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Churchill, Winston
  • In 1915, Winston Churchill fought in the front line trenches before he became the Minister of Munitions. Thanx Shadey66
  • Although the two-finger V for Victory sign is synonymous with Winston Churchill, it actually was the idea of a Belgian refugee in London, Victor De Laveleye
  • Lady Astor once told Winston Churchill ‘if you were my husband, I would poison your coffee’. His reply ‘ if you were my wife, I would drink it!’

Christmas
  • The word Christmas comes from Cristes maesse, or “Christ’s Mass.”  The abbreviation X-mas originated from the word Christ, which in Greek is chi, and also identical to the letter ‘X’
  • Why on the 25th of December? In the time of Christ, there was a common Jewish belief that the prophets died on the on the same date as their conception. According to certain calculations, Christ was crucified on 25 March, thus signifying His conception. 9 months after 25th March is the 25th December. Others say that the celebration date was set to replace popular pagan winter solstice celebrations
  • Christmas was only celebrated 440 years after Jesus died
  • The twelve days of Christmas represent the time it took the wise men to visit the manger of Jesus
  • The use of evergreen “Christmas” trees during winter celebrations is actually pre-Christian
  • The first decorated Christmas tree was in Riga, Latvia in 1510
  • Most artificial trees are manufactured in Korea, Taiwan, or Hong Kong, where Christians are the minority
  • Teddy Roosevelt banned the Christmas tree from the White House for environmental reasons
  • English Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell banned Christmas between 1647 and 1660 because he believed such celebrations were immoral for the holiest day of the year
  • In Australia, the postal service says that approximately 120,000 letters are addressed to Santa yearly
  • Santa has 2 addresses: Letters addressed to “Toyland” or “Snowland” go to Edinburgh and those to the “North pole” actually go to the North pole
  • Father Christmas, was based on St. Nicholas who is also the patron saint of pawnbrokers among many of his patronage
  • 3 years after Edison invented the light bulb, he was presented with the first Christmas tree bulbs
  • Santa’s reindeers took their name from the poem “A visit from St. Nicholas”

cocaine
  • The first step in making cocaine is actually soaking the plant in karosene

Napolean Bonaparte
  • After periods of warring and especially after victories, Napoleon would send messengers home to tell of his success and to tell his wife not to wash herself until he got home. He apparently liked the sweat

ipod
  • In 2006, 2 in 3 mp3 players were iPods
  • The iPod chip is not produced by Apple. It is from Portal Player
  • The designer of the iPod, Jonathan Ive, was voted more influential than JK Rowlings
  • The Queen owned her i-Pod in June 2005

bikini
  • The modern bikini was actually invented by a male French engineer, of all people
  • The bikini was named after an Atomic bomb testing site at the Bikini Atoll

smoking
  • Over 4,000 chemicals are found in cigarette smoke
  • Among 1,000 young men who smoke: 1 will be murdered, 6 will die in traffic accidents, 250 will die from smoking-related diseases. Cigarettes are the leading cause of FIRE death in the United States
  • The earliest recorded case of a man giving up smoking was on April 5, 1679, when Johan Katsu, Sheriff of Turku, Finland, wrote in his diary “I quit smoking tobacco.” He died one month later

fortune cookies
  • The fortune cookie was invented in 1916 by George Jung, a Los Angeles noodlemaker

time
  • In most comic strips and magazine advertisments, the time on the clock is 10:10

Seinfield
  • In every episode of TV’s Seinfeld, there is a Superman somewhere in at least one scene. (There’s plastic figurine on the shelf in the dining area, and a magnetic Superman on the fridge!)


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