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As any reader of this website will attest,it includes a
plethora of different subjects/topics, on almost 400 pages. However, occasionaly there are topics/subjects that do not
fit neatly into any category. Thus, this page was created for those topics I could not put anywhere else - either
because I was too lazy to make the effort, or I did not have the mental acuity to find a suitable page for them. So....this
Pot Pouri page is for subjects I did not know where else to place.
PAGE CONTENTS:
Oh, the Irony!
UFO
Sightings
Toothpaste
True Colors
Oh, the Irony!
Bet he felt
like an idiot! In 1962, when Paul McCartney, John Lennon,
George Harrison, and Pete Best auditioned at Decca Records,
producer Mike Smith rejected them and said, "We don't like their sound. Groups of
guitars are on their way out." The Beatles proved him wrong by signing on with producer
George Martin at EMI Records and becoming one of the most legendary bands of all time.
If you've ever been to a baseball game, you've most likely sang along to "Take Me Out To The Ball Game",
played duringthe seventh-inning stretch. But did you know the guys who wrote the classic song had never attended a baseball
game? Jack norworth wrote the words in 1908, after seeing a sign that said, "Baseball Today -- Polo
Grounds," and Albert Von Tilzer added the music.
In a 1955 televised public service announcement, actor
James Dean cautioned teens on the dangers of speeding and drag racing. On September 30 of that same year, Dean was caught
speeding in his Porsche 550 Spyder on his way to a race in Palm Springs, California. Later
that afternoon, an oncoming vehicle crossed into Dean's lane and the two cars collided almost head-on. Dean was pronounced
dead at the hospital.
In 1900, prison inmate
Charles Justice came up with a way to improve the restraints on the electric chair while performing his cleaning duties in
the death chamber. His idea was to replace the leather straps with metal clamps in order to secure the inmate more firmly
and also reduce the problem of burnt flesh. Justice might have wished he had kept his mouth shut. After his release, he was
given the death penalty after being convicted of murder. How was he killed? In the same electric chair with the metal clamps
that he had previously suggested!
When television was first introduced in 1946, it gave the movie industry cause
for concern. When asked his opinion, Hollywood studio system developer Darryl F. Zanuck had this to say, "Television
won't be able to hold on to any market it captures after the first six months. People will soon get tired of staring at
a plywood box every night." Of course, television thrived, but it did not bring an end to movies.
Baseball
pitcher Tom Seaver definitely proved Chicago Cubs scout Gordon Goldsberry wrong when Goldsberry said, "He won't
make it," after seeing Seaver pitch. However, when Seaver was called by the New York Mets in 1967, he had 18 complete
games with 16 wins, including two shutouts. Seaver was named the National League Rookie of the Year and went on to
a 20-year career with 311 wins, 3,640 strikeouts, and a 2.86 ERA. Nicknamed "Tom Terrific". Seaver was elected to
the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1992. Copyright 2009 by NextEra Media. All rights reserved.
Feel free to forward this, in its entirety, to others.
UFO Sightings The earliest known report of a UFO sighting was by Julius Obsequens, a Roman writer, in 100
B.C.. He claimed to have seen "things like ships" in the sky over Italy.
On September 24, 1235, General Yoritsume and his army observed mysterious globes of light flying loops in the night
sky near Kyoto, Japan. The General's advisors told him not to worry -- it was merely the wind blowing the stars about.
During World War II, U.S. pilots began reporting
odd balls of light or shiny metallic spheres that could fly circles around their planes. These UFOs came to be called Foo
Fighters. British and German pilots also reported seeing these strange lights, and each side thought that they were some sort
of secret weapon developed by the enemy. The phenomenon was never explained.
The U.S. Air Force conducted a 22-year
investigation, based out of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio, called Project Blue Book which studied evidence for the
existence of UFOs. J. Allen Hynek, Project Blue Book's lead investigator from 1948 to 1969, investigated hundreds of UFO
reports each year. The official conclusion of the project was that no evidence of extraterrestrials or
extraterrestrial
vehicles existed.
