Household Facts

[lilhave]

The first fax process was patented in 1843.

The first electronic mail, or “email”, was sent in 1972 by Ray Tomlinson. It was also his idea to use the @ sign to separate the name of the user from the name of the computer.

Charles Macintosh invented the waterproof coat, the Mackintosh, in 1823.

Thomas Edison filed 1,093 patents, including those for the light bulb, electric railways and the movie camera. When he died in 1931, he held 34 patents for the telephone, 141 for batteries, 150 for the telegraph and 389 patents for electric light and power.

The first neon sign was made in 1923 for a Packard dealership.

Smelling apples and/or bananas can help you loose weight

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows

The average smell weighs 760 nanograms

All porcupines float in water

Slugs have 4 noses

Milk chocolate was invented by Daniel Peter, who sold the concept to his neighbour Henri Nestlé.

Botanically speaking, the banana is a herb and the tomato is a fruit.

In 1994, Chicago artist Dwight Kalb sent David Letterman a statue of Madonna, made of 180lb of ham.

Americans eat twice as much meat as Europeans, gobbling up some 50kg (110 lb) per capita.

Plastic bottles were first used for soft drinks in 1970.

Forks, mostly being two-tined, used to known as “split spoons.”

Bananas are the world’s most popular fruit after tomatoes. In western countries, they could account for 3% of a grocer’s total sales.

Approximately one billion snails are served in restaurants annually.

An onion, apple and potato all have the same taste. The differences in flavor are caused by their smell.

The pull-ring tab was invented in 1962 and the re-sealable top in 1965.

In the 1950’s some 80% of chickens in Europe and the US were free-ranging. By 1980, it was only 1%. Today, about 13% of chickens in the West are free-ranging.