Jolson Didn’t Appear in His Own Movie

Actor Al Jolson (pictured) had Larry Parks take his place in “The Jolson Story,” a 1940s movie, tracing Jolson’s rise to stardom. But Jolson, still alive and well, dubbed his own songs.

Bachelor Tax

Missouri established a tax on bachelors in 1820. Single men between the ages of 21 and 50 had to hand over $1 each year to the state government or get married.

Cockroach Lifespan

Cockroaches have been known to survive for up to two years while in captivity.

Making Ice Is Cool

Hot water freezes faster? That’s the contention of scientists, who compared water heated to the boiling point with water that was 30 to 40 degrees cooler. They say evaporation makes the difference. The hotter water evaporates faster, leaving less water to freeze.

Nuclear Disarmament

The peace symbol, created by Gerald Holtom in 1958, incorporates the semaphore letters N and D inside a circle and was meant to stand for Nuclear Disarmament. Some of the first peace symbols appeared on fired pottery badges, designed to survive the inferno of a detonated nuclear bomb.

Biggest Organ

The human body’s largest internal organ is the liver.

How To Tell a Leap Year

Rules for leap years: 1) Every year divisible by the number 4 is a leap year. 2) Unless the year is divisible by 100, in which case it is not a leap year. 3) Except if the year is also divisible by 400, then it really is a leap year.

Lighter Came First

Which came first, the cigarette lighter or the match? The cigarette lighter, invented by J.W. Dobereiner in 1816, beat the match by more than a decade.

Peanut Designed in 1916

The Planters’ Mr. Peanut mascot was designed by 13-year-old Antonio Gentile in a 1916 logo contest. Gentile won a $5 prize for his winning effort.

Truly Chicken

Alektorophobia is a fear of chickens.

Termites Make the Methane

Scientists, studying global warming, claim that termites are responsible for up to 20 percent of all methane in the earth’s atmosphere. Cows and other cud-chewing animals are responsible for only about 15 percent.

Putting Their Heads Together

Because an ant brain has about 250,000 brain cells, at least 40,000 ants would have to put their heads together to equal the cell-count in a human brain.

Counting Calories at the Supermarket

Calorie counters claim that grocery shopping and hang gliding require the same amount of effort. Washing the car, they say, is roughly equal to playing badminton. And dancing the foxtrot uses up as much energy as bowling.

Cooking Not Her First Career

Born in 1912, Julia Child was already 50 years old when she started cooking on television — an unexpected career. Child left college in 1934 with plans to become a novelist, and her first job was as a writer of advertising copy. But life doesn’t always turn out as expected.

No Country of Origin

The world’s first postage stamps, created in England, carried no country of origin. They didn’t need one since no other nation in 1840 had such a system. British stamps remain, to this day, the only postage without such a label.

Apple-Seed-Sized Earth

If the solar system were reduced to a scale where Earth was the size of an apple seed, the sun might be represented by a basketball.

Smiling Water Towers

From Selma, Ala., to Oconto Falls, Wis., at least 21 U.S. cities have water towers with painted-on smiley faces. But Calumet City, Ill., with two such towers, claims it was the first. It all started with 8-year-old resident Kim Fornero, who sent a letter to the city council in 1972, claiming that a smile would be more fun to look at than a plain, old water tower. Fornero’s simple suggestion proved catchy indeed.

Fat Neckties

Fashion authorities agree that the standard width for a necktie is 3-1/4 inches, with a length of 52 to 58 inches. But that hasn’t always been the case. In the 1970s, men’s ties grew fatter — up to 5 inches across — in order to fit that decade’s wider suit lapels and longer shirt collars. Groovy.

The End of an Era

When the Hindenburg (pictured) went down in flames on May 6, 1937, the accident marked the end of an era for airships, searing the public consciousness and raising well-founded safety concerns. But the Hindenburg was far from the largest dirigible-related disaster. More than two-thirds of its 97 passengers and crew survived. Not so for the U.S. Akron. That American craft crashed into the Atlantic Ocean on April 4, 1933, killing 73 of the 76 aboard.

First to the Pole

A Norwegian explorer, Roald Amundsen (pictured), was the first man to reach the South Pole. His team arrived on Dec. 11, 1911. But Amundsen had no way to communicate directly from the pole, so his success did not become public until March 7, 1912.

Speed of an Earthworm

Scientists say an earthworm’s speed is related to its size. A small earthworm might travel at fewer than 30 feet per hour while some larger specimens have been clocked at close to eight times that rate.

The Smallest Shark

The smallest shark, the spined pygmy, grows up to 6 inches long as an adult.

Oh, Christmas Tree

Back in the 16th century, Martin Luther put lighted candles on a Christmas tree, making him the first person to do so. The rest is history.

A True Survivor

Charles de Gaulle (pictured), president of France from 1958 to 1969, survived more than 30 assassination attempts from 1944 to 1966. In one instance, de Gaulle’s Citroen was showered with bullets, but witnesses claim that neither de Gaulle nor his wife tried to protect themselves. De Gaulle, on exiting the vehicle, referred to the assassin as a bad shot. His wife said there was no reason to be frightened as she and her husband would have welcomed a chance to die together and avoid the pains of old age.

The Air-Bag Standard

The first automobile air bags were tested by General Motors in 1973 and made available for government use. But air bags didn’t become standard equipment until 15 years later, when Chrysler offered the restraint systems in its 1988 line of vehicles.

Nebraska’s Official Drink

When in Nebraska, drink Kool-Aid. It’s the state’s official soft drink. That’s because the sweet, fruity beverage was invented there.

Infant Mortality Rates

Angola and Afghanistan have the world’s highest infant mortality rates. Singapore and Sweden have the world’s lowest.

The Longest Coast

At 6,640 miles, Alaska’s coastline is longer than that of all of the other U.S. coastal states combined.

True Panic Is Rare

Sociologists, studying natural disasters and large-scale emergencies, claim that true panic is rare. Instead, such events tend to create a sense of “we-ness,” they say, leading people to help those next to them before they help themselves.

Killer Tennis Balls

Historians agree that if not for tennis balls, Scotland’s King James I might have lived a long life. Instead, he was assassinated. The problem? On the night of his death, Feb. 20, 1437, the King of Scots tried to escape down a sewer drain, forgetting that he had commanded it sealed to prevent his tennis balls from rolling into it. He was quickly discovered and killed.