What I Found When I Was Bored

11 November 2009 13 Comments

Isaac Newton named seven colors in the spectrum, even though indigo is barely distinguishable as a separate color, because seven was his favorite number.

When sticky envelopes were first introduced in the 19th century, they were unpopular because many people thought it was an insult to send their saliva to someone else.

The cure for convulsions in medieval Britain was to take a slice of fingernail, a few hairs plucked from the eyebrows and the crown of the head, and tie them together in a cloth. The bundle, with a halfpenny added for good measure, was then left at a crossroads, and whoever picked it up was believed to take on the disease. For obvious reasons, people were reluctant to pick up strange looking parcels at crossroads.

New Zealand is the only country which has every climate in the world.

New Zealand was the first country in the world to give Women the vote, in 1893.

In 1980 David Janssen, former star of the TV series The Fugitive, dreamed that he say himself being carried out in a coffin after a heart attack. He consulted a psychic who advised him to go for a check up. But it was too late. Two days later, Janssen died from a massive heart attack.

The First cook book appeared back in 62A.D. Published by the Roman Apicius, it described the favorite feasts of the Emperor Claudius.

Henry Christophe, King of Northern Haiti in the late 18th century, instructed his guards to prove their loyalty to him by marching over a 200ft high cliff. Those who obeyed plunged to their deaths; those who refused, were executed.

John Lee of Babbacombe, Devon, cheated the hangman’s noose three times in 1885. Sentenced to death for the murder of his employer, Lee survived because on each occasion the trap-door on the gallows failed to open, even though the mechanism was tested before and after and found to be in perfect working order. The authorities knew when they were beaten and Lee’s sentence was commuted to life imprisonment.

A “White Elephant” dates back to the ancient kings of Siam who wanted to punish courtiers without actually appearing to do so. Their ploy was to give the offender a rare albino elephant, knowing that it was an offer which dare not be refused. The poor man was therefore left with something he didn’t want and couldn’t afford to keep.

Under the lays of Alfred the Great, anyone caught fighting in the presence of a bishop had to pay 100 shillings in compensation. The fine rose to 150 shillings if an archbishop was present.

An Act passed in 1865 stated that any self-propelled carriage on an English highway had to have a crew of three, one of whom had to walk in front of the carriage with a red flag to warn horse-drawn vehicles of its approach.

13 Comments »

TG said:

Umm, no, New Zealand isn’t the only country with every “climate”. Name a climate not found in the United States? Maybe you are referring to something else, but I still don’t think that’s accurate.