Trivia

The quest for ways to ignite a fire began about 1.5 million years ago, when the caveman discovered that he could start a fire by rubbing two sticks together, and ended with the successful invention of the non-toxic matches we use today.

Today, approximately 500 billion matches are used each year and about 200 billion of these come from matchbooks.

In 1669, an alchemist, one who mistakenly believes that he can change base metals into gold, mixed up a batch of something which was, surprisingly, not gold, but a substance he named phosphorous. Since his recipe did not produce the gold he desired, he tossed it onto the heap of history.

Next was Robert Boyle, an English physicist, after whom Boyle's Law was named. He cleverly coated a piece of paper with phosphorous and, armed with a splinter of sulfur-coated wood, bravely bulled the wood through the paper, which burst into flames.

Much later, in 1826, John Walker stumbled upon a chemical concoction that produced fire. After stirring together a mixture of chemicals, which did not contain phosphorous, John removed the stick he used, only to find a dried lump at its end. When he scraped the stick against the floor to rid it of the lump, the stick ignited. His mixture of antimony sulfide, potassium chlorate, gum, and starch could produce fire. In his rush to demonstrate his discovery to others, John bypassed the patent office.

In no time, a person at one of John's demonstrations, Samuel Jones, spotted an overlooked, golden opportunity, and patented the invention under his name. Mr. Jones produced matches he named Lucifers, which produced phenomenal sales. The widespread availability of the matches actually led to a significant increase in smoking.

The dark side to Lucifers was their ungodly odor, and the fireworks display they gave when ignited. In fact, Lucifers carried a warning label stating that they, not the cigarettes they lit, were dangerous to one's health!

In the 1830s, Charles Sauria, a French chemist, decided to improve upon the existing formula by adding white phosphorous to do away with the stench of the matches. What Mr. Sauria did not know, was that white phosphorous was lethal to those who came into contact with it.

Unknowingly, he created a deadly monster by adding the white phosphorous. The phosphorous was responsible for a nearly epidemic disease known as "phossy jaw," match factory workers developed poisoned bones, and children who sucked on the matches developed infant skeletal deformities. Even the amount of white phosphorous contained in one pack of matches could kill a person, and actually did, through numerous suicides and murders.

Finally, by 1910, the general public's awareness of the dangers of the white phosphorous in these matches led to a worldwide campaign to ban them. Thankfully, Diamond Match Company obtained an U.S. patent for the first nonpoisonous match, which used the harmless chemical sesquisulfide of phosphorous in place of the deadly white phosphorous.

So critical was Diamond Match Company's discovery to public health, that U.S. President Taft made a public plea to the Company voluntarily to surrender their patent rights to the invention. Despite the enormous moneymaking potential of the patent, Diamond Match Company granted President Taft's request on January 28, 1911. Congress followed suit by passing a law that raised the tax on white phosphorous matches to a level so high that their production soon ceased.

Discussion of the match would be incomplete without mention of the matchbook. John Pusey, in 1892, invented something he named the matchbook. He had the right idea, but had it backwards, as he placed the striking surface for the match on the inside of the book of 50 matches, so when one match was struck, the remaining 49 also ignited!

Once again, Diamond Match Company intervened and saved the day, by purchasing the patent to the matchbook, by moving the striking surface to the outside of the cover where it belonged, and by marketing the revamped match as the "safety match."

Hair is curly or straight, depending upon the number of disulfide bonds between hair proteins found in the hair shaft.

The greater the number of links, the curlier the hair, and the fewer the number of links, the straighter the hair.

Hair is primarily composed of keratin, a protein, which grows from a sac called the follicle. Cells in the hair follicle generate keratin, and various other proteins, which become a part of the hair shaft. These proteins contain sulfur atoms, and when two of these sulfur atoms pair up and bond, they form a disulfide bond. If the two sulfur atoms in the same protein are at a distance, and join to form the disulfide bond, the protein will bend.

The amount of humidity in the air not only makes for what some label a "bad hair day," but alters the degree of curliness or of straightness of hair. This occurs when high humidity forces water back into the hair fiber, acts on its protein structure, and forces the hair shaft to return to its original structure.

People can temporarily alter their hair to force it into a straight state, or a curly state, but only on a temporary, not on a permanent, basis. When a straight-haired person gets a "permanent wave," known as a "perm," he or she is chemically forcing the making of strong disulfide bonds. The wave does not stay permanently, because new hair, which is straight, grows in as the "perm" grows out. People with curly hair may chemically alter their hair to give it a straighter appearance, but this, too, is also a temporary solution to a permanent "problem," with the same end result.

Fall back, spring ahead…

Daylight saving time, the brainchild of Benjamin Franklin during his 18th century Parisian days, seems to increase the number of productive daylight hours we have, during the seasons when the sun sounds revile early. Today, the additional hour of sunlight we gain, by setting our clocks one hour ahead of time, allows us to close up shop an hour early, and to enjoy play time after the work day is done while the sun still beams high above us.

The extra daylight hour we now enjoy, by altering our circadian rhythms by one hour, did not immediately gain acceptance during Benjamin Franklin's time. Instead, the practice was born of necessity during World War I and II. The practicality of his idea came into play during these wars, when scarcity and rationing were the operative words. By following their normal routines, and by going to bed hours after sundown, people relied upon artificially generated light, which depleted the scarce reserves of fuel in its generation. Germany realized that this precious commodity could better be used to serve the war effort, and instituted the first daylight saving laws in 1915. Those who refused to comply with the lights out curfew faced punishment.

England followed suit in 1916, and, finally, the United States, in 1918. The United States reinstated the daylight saving laws on a national basis during World War II. The close of the war ended the law's necessity, but the national habit continued on a voluntary basis. Daylight saving time had taken root in our society, and was now the norm. Of course, daylight saving time never effected the farmer, whose livelihood dictates that he adheres to the old adage "Early to bed, early to rise."

