The state of Florida is bigger than England.

Compact discs read from the inside to the outside edge which is opposite of how a record works.

At the height of its power (400 BC) the Greek city of Sparta had 500,000 slaves and only 25,000 citizens.

The average person’s scalp has 100,000 hairs. 

A male emperor moth can smell a female emperor moth up to 7 miles away.

Rapper Lil Jon, is apparently joining the long list of celebrities with a wine project. The Little Jonathan Winery is the new project from Lil Jon. Given his tastes in jewels and style these bottles look incredibly restrained. No word on pricing yet or where the wines are sourced but he’s starting with a 2005 Merlot and a 2006 Cabernet Sauvignon and Chardonnay.

Prohibition in Iceland went into effect in 1915 and lasted, to some extent, until March 1, 1989 (since celebrated as “Beer Day”). The ban had originally prohibited all alcohol, but from 1935 onward only applied to “strong” beer (with an alcohol content of 2.25% or more).

In a 1908 referendum, Icelanders voted in favor of a ban on all alcoholic drinks, going into effect Jan. 1, 1915. In 1921, the ban was partially lifted after Spain refused to buy Iceland’s main export, fish, unless Iceland bought Spanish wines; then lifted further after a national referendum in 1935 came out in favor of legalizing spirits. Strong beer (with an alcohol content of 2.25% or more, however, was not included in the 1935 vote in order to please the temperance lobby — which argued that because beer is cheaper than spirits, it would lead to more depravity.

As international travel brought Icelanders back in touch with beer, bills to legalize it were regularly moved in the Althing (Icelandic Parliament), but inevitably were shot down on technical grounds. Prohibition lost more support in 1985, when the Minister of Justice (himself a teetotaler) prohibited pubs from adding legal spirits to legal non-alcoholic beer (called “pilsner” by Icelanders) to make a potent imitation of strong beer. Soon after, beer approached legalization in parliament—a full turnout of the upper house of Iceland’s Parliament voted 13 to 8 to permit the sales, ending prohibition on the island.


Beer Day
Following the end of prohibition, some Icelanders have celebrated Beer Day on March 1. Some people may take part in a “rúntur” (bar crawl), with a few bars staying open until 4:00 a.m. the next day. The legalization of beer remains a significant cultural event in Iceland as beer has become the most popular alcoholic beverage.

(Source: Wikipedia)

The creation of chocolate chip cookies was actually a mistake, a delicious mistake…

The inventor - or creator - of the chocolate chip cookie was Ruth Wakefield. In 1924, Ruth Wakefield after graduating from Framingham State Normal School’s Department of Household Arts, she lectured on food and worked as a dietitian. After marrying, she and her husband bought a tourist lodge (bed and breakfast) and called it the “Toll House Inn.”

Sound familiar?

Well the chocolate chip cookie actually came about by sheer accident. Ruth Wakefield was responsible for, and cooked the meals of, the guests at Toll House Inn. She had a special recipe called Butter Drop Do cookies. This recipe called for crumbled baker’s chocolate - a bitter chocolate if you’ve ever taken a bite.

One day while baking away, Ruth realized she did not have any baker’s chocolate on hand, but she did have a semi-sweet chocolate bar. So she cut that up into bits and pieces and added it to her recipe. Unlike baker’s chocolate which melts down completely, the semi-sweet pieces only partially melted. Leaving those lovely bits of chocolate we all love so much. And, of course, her cookies were a big hit with her guests.

But the story doesn’t end there…

The misused chocolate bar was actually a gift from Andrew Nestle - of yes, the Nestle Chocolate Company. As Ruth’s cookies grew and grew in popularity so did the sale of Nestle’s semi-sweet chocolate bars!

It wasn’t long before Andrew Nestle and Ruth Wakefield struck a deal which was Ruth’s printed recipe on the back of every package of Toll House Chocolate Chips. In return for getting the recipe, Ruth received a lifetime’s supply of Nestle’s chocolate.

Ruth did write her own cookbook called “Toll House Tried and True Recipes,” in 1940.

In 1977 Ruth passed away, and on New Year’s Eve, 1984, the Toll House Inn burned to the ground. However, to this day the agreement holds and Ruth’s recipe continues on the back of each Nestlé Toll House chocolate bar package. She continues to be so honored into the 21st century.

Source: http://www.streetdirectory.com/food_editorials/snacks/chocolates/chocolate_chip_cookies_just_a_mistake.html

Egyptians called Mars the “the backward traveler” because Mars appeared to move backwards through the zodiac every 25.7 months.

Due to jobs, kids, TV, the Internet, hobbies, and home and family responsibilities, the average married couple spends just four minutes a day alone together.