Talk about a guy with far too little to do… But I just can’t stand bogus crap floating around the internet endlessly. I’m sure you get these gee whiz emails too. They’re a lot less fun though when you discover how much of them is just not true. These are the “facts” from a recent email:
Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S. Treasury.
Probably false. The necessary stats are not available but Hasbro likely prints less than $144 million per day – Monopoly contains $15,140 per games. In 2006, the Bureau of Engraving and Printing printed $529 million per day. We know for sure what the future trends will be.
Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.
Possibly part true. There are no stats available for vision. Regarding hearing, 6 in 10 girl's hearing will be more sensitive than boys but 4 in 10 boy's hearing will be more sensitive. So, on average, girls may hear better than boys. No stats are available for adults.
Coca-Cola was originally green.
False. The stuff was always brown.
It is impossible to lick your elbow.
The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska.
True. Alaska – 4.3% walk to work. National average of 1.3%. Vermont 3.1%. D.C. 5.8% but D.C.'s not a state [and by God never should be]. Cities would clearly put up much greater stats if the data were available.
The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28%. The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%.
Probably True. But, there’s no way to know for sure since nobody in our climate cult world can agree on a definition for “wilderness.”
The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000.
Probably True.
The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $16,400.
True Enough. Low end: $4,242; highest possibly: $38,905.
Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.
Unverifiable.
The first novel ever written on a typewriter, Tom Sawyer.
Maybe. Samuel Clemens said "probably" because he wrote the book by hand and then had it typed for submission.
The San Francisco Cable Cars are the only mobile National Monuments.
False. The cable cars are a National Historic Landmark, not Monument and the ships USS Constellation and USS Constitution are also Historic Landmarks.
Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history: Spades - King David; Hearts – Charlemagne; Clubs –Alexander the Great: Diamonds - Julius Caesar.
False. Though it might have been true for French card masters from the mid-15th century through the end of the 18th century.
111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987, 654,321
Obviously True.
If a statue in the park 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 because of wounds received in battle.
If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
False. No code for statues exists and one researcher found that only 8 of 18 statues he looked at conformed.
Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence e on July 4, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2 but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.
Technically False. The final rough draft of the official Declaration of Independence was approved by the Continental Congress on July 4th, 1776. This draft was "Signed by Order and in Behalf of the Congress, John Hancock, President. Attest. Charles Thomson, Secretary.” But it is not the same version that everyone is used to seeing.
The draft was sent off to the printing shop of John Dunlap, who made many copies for distribution, which have become known as "Dunlap Broadsides." On July 9th, New York approved the resolution for independence, and shortly thereafter on July 19th, the Congress ordered that the Declaration be "fairly engrossed on parchment, with the title and stile [sic] of 'The unanimous declaration of the thirteen United States of America,' and that the same, when engrossed, be signed by every member of Congress. In January of 1777, the Congress approved a printed copy to include all the signatories.
Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what? A. Their birthplace.
Unverifiable.
Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested? A. Obsession.
Probably False. There is no data since the law doesn't require most boat owners to register the names of their boats. From what is available, Serenity looks like it might be the winner.
Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter 'A'? A. One thousand.
Obviously True.
Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers have in common? A. All were invented by women.
False. Vests and printers were invented by men. Women invented fire escapes and windshield wipers and also later, DuPont’s Kevlar.
Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil? A. Honey.
False. If not kept in a sealed container, honey can absorb moisture and eventually spoil. Also, salted fish and jerky have been made for eons as food “that won’t spoil.”
Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year? A. Father's Day.
True. But Mother's Day is second and Valentine's day third.
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. Hence the phrase, “Goodnight, sleep tight.”
False. In this case, tight means good or soundly.
It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago 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 honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.
False. It seems most likely that honey moon is a reference to the fact that marriages start very sweet, like honey, but the love wanes and waxes, like the moon.
In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts. So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them, “Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down.” It's where we get the phrase, “Mind your P's and Q's.”
Unverifiable. Here are a few of the common explanations:
· Advice to a child learning its letters to be careful not to mix up the handwritten lower-case letters p and q.
· Similar advice to a printer's apprentice, for whom the backward-facing metal type letters would be especially confusing.
· Jocular, or perhaps deadly serious, advice to a barman not to confuse the letters p and q on the tally slate, on which the letters stood for the pints and quarts consumed "on tick" by the patrons.
· An abbreviation of mind your pleases and thank-yous.
· Instructions from a French dancing master to be sure to perform the dance figures pieds and queues accurately.
· An admonishment to seamen not to soil their navy pea-jackets with their tarred queues, that is, their pigtails.
Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim or handle 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.
False. Whistle used to be a slang term for your throat.
I took my info from an excellent site on factoids:
Jeff Lewis has many times more factoids than I show here. It’s a relief that there are actually people out there that have even more time than me.
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