Did you know that…
Did you know that the can opener was invented 48 years after cans were introduced?
Cans were opened with a hammer and chisel before the advent of can openers. A Londoner, Peter Durand, invented the tin canister, or can, in 1810 for preserving food. There were no can openers yet, and the products labels would read: „cut around on the top near to outer edge with a chisel and hammer.“
The first can opener was invented in 1858 by American Ezra Warned. The well-known wheel-style opener was invented in 1925. Beer in a can was launched in 1935. The easy open can lid was invented by Ermal Cleon Fraze in 1959.
Since 1972, some 64 million tons of aluminium cans (about 3 trillion cans) have been produced. Placed end-to-end, they could stretch to the moon about a thousand times. Still, cans represent less than 1% of solid waste material – about one quarter of all cans are recycled. Worldwide, some 9 million cans are recycled every hour. Which is good news, considering that it takes a can about 200 years to degrade if you bury it.
It takes paper about a month to biodegrade, a woollen sock about a year, and plastic hundreds of years.
Did you know that the British royal family changed their surname (last name) in 1917?
The British royal family changed their surname (last name) from Saxe-Coburg-Gotha to Windsor in 1917.
George V was king of England from 1910 to 1936. Son of Edward VII, King of England, and Princess Alexandra of Denmark, he married Queen Mary of Tech (called May) in 1893. Known as the Sailor Prince, he had an active naval career and rose to the rank of vice admiral in 1903.
World War One broke out in 1914 and was in full fury in 1917. In protest, King George V renounced all the German titles belonging to him and his family and adopted the name of his castle, Windsor.
Did you know that more movies are produced in India than in Hollywood?
Each year, more movies are produced in India than in Hollywood. About 800 movies are released annually in India, about twice the output of Hollywood.
The first movie screened publicly was „La Sortie des Ouvriere des l’Usine Lumière“ which was presented by August and Louis Lumiere in Paris in 1895. The first movie to use sound was „The Jazz Singer,“ released in 1927: the first words, spoken by Al Jolson, were: „Wait a minute, you ain’t heard nothing yet.“
According to the MPAA (Motion Picture Association of America), in 1996 the average Hollywood film cost $35.3 million to make and another $17.7 million to market. Disney’s „The Lion King“ cost $45 million to make and employed a total of 800 animators.
The most expensive film ever made, was James Cameron’s „Titanic.“ It cost $200 million, but also was the most successful, in the sense that it won 11 Academy Awards, equalling „Ben Hur“ of 1959.The top five moneymaking films of all time are: „Titanic“ [$1,835m], Jurassic Park“ [$920m], Independence Day“ [$810m], „Star Wars“ [$780m], „The Lion King“ [$767m]. Notice that they all are family-type movies. In fact, movies with strong sexual or violence content usually bomb at the box office. According to the American Family Association, the average cost to produce a movie in 1996 was $40 million. Sex films grossed on average only $700 000.
Movies with strong Christian or family content each grossed over $37 million.
Did you know that there are 92 known cases of nuclear bombs lost at sea?
The very first bomb that the Allies dropped on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo, it is said. The NATO attack on Serbia last year (the Kosovo war) killed more animals than people. „Smart“ weapons, such the Tomahawk missile is supposed to hit a postage stamp at 300km or more (200 miles or more). But only two out of thirteen actually hit the target. One skimmed over the house of a small farmer
a few kilometres (miles) off target, straight up a track, through bushes, and exploded in the farmer’s field, killing seven sheep, one cow and a goat.
The farmer kept the missile nosecone as a souvenir.
Did you know that it once was law to say „God bless you“ to one who sneezed?
During the 6th Century, it was customary to congratulate people who sneezed because it was thought that they were expelling evil from their bodies. During the great plague of Europe, the Pope passed a law to say „God bless you“ to one who sneezed.