You're worth more than you think!

A great number of people have spent a great deal of human and financial resources calculating the composition of, prior to the decomposition of, and the worth, or worthlessness of, the human body.

When we total the monetary value of the elements in our bodies and the value of the average person's skin, we arrive at a net worth of $4.50!

This value is, however, subject to change, due to stock market fluctuations. Since the studies leading to this conclusion were conducted by the U.S. and by Japan respectively, it might be wise to consult the New York Stock Exchange and the Nikkei Index before deciding when to sell!

The U.S. Bureau of Chemistry and Soils invested many a hard-earned tax dollar in calculating the chemical and mineral composition of the human body, which breaks down as follows:

65% Oxygen
18% Carbon
10% Hydrogen
3% Nitrogen
1.5% Calcium
1% Phosphorous
0.35% Potassium
0.25% Sulfur
0.15% Sodium
0.15% Chlorine
0.05% Magnesium
0.0004% Iron
0.00004% Iodine

Additionally, it was discovered that our bodies contain trace quantities of fluorine, silicon, manganese, zinc, copper, aluminum, and arsenic. Together, all of the above amounts to less than one dollar!

Our most valuable asset is our skin, which the Japanese invested their time and money in measuring. The method the Imperial State Institute for Nutrition at Tokyo developed for measuring the amount of a person's skin is to take a naked person, and to apply a strong, thin paper to every surface of his body. After the paper dries, they carefully remove it, cut it into small pieces, and painstakingly total the person's measurements. Cut and dried, the average person is the proud owner of fourteen to eighteen square feet of skin, with the variables in this figure being height, weight, and breast size. Basing the skin's value on the selling price of cowhide, which is approximately $.25 per square foot, the value of an average person's skin is about $3.50.

Those tiny, little hairs above our eyes that many women either pluck, paint, pierce or tattoo play a very important role in keeping moisture out of our eyes.

Just like an umbrella keeps our bodies dry from the rain, our hairy eyebrows keep our eyes dry from rain or sweat.

When it's pouring rain outside or when sweat drips down from our foreheads, our eyebrows divert the flow of water or sweat away from our eyes.

Our arch-shaped eyebrows angle the rain or sweat around to the side of our faces--leaving our eyes fairly dry. By catching the water or sweat, our eyebrows not only allow us to see more clearly, but also keep salty sweat from burning or irritating our eyes.

Eyebrows have other roles also. As one of our most expressive facial features, eyebrows help us determine how people are feeling without ever really asking them.

If a person's eyebrows are frowning, chances are they are mad or upset. In addition, eyebrows have an increasing impact on our beauty/fashion culture over the years.

Thick, hairy and big eyebrows tend to be characterized as unattractive while thin and plucked eyebrows are said to be more attractive.

Think about this one...

When the fly is heading for the ceiling, it's flying right side up. When it lands on the ceiling it is upside down. At some point along the way it has to flip over. But when? And Where? And How?

Scientists dispelled the prevalent theory, that the fly performed a fighter pilot-like barrel roll just prior to landing, by capturing this momentous event on film.

Freeze frames, from the high-speed cameras scientists used, proved that flies do not flip, but flop, as they land upon the ceiling. Prior to impact, the fly extends its forward legs over its head, makes contact, and uses the momentum it has gathered in flight to hoist the remainder of its body to the ceiling. Thus, the fly proves to be more of an acrobat, than of a fighter pilot practicing his maneuvers.

Once the fly reunites all six feet on the ceiling, it keeps things dizzingly exciting, by gracefully tiptoing across the ceiling, securing itself by using sticky pads found under the two claws attached to each of its feet. It is because of these sticky pads and the hairs on the legs that the fly is such a carrier of disease germs.

Did you know? The entire life of a house fly is spent within a few hundred feet of the area where it was born.

Caffeine interrupts our daily sleeping patterns by altering the chemical reactions in our brain.

An addictive drug that 90% of Americans consume every day, caffeine prevents us from getting our ZZZZs by increasing nerve activity in our bodies-keeping us alert and hyperactive.

After drinking a hot cup of caffeinated coffee, the caffeine causes three different chemical reactions that boost our energy levels:

It energizes us by pumping the hormone adrenaline into our systems. It increases dopamine levels within our bodies. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter that stimulates our "pleasure areas" in our brain making us feel good. It blocks the connection of adenosine to nerve cells. Adenosine is the chemical that attaches to receptors in the brain and causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cells activity. The addictive and mood altering effects caused by caffeine consumption has had an increasing impact on the soft drink industry. Over the past 25 years, the amount of soda consumed by Americans has doubled. For instance, Americans spent $54 billion on 15 billion gallons of soda in 1998.

Fifteen billion gallons of soda is the equivalent to every American chugging down 585 12-once cans per year!

Today, 70% of all sodas in the United States contain caffeine. Teenagers especially have become dependent on caffeinated sodas or what many refer to as "liquid candy." Teenage boys and girls drink about twice as much "liquid candy" as milk, whereas twenty years ago they drank twice as much milk as soda.

While many soda companies argue that caffeine is necessary to a soft drink's flavor, many researchers have shown that most people are hooked to a soda's caffeine content-NOT its taste. Most people can't tell the difference between caffeinated and uncaffeinated soft drinks. Soda guzzlers prefer the soft drink brands that contain caffeine because the caffeine stimulates alertness and boosts of energy.

No.

Man's best friend is colorblind, but, fortunately, his survival does not depend upon the ability to see colors. His keen sense of smell compensates for his inability to see colors, and enables him to differentiate between things.

Extensive scientific testing on dogs supports the conclusion that they live in a colorless world. The testing done primarily focused on the dogs' responses to colors for food. Dogs could not tell the difference between one color, a signal for food, and other colors, that were not for food. Similar tests conducted on cats produced similar results, which led scientists to conclude that they, too, are colorblind and live in a gray world.

