Read Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up! Online
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up! (28 page)
On average, a giraffe is about six feet tall at birth.
World’s oldest country: Egypt, which was unified into a single nation in 3100 BC.
As of 2009, there are 193 countries in the world.
Since 1990, 27 new countries have formed. Fourteen of them came from the collapse of the Soviet Union and five came from the former Yugoslavia.
The country with the largest land area: Russia (6.5 million square miles). The country with the most people: China (1.3 billion).
Antarctica isn’t a country—it’s a scientific preserve. In 1961, 12 nations, including the United States, signed a treaty declaring it a “zone of peace” dedicated to science. No wars have ever been fought there.
After gaining independence from Serbia, Kosovo became the world’s newest country in 2008.
Andorra, which sits between Spain and France, is one of the smallest countries in the world. Although it’s a democracy, Andorra has two princes: one representing Spain and one representing France.
In 1959, Tommy Allsup, a member of Buddy Holly’s band, lost his seat on the singer’s ill-fated plane to Fargo in a coin toss. The “winner”: Richie Valens.
Last reported sighting of Jimmy Hoffa: at the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Township, Michigan, in 1975.
When it was shown in China,
Oliver Twist
was called
Lost Child in Foggy City
.
In 1216, England’s King John sent a ship containing some of the crown jewels on a voyage across the North Sea. The ship sank, and the jewels were lost.
In 1871, the
New York Herald
sent reporter Henry Stanley to find missing explorer David Livingstone in Africa. When he found him, Stanley posed the famous question, “Dr. Livingstone, I presume?”
The average bank teller loses about $250 every year.
The wreckage from Glenn Miller’s plane crash in the English Channel has never been found.
No one has ever identified the man who stood in front of the tanks in Tiananmen Square in 1989.
Columnist and writer Ambrose Bierce vanished in 1913 while traveling with Pancho Villa’s army.
Drew Barrymore wrote her autobiography,
Little Girl Lost
, when she was 14 years old.
Thirty-three percent of American fourth graders can’t find their own state on an unmarked map.
Twenty-four hours from now, you’ll have forgotten 80 percent of what you learned today.
Genes…Danish biologist Wilhelm Johannsen (1857–1927)
Jitterbug…Cab Calloway (1907–94)
Carport…Frank Lloyd Wright (1867–1959)
Refrigerator…Maryland engineer Thomas Moore (1779–1852)
Disc jockey…Journalist Walter Winchell (1897–1972)
Aromatherapy…French chemist René-Maurice Gattefossé (1881–1950)
Cowabunga…Writers for the 1950s TV program
The Howdy Doody Show
.
Third world…Economist Alfred Sauvy (1898–1990)
Synchronicity…Psychologist Carl Jung (1875–1961)
Software…Princeton University statistician John W. Tukey (1915–2000)
Nerd…Dr. Seuss, in the book
If I Ran the Zoo
(1950)
John Quincy Adams named one of his sons George Washington.
Abraham Lincoln and Paul Revere were distant relatives.
George W. Bush is the only U.S. president to have fathered twins.
Martin Van Buren’s autobiography does not mention his wife once.
Andrew Jackson’s parents came from the village of Boneybefore in Carrickfergus, Northern Ireland.
James K. Polk’s family name had originally been Pollock, a common Irish name.
As an infant, Franklin D. Roosevelt was nameless for seven weeks because his parents couldn’t agree on what to call him. His father liked Isaac, and his mother preferred Warren.
At 18, Grover Cleveland worked on an uncle’s cattle farm for room, board, and $10 a month.
Millard Fillmore’s wife, Abigail, established the White House library.
There are 1.5 million insects for every human on earth.
An ant’s smell sensors are located in its antennae and are about as sharp as a dog’s.
There are more insects in 10 square feet of a rain forest than there are people in Manhattan.
In 2002, a species of ant from Central America was named after actor Harrison Ford. Why? To honor his work as a conservationist.
Cockroaches spend most of their time resting.
One of every three insects in the world is a beetle.
