Sir Ian Botham

After Mike Gatting was accused of inappropriate behaviour with a barmaid, English team mate Ian Botham came gallantly to his defence:

“It couldn’t have been Gatt. Anything he takes up to his room after nine o’clock, he eats”

Schweppes

In the late eighteenth century, Johann Jacob Schweppe (1740–1821), a German-born naturalised Swiss watchmaker and amateur scientist developed a process to manufacture carbonated mineral water, based on a process discovered by Joseph Priestley in 1770, founding the Schweppes Company in Geneva in 1783.

Capsaicin

Hot peppers get their heat from a molecule called capsaicin. While the molecule acts as an irritant to mammals, including humans, birds lack the receptor responsible for the effect and are immune to the burning sensation from exposure.

Astatine

Astatine from the Greek astatos is a radioactive chemical element with atomic number 85. It occurs on Earth only as the result of the radioactive decay of certain heavier elements.

Elemental astatine has never been viewed, because a mass large enough to be seen by the naked human eye would be immediately vaporized by the heat generated by its own radioactivity. Astatine may be dark, or it may have a metallic appearance and be a semiconductor, or it may even be a metal.

H2O

The chemical name for water (H2O) is dihydrogen monoxide.

First ATM in Australia

1969 ABC news reported on the introduction of ATMs in Sydney, Australia. People could only receive $25 at a time and the bank card was sent back to the user at a later date.

McDonalds

McDonalds began in 1940 as a barbecue restaurant operated by Richard and Maurice McDonald. In 1948 they reorganized their business as a hamburger stand using production line principles.

Businessman Ray Kroc joined the company as a franchise agent in 1955. He subsequently purchased the chain from the McDonald brothers and oversaw its worldwide growth.

Warren Buffett

In May 2012, Warren Buffett said he avoids buying stock in new social media companies like Facebook and Google because is it hard to estimate future value.

He also stated that initial public offering (IPO) of stock are almost always bad investments. Investors should be looking to companies that will have good value in ten years.

Get Fired

Long ago, clans that wanted to get rid of their unwanted people, without killing them, used to burn their houses down; and hence the expression "To Get Fired."

Robin Smith

During 1989 Lords Test Hughes said to Robin Smith after he played and missed: 'You can't f***ing bat'.
Robing Smith to Hughes after he smacked him to the boundary 'Hey Merv, we make a fine pair. I can't f***ing bat and you can't f***ing bowl'.

Modem

The word "Modem" is a contraction of the words "Modulate, Demodulate." (MOdulate DEModulate)

Honeymoon

It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer, and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the "honey month" or what we know today as the "Honeymoon."

Best Man

The term “Best Man” dates back to the times when Scotsmen kidnapped their future brides. The friend of the groom who had excelled at the abduction was acclaimed to be the Best Man.

Shell Oil Company

The Shell Oil Company originally began as a novelty shop in London that sold seashells.

In 1833, shopkeeper Marcus Samuel decided to expand his London business. He sold antiques, but now added oriental shells. He aimed to capitalise on a fashion for using them in interior design. His instinct was right and such was the demand that Samuel quickly began importing shells from the Far East, laying the foundations for his import/export business.

The Colour Yellow

In a study by the University of Chicago in 1907, it was concluded that the easiest colour to spot is Yellow. This is why John Hertz, the founder of the Yellow Cab Company picked cabs to be Yellow.

First Registered Internet Domain Name

The first Internet domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com on March 15 1985.

Potato Crisp

In the summer of 1853, Native American George Crum was employed as a chef at an elegant resort in Saratoga Springs, New York. One dinner guest found Crum's French fries too thick for his liking and rejected the order.

Crum decided to rile the guest by producing fries too thin and crisp to skewer with a fork. The plan backfired. The guest was ecstatic over the browned, paper-thin potatoes, and other diners began requesting Crum's potato chips.

Merv Hughes

Javed Miandad called Merv Hughes a fat bus conductor during a match. A few balls later, Hughes dismissed Miandad. “Tickets please!!!” said Huges, as he ran past the departing batsman.

Bugs Bunny

When Bugs Bunny first appeared in 1935, he was called Happy Rabbit.

The Oscar Statuette

The Oscar statuette was designed by MGM's art director, Cedric Gibbons, in 1928. The design has remained unchanged, except for getting a higher pedestal in the 1940's.

