When writing his own epitaph, Thomas Jefferson neglected to mention being the governor of Virginia, vice president, or president.
Instead, here's what he did mention in his epitaph:
"HERE WAS BURIED THOMAS JEFFERSON
AUTHOR OF THE DECLARATION OF AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
OF THE STATUTE OF VIRGINIA FOR RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
AND FATHER OF THE UNIVERSITY OF VIRGINIA."
The humble statesman is also credited with several inventions, including the swivel chair, ‘automatic’ doors, an improved polygraph, and the lazy susan.
(Sources: 1, 2)
Sep 9, 2010 07:00 PM by Alfredo M, Menifee, CA -
Facts
The world’s hottest pepper is used to fend off elephants!
The Naga Jolokia pepper is 400 times hotter than Tabasco sauce! In India, it is used to combat summer heat by causing people to sweat. They also smear it on fence posts and mix them into smoke bombs to ward off wild elephants!
In 2007, the Naga Jolokia was rated by the Guinness Book of World Records as the hottest pepper in the world. This pepper has a rating of 855,000 to 1,075,000 heat units on the Scoville scale (a scale that measures spiciness).
For comparison, Jalapeño Peppers have a Scoville rating of 2,500 to 8,000. That means eating a Naga Jolokia would be the equivalent of eating somewhere between 106 and 430 jalapeños. To put it another way, a Naga Jolokia is about 1/5 as spicy as Law Enforcement Grade pepper spray!
(Sources: 1, 2)
Sep 9, 2010 03:00 PM by Timothy N, San Diego, CA -
Facts
Despite collaborating on the hit single “Airplanes,” rapper B.o.B. and singer Hayley Williams have never met.
This probably isn’t that unusual in the music industry, at least not when recording featured artists on a track. What makes it a bit stranger is that B.o.B. and the lead singer of Paramore also filmed their portions of the music video separately!
Here's what Williams has to say about this. "We've never met in person. We've talked on Twitter, and he's really cool. We'll never meet. We're going to perform the song live via Skype."
(source)
Sep 9, 2010 01:00 PM by KIM, NJ, USA -
Facts
They stopped making red M&Ms for TEN YEARS.
In the 1970s, scientists in the Soviet Union claimed that Red Dye No. 2 dye caused cancer. At the time, the dye was so commonplace that it could be found in everything from ice cream to makeup to sausage casings. It was also never officially linked to any deaths or illnesses.
Regardless, the widespread panic over the cancer rumors netted Red Dye No. 2 a ten year ban from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
This led to the Mars candy company removing red M&Ms from their lineup. This was despite the fact that red M&Ms didn't even use Red Dye No. 2!
(source)
Sep 9, 2010 11:00 AM by Emily B, Richmond, VA -
Facts
Spongebob’s birthday is July 14, 1986.
This is shown on SpongeBob’s driver’s license, which would make him 13 years old at the time of the show’s premiere. However, creator Stephen Hillenburg has gone on the record saying that SpongeBob has no real specific age – he is just old enough to live on his own and be going to boating school.
The character was originally intended to be named “SpongeBoy” – unfortunately this was already the name of a mop product!
(source)
Sep 9, 2010 09:00 AM by Beatriz R, California -
Facts
When they were mad at France, the U.S. House of Representatives changed "french fries" to "freedom fries" on their cafeteria menus.
This was back in 2003, when France refused to take part in the Iraq war. They also started referring to french toast as "freedom toast". According to one congressman, the name change was "a small but symbolic effort to show the strong displeasure of many on Capitol Hill with the actions of our so-called ally, France".
Political menu changes have happened in the past. U.S. restaurants in World War One started calling sauerkraut "liberty cabbage" to spite Germany.
(Sources: 1, 2)
Sep 8, 2010 11:00 PM by Chris C, Tenafly, NJ -
Facts