Fascinating Facts and Trivia

French was the official language of England for about 300 years, from 1066 till 1362

Champagne was invented in England, not in France.

In 1662 scientist Christopher Merret presented a paper to the Royal Society in London describing how the addition of sugar and molasses to wine make it brisk and sparkling.

This method, now known as méthode champenoise, was adopted by Dom Pérignon over 30 years later to produce the first sparkling wine in Champagne.

Ever wondered where the term 'mum's the word' comes from? Well in Tudor times a group of people at Christmas would visit you earing all manner of clothing and sometimes masked and expect to be invited in to play a dice game where you bet on them getting the same number again-of course their dice were weighted so you would always lose. They weren't by tradition allowed to speak but could say mmm or as it was called 'mumming' ; this later became a way of not speaking or revealing a secret, hence 'mum's the word' This tradition died out some years later but it thought to be the origins of the trick or treat system at Hallowe'en.

Americans are responsible for about 1/5 of the world’s garbage annually.

Giraffes and rats can last longer without water than camels.

Your stomach produces a new layer of mucus every two weeks so that it doesn’t digest itself.

98% of all murders and rapes are by a close family member or friend of the victim.

A B-25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building on July 28, 1945.

Dr. Nicholas Emler, a British psychologist, has argued that up to 80% of average conversations consist of gossip.

He claims that gossiping is an essential part of our humanity.[

Vending machines kill 4 times as many people per year as sharks.

Bananas share 50% of their DNA with humans

It is interesting to note(those of us with long memories) that the first chatlines to appear usually had a picture of some model on it with a number to ring(printed in some lower market tabloids and magazines) where you would get to listen to Sarah, a hot blonde with a naughty secret for £.150 a minute. In reality and at that time there was no regulation around, you would more likely get a middle-aged woman called Pam, Jackie or Phylis, who would be sat there doing her knitting or reading a Jackie Collins novel whilst using all her feminine wiles to keep you on the line. It just so happened that she had a sexy voice and liked to talk about her knickers and her breasts. Probably got paid per call and not a lot either. So many men were ripped off over a decade. So next time you ring a chatline like BS or XP or S66 think about the poor saps who spent their money on someone they never actually got to see, do things they wouldn't ever do normally and definitely not some 18 yr old nymphomaniac gagging for a hot sex session. Incidentally this was the premise used in a short-lived BBC1 crime series, Virtual Murder an episode of which was called A Torch for Silverado in which the late Jon Pertwee played an arsonist who used to call girls up on a hotline.

The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp (marijuana) paper.

The dot over the letter “i” is called a tittle.

Benjamin Franklin was the fifth in a series of the youngest son of the youngest son.

Triskaidekaphobia means fear of the number 13.

Paraskevidekatriaphobia means fear of Friday the 13th, which occurs one to three times a year.

In Italy, 17 is considered an unlucky number. In Japan, 4 is considered an unlucky number.
For Jewish people like myself the number 13 is actually a lucky number.

A Torch for Silverado featuring Susan Watkins aka Susie-Ann Watkins(an ex Page 3 girl) and Jenny Jay(who played a Page 3 girl for School programme in the 80's) and the late Jon Pertwee.