Birds Eye

The Birdseye company was formed in 1912 by Mr. Birdseye – Clarence Birdseye. He had accidentally made once of the greatest food related discoveries of his time. Clarence Birdseye discovered that frozen fish tasted just as good as fresh fish once cooked.

Mr. Birdseye had developed an obsession with frozen foods at an early age. He spent the winters of his youth working as a laborer, collecting ice for icehouses. He began experimenting with foods and was fascinated by freezing foods.

He soon learned that food frozen quickly in deep winter tasted better than food frozen more slowly in spring or autumn. This led him to develop his Quick Freeze Machine which he unveiled in 1925.

FACT OR FICTION?

“The first actor to play Captain Birdseye, used in advertising campaigns, was Clarence Birdseye’s grandson, Matthew.“

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Human Body

A pressure, equivalent to three times your body weight, acts on your knees when you walk down any hill of gradient greater than 30 degrees.

When you hiccup you reduce your lifespan by 0.01 of a second.

The average person sneezes 1,529,872.4 times in their lifetime.

The average 20-40 year old male has enough hair on his head to cocoon his entire body in hair.

FACT OR FICTION?

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New Borat Movie

A follow up to the highly successful movie Borat is now expected after numerous sightings of Sacha Baron Cohen across Australia.

“Cultural Learnings of America for Make Benefit Glorious Nation of Kazakhstan” (2006), shortened to Borat, was filmed in 2005. During the filming of scenes in New York City a large number of emergency calls were made to the NYPD regarding a suspicious character. The high number of 911 calls resulted in a joint FBI, Homeland Security investigation into the activities of Sacha Baron Cohen. Surveillance of Mr Cohen was not lifted until contact was made with MI5 in London.

The Borat character was based on Tarob Luzenski, an Uzbekistani journalist who had travelled to the United States in 2002 to film a documentary about Uzbekistani immigrants in the U.S.. He was deported by U.S. authorities when they found he was carrying false documentation.

The rodeo scene filmed in Salem had to be abandoned after a full blown riot erupted due to Borat’s version of the U.S. National Anthem.

During his time in the U.S. Borat’s antics led to police being called on Cohen 91 times.

FACT OR FICTION?

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Fortune Cookies

During their fight for independence freedom fighters often ventured into Chinese territory. Some were captured by Chinese forces and were held in prison camps. The leader of the fighters, Ke Fa Rui, was captured by Chinese forces in 1901 and sent to a camp near the border of Mongolia.

Once inside, it was virtually impossible for him to communicate with the outside world. His supporters used their wits to find a way to communicate news from their fight to him. Once every two weeks, as part of his religious rites, Ke Fa Rui was permitted a visit from the famous Buddhist Monk, Agvan Dorjiev. As part of the ceremony Agvan would pass plain cookies to Ke Fa Rui to symbolise rebirth. Messages were hidden within the cookies and, once he had read the messages, Ke Fa Rui ate the cookie as well as the paper the message was written on.

When translated to English, the words that make up Ke Fa Rui’s name mean “fortune” “freedom” and “health” respectively. The cookies were known by the supports of Ke Fa Rui as “Ke Rui Han” (Fortune’s Health Cookies). Over time this was shortened to fortune cookies.

FACT OR FICTION?

“Fortune cookies are named after Ke Fa Rui, a famous freedom fighter.”

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Horse Lovers

Horse obsessed people have been around for centuries and it has long been an assertion that these people are ill. In the middle ages communities removed people who were horse obsessed and sent them into isolation. The condition was then known as “Amo-Caballus”, roughly translated as horse-lover.

In recent years psychologists refer to the illness as Severe Equine Obsession Disorder. Much of the progress made in identifying the symptoms and consequences of the disorder is due to the work of Dr. Bakshir Troyka, a Russian psychologist who has spent his entire career studying people suffering from S.E.O.D..

In his most recent publication, “The Sexual Consequences of S.E.O.D.”, Dr Troyka outlines some of the many symptoms identified as being associated with the disorder. These include: talking about horses incessantly, talking to horses, speaking of horses as though they were human, spending more money on horses than on oneself, spending more than two hours a day on horse related activity (unless employed to do so), dreaming of horses.

