MULLET OVER BY JAMES K. WHITE | MARCH 11, 2015
Father sold his son as an indentured servant
One of the dyes used by Gatorade has proven to be an effective medication for certain spinal cord injuries. Injections of the colorant Brilliant Blue G appear to halt a chemical reaction that destroys spinal tissue subsequent to trauma involving vertebra.
Those nearly weird haircuts given to poodles originally had a practical intent. The breed was often trained as water-traversing retrievers. The dogs frequently worked in cooler climes and during cold months. The poodles were closely trimmed to reduce drag while swimming and the tufts were left to keep regions such as the heart, lungs, hips and leg-joints warm.
President Millard Fillmore had a tough adolescence. Born in 1800, Millard’s father sold his son as an indentured servant to a Sparta, New York cloth maker in 1814. An indentured servant was in effect a slave until his/her contract obligation (usually 7 years) was fulfilled or the contract was purchased. Millard managed to acquire $30 to buy out his contract and obtain his freedom.
Fillmore never attended college, but in 1846 he did help in the founding of the University of Buffalo and became the school’s first chancellor. In 1848 Millard ran as the VP candidate on the Whig’s Taylor/Fillmore ticket. He became president when Zachary Taylor died suddenly in 1848.
“Veto” is from Latin and literally means “I forbid.”
Zachary Taylor is the only deceased U.S. president for whom there was never any public funeral service. His body was almost immediately sent to Louisville and was interred in the family vault.
Since 1989, the Academy Awards changed the recipient announcement from “… and the winner is ____” to “… and the Oscar goes to ____.” The expressed intent was to be “more sensitive” to the feelings of all the losers.
Being Heavyweight Boxing Champion of the World has become an elusive and nebulous title to obtain. Several self-anointed organizations have reaped monetary gains by claiming to be sanctioning bodies of pugilism. Leon Spinks was the consensus heavyweight champion in 1978. Since then, there have been as many as 4 heavyweights simultaneously claiming the title. I won’t even begin to sort out that there are now at least 17 weight divisions. It is so nonsensical that one sportswriter commented “Win a fight and you’ll be declared world champion of something somewhere.”
The first horror movie ever was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (1908). Well, be kind to those of us who shall never win an Oscar – and enjoy a great week.
James White is a retired mathematics teacher who enjoys sharing fascinating trivia. He can be reached at [email protected].
