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shoe
  • In 1927, X-rays were used to help people find a fitting shoe. It was known as the Shoe-Fitting Fluoroscope but was later destroyed due to health hazards
  • Shoes were made over 4000 years ago
  • Heels were invented in the Middle East to help lift the foot from the burning sand
  • In 16th and 17th century Europe, heels on shoes were always colored red
  • Sneakers were originally called keds
  • The first lady’s boot was designed for Queen Victoria in 1840
  • Before the 19th century, there wasn’t a left or right shoe. Both sides were identical
  • In Biblical times a sandal was given as a sign of an oath
  • In Hungary the groom drinks a toast to his bride out of her wedding slipper
  • In the Middle Ages a father passed his authority over his daughter to her husband in a shoe ceremony. At the wedding, the groom handed the bride a shoe, which she put on to show she was then his subject

beer
  • There are more than 20,000 brands of beer
  • Beer was created as early as 4,300 BC
  • The egyptians used to have over 100 medicinal purposes for beer
  • The biggest beer fest is Octoberfest. It started out as a wedding ceremony
  • In old Germany, beer was made by monks

Sherlock Holmes
  • The phrase ‘Elementary my dear Watson’ was never mentioned in the Sherlock Holmes books
  • Sherlock means blonde, but the main characters are all dark haired
  • Holmes is modeled after the Scottish physician Joseph Bell
  • Holmes’ famous deerstalker cap was not created by Doyle, but by the illustrator, Sidney Paget
  • “when you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth?” is the most famous true quote written by Conan Doyle
  • Watson has a bullet wound that was first described as being in the shoulder, but in another story the wound had moved to the leg
  • The only woman to have beaten Holmes was Irene Adler
  • Sherlock Holmes believed in Spiritualism, fairies and ghosts, just like his creator and author
  • There are more than 260 movies, 2 musicals and a ballet based on the book
  • In 1964, Sherlock Holmes books were the best sellers second only to the Bible
  • Sherlock abused cocaine and morphine in “The Sign Of Four”

barber
  • In the past, barbers were also surgeons and dentists
  • When a barber finished an operation, he would wrap the bloody bandages around a pole. That is the origin of the red swirled barber pol
  • Barbers are mentioned in the bible. “Now, son of man, take a sharp sword and use it as a barber’s razor to shave your head and your beard.”
  • In England, people were required by law to shave their head or beard
  • Barbers used to give their clients enemas

Mozart
  • Mozart’s full name was Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart
  • Mozart married the sister of the woman he had unsuccessfully courted several years earlier
  • He began composing and performing music at the age of six
  • Mozart died at the age of 35
  • He was an avid traveller. He spent a third of his life travelling
  • Mozart’s grave was desecrated and dug up to make room for more graves
  • Mozart’s skull was presented to the Salzburg Mozerteum by a grave robber. Nobody can confirm the skull belonged to the maestro

Lincoln, Abraham
  • John Wilke Booth’s brother once saved the life of Abraham Lincoln’s son. It took place shortly before Abraham Lincoln’s assassination
  • Lincoln was the first president to be assassinated
  • He was also the tallest president
  • Abraham Lincoln invented and patented a buoyancy adjustment system for steamboats
  • Lincoln was known as a storyteller and jokester, but he also suffered from depression
  • Lincoln used to keep his notes, letters and even his bills in his black tophat

Twinkle twinkle
  • Twinkle twinkle little star has been around for over 200 years
  • The song twinkle twinkle little star is a combination of an English poem “The Star” and a French tune “Ah! vous  dirai-je, Maman”
  • In the French tune, the original lyrics told the story of a girl telling her mother that she was being seduced by a man called “Silvandre”
  • Mozart has also used the tune of twinkle twinkle little star as inspiration for 12 variations of his own work

Crapper, Thomas
  • Contrary to belief, Thomas Crapper did not invent the modern flushing toilet. He did however, patent 3 modifications to the toilet

Olympics
  • The Olympics was once outlawed as a pagan celebration
  • The Olympic torch relay was actually not part of the ancient games but was introduced as part of Nazi propoganda during the 1936 Berlin Olympics
  • In the 1936 Berlin Olympics, only people from the “Aryan race” were allowed to represent Germany. That year, they also topped the medal tally and won the Olympics
  • In the 1956 Melbourne Games, there was a hoax by 9 students where a fake torch made out of a burning pair of underpants and a plum pudding can on the end of a chair leg was presented to the Mayor instead of the Olympic torch
  • The Olympic flame traces back to the original Olympia flame and has never been extinguished (due to several backup fires)
  • The Olympic flame in Olympia, Greece is rekindled every two years using the sun’s rays and a concave reflective mirror
  • At the start of the modern Olympics in 1896, winners were actually awarded Silver instead of Gold
  • The ancient Olympiads only had one race, the first of which was won by a chef. In 2008, there are over 300 events
  • The youngest Olympic athlete participated at the age of 10 (Dimitrios Loundras in 1896) and the oldest was 72 (Oscar Swahn, 1972)
  • The Olympic rings represent the five major regions of the world – Africa, the Americas, Asia, Europe and Oceania
  • Poland’s Stanislawa Walasiewiczowna (Stella Walsh) was the first women to break the 12 second barrier in the 100-meter race at the 1932 Olympics in Los Angeles. She later died in a robbery attempt, after which an autopsy declared her to be a male

Uganda
  • One of the 7 World Baha’¡­ Houses of Worship is located on the outskirts of Kampala, Uganda
  • It is stated that almost 50% of Uganda’s population are under 15 years old
  • The butcher of Uganda, Idi Amin, was responsible for genocide. So many bodies were dumped into the Nile river that it clogged up the dam


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