Walt Disney Strange Facts & Trivia

Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after Mickey Rooney, whose mother he dated for some time

Anthea Turner, Walt Disney, Tom Cruise, Susan Hampshire, Whoopi Goldberg, Thomas Edison, Henry Winkler, Cher, Brian Conley, and Leonardo DaVinci are, or were, dyslexic

He admitted to being "scared to death" when he had to face the camera to introduce episodes of the "Disneyland" television series

At the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, Walt Disney was head of the committee that organized the opening day ceremonies

Walt Disney had originally suggested using the name Mortimer Mouse instead of Mickey Mouse

A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

Stanford University engineers Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started their company in a Palo Alto garage with $1,538. Their first product was an audio oscillator bought by Walt Disney studios for use in the movie Fantasia

In 1933, Kenz Masaoka produced "Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka," which was the first piece of anime to use synchronized sound, following Walt Disney's talkie "Steamboat Willie" by 4 years

Walt Disney holds the record for the most Oscar nominations with sixty-four

An interesting fact about Walt Disney is that he was honored by having his picture on a six-cent United States commemorative postage stamp that was issued September 11, 1968

Facts About America People Living & Trivia

If you're an American, the odds are 1 out of 40 (2.46%) that you're currently in the U.S. criminal justice system (incarcerated, on parole, or on probation

The odds are 1 out of 3 (33%) that (if you have a baby this year in America) it will be delivered by Caesarean Section

The odds are 73 out of 100 (73%) that you (as an American) favor the elimination of all nuclear weapons in the world

The odds are 1 out of 4,800 (.021%) that if you're a pregnant American woman, you will die in childbirth

The odds are 1 out of 25 (4%) that you (as an American adult) have never had sex

The odds are almost 2 out of 3 (63%) that you're rather be poor and thin than rich and fat (if you're an American woman)

The odds are 1 out of 5,898 (.01695%) that an American got sick or died in 2000-2004 from something they ate

The odds are 1 out of 32 (3.125%) that a person in America is currently being punished for a crime (behind bars, on probation, or on parole

The odds are 1 out of 825 (.1212%) that an American lives in a household that earns more than $2 million each year

Income Tax Information Facts & Trivia

The idea of making people pay to use public toilets was introduced by the Roman emperor Vespasian, who instituted a ‘urine tax’ on public conveniences as a way of raising funds following a civil war

47% of all U.S. households owed no federal income tax in 2009

The state of Washington is one of only seven states that does not levy a personal income tax

The US Supreme Court once ruled federal income tax unconstitutional

Federal income tax was first imposed during the civil war as a temporary revenue-raising measure

The odds are 1 out of 14 (7.3%) that you contributed the $3 on your 2006 tax return to help finance presidential campaigns

A Russian man who wore a beard during the time of Peter the Great had to pay a special tax

The average American pays more in taxes than for food, clothing and shelter put together

The IRS employees tax manual has instructions for collecting taxes after a nuclear war

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, there was a tax put on men's beards

Cars Facts And Interesting Trivia

History of Cars

The automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place worldwide. It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile

The automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place worldwide. It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile

In 1771, Cugnot drove one of his road vehicles into a stone wall, making Cugnot the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident. This was the beginning of bad luck for the inventor.

Old Engraving depicting the 1771 crash of Nicolas Joseph Cugnot's steam-powered car into a stone wall

Other Facts And Trivia

On April 4, 1974, John Massis of Belgium pulled two New York Long Island railroad passenger cars totaling 80 tons with a thick rope, with a small bit attached, using only his teeth

An average of 168 Americans die per year when their cars collide with deer

On average, fifty-one cars a year overshoot and drive into the canals of Amsterdam

On average, Americans spend five times more of their time in their cars than they do on vacation

Ferdinand Porsche, who later went on to build sports cars bearing his own name, designed the original 1936 Volkswagen

Facts About Lítla Dímun Island Faroes Sheep And Trivia

Lítla Dímun is a small island between the islands of Suðuroy and Stóra Dímun in the Faroe Islands.

It is the smallest of the main 18 islands, being less than 100 hectares (250 acres) in area, and is the only uninhabited one. The island can be seen from the villages Hvalba and Sandvík.

The southern third of the island is sheer cliff, with the rest rising to the mountain of Slættirnir, which reaches 414 metres (1,358 ft). The island is only inhabited by feral sheep and seabirds

The name means "Little Dímun", in contrast to Stóra Dímun, "Great Dímun.

The island has never been inhabited by humans, but sheep were kept there from ancient times, being mentioned in the 13th century work Færeyinga Saga (Saga of the Faroese).

The saga also features the island as the site of a battle between Brestur, father of Sigmundur and Gøtuskeggjar.

The battle resulted in the death of Sigmund's father and his men and the deportation of Sigmund to Norway, where he befriended Olaf Trygvasson.

n 1918 The Danish schooner Caspe, carrying a cargo of salt, was driven onto Lítla Dímun by a gale. The six crew were able to reach a narrow ledge just above the surf, but they had no stores, and the captain was severely injured.

