– The Pony Express was a mail delivery service in operation from April 1860 until October 1861. Riders usually weighed between 100 and 125 pounds and vowed not to curse, drink liquor or quarrel with customers. All riders took “the oath” as a condition for employment, but few adhered to the details. More than 150 relay stations were established. Stations were generally replete with fresh mounts, rested riders, water and food. The transcontinental telegraph was completed in October of 1861. That event spelled financial doom for The Express.
– Clerks in 19th century Great Britain often suffered during the wintertime. In pursuit of frugality, offices were kept so cold that ink in bottles and inkwells froze solid. A common remedy was to add small measures of brandy to the ink. Blue or black lips sometimes exposed ink-sippers.
– “Blue Boy,” the famous 18th century painting by Thomas Gainsborough hangs in the Huntington Gallery (San Marino, California). Not all British subjects are pleased with that situation.
– Many historians agree that writing communications were first used about 5,500 years ago in Babylonia. Pictures were featured in the earliest attempts and the drawings progressed to become cuneiform. Writing has advanced and become so common that many illiterates think they can do it. Like me.
– The first Democrat elected president of the United States was Andrew Jackson (1828).
– Traditional folklore indicates that a ringing in your left ear means someone is slandering you while a ringing in your right ear signifies someone is praising you.
– The first American novel to sell a million copies was “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe (1852).
– Snakes do not close their eyes when they sleep. They do not have eye-lids.
– Before Columbus made his famous voyage, Europeans had never tasted corn, potatoes, tomatoes, chocolate, peanuts, coconuts, pineapples, strawberries, vanilla or Cheetos. Meanwhile, a favorite food in parts of both Alaska and Canada is muktuk (I am not making this up). Muktuk is actually a slab of blubber attached to whale skin. Muktuk is said to have the feel and appearance of truck tire tread. Those who have eaten both muktuk and tire tread often concur that tire tread is the better tasting of the two.
– It was Martin Van Buren, our eighth president (1837-1841), who was our first president born a U.S. citizen.
– The oldest food franchise in America is A & W (Allen and Wright) Root beer stands founded in 1922. I am hoping your right ear is ringing and that you have a marvelous day.
