Facts Of The Day

August 31, 2007:
Fact #97:
In 1900 there were 109 automobile companies worldwide. Today they are about 2,000.

September 1, 2007:
Fact #98:
About one man in three admits to daydreaming while driving.

September 2, 2007:
Fact #99:
The six stars on the Subaru logo represent the Pleiades, a star cluster in the constellation Taurus.

September 3, 2007:
Fact #100:
The average driver will honk 15,250 times in a lifetime. (Most American cars honk in the key of F.)

September 4, 2007:
Fact #101:
You could have bought a Model T Ford for $260 in 1925.

September 5, 2007:
Fact #102:
About half the German highway system has no speed limit.

September 6, 2007:
Fact #103:
The average driver will curse 32,025 times in a lifetime of driving.

September 7, 2007:
Fact #104:
The average person will spend two weeks of their life wating for traffic lights to change.

September 8, 2007:
Fact #105:
Early cars didn't have steering wheels - they used levers.

Subject: Once Upon A Time

September 9, 2007:
Fact #106:
Even though seeing a mermaid on a ship voyage was considered bad luck, the statue of Hans Christian Anderson's Little Mermaid in Copenhagen harbor attracts a lot of sailors who touch her for good luck.

September 10, 2007:
Fact #107:
The Brothers Grimm didn't write those fairy tales; most were folk tales not meant for children. The brothers collected them from storytellers and began publishing them in 1812.

September 11, 2007:
Fact #108:
Ever heard of Charles Perrault? Maybe not, but you know the 17th century Frenchman for his Mother Goose stories, including Cinderella, Puss-in-Boots, Little Red Riding Hood, and Sleeping Beauty.

September 12, 2007:
Fact #109:
In the original folk tale, Goldilocks wasn't even a little girl who ate the bears' porridge. She was an old woman who drank the bears' milk. (In another version, she wasn't even Goldilocks - she was Silverhair.)

September 13, 2007:
Fact #110:
What's the Little Red Riding Hood's first name? It's not "Little"...it's Blanchette.

September 14, 2007:
Fact #111
Oh, no, an ogre! The name Shrek comes from the German word schreck, which means "fear" or "terror."

Subject: Last Names

September 15, 2007:
Fact #112:
A "Carter" was a delivery person who drove a cart from town to town.

September 16, 2007:
Fact #113:
If your name is Cooper, one of your ancestors might have been a maker of wooden barrels. (From the old Dutch word kupe, meaning "tub.")

September 17, 2007:
Fact #114:
The name Kellogg literally means hog-killer, a nickname for pork butchers, derived from "kill hog."

September 18, 2007:
Fact #115:
A "Parker" wasn't a parking valet, he was the grounds-keeper of a park surrounding a nobleman's estate.

September 19, 2007:
Fact #116:
The name Stone comes comes from a worker who cut stone for a living.

September 20, 2007:
Fact #117:
In the Middle Ages, "Leach" was a word for "doctor." It came from an old English word laece, that also meant "leech" - because medieval doctors used blood-sucking leeches on their patients.

September 21, 2007:
Fact #118:
A "Black" was a cloth-dryer whose specialty was shades of black.

September 22, 2007:
Fact #119:
Do you know anyone named Chamberlain? A chamberlain was a personal servant who cleaned the chambers (rooms) of a nobleman's home.

September 23, 2007:
Fact #120:
A "Kemp" was a wrestler - from cempa, the old English word for "champion" or "warrior."

Subject: The Cold Truth

September 24, 2007:
Fact #121:
A 3°to 10°F, snowflakes are usually star-shaped. When it gets a little warmer, they're shaped more like columns; a little colder, more like plates.