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First Posted: 6/13/2013
By Samantha Weaver
* It is still not known who made the following sage observation: “The difference between ‘involvement’ and Ôcommitment’ is like an eggs-and-ham breakfast: The chicken was ‘involved’; the pig was ‘committed.’”
* If you wanted to use fossil fuels to equal the amount of energy released by the sun onto the Earth, you’d have to burn 550 billion tons of coal every day.
* Lightning isn’t solely a phenomenon of Earth: Astronomers have noted lightning bolts on Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Venus.
* In 1915, the average annual income for a family in the United States was $687.
* You might be surprised to learn that the name Adam isn’t actually a proper name in the classical Hebrew language; it’s a generic term for a human being.
* If you’re planning a visit to the village of Chester in the United Kingdom, be glad you’re not from Wales. In that town, the law says that any Welshman found within the city walls after sunset may be shot with a longbow.
* In Germany, cacao was used for medicinal purposes long before it was used to make chocolate.
* It is, perhaps, unsurprising that the first duty-free airport shop — those favored sources of tax-free liquor — was in Shannon, Ireland.
* It was in the very early years of the 20th century when, in his “Devil’s Dictionary,” Ambrose Bierce defined a corporation as “an ingenious device for obtaining individual profit without individual responsibility.”
* In Alabama, every purchase of a deck of playing cards is subject to a special 10-cent tax. Those who sell the cards must pay a $1 to $3 license fee.
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Thought for the day: “When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.” – George Washington Carver