Did You Know.....

[Warph]

...that sometimes, history happens in a moment.

Usually, history is the long view.  It's the perspective we gain with distance, from looking back and putting things into context.  Events take their place in "history" only after we see their consequences and realize which were actually important. Usually, history takes time.

But sometimes, we know it the minute we see it.

History happened in a moment on 22 November 1963 when President John F. Kennedy was shot in Dallas.  His death certificate is a matter-of-fact record of an event that shocked the world.

Two days later, his alleged assassin, Lee Harvey Oswald, was gunned down.  He was taken to Parkland Memorial, the same hospital where the president had died two days before... almost to the hour, according to Oswald's death certificate:

In a final twist, Jack Ruby, Oswald's killer, would die at the same hospital three years later:

There's no box checked for "Homicide" on Ruby's death certificate.  He died from a pulmonary embolism and cancer, no gunshots.  No mention of his role in the events of November 1963.

Nothing about his place in history.


You Won't Believe These Causes of Death on October 29, 2012. 

Among the more interesting details you may find on a death record is the cause of death.  Even more so when that cause leads a story:

Pint-sized problems

Anyone who has spent long hours staring small screens or reading small type knows a little about eye strain, but who knew it could be fatal?  This 1880 census mortality schedule from Leadville, Colorado reveals that J. Nash died from "Sore Eyes." Consider yourself warned.

It was loaded?

Accidental deaths may be reported in newspapers, as was the case with Ohio politician and lawyer, Clement Vallandigham.  Clement was defending a murder suspect and trying to demonstrate the possibility that the victim had shot himself.  He attempted to demonstrate his theory, but grabbed a loaded gun by accident.  His reenactment proved fatal.  This article from The Herald and Torch Light of Hagerstown, Maryland (21 June 1871) describes the accident and the aftermath.

The defendant was eventually acquitted, but in 1875, he too succumbed to a bullet wound when he was shot in his saloon.


Death by Safe

Although Jack Daniel's death certificate only lists "blood poisoning from operation," the full story of the famous distiller's death is a bit unusual.  Apparently in frustration in not being able to open his safe, he kicked it, injuring his toe.  The resulting infection was responsible for his death.  The deadly safe is on display in Jack Daniel's distillery in Lynchburg.

It Really Was a Wild, Wild West!

If you think that the gunfights of the American West were a product of Hollywood, a look at some mortality schedules might change your mind.  This Arizona City, Yuma County, Arizona mortality schedule is a good example.  Eleven of the thirty-one deaths reported were due to wounds, a fracture of the skull, shootings, or stabbings.

At the bottom of the page, in the remarks section, the enumerator notes that, "I expect a great many violent deaths, this being a frontier county where all disputes are settled by the use of weapons, and it occurs between transient and single men who have no families."

[Warph]

12 Women You Don't Know.... but You Should.

Women Rule.

They also fight, write, paint, and unlock the secrets of the universe. And they've done it for a long time.

1479–1458 B.C.
Hatshepsut
Ancient Egypt is ahead of its time when it comes to equal rights for its citizens: women can own property, seek employment outside the home, and even adopt children. And female rulers govern Egypt on and off for centuries. But when Hatshepsut ascends to the throne, she doesn't settle for just being a queen—she declares herself pharaoh, the king of Egypt and a divine being. For 20 years she rules one of the most advanced and powerful empires in history.


ca. 546 B.C.
Theano
Anyone who's taken geometry has heard of the Pythagorean theorem—or should have. But have you heard about the woman beside the man? Tradition says that Pythagoras, the famous Greek mathematician, has a promising young female student named Theano whom he eventually marries. Together they create a school for mathematics that both men and women can attend, and Theano becomes an influential mathematician in her own right.


ca. 300 B.C.
Agnodice
(or so says tradition again) illegally practices medicine in ancient Greece.


A.D. 40
The Trung Sisters
Trung Trac and Trung Nhi, young daughters of a Vietnamese lord, lead a revolution against the Chinese who had invaded and conquered their country. They form and train their own army, which eventually grows to around 80,000 warriors. Many of the army's generals—one is their own mother—are women. The rebellion does not overthrow the Chinese tyranny, but the women are still celebrated every year in Vietnam with their own national holiday.

Trung sisters riding elephants.

ca. 60
Boudicca,
Celtic queen, leads a revolt against the Roman Empire.


ca. 1000
Lady Murasaki,
Japanese author, writes The Tale of Genji, one of the earliest novels in recorded history.


ca. 1004
Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir
Not one to be left behind, Erik the Red's daughter-in-law Gudridur Thorbjarnardottir gives birth to the first European child in the New World.


ca. 1090
Trotula of Salerno
In southern Italy, Trotula gains fame as a physician and healer during an era when some European women who practice medicine are considered witches. She writes several important medical treatises, including Passionibus Mulierum Curandorum, or The Diseases of Women. Many of her recommendations are controversial. For instance, she advocates giving women opiates during childbirth to alleviate their pain.


ca. 1600
Italian painter Artemisia Gentileschi
is the first female painter to become a member of the Accademia dell'Arte del Disegno, the first drawing academy in Europe.

