Read Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up! Online
Authors: Bathroom Readers’ Institute
In 1969, Pan-Am began accepting reservations for flights to the Moon. (The airline went out of business in 1991.)
Seven lunar craters were named for the astronauts on the
Challenger
shuttle.
Many small lunar and Martian craters are named after small towns on Earth.
The
Apollo 11
astronaut who didn’t walk on the Moon: Michael Collins.
The Moon is 2,140 miles in diameter. That’s less than the width of the continental United States.
The study of the Moon is called selenology, after Selene, the Greek goddess of the Moon.
Distance from Earth to the Moon: about 238,855 miles.
“Ahoy!” was once a Viking battle cry.
For more than 400 years, pirates were hanged at the Execution Dock in London, on the north bank of the Thames. Today a pub called the Captain Kidd overlooks the original site of the gallows.
In London, in 1700, “frigate” was naval slang for “woman”—specifically a shady one.
Captain James Cook tried to prevent scurvy by feeding his men sauerkraut. It often worked.
In the 1700s, to ease overcrowding in the jails, English convicts were imprisoned in the hulls of old warships moored on the Thames.
“Flotsam” is what floats on the ocean, and “jetsam” is what gets tossed overboard from a ship.
In 1912, the New York Giants and New York Yankees played a charity baseball game to raise money for
Titanic
survivors.
Columbus took his son Diego along on his fourth trip to the New World.
The ironclad Union ship
Monitor
, which sailed during the Civil War, was the first ship to have a flush toilet.
Sea shanties such as “Drunken Sailor” were the only songs the British Royal Navy allowed on ships during the 1800s.
The
Titanic
was running at only 22 knots (about 25 mph) when it hit the iceberg.
What sets the 1908 Olympics apart from all the others? It was the only time that motorized watersports were featured as Olympic events.
“It is well to remember that a Martian observing his first baseball game would be quite correct in concluding that the last two words of the national anthem are: PLAY BALL!”
—Herbert H. Paper
“I knew when my career was over. In 1965, my baseball card came out with no picture.”
—Bob Uecker
“Things could be worse. Suppose your errors were counted and published every day, like those of a baseball player.”
—Unknown
“The place was always cold, and I got the feeling that the fans would have enjoyed baseball more if it had been played with a hockey puck.”
—Andre Dawson, on playing in Montreal
“The doctors X-rayed my head and found nothing.”
—Dizzy Dean
“What does a mama bear on the pill have in common with the World Series? No Cubs.”
—Harry Caray
“I believe in the Church of Baseball. I tried all the major religions and most of the minor ones. I’ve worshiped Buddha, Allah, Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, trees, mushrooms, and Isadora Duncan. I know things. For instance, there are 108 beads in a Catholic rosary and there are 108 stitches in a baseball. When I learned that, I gave Jesus a chance.”
—Annie Savoy (Susan Sarandon),
Bull Durham
, 1988
“Hating the New York Yankees is as American as apple pie, unwed mothers, and cheating on your income tax.”
—Mike Royko
“Why do we sing ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ when we’re already there?”
—George Carlin
Hot Springs National Park in Arkansas is nicknamed “the American Spa.”
Independence National Historical Park covers 45 acres in downtown Philadelphia.
Hovenweep
, as in Hovenweep National Monument on the Colorado-Utah border, means “deserted valley.”
The world’s smallest park: Mill Ends Park in Portland, Oregon, at 452 inches.
First national lakeshore: Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore on Lake Superior.
A 2.5-acre section of New York’s Central Park is called Strawberry Fields in honor of John Lennon.
Women’s Rights National Historical Park is at Seneca Falls in upstate New York.
The Nez Perce National Historic Park, which celebrates the heritage of the Nez Perce Indians, is made up of 38 different sites spread over four states: Idaho, Washington, Oregon, and Montana.