In October (some sources say
January) 1969, Jimmy Carter observed a UFO in the skies near Leary in southwestern Georgia. This unidentified flying object,
which appeared just after dusk, was a single luminous object about 30 degrees above the horizon that Carter estimated to be
about 300 to 1000 yards away. Carter and about a dozen other men watched the object for about 10 to 12 minutes as it hovered,
changed course several times, and eventually disappeared in the distance.
MUFON, or the Mutual UFO Network, was
founded on May 31, 1969, shortly after the publication of the University of Colorado "Condon Report", as a vehicle
to promote the investigation of UFO phenomena. Copyright
2008 by NextEra Media. All rights reserved. Feel free to forward this, in its entirety, to others.
Toothpaste
Toothpaste is not
a relatively modern phenomena. In fact, as long ago as 3000-5000 BC Egyptians made a dental cream by mixing powdered ashes
of oxen hooves with myrrh, burned egg shells, pumice, and water.
In 1000 AD Persians added burnt shells of snails
and oysters along with gypsum. However, toothpaste was still only afforded by the rich. In 18th century England a tooth cleaning
"powder" containing borax was sold in ceramic pots, but the problem with this was that it was very abrasive.
Prior to WWII, toothpaste was packaged in small lead/tin alloy tubes. The inside of
the tube was coated with wax, however, it was discovered that lead from the tubes leached into the product. It was the shortage
of lead and tin during WWII that led to the use of laminated (aluminum, paper, and plastic combination) tubes. At the end
of the twentieth century pure plastic tubes were used.
The breakthrough that transformed toothpaste into the crucial weapon against tooth decay
was the finding that fluoride could dramatically reduce cavities. Dr. William Engler tested 400 preschool children and discovered
a dramatic reduction in dental cavities among children treated with fluoride. This study,
along with many others done around the world, led to the widespread introduction of fluoride in the 1950s.
Fluoride incorporates itself into tooth enamel making your teeth more resistant
to acids produced by plaque bacteria, as well as acids found in fruit juices, soda (both regular and diet) and certain foods.
Abrasives give toothpaste its cleaning power. They remove stains and plaque, as well as polish teeth. Common
abrasives include calcium phosphates, alumina, calcium carbonate, and silica. Toothpaste should be abrasive enough to remove
plaque and stains, but not abrasive enough to damage tooth enamel. Copyright 2009 by NextEra
Media. All rights reserved. Feel free to forward this, in its entirety, to others.
True Colors The Aztecs of Mexico taught the Spanish how to make red dye by crushing insects called cochineals. Deep red looks
bold, while pale red—pink—looks gentle. In the U.S., pink is now associated with girls, though before the 1920s
it was considered a boy's color.
In ancient Rome, yellow was the most popular wedding color. Yellow is
sometimes worn for safety reasons: raincoats today may be bright yellow so that the wearer can be seen easily in the rain.
Blue has a calming effect. Fashion consultants recommend wearing blue to job interviews because it symbolizes loyalty.
For this same reason, U.S. police officers traditionally wear blue.
Green is the easiest color on the eye. Hospital uniforms may be green because the color relaxes patients. Green is
also associated with nature; leprechauns are said to dress in green, and brides in Europe in the Middle Ages wore green to
symbolize fertility.
Purple has always been considered the color of royalty, because for so long it was very hard
to get. Cleopatra needed 20,000 snails soaked for ten days to obtain one ounce of purple dye for her royal clothing.
Beginning in the 20th century, western brides have worn white to symbolize purity. In China, however, white is the color of mourning. White shows dirt easily; doctors and nurses wear
white coats to show that they understand cleanliness is important. Copyright 2010 by NextEra Media. All rights reserved. Please feel free to forward
this, in its entirety, to others.
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