Self-portrait as the Allegory of
Painting by Artemisia Gentileschi

1872
Victoria Claflin Woodhull
Victoria spends her unusual childhood traveling the country with her family and telling fortunes, selling elixirs, and showing off her psychic powers. When she finally settles in New York, her business savvy—and some influential clients—help her start the first female-owned brokerage firm on Wall Street. She also creates and publishes a weekly journal. In 1872, Victoria becomes the first woman to run for president of the United States—at a time when most women can't even vote.


1953
Rosalind Elsie Franklin
By age 15, this young British girl knows she wants to be a scientist and pursues a higher education despite pressure from her family. During the 1950s, while working in a research lab in England, Rosalind uses X-ray techniques she learned in Paris and discovers the double-helix pattern of the DNA molecule. Her data is shared with other biochemists, who take this information, add it to their own, and publish the material. Four years after Rosalind's death, Wilkins, Watson, and Crick receive the Nobel Prize for their work on DNA. To this day the debate continues on how much credit should have gone to this instrumental scientist.

[Warph]

....that there were two pairs of siblings who have competed against each other for acting awards at the Oscars?

Do you know who the only person named Oscar who ever won an Oscar?

Can you think of the first sequel to be nominated for Best Picture?

If those are the type of questions that tickle your fancy, this Oscar quiz is for you.

There are 116 questions and some of them are real posers. But the creator of the quiz knows his stuff and provides full explanations of the answers.

Try it and see how you do!

http://www.madbeast.com/quiz.htm

[Warph]

...that many witnessed these unforgettable events in real-time thanks to the magic of broadcasting.

Viewer Discretion is Advised.

Top 10 Craziest Events Caught On Live Televison

Top 10 Televised Events

Thanks to this medium of telecommunication, we'll never forget when these happened.

Top 10 Ways the World Might End (in the Next 100 Years)

If only these were fictional...

[Warph]

Did you know ...that the God of the Bible says that one of the ways that you can know that He is the one true God is by looking at the prophecies that have been fulfilled?  He is the only God that can tell us the end from the beginning because He sees it all.  In Isaiah 46:9-10, it says the following..."Remember the former things of old: for I am God, and there is none else; I am God, and there is none like me, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times the things that are not yet done, saying, My counsel shall stand, and I will do all my pleasure"


Did you know ...that King David composed a graphic portrayal of the crucifixion of Jesus Christ about 1000 years before it happened?  While he was hanging on the cross, Jesus even quoted Psalm 22 to point out to everyone that the fact that his hands and feet had been pierced had been prophesied long ago.  At the time this Psalm was written, crucifixion had not even been invented yet.


Did you know ...that the prophet Isaiah prophesied incredible details about the life, suffering, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus the Messiah about 700 years in advance?  Just check out Isaiah 53.


Did you know ...that the name of Jesus (Yeshua), Mary, Joseph, the names of the 12 disciples, Messiah, Galilee, Passover, Herod, the term "His Cross", the term "Let Him Be Crucified" and many other phrases relating to Jesus have all been found by Bible code researchers embedded in the text of Isaiah chapter 53?


Did you know ...that the prophet Daniel prophesied the exact YEAR when Jesus would be presented as Messiah and that he also prophesied that it would be BEFORE the Jewish temple was destroyed in 70 A.D.? All of this was prophesied more than 500 years in advance.  To see this, just check out Daniel 9:24-27.


Did you know ...that the Bible foretold the exact family line that the Messiah would come from?


Did you know ...that the Bible foretold the exact place where the Messiah would be born?


Did you know ...that there are more than 300 prophecies about the Messiah in the Old Testament Scriptures that were fulfilled by Jesus Christ?


Did you know ...that Peter Stoner, Professor Emeritus of Science at Westmont College, has calculated that the odds of any one person fulfilling just 48 of the major Messianic prophecies in the Bible was 1 in 10 to the 157th power?


Did you know ...that the ancient Hebrew name for God, YHWH, is actually a prophecy of the death of Jesus Christ? In "paleo-Hebrew", each letter was represented by an ideogram. In other words, each letter was also a picture which represented an idea.  It turns out that when you examine the ancient Hebrew name for God, it can be translated as follows: "The Hand Revealed, The Nail Revealed".  For much more on this, please see "REVEALED! THE SECRET NAME OF GOD - Amazing Last Days Revelation (Hidden 'code')" on YouTube.

Did you know that the gospel message is contained in the genealogy from Adam to Noah that we find in Genesis chapter 5? In the list below, I have included the Hebrew names from the genealogy along with their English meanings.  This is incredible...

Adam ("Man")
Seth ("Appointed")
Enosh ("Mortal")
Kenan ("Sorrow")
Mahalalel ("The Blessed God")
Jared ("Shall come down")
Enoch ("Teaching")
Methuselah ("His death shall bring")
Lamech ("The despairing")
Noah ("Rest" or "Comfort")

If you put it all together, you get a sentence that reads something like this: "Man is appointed mortal sorrow, but the Blessed God shall come down teaching, and his death shall bring the despairing rest."


Did you know ...that for centuries ahead of time, God held a "dress rehearsal" for the crucifixion of Jesus the Messiah every single year in the exact city where it would happen and on the exact day it would happen?  It is called Passover, and you can read more about it in Leviticus 23.


