Archives: Useless Facts

Why is Friday the 13th considered unlucky?

The US State of Wisconsin is known as the “Badger State.” Founded on May 29th, 1848, Wisconsin was first inhabited by Indian tribes in the 17th century.

But the territory was not nicknamed the ‘Badger State,’ because of the animal itself.

In the early 19th Century, prospectors and miners came looking for minerals and since most did not have any shelter for the harsh winters, the miners had to ‘live like badgers’ in tunnels burrowed into hillsides.

The five brothers that made up the Jackson 5 were Jermaine, Marlon, Jackie, Tito and Michael. The musical group known as the Jackson 5, later known simply as the Jacksons, were composed of members of the Jackson family. Founded in Gary, Indiana in 1964, they were managed by their father Joe Jackson.

What State in the United States is known as the “Badger State”?

What are the first names of the five brothers that made up the Jackson 5?

Although nearly 3,000 people were killed in the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, the first attack on the WTC took place on February 26, 1993, when a bomb exploded in a parking garage underneath the North Tower of the World Trade Center.  Although it failed to topple either of the twin towers, the blast killed six people, including a pregnant woman, and caused over a thousand injuries.

The 9-11-2001 attack on the World Trade Center on 9/11 resulted in the largest loss of life by a foreign attack on American soil. After the 9-11 attack, only 18 people were rescued alive from the rubble of the World Trade Center.

In the terrorist attacks at the World Trade Center in NYC, the Pentagon and a plane crash near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, on September 11, 2001, almost 3,000 people were killed – approximately 400 were police officers and firefighters.

But that was not the first terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.  When was the first?

Although OSHA (Occupational Safety and Health Administration) notes the color and lettering of exit signs must be distinct, there is no law or regulation in the United States that mandates a specific color.

Green and red are the predominant colors that are used for exit signs, but ultimately State and local authorities have actual jurisdiction over exit sign requirements such as size and color.

Advocates for red argue that red is the most visible color, typically used to attract people’s attention, while the green team reminds everyone that green means “go.”  That said, if you live in Helena, Montana, you will notice that exit signs are in orange. Not sure how they picked that color, but we must assume (or at least hope) it is effective.

 

Is there a legal requirement for the color used in “exit” signs in the United States?

Gerald Ford is the only president to hold a prom in the White House, which traditionally was known as a “promenade dance” – essentially, a dance party for high school students.  Proms are typically held towards the end of the school year, originally for seniors, although over the years junior (11th grade) proms have sprung up and sometimes schools may choose to combine them, rather than have a separate senior and junior prom.

On May 31, 1975, Susan Ford, daughter of President Gerald Ford, was in her final year of classes at Holton-Arms School and at the urging of her fellow classmates asked White House Chief Usher Rex Scouten permission to hold their senior class prom at the White House. It was and remains, the only high-school dance ever to take place at White House. The class members held bake sales and fairs to raise the money and paid for the prom themselves!

For those of you interested in similarly unique events at the White House, consider President Andrew Jackson’s cheese party in which about 10,000 visitors showed up to eat a wheel of cheddar cheese that weighed nearly 1,400 pounds. In 1835, Thomas S. Meacham presented President Andrew Jackson with the cheese wheel made by dairymen from Oswego County, New York. It was delivered to the White House by a horse-drawn cart (apparently it took 24 horses).  The cheese wheel sat dormant (and aging) in the foyer of the White House for about 2 years, when Jackson invited the public to partake of his cheese in celebration of George Washington’s Birthday in 1837. All the cheese was devoured by the crowd in about 2 hours!