Free Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts: And Bizarre Information by Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society Page B
Authors: Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society
Jeopardy!
Five different dolphins “acted” in TV’s Flipper , but only one horse played Mr. Ed.
Johnny Carson once hosted a game show called Earn Your Vacation .
TV actor George Reeves needed three men to help him out of his Superman suit.
Firsts
THE FIRST MOVIE THEATER
Date: June 26, 1896
Background: The first permanent movie theater was the 400-seat Vitascope Hall in New Orleans. Admission was 10¢. Patrons were allowed to look in the projection room and see the Edison Vitascope projector for another 10¢. Most of the films shown there were short scenic items, including the first English film to be released in America, Robert Paul’s Waves off Dover . A major attraction was the film The Kiss , which introduced sex to the American screen.
THE FIRST WOMAN DRIVER
Date: 1891
Background: The first woman to drive a car was Madame Levassor, wife of one of the partners in the Paris motor manufacturing concern Panhard et Levassor, but better known by her former name of Madame Sarazin. After the death of her first husband, Madame Sarazin had acquired the French and Belgian rights of manufacture for the Daimler gas-powered engine. The following year she married Emile Levassor, and the patent rights passed to her new husband’s firm. They began manufacturing cars under their own name in 1891, the year Madame Levassor learned to drive. The earliest evidence of her becoming a chauffeuse is a photograph showing her at the tiller of a Panhard car, dated 1892.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE WITH ELECTRIC LIGHTS
Date: December 1882
Background: The first electrically illuminated Christmas tree was installed in the New York City home of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in nine-socket sets by the Edison General Electric Co. in 1901. Each socket took a miniature 2-candle-power carbon-filament lamp operating on 32 volts.
THE FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE
Date: 1848
Background: Alexander Turney Stewart opened the Marble Dry Goods Palace on Broadway in New York City. Stewart had been a schoolmaster in Ireland before he emigrated in 1823 and set up his own business. At the time of its erection the Marble Dry Goods Palace was the largest shop in the world, extending the whole length of a city block. By 1876, the year of his death, Stewart’s company had annual sales of $70 million, and his personal fortune was estimated at $80 million.
THE FIRST POLICE CAR
Date: 1899
Background: The first occasion in which a car was used in police work occurred when Sgt. McLeod of the Northamptonshire (England) County Police borrowed a Benz vehicle to pursue a man who was selling forged tickets for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Top speed: 12 mph. The first car regularly employed in police work was a Stanley Steamer acquired by the Boston Police Department in 1903. It replaced four horses.
THE FIRST FILM ACTOR
Date: August 28, 1895
Background: The first motion picture to involve the use of actors was a brief costume drama titled The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots , which was shot by Alfred Clark in West Orange, New Jersey. The part of Mary was played by Mr. R. L. Thomas, secretary and treasurer of the Kinetoscope Company. After approaching the block and laying his head upon it, Thomas removed himself, the camera was stopped, and a dummy was substituted. The camera was then started again for the decapitation scene. This was also the first use of trick photography or special effects work in a film.
THE FIRST INCOME TAX
Date: 1451
Background: The first income tax was the Catastro introduced in Florence, Italy, under Lorenzo de’ Medici. It was later replaced by the Scala, an income tax levied on a progressive basis, but this degenerated into a convenient means of political blackmail and, on the overthrow of the Medicis in 1492, was repealed.
Happy Holidays
Why is September 28 special? It’s Ask A Stupid Question Day. Thanks for asking!
Nine percent of
Five different dolphins “acted” in TV’s Flipper , but only one horse played Mr. Ed.
Johnny Carson once hosted a game show called Earn Your Vacation .
TV actor George Reeves needed three men to help him out of his Superman suit.
Firsts
THE FIRST MOVIE THEATER
Date: June 26, 1896
Background: The first permanent movie theater was the 400-seat Vitascope Hall in New Orleans. Admission was 10¢. Patrons were allowed to look in the projection room and see the Edison Vitascope projector for another 10¢. Most of the films shown there were short scenic items, including the first English film to be released in America, Robert Paul’s Waves off Dover . A major attraction was the film The Kiss , which introduced sex to the American screen.
THE FIRST WOMAN DRIVER
Date: 1891
Background: The first woman to drive a car was Madame Levassor, wife of one of the partners in the Paris motor manufacturing concern Panhard et Levassor, but better known by her former name of Madame Sarazin. After the death of her first husband, Madame Sarazin had acquired the French and Belgian rights of manufacture for the Daimler gas-powered engine. The following year she married Emile Levassor, and the patent rights passed to her new husband’s firm. They began manufacturing cars under their own name in 1891, the year Madame Levassor learned to drive. The earliest evidence of her becoming a chauffeuse is a photograph showing her at the tiller of a Panhard car, dated 1892.
THE FIRST CHRISTMAS TREE WITH ELECTRIC LIGHTS
Date: December 1882
Background: The first electrically illuminated Christmas tree was installed in the New York City home of Edward H. Johnson, an associate of Thomas Edison. The first commercially produced Christmas tree lamps were manufactured in nine-socket sets by the Edison General Electric Co. in 1901. Each socket took a miniature 2-candle-power carbon-filament lamp operating on 32 volts.
THE FIRST DEPARTMENT STORE
Date: 1848
Background: Alexander Turney Stewart opened the Marble Dry Goods Palace on Broadway in New York City. Stewart had been a schoolmaster in Ireland before he emigrated in 1823 and set up his own business. At the time of its erection the Marble Dry Goods Palace was the largest shop in the world, extending the whole length of a city block. By 1876, the year of his death, Stewart’s company had annual sales of $70 million, and his personal fortune was estimated at $80 million.
THE FIRST POLICE CAR
Date: 1899
Background: The first occasion in which a car was used in police work occurred when Sgt. McLeod of the Northamptonshire (England) County Police borrowed a Benz vehicle to pursue a man who was selling forged tickets for the Barnum and Bailey Circus. Top speed: 12 mph. The first car regularly employed in police work was a Stanley Steamer acquired by the Boston Police Department in 1903. It replaced four horses.
THE FIRST FILM ACTOR
Date: August 28, 1895
Background: The first motion picture to involve the use of actors was a brief costume drama titled The Execution of Mary Queen of Scots , which was shot by Alfred Clark in West Orange, New Jersey. The part of Mary was played by Mr. R. L. Thomas, secretary and treasurer of the Kinetoscope Company. After approaching the block and laying his head upon it, Thomas removed himself, the camera was stopped, and a dummy was substituted. The camera was then started again for the decapitation scene. This was also the first use of trick photography or special effects work in a film.
THE FIRST INCOME TAX
Date: 1451
Background: The first income tax was the Catastro introduced in Florence, Italy, under Lorenzo de’ Medici. It was later replaced by the Scala, an income tax levied on a progressive basis, but this degenerated into a convenient means of political blackmail and, on the overthrow of the Medicis in 1492, was repealed.
Happy Holidays
Why is September 28 special? It’s Ask A Stupid Question Day. Thanks for asking!
Nine percent of
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