Friday, September 30, 2011

7 Random Facts - Episode 3



1- If you were wondering what new things to cook this weekend, you can always try grasshoppers. People in Mexico do it and they are a delicacy,  but apparently grasshoppers are not that safe and organic. It seems that you tend to get lead poisoning when you ate them, so do it in moderation.
Here's an easy recipe on how to cook them, if you dare. 

2 - There’s nothing like a beer on a hot day! If you want to try something new, you can always try the spit beer. Yeah, it involvesspitting. It comes from Latin America and it’s made from corn. The process is a little bit weird: people take corn, chew it and spit it out. I think I will avoid drinking beer in Latin America if I ever get the chance to go there. 

3- Witch hunting was almost like a sport in the Middle Ages and it seems there have been 40,000 to 100,000 witches executed, which makes me think that they really enjoyed this. The last witch execution was in 1782 in Switzerland, however it seems that there were still witchcraft trials in Poland at the end of the 18th century.

4- We all heard in school about Einstein and the fact that he failed math. Unfortunately for those of us who were hoping that we can still be genius scientists even if we fail math, Einstein didn't fail math. This is a common misconception. It seems that Einstein actually had very goodgrades in math which is pretty logical since he was super smart.

5- If you were searching for the longest word, search no more. Here it is: Nordöstersjökustartilleriflygspaningssimulatoranläggningsmaterielunderhållsuppföljningssystemdiskussionsinläggsförberedelsearbeten – it had 130 letters and it’s a Swedish word meaning Northern Baltic Sea Coast Artillery Reconnaissance Flight Simulator Facility Equipment Maintenance Follow-Up System Discussion Post Preparation Work(s). I really hope they don’t have spelling contests in Sweden. Oh here’s another one, this time from the island Anglesey in WalesLlanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. I know it looks like somebody sat on my keyboard but it’s actually a village. One of the longest village names. 

6- Feodor Vassilyev was just a peasant in Russia. What you didn’t know was the fact that his wife had 69 children. I guess they really wanted to be parents and birth control was probably not an option in Russian village from the 18th century.

7- Pond’s is probably one of the most famous cosmetic brands but what you probably didn’t know about it is the fact that it has been around since 1846. Scientist Theron T. Pond extracted a tea from witch hazel which healed cuts. This became really popular and when he died it took the name of Pond’s Extract. Pond’s advertisement campaigns became really popular because they had a lot of celebrities. One of these celebrities was Queen Marie of Romania who was so impressed by the products, she accepted to do an ad campaign in the late 1920s.
Here's the ad:

Source

6 comments:

  1. Great random facts! Perfect for my Friday chit chat when I don't feel like working today!

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  2. wow...very interesting dear..
    I m curious reading your posts..its combo of fun and informative..
    thanks for sharing..
    Am your happy follower now..:)
    Hugs,
    Jay
    Tasty Appetite

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  3. My grandmother had 12 children and that was enough cousins and aunts and uncles for me :) I think 69 would drive me crazy! Have a great weekend!

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  4. Hi Andreea,

    I saw one video many years ago (purportedly came from Singapore) where one restaurant served python's meat.. They hang the long snake (alive) and as orders came in will cut it piece by piece (from its tails), I heard the spleen is swallowed raw (sliced from the live snake) and very is very expensive!! Gosh!

    In that same video saw how they clamped the head at the dinner table, sliced open the skull and sucked the brains of a live shrieking (in pain of cos) monkey?

    Till today I can never get those images out of my mind! Just thinking of it will give me instant headache!

    Cheers

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  5. Loved reading the random facts. Thanks for putting them here. :)

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  6. @yummychunklet thanks dear, I’m happy they were useful to somebody
    @Jay Thanks for following me Jay, it’s an honor :D
    @Frugal in WV Oh wow, 12 children is a lot. Actually, 3 children is a lot to handle nowadays if you think about it and 69 children is unthinkable. They didn’t have internet back then though, they had fun while taking care of their 69 children :D

    @Katrina You always write such interesting comments :D I didn’t know about the alive snake….that’s really messed up! Oh the story about the monkey is just terrible...I can’t understand why people would do that….However I did saw a video with people eating alive fish that was fried in a certain way to keep it alive…it was terrible.
    @Balqis Thank you dear :D

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