by Janet Spencer The word “carrot” comes from the Greek word “karoton” meaning “horn” referring to the vegetable’s horn-like shape. Come along with Tidbits as we munch carrots! CARROT FACTS • The carrot is a biennial plant, taking two growing seasons to complete its life cycle. The roots go down the first year, and easily survive the winter underground, while the ferny leaves flourish in the summer and die in the fall. The second season, the feathery leaves produce white flowers, which produce seeds. Commercial growers harvest carrots after the first season as soon as the roots are big enough […]
May 2023
TIDBITS® Plays a Little Pool
by Kathy Wolfe This week, Tidbits invites you to take a look to learn more about the game of pool! • The game of pool evolved from an early European lawn game, similar to croquet. The earliest documented billiard table was made in 1470. When King Louis XI of France died in 1483, an inventory of his property contained “a bed of stone, a cloth covering, and a hole in the middle of the playing field, into which balls could be driven.” • The word “cue” translates from the French word “queue,” meaning “tail.” Centuries ago, a curved wooden […]
Insomnia Contests
• In 1959 Peter Tripp, DJ for WMGM in New York, decided to raise money for the March of Dimes by performing a stunt. The stunt was to stay awake for 200 hours. He set up his recording booth in Times Square and came on the radio hourly to tell people how he was feeling, and he ran his usual evening show every night. The entire ordeal was carefully monitored by doctors and psychiatrists. • Tripp was never alone. Nurses constantly checked his blood, urine, blood pressure, respiration, temperature, and brain waves. He was subjected to tests that showed muscular […]
George Crowley – PEOPLE WORTH REMEMBERING –
– PEOPLE WORTH REMEMBERING – • George Crowley was born in New Jersey in 1921 and demonstrated his talent for creating electrical inventions early. As a child, he wired a warning buzzer that alerted him to the approach of his parents nearing his bedroom door. At the age of 12 he rigged a dining room door to swing open automatically when his mother, with an armload of dishes, triggered an electric eye. He then installed a switch that would close the living room curtains when the light switch was flipped on. He often asked his siblings and other relatives for […]
TIDBITS® Suffers from Insomnia
There has never been documented proof of a human who did not sleep. The longest a human has gone without sleep is 11 days, 25 minutes. The world record was set by 17-year-old Randy Gardner in 1963 as an experiment for his high school science fair. Guinness World Records has since deleted the category because of the health dangers of severe sleep loss. Come along with Tidbits as we stay up late! MIND OVER MATTRESS • Between 10% and 30% of adults struggle with insomnia. • Although adults need 7 to 9 hours of sleep in each 24-hour cycle, children […]
More Threes
• Although we think of the musketeers as swashbuckling swordsmen, musketeers of the 16th century were actually soldiers equipped with a musket, a muzzle-loaded long-barreled gun. French author Alexandre Dumas published his adventure novel “The Three Musketeers” in 1844. It told of the adventures of a young man of the 1600s named Charles d’Artagnan who seeks to join the elite musketeers guard. He is befriended by three of the most notable musketeers, Athos, Porthos, and Aramis, and the four embark on a career of daring escapades with their well-known motto of “all for one and one for all!” Since […]
Ross Bagdasarian – PEOPLE WORTH REMEMBERING –
– PEOPLE WORTH REMEMBERING – Ross Bagdasarian, Sr. brought us one of the most famous trios of all times. Stick with Tidbits to learn about the origin of three of the most recognizable animated characters of our time, the Chipmunks. • This California native, born Rostom Sipan Dickran Bagdasarian, started out with minor roles on Broadway in the late 1930s. With the advent of World War II, Ross became a control tower operator in the Army Air Forces for four years, finishing as a staff sergeant. He was stationed in Seville, Spain, a city name that would become very important […]
TIDBITS® Counts on Some Threes
by Kathy Wolfe All good things come in threes! This week, Tidbits presents some famous trios. • Kids of the ‘90s will remember the animated series “Powerpuff Girls,” that debuted in 1998 and ran for 78 episodes over six seasons. The series revolved around three kindergarten-aged girls with superpowers, living in the city of Townsville with their scientist father, Professor Utonium. Blossom, dressed in pink, Bubbles in blue, and Buttercup in green regularly saved the city by exhibiting various abilities, including communicating with animals, creating thunder, lightning, and fireballs, microscopic vision, the ability to understand multiple languages, and spinning into […]
JOSEPH MYATT – PEOPLE WORTH REMEMBERING –
– PEOPLE WORTH REMEMBERING – • Joseph Myatt was born in 1771 in Staffordshire, England. He began working as a gardener as soon as he was old enough to get a job. As the years passed, his skills and knowledge increased, and he moved up into better and better jobs. By the time he was 30, he was head gardener at a large country estate • In 1810, he moved with his wife and children to take a position as head gardener for an estate called Rosewood Park. • Around this time, there was a cultural shift in English landscape […]
The Truth About Rhubarb
• You’ve probably used oxalic acid many times in your life, as it’s one of the main ingredients in rust removers, metal cleaners, and bleach products. It’s produced on an industrial scale through chemical means. It’s very caustic and causes blistering when it contacts human skin. But oxalic acid is also present in plants. • It’s named for the genus of plants called Oxalis, which includes wood sorrel from which it was first extracted. The shamrock plants popular in stores around St. Patrick’s Day are also members of the Oxalis genus. • But oxalic acid is also found in other […]
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