Strange But True: Orchestra Army

By Lucie Winborne

  • There are more people in Monaco's orchestra than in its army.

  • While tanning remains popular despite the documented health risks, the CDC has estimated that if folks under the age of 18 stopped using tanning beds, over 60,000 melanomas and melanoma-related deaths could be prevented.

  • In 1987, a man convinced 2.8 million people to send him a penny each for his college education.

  • People who play videogames are less likely to have nightmares.

  • Switzerland is the only country in the world that could fit more than its entire population into bunkers in case of an emergency.

  • Eggo waffles were originally called Froffles upon their creation in 1953 -- a portmanteau of "frozen" and "waffles." Customers started calling them Eggos due to their egg flavor, and the company renamed the product two years later.

  • Dubai is the most air-conditioned city in the world.

  • Maggots and leeches are the first living creatures to be approved by the FDA as medical devices.

  • A 1924 Arizona law made it illegal for donkeys to sleep in bathtubs.

  • Crakow shoes, a pointy footwear popular in the 14th century, could get so long that the toe of the shoe had to be attached to the leg with a string so that it wouldn't drag.

  • Ever noticed that all ads for the iPhone display a time of 9:41? That's because Steve Jobs first announced the device's launch in 2007 at 9:41 a.m.

  • New employees at Google are called Nooglers, and on their first Friday of employment, have to wear a special hat bearing the Google colors and that distinctive moniker.

***

Thought for the Day: "Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed." -- Booker T. Washington

(c) 2022 King Features Synd., Inc.

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