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Top Hats! A Menace To Society!!!

July 9th 2008 10:30

James Heatherington, the inventor of the top hat, introduced his design to the world in London during 1797.

Upon leaving the shop wearing his unusual headwear he was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers where some pushing and shoving ensued, resulting in women fainting and a young boy having his arm broken.

As a result of this, Heatherington was arrested, summoned to appear in court, and fined £50 for going about in a manner "calculated to frighten timid people."

Within a month, he was of course overwhelmed with orders for the new design.

Class distinction being what it is, only the less informed still call it a top hat. The middle classes referred to as a 'silk hat'. A gentleman always asked for a 'topper'.

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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Countries, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends, Weird Facts

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Levi's are NOT Really Jeans!

February 13th 2008 10:15

When Levi Strauss invented jeans during the late 1800's, he did not call his 'strange' pants denim jeans or even jeans at all.

Supposedly these strange trousers were originally made out of sailcloth and canvas for miners and prospectors to wear as they had been complaining about how their ordinary pants would stretch and split while on the job.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: American, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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I'LL BET YOU 50 WORDS To Be PRECISE!

January 10th 2008 21:08

The founder of Random House book publishing, Bennett Cerf once made a bet after 30 years in the company with a gentlemen by the name of Theodor Geisel, known better by his Nom-de-plume of Dr Seuss.

Cerf bet Geisel that he couldn't write a book with exactly 50 words in it.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Humour, Idiots, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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A White Christmas For England???

December 13th 2007 00:05

There is really only one present my 8 year old daughter wants for Christmas this year having now relocated to the UK.

In short, after a number of smelly, sweaty, stinky Christmases in the Great Land Downunder, she wants to experience a 'White Christmas' ie. snow on Christmas day.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Countries, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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The BIRTH Of Rudolph The RED Nosed Reindeer

December 12th 2007 00:05

In 1939, the management of the Chicago based Montgomery Ward department store decided to ask one of their employees, Robert L. May, to compose a story book for the children visiting their store that Christmas.

Drawing on his own experiences as a child and drawing on the line of thought from Hans Christian Anderson's "The Ugly Duckling", Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer was composed, published and handed out to a total of 2.4 million children.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: American, Animals, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends, Nursery Rhyme Origins

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A REAL Eye For Detail!

August 7th 2007 00:23

In the 1800's, a convicted forger by the name of A. Schiller was serving time in Sing-Sing prison.

After 25 years, the guards eventually found him dead in his cell. On his body they found seven regular straight pins whose heads measured the typical 47/1000ths of an inch or 1.17 millimetres in diameter.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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Paraskevidekatriaphobia And Friday The 13th AGAIN!

July 13th 2007 06:14

Paraskevidekatriaphobia - try saying that 3 times fast!

Paraskevidekatriaphobia is the name for the phobia or fear of Friday the 13th.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Dumb Criminals, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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Notable Superstitions

June 14th 2007 00:25

Superstition - it's everywhere, but if you're the superstitious sort then you're certainly not alone. There have been some very notable figures of times past and present who are affected by their superstions.

One example is Queen Elizabeth II who upon being presented with a gift of cutlery gave a half-penny in return as to accept knives without some form of payment risks cutting the 'ties of friendship'.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: American Presidents, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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Rubber Duckie, You're The One!

April 20th 2007 00:25

We're all familiar with the popular concept of the floating bathtub toy known as the Rubber Duck, although these days some ducks are too hoity-toity for simple bath time fun as discussed in a previous post about quirky Valentine's Day gifts.

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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Animals, Children, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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Today Is FRIDAY The 13th!

April 13th 2007 00:01

Today is Friday the 13th, otherwise known as 'Black Friday'.

But why exactly is today so black

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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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Fantastic April Fools Day Pranks Of The Past!

April 2nd 2007 00:25

I'm sure most (if not all) of you have cottoned onto the real story behind yesterdays post. Indeed there is nothing actually wrong with the skywalk. (Yes, it is real the only fabrication was the closing down again part.) So after yesterdays post I thought enlighten you with some other April fools day pranks of the past.

* The Guardian printed a supplement in 1977 praising the location of a fictional resort - San Serriffe, its two main islands (Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse), its capital (Bodoni), and its leader (General Pica). Intrigued readers were later disappointed to learn that San Serriffe (sans serif) did not exist except as references to typeface terminology.
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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: American, Australian, Humour, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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Previous Daylight Saving Time Issues

March 23rd 2007 00:25

With Daylight Saving Time ending this weekend for some states of Australia, (That’s right boys and girls – be prepared to put your watches and clocks BACKWARDS one hour.)

I thought I’d remind you all of some relevant mishaps that can be found at webexhibits.org.
These are occasions when Daylight Saving Time caused slightly more than an issue or two due to the actual changing of the time.

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Posted By: MelissaA - Category: American, Australian, Countries, Humour, Interesting Facts, Interesting History, Loose Ends

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