After bacteria and viruses, insects are the most dominant life-form on earth.
Termite mounds can grow up to 20 feet high.
Cockroaches have at least 18 knees, though scientists think they may have more.
Insects shiver when they’re cold.
Among army ants, the “general” is always female.
There are about 140,000 ladybugs to the gallon.
Butterflies can get drunk on the juice of rotten fruit.
* * *
ALWAYS BE PREPARED
The Boy Scout handshake is done with the left hand.
Classical composers Antonio Vivaldi and Antonin Dvorak both died broke.
Cyrus McCormick’s 1831 invention of a horse-drawn reaper took almost 30 years to catch on.
Agatha Christie’s first book,
The Mysterious Affair at Styles
, was rejected by the first six publishers she submitted it to.
During Herman Melville’s lifetime,
Moby-Dick
sold only 3,000 copies.
C. S. Lewis received more than 800 rejection letters before he sold his first book.
When he died in 1750, Johann Sebastian Bach was remembered mainly as an organist, not as a composer.
Dracula
author Bram Stoker also wrote children’s stories. Critics called them “morbid.”
Guitarist Stephen Stills auditioned for the Monkees. (He didn’t get the job.)
In 1862, abolitionist and poet Julia Ward Howe sold “The Battle Hymn of the Republic” to the
Atlantic Monthly
for $4.
Iron Butterfly was scheduled to play at Woodstock, but didn’t. They got stuck at the airport.
Federico Fellini was nominated for 12 Oscars for writing or directing. Wins: 0.
Although Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize five times, he never won it.
In his dozen appearances at the Masters golf tournament, Bobby Jones never broke par.
Mark Twain turned down a chance to invest in Alexander Graham Bell’s telephone company.
Pro baseball player Richie Ashburn once hit the same fan twice with foul balls…in the same at bat.
The first time Norma Jean Mortensen signed an autograph as Marilyn Monroe, she had to ask someone how to spell her new name.
At the 2001 U.S. Open tennis match, Diana Ross lip-synched “God Bless America”…and forgot the words.
Al Capone once accidentally shot himself in the foot while golfing.
Jason Patric turned down the lead role in
The Firm
. The part went to Tom Cruise, and
The Firm
went on to become the third-highest-grossing film of 1993.
Raymond Floyd is the only pro golfer to have hit a drive that landed in his own golf bag.
Will Smith was offered the lead in
The Matrix
, but turned it down to make
Wild Wild West
, which tanked.
Dave Chappelle turned down the role of Bubba in
Forrest Gump
(1994). He thought the movie would be a failure.
Winston Churchill’s mother was the daughter of an American millionaire; his father was an English lord.
Will Ferrell’s father played keyboard for the Righteous Brothers.
J. Edgar Hoover once gave his mother a canary raised by the “Birdman of Alcatraz.”
Sean Connery has a tattoo that says “Mum and Dad.”
Dwight D. Eisenhower’s mother was a pacifist.
Actress Kathleen Turner’s father was held as a POW by the Japanese during World War II.
In
Rain Man
, the “Boy at Pancake Counter” is Jake Hoffman, Dustin Hoffman’s son.
The father of the United Kingdom’s former prime minister John Major was a trapeze artist.
June Frances Nicholson, the woman Jack Nicholson always thought was his sister, turned out to be his mother. He was 37 before he learned the truth.
Charlemagne’s parents were Pepin the Short and Bertha Broadfoot.
In 1971, University of Chicago professor Dr. Tetsuya Fujita created the Fujita Tornado Scale to classify the destructive power of tornadoes into one of six categories based on wind speed:
• F0, 40–72 mph
• F1, 73–112 mph
• F2, 113–157 mph
• F3, 158–206 mph
• F4, 207–260 mph
• F5, 261–318 mph
An “inconceivable tornado” is an F6—it has wind speeds greater than 318 mph. There has never been a documented F6 tornado.
Generally, tornadoes last for just a few minutes and are on the ground for a few miles. But some tornadoes go on for hours and travel up to 100 miles.
