Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts: And Bizarre Information (39 page)

By the end of the Civil War, 33 percent of all U.S. paper currency in circulation was counterfeit.

The longest-surviving Civil War veteran died in 1959.

At the outbreak of World War I, the U.S. Air Force consisted of only 50 men.

The most expensive military aircraft in the world is the U.S. B-2
Spirit
stealth bomber, priced at $1.3 billion.

In spring 2001 the United States lost seven members of an MIA search team in a helicopter crash in Vietnam.

As of January 1, 2006, the cost of the war in Iraq in dollars: $230 billion; in American lives: 2,178.

The patron saint of dentists: St. Apollonia. Why? She reportedly had her teeth pulled out in A.D. 249 by an anti-Christian mob.

Despite the popular myth, George Washington didn’t have wooden teeth—his four sets of dentures were made of hippopotamus bone, elephant ivory, and eight human teeth from dead people, held together with gold palates and springs.

Thanks to fluoride and other preventives, baby boomers are probably the last generation to have a lot of cavities in their permanent teeth.

Fancy a tooth tattoo? Tiny gold hearts, butterflies, and other images have become popular among certain trendy groups. The downside is that from a distance of more than about three feet it just looks like you have food stuck in your teeth.

Getting dentures was once considered a natural step in aging, but no longer. In 1959, dentists performed 34 extractions for every 100 people; now it’s half that rate.

Drugs can cause cavities. Antidepressants, antihypertensives, antihistamines, decongestants, and muscle relaxants all inhibit production of saliva, a natural bacteria destroyer.

Hard to believe, but Colgate claims Tooth Fairy as a registered trademark.

Playwright Edmond Rostand (1868–1918) didn’t like to be rude to his friends, but he didn’t like to be interrupted when he was working, either. Rather than risk having to turn away any friends who might drop by to visit, “he took refuge in his bathtub and wrote there all day.” His biggest bathroom success:
Cyrano de Bergerac
.

Chance that a peanut grown in the United States will end up as peanut butter: 33 percent.

Only 6 percent of grocery coupons printed are ever redeemed.

On average, you’ll spend about five years of your life eating.

The average American makes 3.4 trips to the grocery store each week. Most popular day: Friday.

On average, grocery shoppers spend eight minutes waiting in line at the supermarket.

Estimated number of people who could be fed for a year by the food Americans waste in one day: 240,183.

Most popular seafood in America: tuna. The average American eats 3.6 pounds a year.

The average New Englander eats twice as much ice cream per year as the average Southerner.

Americans eat 4 million pounds of bacon and 175 million eggs every day.

The average American eats four pounds of artificial flavorings, colorings, and preservatives each year.

If you flash the thumbs-up sign in a German beer garden, it will get you another beer.

If you want to signal “no” in Albania, nod. If you want to say “yes,” shake your head. The same goes for Bulgaria, and parts of Greece, Turkey, Iran, Bengal, and the former Yugoslavia.

In some Middle Eastern countries, belching during meals is considered a compliment to the cook.

To us, pointing one finger toward the side of the head and making a circle means “you’re crazy.” In Argentina, it means you’ve got a phone call.

In Germany, making the
shhhh
sound means “hurry up.”

In Pandhurna, India, people celebrate the new moon by hurling stones at each other.

Middle Easterners think a strong, firm handshake is a sign of aggression.

Some Eskimos still rub noses when they’re feeling romantic; when the Maoris of New Zealand do it, they’re just saying hello.

That Italian chin flick you’ve seen on
The Sopranos
? It means “Fuhgeddaboudit!” with a vengeance.

The most offensive signal in Ireland? Failing to buy a round of drinks when it’s your turn. Turning down the offer of a drink is almost as bad.

In the Cherokee nation, people believed that mud rose from under the waters and formed an island with four corners—the earth. The sun went underneath the island at night, and rose again the next day.

Ancient Babylonians thought the earth was inside a hollow mountain, floating on a sea. Everything—the sun, moon, sky, stars, water—was inside this mountain.

Ancient Egyptians believed that the whole earth was part of their god, Keb. The stars were the jewels of a goddess in the sky and their god of air held her aloft.

Ancient Hindus thought the earth was in an upside-down bowl being carried by elephants. The elephants stood on the back of a turtle that was standing on top of a snake. They hadn’t quite worked out what the snake stood on.

Polynesian creation stories set the earth in a basket with a lid. A hole cut in the top by a god lets in light. The woven grass at night lets light peek through in the form of stars.

Ice isn’t slippery. What makes people and things slip on ice is water. A thin layer of ice melts when pressure is applied to it and it is this wet layer on top of the ice that is slippery.

