BY JAMES K. WHITE | FEBRUARY 27, 2013
159 official holidays per year
Ponce de Leon (1474-1521) is most noted for his futile attempts to locate the Fountain of Youth. Perhaps unknown to many readers is that the man led a varied, interesting life. Said to be of noble Basque lineage, “Poncy” learned battle tactics fighting against the Moors in Spain, accompanied Columbus on Christopher’s second famous voyage, became wealthy dealing in gold and slaves, was appointed governor of Puerto Rico, established Spain’s claim to Florida, named Florida (flowers) and provided King Ferdinand ownership rights to several regional islands. Ponce was knighted and awarded a personal coat of arms. The intrepid explorer led a foray into southwestern Florida in July of 1521 and was killed by a Calusa warrior (arrow wound).
In 2006, a romantic British helicopter pilot in training used his multi-million dollar Lynx aircraft to deliver a pizza to his girlfriend. The pilot was openly disciplined by the Ministry of Defense. However, his fellow pilots re-designed their special unit badge to include a Domino’s Pizza logo.
The floor of the Grand Canyon is 2600 feet above sea level.
There exist more than 400 distinct species of fish capable of generating electricity.
Berries are classified as fruits, which makes grapes the #1 consumed fruit in the world with bananas #2. I eat bananas. It has been said many times: “You are what you eat.”
Ah, the good old days – Under the Emperor Claudius, the Roman citizenry experienced 159 official holidays per year.
Occupational group that annually receives the most Valentine cards: teachers (no surprise there).
The 4 standard dimensions in our physical world are height, width, depth and time. Time is the dimension most often overlooked when listing.
Many will recognize the list John, Paul, George and Ringo as the Beatles. Ringo’s real name is Richard Starkey. Two earlier band members were Pete Best and Stu Sutcliffe. Both were either dismissed or quit the group before the Beatles became world-famous and consequently missed out on mega millions in revenue.
Americans waste a lot of food. Seven percent of our food crops are never harvested. Seventeen percent of the fares in restaurants are never eaten. And worst of all – twenty-five percent of the edible goods purchased from grocery outlets are simply discarded.
Well, remember that you can be romantic and still be prudent (different from “prudish”) as you dine on pizza. Have a splendiferous week.
James White is a retired mathematics teacher who enjoys sharing fascinating trivia. He can be reached at [email protected].