The inability of most animals to see colors, from an evolutionary standpoint, is quite simple to understand. Many colorblind animals have dull-colored coats, hunt for food in the dark of night, or graze in the dim twilight hours. Their other senses have developed to the point where the lack of color vision in no way impairs them. For them, life in a colorless world is neither a handicap, nor a threat to their survival.

The only animals, other than man, scientists can conclusively say have color vision are monkeys and apes. Both can be trained to open a colored door, behind which is food, and man can be trained to open a refrigerator door of any color!

To spin a tale about the spider, member of the species arachnid, we must first examine the common thread that ties them together...the way they produce the silk they use to weave their webs, as well as other contraptions, to suit their particular needs.

Spiders differ from insects in that they have eight legs, eight eyes, in most cases, no wings, and have only two parts to their bodies, one of which produces silk. They are found in a host of climates, can scurry across the ground, can scale plants, and can skate on, and live in, water. These factors determine how the spider uses it's silk, and what type of silk it produces.

Production of silk begins in certain glands located in the abdomen, or belly, of the beast. Spinning organs at the tip of the abdomen, contain many tiny holes, and function much as a sieve, through which the silk is pressed. The silk strained through is in liquid form, but immediately takes on a solid form, much like cotton candy does, when exposed to air.

The spider creates a variety of types of silk, each of which serves a separate, yet distinct function. Spiders use the sticky kind to spin webs, to catch and to hold the insects they invite into their parlors until they are ready for dinner. They use the non-sticky, stronger variety to tether down the spokes of the wheel, and yet a different kind of silk for their cocoons.

Even the webs the spider spins differ greatly, depending upon the factors listed above. The most common of all webs we see is the wheel-shaped web. Less common are the so-called "sheet" webs, which blanket surfaces with a funnel, or dome like shape. The trap-door spiders burrow out their webs, and complete them with built-in chutes, through which their unsuspecting guests fall through, right onto the spider's plate. The web we see least often, is the air-tight, bell-shaped home some spiders build...probably because it is completely submerged in water!

The Adelie penguin, a species that inhabits Ross Island in Antarctica, ensures the survival of its species in a curious manner. Though scientists claim that this species mates for life, an exception is apparently made where nest building is concerned.

The female Adelie penguin, desperate to obtain the stones she uses to build her nest, visits the nests of bachelor Adelies, goes through the entire courtship routine, mates with him, and waddles off with the prized pebbles she worked for.

The harsh, frigid Antarctic climate makes it necessary for the female Adelie to use unconventional means to obtain the rocks she needs to build a nest for her offspring. Trees and grasses cannot survive in this climate, and the stones that the female penguin does find, are likely to be frozen solid in the ice or in the mud.

So rare are the pebbles the penguin needs that she sometimes even risks her neck by robbing another females' nest of the stones.

This explains why the date and mate method is the one female Adelie penguins prefer. She follows the courtship ritual, which includes repeatedly dipping her head and, if the unattached male expresses interest in her, she lies flat on her back, as an invitation to mate. Once the two have mated, the female collects the stones she came for as a sort of payment, and returns home to her mate for life!

Sometimes, especially cunning female Adelies engage in the courtship ritual, minus the mating part, grab the rocks, and go home. According to Fiona M. Hunter of the University of Cambridge, the males of this species do not bear a grudge, and do not become aggressive when they get nothing for something. This researcher even observed one bold and masterful female make off with 62 stones from one single male in one hour, without engaging in anything but the head-bobbing ritual.

Teflon, the non-stick coating used on pots and pans, holds the title in the Guiness Book of World Records as being the slipperiest substance on earth.

Scientifically speaking, Teflon will not chemically bond to anything, but can be forced mechanically into small nooks and crannies. This slippery substance adheres to their surfaces once manufacturers sandblast them to roughen them, apply a primer, and embed the Teflon into the primer.

DuPont scientist, Dr. Roy Plunkett, accidentally created the recipe for Teflon in 1938, while attempting to produce a better coolant gas than the one currently on the market. In doing so, he toyed with different combinations of gases and, either accidentally or intentionally, left one batch of gasses in a container overnight. Upon arrival at work the following morning, he found that the gasses in the container had "vaporized," and in their stead, found a slippery, waxy solid, which remained intact when exposed to corrosive chemicals which normally eat through things with which they come into contact.

The substance Dr. Plunkett discovered in the container that day was tetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a solid version of fluorocarbons, or freon. For pronunciation's sake, the doctor shortened the name for the substance to Teflon, but even the abbreviated name failed to nudge DuPont into production of the product.

In fact, DuPont waited until 1948, ten years after Teflon's discovery, before beginning its production for commercial applications.

As DuPont dragged its heels in launching Teflon, a Parisian named Marc Gregoire learned of it, and successfully applied it to his fishing tackle to prevent the line from tangling. At his wife's urging, he managed to apply Teflon to her pots and pans, and within several years, this entrepreneur sold in excess of one million Tefal (his name for Teflon) coated pots and pans.

The concept of Teflon coated pots and pans did not stick in America. When UPI reporter Thomas Hardie encountered one of these coated pans, when visiting a friend who had just returned from Paris, he saw a niche in the American market for the slick pots and pans, and immediately contacted Marc Gregoire in Paris. Hardie pitched these pots and pans to every major U.S. manufacturer of cooking utensils to no avail. His next move in his quest for a buyer was to import 3,000 of the pots and pans, with the goal of selling them to all major department stores. Once again, he hit a roadblock until, finally, he convinced a buyer at Macy's Herald Square to take 200 pans off of his hands. All sold within two days, despite a major snowstorm.