Did you know... that for centuries ahead of time, God held a "dress rehearsal" for the resurrection of Jesus the Messiah every single year in the exact city where it would happen and on the exact day it would happen?  It is called Firstfruits, and you can read more about it in Leviticus 23.


Did you know ....that for centuries ahead of time, God held a "dress rehearsal" for the birth of Jesus the Messiah every single year in the exact region of Israel where it would happen and on the exact day it would happen?  You see, the little town of Bethlehem is only about 5 miles away from Jerusalem.  It is called the Feast of Tabernacles, and you can read more about it in Leviticus 23.  And for a much more detailed explanation, please see "Christ's Birth Revealed In Scripture" by Pastor Mark Biltz on YouTube.


Did you know ...that Dr. Simon Greenleaf of Harvard University (one of the greatest professors of law in U.S. history) once made the following statement?...

"According to the laws of legal evidence used in courts of law, there is more evidence for the historical fact of the resurrection of Jesus Christ than for just about any other event in history."

Did you know ...that many that have tried to disprove the Christian faith have ended up becoming Christians and strongly defending the Christian faith once they evaluated the evidence?  Two prominent examples of this are Josh McDowell and Lee Strobel.

If Jesus did not actually rise from the dead, why didn't the opponents of the new faith simply produce the body? That would have ended "Christianity" really fast.


Did you know ...that if Jesus did not actually rise from the dead, all of His disciples would have surely known that was the case? So why would all of those men die for a lie when honesty was at the very heart of the message that they were preaching? Why would they endure years of beatings, torture and floggings when all they had to do to stop it was to deny that Jesus rose from the dead?


Did you know ...that the son of a Jewish carpenter who lived about 2000 years ago that was killed by the Romans in his early thirties is far and away the most influential person in all of human history?


Did you know ...that there are a whole host of ancient sources outside of the Bible that attest to the life and death of Jesus Christ?


Did you know ...that large numbers of Muslims all over the world are having dreams and visions of Jesus and are turning to Christianity as a result?  For an in-depth look at this phenomenon, please see "Dreams And Visions: Is Jesus Awakening the Muslim World?" by Tom Doyle.


Did you know ....that Carbon-14 dating gives us strong evidence that the Bible is accurate?  Due to the rate that it decays, there should be absolutely no measurable radioactive carbon left in fossils that are "greater than 100,000 years old".  Yet we find it in all of the ancient fossils that we dig up.  We even find it in coal, diamonds and in dinosaur bones.  Those that seek to promote the theory that life has been around for "millions of years" have absolutely no reasonable explanation for this.


Did you know ...that T-Rex bones have been discovered that still contain soft tissue inside of them?  If those bones really were "millions of years old" that would be impossible.


Did you know ...that DNA is an incredibly complex language that we are only beginning to comprehend?  Such a language system could not have come into existence by accident.  The following is how Perry Marshall puts it...

1) DNA is not merely a molecule with a pattern; it is a code, a language, and an information storage mechanism.

2) All codes are created by a conscious mind; there is no natural process known to science that creates coded information.

3) Therefore DNA was designed by a mind.

If you can provide an empirical example of a code or language that occurs naturally, you've toppled my proof. All you need is one.


Did you know ...that if the neutron was not precisely the size that it is (about 1.001 times the mass of the proton), either all protons would have decayed into neutrons by now or all neutrons would have decayed into protons by now and life on Earth would not be possible?  In fact, there are a whole host of examples like this that show how God has gone to great lengths to fine tune our planet and our entire universe for us.


Did you know ...that the human brain consists of approximately 12 billion cells? It is far more complex than anything that humanity has ever created. Anyone that thinks that our brains could have come into existence "by accident" is only fooling themselves.


Did you know that there is a massive amount of scientific evidence that show that humanity was created by God?


Did you know ...that no nation that has ceased to exist has EVER come back into existence after 2000 years of not being a nation?  But the Bible said that Israel would be a nation once again in the last days and that has happened.


Did you know ...that the Jewish Talmud inadvertently contains remarkable evidence for the Christian faith?  The Talmud states that four remarkable miracles that kept repeatedly happening all started about forty years before the destruction of the Jewish temple in 70 A.D.

So what happened right about that time?  The death and resurrection of Jesus Christ of course.

First, here is the description of these miracles that we find in the Jerusalem Talmud...

"Forty years before the destruction of the Temple, the western light went out, the crimson thread remained crimson, and the lot for the Lord always came up in the left hand. They would close the gates of the Temple by night and get up in the morning and find them wide open" (Jacob Neusner, The Yerushalmi, p.156-157).
Secondly, here is the description of these miracles that we find in the Babylonian Talmud...

"Our rabbis taught: During the last forty years before the destruction of the Temple the lot ['For the Lord'] did not come up in the right hand; nor did the crimson-colored strap become white; nor did the western most light shine; and the doors of the Hekel [Temple] would open by themselves" (Soncino version, Yoma 39b).


Did you know ...that remnants of ancient Egyptian chariot wheels have been found on the bottom of the Gulf of Aqaba?  This is very strong evidence that the Biblical account of the Exodus is accurate.

