I have heard that some of our friends are in a foot of snow and needed a little’ home schooling’. Thought I would offer some great facts and find out how many you already knew. Or, had you heard them but heard them wrong! I hope you enjoy these as much as I have. Enjoy, have fun and be safe.
Author: Jacob M. Braude
Title: Complete Speaker’s and Toastmaster’s Library_Origins and Firsts
1. “Antibiotics: While today’s miracle drugs are used to save human lives,_the term ‘antibiotic’ originates from Greek words that mean ‘against life.’_The definition is not really paradoxical because these life-giving drugs are_directed against bacteria and viruses, which also are forms of life.”
2. “Big Ben: This is not the name of the clock at Westminster, but the bell_which chimes the hour. It was named after Sir Benjamin Hall, who was First_Commissioner of Works at the time it was cast. Incidentally, the first stroke_of Big Ben, and not the last, is the exact hour.”
3. “Coffee: Long before coffee was used as a drink it was known as a_medicine. In France and England it was a cure-all for everything from_drunkenness to smallpox. Doctors prescribed it to purify the body. It was_also used as a gargle. In Turkey, coffee was so important that in the_marriage ceremony a man had to promise never to permit his wife or wives to_be without coffee beans. There are many other legends as to the origin of_this beverage and according to one, coffee was discovered by a shepherd in_Arabia who noticed that his flock was stimulated whenever the sheep ate_coffee berries. He brewed some of the beans himself and found the product_tasteful as well as stimulating. However, as a beverage, coffee did not_really develop until someone decided to roast the coffee bean.”
5. “On March 29, 1848, for the first time in recorded history Niagara Falls_stopped flowing.”
6.”It was on January 1, 1902, that the first Rose Bowl football match took_place at Pasadena, California.”_I thought you would like this one, and your family, due to your “liking” of_football)
7. On June 26, 1721, the first innoculations against smallpox were given in_America.”
8.”The first competitive sports event held by white men in America was a lawn_bowling tournament. It took place in the Jamestown colony in 1607, at the end_of the first summer of the first English-speaking settlement in North_America.”
9. “Cotton Gin: Eli Whitney, while struggling to find an easier way to get_the seeds out of cotton bolls than by hand-picking, looked out a window and_saw a fox trying to get his dinner out of a chicken coop in the yard. The fox_clawed at the wire, and while he got no chicken, succeeded in pulling out_plenty of feathers. This experience gave Whitney the beginning of the answer_to his problem-a claw or rake that would pull the cotton fibres through a_grid and leave the seeds behind.”_I bet Chicken Farmer would like this one.
10. “Gilding the Lily: Literally, this expression means ‘to improve the_unimprovable.’ It is really a misquote of the Shakespearean phrase ‘painting_the lily.”
thedailylily.com 
When I pastored a church in Niagara Falls I visited the Falls every week. When I was really overwhelmed I would walk around Goat Island and pray. When I reached the Falls I would let all my problems go over the edge.
When you visit Niagara Falls you learn that only about a third of the water from the Lake actually goes over the Falls. The rest is diverted through huge tunnels by Niagara Electric to make electricity. You can take exciting trips in the Maid of the Mist to the base of the Falls. The Maid of ther Mist is a boat that goes up to the bottom of the Falls. It is named after an Indian Maiden. You can ride a cable across the whirlpool that is downstream from the Falls. A couple other exciting things you can do are, you can actually go behind the Horseshoe Falls and see the water fall from behind. You can ride an elevator to the bottom of the American Falls and walk on a wooden walkway to go behind the Falls.
I always thought this meant that I could wear three necklaces at one time. Like having a nice outfit and ruined the look with one more beautiful thing that changed it to not beautiful.
Thanks for the ‘home schooling’ Needles. If this were a pop quiz I would have gotten a zero. I did enjoy reading and learning these interesting new facts though!
I really enjoyed reading this offering. But,of course, the most interesting facts to me were concerning the coffee’s being used for medicinal purposes. I had no idea of the origins of the “cup o’ joe” but I sure am glad someone discovered the roasting process and the brewing process. Coffee is a most enjoyable “ambrosia” as far as I’m concerned.
Thanks, Needles.
NEEDLES,
I MUST FIRST SAY SORRY TO YOU FOR NOT PAYING ATTENTION TO YOU WHILE YOU WERE INVESTIGATION THIS INFORMATION. I HAVE FOUND THIS VERY INTERESTING. HOWEVER AFTER READING THIS I HAVE COME UP WITH SOME QUESTIONS AS DID THIS AUTHOR TO FIND THE ANSWERS TO, MABEY YOU CAN HELP ME.
1. WHY IS WATER WET?
2. WHY IS THE SKY BLUE?
3. HOW COME YOUR TOUNGE STICKS TO AN ICE CUBE?
4. WHY CAN YOU NOT SNEEZE AND BURP AT THE SAME TIME?
5. WHY DOES MY HAIR KEEP TURNING BLONDE?
6. HOW COME BOILING WATER FREEZES QUICKER THEN COLD?
7. WHY DO WE DRIVE ON THE PARKWAY AND PARK ON THE DRIVE WAY?
8. WHAT CAME FIRST THE CHICKEN OR THE EGG? (THIS ONE MIGHT HELP COW MILKER)
9. IS WHITE REALLY A COLOR?
AND FINALLY
10. HOW DID I GET SO BLESSED TO HAVE A FRIEND AND CO-WORKER LIKE YOU?
old age!
#9 is white a color? yes I found it is a color according to Wikipedia the free encyclopedia…white is a color(more accurately it contains all the colors of the visible spectrum and is sometimes described as an achromatic color….black is the absence of color….so it seems when we wear our white shirts..shoes,…dresses we really are covered in color….. :)dj
OK IF THIS IS TRUE HOW COME NONE OF THE CRAYONS IN THE BOX WHEN MIXED TOGETHER MAKE WHITE? ALSO HOW COME WHITE IS THE ONLY COLOR CLOTHING YOU HAVE THAT ALWAYS HAS STAINS? I THINK IM ON TO SOMETHING HERE HOW ABOUT YOU?
Jersey..I tend to agree with you about the crayons and stains….I tried to mix all the colors too and all I got was a big blob of blackish color…so maybe that Widipedia encyclopida book needs to do I little more study, besides it seems that black has all the colors(after my messy experiment) and it sure hides all the stains when you drop spaghetti sauce on your black pants….:)…dj
Thanks for the fun facts. I’ll sure to share them with my fifth graders. Today we learned that the Mississippi River is the second longest river with the Missouri River being the longest. The source of the river is Lake Itasca, which is made up of three Latin syllables for the Latin words veritas caput, meaning ‘true head” and the lake is located in Minnesota. The Mississippi helps form borders of ten states: Minnesota, Wisconszin, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Mississippi, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Louisiana.