Random Facts 27

Longest Kiss
The longest kiss listed in Guinness lasted 417 hours (2 weeks, 3 days and 9 hours).
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P.47

Assassination Associations of Lincoln & Kennedy
Abraham Lincoln was elected to Congress in 1846, John F Kennedy in 1946. AL was elected President in 1860, JFK in 1960. AL’s secretary was named Kennedy, and JFK’s was named Lincoln.
Both were partially concerned with civil rights, lost children while living in the White House, and were shot on a Friday in the head. AL was shot at the Ford theater, JFK was shot in a Ford Lincoln car.
Both were assassinated by Southerners, and succeeded by Southerners named Johnson. Andrew Johnson (succeeded AL) was born in 1808, and Lyndon Johnson (succeeded JFK) was born in 1908.
Both assassins were known by their three names, and are comprised of 15 letters. John Wilkes Booth was born 1839, Lee Harvey Oswald was born 1939. Booth ran from the theater and was caught in a warehouse, Oswald ran from a warehouse and was caught in a theater. Both were shot before their trials.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 p.144-145.

Highest Parachute Jump
On August 16, 1960, US Air Force Captain Joseph W Kittunger Jr jumped (as part of a research program, Project Excelsior) off a platform of 102,800 feet by a high-altitude balloon. He wore a pressure suit, and after 4 minutes 36 seconds of free fall he reached a speed of 714 miles per hour and became the only human to break the sound barrier without being enclosed in a machine of some kind. He landed safely 13 minutes and 45 seconds after jumping.
The parachute, invented 120 years before the airplane, was intended to save people jumping from burning buildings. P. 149. Dead Sea FloatThe water in the Dead Sea is so salty that it is far easier to float than drown.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 120, 132-133.

Amazon River
The volume of water in the Amazon River is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 120.

Bible Notes & Catholic Customs
The Bible devotes some 500 verses on prayer, less than 500 verses on faith, and more than 2,000 versus on money and possessions. There are 49 different foods mentioned in the Bible (pistachios and almonds are the only nuts) – Salt is mentioned 30 times.
Daily Mass began AD 394. Catholic Council of Cathage broke the Bible into (all 39 books) the Old Testament and the (all 27 books) New Testament (and later the Apocrypha) in 397. Worship of images, relics, and cross began AD 788. Holy water blessed by a priest AD 850. Lent & Good Friday AD 998. Celibacy of the priesthood and nuns AD 1079. Rosery introduced by Peter the Hermit AD 1090. Confession of sins to priest AD 1215. Apocryphal books (12) added to the Bible in AD 1546.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 p.10-11, 19-20.

World’s First Pac-Man Game
Played on July 23, 1999 by Billy Mitchell. It took him 6 hours to score the maximum possible 3,333,360 points by eating every fruit, power pellet, blue ghost, and dot for 256 boards without losing a single life. Technically the game has no end, but a bug makes it impossible to finish level 256.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 44-45.

Some Firsts Involving Women
The first woman to run for President was Victoria Woodhall in 1872. The first female newspaper editor was Ann Franklin in 1762, of the Newport Mercury in Newport Rhode Island. The first female artist inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame was Aretha Franklin in 1987. The first test-tube baby was Louise Brown from Lancashire in 1978. The first Magician to perform the trick of sawing a woman in half was Count de Grisley in 1799.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 p.30, 32, 35, 43.

Peanut Butter
It takes more than 500 peanuts to make a 12-ounce jar of peanut butter. The FDA allows an average of 30 or more insect fragments and one or more rodent hairs per 100 grams of peanut butter.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 174.

Chocolate
There are about 30 milligrams of caffeine in the average chocolate bar, while a cup of coffee contains around 100-150.
FDA rules allow up to 60 insect fragments per 100 grams of chocolate.
Science News Magazine, 6.7.08, p.17. The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 183.

Alcohol Cloud
There is a cloud of alcohol in outer space (10,000 light-years from Earth) with enough alcohol to make 4 trillion trillion drinks.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 192.

Detergent Beer
For beer commercials, liquid detergent is added to the beer to make it foam more.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 195.

Oldest Trademark
Is the Bass symbol, a red triangle, registered in 1876.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 196.

Oldest Recipe
The world’s oldest known recipe is for beer.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 197.

Priciest per Bottle
The highest price ever paid for distilled spirits at auction was $79,552 for a 50-year-old bottle of Glenfiddich whisky in 1992.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 200

The Longest Film Title
Night of the Day of the Dawn of the Son of the Bride of the Return of the Revenge of the Terror of the Attack of the Evil, Mutant, Alien, Flesh-Eating, Hellbound Zombified Living Dead Part 2 in Shocking 2-D, in 1991.
The Amazing Book of Useless Information #4 P. 223.