Simpsons

The characters of Homer, Marge, Lisa, and Maggie were given the same first names as Simpsons creator Matt Groening's real-life father, mother, and two sisters.

The Beatles

The Beatles were George Harrison, John Lennon, Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr.

But there were two lesser known previous members of the band: Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe.

First Televised Presidential Debate

The 1st televised Presidential debate was September 26, 1960, between Richard Nixon and John F Kennedy.

Darth Vader

David Prowse was the guy in the Darth Vader suit in Star Wars. He spoke all of Vader's lines, and didn't know that he was going to be dubbed over by James Earl Jones until he saw the screening of the movie.

AAA

Automobile Association of America was started initially so that it could warn the motorists about the Police speed traps.

Mercury Day

A day in Mercury lasts approximately as long as 59 days on earth.

SETI

SETI is the 'Search for ExtraTerrestrial Intelligence', the program that analyzes radio signals from space for signs of intelligent life.

Ian Botham

In the 1980's Ian Botham returned early from a tour of Pakistan, and on radio joked "Pakistan is the sort of country to send your mother in-law to".

Needless to say the Pakistanis did not find this amusing, and when Pakistan defeated England in the 1992 World Cup Final, Aamer Sohail told Ian Botham "Why don't you send your mother-in-law out to play, she cannot do much worse".

Google

The prime reason the Google home page is so bare is due to the fact that the founders didn’t know HTML and just wanted a quick interface.

In fact it was noted that the submit button was a long time coming and hitting the RETURN key was the only way to burst Google into life.

Cacao Beans

Chocolate nuts - cacao beans were used as money in ancient Mexico. When the conquistador Cortes came into Tenochtitlan, present-day Mexico city, the city was lined in gold and silver, yet they used cacao beans as currency.

Calvin and Hobbs

Calvin of the "Calvin and Hobbes" comic strip was modelled after the Protestant reformer John Calvin and Hobbes after the social philosopher Thomas Hobbes.

Elvis - Sinatra

The trucking company Elvis Presley worked at as a young man was owned by Frank Sinatra.

Samsonite

The Samsonite Corporation was started in Denver, Colorado, USA in 1910 by Jesse Shwayder, as the Shwayder Trunk Manufacturing Company. Shwayder named one of his initial cases "Samson", after the Biblical strongman, and began using the trademark Samsonite in 1941.

Abe Lincoln

Abraham Lincoln, the President of United States was awarded a patent, for a system of buoying vessels over shoals.

Why are Pencils Hexagonal in shape?

Pencils are hexagonal because they're cheaper. You can make 9 hexagon pencils with the same wood it takes to make 8 round.

Fred Trueman

Fred Trueman, one of the greatest ever cricket players to walk this earth, was as proficient at sledging as he was at bowling

After dismissing a young player, the ousted batsman had the good grace to respond

“That was a very good ball Fred”

Trueman replied “Aye, and it was wasted on you”

Tootsie

For the movie "Tootsie" actor Dustin Hoffman thought of the title. His mother used to call him that as a child.

Venus

Venus is the only planet in the Solar System that rotates clockwise.

Computerized Traffic Signal

Toronto was the first city in the world with a computerized traffic signal system.

Wicket Bible

In 1631, two London bible printers accidentally left the word "not" out of the seventh commandment, which then read, "Thou shalt commit adultery." This legendary book is now known as the "Wicked Bible."

Dipsomania

Dipsomania refers to an insatiable craving for alcoholic beverages.

X-mas

The abbreviation X-mas for the word Christmas is of Greek origin. Since the word for Christ in the Greek language is Xristos, which starts with the letter "X," they started putting the X in place of Christ and came up with the short form for the word Christmas.

Grey Hair

The reason why hair turns gray as we age is because the pigment cells in the hair follicle start to die, which is responsible for producing "melanin" which gives the hair colour.

NASCAR

NASCAR stands for National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing.

Steve Waugh

When Steve came to bat in his last test match, Parthiv Patel, the Indian wicket keeper said:

“Come on, just one more of the famous slog-sweeps before you finish”
Steve Waugh:”Respect Me, for when i made my test debut, you were still in your nappies”.

Allan Border

Allan Border was a champion of the chat.

When Robin Smith wanted a drink during the 1989 Tent Bridge Test, AB refused.

"What do you think this is, a fucking tea party? No, you can't have a fucking glass of water, you can fucking wait like the rest of us."

