Page 280 - Celebrity Facts

Demi Moore is NOT blind in one eye.

Moore recently donned a pair of glasses, which caused rampant rumors that she had gone blind in one eye! Demi was quick to dispel any such speculation, however. She explained that she underwent surgery as a child to correct a lazy right eye. She even "rocked an eye patch" for a few years! Despite the surgery, her eye is still a bit weak so she still has to wear glasses occasionally.
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The IRS will still collect taxes after a nuclear attack.

The United States Internal Revenue Service manual lays out the basic ground rules for "continuity planning", which ensures that the IRS will still be able to function under any number of extreme circumstances. This includes wars, natural disasters, terrorist attacks, pandemic influenza, and yes, even nuclear explosions. (You can read all about it in the IRS manual).

In fact, the U.S. Treasury Department has had plans since the 1960s to revive and maintain the American economy after a nuclear attack. After such an attack, economists in secret locations will oversee the apportioning of tax-free cash grants to survivors (a stimulus package), while the government buys up assets destroyed in the attack (like the Troubled Asset Relief Program), and pays off any outstanding bank loans and mortgages. After that, the pre-existing tax policy will likely be abandoned, and the IRS will have to form a new policy for generating government revenue to fund the rebuilding process. No firm tax plan for such a scenario has been agreed upon, but several proposals and guidelines have been prepared and stored at relocation sites for just such an occasion. Which of the plans they opt for will be decided based on the situation on the ground, though one likely system would enact a sales tax as high as 30%.

While nuclear winter won't be enough of a crisis to free us from the IRS, we can take comfort in the fact that the United States Postal Service will also be functioning in that time of crisis. The USPS has an emergency planning manual for just such an occasion. Their post nuclear attack plan has been in place since 1981. Not only will they continue to deliver the mail, they will also have to distribute the 60 million change-of-address forms that they already have prepared and distributed throughout 30,000 post offices. Check out this Brookings article to learn more about the U.S. government's post-doomsday plans.

A woman solved a 27-letter word on Wheel of Fortune with only one letter revealed.

Contestant Caitlin Burke's bold guess on the 27-letter prize puzzle won her a free Caribbean vacation at a resort on the island of Grenada, worth about $6,500. Her fellow competitor Rick got the first crack at the puzzle and chose the letter 'R,' which was not in the puzzle. Burke then spun the wheel and asked for an L, which appeared as the fourth letter of the fifth word. After a few seconds, she asked if she could solve the puzzle, much to the shock of the show's host, Pat Sajak! The correct answer to the puzzle, as guessed by Miss Burke, was "I've got a good feeling about this." How appropriate a phrase.

Of course, since she already knew the answer, she could have continued spinning and made more money by guessing more of the letters. But then we wouldn't have this epic video clip!


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Paris has what is thought to be the only McDonald's with white arches in place of their traditional golden ones.

The iconic "Golden Arches" can be seen in almost every McDonald's restaurant around the world, with very little, if any, variations among them. Notable exceptions include Canada, where small maple leaves can be found between the arches and the McDonald's in Times Square which is covered in bright neon lights. A McDonald's on the Champs-Elysées in Paris, France has bright white neon arches to go with the rest of the shops on the street. (Pictures of the white arch logo) Another McDonald's in Sedona, Arizona has green arches, and a completely different color scheme in general to better blend with its surroundings. (Pictures of the green arch logo)

Contrary to popular belief, the golden arches do not actually represent french fries. In fact, the original McDonald's menu did not actually offer french fries at all. The arch logo is based on actual yellow arches that were part of the design of early McDonald's restaurants to add some variety to the otherwise-drab red and white design. After phasing out "Speedee" (the original McDonald's mascot with a hamburger for a face), the McDonald's company chose to incorporate its distinctive architecture into a new logo. Since two arches together look like an "M", they work perfectly as a logo. Future McDonald's restaurants would forgo the actual arches themselves and just use the arch logo instead.

More information about the McDonald's arches thanks to How Stuff Works.

The toaster was invented before pre-sliced bread.

Toasting bread has been a common practice since the time of the ancient Romans. However, it was not until 1853 that the first electric toaster was invented by a British firm called Crompton and Co. This original model only toasted one side of the bread at a time and required someone to stand by and watch to make sure the bread didn't burn. The more contemporary pop-up timer toasters we are used to were not invented until 1919.

Nine years after this revised model and seventy-five after the original British toaster, a man by the name of Otto Frederick Rohwedder came along and came up with the coolest thing since sliced bread...mechanically sliced bread! His first machine incorporated hat pins to hold the sliced loaves together, but this did not work very well and the bread went stale quickly. Finally, in 1928 he finished a machine that sliced the bread and wrapped it in plastic! Pre-sliced bread and the electric toaster were a match made in heaven, and remain a staple of American breakfast food to this day!
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