Archive for the ‘nyc’ Tag
It’s “Weird Facts” Day here at Everyuselessthing. I’m offering a few odd and strange truisms you’ve probably never heard of before. Just another public service for those of you interested in the unusual. Some of this information was collected from a book authored by Dan Lewis in 2013. This is my homage to him, a fellow lover of the weirdness that is the human race.
- In August 1962, American singer Bobby “Boris” Pickett released a novelty Halloween song “Monster Mash”. The song (his only hit) reached the top of the US Billboard charts in October of that year. But it took more than ten years for it to have any success in the UK. In 1962, the BBC banned the song from the airwaves, claiming it was “too morbid.” When the song was finally rereleased in 1973, the BBC saw it immediately rise to number three on the UK charts.
- The Mona Lisa is not painted on canvas, but on three pieces of wood roughly an inch and a half thick.
- Major League Baseball pitcher Jim Abbott was born without a right hand. Nevertheless, he had a ten-year career in the league, and on September 4, 1993, threw a no-hitter.
- New York City is filled with carts selling hotdogs, pretzels, cold drinks, etc., with the core products running just a few bucks, depending on location. Central Park spots can earn as much as $175,000.00 annually, says Yahoo.com, and in 2008, one vendor bid more than $600,000.00 for the exclusive rights to sell wieners outside the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
- Toilet paper is not the greatest thing since sliced bread. It can’t be, because TP predated slice bread by more than 50 years. Commercial TP was invented in 1857 by a New Yorker named Joseph Gayetty, who sold packs of 500 sheets for $.50. It’s marketing language called the product “the greatest necessity of the age,” so perhaps, sliced bread is the greatest thing since toilet paper.
HAPPY APRIL FOOLS DAY
I thought it might be interesting to have a general quiz of our American government’s history, past and present. As in all of my other quizzes the answers will be posted at the end of the post. I scored a measly 5 correct answers because some of these questions are a bit silly. Have fun with it.
- What two states claim the designation of being the Sunshine State?
- What US city is almost at the same latitude as Mexico City?
- What often played American song’s tune, meter, and verse were borrowed from an English drinking song?
- What does verdigris have to do with the Statue of Liberty?
- What is the most stolen street sign in New York City?
- What is the only place below sea level in the US that isn’t located in the California desert?
- What is the name of the boulevard on which the gold depository is located at Fort Knox?
- What name was originally considered by Walt Disney for Disneyland?
- In 1992 the governor of Hawaii received a petition containing 30,000 signatures to change the name of the island of Maui. What was that suggested name?
- How many chests of tea were dumped overboard at the Boston Tea Party on 12/16,1773?
Answers
Florida & South Dakota, Hilo Hawaii, The Star-Spangled Banner, It’s the green patina on the copper metal, Hooker Place, New Orleans, Bullion Boulevard, Mickey Mouse Park, Gilligan’s Island, 342.
I’m really not an educated weatherman but I do know one thing for sure, this rain sucks. I’m so sick of these gray and dreary days that only allow us 15 minutes of sunshine a day before the next downpour begins. It’s no wonder that all those smiling and happy folks in Seattle (sarcasm) are so much fun to be around. They have this kind crap weather on a regular basis and that’s bound to have a derogatory effect on them. With that thought in mind I thought I’d throw some additional Weird Sh*t your way. It won’t stop the rain from continuing but it might make you smile a little.
- Bacon affects the brain in the same way as cocaine and heroin, overloading pleasure centers and requiring increasing amounts to be satisfied.
- New York City is estimated to have at least 8 million rats, or one rat per person.
- In 2006, William Shatner was paid $25,000 from an online casino for a kidney stone he had recently passed.
- Benjamin Franklin almost killed himself while trying to electrocute a turkey.
- In 1799 a vigilante mob hunted down killer Micajah Harpe and placed his severed head on a pike at a crossroads in Western Kentucky still known as “Harpe’s Head”.
- In South Korea, 11% of school-aged youth are considered at high risk for Internet addiction.
- In the winter of 1952-53, Thompson Pass near Valdez, Alaska, got 975 inches of snow.
- Women can go topless in public in New York City as long as they are not charging money for it.
- In 1976, a 7.5 magnitude earthquake killed 23,000 Guatemalans.
- During his 1989 appearance on the TV talk show Larry King Live, Donald Trump asked King, “Do you mind if I sit back a little bit because your breath is very bad. It really is.”
GOTTA GO, MY YARD IS FLOODING
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