1. BATTLE FOR THE HAGUE. On May 10, 1940, the Germans invaded the Netherlands, hoping to accomplish two things: 1) capture The Hague, a town in western Holland where most of the country’s government was located, and 2) take the country’s Queen Wilhemina prisoner. But the Dutch resistance was stronger than Adolf Hitler had anticipated, and by the evening of May 10, they’d forced the Germans to retreat. The Battle for the Hague lasted only one day, but it demoralized German troops and was one of the few early battles that the Nazis lost.
2. THE SOVIET UNION SWITCHES SIDES. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, the Soviet Union was one of its allies. Hitler and Joseph Stalin had signed a nonaggression pact, but in early 1940, Hitler started planning Operation Barbarossa, a large-scale invasion of the Soviet Union. He launched it the following year—almost 4 million Germans faced more than 3 million Soviets in the largest military operation in history.
Between June and December 1941, the Germans struggled to take control of Moscow. They never succeeded. Instead, over the next three years, the Soviets managed to push the Germans all the way back to Berlin. The Soviet Union also became a key ally of the United States and Great Britain, and Germany, whose army found itself fighting in the east and west, couldn’t win a two-front war.
3. GUADALCANAL CAMPAIGN. After the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor in December 1941, the Americans had to scramble to come up with a response. They launched the Doolittle Raid in early 1942 in an attempt to show the Japanese that their homeland was vulnerable to attack, but that did little to affect the Japanese
militarily. For the most part, the Americans and their allies remained on the defensive. That changed in August 1942, when Allied soldiers landed on the Japanese-controlled island of Guadalcanal in the Pacific Ocean and launched the first major attack against Japan.
After six months of fighting, only about 7,000 Allied troops had been killed…compared to more than 30,000 Japanese soldiers. Japan finally retreated from Guadalcanal on February 9, 1943, and the Allies’ victory gave them their first strategic advantage in the Pacific.
4. THE P-51 MUSTANG. Many military strategists during World War II believed that whoever had the advantage in the air would win the war. But in the early days, the Germans controlled the skies. Allied fighter planes had barely enough power to fly from air bases in England to the German border. That meant they weren’t able to do much to protect the bombers that were attacking Berlin and other cities. German fighters just waited for the Allied bombers to arrive and then decimated them.
That’s where the P-51 Mustang came in. Introduced in 1942, this long-range fighter was lighter and faster than previous planes, and went farther on a tank of gas. So it could accompany the bombers on long raids and provide adequate support. Suddenly, the Allies were as much of a threat in the air as the Germans were.
5. THE BATTLE OF THE BULGE. Officially called the “Ardennes Offensive,” this was the last major German effort to stop the Allied advance in Europe. Between December 16, 1944, and January 25, 1945, more than 500,000 German troops fought 800,000 British and American soldiers for control of the Ardennes Forest in Belgium. Despite freezing temperatures, low supplies, and a delay in the arrival of fresh troops, the Allies held their ground and eventually were victorious. In the end, the German air force was nearly destroyed, seriously weakening its military overall.
And the “bulge” in the battle’s name? That refers to the humplike shape the Allied line took on as the Germans tried to hem them in on two sides.
The three most popular dog breeds in the United States: Labrador retriever, golden retriever, and German shepherd.
The average city dog lives three years longer than the average country dog.
A dog can recognize its own urine markings a year after making them.
Dogs have fewer than 2,000 taste buds. (Humans have about 9,000.)
There are 41 references to dogs in the Bible…and most of them are negative.
The five most popular dog commands in the United States: sit, shake, roll over, speak, and lie down.
Scientists have discovered that dogs can “smell” the presence of autism and epilepsy in humans.
Who’s the most famous cairn terrier? Toto from
The Wizard of Oz
.
A painting from 79 BC, showing a guide dog leading a blind man, was found in the ruins of Pompeii.
A guide dog’s career typically lasts 8 to 10 years.
One in four British vets say they’ve treated a drunk dog.
Two dogs survived the sinking of the
Titanic
: a Pekingese and a Pomeranian.