Hardie had finally arrived, and could not keep up with the demand for his product. While building a manufacturing plant to produce the product, other manufacturers of pots and pans took advantage of Hardie's moment of silence on the scene, seized the opportunity, and manufactured their own coated pots and pans.

Today, the use of Teflon coating is firmly embedded in America, and extends beyond pots and pans to include bakeware and other kitchen utensils. Hardie's initiative and staying power paid off handsomely.

James Bond, known to his friends as; Jim, was a Philadelphia ornithologist and the author of a book called Birds of the West India.

While the bird-watching book may not have been a bestseller, it did catch the attention of an Englishman named Ian Fleming. At the time, Fleming was living in Jamaica and writing a book of his own. It was the story of an as yet unnamed British secret agent who had the code name 007.

One day, as Fleming was sitting at breakfast looking through his favorite non-fiction tide, he found the perfect name for his hero: Bond, James Bond. Interestingly, the name Bond was not chosen because it was strong, exotic, or even memorable. As Fleming later wrote, "It struck me that this name, brief, unromantic and yet very masculine, was just what I needed." Jim Bond didn't know about his fictional namesake until the early 1960s when he read an interview in which Fleming explained the origin of his character's name.

In 1961, Bond's wife, Mary, wrote to Fleming and half jokingly threatened to sue him for defamation of character. Fleming replied, "I most confess that your husband has every reason to sue me.... In return, I can only offer your James Bond unlimited use of the name Ian Fleming for any purpose he may think fit."

Whitcomb L. Judson invented the zipper and YKK is the Japanese company that makes them.

Whitcomb L. Judson was a lover of gadgets and machines and the idea for his "clasp locker" came from when a friend had a stiff back from trying to fasten his shoes. Judson's clasp locker was used mostly on mailbags, tobacco pouches and shoes. However, his design, like most first inventions needed to be fine-tuned.

A more practical version came on the scene in 1913 when a Swedish-born engineer, Gideon Sundback revised Judson's idea and made his with metal teeth instead of a hook and eye design. In 1917, Sundback patented his "separable fastener."

The name changed again when the B. F. Goodrich Co. used it in rubber boots, galoshes, and called it the "zipper" because the boots could be fastened with one hand.

The 1940s brought about research in Europe of the coil zipper design. The first design was of interlocking brass coils. However, since they could be permanently bent out of shape, making the zipper stop functioning, it was rather bad for business and wasn't too practical. The new design was improved after the discovery of stronger, more flexible synthetics. Coil zippers eventually hit the market in the early 1960s.

In 1934, Yoshida Kogyo Kabushililaisha was founded. Sixty years later they changed their name to YKK Co. The privately owned firm, headquartered in Japan, now is made up of 80 companies at 206 facilities in 52 countries. Wow! you say? but of course, the demand for zippers is great. YKK makes everything from the dyed fabric around the zipper to the brass used to make the actual device.

Leaves change color in the fall, because the chemical changes in the leaves, as their nutrients drain into the tree’s branches, trunk, and roots for winter storage, cause the leaves to stop producing the green pigment chlorophyll.

Chlorophyll’s role in the leaves, to absorb sunlight and to use the sun’s energy, is no longer necessary, and the remaining chlorophyll in the leaves disintegrates.

When the pigment chlorophyll departs, secondary pigments, substances that also absorb light, emerge to take its place, and change the leaves’ colors to theirs. For example, yellow and orange leaves contain the pigment carotene, the same pigment that gives carrots their bright orange color.

Red, wine-red, and purple leaves contain the pigments anthrocyanins, which also lend their color to radishes, cabbage, roses, and geraniums. The main difference between carotene and anthrocyanins is that the anthrocyanins only form in the leaves in the fall when the weather becomes cooler, especially when the temperature falls to between 32 degrees to 45 degrees Fahrenheit.

One characteristic of the leaves’ color is that, for the most part, it is inherited. The variations in the color, however, are determined by weather conditions. The richest and most brilliant foliage appears after weeks of cool, sunny weather in places in the United States such as New England.

The color of the leaves fade as fall turns to winter, and the stems that secure them to the branches begin to loosen with the change in weather. The cells at the ends of the stems fall apart, leaving the leaves attached to the branches by the thin veins that, in warmer weather, transported water and nutrients to the leaves. At this point, virtually any movement can break the veins and the leaves tumble to the ground.

Although the yellow and red pigments last for a few days once on the ground, they soon disintegrate just as the green chlorophyll pigment did. All that remains are brown leaves colored by tannins, which also give tea its brown color. Without a water supply, the brown leaves carpeting the ground become dry and brittle, and the trees bare.

YOUR MOUTH IS A JUNGLE!

For the bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and viruses inhabiting our mouths, life is a piece of cake, or whatever else we have eaten. What we lunch on, they munch on.

In fact, our mouths are ecosystems for them, as the weather forecast remains the same at 95º F, unless we are ill, the level of humidity at 100%, and the guaranteed a free meal on, actually in, the mouth is unconditional. They select their own living quarters, with some preferring life between the teeth, others preferring the space between the gums and the teeth, others preferring the roof of the mouth, and yet others preferring the cracks in the front or in the back of the tongue. They do, however, work for this luxurious lifestyle, by performing such tasks as eating each other, fending off bad species of bacteria, etc., manufacturing different products, and eating the food that becomes lodged in parts of our mouths.

The only harmful species of bacteria inhabiting our mouths is Streptococcus mutants, the cavity causing bacteria. Microbiologists believe that initially, this bacteria was our friend, and played a useful role in our mouths, just as the other species of bacteria do. As man progressed down the evolutionary timeline and began refining raw sugar, Streptococcus mutants became the enemy. This species thrives upon refined sugar and, as a part of its digestive process, converts sugar into acid.

