Common Myths Here are some widely held misconceptions that fly in the face of truth. ▶▶ Despite being associated with Chinese cuisine, fortune cookies were actually invented in Japan – not China. ▶▶ Abner Doubleday did not invent baseball, nor did it originate in Cooperstown, New York. It is believed to have evolved from other batand-ball games such as cricket and took its first modern form in New York City. ▶▶ The expression “rule of thumb” did not originate from a law allowing a man to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. There is no evidence that such a law ever existed, and the true origin of the saying is unknown. ▶▶ In ancient Rome, a “vomitorium” was the entrance through which crowds entered and exited a stadium – not a special room for purging foods during meals. ▶▶ Most scholars believe that Marie Antoinette did not say “let them eat cake” when she heard that the French peasantry were starving. The phrase was first published when Antoinette was just nine years old and, while she became an unpopular ruler, it’s unlikely that she spoke the exact words commonly attributed to her. ▶▶ The Great Chicago Fire of 1871 was not caused by Mrs. O’Leary’s cow kicking over a lantern. A newspaper reporter invented the story to make colourful copy. ▶▶ George Washington did not have wooden teeth. His dentures were made of gold, ivory and animal teeth. It has been suggested that he may even have purchased teeth from some of his slaves. ▶▶ Meteorites are not necessarily hot when they reach the Earth’s surface. Some have allegedly been found with frost on them. ▶▶ Bulls are not enraged by the colour red used in capes by professional matadors. Cattle are dichromats (colour blind), so red does not stand out as a bright colour. Rather, the matador’s manipulation of the cape is a perceived threat that incites a bull to charge. ▶▶ Humans cannot catch warts from toads. The bumps on a toad are not warts. Warts on human skin are caused byhuman papillomavirus. Answers to Outside the Box Puzzles from page 52 1. Ringleader 2. Roll with the punches 3. Scatterbrained 4. Sitting Bull 5. Sleep on it 6. Speak of the devillightning Fast Facts Who Knew... •• Gnurr is the actual name of the lint that collects in the bottom of your pockets. •• Women have been found to blink more often than men. •• The electric chair was invented by a dentist. •• The “dot” over the letter “i” is called a tittle. •• Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur. •• Hummingbirds are the only animals that can fly backwards. •• An ostrich’s eye is bigger than its brain. •• A cat has 32 muscles in each ear. •• The plastic things on the ends of shoelaces are called aglets. •• On the ground, a group of geese is a gaggle but in the sky, it’s a skein. •• It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open. •• Peanuts are an ingredient in dynamite. •• The lighter was invented before the match. •• An elephant’s tooth can weigh as much as 12 lbs. •• Alexander the Great was able to remember all of the names of the 30,000 soldiers in his army. •• Mozart was able to play and write down all of the notes from a song which he had heard just once. •• Winston Churchill knew almost all of William Shakespeare’s works by heart. •• Bill Gates can remember hundreds of different codes of the programming language which he designed. •• Teddy Roosevelt could recite entire newspaper pages. •• The late Stephen Hawking had an IQ of 160, the same as that of Einstein. •• Kim Peek, the original Rain Man, was said to have memorized every word of every book that he had ever read, which numbered around 9,000. •• At 15 years old, Louis Braille invented the Braille system of raised dots as a system of language for the visually impaired. By the NUMBERS… 80.5% of Canadian homes have internet. 11 is the number of points on the Canadian flag’s maple leaf. 77% of the world’s maple syrup is produced in Quebec. 15,500 of the world’s 25,000 polar bears are found in Canada. 2.4million caribou live in Canada. 20% of the world’s freshwater is in Canada. 31% of Canada is covered in forests. 1.5% of the world’s food is produced in Canada. 10 Canadians have been Nobel Prize laureates. 200,000 pancakes are served during the Calgary Stampede. 23.4 pounds of cheese per person are consumed by Canadians annually. 7,500 varieties of apples are grown worldwide. GREAT MINDS 58 | www.snowbirds.org
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