Another wonderful birthday!  Did You Know…? is Eight Years Old!

This time of year is so wonderfully special!  Not only do we get to begin our year-end holidays, I get to celebrate another birthday!

No, not my own, that was a couple of weeks ago.  I’m talking about the column’s birthday.  This week, my silly writings turn eight years old!

Back in 2016, I had no idea that the trivia column would still be going strong, and getting more readers each week.  To those who are joining us now, I welcome you!  To those who’ve been with me since the beginning, I thank you and I appreciate you!

I also wonder how you’ve kept your sanity through all of this.  

Thank you for making these last eight years wonderful.  Let’s start another eight right now!

Did you know …

… India has the largest postal network in the world?  The nation has more than 150,000 post offices.  However, it is also not unusual for a letter mailed to a destination less than 50 miles away to take more than two weeks to arrive.  (I have a line I could use, but I’d have to mail it to myself.  Wonder when it’ll get here?)

… every Treasurer of the United States since 1946 has been a woman?  In fact, one of them used a dollar bill to solve a check-cashing problem.  Rosario Marín (born 1958), who served from 2001 to 2003, was trying to cash a check at a grocery store but had neglected to bring her I.D.  Marín asked the clerk if he had a dollar bill available, and pointed to her signature engraved on the bill as Treasurer of the United States.  Noting that it matched the signature on the check, the clerk cashed Marín’s check.  (Ingenuity.  You have to admire it.)

… the first coast-to-coast airplane flight in the U.S. was made in 1911?  Piloted by Calbraith Perry Rodgers (1879-1912), the flight began on the East Coast on September 17, 1911, and ended 49 days later on the West Coast on November 5, 1911.  Amazingly, the total time in the air was only three days, 10 hours, 14 minutes.  In between the 70 individual “hops” of the flight, the Wright biplane Rodgers was flying had to be repaired so often that by the time the trip ended, the only parts of the plane that were original were the drip pan and the vertical rudder.  (And the pilot, of course.)

… the city of Atlanta, Georgia has 71 streets with the word “Peachtree” in their name?  Guess what you will not find in Atlanta – an actual peach tree.  None exist within the city limits.  (Ever try growing a tree in a city?  It ain’t easy.)

… at one time, dog collars did more than help identify dogs?  During the early 1950s, a fad started among teenage girls with dog collars being worn on their ankles.  If the teen was “spoken for,” or had a boyfriend, the dog collar would be worn around the right ankle.  If the girl was single, it would be around the left ankle.  (When they got married, they’d attach the collar to the man’s neck, and stick a heavy iron ball on a chain to it as well.)

… the hyperinflation in Germany following World War I was incredible?  I’ll give you one example.  In 1923, when the financial situation in the country was at its worst, the inflation rate was 3.25 million percent per month.  Translated into figures I can handle, that means prices in the country doubled every 49 hours.  (I try so hard not to do political humor here, but sometimes the urge is overwhelming.)

… we are all living in the past?  Bear with me a moment.  The human brain does not process and perceive events until around 80 milliseconds after they have happened.  Thus, even your brain is living in the immediate past, and there is no such thing as “now.”  (Chew on that a while.  Oh, you already did.)

… the iconic look of a superhero was originally something completely different?  When artist Bob Kane (1915-1998) created the comic strip superhero Batman in 1939, he originally envisioned the Dark Knight with a vastly different outfit – a red suit and a domino mask.  But Kane’s partner, Bill Finger (1914-1974), talked him out of that, creating instead a black suit and mask.  Finger also created much of the Batman mythos – Bruce Wayne, Gotham City, the Joker, and other elements now recognized as part of the world of Batman were in fact created by Finger, though Kane claimed all credit for the character and work until very late in his life.  (Holy narcissism, Batman!)

… when you dream determines, in part, the quality of the dream?  According to those who study such things, dreams that take place in REM sleep tend to be more bizarre and detailed, and even have story lines.  By contrast, dreams which take place in stages 1 or 2 of sleep are shorter and simpler.  The dreams we have in the deepest of sleep, though, are diffused and messy, and may even focus only on a color or emotion.  (That explains a lot of my dreams.)

… the political figure who survived the most assassination attempts died of old age?  Fidel Castro (1926-2016), who led the revolution that took over Cuba in 1959, survived more than six hundred attempted assassinations during his lifetime.  After all those tries, Castro died at the age of 90 – of natural causes.  (Yeah, that figures.)

… a popular jazz concerto was written because of forgetfulness?  In 1924, composer George Gershwin (1898-1937) performed the concerto “Rhapsody in Blue” for the first time.  Gershwin had written the concerto in a fast five weeks, after he read a newspaper article saying he was scheduled to debut a new concerto at a concert in New York by bandleader Paul Whiteman (1890-1967).  The problem was, Gershwin had totally forgotten about Whiteman’s concert until he read the article, so he scrambled to get something composed, and ended up with the beautiful “Rhapsody in Blue.”  (Love that piece of music.  I’m glad Gershwin forgot.)

Now … you know!