1. In the movie E.T. there is a scene where the young boy lures the extraterrestrial with some Reese's pieces. Originally Spielberg was going to use M+M's, but he could not get the rights. Reese's pieces were the replacement.
2. Johnny Cash is the only person to have been sued by the United States government for starting a forest fire. The wheel bearing on Cash’s truck overheated and started the fire in Las Padres National forest in Texas. The fire destroyed 408 acres of woodland and killed 49 of 53 endangered condors. Cash settled out of court for $81,000 – about $650,000 in today’s money.
3. Scientists have known since the late 17th century that volcanoes affect weather; the dust from eruptions can block out the sun causing a warming of the atmosphere.
4. American Airlines saved a total of $40,000 by removing one olive from each salad serving in first class in 1987.
5. Having once been financed by the Italian mob in the 1950’s and 60’s, the tabloid, the National Enquirer still rarely runs articles about the mafia. The paper has never confirmed nor denied reports it was rescued from bankruptcy by notorious mob boss Frank Costello.
6. Elvis Presley has more copycats than all other performers combined. A recent festival of Elvis impersonators in Memphis drew 1,900 competitors.
7. When the then reclusive Howard Hughes announced his preference for Baskin Robbins banana ripple ice cream, his aides placed an order fro 200 gallons. Just before it arrived, Hughes announced that he was tired of banana ripple and would only eat chocolate marshmallow. The banana ripple was given away free to casino patrons in the hotel which owned and lived.
8. The average face value for a ticket to the final, gold medal round in hockey in 1980 at Lake Placid, New York between the United States and Czechoslovakia was $67.20. Scalpers charged an average of $200 per seat. The average face value price for a ticket to the final, 2002 Olympic gold medal round in hockey between the United States and Canada in Salt Lake City, Utah was $210.00 per seat. Scalpers were charging an average of $1,800 each.
9. In 1966, grade nine high school student Daniel Braden of Ogden Utah “solved” a complex mathematical formula used as an entrance test for the “gifted” program at Brigham Young University. Braden was a “C” average student, struggling in math and had never been exposed to that level mathematics theory before. He was never able to duplicate the feat with other formulas, failed out of high school two years later and died in Viet Nam in 1972.
10. Some sharks have demonstrated playfulness and curiosity such as frolicking in bull kelp and, in South African waters a group of Great Whites was seen to work in concert to move a beached whale in deeper waters so they could feed.
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Cedric
