In the spirit of the Holidays!

In the spirit of the holidays, here are some fun holiday facts:

*It is believed the Druids lit fires on Halloween (just like how we light candles inside pumpkins) to ward off evil spirits.

*The tradition of bobbing for apples and lighting candles inside pumpkins came from the Romans.

*In 1995, 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate were sold for Valentine's Day.

*The world record for the most people kissed is held by Alfred Wolfram of Minnesota who kissed 11,030 people in 8 hours, at a festival in 1998.

*Wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of your left hand because people used to believe that the vein in this finger goes directly to your heart.

*In Germany there are many different characters for Christmas. Nikolaus comes on December 5th and on December 24th when the actual opening of the gifts is happening ,they have been brought either by Knecht Ruprecht, Weihnachtsmann, or the Christkindl, (Christ child) wich is an angelic child dressed in a white and or golden dress much like a long nightgown. It has wings, and has usually a small horse or a donkey as a companion.

*In Yemen, children went from house to house, tins in hand, to collect wicks for the Chanukah Menorah.

*In Germany, the eighth and last night of Chanukah used to be very special. All the leftover wicks and oil were lit in giant bonfires. People sang songs and danced around the fire, often until the small hours of the night.

*"Silent Night" was first sung as part of a church service in Austria. A guitar was used because the church organ was so badly rusted it couldn't be played.

*Guatemalan adults do not exchange Christmas gifts until New Year's Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Child) on Christmas morning.

*When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied his servant, Black , who is responsible for actually dropping the presents down their recipients' chimneys He also punishes bad children by putting them in a bag and carrying them away to Spain.

*The popular Christmas song "Jingle Bells" was actually written for Thanksgiving. The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh".
Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991.

*Christmas has different meanings around the world; Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and strawberry shortcake.

*Many of the traditions associated with Christmas (giving gifts, lighting a Yule log, singing carols, decorating an evergreen) date back to older religions.

*In 1647, the English parliament passed a law made Christmas illegal. The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral, banned the Christmas festivities. The ban was lifted only when Cromwell lost power in 1660.

Fastinating Facts

• A duck's quake, doesn't echo. ( No one knows why this is)
  


• On Average, 100 people choke on ballpoint pens every year. ( This has taught me not to chew on ballpoint pens.. ever.)
  


• On average, people are more afraid of spiders than death.
  


• A snail can sleep for 3 years. ( I didn't even know snails slept!)
  


• Our eyes are always the same from birth, but our nose and ears keep growing.
  


• Typewriter, is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
  


• Butterflies taste with their feet.
  


• 90% of New York cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.
  


• 35 % of people that use personal ads for dating, are already married.

Strange Facts

• Every year, kids in North America spend close to half a billion dollars on chewing gum!
  


• One gallon of used motor oil can ruin approximately one million gallons of fresh water!
  


• Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin! (Ew that's disgusting!)
  


• Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women! (Sorry men, that's quite unfortunate)
  


• A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans! (Who would have known!)
  


• Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they cant find any food! ( But then if they eat themselves, wouldn't they be dead? So in the end, is it worth it?)
  


• The average American/Canadian drinks about 600 sodas a year!
  


• Over 10,000 birds a year die from smashing into windows! (Those poor birds, couldn't even see what was coming.)
  


• Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
  


• The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year!
  


• Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand!
  


• The electric chair was invented by a dentist! (That's odd.)

Different Random Facts

• There are no clocks in Las Vegas Casinos. ( This must be so that no one can be looking at the time and that way they spend more of their time at the casinos... smarrttt.)



• The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. ( It was the style in the Renaissance to shave them off. Well the style has changed.. I don't think any person would shave their eyebrows.. unless it was a dare.)



• The most popular name in the world is Muhammad.



• Tablecloths were orginally meant to serve as towels to wipe your mouth and hands during the meal. (That doesn't sound like very good table manners to me.)



• In Iceland, tipping at a resturant is considered an insult!



• Forest fires move faster uphill then downhill. (So what exactly does this mean?)



• Most lipsticks contain fish scales. (This makes me think twice before wearing lipstick.)



• The first product to contain a barcode was Wrigley's gum!



• Porcupines actually float in water.



• "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog". This sentence uses every letter of the alphabet!

Crime and Law

Did YOU know....

• In Cleveland, Ohio it's illegal to catch a mouse without a hunting license?
  


• Two-thirds of the world's executions occur in China? (Now what does that tell us about China?)
  


• Duelling is legal in Paraguay only if both parties are registered blood donors?
  


• You're 66 times more likely to be prosecuted in the USA as in France?
  


• In September 2004, a Minnesota state trooper issued a speeding ticket to a motorcyclist who was clocked at 205 mph? (That is an ubsurd speed for a motorcyclist. I can't believe he didn't crash or would have the courage to ride that fast anyway.)
  


