Page 6 - Other Facts

A burglar once tried to use lemon juice as a disguise!

In 1995, a man named MacArthur Wheeler walked into two different banks in Pittsburg in broad daylight and robbed them with no disguise whatsoever. Surveillance videos were quickly given to the media and broadcast on the nightly news.

Wheeler was arrested within an hour, and couldn’t believe his eyes when he was shown the surveillance video at the police station. “But I used the juice!” Was his response to seeing himself rob the bank. Apparently, MacArthur had doused his face with lemon juice before going to the bank and believed he would be invisible on video. It’s a mystery what gave the dim-witted criminal this idea, but needless to say, he’ll likely think twice the next time he gets it in his head to break the law…or maybe he’ll just try orange juice instead.

(Source)

Cucumbers, just like tomatoes, are fruits! Cucumbers are also usually more than 90% water!

The cucumber is grown as part of the gourd family. It is actually a fruit, not a vegetable, but is often confused as a vegetable as is the tomato. The cucumber is a creeping vine that roots in the ground and grows up trellises or other supporting frames, wrapping around supports with thin, spiraling tendrils.

The plant has large leaves that form a canopy over the fruit. The fruit of the cucumber is roughly cylindrical, elongated with tapered ends, and may be as large as 24 inches long and 3.9 inches in diameter. Cucumbers are usually more than 90 percent water. Cucumbers can be prepared in three main ways: Slicing, pickling, and burpless.

Cucumbers are originally from India, though, they are grown now on most continents. It has been cultivated for at least 3,000 years, and was probably introduced to other parts of Europe by the Greeks or Romans. Records of cucumber cultivation appear in France in the 9th century, England in the 14th century, and in North America by the mid-16th century. There are many different varieties that are traded on the global market.

(Source)

A Jell-O billboard once monitored people’s emotions on Twitter!

Jell-O just wants you to be happy. Or, at least they want to know WHEN you’re happy. Or sad. Or at least when you’re tweeting the two immediately recognizable emoticons :) And :( . Let us explain.

Back in 2011, Jell-O unveiled a billboard in New York City that constantly monitored Twitter users’ feelings and responded according to the findings. If the majority of Twitter users were tweeting happy faces in the context of their tweets, the face on the billboard would smile. And, if there were lots frown-y faces, the billboard would frown.

What’s the point of this, you ask? Well, there really wasn’t a point for the billboard, although it was an extension of the Jell-O Pudding Face website which issued coupons to people when the Twitterverse was primarily tweeting sad faces. The billboard was just a way to integrate social media into advertising in a very prominent way.

Many people loved the novelty of tweeting something with the world and having their feelings on display in New York City. Others felt the concept was a bit too “big brother” for them. Either way, better get used to the idea. This Jell-O billboard wasn’t the first to use Twitter to interact with consumers, and it likely won’t be the last. Do YOU like the idea? Tell us in the comments.

(Source)

A man was killed during a bank robbery when a bomb that was locked around his neck exploded!

In August 2003, pizza delivery man Brian Douglas Wells was killed in a mysterious series of events. Wells was 46 years old and had worked as a pizza delivery man for nearly 30 years. On the night of August 28th, he received a call to meet three of his accomplices.

They had previously decided on a plan to rob a bank. For his part, Wells would pretend that three men had forced him to rob a bank on penalty of detonating the bomb that hung around his neck. Wells was under the impression the bomb would be fake.

That night, he discovered it would be anything but pretend. When he tried to resist, his accomplices threatened him at gunpoint, which is when they fastened the bomb on him.

Wells then attempted to rob the bank, but was caught by police. They failed to promptly call the bomb squad though. The explosive detonated and killed wells just three minutes before the squad finally made it on the scene.

(Source)

Having a swimming pool at home is 100 times more likely to lead to accidental child death than having a gun at home.

Turns out that a swimming pool is more of a death trap than a gun. In 1997 alone, 742 children under the age of 10 drowned in the United States alone. About 75% of those drownings occurred in residential swimming pools.

Recent stats indicate that there are about six million swimming pools in the US, which means that 1 young child drowns annually for every 11,000 pools.

About 175 children under the age of 10 died in 1998 as a result of guns. About two-thirds of those deaths were homicides-not fully preventable accidents. There are an estimated 200 million guns in the United States, meaning one child is killed by guns for every one million guns.

When it comes to guns, regardless of what your position is on the debate, almost everyone agrees that it is wise to keep guns away from children and knows the safety precautions to take when they have both a gun and a young child in their home.

However, people usually don't suspect that pools could be dangerous to young children until it's too late. For more information about kiddy-proofing your pool, check out the source.

(Source)