("...a pocket full of posies..."). People who died from the plague would be burned, so as to reduce the possible spread of the disease ("...ashes, ashes, we all fall down!")

The first toilet ever seen on television was on "Leave It To Beaver."

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

In Cleveland, Ohio, it's illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year's supply of footballs.

Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married.

The Main Library at Indiana University sinks over an inch every year because, when it was built, engineers failed to take into account the weight of all the books that would occupy the building.

The term "the whole 9 yards" came from WWII fighter pilots in the Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the 50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet long. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."

There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun.

The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1.

In our parks, if a statue of a person on a horse 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 4 legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Clans of long ago that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people without killing them would burn their houses down - hence the expression "to get fired."

The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports events (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League Baseball All-Star Game.

As Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.

Glass is always liquid. Verrry viscuous, but a liquid nonetheless.

Fear of the number 13 is triskaidekaphobia.

Ten percent of the Russian government's income comes from the sale of vodka.

On average, 100 people choke to death on ball-point pens every year.

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. That's where the phrase, "goodnight, sleep tight" came from.

The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the alphabet. (developed by Western Union to test telex/twx machines)

When opossums are playing 'possum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.

The 3 most valuable brand names on earth are: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.

In 10 minutes, a hurricane releases more energy than all the world's nuclear weapons combined.

Four thousand years ago, it was the accepted practice in Babylon that, for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a beer made from honey. Because the Babylonian calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "honeymoon."

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. In old England, when customers got unruly the bartender would yell at them to mind their own pints and quarts and settle down. It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's."

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle," is the phrase inspired by this practice.

Go to Navigation