If time did not have a beginning, then an infinite amount of time would have had to have passed in order to reach this point.  But how would that be possible?


Did you know ...that Jesus Christ can give you meaning and purpose in life? If man is nothing but the random arrangement of molecules, what motivates you to care about anyone or anything? What motivates you to live morally and honorably if there is no God?


Did you know ...that people are still being raised from the dead in the name of Jesus today?  If you doubt this, please watch a documentary entitled "Raised From The Dead" by Christ For All Nations.  Also please see "Former Muslim Raised From The Dead" on YouTube.


Did you know ...that there are a large number of people alive today that claim to have actually been to heaven or been to hell?  How can you dismiss all of those eyewitness testimonies?  Are they all lying?  Are they all crazy?

[Warph]

MUSIC FAST FACTS

Did you know...


...that to win a gold disc, an album needs to sell 100,000 copies in Britain, and 500,000 in the United States.

Melba toast is named after Australian opera singer Dame Nellie Melba (1861-1931).

Music was sent down a telephone line for the first time in 1876, the year the phone was invented.

The CD was developed by Philips and Sony in 1980.

40 billion songs are downloaded illegally every year, that's some 90% of all music downloads.
The music industry generates about $4 billion in online music but loose about $40 billion to illegal downloads.

Top-selling albums used to reach sales of 20 million copies before the advent of online piracy – by 2009 it had dropped to about 5 million.

The number of recorded CDs and blank CDs sold were about equal.

About one-third of recorded CDs ever sold were pirated.

The Star-Spangled Banner became the US national anthem in 1931. Prior to that, it was My Country 'Tis of Thee," which had the same melody as Britian's national anthem God Save the Queen, which is based on music written by John Bull in 1619. Bull's melody has been used more than any song in national anthems.

The British anthem was performed the most times in a single performance. In 1909, while waiting for King Edward VII who was getting dressed a German band played the anthem 17 times.

Tap dancing originates from Irish clog dancing and what is called the Irish reel and jig.

The harmonica is the world's best-selling music instrument. Just check out the great blues harmonica selection online.

It was at a concert in Minneapolis in 1954 that Al Dvorin first closed Elvis's concerts with: "Ladies and Gentleman, Elvis has left the building. Thank you and good night."

Elvis favorite collectibles were official badges. He collected police badges in almost every city he performed in.

Elvis was an avid gun collector. His collection of 40 weapons included M-16s and a Thompson submachine gun.

Duran Duran took their name from a mad scientists in the movie Barbarella.

Bob Dylan's first professional performance was as opening act for John Lee Hooker at Gerde's Folk City in New York, 1961.

Before they were known as Journey, Steve Perry called his band Golden Gate Rhythm Section.

Kenneth Edmonds was nicknamed Babyface by funk bassist and singer Bootsy Collins.

The world's largest disco was held at the Buffalo Convention Centre, New York, 1979. 13,000 danced a place into the Guinness Book of World Records.

In August 1983, Peter Stewart of Birmingham, UK set a world record by disco dancing for 408 hours.

Ireland has won the most Eurovision song contests (7 times).

Annie Lennox holds the record for the most Brit awards (.

The Beatles holds the top spot of album sales in the US (106 million), followed by Garth Brooks second (92 million), Led Zeppelin (83 million), Elvis Presley (77 million), and the Eagles (65 million). Worldwide The Beatles sold more than 1 billion records.

Klezmer music is derived from two Hebrew words, clay and zimmer, meaning "vessel of music."

The Ocarina, a musical wind instrument, is also known as the Sweet Potato.

The LP (long-playing) record was invented by Paul Goldmark in 1948. The LP is not dead yet: more than 10 million LPs are sold every year.

The longest song to reach number one on the Billboard charts on LP was "I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)" by Meatloaf, the shortest: "Stay" by Maurice Williams & the Zodiacs.

At the first Grammy Awards, held on 4 May 1959, Domenico Modugno beat out Frank Sinatra and Peggy Lee for the Record of the Year, with "Volare."

The British, the highest per capita spenders on music, buy 7,2% of the world music market.

The first pop video was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, released in 1975.

The Beatles song "Martha My Dear" was written by Paul McCartney about his sheepdog Martha.

Jeanne Louise Calment's CD was released on her 121st birthday in 1996. Titled "Time's Mistress" it features Ms Calment reminiscing to a score of rap music and other tunes.

A grand piano can be played faster than an upright (spinet) piano.

A piano covers the full spectrum of all orchestra instruments, from below the lowest note of the double bassoon to above the top note of the piccolo.

The term "disc jockey" was first used in 1937.

The last note of a keyboard is C.

Themes from movies Unforgiven, A Perfect World, The Bridges of Madison County, and Absolute Power were all written by Clint Eastwood.

The US share of the world music market is 31.3%.

The only guy without a beard in ZZTOP surname (last name) is Beard.

Since its launch in 1981 the song Memory of the musical Cats has been played on radio more than a million times.

Paul McCartney was the last bachelor Beatle when he married Linda Eastman in a civil ceremony in London, 1969. Paul's brother Mike was his best man. No other Beatle attended the wedding.

