1. Tom Hanks is a distant relative of Nancy Hanks Lincoln who was the mother of Abraham Lincoln.
2. The tallest wood frame roller coaster is the Colossus at Heide Park in Germany.
3. The National Lacrosse League was incorporated in 1986 and played their first season in 1987.
4. During an NLL lacrosse game if a “suffers a laceration or wound where “oozing or bleeding occurs” the official is required to suspend play at the earliest possible time.
5. The custom of Christmas trees dates back to 15th century Livonia and 16th century Northern Germany.
6. Notorious gangster Al Capone was born January 17, 1899. He was the 4th child of Italian immigrant parents but the first one to be conceived and born in the United States.
7. America the Beautiful was written by Katherine Lee Bates after being overwhelmed by the view from the top of Pikes Peak. She was teaching at Colorado College that summer and had hiked to the top of the 14,000 foot peak with a group from the school.
8. The 47th state, New Mexico, was set to be inaugurated on January 1, 1912. However, President Taft didn’t sign the paperwork until January 6, so the official inauguration was January 15th.
9. The United States Air Force came into being just 3 ½ years after the Wright brothers made their first powered flight.
10. Joseph Stalin was originally studying to be a priest before he got involved in Marxism.
11. Dr. Mary Edwards Walker was the first female surgeon in the US Army.
12. The first mid-air collision between two aircraft was recorded as having occurred on October 3, 1910 over Milan, Italy.
13. Catgut which is used for stringed instruments is actually made from goat or sheep intestines.
14. The first human lobotomies were done in the 1890s.
15. Neptune gets its blue color from methane gas.
16. Yul Brynner’s film debut in Port of New York was his only film with his natural head of hair.
17. Ham was the first chimpanzee that America sent to space. His name is an acronym for the lab, Holloman Aerospace Medical center, which prepared him for his trip to space.
18. Hawaiian women were once not allowed to coconuts of bananas.
19. WC Fields was born William Claude Dukenfield.
20. Bing Crosby died in Madrid in 1977 after playing a round of golf.
21. Animal crackers come in packages with a string handle because they were originally meant to be hung on a Christmas tree.
22. LL Cool J’s nickname stands for Ladies Love Cool James.
23. Don Knotts once had a role in the soap opera Search for Tomorrow.
24. Lake Erie is the 11th largest lake in the world and is the warmest and most biologically productive of the Great Lakes.
Interesting...I knew that one about America the Beautiful. I learned it on a trip up to Pike's Peak one year as a kid. :)
ReplyDeleteCool! I love Pikes Peak, but if people haven't visited or don't live in the area they don't always know that bit of trivia.
ReplyDeleteI am blessed to be able to see Pikes Peak every day :o)