Page 10 - Other Facts

Learn why Sesame Street purists refer to Elmo as the 'Little Red Menace.'

As adorable and beloved as Elmo is, he gets a fair bit of hate from hardcore Sesame Street purists. Some have complained that Elmo’s prominent status has caused some of the older characters (e.g. Oscar the Grouch, Grover, Cookie Monster, etc.) To have greatly reduced roles.

In it's FAQ, the Sesame Workshop responds to the allegations that Elmo referring to himself in the third person will teach children improper English by stating that this behavior “mimics the behavior of many preschoolers.” That’s right, preschoolers; you know, the age group that the show Sesame Street is produced for.

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There are more barrels of Bourbon in Kentucky than there are people

Bourbon is a pretty big part of the Kentuckian culture. Not only do the locals love it, but apparently, it generates and sustains employment and is a major tourist trap.

Distilling contributes to nearly $2 billion in gross state product each year and has doubled it's importance to the state’s overall economic activity in the last 13 years.

In the last decade, distilling created 4 percent new job growth. At the moment, there are 4.7 million barrels of Bourbon aging in Kentucky-the largest inventory since the 1980’s. That means that there are 400,000 more barrels than people!

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An animator for Ed, Edd n Eddy was killed by police while on his hands and knees!

Paul Boyd was shot by police in Vancouver in August 2007. The details of the incident remain in question. Boyd was a title sequence animator and director of the hit Cartoon Network TV series "Ed, Edd n Eddy." In his early twenties, Boyd was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

He received constant and usually effective treatment for this disease. However, on the evening of August 13, 2007, Boyd allegedly didn't take his medication and suffered a manic episode in the middle of a busy intersection in Vancouver.

Police responded to a 911 call about a violent man yielding a bicycle chain. Boyd injured two officers before a third one shot him in self-defense. In totally nine shots were fired with the final one being fired into Boyd's head.

Controversy erupted over whether the police force was appropriate and an investigation was launched. A video by an eye witness surfaced that showed Boyd crawling on his hands and knees in the street before the final and fatal shot was fired.

It was obvious that he did not pose a real threat at this time and a new investigation by a private agency was launched.

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A man drowned at a party of 100 lifeguards celebrating a summer with no drownings!

You would think that you’d be safe at a pool party thrown by a bunch of lifeguards. In the case of Jerome Moody, you’d be wrong. In New Orleans in 1985, 100 lifeguards threw a party to celebrate the first summer in memory that no one had drowned at a New Orleans city pool.

At the end of the party, 31 year old Jerome Moody was found at the bottom of the deep end of the New Orleans Recreation Department pool. Moody himself was not a lifeguard, and apparently had been swimming fully dressed when he drowned.

There were four lifeguards actually on duty at the party and nearly 100 other certified lifeguards present. When the lifeguards found Moody, they tried to revive him, but he was already dead.

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The deadliest snowstorm in recorded history occurred in Iran in 1972!

The week long blizzard in Iran in 1972 killed 4,000 people. Over the week 10 feet of snow accumulated all across the northwestern, central, and southern parts of Iran. Southern Iran accumulated up to 26 feet of snow in some places.

There were no survivors in the villages of Kakkan and Kumar. Sheklab’s 100 villages were buried.

It remains the deadliest blizzard in history. People are probably shocked to hear that it snows in the Middle East, but surprise; it does.

Most Middle Eastern countries lie within the same temperate zone that the U.S. does. So, it only makes sense that it could and would snow there, too.

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