There are 6 versions of Franz Schubert's "Die Forelle" ("The Trout"), simply because when friends asked him for copies of the song, he wrote out new copies to the best he could remember at the time.

In 1952, John Cage composed and presented ' 4'33″ ', a composition consisting of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence.

The Carpenters signature song, We've Only Just Begun, was originally part of a television commercial for a California bank.

In 1972 Leslie Harvey of Stone the Crows died after being electrocuted onstage in England. In 1976 Keith Relf, who used to play for The Yardbirds, was electrocuted by his guitar while playing in his basement. During a mid-performance in 1994 Ramon Barrero, a Mexican musician famous for playing the world's smallest harmonica, inhaled the harmonica and choked to death.

U2 was originally known as Feedback. To date, U2 have sold more than 70 million records, grossing $1,5 billion.

In May 1997, Paul McCartney broke his own world record by obtaining his 81st gold disc.

Global sales of pre-recorded music total more than $40 billion.

The top selling singles of all time are Elton John's "Candle in the Wind '97″, at 33 million, Bing Crosby's "White Christmas", 30 million, and Bill Haley's "Rock Around the Clock", 25 million.

"Guess Things Happen That Way" by Johnny Cash was the 10-billionth track sold on iTunes, February 2010. It was bought by Louie Sulcer of Woodstock, Georgia, who won a $10,000 (£6,500) iTunes gift card.

DVD discs are the same diameter (120mm) and thickness (1.2mm) as a Compact Disc (CD) but a DVD can store 13 times or more data.

Beethoven was the first composer who never had an official court position, thus the first known freelance musician. Born in 1770, he grew up poor, but published his first work at age 12. By age 20 he was famous. He often sold the same score to six or seven different publishers simultaneously, and demanded unreasonably large fees for the simplest work. He was short, stocky, dressed badly, didn't like to bath, lived in squalor, used crude language, openly conducted affairs with married women, and had syphilis. Beethoven was deaf when he composed his Ninth Symphony.

[Warph]

Did You Know...

...that looking back at 2013, there were many outstanding moments. The Voyager 1 spacecraft became the first human-made object to enter interstellar space. New animal species were discovered. British researchers successfully cure blindness in mice. There were breakthroughs in cancer and Alzheimer research. Edward Snowden's NSA leaks.

The most popular searches on Google and hashtags on Twitter, however, trend the 2013 Zeitgeist as follows: Nelson Mandela, Paul Walker, Miley Cyrus, Cory Monteith, Harlem Shake, Under the Dome, Government Shutdown, iPhone 5s, Samsung Galaxy S4, #bitcoin, #androidgames, #BostonMarathon, #SFBatkid, #SB47 and #Oscars.


Best 2013 moment

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, of course. But we'll choose the discovery of the adorable olinguito as the best moment of 2013. Described as a cross between a teddy bear and a house cat, the olinguito is "the first new carnivore species discovered in over 30 years." It is nicknamed the "Olly" and you can read all about it at Saving Species.
http://savingspecies.org/projects/current-projects/savingspecies-the-olinguito/

Baby olinguito

Other new species discovered include the cocoa frog, a new oncilla, a giant flying squirrels and a few more.   
http://www.sci-news.com/biology/science-2013-top-new-species-01652.html

Most popular video

PSY's Gangnam Style continues to be the most popular video ever on YouTube, viewed more than 1,8 billion times.

The most trending video on YouTube during 2013 was Ylvis – The Fox (What Does the Fox Say?), which quickly racked up more than 300 million views since its release on September, 3rd.   

You can follow the most popular videos by city and region on the YouTube Trends Map.
http://www.youtube.com/trendsmap?gl=US


Tablets, phablets and smartphones

While 3D printing may have been the technology that made the world gasp in 2013, we humans continued our undeniable love affair with tablets, phablets and smartphones. Tablet PC sale have flattened a bit but phablets and smartphones have resisted whatever the recession could throw at it.

The Samsung Galaxy S4 became the fastest selling Android device in history. In fact, the S4 was the best-selling smartphone in 2013 – more than 40 million sold – followed a close second by the iPhone 5.

Since the launch of the first Galaxy in 2009, more than 140 million units have been sold. But that's still some way off the 250 million tally of the Nokia 1110, which was released way back in 2005.

Samsung Galaxy S4 – most popular smartphone 2013

2013 sports moments

During 2013 you needed to hang on to your hat in the sporting arena.

Andy Murray became the first British Wimbledon men's champion in 77 years. Oracle Team USA took the honors in the America's Cup, the oldest international sporting trophy (first awarded in 1851).

Stéphane Peterhansel won his 11th Dakar victory (5 of which were in the motorcycle and 6 in the car categories).

In February, the Baltimore Ravens defeated the San Francisco 49ers by 34–31; it was the 49ers first Super Bowl loss in franchise history.

The Boston Red Sox won the World Series.

Miami Heat took the NBA Final for a consecutive second time when they defeated Western Conference champion San Antonio Spurs.

The Chicago Blackhawks beat the Boston Bruins for the Stanley Cup.

