Obscure facts ya know!

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The lady in question was Rose Cheramie (or Cherami), real name Melba Mercades. She's actually a very shadowy figure in the assassination story, and the vast majority of assertions made about her in this context are open to question.

It was even claimed in the 1960s that she told the some of the nurses, at the hospital where she was being treated, that the assassination was about to occur moments before it in fact did, as they supposedly watched a live telecast of the motorcade through Dallas.

She also allegedly told the police who interviewed her that the relationship between Lee Oswald and Jack Ruby was a lot closer than just friendship....

http://www.jfk-online.com/jfk100cher.html

Seriously! Aw man, stay warm, Cat!


Are you sure you want to ship them all the way over here? I suppose I could always just buy some.

Really though, I like to see what obscure facts I can find in the course of living my normal life... that always makes me happy 'cause it gives me that "Most Interesting Man In The World" feeling.

Which reminds me... I forgot all about one that was staring me right in the face! Everyone was just talking about Marylin Monroe, and my little-known fact to follow on with that was that my family was involved in her discovery and rise to stardom!

transparent aluminum is no longer merely the province of star trek sci-fi-

from what I can tell, they made it by bombarding a thin sheet of aluminum with xrays.

I just watched Star Trek IV with the probe and the Humpback Whales again 2 days ago! For the first time in years!

"Now suppose... just suppose... I were to show you a way to manufacture a wall that would do the same job, but be only one inch thick. Would that be worth something to you, eh?" - Scotty.

You can use a piece of bread, to pick up shards of glass!

perhaps an obsolete skill by now, but if you have a broken light bulb stuck in its socket, you can remove it by chopping a raw potato in half and using the cut end to grind into the broken bulb shards still attacked to the metal base, and have sufficient traction to twist it out of the socket.

the 1969 hit song "little green bag" [George Baker Selection] was originally called "little greenback" [as in American dollar bill] but due to a printing error on the first run of 45RPM records, came out as "green bag." because the song became an immediate hit record, the band had to redo the cover/name of its subsequent album so that it was called "little green bag."

I think some of these "facts" are really urban myths, especially the ones about food that people either say because they're complete health nuts or just want to gross you out.

Yes, I know that toothpaste, jam, ice cream and even peanut butter contain seaweed. It comes from kelp and is used in many products to keep the ingredients from separating. But some kinds of seaweed are edible so no big deal.

-Contrary to popular belief, the children's nursery rhyme "Ring Around The Rosy" is NOT about the plague. The "all fall down" part at the end isn't about falling ill or dying, but more like an exaggerated type of curtseying.

-An alligator can't move its tongue or chew its food.

- Mickey Mouse's dog Pluto was originally named Rover. It was changed to Pluto when the (now debatable) planet was discovered.

- Nintendo's mascot Mario was originally named Jumpman but was later renamed after a landlord who dropped by demanding rent.

-The longest living insect in the world is the termite queen. If she lives her full life of 50 years she can have up to half a billion children!

-The whole "cow-tipping" thing is a pile of bovine patties. Cows lie down when sleeping, they only rest while standing but are still easily distracted, and if they are pushed onto their side they can easily get back up if uninjured.

-In "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" Judge Doom's eyes never blink. It's because he's secretly a Toon wearing fake human eyes over his horrible-looking red ones. I never noticed this even though I watched the movie maybe 80 times.

Mostly just that; the discovery part. I think my family says she was a neighbor of that branch of the family tree. But also early on, I had a great-great uncle who painted some of those classic old oil-paint advertisements and such, and she agreed to sit for a painting to be the model in one such ad. It was not some of her more... erm... sassy work, it was completely modest really, but it may have been the right people seeing that ad that led to her later career.

Oh, just remembered another bit of related trivia: That same ad-painting great uncle designed the logos for Unocal gas (the red unicorn) and Wonderbread... granted, the latter wasn't exactly the most challenging thing he ever did.

^^ Cool! Grant it, "Wonder Bread" is not all that creative----but, I sure do love those colorful dots!!

Fireworks killed many spectators at Marie Antoinette's wedding.

probably a urban myth or legend. but i found it interesting, first time i read it.

during the 1940s, a dr g.m. jolly had looked after an unmarried teenager and delivered her son. after much heart searching, she decided to give up her baby boy for adoption.

not that she had much choice anyway, both her parents were invalids, and ever since childhood she had looked after them with much devotion. after both her parents died, she wed a much older man, and she deeply regretted not having more children.

anyway, dr jolly was involved in the adoption in the young mom's baby, as was common for family doctors to do in those times. the couple that adopted the baby were also dr. jolly's patients, thus we watched the baby boy grow up, through childhood, adolescence, until maturing with a full beard. jolly was most likely the only person who knew of the link between the young man and her mother. neither had asked about the other.

in spring of 1977, the mom came to see dr. jolly in his evening study, and when they'd wrapped up their business, walked her down the stairs, as was custom. a bearded young man who was climbing the stairs stopped on the landing at smiled at her. "it isn't lucky to pass on stairs". they exchanged smiles and she then, went out onto the night.

when both were gone, jolly finished his surgery in a "mood of reflective sadness". "goodbye romance", he apparently wrote. "the only dramatic thing in cumbria nowadays is the scenery".

Vaccinations don't work on Octopuses.

(Does that mean their immune system doesn't learn from new pathogens, or it doesn't need to; or they don't have one / don't need one; or something else??)

ollendorff's method was one of the first methods of modern teaching of languages...apply it to the ancient greek, and you get an octopus soup!

octopus soup?


i....

seagulls apparently can trick earthworms to come to the surface, stomping their feet to imitate rainfall.

The Zimbabwe Banking Corporation Lottery was won in 2000 by the President of Zimbabwe, Robert Mugabe.

The previous President of Zimbabwe's name was Canaan Banana.

Every year, around 3,000 people get Bubonic Plague.

(I'm playing a trivia game right now and posting the correct answers that I find most interesting here.)