Dr. Troyka concludes that those suffering from the condition have no idea of the depth of their affliction. “The horse-loving peoples are marginalised by society because the normal peoples do not want to constantly talk about the horses and as a result, the horse-loving peoples turn increasingly to horses for affection”.

 

FACT OR FICTION?

“Severe Equine Obsession Disorder is the name of given to the syndrome suffered by horse lovers.”

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War of the Worlds

History has recorded that on October 30^th, 1928, an adaptation of H. G. Wells‘ classic novel The War of the Worlds (1898) was directed by Orson Welles and aired as a Halloween special. New details have come to light thanks to a critically acclaimed article in the Washington Post.

When relatives of Richard Matthews, Chief Engineer at CBS (1927-1933), examined his memoirs and diaries they found material that was of concern to them. It was suggested that the War of the Worlds broadcast was part of an elaborate secret U.S. Government test of the nation’s ability to deal with a catastrophic event, such as an alien invasion. The family forward the memoirs to the Washington Post.

It is thought that a Congressional hearing will begin in 2009 to examine the broadcast of October, 1928.

FACT OR FICTION?

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Jessica Alba’s Peachy Diet

Sales of peaches have soared this summer in the United States. This dramatic increase in the popularity of the fruit is attributed to a new diet backed by actress, Jessica Alba.

Dr. John Lipton, a former professor at Yale, spent years researching the fruit in an attempt to decipher its medicinal properties. After collaboration with Henrietta Wilkinson his research quickly led to a new diet which had unforeseen results.

When Miss Alba searched for a quick way to increase her curves she turned to celebrity dietician Henrietta Wilkinson who promptly recommended the new peach diet. The star ate over a pound of peaches every day for three months along with a herbal remedy used to allow the peaches to do their work.

Jessica Alba says she has the Lipton Wilkinson Peach Diet to thank for her curvy behind.

 

FACT OR FICTION?

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Man Marries Goat

In 2006, a Sudanese man was forced to marry a goat after he was caught having sex with the animal. The goat’s owner, Mr Alifi, said he caught the man with his goat and took him to a council of elders. “When I asked him: ‘What are you doing there?’, he fell off the back of the goat, so I captured and tied him up and took him to the elders.”

They ordered the man, Mr Tombe, to pay a dowry of 15,000 Sudanese dinars ($50) to Mr Alifi. “They said I should not take him to the police, but rather let him pay a dowry for my goat because he used it as his wife,” Mr Alifi said.

FACT OR FICTION?

“Mr Tombe was forced to marry a goat.“

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Soft Toys

Scientists in Hamburg have recently completed an extensive stint of research on the cuteness of different animals. German toy manufacturer, Simba Toys GmbH & Co., commissioned the research ahead of the development of their new range of soft toys. The researched involved a survey of one thousand women between the ages of 16 and 35. Scientists studied their behaviour and brain activity when stimulated by pictures of various cute animals to determine the “awwwwh” factor.

Stuffed animals: teddy bears, tigers, puppies, penguins, pandas etc. have been around for hundreds of years. The use of stuffed animals as soft toys is a relatively new phenomenon. Taxidermy was used in Mesopotamian civilization for religious purposes. Later, taxidermy was used by hunters and statesmen to show their success and male prowess. The exact timescale for the move from taxidermy to soft toys is unknown.

Simba Toys GmbH & Co. plan to begin production of the new range in 2008, beginning with cute birds such as the duck.

 

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The Truth about Sudocrem

Sudocrem, the antiseptic healing cream used for nappy rash was originally called Sumocrem. The manufactures named the product Sumocrem because of the use of Peru Balsam.

The natural oils from Peru Balsam are recognised for their healing properties and have been used for centuries by Sumo Wrestlers to avoid chafing from the “mawashi”.

The Sumo Association of Japan (SAJ), the foremost governing body of Sumo Wrestling, took a class action against Forest Labs Inc. in 1965 to force them to drop the Sumocrem name. The SAJ argued that associating Sumo Wrestling with baby nappy rash was damaging to the sport’s reputation. Following lengthy legal arguments it was found that the name Sumocrem impeded on the Sumo brand, owned by the SAJ.

In early 1966 Forest Labs Inc. changed the name of the baby care product from Sumocrem to Sudocrem, the household name we know today.

 

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