Most tornadoes occur between 3:00 p.m. and 9:00 p.m.
Deadliest tornado on record: the Tri-State Tornado. In 1925, it killed 690 people in Missiouri, Illinois, and Indiana.
Tornadoes hit every continent except Antarctica, but the United States experiences between 700 and 800 per year, more than any other country.
Almost 40 percent of all tornadoes occur between 2:00 p.m and 6:00 p.m. That’s when thunderstorms are also most frequent.
Contrary to popular belief, opening the doors and windows of a house will not protect it during a tornado.
On May 3, 1999, the most powerful F5 on record swept through Oklahoma. Top wind speed: 302 mph.
States in Tornado Alley: Texas, Colorado, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska, Arkansas.
Most dangerous animal in the zoo, according to zookeepers: the giant panda. The elephant is second.
Snakes can continue to bite after they’re dead. It’s a reflex action and often contains more venom than a live bite because the snake isn’t controlling how much venom it releases.
There are more poisonous snakes per square foot on Komodo Island, Indonesia, than anywhere else on earth.
Of the world’s more than 400 species of sharks, only four have a history of attacking humans: great whites, bull sharks, tiger sharks, and oceanic whitetips.
The tarantula hawk, a type of wasp, paralyzes tarantulas and lays an egg on the living spider. Then, when the egg hatches, the wasp larva has a fresh, living supply of food.
A single tiger can eat six tons of meat a year…the equivalent of about 50,000 Quarter Pounders.
The cougar, whose average weight is about 100 pounds, is such a skilled hunter that it can take down a 600-pound elk.
Body part most often bitten by insects: the foot.
More people die from bee stings every year than from skydiving or shark attacks.
Polar bears can eat 50 pounds of meat in one sitting. Their favorite meals? Ringed seals, young walruses, and beluga whales.
In an average year, 311 New York City residents report being bitten by a rat.
Aardvarks have been known to attack and kill lions.
The Sound of Music
in Mexico:
The Rebel Novice Nun
Bad Santa
in the Czech Republic:
Santa Is a Pervert
Grease
in Venezuela:
Vaselina
The Parent Trap
in Germany:
A Twin Seldom Comes Alone
The Full Monty
in China:
Six Naked Pigs
Knocked Up
in Peru:
Slightly Pregnant
In China:
One Night, Big Belly
Dr. No
in Japan:
We Don’t Want a Doctor
Nixon
in China:
The Big Liar
The Matrix
in France:
The Young People Who Traverse
Dimensions While Wearing Sunglasses
Boogie Nights
in China:
His Great Device Makes Him Famous
Most common first name in the world: Muhammad.
Number 10 Downing Street in London has been the official home of British prime ministers since 1732.
When he was 17, Ehrich Weiss changed his name to Harry Houdini.
Dust devils are called “willywillys” and “cock-eyed bobs” in Western Australia.
The speed limit along the crooked quarter-mile section of San Francisco’s Lombard Street: 5 mph.
When Jim Henson needed a word to describe his creations, which combined marionettes and puppets, he came up with the term “Muppets.”
U.S. Forest Service mascot Smokey Bear received so much fan mail in 1964 that he was got his own ZIP code: 20252.
Led Zeppelin took its name from the phrase “lead balloon,” which means “an ill-conceived idea.” Drummer Keith Moon embellished the term to “lead zeppelin” for emphasis. The band liked that so much that they took it on but modified the first word because they worried people would mispronounce “lead.”
It took eight years to build the White House.
Of the more than 42,000 ZIP codes in the United States, the highest is 99950, for Ketchikan, Alaska. The lowest is 00501, for the IRS.
President Barack Obama’s secret service code name is “Renegade.”
Calling a butler “Jeeves” originated with the character Reginald Jeeves, a butler in many P. G. Wodehouse stories.
Most common last name in the United States: Smith.
“Ideas are more powerful than guns. We would not let our enemies have guns; why should we let them have ideas?”