Before man began refining sugar, the bicarbonate ions in our saliva possessed the ability to counteract the acid it produced. With the arrival of refined sugar on the scene, and Streptococcus mutants' insatiable appetite for it, acid production increased to the point where the saliva could no longer counteract it. The excess acid produced erodes our teeth, causes cavities, and subsequent visits to the dentist.

The more than 100 species of bacteria, and hundreds of species of fungi, protozoa, and viruses that have taken up residence in our mouths is difficult to fathom. Microbiologists estimate that, in addition to these known species, there are up to 500 other living, breathing organisms inhabiting our mouths, although only 50 have been identified and named. The sheer number of these creatures is astronomical, considering the fact that our mouths contain more bacteria than the entire world's population, and the fact that our bodies house approximately one trillion bacteria.

What is a person to do about these squatters? Nothing. Our bodies provide an ecosystem for them and, in return, they defend us from the invasion of bad bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa, with the exception of Streptococcus mutants and a couple of other undesirable species.

Our dentists' advice to brush and to floss our teeth on a regular basis should be taken, as doing so helps to maintain healthy levels of these creatures from between 1,000 to 100,000 per tooth.

Enjoy your next meal…they certainly will!

An X-ray picture is really a picture of the shadows cast by the denser materials (like bones) in your body.

These shadows are projected onto a film that has been coated with a sensitive material. The film is developed in a manner very similar to a photograph.

If the doctor suspects that you have a broken bone he will probably take an X-ray picture to check. X-rays are made of the same electromagnetic particles as light but with a much shorter wavelength. These shorter wavelengths allow X-rays to pass through the human body.

X-rays are produced in a special tube. Most of the air is pumped out of the tube. The tube holds a negatively charged electrode called a cathode. Inside the cathode is a tungsten wire which will give off electrons when heated. The tube also contains an anode, or target electrode. The anode is also made of tungsten. When the electrons emitted by the cathode hit the tungsten anode they are stopped abruptly and some of their energy is turned into X-radiation.

X-rays were named by their discoverer, Wilhelm Roentgen. He used the mathematical symbol X, which stands for an unknown, to denote his unknown rays.

The orange thread traditionally used to sew Levi Strauss blue jeans was intentionally selected to match the copper rivets that doubled the durability of the jeans.

Levi Strauss, however, neither envisioned this particular use for copper riveting, which the orange thread complemented, nor the unique stitching on the rear pockets of the jeans.

Jacob Davis, a Russian immigrant, and a tailor, who plied his trade in Reno, Nevada, formulated the idea for the riveted seam, an idea that would vastly extend the life of the jeans, and would revolutionize the garment industry. Alas, due to financial constraints, Jacob could neither afford to obtain a patent for his invention, nor to produce the new garment.

Out of necessity, Jacob approached the wholesaler he purchased his denim from with a proposal that he sell him the West Coast rights to the riveted blue jeans, in exchange for the $68 required to obtain a patent for them. The wholesaler whom accepted Jacob’s proposition was none other than Levi Strauss.

Levi gave Jacob a position with his Company in 1873 and, during his tenure, Jacob ensured that the orange thread be used in all stitching on the jeans, and that the curved, formally named "arcuate," stitches adorn the rear pockets of the jeans.

Initially the fancy, unique stitching on the rear pockets of the jeans served a purpose. The rear pockets of the first Levis the Company produced were lined with cotton, and the orange stitching prevented the padding from buckling. The Company dropped the cotton lining early on, but the stitching remained, and was registered as a trademark in 1942.

Only once did it appear as if the orange stitching on the rear pockets would become a thing of the past. The material shortage during World War II prompted Levi to contribute to the war effort by temporarily ceasing production of jeans with the trademark stitching on the rear pockets, as this was considered frivolous and wasteful. To avoid a break in continuity of the Levi tradition, the Company had the design hand painted on the rear pockets of each pair of jeans produced.

To this day, the copper rivets, matching orange thread, and ornate stitching on the rear pockets still adorn all Levis produced. The legend of Levi Strauss lives on, while Jacob Davis has been lost in the annals of history.

Silkworms, offspring of moths, produce their highly-desirable, pricey silk, by spewing out thread from tiny holes in their jaws, which they use to spin into their egg-bearing cocoons. This entire production takes a mere 72 hours, during which time they produce between 500-1200 silken threads. These miniature, mulberry leaf-munching marvels lay, at minimum, 500 eggs each spring, thereby increasing the number of workers for the production line.

The ancient Chinese unearthed the silkworm's secret, and were the first to spin the silkworm's threads into cloth. They kept this covert, top-secret operation, from the rest of the world by imposing the death sentence upon those who smuggled the worm and/or its eggs out of China. Eventually, however, the secret was out, and silkworms are now farmed for their silk, in China, of course, in Japan, in India, in France, in Spain, and in Italy. These countries harness the power of the silkworm through a tedious, labor-intensive, time-consuming process, a process which prominently figures into the price of silk.

Farm workers painstakingly place the 500 plus eggs the prized grayish-white moth lays, upon strips of paper or cloth (not made of silk!), until the following spring, when the incubated eggs hatch, and the tiny, black worms emerge. Once hatched, workers transport the worms to trays brimming with the worm's favorite fodder of finely chopped, white mulberry leaves. After approximately 6 weeks, the satiated worms begin slowly to sway their heads back and forth to signal that show time is at hand.

Once the silkworm completes its cocoon, the farmer snatches his cocoon from him, to prevent the shrunken chrysalis, carefully encased inside, from hatching into a moth in 12 days. The silk farmers ensure that this event does not transpire, and does not kill his moneymaking venture, by exposing the cocoons to heat, thereby executing the chrysalis. Now, the silkworm's labor of love is prepared for the silk production process.

