Did you know … one of the most famous paintings of the Founding Fathers incorrect?

If you will indulge me, I want to use this week’s column introduction to wish my little brother a very happy 66th birthday.

The day the column appears in its home newspapers is my brother Mark’s birthday, so I want to wish many happy returns of the day to my childhood tormentor, protector, and friend.

Mark and I are as opposite as peas and avocados.  He’s an outdoorsy type, who enjoys hunting and fishing … I am a bookworm, happiest indoors and not a big fan of the elements.  I never learned to hunt and haven’t fished in more years than I care to think.  We both retired as teachers, working for many years in the same system – but often, we had to show papers to prove we were related.  We’re that different.

Happy 66th, Mark.  Have 66 more!

Now, on to what you came here for … the trivia.  Enjoy!

Did you know …

… law allows a “right to light” in buildings?  Under English law, the right states that the owner of a building whose windows have received natural daylight for 20 years or more is allowed to prevent any nearby construction that would deprive him or her of that natural illumination.  (I’ll bet that goes over big at planning commission meetings.)

… Coca-Cola saved a town from the Great Depression?  During the Depression, the town of Quincy, Florida, had a banker who suggested that anyone who could should invest in Coca-Cola, which at that time was selling for $19 a share.  The banker said the stock would boom – and brother, did it ever.  At least 67 people in the town of only 7,000 became millionaires when Coke stock skyrocketed, and that made Quincy, Florida, the richest American city per capita.  (They had a Coke and really smiled.)

… your “funny bone” is actually a nerve?  When you bump your elbow just right, you feel that unpleasant tingling sensation – but it’s not because you hit a bone.  What you’ve done is made the humerus bone in your upper arm come in contact with the ulnar nerve.  The minor compression sends the tingling sensation.  Additional trivia note:  the name “funny bone” comes from the name of the upper arm bone, humerus.  (Here I always thought it was because the reaction made people laugh.)

… a popular representation of our Founding Fathers is incorrect?  The iconic painting of the signing of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, by John Trumbull (1756-1843) is so well known it is even depicted on the obverse of the $2 bill.  There are two things wrong with the painting, however.  One is that it isn’t of the signing of the Declaration, it’s of the presentation of the first draft by Thomas Jefferson (1743-1826).  And two … what is depicted never happened in the first place.  Historians note that there was never any time in which all of the delegates to the Continental Convention were together in Philadelphia, as shown in the portrait.  (But it looks so cool on the two-dollar bill!)

… a classic auto in a 1980s television show wasn’t what it appeared to be?  From 1984 to 1989, Miami Vice was one of the top-rated television series 1n America, and one of the classic features was the Ferrari driven by Sonny Crockett, played by Don Johnson (born 1949).  But for the first couple of seasons, the car was not a Ferrari.  It was a Corvette, which was doctored by the crew to look like a Ferrari.  Eventually, a Ferrari Testarossa was given to the show to use.  (Proving once again … you can do just about anything with the right makeup.)

… why saffron is so expensive?  One of the world’s most expensive spices, saffron is a very labor-intensive spice to harvest.  Each saffron flower produces only three slender threads which must be harvested by hand, just after sunrise.  Add to that the fact that saffron has a brief growing season, and you can see why it’s so expensive.  (Not that I would know, or anything.)

… at one time, the U.S. government required car speedometers to show nothing higher than 85 miles per hour?  In 1979, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration instituted a rule that auto, truck and motorcycle speedometers could not show anything higher than 85 mph.  The idea, of course, was to slow cars down and save gasoline.  One of the problems with that rule was the fact that automakers had a stockpile of speedometer dials that went up to 120 mph and higher.  To comply with the silly rule, they simply covered over the numbers above 85 and colored the hash marks differently.  This, too, was a violation of the law, but the NHTSA never bothered to prosecute.  The ridiculous rule had almost no effect on speed or fuel consumption and was repealed in 1982.  (The government was doing a lot of silly stuff back then.)

… there’s more than one way to fix the outcome of an election?  For example, in 1938, voters in Austria were given ballots for an election.  The ballot asked one question:  “Do you approve of the annexation of Austria by Germany as ordered by our Führer, Adolf Hitler?”  The circle for “yes” was three times the size of the circle for “no.”  Hitler (1889-1945) had conducted the Anschluss, or annexation, of Austria into the German Reich on March 13 of that year.  To no one’s surprise, 99.75% of the voters marked the much larger “yes” circle.  (Their government was doing a lot of silly stuff then too.)

… the ocean sunfish lays up to five million eggs at one time?  Most of them – over 99.8% – end up as food for other fish.  (And after laying the eggs, the sunfish says, “Whew!”)

… baby elephants use their trunks as pacifiers?  (Well, they don’t have thumbs, so there’s that.)

Now … you know!