Category: Trivia

Did you know that Madonna has a species of animal named after her?

According to Wikipedia, “[i]n 2006 a new water bear species (Latin: Tardigrada), Echiniscus madonnae… was named after Madonna. It is the first and the only (so far) species named in honour of the artist. The paper with the description of E. madonnae was published in the international journal of animal taxonomy Zootaxa in March 2006 (Vol. 1154, pages: 1-36). The authors’ justification for the name of the new species was: ‘We take great pleasure in dedicating this species to one of the most significant artists of our times, Madonna Louise Veronica Ritchie’. The Integrated Taxonomic Information System (ITIS) number of the species is 711164.”

Here’s a picture of Echiniscus madonnae:

Click to enlarge

Read the bits about Echiniscus madonnae at Wikipedia by clicking here (Note: the linked section is copied in full above). You can also find out more than you ever wanted to know about Tardigrada – a species I didn’t even know existed 20 minutes ago – by clicking here.

Did you know that there’s a “town” in California called Zzyzx? I say “town” because the place was originally built on federal land that was squatted on in 1944 by a guy called Curtis Howe Springer. Springer gave the town its unique name, then built the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa. Taking advantage of the mineral waters at nearby Soda Springs, Springer built the resort and bottled the waters for tourists passing through. When that didn’t bring in the kind of money he wanted, Springer started importing animals from all over the world – hoping the zoo would make people stop by.

For some reason, the Feds let this go on for 30 years. In 1974 U.S. Marshalls finally arrested Springer for misusing federal lands, as well as for food and drug violations. In 1976, the Bureau of Land Management allowed California State University to use the site, and several California colleges established a “Desert Studies Center” there. So it’s not really a “town” in the usual sense, although people *do* live there year ’round.

Read more about Zzyzx at Wikipedia.

Wikipedia sez:

The tortilla chip was invented by Rebecca Webb Carranza as a way to make use of misshapen tortillas rejected from the automated tortilla manufacturing machine that she and her husband used at their Mexican delicatessen and tortilla factory in southwest Los Angeles. Carranza found that the discarded tortillas, cut into triangles and fried, were a popular snack, and she sold them for a dime a bag at the El Zarape Tortilla Factory. In 1994 Carranza received the Golden Tortilla award for her contribution to the Mexican food industry. She died in Phoenix, Arizona, on January 19, 2006, at the age of 98.

The inspiration behind this post was an entry at Last Night’s Garbage, a website that posts pictures of the garbage piled up on the streets of New York City. It find sound lame, but the site is really interesting. Check it out!

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president of the United States. He was known as “Old Hickory” due to his tough disposition; indeed, Andrew Jackson was someone you crossed at your own peril. But even though many Americans know about Jackson due to his being a war hero and president (and being on the $20 bill), there’s a lot about Jackson you might not know about, including some interesting “firsts”, “lasts” and “onlys”:

– Jackson was the last veteran of the American Revolution! Well, the last veteran to become president, that is. A very young Jackson – barely in his teens – served as a courier during the War of Independence. During this time, he was captured by the British, which also makes him the only American president to have been a prisoner of war. It is well-documented that, at one point during his detention, prisoner Jackson refused to shine to boots of a British officer. The officer then stuck him with a sword, leaving him with deep scars on the left side of his head as well as his left hand. This, combined with the death of his brother in the same POW camp, as well as the deaths of the rest of his immediate family either directly or indirectly at the hands of the British, caused Jackson to harbor an intense anti-British feeling for the rest of his life.

– Jackson was the first president born in a log cabin! Although most people think of Abraham Lincoln when they think of “presidents and log cabins”, Andrew Jackson was definitely the first American president born in such humble surroundings.

– Unlike Lincoln, Jackson was the first president to survive an assassination attempt. In 1835, Jackson was accosted by a mentally-disturbed man in the rotunda of the Capitol building. Amazingly, both of the would-be assassin’s guns misfired, and Jackson – showing his true colors – beat the man with his cane until some Congressmen could separate the two.

– His presidency was debt-free. During Jackson’s entire administration, the United States government was – for the first and last time – completely debt free.

