The Promotional Idea Showcase - Winter 2000 - Updated Quarterly

UNQUESTIONABLY STRANGE FACTS!

The following nuggets, drawn from various sources, are unquestionably strange, weird, bizarre, trivial, outlandish and occasionally even a little upsetting. They’re also all true. We offer them as a possibility for a fun (or serious) offbeat inspiration or an ingredient in one or more of your upcoming promotions. Your counselor can help you select appropriate or related products.

    • The harmless artificial red coloring found in many beverages, yogurts, ice creams, candies and soups is made from the dried shells of female beetles. 
    • The average American eats 114,000 Tootsie Rolls in his/her lifetime.
    • The kangaroo gets its name from a bastardization of the Aborigine word “kanguru,” which means “I don’t know.” A group of kangaroos is called a mob.
    • The most common item people leave behind at hotels are dentures. 
    • On an average day, Americans purchase 3,562 rifles, 3,014 shotguns and 3,836 handguns. Twenty-six are murdered with one.
    • The hourglass was invented for the purpose of limiting the length of sermons in church. 
    • In Bangladesh, kids 15 and up can actually be jailed for cheating on final exams. 
    • We each share our birthday with at least 9 million other people.
    • There’s a town in Texas called Ding Dong.
    • Heroin was originally marketed as a pain reliever by the Bayer Aspirin Co.
    • A Midwest woman had her husband’s ashes made into an egg timer so “he could continue to help around the kitchen.”
    • On an average day, eight Americans get hair transplants.
    • 52% of Americans polled said they’d rather spend a week in jail than be president. 
    • Shakespeare invented the words “assassin” and “bump.” Way to go, Willie! 
    • Mexico City boasts the world’s largest fleet of taxis – over 60,000. 
    • Only two people actually signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4 – John Hancock and Charles Thomson. The others signed on August 2.
    • A fully-loaded supertanker traveling at 16 knots – its normal speed – needs about 20 minutes to stop.
    • It was once against the law to own a pet dog in Iceland.
    • Jellyfish are 95% water.
    • The entire capacity of the original 1949 ENIAC computer, which took up a full city block, could now fit on a quarter-inch-square silicon chip
    • Tokyo was originally called Edo.
    • Lincoln Logs were invented by Frank Lloyd Wright's son.
    • No building in Washington D.C. is permitted to be higher than 13 stories, to enable one to see the Washington Monument from anywhere in the city. 
    • The dot over the letter “i” is properly called a tittle.
    • If you keep a goldfish in a dark room, it will eventually turn white. (Yeah, but how about putting a whitefish in a gold room...?)
    • Giving dogs chocolate can kill them.
    • Turning off your monitor when not using your computer saves over 80% of the total power being consumed.


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