On to today's facts!
Being a former nutter about all things Titanic, it interests me that today is the day that the Olympic collided with the HMS Hawke (in 1911.) I did a book report on a woman named Violet Jessop that was on the Olympic when this collision occurred, was on the Titanic when it sank, and was on the Britannic when it sank (all three ships were sister ships.) I think I would be saying, "Don't sail our boats, Violet!"
In my movie starlet news, today is also the anniversary of the first Cannes Film Festival (first happening in 1946.) It's also the birthday of lovely lady, Sophia Loren!
The book I learned these next facts is called mental_floss "In the Beginning." Ironically, I had applied to be an affiliate of mental_floss because I'm a huge fan and was denied. Sadness! But I shall push their goods anyways.
Things I Learned From This Book
Ambergris, an ingredient found in perfume is made from whale vomit. It's now synthesized in labs but the real stuff is worth it's weight in gold!
Using pesticides on crops has been around almost as long as humans have been farming! Ancient Mesopotamians used powdered sulfur and other ancient societies used arsenic, lemon oil and wormwood.
When ice cream first became popular in America, it was given to newcomers arriving at Ellis Island. They didn't know what it was and figured it was butter and smeared it on their toast.
The Mona Lisa was a commission piece that DaVinci had ended up keeping for himself.
Thomas Edison had a tattoo! It was 5 dots (like those appearing on dice) and it was on his left forearm.
The flu (influenza) was named after what was thought to be causing it - the influence of the planets (this was circa 15th century Italy!)
SPAM stands for "spiced ham" (are you as disappointed with that as I am?)
Katharine Hepburn's mother was the co-founder of Planned Parenthood.
Platform shoes were invented in the 1470s (they were called chopines) and some could reach 30 inches in height!
Chef Boyardee was a real gourmet chef! (Hard to believe considering the food his name is attached to!) Hector Boiardi was a chef at the Plaza Hotel in the 1920s when he got the idea to can his spaghetti sauce so it could reach Americans nationwide. And the rest is history!
Since "Happy Birthday" is copyrighted, movies have to pay to use it in their films. The result? It pulls in $2 million a year in royalties!
In other news I recently learned, I discovered that you get sweet discounts and perks for getting logos tattooed on your body! I went about this the wrong way with my Modcloth tattoo. I should have asked if I'd get a coupon first, ha! I've heard of things ranging from 25% off to a 15% pay raise (if you work there) to eating free for life to free concert tickets (click here for more details if this sounds up your alley.) I love my tattoo and think it's cute but a discount for life would have been awesome!
Note - Photoshop is pretty awesome. I don't quite know what I'm doing with it yet since I'm still learning but a few minutes ago I had some pretty grotesque love handles that made me not want to upload the photo at all but now I just have some blurry edges at my sides! THANKS PHOTOSHOP! If only you existed in real life.
Also, Lulu*s is running a contest called The Fashion Flashback Contest. The prize is pretty substantial ($500!) so it motivated me to enter. I don't have a lot of scanned photos but I did have this one on my computer.
Plastic pants! Hahahah! What do you think? Do I have a chance? Hope you all have a good weekend!
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