Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Wise Up! Read Free Page A

can cost more than $1,000 a pound.
    In the 1600s, thermometers were often filled with brandy instead of mercury.
    When dropped in water, a fresh egg will sink; a stale one won’t.

Around the World
    Thirteen percent of the world’s population lives in deserts.
    World’s largest urban national park: Golden Gate National Recreation Area (74,820 acres).
    Fifty-one countries were involved in World War II, the most of any war in human history.
    Sweetwater, Texas, boasts the world’s largest rattlesnake roundup. The annual festival began in 1958 as a way for local farmers to get rid of rattlesnakes on their property. In the years since, it’s grown to include a parade, a snake-charmer competition, and a cook-off. (And they still collect snakes. More than 120 tons’ worth have been caught over the years.)
    More people have seen magician David Copperfield perform live than any other entertainer in the world.
    The Saturday Night Fever soundtrack has sold more than 30 million copies worldwide.
    World’s biggest army: China’s People’s Liberation Army, with 2.2 million active troops.
    Since 1495, the world has never seen 25 consecutive years without at least one war.

What’s in a Name?
    Most popular names for U.S. high school sports teams: Eagles and Tigers.
    The troll dolls of the 1960s were also known as Dam Dolls, after their creator, Thomas Dam.
    The first Atlantic storm to carry a man’s name was Hurricane Bob (1979). (Before that, they were all named after women.)
    The O’ prefix in Irish surnames means “grandson of.”
    Babe Ruth’s residence in Sudbury, Massachusetts, was named Home Plate Farm.
    There are approximately 600 different surnames in China but more than a million in the United States.
    Author Douglas Adams ( The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy ) chose the name of Pink Floyd’s 1994 album The Division Bell .
    To enter the Bob Jones Open golf tournament, you must be named Bob Jones.
    The world’s most common name: Muhammad.
    According to some studies, the surname Baer has the most spelling variations—36. Snyder is second with 29, and Bailey has 22. (But these are the most common spellings.)
    Malcolm X named his first daughter, Attalah, after Attila the Hun.
    Miss Ima Hogg, the “First Lady of Texas,” was a beloved philanthropist and patron of the arts.
    Pete Townshend and John Entwistle of the Who played in a Dixieland band called the Confederates.
    According to legend, Paul Bunyan’s cook was named Hot Biscuit Slim.

Hail to the Chief
    To date, every U.S. president with a beard has been a Republican.
    Only one person in ten is left-handed, but three of the past six presidents have been.
    The first president to be impeached was Andrew Johnson.
    Midnight Cowboy was the only X-rated movie shown to a U.S. president (Jimmy Carter) in office.
    All U.S. presidents have worn glasses, though some didn’t like wearing them in public.
    William Henry Harrison is one of two presidents to have double letters in both his first and last names. The other: Millard Fillmore.
    Presidential film screenings began in 1915, when Woodrow Wilson watched The Birth of a Nation .
    Most common presidential religious affiliation: Episcopalian, followed by Presbyterian.
    Presidential candidate who ran the most times: Socialist Norman Thomas, six times.
    Candidate with the most electoral and popular votes: Ronald Reagan, in 1984.
    The film Lyndon B. Johnson most often requested be shown in the White House while he was in office: a 10-minute short about himself.
    Herbert Hoover was the last president whose term ended on March 3. They now end on January 20.
    Last U.S. president with a mustache: William Howard Taft.
    In 1963, Lyndon B. Johnson became the first Southerner to hold the office since Andrew Johnson in 1869.

Women’s Fashion
    Go-go boots, popular in the 1960s, got their start in the collection of André Courreges, a Parisian designer.
    Most costume changes in a movie: 85, by Madonna in Evita .
    In 1968, the Ladies