• In Scotland, children as young as 8 can be guilty of crimes? (Now really what type of crimes could 8 year old's be commiting? Riding their bikes on the wrong side of the sidewalk?)
  


• Donald Duck comics were once banned from Finland because Donald doesn't wear pants? (He's a duck, ducks don't wear clothes anyways. Get Real...)
  


• Bubblegum is forbidden in Singapore? (Why would anyone ban Bubblegum! That's crazy!)
  


• Drunk drivers in Taiwan can choose their penalty? (Now does that really sound all that fair? I don't think so...)
  


• In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death? (Cats musts have been sacred to the ancient Egyptians)
  


• A person's chances of being mugged in London are much higher than in New York City?
  


• On average, each day about 20 banks are robbed in the world?

Unsual United States

Did you know that.....

• At the top of a skyscraper in New York, it is possible to see snow falling compared to the rain that people on the ground see. ( This is something that would be pretty exciting to experience!)
  


• The most popular trip activity to Americans is shopping.


• The only living coral reefs are in the Florida Keys.
  


• The state of Maryland has no natural lakes.
  


• George W. Bush and John Kerry are related. ( Hmmmm... interesting...)
  


• Alaska's state motto is "North to the Future".
  


• Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were roommates at Harvard.
  


• The first phonebook was published in New Haven, Connecticut with 50 names. It was only a page.
  


• American's throw away 44 Million newspapers a day. ( What a waste! If you don't want them don't get them!)
  


• The twin towers of the World Trade Center had 208 elevators.
  


• The average number of tornadoes each year is 800.
  


• New York was the first capital of the US.
  


• Maryland is home to 10 different kinds of bats. ( Never ever knew that!!!!)
  


• American's gamble more money each year than they spend on groceries. (I really don't think thats such a good thing.)

Animal Facts

*No two zebras have the same striped pattern. (Who would ever take the time to study zebra strips?)

*An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.


*Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.


*The longest recorded life span of a tapeworm was 35 years!


*A cockroach can live up to nine days without it's head before it starves to death.


*The flea can jump up to 350 times its body length. For a human, that would be equivalent to jumping the length of a entire football field.


*The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.


* A cat's urine glows under a black light. (I wonder who thought this one up)


* The female mite creates her own husband from scratch. She lays eggs that turn into adults without needing to be fertilised. The mother then copulates with her sons within three of four days of laying the eggs, after which the sons die rather quickly. ( Now what if this could happen with humans.. we could all create our ideal husbands!!! :)


* SNAILS have 14175 teeth laid along 135 rows on their tongue. ( Who has time to count these things out!?)

*Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

*A dog can hear sounds 250 yards away. ( If only we had ears like dogs.. oh the things we could hear... )

Did you know..

The total weight of all the worlds ants is more than the total weight of all the people?

Dolphins sleep with one eye open?

A grizzly bear give birth while in their winter sleep?

Coincidence Between Presidents

Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846.
John F. Kennedy was elected to Congress in 1946.

Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1860.
John F. Kennedy was elected President in 1960.

Both wives lost their children while living in the White House.

Both Presidents were shot on a Friday.
Both Presidents were shot in the head.

Lincoln's secretary was named Kennedy.
Kennedy's secretary was named Lincoln.

Both were assassinated by Southerners.
Both were succeeded by Southerners named Johnson.

Andrew Johnson, who succeeded Lincoln, was born in 1808.
Lyndon Johnson, who succeeded Kennedy, was born in 1908.

John Wilkes Booth, who assassinated Lincoln, was born in 1839.
Lee Harvey Oswald, who assassinated Kennedy, was born in 1939.

Both assassins were known by their three names.
Both names are composed of fifteen letters.

Lincoln was shot at the theater named 'Ford.'
Kennedy was shot in a car called a 'Lincoln' made by Ford.

Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse.
Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater.
Booth and Oswald were assassinated before their trials!

And here's the kicker: A week before Lincoln was shot, he was in Monroe, Maryland.
A week before Kennedy was shot, he was with Marilyn Monroe.

I was very hesitant to believe this information at first. How could their presidency be so similar! It's an unexplained mystery.

Dumb Law's Cont.

Now there are laws that are actually useful and logical but then there are those laws that are just like, "What the heck!?" Last blog I posted some of the craziest up surd laws in the U.S. As I went through I thought to myself, if law-makers didn't spend so much time making some of these dumb laws, then maybe they could concentrate on laws that actually make sense and could protect people.

While in Maryland there were some laughable laws, some of them actually did make somewhat sense. Supposedly in Baltimore it is illegal to take a lion to the movies. Now in reality, who would really take a lion to the movies? And if someone actually did happen to for some weird reason, theres no need to make a law out of it.