Eventually they managed to move from the ledge, and found a cabin half-way up the island which had matches, fuel and a lamp.

They caught two sheep and a sick bird, and were able to survive for seventeen days before being discovered and rescued by a fishing boat. One of the shipwrecked sailors settled in the Faroes.

Facts About Faroes Sheep

The sheep now living on the island are Faroes sheep, but until the mid-nineteenth century it was occupied by feral sheep, probably derived from the earliest sheep brought to Northern Europe in the Neolithic Period. The last of these very small, black, short-wooled sheep were shot in the 1860s. They were similar in appearance and origin to the surviving Soay sheep, from the island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland.

The modern Faroes sheep of the island are gathered each autumn. People sail to the island in a fishing boat, towing several rowing skiffs. About 40 people then form a chain across the island, driving the 200 or so sheep into a pen on the north side of the island. The sheep are then caught, restrained by tying their feet together, put in nets five at a time and lowered by ropes to the skiffs. Each skiff then takes its load of 15 sheep to the fishing boat, which returns to the island of Suðuroy. The sheep are unloaded on the wharf in the village of Hvalba, where they are placed in rows and distributed to their owners. A few sheep escape the gathering, and from time to time these are shot.

Facts About Steve Jobs Apple Co-founder And Trivia

Steve Jobs (1955-2011) is the CEO of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976.

On November 27, 2007, Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by Fortune Magazine.

Apple Inc. co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs will be taking a medical leave until the end of June - just a week after the cancer survivor tried to assure investors and employees his recent weight loss was caused by an easily treatable hormone deficiency.

He is considered a leading figure in both the computer and entertainment industries.

Steve Jobs announced on January 5, 2009 that his rapid weight loss was due to a "hormone imbalance that has been 'robbing' [him] of the proteins [his] body needs to be healthy."

Steve Jobs worked for Atari, Inc., a leading corporation in the electronic arcade recreation, as a video game designer in 1974.

He was portrayed by Noah Wyle in Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999).

Steve was born to John Jandali and Joanne Carole Schieble. A week after he was born, his parents put him up for adoption.

Steve and his wife are both strict vegans, eating no animal products whatsoever.

Steve attended Reed College, but dropped out after the first semester.

Steve married Laurene Powell on March 18, 1991. They have 3 children together.

Steve graduated from Homestead High School in 1972.

Some Steve Jobs Quotes

Steve Jobs: I've always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.

Steve Jobs: It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

Steve Jobs: Unfortunately, people are not rebelling against Microsoft. They don't know any better.

Steve Jobs: Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Steve Jobs: (talking about future developments) Well, you know us. We never talk about future products. There used to be a saying at Apple: Isn't it funny? A ship that leaks from the top. So, I don't wanna perpetuate that. So I really can't say.

Steve Jobs: If we give people an alternative to Microsoft, it will have been a greater good.

Steve Jobs: (what the CEO does) I don't know. Head janitor?

Steve Jobs: (talking about the assassination of John Kennedy) I remember John Kennedy being assassinated. I remember the exact moment that I heard he had been shot.

Steve Jobs: (talking about the documentary, Triumph of Nerds) What can I say? I hired the wrong guy. He destroyed everything I spent 10 years working for; starting with me, but that wasn't the saddest part. I would have gladly left Apple if Apple would have turned out like I wanted it to.

Martha Graham's 117 Birthday And Facts - strangefacts

• Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 - April 1, 1991), an American dancer and choreographer, known as one of the foremost pioneers of modern dance

• Martha Graham is to modern dance as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is to the modern art school of cubism Indeed, for many dance connoisseurs, Martha Graham is synonymous with modern dance

• She developed innovations in structure, style, technique, costuming, and in the training of choreographers and dancers that defined the movement

• She rejected the traditional view of women dancers as beautiful, lithe, and graceful, and instead she viewed female dancers as powerful and intense

• Her colleagues have described her long career as an American archetype, because with only a few exceptions, only Graham herself—or her company—ever performed her compositions, making Graham one of the most individualistic dance artists of the 20th century

• Born on May 11, 1894, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and raised in Santa Barbara, California, Graham began her formal training at Denishawn School of Dance, a Los Angeles academy started by the dancer Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) and her partner Ted Shawn (1891-1972)

• In 1923, Graham left Los Angeles to join the Greenwich Village Follies in New York, specializing in exotic Spanish and Indian dances

• She taught dance for two years at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, all the while preparing herself for her debut as a soloist in 1926

• Martha Graham gave birth to modern dance, in the sense that she changed people’s minds about what dancers—especially female dancers—could do

• Whereas traditionally, female dancers had been used by choreographers to symbolize beauty and decoration, Graham de-sentimentalized the female body by emphasizing its power, intensity, and, in her fall sequences, its recovery from defeat