• Alphonse Bertillon was born in France in 1853. His father was a noted physician and statistician who taught him methodology. • As a young adult, he went to work as a records clerk in the police department in Paris. One of his duties was to tediously copy down the physical descriptions of everyone who […]
Come along with Tidbits as we admire the intelligence of trees! A DISCOVERY • In 1630 a physician named Jean Baptista van Helmont went against the word of Aristotle, who insisted that trees grow by consuming soil. To prove this theory wrong, he planted a 5-lb. willow sapling in a pot containing exactly 200 lbs. […]
Planning a piñata for your next birthday? Tidbits presents the origins and meaning of this entertaining party activity. • Although we usually associate piñatas with Mexico, it’s likely they originated in China, where they were part of the Chinese New Year celebrations. Those piñatas were shaped like cows, oxen, or buffalo, covered with colored paper, […]
“Cleopatra,” 1963’s highest-grossing film, was also one of the most expensive movies ever made. Tidbits has the facts and figures on the film that chronicles the life of this legendary queen. • The movie is the story of Queen Cleopatra VII of Egypt, born to Pharaoh Ptolemy XII around 69 BC. Upon her father’s death, […]
“Every cloud has a silver lining” goes the old saying. This week, Tidbits digs deep for the facts on this shiny metal. • We get the word silver from the old Anglo-Saxon word seolfor. Silver’s atomic number on the periodic table is 47, which denotes the number of protons found in the nucleus of its […]
• “ National Lampoon’s Animal House” is a comedy about a misfit group of fraternity members who challenge the authority of the dean of Faber College. Directed by John Landis and starring John Belushi, it was a surprise hit when it was released in 1978. • The movie was set to be filmed at the […]
Memorable Movie • Dashiell Hammett wrote a very popular story called “The Maltese Falcon” in 1930, which was made into several films. But the Warner Bros. version produced in 1941 starring Humphrey Bogart and directed by John Huston was the one that everyone remembers. The plot follows a San Francisco private detective and his dealings […]
• During World War II, Oskar Schindler saved over 1,000 Jews by employing them in his factories and shielding them from the Nazis. One of the Jews he saved was a man named Leopold Page. When the war ended, Page moved to Beverly Hills and set up a shop on Rodeo Drive selling leather goods. […]
• H.L. Mencken gathered over 40 stories concerning the origin of the cocktail. The one thing that is certain about the cocktail is that the word first appeared in print in 1806. • The story goes a widow owned a tavern around 1779 in New York. There she entertained rebel soldiers. They often complained about […]
IT’S PARADE TIME! by Kathy Wolfe Everybody loves a parade! In conjunction with the New Year’s Day parades, Tidbits marches along several parade routes, bringing you the info on these processions. • Ticker-tape parades are a well-known occurrence in New York City. The first such event took place in 1886 and honored the dedication of […]
