Read Online Uncle John’s Facts to Annoy Your Teacher Bathroom Reader for Kids Only! by Bathroom Readers’ Institute - Free Book Online
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
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FACTS
•It cost more than $50 million to build all the lines of the Transcontinental Railroad.
•Chinese immigrants made up the majority of the workforce. By the time the railroad was completed, more than 11,000 Chinese laborers had worked on it. They weren’t paid very well, though, only about $25 a month. (White workers made $35 per month.)
In China, the movie Kindergarten Cop was called Devil King of Children .
•The Sacramento–Omaha line was supposed to have been completed on May 8, but bad weather and arguing between workers and managers held things up. The newspaper reporters who’d been invited to the golden spike ceremony didn’t want to wait to write their stories, though—some other news item might come in, and they’d need the time for that. So by May 10, many reporters had already written their accounts of the event, even though few of them actually saw it.
•No one “pounded in” a golden spike to connect the Sacramento–Omaha. There were two golden spikes crafted just for the ceremony, and some railroad company bigwigs gently tapped them into holes in the rails with a silver hammer. But both spikes were immediately removed and replaced with iron ones so they wouldn’t be damaged.
•In 1869, if you wanted to travel first-class across the country in a sleeper car (a train’s most comfortable accommodations), the five-day trip on the Transcontinental Railroad cost $150 per person.
* * *
BIG APPETITE
President Theodore Roosevelt often ate 12 eggs for breakfast.
Ever hear of filk? It’s folk music with a science fiction or fantasy theme.
COOL CARD TRICKS
Not only is Uncle John the King of the Throne Room, he’s also a master of card tricks. These two always amaze the crowd.
A LL HANDS ON DECK
Setting up: Get one deck of cards. Hold the deck in your hands. Make sure all the cards are facedown. Then flip the bottom card over so that, if you turn the deck upside down, it looks like the top card.
1. Now, gather an audience. Hold all the cards facedown. Fan out the deck, and have someone pick a card. Make sure you keep holding the rest of the cards.
2. Turn your back as your friend shows his card to everyone else. Make sure you do not see the card.
3. While the group is looking at the card, flip the deck over. Since you already slipped the bottom card upside down, when you turn the deck over, that bottom card will look like the one on the top.
4. Have your friend put his card back in the deck. (Be very careful that no one sees that most of the cards are facing the wrong way.) When your buddy puts the card back in, it will be the only one flipped that way.
5. Search the deck and find the card. (Again, do it carefully so that no one sees that most of the cards are facing the wrong way.) When you find it, show it to your audience and watch their jaws drop!
Superstitious? For good luck and long life, you should carry an acorn.
BLACKS AND REDS
Setting up: Before you perform this trick, take a full deck of cards and separate it into two piles: one with the red cards, and one with the black. Place the two piles facedown on a table.
1. Bring in your audience. Ask a friend to choose one card from each pile. Tell her to memorize the cards and remember which pile they came from. Next, ask her to put the cards anywhere she wants in the opposite pile.
2. Ask another friend to shuffle each pile separately, keeping them facedown. Now, take the two piles and put them one on top of the other. Be careful not to mix up the cards.
3. Now tell everyone you can identify the two cards your friend picked out. (If they doubt you, scoff at their ignorance.) Search through the deck and pull out the two cards that are different colors from the surrounding cards. Amazing!
It takes about 15 tomatoes to make one bottle of ketchup.
THE SMALLEST
Bigger isn’t necessarily better. Want proof? Have a look at these cool things in really small packages.
…HORSE
In 2006, Guinness World
•It cost more than $50 million to build all the lines of the Transcontinental Railroad.
•Chinese immigrants made up the majority of the workforce. By the time the railroad was completed, more than 11,000 Chinese laborers had worked on it. They weren’t paid very well, though, only about $25 a month. (White workers made $35 per month.)
In China, the movie Kindergarten Cop was called Devil King of Children .
•The Sacramento–Omaha line was supposed to have been completed on May 8, but bad weather and arguing between workers and managers held things up. The newspaper reporters who’d been invited to the golden spike ceremony didn’t want to wait to write their stories, though—some other news item might come in, and they’d need the time for that. So by May 10, many reporters had already written their accounts of the event, even though few of them actually saw it.
•No one “pounded in” a golden spike to connect the Sacramento–Omaha. There were two golden spikes crafted just for the ceremony, and some railroad company bigwigs gently tapped them into holes in the rails with a silver hammer. But both spikes were immediately removed and replaced with iron ones so they wouldn’t be damaged.
•In 1869, if you wanted to travel first-class across the country in a sleeper car (a train’s most comfortable accommodations), the five-day trip on the Transcontinental Railroad cost $150 per person.
* * *
BIG APPETITE
President Theodore Roosevelt often ate 12 eggs for breakfast.
Ever hear of filk? It’s folk music with a science fiction or fantasy theme.
COOL CARD TRICKS
Not only is Uncle John the King of the Throne Room, he’s also a master of card tricks. These two always amaze the crowd.
A LL HANDS ON DECK
Setting up: Get one deck of cards. Hold the deck in your hands. Make sure all the cards are facedown. Then flip the bottom card over so that, if you turn the deck upside down, it looks like the top card.
1. Now, gather an audience. Hold all the cards facedown. Fan out the deck, and have someone pick a card. Make sure you keep holding the rest of the cards.
2. Turn your back as your friend shows his card to everyone else. Make sure you do not see the card.
3. While the group is looking at the card, flip the deck over. Since you already slipped the bottom card upside down, when you turn the deck over, that bottom card will look like the one on the top.
4. Have your friend put his card back in the deck. (Be very careful that no one sees that most of the cards are facing the wrong way.) When your buddy puts the card back in, it will be the only one flipped that way.
5. Search the deck and find the card. (Again, do it carefully so that no one sees that most of the cards are facing the wrong way.) When you find it, show it to your audience and watch their jaws drop!
Superstitious? For good luck and long life, you should carry an acorn.
BLACKS AND REDS
Setting up: Before you perform this trick, take a full deck of cards and separate it into two piles: one with the red cards, and one with the black. Place the two piles facedown on a table.
1. Bring in your audience. Ask a friend to choose one card from each pile. Tell her to memorize the cards and remember which pile they came from. Next, ask her to put the cards anywhere she wants in the opposite pile.
2. Ask another friend to shuffle each pile separately, keeping them facedown. Now, take the two piles and put them one on top of the other. Be careful not to mix up the cards.
3. Now tell everyone you can identify the two cards your friend picked out. (If they doubt you, scoff at their ignorance.) Search through the deck and pull out the two cards that are different colors from the surrounding cards. Amazing!
It takes about 15 tomatoes to make one bottle of ketchup.
THE SMALLEST
Bigger isn’t necessarily better. Want proof? Have a look at these cool things in really small packages.
…HORSE
In 2006, Guinness World
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