Did you Know … Was one of the Founding Fathers actually a British Spy?

This is a special week for me, and it augurs of an even more special week next year.

Forty-nine years ago this week, I graduated from high school. Walking across the stage for Spencer High School in Columbus, Georgia, I had no idea what awaited me, but even if I did know, I’d have gone right ahead. The events of my youth have made me what I am today. Boy, if that isn’t a loaded comment, I don’t know what is.

Looking forward to my high school class’ 50th reunion next year, and looking forward to you enjoying this week’s trivial collection!

Did you know …

… “Uncle Sam” may have been a real person? The roots of the iconic emblem of the United States can be traced back to the War of 1812, when a military supplier named Samuel Wilson (1766-1854) stenciled the letters “U.S.” on cases of meat rations he shipped to the Army. Though the “U.S.” meant United States, some thought it meant “Uncle Sam” Wilson, who was feeding the Army. The popular image of Uncle Sam – patriotic top hat, white goatee, etc. – didn’t surface until just before World War I, however. (But boy, when he showed up, he was ready!)

… it is possible to create an eight-word sentence using just one word? Before you go get the butterfly net to capture me, read on. A grammatically correct sentence in American English, the sentence “Buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo buffalo buffalo Buffalo buffalo” uses homonyms and homophones to say: “Bison from Buffalo, New York, who are bullied by other bison in their community, also happen to bully other bison in their community.” (Try it and see.)

… a species of lizard bears a striking resemblance to a comic superhero? The rock agama of Kenya has a unique color pattern of a red head and shoulders, with a blue body, legs and tail – almost exactly like the colors in the costume of the superhero Spider-Man. In fact, the resemblance is so uncanny that the lizard is popularly known as the Spider-Lizard. The rock agama can also change color, run on its hind legs, and climb walls easily. (What it can’t do, of course, is “spin a web any size, catching thieves just like flies.”)

… the ancient Egyptian word for “cat” was pronounced “meow”? The hieroglyphic symbol for cat was made up of three pictograms, pronounced in order “me-i-ow.” (Somehow, that makes sense to me.)

… one of the most beloved of America’s Founding Fathers was actually a British spy? Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790) was identified as Agent 72 and listed under the code name “Moses” in British files on the American War of Independence when those files were declassified in 2004. Franklin was probably the most intelligent of the Founding Fathers, and was the only one who had actually studied what America would need to become an independent nation – and one thing necessary, in his view, was becoming a maritime trading nation. 

Franklin understood that without maritime trade, the fledgling United States would not be able to financially sustain itself, so by spying for the British, he was able to negotiate the peace deal in the Treaty of Paris in 1783 that persuaded the Royal Navy to not blockade the country. (Ol’ Ben played both sides of the fence against each other and ended up on the $100 bill. Not bad, Ben, not bad at all.)

… the world’s most dangerous animal may not be what you think it is? The title of “most dangerous animal” depends on a lot of factors, of course. But if you ask me, the palm for demonstrating that status goes to the Bronx Zoo in New York. In 1963, the zoo installed an exhibit showing “the most dangerous animal in the world.” Zoo patrons who viewed the exhibit found themselves looking into a mirror. (Subtle.  Very subtle.)

… the first Xerox photocopiers came equipped with tiny fire extinguishers? The Xerox 914, the first successful plain-paper copier introduced in 1959, tended to overheat when operating … so much so that the company began shipping fire extinguishers with the devices. (There’s room here for a line about hot copies, but I’m not going to do it.)

… the first time a bird and an airplane collided in flight was in 1905? Less than two years after the first flight of a heavier-than-air machine, one of its inventors, Orville Wright (1871-1948), collided with a bird in flight. The bird did not survive the encounter.

… the Grand Canyon in Arizona can hold about 900 trillion footballs? (Now that’s the kind of information we need to know!)

… the Internet may be bad for your brain? The research is in its early stages, but some researchers are claiming that the Internet overstimulates the part of the brain involved with temporary memory. That makes deep thinking and creativity more difficult. (The jokes do sometimes write themselves, don’t they?)

… someone on Earth reports seeing an unidentified flying object every three minutes? (I’m of the firm belief that aliens lock their doors when they fly past Earth.)

… the structure of your brain just changed? Every time you learn something new, scientists tell us, the physical structure of your brain changes just a bit. So by reading this, you changed the structure of your gray matter. (The amazing brain!)

… the Sun is very loud? Our parent star emits an incredible amount of sound waves. But you can’t hear them, because there is no air in which to carry the sound in space. (Who knew?)

… Earth is still in the ice age? Yeah, you might not agree, especially on a hot summer day. But technically, we are in an “interglacial period” in the Quaternary glaciation, a period which began about two million years ago. (So chill, everybody, chill.)

Now … you know!

You can reach Jack Bagley at didyouknowcolumn@gmail.com