Reflections: When it came to pants, Jefferson was also a trendsetter

Well, here it is the last day of November, and while the weather outside isn’t exactly frightful, neither is it exactly climactic paradise, either. Yes, folks, it’s that time again, the time of year that means none of us will get a moment’s rest from now until the end of the year. Yep. It’s Christmas shopping season.

But all is neither doom nor gloom. Not at all. Here at the History Central office, junk mail has already been flooding in, apparently believing the U.S. Postal Service’s dire predictions of postal gridlock come holiday time.

That being so, here are a number of basically useless things I found when I opened all my junk mail each and every day (the mail carrier showed up at the mail box out front):

Thomas Jefferson was the first U.S. president to wear long pants in formal situations. Prior to his administration, presidents had worn knee breeches.

Sage, that indispensable ingredient of good sausage, and known for its sweet odor and flavor, is a relative of the mint family.

Get those clippers out. The fingernails on the hand you favor grow fastest, it says here.

On this day, Nov. 29, 1775, Sir James Jay invented invisible ink.

Think it’s getting hotter? Well, it’s not entirely the fault of global climate change. Turns out the sun was 35 to 50 percent dimmer in its infancy – 4.5 billion years ago – than it is today. So there.

How about this: Out of every million codfish eggs laid, only five hatch. Which is just as well, since we’d certainly be overrun with codfish otherwise.

The now-extinct ancestor of the horse, eohippus, had a short neck and stood no higher than a medium-sized dog.

An ancient remedy for toothache was to eat a mouse. I suppose the taste, if not the texture, made the ache seem minor in comparison.

Sheep will not drink from running water. No, I don’t know why. Perhaps they’re too lazy to catch it. That’s a joke, son.

In the unlikely event you could find a new car for $13,000, do you have any idea how much it would cost to build it buying part by part? Your bill would come to $40,000.

Some ammo for your next Trivial Pursuit game: Macadamia nuts are also known as Australian nuts, bopple nuts, bush nuts and Queensland nuts.

There are more tons of potatoes produced in the world than any other crop, and potatoes furnish one-fourth of the food for the people of Europe.

This month’s “Where did it come from?” quiz: Where did aspirin come from? Aspirin was invented by Felix Hoffmann as a way to relieve his father’s pain. A basic constituent of the pain reliever comes from the spirea plant, which led to the trade name “Aspirin.”

And guess what – the modern ballpoint pen was invented by two Hungarian brothers – George and Ladislao Bíró – who confirmed the advantage of quick-drying ink for use in pens. The first prototype was completed in 1938. The pair fled Hungary during World War II and eventually ended up in Argentina. The new pens were favored by the British Royal Air Force during the war because they were much more useful at high altitudes than fountain pens.

More than 60 places throughout the United States have been named in honor of Christopher Columbus.

In case you are making travel plans, it may be useful to keep in mind that Indonesia has more volcanoes than any other nation in the world.

When he was 3 years old, all Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart could do was play the harpsichord! Heck, Davy Crockett killed a bear when he was only 3.

The highest city in the U.S. is not Denver, the “Mile High City.” It’s Leadville, Colorado, which sits nearly two miles above sea level. Does that make it the “Two-Mile High City”?

I hope you never got into a game of eight-ball with this guy: In 1954, immortal pool player Willie Mosconi set a world record in pocket billiards by running off 526 balls in a row.

The sitatunga, an African antelope, has the rare ability to sleep under water. And no, I have no idea why an antelope would want to sleep under water.

The skin of an average adult man covers an area of about 20 square feet, and that of an average woman about 17.5 square feet. How many square feet do you suppose William “The Refrigerator” Perry’s skin covered?

By the way, holiday revelers, the traditional Christmas Eve dish in Italy is eel.

The next time you weigh your diamond collection, please keep in mind there are 142 carats to the ounce.

The largest metropolitan area in the world is the New York metro area, which covers 3,352 square miles. That’s more than 10 times the area of Kendall County. The next largest in the U.S. is Chicago, which covers 2,122 square miles.

One last time: Big Ben is not the name of the famous clock tower in London. Instead, it’s the name of the 13-ton bell that strikes the hour, named after Sir Benjamin Hall, commissioner of public works when the clock was installed.

The only American author to win the Pulitzer Prize four times was poet Robert Frost.

Until the 19th century, nine out of 10 persons in the U.S. spent all their working lives either producing or marketing food.

Idaho is the only state in the U.S. over which no foreign flag has ever flown.

Speaking of which, 10 flags have flown over Louisiana during various eras of its history.

Says here a group of ducks is known as a paddling.

India ink isn’t from India. It’s from China.

Which two cities preceded Washington, D.C., as the nation’s capital? New York and Philadelphia.

Finally, today’s bit of music trivia: Lauren Bacall’s singing voice in the 1945 movie “To Have and Have Not” was dubbed in by 14-year-old Andy Williams, I kid you not.

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