Random Facts 21

Breathing Tidbits
A person takes an average of 16 breaths a minute. The total amount of air both lungs hold when filled to capacity is six liters.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into the Universe, p. 1&2.

American Meat Consumption
An average American eats 1,400 chickens, 21 cows, 14 sheep, and 12 pigs during their lifetime.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into the Universe, p. 13.

Green Sun
Blue light waves have a short wavelength and are widely scattered throughout the atmosphere. That's why the sky looks blue when the sun is well above the horizon on a clear day. When the sun is close to the horizon the sunlight has to travel through more of the atmosphere to reach our eyes. Longer waves (like red) penetrate the dense atmosphere easier than the scattered short blue wavelengths and provides the red-orange sunsets we know. However, if you can view over the apparent, true, astronomical horizon, or anywhere where the sky appears to meet the earth lower than your eye (Sea horizon, from Empire State Building, Airplane, Air-Balloon, or any vantage point higher), just after the sun dips below the horizon you can see green waves at its maximum intensity.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into the Universe, p. 14.

Dental Tidbits
1. Acid Bath: Cereal, bananas, & OJ are acidic. If you eat them and then brush right away, you'll remove some of the temporarily softened tooth enamel. Wait 20 minutes before you brush.
2. Scan for Stroke: After your dentist checks for cavities, ask him to eyeball your arteries. The panoramic dental x-ray not only offers a 180-degree window into your oral health, but also reveals whether the other plaque is piling up in your carotid arteries -- plaque that might otherwise go undetected until you stroke out. Only 10 percent of dentists bother to look. If he sees anything suspicious, ask him to send the film to your physician.
Men's Health Posting.

The First Chewing Gum
To be widely advertised in the US was Tutti-Fruitti.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 8.

Billiards
Was introduced to America by the Spaniards in Augustine, Florida in 1565.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 12.

Social Security & Ida Mae Fuller
Received the first social security check January 31, 1940. She had been in the system two years and paid $22.00. She lived to be 100 and collected $22,000 in social security benefits.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 107.

Pay through the Nose
When Danes living in Ireland between AD 800-900 didn't pay their poll tax on time, the locals would slit their noses with a knife, hence the phrase.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 111.

Judy Garland's Name
is Frances Gumm.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 114.

Beethoven was Deaf when...
he wrote the Ninth Symphony.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 172.

Most Expensive Book in the World
In 1998, American Sir Paul Getty bought a first edition of Geoffrey Chaucer's Canterbury Tales for $7.5 million. The purchase broke the previous record for the most expensive book in the world, $5.3 million paid in 1987 for a 1455 Gutenberg Bible.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 175.

2 Percent
of the Smithsonian Institution's holdings on display at any given time.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 228.

First X-Rated Animated Feature
was Fritz the Cat.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 267.

Seuss Facts
The Cat in the Hat is 1,702 words long, using 220 words in all. 49 of the 50 words in Green Eggs & Ham are one-syllabled, the other word was "anywhere."
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 295-6.

Colonists Favorite Nonalcoholic Drink
In 1714, early American colonists liked chocolate.
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 317.

Knock on Wood
The Celtic belief was that there are healing spirits in trees, and encourages us to "knock on wood."
Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Plunges into history Again, pg. 330.