Heavyweight Wladimir Klitschko continued to dominate the WBA/IBF/WBO titles but, In November, super middleweight champion Carl Froch was given the fright of his live by George Groves, winning by controversial stoppage in Round 9.

In Cricket, England got humiliated by Australia in The Ashes test.

In a nail-biting MotoGP season, Marc Márquez became the first rookie in 35 years to take the title in his first season.

Jimmie Johnson took his 6th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series title while Austin Dillon triumphed in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. Sebastian Vettel stormed to his 4th F1 title.

Big bike news

Almost as if to announce the end of the recession, KTM introduced the brutally powerful 1190 and 1190 R adventure motorcycles. BMW launched a much-updated semi-watercooled R1200GS while Harley Davidson likewise introduced some liquid cooling to their new tour range.

The biggest motorbike news, however, was the re-introduction of the Indian motorcycle. It inspires a hankering for the better life.

A beautiful Indian Chieftain Motorcycle

First vehicle I owned (Picture of one here) was a 1947 Indian Chieftain motorcycle when I was a senior in highschool in 1955...Warph:

War and Peace

Argentinian Jesuit priest Jorge Mario Bergoglio became the 226th Pope of the Catholic Church, choosing to be known as Pope Francis. He is Time's Person of the Year... and he has a lot of prayers to say. During 2013, there were 40 ongoing armed conflicts and numerous suicide bombings causing the death of thousands of innocent people and the displacement of millions, the latter often leading to slavery.

Sadly, 2013 also was a record year for the slaughter of the rhino, spurred by the failure of the governments of Thailand and Malaysia to stop the trading of rhino horn in those countries as a cure for hallucinations, carbuncles, and "devil possession." (Rhino horn consists of keratin, the structural component hair and nails. They might as well chew their finger nails to stop their hallucinations.)

But before you jump up to do your bit for animal or human welfare, take note that some of the most well known charities donate as little as 1% of the funds they raise to their stated course. Rather research a charity well; google it, ask your friends on Facebook for opinions, think fast but think twice.

International Year

2013 was the UN International Year of Water Cooperation. Water is an increasingly scarce resource, getting more expensive every year.

Rather drink beer

[Warph]

Does an Oscar mean more money for actors?

Is the "Oscar jinx" real?

Sometimes an actor will go "indie" to showcase their talents, but it usually comes back to money. Even multiple awards don't always garner you great roles or a great paycheck.

And the Oscar goes to ... the guy dressed as a bunch of grapes to help sell underwear? Academy Award notoriety, as with any of the major entertainment awards, has a checkered history of cumulative success for an actor's career. An actor's exceptional performance in one capacity can serve as a bellwether for future high-quality roles and a successful resume, or it can become a shiny side note of a trivia question to an otherwise unremarkable career.

F. Murray Abraham began his career as talking fruit in a commercial for Fruit of the Loom, but he eventually found himself accepting a bevy of awards in 1985 for his performance in "Amadeus" -- including a Golden Globe and an Oscar. Though he has made around 80 appearances on screen since, it has been with the likes of " Muppets from Space" and " The All New Adventures of Laurel and Hardy in 'For Love or Mummy.'" His resume prompted the unofficial diagnosis of underwhelming post-award careers as "F. Murray Abraham Syndrome" within the industry.

Otherwise known as the "Oscar jinx," it is a fairly common reminder that award recognition in Hollywood is certainly not a guaranteed badge into the A-list club or A-list income.

"The Oscar is the single most important event of my career," Abraham has said. "I have dined with kings, shared equal billing with my idols, lectured at Harvard and Columbia. If this is a jinx, I'll take two."

Maybe so, but you might also end up with more roles in films like the forgettable " Sword of War," which only took in $835,469 at the box office in 2009 against a $9 million budget.

One of the most notorious offenders of the jinx list is Cuba Gooding Jr., who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role in "Jerry Maguire." What happened next isn't pretty, with a decade and a half of a couple of bright spots overshadowed by fantastic failures such as "Boat Trip" and the sequel to "Daddy Day Care" -- "Daddy Day Camp" -- which only grossed around $13 million domestically and received an astonishingly bad 1 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes. Gooding Jr. never has renewed his Oscar glory, but his character's remarkably overused catch phrase lives on, with someone, somewhere showing him the money. His net worth is an estimated $42 million, which surely is due in part to his former acclaim.

"Everybody gets more money; the question is how much," says film critic Emmanuel Levy, author of "All About Oscar: The History and Politics of the Academy Awards." "A lot depends on who they were before they got the Oscar."

Levy added that it is better to win or be nominated for an Oscar earlier in one's career, which usually bodes best for their career and earnings.

Anna Paquin, who was the second youngest Oscar winner ever for her role in 1993's " The Piano," has certainly seen her talent and acclaim pay out. With an estimated net worth of $12 million, she takes in around $75,000 per episode of HBO's popular " True Blood."

"Million-dollar salaries are still million-dollar salaries," says producer Elizabeth Yoffe, "But the days of throwing $20 (million) to $25 million salaries around are disappearing, except for the top, top tier."

Yoffe is the former president of the nonprofit CineWomen L.A. and current head of the True Studio Media production company, which produced the award-winning "My Big Break," a documentary on the significant effects gaining and losing fame can have on a young actor. She says major awards in themselves have become less about recognition of a stellar performance and more about adding to the coffers of the industry.

