Thread: Weird True Facts

.....OR, WEAR ICE CUBES IN THEIR UNDERPANTS

For Men suffering from infertility, Monash University (Australia) Institute of Reproduction and Development have developed air conditioned men's briefs, which keep the wearer's "dangling sperm department" cool enough to not over-heat all its fertile cargo to death.



"HAIR GROWING OVER HIS KNUCKLES" TYPE LAWMAKER

During a debate to eliminate state-funded abortions for poor women by the North Carolina State Appropriations Committee in 1995, 71-year-old Republican Henry Aldridge explained, "The facts show people who are raped, who are truly raped, the juices don't flow, the body's functions don't work, and they don't get pregnant." Aldridge's reason for taking the floor had been to apologize for an earlier comment that rape and incest victims were sexually promiscuous.

HOW TIMES HAVE CHANGED

George Washington (1732-1799), first President of the United States, needed to be at Federal Hall on Wall Street in New York City, on April 30, 1789, for his inauguration. But he could not have made the trip without a loan of $600 from a neighbor.

BIZARRE, UNUSUAL, and WEIRD - WEIRD, UNUSUAL and BIZARRE

HE TURNED HIS CREW INTO SEMI-ALCOHOLICS

Admiral Edward Vernon (1684-1757), known to pace his deck wearing a grogram (i.e., coarse fabric) cloak, was both a pragmatist and a frugal leader. Finding it hard to keep his sailors sober while at sea, Vernon allowed his crew to have all the rum they wished, as long as it came from his 'special' barrels. Special because he'd watered-down (and reduced the cost of) the rum he offered, leaving the men still sober enough to work. The sailors called the way they felt 'groggy,' after the grogram cloak the Admiral wore.

THE MOST FAMOUS CLOCK IN THE WORLD

On July 11, 1859, Big Ben, the large bell inside the famous London clock tower, chimed for the very first time, keeping time continually now for one-hundred-fifty years. Built by Messrs E.J. Dent & Co., and completed in 1854, it test ran for five years at Dent's shop, while completion of the tower took place.

HE LIT UP HIS LIFE WITH LOVELESS SEX

Wire services reported June 24, 2009, Joseph Brooks, 71, had been arrested and charged with the rape of 11 women. Who's Joseph Brooks? He's the Oscar-winning composer and director behind You Light Up My Life.

Andrew J. Hewett
www.chewednews.com

Life in England in the1500's -- this is great



The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be Here are some facts about the1500s:


Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor.Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence thesaying,Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water...

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals



Would slip and fall off the roof. Hence the saying . It's raining cats and dogs.

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, Dirt poor. The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entranceway. Hence the saying a thresh hold = threshold.

(Getting quite an education, aren't you?)

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme, Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old..

Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, bring home the bacon. They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat..

Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leak onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days.. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive. So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell.

And that's the truth...Now, whoever said History was boring ! ! !

DEER REVENGING THEIR OWN

Kelly Kyle, 17, was standing in her parents' living room in a heavily wooded area of Pennsylvania, when suddenly a deer crashed through a large picture window, followed by four other deer, which all together "trashed" the main part of the house. By the way, while his home was being destroyed, Kelly's father was away on a deer hunting trip.


ONE TRAGEDY UPSTAGING ANOTHER TRAGEDY

On February 2, 1995, the two children of San Diego Chargers quarterback coach Dwain Painter ( Debbie Menta, 32, and Doug Painter, 23) stood on a rock near the ocean in Mendocino, California, to scatter the cremated ashes of their mother, who had committed suicide. Just as Debbie opened the container to release the ashes, a strong wave crashed into them, drowning both.


Andrew J. Hewett
www.chewednews.com

ONCE, WHEN TRICKY-DICK GOT IN A LICK

While then Vice President, Richard Nixon, was visiting Venezuela in 1958, a protestor spat on him. The protestor was immediately grabbed by Secret Service, were upon Nixon kicked the man in the chin. In his book Six Crises he admitted "Nothing I did all day made me feel better."


HERE AGAIN, 'NECESSITY IS THE MOTHER OF INVENTION'

When Stan Durwood tried to open a large movie theater inside a mall in Kansas City, Missouri, in 1963, he was told the support columns could not be removed for a large enough area, so Durwood opened two theaters next to each other showing the same film...until he realized showing two different movies would increase his daily attendance greatly. From there, others observed his success, and the era of multiplex cinemas was born.


Andrew J. Hewett
www.chewednews.com

DID YOU EVER DREAM YOU WERE FLYING? THIS GUY REALLY WAS

Lionel Buckley, 84, was recovering from severe burns in Manchester's Withington Hospital's burn unit, resting on an air mattress, when its pump blew up. That sent him airborne, causing death by blunt force when he hit the wall across the room.

BACK WHEN DOCTORS DID CIGARETTE COMMERCIALS ON TV

From the published booklet, "Smoke without Fear" in True Magazine, 1954: "If you have guilty feelings that you are weak willed, immoral, and suicidal, begin anew to smoke (cigarettes) with peace of mind. Smoke for the pleasure, comfort, relaxation or release you get out of it. Smoking satisfies some inner needs you have."

A TITLE ENTITLED HIM TO A SHORT LIFE

Louis XVII of France was thrown into prison during the overthrow of the French Monarchy in 1793. Within two years the ruling government announced he had died from tuberculosis. He was only 10.



Andrew J. Hewett
www.chewednews.com

A CAT WITH 9-LIVES MIGHT LEARN A 10TH METHOD HERE

Land developer David (Danny) Lamar Faulkner, was sentenced to 20 years in Federal prison over a 1980s Texas loan scheme, which cost the FDIC many, many millions of dollars. Mr. Faulkner, however, after a few seasons behind bars, was diagnosed with cancer of the spine, life expectancy "a few months". This, in turn, caused his release from prison. Strange thing, Texas public records indicate Mr. Faulkner is still alive, as of: March 2009 ?



WELL, THEY COULD ALWAYS SPRAY-PAINT THEM WHITE

Manufacturers of toothpastes make many claims which researchers have found not to be true. For instance, no matter what the big ads with the beautiful smiles claim, according to Consumer Reports, nothing in these toothpastes contains teeth whitener. Adding, bleaching to whiten teeth can only be done by, or with, the help of a dentist.

Andrew J. Hewett
www.chewednews.com

Oh i have missed these Andy!

THIS POOR OLD LADY SUFFERED BAD CLAPS

Edna Hobbs sued the makers of "The Clapper," in a New York court in 1993, claiming she had hurt her hands badly trying to applaud their product loudly and often enough to turn on her lamp. She testified: "I couldn't peel potatoes (when my hands hurt). I never ate so many baked potatoes in my life. I was in pain. "The judge ruled she had the "sensitivity" control set too low, and the case of the clapper was closed.



"I'LL HAVE 24 EGGS OVER EASY, BACON, TOAST AND COFFEE"

If the only eggs you could get were hummingbird eggs (they measure one-half by one-third of an inch), making an omelet would require cracking about two dozen. Making a cake needing the whites of 6 eggs would mean separating the yokes from whites of at least two-and-a-half dozen of these tiny, undeveloped embryos.