Belgians once tried to deliver mail using cats. (It didn’t work.)

A can of cat food contains as much meat as five adult mice.

Oldest cat ever: Ma, an English tabby, who was 37 when she died in 1957.

Cats sweat through their paws.

Three thousand out of every 3,001 calico kittens are female.

The average cat has 24 whiskers—12 on each side of its nose.

Feline experts estimate that 70 million feral cats live in the United States today.

Domestic cats have 18 claws.

Cats have two sets of vocal chords: one for purring and one for meowing.

Austrians are the world’s number one cat lovers. Thirty percent of Austrian households have at least one cat.

Experts say cats watch more TV than dogs do. (Cats are more visual. Dogs rely more on smell.)

Hyenas are more closely related to cats than dogs.

Albert Einstein was convinced his cat suffered from depression.

Catnip can affect lions and cougars as well as house cats.

Siamese cats really are from Siam (now Thailand). In ancient days, they guarded the temple when a person of high rank died; the cat was considered a receptacle for the dead person’s soul.

Tigers can be taught to use litter boxes. Big litter boxes.

Christopher Columbus’s fee for “discovering” America: about $300.

Average wage for the workmen who dug the Erie canal: $1 and 1 quart of whiskey per day.

The Erie Canal was built for $7 million, equal in cost today to a few miles of interstate highway.

The United States bought Alaska from Russia in 1867 for 2¢ an acre.

Price of a Stradivarius copy advertised in the 1909 Sears, Roebuck & Co. catalog: $6.10.

It cost $3 million to build the
Titanic
and $100 million to make the movie.

A first-class ticket for the
Titanic
in 1912 cost more than a crew member would earn in 18 years.

A three-minute phone call from New York to San Francisco cost $20.70 in 1915.

In 1920 the average check at a diner was 28¢.

Price of a box of Girl Scout Cookies when they debuted in 1936: 25¢.

America’s first minimum wage, in 1938, was 25¢ an hour.

Cellular phones sold for $4,195 in 1984.

Daily salary of a U.S. senator in 1789: $6. Daily salary in 2001: $627.

Babe Ruth’s salary in 1932 was $80,000. In 2005 Sammy Sosa’s salary was $17 million.

Cost of tickets to the last live Beatles concert in 1966: $4.50–$6.50. Cost of tickets to a U2 concert in 2005: $49.50–$160.

Ozzy Osbourne has said that when he’s lonely, he talks to his knees.

Sonny and Cher originally called themselves Cleo and Caesar.

Sheryl Crow’s two front teeth are fake—the real ones got knocked out when she tripped onstage.

The Rolling Stones made their American TV debut on
The Red Skelton Show
.

None of the Beatles knew how to read music. (Paul McCartney eventually taught himself.)

The first CD to sell 1 million copies: Dire Straits’s
Brothers in Arms
.

The number of Grateful Dead concerts right-wing columnist Ann Coulter claims to have attended: 67

In July 2004 Colin Powell sang and danced to “YMCA” for foreign ministers at an Asian security summit in Indonesia.

A synesthete is a person whose senses are cross-wired; there’s one in Switzerland who tastes music—and reports that Bach is creamy.

Under a 1996 UK copyright law, the London schoolchildren who sang on the Pink Floyd hit “Another Brick in the Wall” in 1979 became eligible for royalties. It’s estimated that each student is owed around £500 (about $850).

Pound of steak: 37¢

Dozen eggs: 45¢

New York to Philadelphia on the Pennsylvania Railroad: $3

RCA Radio: $150

Frigidaire Refrigerator: $395

1926 Chevrolet: $510

Grand piano: $625

There are about 10 million bricks in the Empire State Building.

The first skyscraper was the 10-story Home Insurance Building in Chicago. Built: 1885. Torn down: 1931.

It takes 6,000 gallons of paint, 60 people, and four months to paint the Eiffel Tower.

The George Washington Bridge, spanning the Hudson River in New York City, is almost 3 feet longer on the hottest day of summer than on the coldest day of winter.

Greek temples were originally painted in bright colors. Over time they have been bleached white.

The geodesic dome is the only structure that becomes stronger as it increases in size.

The Eiffel Tower (at 984 feet) is more than three times taller than the Statue of Liberty. (Lady Liberty is 305 feet tall.)

Metal shrinks when it gets cold. That’s why the Eiffel Tower is six inches shorter in winter.

California’s Golden Gate Bridge isn’t golden—it’s “International Orange.”

Tallest monument in the world: the Gateway Arch in St. Louis, at 630 feet.

The temple of Siva in Madura, India, is adorned with 30 million separate carved idols.

The Great Wall of China is long enough to stretch from New York City to Houston.