In Cumblerland, it is illegal to use profane language on a playground. Now this one actually does make sense. Most people that are on a playground are young children. It's not really respectful to use crude language on a playground in front of the younger children.

In Rockville, citizens are not allowed to swim in public fountains. Again, this one actually does make sense. It's not only dangerous but it's also private property.

Some of the laws that I read might have in fact been totally not true, but if they were it was a ridiculous amount of time to make them.

Dumb Laws

Dumb Laws in the United States that are true.... but are laughable.

In Alabama: - It is illegal to wear a fake moustache that causes laughter in church.
- It is legal to drive the wrong way down a one-way street if you have a lantern attached to the front of your automobile.
-Lee County: It is illegal to sell peanuts in Lee County after sundown on Wednesday.
-You may not have an ice cream cone in your back pocket at any time.
-You cannot chain your alligator to a fire hydrant.

In Alaska: - It is considered an offense to push a live moose out of a moving airplane.
- Moose may not be viewed from an airplane.

In Arizona: - Donkeys cannot sleep in bathtubs.
- It is illegal for men and women over the age of 18 to have less than one missing tooth visible when smiling.

In Arkansas: - A law provides that school teachers who bob their hair will not get a raise.
- Flirtation between the members of the opposite sex on the streets of Little Rock may result in a 30-day jail term.
- It's illegal to mispronounce the name of the state of Arkansas in that state.

In California: - Baldwin Park: Nobody is allowed to ride a bicycle in a swimming pool.
- In California you may not set a mouse trap without a hunting license.

In Colorado: - Logan County: It is illegal for a man to kiss a woman while she is asleep.
- Pueblo: It is illegal to let a dandelion grow within the city limits.

In Connecticut: - A pickle is not officially a pickle unless it bounces
- Devon: It is unlawful to walk backwards after sunset.
-In Hartford, Connecticut, it is illegal to kiss your wife on Sunday.
-Southington: Silly string is banned.

In Delaware: -In Delaware you may not sell dead people for money without a license.

In Florida: - It is illegal to sing in a public place while attired in a swimsuit.
- In Florida, unmarried women who parachute on Sundays may be jailed

In Georgia: -In Quitman, It is illegal for a chicken to cross the road. ( Why didn't the chicken cross the road??? CAUSE IT WAS ILLEGAL!)
- It is illegal to say "Oh, Boy" in Jonesboro

In Hawaii: - You will be fined if you do not own a boat.
- Coins are not allowed to be placed in one's ears.

In Idaho:-Riding a merry-go-round on Sundays is considered a crime.

Illionis: -According to state law, it is illegal to speak English. The officially recognized language is "American".
- Eureka: A man with a moustache may not kiss a woman.

Indiana:- Back in 1924, a monkey was convicted in South Bend of the crime of smoking a cigarette and sentenced to pay a 25 dollar fine and the trial costs.

Iowa:- Ottumwa: Within the city limits, a man may not wink at any woman he does not know.
- Indianola: The "Ice Cream Man" and his truck are banned.

Kansas:- Topeka: The installation of bathtubs is prohibited.
-In Natoma, Kansas, it's illegal to throw knives at men wearing striped suites. (But it's okay to throw knives at everyother man.)

Kentucky:- In Kentucky every citizen of is required to take a shower once a year.

Louisiana:- It is illegal to rob a bank and then shoot at the bank teller with a water pistol.
- Snoring is prohibited unless all bedroom windows are closed and securely locked.

Maine:- In Portland shoelaces must be tied while walking down the street
-After January 14th you will be charged a fine for having your Christmas decorations still up.

Maryland:- It is a violation to be in a public park with a sleeveless shirt. $10 fine.
- Ocean City: A law from the early 1900's prohibits men from going topless on the Boardwalk.

Massachusetts: -It is illegal to frighten a pigeon.
-It is illegal to reproach Jesus Christ or the holy ghost

Michigan:- A Michigan law states that a wife's hair legally belongs to her husband.
- It is legal for a robber to file a law suit, if he or she got hurt in your house.

Minnesota: - Minnesota has repealed its so-called "Twinkie" law, under which a Minneapolis City Council candidate was indicted for dispensing $34 worth of Twinkies, Ho-Hos, cookies, Kool-Aid and coffee to some senior citizens.
- There is a 10 cent bounty for each rat's head brought into a town office.

Mississippi: -In Temperance, MS, you can't walk a dog without dressing it in diapers.

Missouri: -Purdy: Dancing is strictly prohibited.

Maybe if the states weren't so busy with creating the most ridiclous laws, they could be using their time to be doing something actually worth their time.