"The search for more money for studios and actors in a shrinking box office is the main reason why the Oscars increased the number of films in contention," she says. "More people will pay to see more Academy Award-nominated films, which means more revenue for Hollywood."

Yoffe says talented actors sometimes will sign up for a low-budget "indie" film if they think they can showcase their talents well enough, but it usually comes back to the money before the quality of the role.

"Johnny Depp was once the icon for aspiring actors who wanted to only do their work for 'the art,'" she says, "But as you see, even Depp finally succumbed to big, big bucks when he got used to the lifestyle."

Ahoy, terrible reviews.
An Oscar is the most valuable of the four major entertainment awards in terms of subsequent roles and income, Yoffe says. A Tony tends to be the least, though many actors are drawn to Broadway to "show their chops." She says it is generally a good career move, though the "star" types tend to struggle on stage, citing Julia Roberts' presence compared to a lamp post in the production "Three Days of Rain."

Then there's the EGOT, which sounds like the name of a giant, wish-granting bird and may be about as rare in the entertainment industry. Only 10 celebrities have reached EGOT status (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony wins) in competitive categories, not counting Tracy Jordan in TV's "30 Rock." One need look no further than the most recent member in this exclusive club to realize the "club" is more like an abandoned casting warehouse.

Whoopi Goldberg had received plenty of attention for her role in "The Color Purple," but it was her turn in "Ghost" in 1990 that won her the prestigious Oscar. In 2002, she rounded out her EGOT with Emmy and Tony wins. Prestigious roles would seem inevitable, but just a few years removed from her celebrated "Ghost" performance, Goldberg agreed to star in what must have seemed like a box office sure thing in the mid-90s. It was the role of a tough cop teaming with a talking dinosaur to stop a dino-killer and avert Armageddon. She came to her senses, but it would take a lawsuit and $7 million to keep Goldberg from backing out of the role. Theodore Rex would go on to blow $33.5 million in what was the most expensive direct-to-video title at the time. Goldberg's latest sister act is as a regular fixture on "The View," with an estimated salary of $2 million to $4 million.

[Warph]

Did You Know...

....Your stomach has to produce a new layer of mucus every two weeks or it will digest itself.

A rat can last longer without water than a camel.

The dot over the letter "i" is called a tittle.

A raisin dropped in a glass of fresh champagne will bounce up and
down continuously from the bottom of the glass to the top.

A female ferret will die if it goes into heat and cannot find a mate.

Chewing gum while peeling onions will keep you from crying.

A 2 X 4 is really 1-1/2" by 3-1/2".

During the chariot scene in "Ben Hur," a small red car can be seen
in the distance (and Heston's wearing a watch).

On average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily!
(That explains a few mysteries....)

1. You can spell the word "upside down" by using other letters of the alphabet: umop apisdn

Sherlock Holmes NEVER said, "Elementary, my dear Watson."

Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made of wood.

The number of possible ways of playing the first four moves per
side in a game of chess is 318,979,564,000.

There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with orange,
purple and silver.

Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space
because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

Weatherman Willard Scott was the first Ronald McDonald.

If one places a tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion, it will
instantly go mad and sting itself to death. (Who was the sadist who
discovered this??)

Bruce Lee was so fast that they actually had to s-l-o-w film down
so you could see his moves. That's the opposite of the norm.

The first CD pressed in the US was Bruce Springsteen's "Born in
the USA."

The original name for butterfly was flutterby.

The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law which
stated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

The first product Motorola started to develop was a record player
for automobiles. At that time, the most known player on the market was Victrola, so they called themselves Motorola.

Roses may be red, but violets are indeed violet.

By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot
sink into quicksand.

Celery has negative calories. It takes more calories to eat a
piece of celery than the celery has in it to begin with.

Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin
look-alike contest.

An old law in Bellingham, Washington, made it illegal for a woman
to take more than three steps backwards while dancing!

The Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book
most often stolen from public libraries.

The glue on Israeli postage is certified kosher.

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave!

Thanks to Deborah for submitting this!!


And  another via email --this comes by Suzie T....

In the 1400's a law was set forth that a man was not allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have "the rule of thumb"

The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time TV were Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

Men can read smaller print then women can; women can hear better.

It is impossible to lick your elbow.

The State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

The average number of people airborne over the US any given hour: 61,000

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

The first novel ever written on a typewriter: Tom Sawyer.

The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments.

111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321

Each king in a deck of playing cards represents a great king from history:

Spades - King David
Hearts - Charlemagne
Clubs -Alexander, the Great
Diamonds - Julius Caesar

If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

Q. Half of all Americans live within 50 miles of what?

A. Their birthplace.


Q. If you were to spell out numbers, how far would you have to go until you would find the letter "A"?

A. One thousand

Q. What do bulletproof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers, and laser printers all have in common?
A. All invented by women.

Q. What is the only food that doesn't spoil?
A. Honey

In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes. When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... "goodnight, sleep tight."

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, which we know today as the "honeymoon".

