Did You Know?

[RWC130 594]

Did You Know???

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

-------------------------------------------

Many years ago in Scotland , a new game was invented. It was ruled "Gentlemen Only...Ladies Forbidden"...and thus the word GOLF entered into the English language.

-------------------------------------------

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

-------------------------------------------

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the U.S.Treasury.

-------------------------------------------

Men can read smaller print than women can; women can hear better.

-------------------------------------------

Coca-Cola was originally green.

-------------------------------------------

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

-------------------------------------------

The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

-------------------------------------------

The percentage of Africa that is wilderness: 28% (now get this...)

-------------------------------------------

The percentage of North America that is wilderness: 38%

-----------------------------------------------------------

The cost of raising a medium-size dog to the age of eleven: $6,400

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The average number of people airborne over the U.S. in any given hour: 61,000

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

! -----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David

Hearts - Charlemagne

Clubs -Alexander, the Great

Diamonds - Julius Caesar

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------! -------

Only two people signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4th, John Hancock and Charles Thomson. Most of the rest signed on August 2, but the last signature wasn't added until 5 years later.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?

A. Their birthplace

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. Most boat owners name their boats. What is the most popular boat name requested?

A. Obsession

--- --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?

A. One thousand

----------------------------------------------------------------------! ------------------

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?

A. All were invented by women.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Q! What is the only food that doesn't spoil?

A. Honey

---------------------------------! -----------------------------------------------

Q. Which day are there more collect calls than any other day of the year?

A. Father's Day

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In Shakespeare'! s time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled d on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."

It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Many years ago in England , pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

~~~~~~~~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Don't delete this just because it looks weird. Believe it or not, you can read it.

I cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty

uesdnatnrd waht I was rdanieg. The

phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid Aoccdrnig to rscheearch at Cmabrigde

Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the

ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit

pclae. The rset can be a taotl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh?

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

YOU KNOW YOU ARE LIVING IN 2007 when...

1. You accidentally enter your PIN on the microwave.

2. You haven't played solitaire with real cards in years.

3. You have a list of 15 phone numbers to reach your family of three.

4. You e-mail the person who works at the desk next to you.

5. Your reason for not staying in touch with friends and family is that they don't have e-mail addresses.

6. You pull up in your own driveway and use your cell phone to see if anyone is home to help you carry in the groceries.

7. Every commercial on television has a web site at the bottom of the screen.

8. Leaving the house without your cell phone, which you didn't even have the first 20 or 30 (or 60) years of your life, is now a cause for panic and you turn around to go and get it.

10. You get up in the morning and go on line before getting your coffee.

11. You start tilting your head sideways to smile. : )

12. You're reading this and nodding and laughing.

LIFE IS TOO SHORT, LAUGH!

[ems-buff 81]

WOW!!!!! someone was bored. lol. very informitive.

[Guest partyrock]

This one is entirely too long to run everything through snopes, but from what I know...

golf is a derivative of kolf, someone's word for club

There was a show on the dumont network that predates the flintstones

Coke was never green

Horse hooves in the are inversely proportional to the number of hooves on the ground. Thats it.

[Bababoosky 24]

Did You Know???

In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

←

Connor: [during job training for Rosengurtie Baumgartener, an avid feminist] The rule of thumb here is...

Rosengurtie: Wait, rule of thumb? In the early 1900s it was legal for men to beat their wives, as long as they used a stick no wider than their thumb.

Connor: Well, can't do much damage with that then, can we? Perhaps it should have been a rule of wrist?

~Boondock Saints, great movie

[Guest seanc]

that was pretty funny, learned some stuff...great way to waste my time thanks

[AFS1970 504]

The ropes that held mattresses tight were used well into the early days of this country. I remember reading that since these beds were very likely the most expensive thing in the house, one tool that was always carried by firefighters was a bed key, to loosen the ropes and disasemble the bed for removal. Saving the bed was seen as a very valuable community service at the time.

[IzzyEng4 427]

But you still didn't answer why are they called apartments when they area close together and why do we drive on a park way and park in a drive why!

LOL

I heard a bunch of these before, always gives me a good chuckle and wow!

[Remember585 815]

RWC130 is OFFICIALLY the King of Pointless Stuff!

Congrats Rob!!! LOL

I like reading this stuff, true or not.

And more importantly, Coke has been green. It just happens to do that AFTER I drink it and it passes.....

[SteveOFD 176]

AND

Why is a Ladder Company's apparatus called a "Truck" when both Ladders and Engines are trucks?

AND

Why is an Engine Company's apparatus called an "Engine" when both Engines and Ladders have engines?

lol

[Guest]

AND

Why is a Ladder Company's apparatus called a "Truck" when both Ladders and Engines are trucks?

AND

Why is an Engine Company's apparatus called an "Engine" when both Engines and Ladders have engines?

lol

←

This is what I THOUGHT and someone can correct me if im wrong....

The first one, Theres two terms....Fire engine & Firet truck. The acctual engine being called Engine b/c it has the pump and the the other kind of rig having a ladder just being called the other term left....The truck. Making it the engine and the truck.

The second one, I thought it came from the steam engine and as time went on kept calling it the engine.

NOW, MY question is.....

Where does the term "quint" come from. I know what it means but how did it come about? lol.

[SRS131EMTFF 471]

Maybe because it was the "quint"essential fire truck

Or

Because it had the five or quint fire fighting applications

[xfirefighter484x 234]

Did You Know???

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England , when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."

It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

←

ACTUALLY, this saying came from the only print-type machines. On the days you had to manually set the letters, you would set them facing upside down, so the print would be right-side up. SO, a lower-case "p" upside down would look like a "q", and vice versa.

Therefore, you have to mind your "p's and q's" to make sure you didn't come up with the wrong letters in the sentence.

Whats even more sad is when you know some of these without having to look them up (i.e. my posting).

Edited June 16, 2007 by xfirefighter484x

[AFS1970 504]

Quint, Quad & Tripple Combination Pumper all have their roots in the same set of functions. In the early days of hand drawn and later horse drawn apparatus, most had single functions. The Pumper was just a pump, and the hose wagon brought the Hose. Storage tanks didn't come about until the Chemical Engines. As motorization began and weight was less of a problem, these functions got combined.

A Tripple Combination Pumper has a Pump, Carries Hose, And has a Booster Tank.

A Quad adds Ground Ladders into the mix.

A Quint adds an Aerial Ladder as the 5th function.

I was once given a glossary of Firefighting terms that I was told were for a fire dispatch class. I saw Tripple Combination Pumper on the list but had never heard the term. I asked a senior member of my department what it was and he laughed at me and told me we had three of them sitting downstairs. The term is so out of date and out of use that I hadn't realized that almost every Fire Engine made is actually a Tripple Combination Pumper.

[Guest pentax02839]

some very intresting items i must say