TRIVIA Tuesday: True or False?

TRUE!!  Wayne Allwine, the man who voiced Mickey, and Russi Taylor, the woman who voiced Minnie, married in 1991. The pair voiced the iconic mouse duo together starting in the mid-'80s and until Allwine's death in 2009. Taylor continues to lend her vocal talents to Minnie. Allwine once commented that Mickey's eternal optimism rubbed off on him, and that Taylor's love of people and her incredible sweetness make her the perfect Minnie. Sounds like they made a lovely couple (of mice)!

FALSE!! - Actually, his name was Bill. (Hehe.) But, really! Theodore Roosevelt was known for being a great animal lover, and had a fondness for exotic pets, in particular. Apparently, world leaders found out about this predilection and began sending Roosevelt gifts of exotic animals. In 1904, Emperor Menelik II of Ethiopia's contribution to the Roosevelt menagerie was Bill, the hyena. Bill lived in the White House for a time, begging scraps from the dinner table and learning tricks from the president, himself. But eventually Bill was sent off to the National Zoo to live out the rest of his days along with Joe, the lion, and the other less White House-broken pets.

BONUS FUN FACT! Did you know that hyenas are not in the dog OR cat family? They're more closely related to cats, but their closest relatives are meerkats and mongoose and such. And they are a member of the Hyaenidae family, one of the smallest carnivore families out there. Now ya know!

TRUE!!  But don’t worry- it’ll grow again next summer! Every year the Eiffel Tower grows 6 inches during the summer months because high temperatures make iron expand, and then every fall the Tower returns to its normal size. So, currently, the iconic French landmark is in its shrinking stage! Which means, of course, that if you climb the tower in July, you'll stand about 6 inches higher in space than your cousin who climbed it in February. Luckily, Champagne and Brie taste just as delicious at any altitude. 

FALSE!!  Einstein, as you may imagine, was a math prodigy. By his own words in 1935:  “I never failed in mathematics... Before I was fifteen I had mastered differential and integral calculus.” He even came up with his own way to prove the Pythagorean theorem (a fundamental relationship in geometry among the 3 sides of a right triangle) before he was 16. That said, the first time he took the entrance exam for the Federal Polytechnic Academy in Zurich, Switzerland, he flunked the French, botany, and zoology sections. The language arts, in general, would forever challenge him. So, ya know, go easy on your kiddos when they struggle with certain subjects... they might just turn out to be supremely gifted, ground-breaking physicists! 

But how did this myth begin and gain traction? Simple. The rating system at his high school changed. Whereas the highest mark a student could earn had once been 1 and the lowest 6, the school flip-flopped it. So anyone looking up Einstein's high school records would have seen that he received a bunch of 1s, a failing mark in the new grading system, and would have therefore thought that he had failed math. A lesson to all on the importance of historical context when analyzing any information!

In honor of Einstein's proof of the Pythagorean Theorem, here's an afghan that celebrates triangles!

TRUE!!  I know, it's bananas. But before subjecting humans to the unknown perils of flight, French inventors floated a basketful of barnyard animals over the pallace of Versailles. The balloon dropped gently to Earth less than fifteen minutes later, and it was determined that the animals - while perhaps rather perplexed - were unharmed. Included in the 130,000 spectators were none other than the King of France, himself, King Louis XVI, and his wife, Marie Antoinette. Let's just hope they ate cake for dinner that night. (Hehe. ;)

FALSE!! (Thank goodness...) This creepy (crawly) urban legend actually flies (badum bum) in the face of both spider and human biology. Because we breathe and snore and roll over in our sleep and otherwise create vibrations, which are a big part of the spider's sensory universe, a spider would never willingly crawl into bed with us, let along into the hotbed of all those vibrations. Furthermore, scientists are quite sure you'd wake up at the sensation of something crawling into your mouth. I mean, wouldn't YOU? I would! (Heebee jeebees heebee jeebees.) So, you may sleep soundly knowing any spiders in your home will stay happily in their webs while you wake your sleeping companion with your gutteral snarfling. Hehe. ;)

Have a safe and HAPPY HALLOWEEN tomorrow!! 
 

FALSE!! They're actually Japanese! A Japanese manufacturer even tried to introduce them to China at some point, but the Chinese considered them "too American," and the cookies never took off. Moral of the story? Our diverse worldy cultures are supremely intertwined, and even more interesting when we take a moment to ask questions. :) (The more you know... bing bing bong. ;)

FALSE!!  In fact, shaking or waving a Polaroid picture could damage the image because rapid movement during development can cause portions of the film to separate prematurely, creating "blobs" in the picture. Though even if nothing negative happens, nothing productive will happen either since no part of the image actually touches the air. In other words, it'll develop just as quickly if you wave it or just leave it on the table. So next time you find yourself on the business end of a Polaroid camera, give your wrists a break and just enjoy watching the image come to life! :)