A Matter of Perspective

I have been reading another new book titled Hmm...I Did Not Know That by A.P. Holiday. It’s another of those books that include little-known facts and tidbits that can make great conversations (so we don’t have to keep talking about COVID!).

I thought I would share a few of these interesting and sometimes bizarre items of interest. I also put in my two cents after the particularly weird ones! (My comments are prefaced with “Hmm...”

• An estimated one million earthworms live in one acre of soil!

• Monkeys are trained and employed as harvesters on large coconut plantations in Malaysia and Thailand.

Hmm...they probably have a better healthcare plan than most people, too.

• The term “smart alec” is believed to be derived from the nickname of a famous New York City pimp of the 1840s named Alec Hoag.

Hmm...be careful what you call someone, you Smart Alec.

• It is estimated that 14 new words are added to the English language every day.

Hmm...How do they know this?

• The average person uses an estimated 80-90 profanities each day.

Hmm...Did people admit to this or did they do a research study?

• An estimated 22 million people use marijuana on a daily basis.

• Frank Sinatra was thrown out of high school for bad behavior only 47 days after enrolling.

Hmm... I guess he did it “his way.”

• Early European shower systems allowed the same water to be used over and over again for multiple bathers.

Hmm...You don’t want to be the last one to take your shower or you might end up dirtier than you started.

• The Georgia Tech football team racked up 1620 rushing yards in its 222-0 destruction of Cumberland College in 1916.

Hmm...Was the other team even there?

• Mosquitoes infect more than 700 million people with various diseases each year.

Hmm...Other than feeding bats what are these things good for? And then there is the problem of bats...

• Marlon Brando was expelled from high school for riding a motorcycle through the hallway.

Hmm...Just wow.

• The first United States income tax was instituted in 1862 to help fund the Civil War.

Hmm...Now we use it to fund not only wars but to find out how many times a day people swear.

• Only about 40% of a Pringles brand snack is actual potato.

Hmm... I wonder what the rest of them are made from—salted cardboard?

• The fastest typist ever recorded, Stella Pajunas-Garnand, typed at a rate of 216 words per minute.

Hmm...I can do at least that many—although they would mostly contain those words that are added to the English language every year!

I hope you enjoyed these facts!