Monday, August 25, 2008

Fun Monday

This is my first official foray into the mania that is called "Fun Monday". Today's assignment is as follows:



What funny trivial fact do you remember that you probably should have forgotten a long time ago?



Anyone who knows me also knows that my head is chock full of useless information. I can't get anyone to play Trivial Pursuit with me....I just can't get enough of this kind of stuff. So here goes...



1. It was the accepted practice in Babylon 4,000 years ago that for a month after the wedding, the bride's father would supply his son-in-law with all the mead he could drink. Mead is a honey beer and because their calendar was lunar based, this period was called the honey month, which we know today as the honeymoon.



2. In Shakespeare's time, mattresses were secured on bed frames by ropes.
When you pulled on the ropes the mattress tightened, making the bed firmer to sleep on. Hence the phrase......... 'goodnight, sleep tight.'



3. Honey is the only food that doesn't spoil.



4. If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle. If the horse has one front leg in the air the person died as a result of wounds received in battle. If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.



5. Coca-Cola was originally green.



6. In the 1400's a law was set forth in England that a man was allowed to beat his wife with a stick no thicker than his thumb. Hence we have 'the rule of thumb'.



7. In the 1500's, most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and still smelled pretty good by June. However, they were starting to smell, so brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting married.


7b. Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it. Hence the saying, Don't throw the baby out with the bath water..



8. If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar.



I'm off to enjoy all of the other Fun Monday entries....to fill my head with more useless information.

13 comments:

Jeanna said...

That's a lot to remember, I see why they call it trivia. Interesting though. I wonder why they just didn't get married in May. Lots of smelly babies crawling around back then.

Sandy said...

Oh, welcome to Fun Monday! What an amazingly good job you did. I did know most of those facts (useless mind myself, you know) but I did not know the one with all the change. Very cool.

Thanks for sharing.

Anonymous said...

I've heard most of those before - except for the smelly bride part. Very interesting.

Sandcastle Momma said...

Those are really interesting facts! I bet you are a whiz a trivial pursuit LOL
Thanks for the fun facts!

Woodlandmama said...

Thanks for the tidbits. Great start.

ChrisB said...

That's a lot of interesting trivia, some I realise I have heard before, but also some new ones.

Trixie Twatwaffle said...

I love your last one. LLOVE that.

I will use that as much as possible.

Thanks for playing!
Margaret
http://blogs.chron.com/mamadrama

Pamela said...

I'd heard that bath one before... and I believe it. Even my dads generation were quite yearly in their bathing habits I think. ha ha

Faye said...

Welcome to Fun Monday! Hope you find some kindred spirits. There are lots of mamas and toddlers. Not here though, but the stories are always good.

You get the prize for the most obscure trivia!

Alison said...

pretty interesting trivia facts you have there!!!

Welcome to Fun Monday!!

KimboSue said...

Lots of fun and useless facts! And you're right.I don't think I would play Trivial Pursuit with you either!

Renegade said...

The rule of thumb is also still on the books in Louisiana. It was part of my Louisiana Social Studies class. We did a whole section on crazy laws.

Fun Fact: It was once customary to sentence a man to death by making him eat a pound of salt. Don't remember where I heard that....

Anonymous said...

AWESOME useless information!! You should go on Jepardy!