– His inauguration party was the first and only “kegger”! Jackson’s inauguration party is well-known for being so out-of-control as to almost be a riot. Jackson invited “the entire nation” to the soiree, and thousands of people took him up on it. Attendees rapidly became drunk, and were packed so tightly in the White House that dishes, vases, and other objects began breaking all over the place. People in muddy boots stood on the White House’s fine chairs to catch a glimpse of Jackson. Things got so out of hand that staff began placing huge bowls of alcohol-based punch on the lawn just to get the crowd to come outside, and Jackson had to (famously) crawl out of a window to sneak away from the party. At another party later on, Jackson served his guests a 1400lb. block of cheddar cheese; it was consumed in around two hours.

– He was proud to be a jackass! In the 1828 election, one of Jackson’s opponents called him a “jackass”. Jackson relished the scorn and even went so far as to adopt the animal as his personal symbol. Jackson’s love of the jackass gradually died out, but the “jackass” comment and Jackson’s love for it would be the basis for the donkey becoming the symbol of the Democratic party.

– His pet parrot swore! In fact, his parrot swore so badly that he was removed from Jackson’s funeral!

– He was (supposedly) the inspiration behind a great gravy! According to legend, “red eye gravy” (a Southern favorite consisting of coffee, flour and pan drippings from country ham) was invented by Jackson’s cook during a military campaign. The cook had been up late drinking the night before, and at breakfast Jackson asked him for a gravy “as red as your eyes”. The only things the hapless cook had handy were the drippings, some coffee and some flour, so he threw those together and came up with a Southern delicacy. Of course, this is just one of those “stories”, so it probably isn’t true… but it’s fun to think that it is true, no?

– More firsts: Andrew Jackson was Tennessee’s first congressman, being elected in the early 1790s as the area gained statehood. Jackson was also the first president to ride in a train, the first known presidential candidate to be handed a baby to kiss (he declined) and was arguably the first president ever photographed (John Quincy Adams might have been first, but the exact dates the former presidents were photographed is unclear; William Henry Harrison was the first president to be photographed while in office). To see the picture, click here.

Peanut butter is one of the most popular food items in the United States. Just about every household has a jar of Skippy or Jif in the pantry, and even the most confirmed bachelor could probably whip up a PB&J on demand. But there’s a lot of fun stuff you might not know about humble ol’ peanut butter:

– It wasn’t invented by George Washington Carver! Peanut butter was invented by either the Aztecs or the Mayans and was used to make molé (sauce) for many dishes. Americans found many uses for peanut butter through the years, but it wasn’t until 1922 that “modern” peanut butter was made. In that year, a Californian named Joseph L. Rosefield developed a way to take what had been a gritty, runny, sticky mess and turn it into the creamy spread we know and love today. In 1923, Rosefield licensed his technology to Swift & Company, who sold the peanut butter under the brand name “Peter Pan”. A few years later he would open Rosefield Packing Company, who would market peanut butter under the brand name “Skippy”. So how did George Washington Carver become the supposed inventor of peanut butter? He was an incredible botanist who cared deeply for the poor farmers of the South, and he *did* advocate that they plant peanuts in cotton fields as a method of crop rotation. He also published dozens of lists of uses for peanuts and peanut recipes, several of which included recipes for (the older, gritty) peanut butter.

– The peanut butter and jelly sandwich was invented by soldiers in WWII! The US Army packed peanut butter in soldiers’ “meals ready to eat” (MRE) kits because peanut butter is a good source of protein that has a much longer shelf life than meat or cheese. Jelly was also included in the MREs because it too is shelf-stable and is easily spreadable on toast or biscuits. Some enterprising GIs put the peanut butter on one slice of the bread and jelly on another, then slapped them together to make a sandwich. The Army quickly noticed the phenomenon, and started developing ways to package pre-made PB&J sandwiches in MRE kits. Once the Army figured out a way to keep the bread from molding or going stale, they had a sandwich that was shelf-stable for three years… or more!

– It’s called “peanut cheese” in the Netherlands! The word “butter” is a legally protected term in the Netherlands, and so it would be illegal to market it as “peanut butter”. So the Dutch use the term pindakaas, which translates literally as “peanut cheese”. The Dutch version of the spread also tastes quite different than peanut butter sold in the US, Canada, the UK and Australia. It’s more savory than sweet, and tastes more like satay sauce than Skippy!