Read Online Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts: And Bizarre Information by Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society
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first voyage across the sea.
Water can flow through a plant at four miles per hour.
The speed of a roller coaster increases an average of 10 miles per hour when it’s raining.
Good thing they’re hauling gas: giant oil tankers get about 31 feet per gallon.
Flying fish “fly” at 40 miles per hour.
Top speed of a chicken at full gallop: 9 miles per hour. Top speed of a pigeon in flight: 90 miles per hour.
When you pop a champagne cork, it can travel as fast as 100 miles per hour.
Average speed of a golf ball in flight during the PGA Tour: 160 miles per hour.
Peregrine falcons can dive at speeds up to 240 miles an hour.
Toys
Barbie (the doll) has a last name: Roberts. Ken’s last name is Carson.
World’s largest manufacturer of female apparel: Mattel. (They make Barbie clothes.)
Chance of meeting someone with Barbie’s human-scale measurements (36–18–33): one in 100,000. Chance of meeting someone with Ken’s: one in 50.
Easy-Bake Ovens have been sold since 1964.
If you lined up all the Slinkys ever made, they could wrap around the world 126 times.
You can buy a gold-plated Slinky for $100. Sterling silver: $400.
Play-Doh was used as a wallpaper cleaner before it became a toy.
Lego has manufactured more than 189 billion pieces in 2,000 different shapes since 1949, about 30 Lego pieces for every living person on earth.
Annual sales of G.I. Joe increased by 46 percent in 2002—following the 9/11 attacks.
The import of stuffed animals and female dolls is banned in Saudi Arabia.
Nearly 21,000 people are injured every year from air rifles, paintball pistols, and BB guns.
In 1958 Crayola changed its “Prussian blue” to “midnight blue” in response to teacher recommendations that children could no longer relate to Prussian history.
World’s most popular “laptop”: the Etch A Sketch.
Processed Foods
First food eaten by an American in space: pureed applesauce from a tube.
There are 27 chemicals that can be added to bread without being listed on the label.
The first cereal to come in a box? Shredded Wheat.
First food product permitted by law to have artificial coloring: butter. (It’s naturally white.)
One of the most popular soups in 1929: peanut butter soup.
The first canned foods appeared in 1810, but the can opener wasn’t invented until 1858.
Most of the egg rolls sold in the United States are made in Houston.
Lemon Pledge has more lemons than Country Time Lemonade.
Six weeks after an aluminum can is recycled, it’s back on the shelf in the form of a new can.
First Editions
World’s First Dictionary: Explaining Words, Analyzing Characters (A.D. 100), by Xu Shen. Chinese words and definitions.
World’s First Fantasy Story: The Castaway , published in Egypt circa 1950 B.C. The story of a man who is shipwrecked on an island ruled by a giant bearded serpent with a deep voice and an ability to predict the future.
World’s First Sci-Fi Story: True History , by Lucian of Samosata, published in the 2nd century A.D. Adventures in outer space, in unknown seas, and on the moon. Everyone in space speaks Greek.
World’s First Book of Firsts: Origins of Ages (100 B.C.), author unknown. Lists the founders of the ruling families of China.
World’s First Novel: Cyropaedia (360 B.C.), by the Greek author Xenophon. An account of the life of Cyrus, founder of the Persian empire. The book offers “an idealized account of Persian society, contrasting with the unsympathetic views of most Greeks.”
World’s First Autobiography: Memoirs of Aratus of Sicyon , published after his death by poisoning in 213 B.C. Critics commend Aratus for admitting his own weaknesses in the book, but fault him for being “insultingly critical of people he disliked.”
World’s First Book of Ghost Stories: Tales of Marvels (early 3rd century), by Chinese author Tsao Pi. Stories include a haunted house and a man who convinces a ghost that he’s a ghost, too.
World’s First Joke Book: Forest
Water can flow through a plant at four miles per hour.
The speed of a roller coaster increases an average of 10 miles per hour when it’s raining.
Good thing they’re hauling gas: giant oil tankers get about 31 feet per gallon.
Flying fish “fly” at 40 miles per hour.
Top speed of a chicken at full gallop: 9 miles per hour. Top speed of a pigeon in flight: 90 miles per hour.
When you pop a champagne cork, it can travel as fast as 100 miles per hour.
Average speed of a golf ball in flight during the PGA Tour: 160 miles per hour.
Peregrine falcons can dive at speeds up to 240 miles an hour.
Toys
Barbie (the doll) has a last name: Roberts. Ken’s last name is Carson.
World’s largest manufacturer of female apparel: Mattel. (They make Barbie clothes.)
Chance of meeting someone with Barbie’s human-scale measurements (36–18–33): one in 100,000. Chance of meeting someone with Ken’s: one in 50.
Easy-Bake Ovens have been sold since 1964.
If you lined up all the Slinkys ever made, they could wrap around the world 126 times.
You can buy a gold-plated Slinky for $100. Sterling silver: $400.
Play-Doh was used as a wallpaper cleaner before it became a toy.
Lego has manufactured more than 189 billion pieces in 2,000 different shapes since 1949, about 30 Lego pieces for every living person on earth.
Annual sales of G.I. Joe increased by 46 percent in 2002—following the 9/11 attacks.
The import of stuffed animals and female dolls is banned in Saudi Arabia.
Nearly 21,000 people are injured every year from air rifles, paintball pistols, and BB guns.
In 1958 Crayola changed its “Prussian blue” to “midnight blue” in response to teacher recommendations that children could no longer relate to Prussian history.
World’s most popular “laptop”: the Etch A Sketch.
Processed Foods
First food eaten by an American in space: pureed applesauce from a tube.
There are 27 chemicals that can be added to bread without being listed on the label.
The first cereal to come in a box? Shredded Wheat.
First food product permitted by law to have artificial coloring: butter. (It’s naturally white.)
One of the most popular soups in 1929: peanut butter soup.
The first canned foods appeared in 1810, but the can opener wasn’t invented until 1858.
Most of the egg rolls sold in the United States are made in Houston.
Lemon Pledge has more lemons than Country Time Lemonade.
Six weeks after an aluminum can is recycled, it’s back on the shelf in the form of a new can.
First Editions
World’s First Dictionary: Explaining Words, Analyzing Characters (A.D. 100), by Xu Shen. Chinese words and definitions.
World’s First Fantasy Story: The Castaway , published in Egypt circa 1950 B.C. The story of a man who is shipwrecked on an island ruled by a giant bearded serpent with a deep voice and an ability to predict the future.
World’s First Sci-Fi Story: True History , by Lucian of Samosata, published in the 2nd century A.D. Adventures in outer space, in unknown seas, and on the moon. Everyone in space speaks Greek.
World’s First Book of Firsts: Origins of Ages (100 B.C.), author unknown. Lists the founders of the ruling families of China.
World’s First Novel: Cyropaedia (360 B.C.), by the Greek author Xenophon. An account of the life of Cyrus, founder of the Persian empire. The book offers “an idealized account of Persian society, contrasting with the unsympathetic views of most Greeks.”
World’s First Autobiography: Memoirs of Aratus of Sicyon , published after his death by poisoning in 213 B.C. Critics commend Aratus for admitting his own weaknesses in the book, but fault him for being “insultingly critical of people he disliked.”
World’s First Book of Ghost Stories: Tales of Marvels (early 3rd century), by Chinese author Tsao Pi. Stories include a haunted house and a man who convinces a ghost that he’s a ghost, too.
World’s First Joke Book: Forest
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