Fast facts
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Thursday, March 25, 2004
Things you always never wanted to know
Before the mechanical clock was invented in the 14th century, the most complex machine was the pipe organ, installed about 950 by Bishop Aelfeg in his cathedral in Winchester, England. The organ had 400 pipes, and 70 men were needed to operate the 26 bellows.
The press response to President Lincoln's Gettysburg Address was primarily one of disdain. The Chicago Times, for instance, felt American should be embarrassed by the use of "dish-watery utterances."
The first known political cartoon, printed in 1747 in a pamphlet called Plain Truth, published by Benjamin Franklin, is credited with raising 10,000 volunteers for the Pennsylvania Militia.
The rare metal gallium melts at 86 degrees Fahrenheit. It is safe to touch, and if you hold a piece of it in your hand and wait, it will melt.
Mayflies, after hatching and then spending one to three years developing as naiads, live only one day as adults. During this single day, they molt twice, mate, and lay eggs in water. Because these adults do not have fully developed mouth parts, they do not feed.
You could build a 14-story building inside the choir of the medieval cathedral of Beauvais without reaching the roof, which at 157 feet is the highest of all Gothic vaults.
The daughters of a mother who is colorblind and a father who has normal vision will have normal vision. The sons will be colorblind, however.
The kidney consists of more than 1 million little tubes, and the total length of the tubes in both kidneys runs about 40 miles.
Victor Berger was elected to Congress by the state of Wisconsin in 1920, but the House of Representatives by a vote of 328 to 6 refused to seat him because he was a socialist who had vigorously opposed U.S. participation in World War I.
In 1957, Frank Sinatra was quoted as describing rock 'n' roll as "phony and false" and "written and played for the most part by cretinous goons." But when Elvis Presley finished his army stint three or so years later, Sinatra paid him $125,000 to appear for six minutes on a television special.