Police Warning

"If you run, you'll only go to jail, tired."

Attending a Lecture

The man was in no shape to drive. So he wisely left his car parked and walked home. As he was walking unsteadily along, a policeman stopped him.

"What are you doing out here at 2 A.M.?" said the officer.

"I'm going to a lecture." the man said.

"And who is going to give a lecture at this hour?" the cop asked.

"My wife," said the man.

What The Man in Blue Does NOT Want to Hear...

"You know, I can't reach my license unless you hold my beer."

Being Sued

In October 1998, Terrence Dickson of Bristol, was exiting a house he finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up, the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut.

The family was on vacation, so Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found, and a large bag of dry dog food. This upset Mr. Dickson, so he sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of half a million dollars and change.

Nixon/Clinton

Richard Millhouse Nixon was the first US president whose name contains all the letters from the word "criminal." William Jefferson Clinton is the second.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles's full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula" and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size, "L.A."

Rotating Building

Suite Vollard, a Company in Brazil constructed a building in which each floor can rotate 360 degrees. Each building has 11 apartments and each apartment can spin individually in any direction. One rotation takes a full hour, but apartment owner can set rotation speed through apartment control panel. Facades are made of three different types of glass which give wonderful effects when building spins during the sunset.

Forks

Kitchen forks have been endlessly evolving for the past millennium or so. But a historical background check will put its origins somewhere in Greek. Initially used for the carving of meat, the fork comes to the dining table pretty late. It was around the 7th century that royal courts in the Middle Eastern Muslim world started to use the fork on the dining table.

In another century, they were passed on to the Byzantine world, where the use of forks at the dining table became symbolic in wealthy and noble families. The fork was later carried on to Italy through a matrimonial alliance with the Byzantine. After a long dormant period, the flow continued into Francem when Catherine de Medicis married Henry II. The Fork came to the English notice by a man called Thomas Coryate, who brought forks to England in 1608. It took a very long time for the English to take up the fork as it initially met cultural resistance.

You don't mess with with King

During a county game, after beating Richards bat a few times Thomas told Richards:

“It’s red, round & weighs about 5 ounces in case you were wondering.”

Richards hammered the next delivery out of the cricket grounds and into a nearby river. Turning to the bowler, he said:

“Greg, you know what it looks like, now go and find it.”

Bodyline

During the Bodyline series of 1932-33, The English Captain Douglas Jardine came to the Australian dressing to make a complaint to Australian Captain Bill Woodfull, that one of the Australian players had called him a Bastard.

Woodfull responded by turning to his team mates, pointing to Jardine and uttering the immortal line:

“Which one of you bastards called this bastard a bastard”

Mars Bar in Cricket

In a tour matches of South Africa, Australia played Hansie Cronje’s provincial cricket team.

Cronje was at the non strikers end, while there was a portly batsman on strike.
Ian Healy yelled to Shane Warne, ”Bowl a Mars Bar half way down. We’ll get him stumped”
The Aussies and Cronje were all in hysterics. All this was before a classic reply from the batsman.

The exact words: ” Nah, Boonie (David Boon) fielding at short leg will be onto it before I can move.”

Super Mario

Mario, of Super Mario Brothers fame, appeared in the 1981 arcade game 'Donkey Kong'. His original name was Jumpman, but was changed to Mario to honor the Nintendo of America's landlord, Mario Segali.

7UP

7-UP was created in 1929.

"7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces.
"UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles.

Lethologica

The word "Lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

Deck of Cards Representation

Each of the suits on a deck of cards represents the four major pillars of the economy in the middle ages:
Heart represented the Church
Spades represented the Military
Clubs represented Agriculture
Diamonds represented the Merchant Class

Times Magazine's first Man of the Year

The first person selected as the Time Magazine Man of the Year was Charles Lindbergh in 1927.

Karaoke

Karaoke means "empty orchestra" in Japanese. Karaoke is a word formed from putting two Japanese words together. "Kara" that comes from Karappo and means empty and "Oke", shortened from Okesutura meaning "orchestra".

Tooth

The tooth is the only part of the human body that can’t repair itself.

Tipping in Iceland

Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult.

Tea

Tea is said to have been discovered in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor and inventor Shennong, when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water.

The tea bag was introduced in 1908 by Thomas Sullivan of New York.