In English pubs, ale is ordered by pints and quarts... So in old England, when customers got unruly, the bartender would yell at them, "Mind your pints and quarts, and settle down."

It's where we get the phrase "mind your P's and Q's"

Many years ago in England, pub frequenters had a whistle baked into the rim, or handle, of their ceramic cups. When they needed a refill, they used the whistle to get some service. "Wet your whistle" is the phrase inspired by this practice.

~~~~AND FINALLY~~~~~~~~~~~~


At least 75% of people who read this will try to lick their elbow.

[Warph]

 

The Top 10 Craziest Science Stuff you didn't know

You can Hypnotize Chickens

A chicken can be hypnotized, or put into a trance by holding its head down against the ground, and continuously drawing a line along the ground with a stick or a finger, starting at its beak and extending straight outward in front of the chicken.

If the chicken is hypnotized in this manner, it will remain immobile for somewhere between 15 seconds to 30 minutes, continuing to stare at the line.

You can have an erection once dead

A death erection (sometimes referred to as "angel lust") is a post-mortem erection which occurs when a male individual dies vertically or face-down – the cadaver remaining in this position. During life, the pumping of blood by the heart ensures a relatively even distribution around the blood vessels of the human body. Once this mechanism has ended, only the force of gravity acts upon the blood. As with any mass, the blood settles at the lowest point of the body and causes edema or swelling to occur; the discoloration caused by this is called lividity.
Sorry, no photo for this one!

Your hand can have a life of it's own

Alien hand syndrome (or Dr. Strangelove syndrome) is an unusual neurological disorder in which one of the sufferer's hands seems to take on a life of its own.

AHS is best documented in cases where a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, a procedure sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of extreme cases of epilepsy. It also occurs in some cases after other brain surgery, strokes, or infections. The HAND is after you!

Don't laugh too much, it can kill you

Fatal hilarity is death as a result of laughter. In the third century B.C. the Greek philosopher Chrysippus died of laughter after seeing a donkey eating figs (hey, it wasn't THAT funny).

On 24 March 1975 Alex Mitchell, a 50-year-old bricklayer from King's Lynn, England, literally died laughing while watching an episode of The Goodies. According to his wife, who was a witness, Mitchell was unable to stop laughing whilst watching a sketch in the episode "Kung Fu Kapers" in which Tim Brooke-Taylor, dressed as a kilted Scotsman, used a set of bagpipes to defend himself from a psychopathic black pudding in a demonstration of the Scottish martial art of "Hoots-Toot-ochaye". After twenty-five minutes of continuous laughter Mitchell finally slumped on the sofa and expired from heart failure. His widow later sent the Goodies a letter thanking them for making Mitchell's final moments so pleasant.

A weapon could make you Gay

Gay bomb is an informal name for a potential non-lethal chemical weapon, which a U.S. Air Force research laboratory speculated about producing.

In one sentence of the document it was suggested that a strong aphrodisiac could be dropped on enemy troops, ideally one which would also cause "homosexual behaviour". So that's how they got Saddam!

It's true, Men can breastfeed

The phenomenon of male lactation in humans has become more common in recent years due to the use of medications that stimulate a human male's mammary glands.

Male lactation is most commonly caused by hormonal treatments given to men suffering from prostate cancer. It is also possible for males (and females) to induce lactation through constant massage and simulated 'sucking' of the nipple over a long period of time (months).

Bart Simpson's Tomacco (half tomato, half tobacco) was possible

A tomacco is originally a fictional hybrid fruit that is half tomato and half tobacco, from the 1999 episode "E-I-E-I-(Annoyed Grunt)" of The Simpsons; the method used to create the tomacco in the episode is fictional.

The tomacco became real when it was allegedly produced in 2003. Inspired by The Simpsons, Rob Baur of Lake Oswego, Oregon successfully grafted a tomato plant onto the roots of a tobacco plant, which was possible because both plants come from the same family.

It's OK to have a third nipple

A supernumerary nipple (also known as a third nipple) is an additional nipple occurring in mammals including humans. Often mistaken for moles, supernumerary nipples are diagnosed at a rate of 2% in females, less in males. The nipples appear along the two vertical "milk lines" which start in the armpit on each side, run down through the typical nipples and end at the groin. They are classified into eight levels of completeness from a simple patch of hair to a milk-bearing breast in miniature.

You can die on the Toilet

There are many toilet-related injuries and some toilet-related deaths throughout history and in urban legends.

In young boys, one of the most common causes of genital injury is when the toilet seat falls down while using the toilet.

George II of Great Britain died on the toilet on 25 October 1760 from an aortic dissection. According to Horace Walpole's memoirs, King George "rose as usual at six, and drank his chocolate; for all his actions were invariably methodic. A quarter after seven he went into a little closet. His German valet de chambre in waiting heard a noise, and running in, found the King dead on the floor."

Picking one's nose and eating it might be healthy

Mucophagy (literally mucus-eating, also referred as picking one's nose and eating it) is the consumption of the nasal mucus, boogers, and other detritus obtained from nose-picking.

Some research suggests that mucophagy may be a natural and even healthy activity, which exposes the digestive system to bacteria accumulated in the mucus, thereby helping to strengthen the immune system.