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Illustration by Holly Randall
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, March 3, 2004
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Things you always never wanted to know

  • American ships firing steadily at the Spanish fleet in Manila Bay in May 1898 pulled off briefly at one point, so that the crews could have a quiet breakfast. After returning to work, they destroyed the enemy.

  • Lydia Child's "The American Frugal Housewife," published in 1829, recommended New England rum as an excellent hair cleanser and conditioner. It also recommended brandy for strengthening roots.

  • Ten million Peruvian boobies and cormorants reside on islands off the coast of Peru. Their diet ÷ anchovies ÷ produces the world's finest fertilizer: guano. Because of the value of their droppings, the birds were placed under strict protection by the Incas.

  • In the 1840s, pigeons carried European news from ships approaching the United States to newspapers along the Atlantic coast, from Halifax to the U.S. capital. The limit on how much news a pigeon could carry was one reason for the method's demise.

  • The electric eel has an average discharge of 400 volts. More than half its body is given over to electrical production.

  • The botanist George Washington Carver, best known for his pioneering work with peanuts, developed 536 dyes when experimenting with plant leaves, fruits, stems and roots. Forty-nine separate dyes were derived from the scuppernong grape alone.

  • Alexander Graham Bell was interested in eugenics and developed a more prolific breed of sheep for unknown reasons.

  • The first Cadillac, produced in 1903, cost less than the original Model T Ford. Their prices, respectively, were $750 and $875.

  • Marco Polo reported a strict sense of justice in India. If a man didn't pay his debt, the creditor drew a circle around the debtor. If the debtor tried to step out of the circle, he was liable to punishment by death.


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