The St. Bernard was named for Bernard of Menthon, a medieval monk who built way stations for travelers in the Alps.
A dog’s normal body temperature is between 101°F and 102°F.
Alexander Graham Bell tried to teach his dog how to talk.
Dean Martin’s vanity license plate was DRUNKY.
J. Edgar Hoover fired FBI agents whose palms were sweaty when they shook hands.
In the 1600s, French women wore high heels to show that they were too rich to walk.
Twenty-five percent of the people at sporting events believe their presence affects the outcome of the game.
Theodore Roosevelt craved attention. It was said he wanted to be “the bride at every wedding…and the corpse at every funeral.”
Former heavyweight boxing champion George Foreman has five sons—all named George.
Artist Paul Cézanne taught his parrot to say “Cézanne is a great painter.”
Golfer Chi Chi Rodriguez once made his caddie carry him across a river.
Ivan the Terrible blinded Russia’s best architect so he couldn’t build nicer buildings for other people.
Pro golfer Archie Compston had a second caddie just for his tobacco and pipes.
Vanilla Ice once said, “You can write a book on each of my thoughts.”
John Adams—by his own admission—was “puffy, vain, conceited.”
Mötley Crüe drummer Tommy Lee once had a Starbucks in his home.
Arnold Schwarzenegger turned down
The Incredible Hulk
TV series because he thought he was too good-looking for the part.
McMurdo Station in Antarctica (population: 200) has its own ATM.
Sitka, Alaska, was once part of the Russian empire.
Germany and Italy were united as modern countries in the 1800s.
The towns of Greenwich and Norwich were once ancient salt mines in England. (The Anglo-Saxon word for “saltworks” is
wich
.)
Until 1832, the town of Old Sarum in southern England had two members in Britain’s parliament, but nobody lived there. (The land was owned by 11 people who all lived elsewhere.)
The original Guinness Brewery in Dublin, Ireland, has a 6,000-year lease.
Official state rock ’n’ roll song of Ohio: “Hang on Sloopy,” by the McCoys.
World’s steepest street: Baldwin Street in Dunedin, New Zealand, with a 38 percent incline.
The State of Michigan has designated Aretha Franklin’s voice a natural resource.
Circus music commonly used to introduce clowns: “Entrance of the Gladiators.”
Marni Nixon’s singing was dubbed in for Deborah Kerr in
The King and I
, for Natalie Wood in
West Side Story
, and for Audrey Hepburn in
My Fair Lady
.
Alanis Morissette appeared on
Star Search
in 1989, but lost to a singing cowboy.
George Gershwin’s last tune: “Love Is Here to Stay,” for the 1938 film
The Goldwyn Follies
.
In the 1944 film
To Have or Have Not
, Lauren Bacall’s singing was dubbed by Andy Williams.
Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven” was never released as a single.
Regis Philbin sings “Pennies from Heaven” on
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire: The Album
.
Clint Eastwood did his own singing in the 1969 film
Paint Your Wagon
. Jean Seberg’s was dubbed.
The American Film Institute’s top two movie songs of all time: “Singin’ in the Rain” and “Over the Rainbow.”
What song did Hal, the computer in
2001: A Space Odyssey
, learn to sing? “A Bicycle Built for Two.”
Dooley Wilson, the piano player Sam in
Casablanca
, couldn’t play the piano. He sang “As Time Goes By,” but the piano playing was dubbed.
Victor Fleming, the director of
The Wizard of Oz
, nearly cut “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” from the film.
Clint Eastwood wrote the theme songs for
Unforgiven
,
The Bridges of Madison County
, and
Gran Torino
.
Arnold Schwarzenegger appeared on TV’s
The Dating Game
in 1973.
Maud Gonne, William Butler Yeats’s lover, was a founder of the Irish political party Sinn Fein.
Myrna Loy’s second husband was car-rental heir John Hertz Jr.
Singer James Brown’s wife once tried to get her traffic tickets dismissed because of “diplomatic immunity.”