Read Online The World's Greatest Book of Useless Information by Noel Botham - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Noel Botham
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measure eighty-?seven feet.
In 1946, the first TV toy commercial aired. It was for Mr. Potato Head.
In 1980, Namco released Pac-?Man, the most popular video game (or arcade game) of all time. The original name was going to be Puck Man, but executives saw the potential for vandals to scratch out part of the P in the game’s marquee and labeling.
It takes an average of 48 to 100 tries to solve a Rubik’s Cube puzzle. If done perfectly, any Rubik’s Cube combination can be solved in seventeen turns.
The hula hoop was the biggest-?selling toy in 1957.
The yo-?yo originated in the Philippines, where it is used as a weapon in hunting.
When the divorce rate goes up in the United States, toy makers say the sale of toys also rises.
The hundred billionth crayon made by Crayola was Periwinkle Blue.
In the 1985 Boise, Idaho, mayoral election, there were four write-?in votes for Mr. Potato Head.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
Camera shutter speed B stands for “bulb.”
Mosquito repellants do not repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they do not know you are there.
Scotchgard is a combination of the words Scotch, meaning “Scotsman,” and a misspelling of guard, meaning “to protect.”
The holes in flyswatters are used to lower air resistance.
Scotch tape has been used as an anti-?corrosive shield on the Goodyear Blimp.
The Ramses brand condom is named after the great Pharaoh Ramses II, who fathered more than 160 children.
HAMMER TIME
The side of a hammer is called a cheek.
The end of a hammer, opposite the striking end, is called a peen.
THE IVORY TOWER
Ivory bar soap floating was the result of a mistake. The manufacturer had been mixing the soap formula and causing excess air bubbles that made it float. Customers wrote and told them how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since.
Approximately thirty billion cakes of Ivory Soap had been manufactured by 1990.
FEELING A BIT AVERAGE
The average person looks at eight houses before buying one.
The average lead pencil can draw a line thirty-?five miles long or write approximately fifty thousand English words.
The average mouse pad is 8.75 inches by 7.5 inches.
The average woman consumes six pounds of lipstick in her lifetime.
The average woman’s handbag weighs three to five pounds.
ALTERNATIVE FUNCTIONS
Ketchup is excellent for cleaning brass, especially tarnished or corroded brass.
Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks.
Mixing Sani-?Flush and Comet cleaners has been known to cause explosions.
People in China sometimes use firecrackers around their homes as fire alarms.
DISHING THE DIRT
Each of us generates five pounds of garbage a day; most of it is paper.
It takes a plastic container fifty thousand years to start decomposing.
According to a market research survey, 68 percent of consumers who receive junk mail actually open the envelopes.
MEASURING UP
A 60-minute cassette contains 565 feet of tape.
The diameter of the wire in a standard paper clip is 1 millimeter, or about 0.04 inches.
Aluminum is strong enough to support ninety thousand pounds per square inch.
KEEPING YOUR COOL
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.
HOME DÉCOR
A good-?quality Persian rug, which contains one million knots in every three square inches, can last as long as five hundred years.
A typical double mattress contains as many as two million house dust mites.
HISTORY’S MYSTERIES
HOW DO YOU PLEAD?
A Virginia law requires all bathtubs to be kept out in the yard, not inside the house.
According to a British law passed in 1845, attempting to commit suicide was a capital offense. Offenders could be hanged for trying.
Celebrating Christmas was once illegal in England.
Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
Impotence is legal grounds for divorce in twenty-?four American
In 1946, the first TV toy commercial aired. It was for Mr. Potato Head.
In 1980, Namco released Pac-?Man, the most popular video game (or arcade game) of all time. The original name was going to be Puck Man, but executives saw the potential for vandals to scratch out part of the P in the game’s marquee and labeling.
It takes an average of 48 to 100 tries to solve a Rubik’s Cube puzzle. If done perfectly, any Rubik’s Cube combination can be solved in seventeen turns.
The hula hoop was the biggest-?selling toy in 1957.
The yo-?yo originated in the Philippines, where it is used as a weapon in hunting.
When the divorce rate goes up in the United States, toy makers say the sale of toys also rises.
The hundred billionth crayon made by Crayola was Periwinkle Blue.
In the 1985 Boise, Idaho, mayoral election, there were four write-?in votes for Mr. Potato Head.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN?
Camera shutter speed B stands for “bulb.”
Mosquito repellants do not repel. They hide you. The spray blocks the mosquito’s sensors so they do not know you are there.
Scotchgard is a combination of the words Scotch, meaning “Scotsman,” and a misspelling of guard, meaning “to protect.”
The holes in flyswatters are used to lower air resistance.
Scotch tape has been used as an anti-?corrosive shield on the Goodyear Blimp.
The Ramses brand condom is named after the great Pharaoh Ramses II, who fathered more than 160 children.
HAMMER TIME
The side of a hammer is called a cheek.
The end of a hammer, opposite the striking end, is called a peen.
THE IVORY TOWER
Ivory bar soap floating was the result of a mistake. The manufacturer had been mixing the soap formula and causing excess air bubbles that made it float. Customers wrote and told them how much they loved that it floated, and it has floated ever since.
Approximately thirty billion cakes of Ivory Soap had been manufactured by 1990.
FEELING A BIT AVERAGE
The average person looks at eight houses before buying one.
The average lead pencil can draw a line thirty-?five miles long or write approximately fifty thousand English words.
The average mouse pad is 8.75 inches by 7.5 inches.
The average woman consumes six pounds of lipstick in her lifetime.
The average woman’s handbag weighs three to five pounds.
ALTERNATIVE FUNCTIONS
Ketchup is excellent for cleaning brass, especially tarnished or corroded brass.
Kleenex tissues were originally used as filters in gas masks.
Mixing Sani-?Flush and Comet cleaners has been known to cause explosions.
People in China sometimes use firecrackers around their homes as fire alarms.
DISHING THE DIRT
Each of us generates five pounds of garbage a day; most of it is paper.
It takes a plastic container fifty thousand years to start decomposing.
According to a market research survey, 68 percent of consumers who receive junk mail actually open the envelopes.
MEASURING UP
A 60-minute cassette contains 565 feet of tape.
The diameter of the wire in a standard paper clip is 1 millimeter, or about 0.04 inches.
Aluminum is strong enough to support ninety thousand pounds per square inch.
KEEPING YOUR COOL
Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
Some Eskimos have been known to use refrigerators to keep their food from freezing.
HOME DÉCOR
A good-?quality Persian rug, which contains one million knots in every three square inches, can last as long as five hundred years.
A typical double mattress contains as many as two million house dust mites.
HISTORY’S MYSTERIES
HOW DO YOU PLEAD?
A Virginia law requires all bathtubs to be kept out in the yard, not inside the house.
According to a British law passed in 1845, attempting to commit suicide was a capital offense. Offenders could be hanged for trying.
Celebrating Christmas was once illegal in England.
Dueling is legal in Paraguay as long as both parties are registered blood donors.
Impotence is legal grounds for divorce in twenty-?four American
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