The process begins by bathing the now-empty cocoons in troughs of warm water, which serves to soften the gum binding the silken filaments together. He now proceeds with the arduous task of unraveling several cocoons, and winding the filaments onto a reel that twists 10-12 filaments together into a "single" thread of silk. The end product is a skein of raw silk, which the farmer profits from by selling to the highest bidder.

Cloth and clothing manufacturers, use the trade terminology, in labeling their product, as being either 2 or 3 threaded, depending upon the number of threads woven into the cloth.

A Social Security Number (SSN) is a unique, nine-digit number assigned to an individual upon application to the Social Security Administration.

All U.S. citizens over the age of 18, who receive an income, must have a SSN, according to the U.S. Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In 1943, an executive order required that federal agencies use the SSN in their new record-keeping systems. The IRS further requires that all employers use the employee's SSN, or Taxpayer I.D. Number (TIN), to report his earnings to them.

A SSN fingerprints a person for his lifetime, and goes with him to the grave. As each SSN is unique, the number's initial record-keeping role for the worker and the government to track Social Security entitlements, broadened.

Private entities, such as hospitals, banks, and brokerage firms realized the vast benefits of the SSN as a personal identifier, and adopted it as a form of positive identification.

The nine-digits of the SSN are divided into three parts, each separated by a hyphen. The first three digits, the area numbers, are based upon the zip code in the applicant's mailing address on the original application form. The second two numbers are the group numbers, ranging from 01 to 99, which serve to break the SSNs with the same area numbers into more manageable blocks. The final four digits of the SSN, the serial numbers, run consecutively from 0001 to 9999 within each group designation.

The SSN is the cornerstone of the U.S. Social Security system, which legislators established through the Social Security Act of 1935 as part of President Roosevelt's New Deal. The underlying goal of the system is to provide old age, disability, and survivors insurance, as well as supplemental security income, which provides an income for elderly or disabled people. It is mandatory that employers, employees, and the self-employed pay Social Security taxes into a vast pool of funds, which is held in a special trust. Upon a major life event, each receives his share of benefits, according to the amount he has paid into the fund, up to a certain amount, and also according to his need. Technically, Social Security pays higher benefits to those with lower incomes and those in need, than to those of substantial means. Ideally, taxes paid into the Social Security system by employers and employees today, fund the benefits being drawn upon by those eligible today.

Neither!

Twelve midnight A.M. and twelve midnight P.M., or 00:00 A.M. and 00:00 P.M., mean nothing at all. They are simply the midpoints that divide the day into two equal halves.

Each and every day begins exactly at midnight, and each A.M. begins precisely thereafter. Similarly, each P.M. begins immediately after noon. No meaning can be assigned to 12:00 A.M. (00:00 A.M.), or to 12:00 P.M. (00:00 P.M.). They are merely reference points meant to simplify timetables for us.

Along the same line, the Universal Day, established by the International Convention in 1884 in Washington, D.C., U.S.A., operates according to World Time, or Universal Time at Greenwich, England. The logic regarding Midnight and Noon also applies to Greenwich Mean Time, commonly referred to as GMT or Zulu time; Midnight and Noon represent markers, or "page breaks" in the day and in the night, and may be represented by 00:00 o’clock.

Greenwich, England also holds the distinction of being at the point of zero longitude, where East meets West. The 1884 international agreement also recognized this line of zero degrees longitude as the prime meridian, a point from which all points on the earth’s surface are measured.

Contrary to popular belief, "falling stars" are not stars at all, but are meteors, solid bodies that travel through space.

Meteors, ranging in size from that of a pinhead, to many tons, are visible to the naked eye at night, when the friction between the surfaces of the meteors and of the air, produces heat as the meteors enter the earth's atmosphere. The intense heat incinerates the meteors, which leave a blazing trail of light in their wake.

Most meteors do burn up when they enter the earth's atmosphere, with the exception of the large meteors, which are dragged through the earth's atmosphere by the earth's gravitational pull. After successful landings upon the earth, these huge bodies are renamed meteorites. Some scientists theorize that thousands of meteors fall to the earth during the daytime and the nighttime, but this theory is impossible to prove or to disprove, as most would necessarily land in water, which covers most of the earth's surface.

Generally speaking, meteors and meteor particles travel together in swarms like bees, with the exception of the loners, and travel in any direction they choose. Nature's spectacular fireworks show, a "meteor shower," comes into view when the swarms encounter the upper layer of the earth's atmosphere during the earth's perpetual revolution around the sun. The friction produced when the meteors and the meteor particles rub against the atmospheric air incinerates the swarms, and they fall towards the earth in a brilliant display of light.

The source of meteors traveling through space has yet to be explained satisfactorily. For thousands of years, the common belief held, was that meteors, or "falling stars," were literally from out of this world. In 467 BC, Roman historians recorded the extraordinary fall of a meteor to the earth.

Today, astronomers espouse the theory that comets spawn the swarms. The comets' offspring, the meteor swarms, travel in regular orbits, similar to the earth's orbit around the sun. One must be quite patient to witness such a swarm, or a meteor shower, as the swarms cross the earth's path only once every 33 years. This spectacle of light is, however, well worth the wait.

The typical, bright, yellowish-orange upper part of a flame is due to the heating of unburned carbon particles.

The temperature of the fire and the material being burned are the factors that determine the color of the flame. The various colors of flames in a wood fire are due to the different substances in the flames.

The strong orange color of most wood flames results when sodium contained in the wood is heated.

The temperature of wood flames is lower than that of candle flames, which colors the wood flames orange, not yellow. If, however, some of the carbon particles in the fire are very hot, the color will be yellow. The product of the burnt carbon, when it has cooled, is black soot.

Since fire needs oxygen to burn, and since the bottom of a candle flame does not get much oxygen, it is the hottest spot in the flame and is blue in color.

