Nepal is the only country without a rectangular flag (it looks like two pennants – one glued on top of the other).
http://www.flags.net/country.php?country=NEPA§ion=CURR&category=NATL
Libya has the only flag which is all one color with no writing or decoration on it
http://www.flags.net/country.php?country=LBYA§ion=CURR&category=NATL
In 2001, Brazil announced it would issue a postage stamp smelling like coffee to help identify the product with Brazil. They did…
http://www.latinamericanstudies.org/brazil/stamp.htm
The idea for the HULA HOOP came from bamboo rings used by Australian children for exercise. Wham-O, Inc. sold 25 million of them in four months.
http://www.wham-o.com/default.cfm?page=AboutUsHistory
In 1957, the original FRISBEE came on the market as the “Pluto Platter”.
http://www.wham-o.com/default.cfm?page=AboutUsHistory
The SUPERBALL toy was created by Norman Stingley, a chemical engineer, in the early 1960’s quite by accident.
http://www.wham-o.com/default.cfm?page=AboutUsHistory
Note: HULA HOOP, FRISBEE AND SUPERBALL are all registered trademarks of Wham-O, Inc. (I just thought I should mention that…)
In 2004, it was estimated that there were 1,752,183,600 mobile cellular phones in the world. In 2005, almost 194.5 million of them were in the United States.
https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/rankorder/2151rank.html
[Stated “fact”: Cyanoacrylate glues (Super glues) were invented by accident. The researcher was trying to make optical coating materials, and would test their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them. When he tried the cyanoacrylate, he couldn't get the prisms apart.]
The rest of the story…
Originally in 1942, scientists were just trying to find a material they could use to make clear gun sights but the cyanocrylates were rejected because they stuck to everything. Then in 1951, Eastman Kodak researchers rediscovered the cyanocrylates – apparently pretty much as described above - and figured out what they’d be good for.
http://www.supergluecorp.com/history.html
http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/msuperglue.html
Acetone – commonly found in fingernail polish remover – will dissolve Super Glue from stuck fingers. Click here to learn more about Super Glue removal:
http://www.supergluecorp.com/removingsuperglue.html
Would ya like a really BIG Kiss? “The World's Largest HERSHEY'S KISSES Brand Chocolate stood six feet and nine inches tall, six-and-a-half feet wide, and weighed 6,759 pounds”.
http://www.hersheys.com/kisses/about/funfacts.asp?id=7
The raised round reflective dots in the middle of highways are called Bott’s dots.
http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/paffairs/faq/faq63.htm
Microwave ovens (originally “radar ranges’) got their beginning when an engineer (Percy Spencer) at Raytheon was working with some radar equipment at Raytheon and noticed that the candy bar in his pocket had melted.
http://howthingswork.virginia.edu/microwave_ovens.html
http://www.americanheritage.com/articles/magazine/it/2005/4/2005_4_48.shtml
Think computers are a fairly recent invention? Think again. The first crude “computer” was built in 1623 and used sprocketed wheels to perform addition. And yes, the UNIVAC I from Remington Rand was the first commercially available electronic computer. The U.S. Bureau of Census got the first one in 1951.
http://www.cs.cuw.edu/museum/Schickard.html
http://www.library.upenn.edu/exhibits/rbm/mauchly/jwm11.html
The first friction match (developed in 1827) could ignite explosively, smelled bad and were sold as “lucifers”.
http://chemistry.about.com/od/everydaychemistry/a/matches.htm
The first ball point pen sold in the U.S. was the Reynold’s Rocket. It went on sale at Gimble’s Department Store in New York City on October 29, 1945 for $12.50 each (equivalent to about $130 in today’s money).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ball_point_pen
http://inventors.about.com/library/weekly/aa101697.htm
The “Golden Gate Bridge” name has nothing to do with the color of the bridge. It was named for the Golden Gate Strait which is the entrance to the San Francisco Bay from the Pacific Ocean.
http://goldengatebridge.org/research/facts.php
The checkered tablecloth originated as a calculating device (the exchequer) in England a long time ago. “Counters” were moved to accomplish the computations – similar to an abacus.
http://www.fordham.edu/halsall/source/excheq1.html
A guitar pick is properly called a plectrum. But not by anybody I know…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plectrum
Even though Thomas Crapper commonly (and erroneously) gets the credit for inventing the toilet flush mechanism, Alexander Cummings should probably get much of the thanks for his creativeness way back in 1775 even though a rudimentary system apparently was developed long before that in the late 1500’s.
http://www.plumbingworld.com/historyroman.html
Speaking of toilets and the late 1500’s, Sir John Harington is believed to have designed a basic toilet with a flush valve and a wash-down design to empty the bowl. Perhaps there really is a reason we commonly refer to a toilet as “the John”…
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flush_toilet
There are 1,860 steps from street level to the 102nd floor of the Empire State Building. The ESB gets hit by lightening about 100 times a year.
The first bent-wire paper clip was patented by Samuel B. Faye in 1867. The “Gem” design in common use today was first advertised in 1892.
http://www.officemuseum.com/paper_clips.htm
The first electric toaster was marketed by General Electric Company in 1909. It only cooked the bread one side at a time. Oooops… careful with the bread flip…
http://www.toaster.org/museum.html
Speaking of firsts, the first interlocking zipper was invented by Gideon Sundback in 1913 (“Hookless Fastener”) and patented in 1917 as the “Separable Fastener”. The name “zipper” was created by B. F. Goodrich Company in 1923.
http://www.ideafinder.com/history/inventions/zipper.htm
The world’s tallest building is presently (4/06) the Taipei 101, measuring in at 1,469.8 ft to the roof – and 1,666.7 ft to the tip of the spire.
http://www.skyscraperpage.com/cities/?buildingID=18
[Stated “fact”: Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.] Yep, they probably will…
http://www.dykemarubberband.com/info.php
And by the way - the rubber band was patented in England in 1845 by Stephen Perry.
http://www.rubberband.com/about_funtrivia.htm
[Stated “fact”: Leonardo Da Vinci invented the
scissors.] Nope. Scissors (or shears) have been found that date back
to 1500 BC.
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blscissors.htm
[Stated “fact”: The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.] Afraid not. Samuel Clemens wrote “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” in longhand.
http://etext.lib.virginia.edu/railton/tomsawye/tomms.html
http://www.mostateparks.com/twainsite.htm
Apparently though, Samuel Clemens was likely the first author to submit a typed manuscript to a publisher (transcribed from a hand-written manuscript). This was “Life on the Mississippi” - 1883
http://home.earthlink.net/~dcrehr/firsttw.html
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