The flame cools and changes color as it moves away from the source of the flame, because it is exposed to more oxygen. The temperature change causes the color of the flame to change from blue, at the hottest, lower portion of the flame, to the typical, bright, yellowish-orange or bright orange color with which most people are familiar with. Which shade of orange is seen at the upper portion of the flame, where the flame is the coolest, depends upon the material being burned.

Bouncy.

What, you ask, is rubber? It is a sticky, elastic solid produced from a milky liquid called "latex," which has different properties than the sap found in trees. Although latex is found in the bark, roots, and stems, branches, leaves, and fruit of over 400 different plants and trees, the bulk is found, and extracted, from the inner bark of the branches, and from the trunk, of the rubber tree. Quite simply, it would not be cost-effective to extract the latex from rubber producing plants, such as the dandelion, the milkweed, and the sagebrush. Just visualize some poor soul laboring over one of these with a syringe!

Rubber, derived from the gum of a tree, has existed since prehistoric times. For example, fossils of rubber-producing plants date back almost 3,000,000 years. Crude rubber balls, discovered in ruins of ancient Incan and Mayan civilizations in Central and in South America, are, at very least, 900 years old. Natives of Southeastern Asia used rubber, prepared from the "juice" of trees to waterproof their baskets and jars. Even Columbus, on his second voyage to the New World, observed Haitian natives playing with balls made from "the gum of a tree."

Latex consists of tiny particles of liquid, solid, or semi-fluid material, that appears in the form of a watery liquor, not to be drunk! The breakdown on this watery liquid is only about 33% rubber, with the remainder being, not surprisingly, water! When the rubber particles in the latex join together, they form a ball of rubber.

Rubber producing plants grow best within 10 degrees of the Equator, where the climate is hot and moist, and the soil is deep and rich. For this reason, the area of about 700 miles on each side of the Equator is known as the "Rubber Belt." Brazil, from whence the best, and top-producing rubber tree hails, is firmly planted within the Rubber Belt. This Latino tree with a Latin name, Hevea brasiliensis, produces approximately 96% of the world's supply of natural rubber, and now is cultivated in other Rubber Belt countries.

Most likely, the French, prior to the 1800s, were the first white men to take advantage of rubbers' elasticity. They manufactured "rubber bands" for use with their garters and their suspenders, to help to keep their pants up. Rubber belts did not exist at that time.

Flowers-both cultivated and those with a native nature-have become associated with sentiments, often with the purpose of conveying amorous thoughts.

In the 1600s in Constantinople (what is now Istanbul), flowers gained meanings which enabled lovers to convey messages to each other without having to write or talk.

This language of flowers was introduced to Europe by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, a celebrated letter-writer and society poet who, in 1716, accompanied her husband to the Turkish Court in Istanbul. During her stay, she sent a Turkish love letter to England which interpreted the meanings of some plants, flowers, and spices.

The wonder of flowers, she proposed, was that words and messages of love - even altercations - could be passed in a refined and subtle manner without 'inking the fingers'.

The passing of messages via the floral code was then taken up by the French, only to return to England during the reign of Queen Victoria.

More than 800 flowers have special meanings associated with them. There are over 30 for roses alone.

The way in which the flowers were worn and presented had a meaning in addition to the sentiments attached to individual flowers. A flower bent towards the right would signify "I", while one extending to the left would signify "you".

Therefore a red rosebud leaning to the left would say: "You are pure and lovely".

Hot-burning "halogen bulbs" can last two or three times longer than regular bulbs because they are filled with chemically active halogen gases that preserve the filament.

The filament of an ordinary light bulb burns out because atoms of tungsten evaporate from its surface, so that it becomes thinner and thinner until it breaks. The evaporated tungsten is deposited on the inside surface of the bulb, where it forms a dark deposit.

The gas inside a halogen bulb combines with the tungsten atoms that condense on the glass, removing the deposit. When the combined molecules touch the hot filament, the tungsten is redeposited there, and the gas is released to do the same trick again.

A halogen bulb is often 10 to 20 percent more efficient than an ordinary incandescent bulb of similar voltage, wattage, and life expectancy. Halogen bulbs may also have two to three times as long a lifetime as ordinary bulbs, sometimes also with an improvement in efficiency of up to 10 percent. How much the lifetime and efficiency are improved depends largely on whether a premium fill gas (usually krypton, sometimes xenon) or argon is used.

The piggy bank made its debut in Western Europe between the sixteenth and eighteenth centuries, and replaced the clay jars that once housed spare change.

People named the pig-shaped bank after the orange clay, "pygg," from which it was crafted.

The bank retained its name long after artisans stopped using the clay to produce pottery, and eventually the name "pygg" assumed the name "pig bank," and then the name "piggy bank."

The individual who formed the first lump of "pygg" into the shape of a pig either had a sense of humor, or saw symbolism in using the pig as a model. One school of thought insists that the piggy bank is fed the "leftovers" of a ones money until it is fat enough to be smashed, and the money harvested.

Years ago, in German speaking countries, craftsmen gave their apprentices piggy banks to reward them for years of learning their respective trades.

To this day, in the same countries, it is customary to give piggy banks as gifts. Because the belief that a pig brings luck still holds true, at New Years, the so-called "Lucky Pigs" are still exchanged as gifts. The "Lucky Pig," however, cannot be found throughout the world.

One will not find piggy banks in non-pork eating cultures, because pigs are considered filthy, and it is against the peoples’ religion.

Jack, a stingy, drunken Irishman, is the reason why jack o' lanterns have been associated with Halloween for centuries.

One popular version of an Irish legend tells of Jack drinking too much liquor at a local pub on All Hallow's Eve. The more drinks Jack consumed the more his life was slipping away. As the intoxicated Jack stumbled home, the Devil demanded that Jack come to Hell with him because of his evil ways. Jack, who was not too eager to die, convinced the Devil to climb a nearby tree to pluck him an apple. As the Devil climbed the tree, Jack carved a cross in the tree's trunk--preventing the Devil from coming back down. The angry and deceived Devil demanded that Jack release him. But first, the clever Jack wanted to make a pact with the Devil. Jack made the Devil promise that when he died the Devil would not claim his soul. The Devil agreed and Jack set him free.

On the following All Hallow's Eve Jack died from his excessive drinking. He was forbidden to enter the gates of Heaven because of his mean and evil habits. Desperate for a resting place, Jack tried entering Hell, but the Devil denied Jack access because of their previous promise. The Devil gave the rejected Jack a lighted coal to help him find his resting place. Jack, who was munching down on a turnip at the time, placed the coal inside the turnip to light his way through the dark night. Since then, Jack has been roaming the world with his jack o'lantern looking for a place to rest.

The use of Jack O'Lanterns as festive lights at Halloween is a legendary custom that descended from the Irish who used carved out potatoes, beets, or turnips as lanterns.

Pumpkins were not used until Irish immigrants came to America and realized that these big orange squashes were more abundant and cheaper than beets or turnips.

The culprits in foot odor are sweat eating bacteria.

The problem begins when bacteria become attracted to the sweat on your feet and start feeding on it.

The bacteria's excretion has a strong odor that causes your feet to smell bad.

Since each foot has over 250,000 sweat glands in it, and produces over a pint of sweat a day there's a lot for the bacteria to eat.

What makes the situation worse are shoes and socks which trap the sweat on your skin. Now the bacteria have their favorite kind of environment: dark and damp, causing them to go into a feeding frenzy. More waste is excreted, and when you take off your socks and shoes, your nose is presented with the results!

Why do some people's feet smell more than others?

The simple answer is, some people sweat more than others. That's also the reason why your own foot odor can vary. You might sweat more at different parts of the day. The more you sweat, the more your feet will smell.

How can foot odor be reduced?

Since more sweat equals more bacteria and more odor, the amount of sweat that collects on your feet must be decreased. This will lessen your bacteria load as well.

» Always wear clean socks. It is even recommended you change sock throughout the day. » Wash your feet with anti-bacterial soap. This won't lessen the sweat, but it will kill bacteria. » Give a pair of shoes 24 hours to air out after every wearing. The sweat will evaporate. » Avoid restrictive shoes like, boots. Well-ventilated shoes whisk away sweat. » Wear socks made of absorbent materials, like cotton. The sock will soak up the sweat leaving the bacteria nothing to feed on. » Apply antiperspirant to you feet. Putting inserts in shoes will mask part of the problem, but they won't solve it as they fail to kill bacteria. If your foot odor is really strong, the best method of prevention is to see a doctor. There are several prescriptions available to treat foot odor.

Quicksand consists of a buoyant blend of round granules of light sand, blended with water, or of light soil and gritty mud, or of mud peppered with pebbles. Water injects itself into the grains of any one of these mixtures, which separates and lifts them, causing them to tumble over one another, and rendering them helpless to support weighty objects.

Quicksand typically surfaces near the deltas of mighty rivers, or near shores, where a layer of stiff clay below collects and retains the water. Quicksand does not suck unsuspecting victims to their untimely deaths, a theory espoused my most until recently. This nightmarish theory did, however, provide good fodder for a host of low-budget horror films!

The discovery of quicksand's buoyant properties, akin to those of the salty Dead Sea, quashed this prevalent theory. Since quicksand is saturated with liquid, and far outweighs water, it allows anything or anyone who steps into it, to float higher than possible in water alone. The key to swimming in this non-chlorinated swimming hole, is slow motion. By moving slowly, when initially landing in quicksand, one provides the quicksand with the lead-time necessary to flow around one's body, thereby making swimming or floating possible.

Robert Augustus Cheesebrough.

In 1859 when oil was first found in Pennsylvania, Cheesebrough was a 22 year old chemist in Brooklyn who had become an expert at extracting kerosene from cannel oil.

He realized that petroleum products would be the fuel source of the future so he headed to Pennsylvania to get his piece of the action.

He noticed that a colorless film called "rod wax" collected around the pump rods on the oil wells, gumming up the works until it was removed. He also observed oil workers who would slap the stuff on a cut, instead of a bandage. Not only did it stay on the skin and stop the bleeding, but it seemed to help cure the wound.

Cheesebrough returned to Brooklyn with some rod-wax and spent months creating a clean form of rod-wax which he called "petroleum jelly". He began making so much of this stuff that every beaker in his laboratory was full, so he threw out his wife's flowers and filled the vases with his creation.

After awhile, he added the popular medical term "line" to the word "vase" and he called the product "Vaseline Petroleum Jelly."

The correct answer is... Raquel Welch

Born Raquel Tejada on September 5, 1940 in Chicago, she began taking dance lessons as a child and by her teens was already winning beauty contests.

At the age of 18, she married her high-school sweetheart James Welch. The couple had two children before divorcing in 1961. After working in Dallas, Texas as a waitress and model, Welch relocated to Hollywood in 1963; within three days she had already landed a manager, Patrick Curtis, and soon they formed a promotions company, Curtwell Enterprises.

After appearing in Life magazine in a revealing bikini, she began working on the ABC series Hollywood Palace, and in 1964 made her feature debut with an unbilled appearance in the Elvis Presley vehicle Roustabout. Welch next appeared as a prostitute in 1964's A House Is Not a Home, followed by another uncredited appearance a year later in Do Not Disturb.

In 1965 she scored her first lead role in the pop musical A Swingin' Summer, resulting in a contract with 20th Century-Fox, which cast her in the sci-fi hit Fantastic Voyage before loaning her to the British horror studio Hammer. There she starred in a 1967 remake of One Million Years B.C.; clad in little more than strategically-placed strips of fur, Welch's publicity stills appeared everywhere, and she became a major sex symbol.