DID YOU KNOW …? Was the execution of a British villain botched, but gone through with anyway?

May day!  May day!

No, I’m not signaling distress. I’m simply noting that this week we move on to the fifth month of the year, and the first day is – you guessed it – May day.

Later in the month we get Cinco de Mayo (5th), Mother’s Day (10th), and Memorial Day (25th). Busy month, eh?

Of course, every week there’s this silly trivia column thing that you find in the newspaper, so if the upcoming holiday events aren’t exactly causing you to have tingles of excitement, perhaps the trivia will. I kind of hope so, anyway.

Enjoy!

Did you know …

… the star of a classic monster movie had to be lied to in order for her to accept the role? While pre-production of 1933’s iconic King Kong was underway, director Merian Cooper (1893-1973) convinced actress Fay Wray (1907-2004) to star in the film by promising her “the tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood.” Wray was convinced she’d be paired with someone like Cary Grant (1904-1986) but when she arrived on the set, Cooper pointed to the giant ape and said it was the “tallest, darkest leading man in Hollywood.” (Well, he wasn’t exactly wrong, you know.)

… a popular children’s literature character debuted under a different name in the United Kingdom? When the first book in the Curious George series by H.A. Rey (1898-1977) came out in the U.K. in 1941, the mischievous monkey was renamed Zozo. Why? Because it was felt there was a level of disrespect with the monkey sharing the name of the country’s King, George VI (1895-1952). (I doubt His Majesty really would have minded.)

… the Viking Age lasted a bit over 275 years? Historians say the Viking Age – the period of time during which Scandinavian seafarers roamed the coastlines of Europe, plundering and conquering – began about 790 AD. It came to an end in 1066, when William I (1028-1087), Duke of Normandy, was crowned King of England. (I’m not sure why a French nobleman taking over England ended the Viking age, but there you are.)

… a liquid exists which can be breathed? Called perflourohexane, animals submerged in the liquid are able to survive without drowning. The liquid has sufficient oxygen in it for respiration to continue, but research is still going on concerning its use with humans beyond temporary “partial liquid ventilation.” The liquid is used to treat burn victims, whose lungs can be filled with perflourohexane while burned lung tissue heals. Pulmonary edema has been shown to be suppressed by the liquid, scientists say. (I think I saw that in a movie.)

… one of England’s most celebrated bad men had his execution botched – but they went ahead with it anyway? Guy Fawkes (1570-1606) was sentenced to death for his role in the Gunpowder Plot, an attempt to blow up Parliament and assassinate King James I (1566-1625). Fawkes was, in fact, sentenced to be hung, drawn, and quartered – a particularly painful and messy way to die. But Fawkes got the last word, escaping from the guards and jumping from the gallows. He managed to break his neck on landing, but the executioners decided to do their jobs anyway. They couldn’t do the hanging, of course, but they did do the drawing and quartering, cutting Fawkes’ corpse into four pieces and sending them to the four corners of the kingdom as a warning not to do stuff like he did. (I guess it worked – it hasn’t happened since.)

… alcohol was available by prescription during Prohibition? During the period from 1920-1933, the manufacture, sale or consumption of alcohol was forbidden under the terms of the Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. But the U.S. Department of the Treasury authorized physicians to write prescriptions for “medicinal” alcohol. While Prohibition was the law of the land, doctors would advise their patients to take doses of booze to stave off a number of ailments, including cancer, indigestion, and depression. (Clever. Very, very clever.)

… a woman once claimed that her chicken laid eggs prophesying the end of the world? In 1806, Mary Bateman (1768-1809) of Yorkshire, England, who was a con artist of the first order, said her chicken laid eggs with words written on them telling of the coming apocalypse. She charged people a penny to see the three eggs, but when the hen was taken away, no more message-laden eggs were laid. Turns out the hen laid normal eggs, Bateman would write the messages on the shells, and then stuff them back into the bird to be laid once again. Bateman would meet her end after being convicted of poisoning several people and being hanged. (Ugh.)

… a Major League Baseball pitcher has a record that may never be broken? Jon Garland (born 1979) was pitching for the Arizona Diamondbacks in 2009 when, on August 29, he defeated the Los Angeles Dodgers in L.A. During that series, the Diamondbacks traded Garland to the Dodgers, and he was notified of the trade during a game. On September 3, the Dodgers started Garland against the Diamondbacks, and he pitched a win against his old teammates. Garland is thus the only pitcher in MLB history to win a game for one team and then win one for the team he defeated in the same week. (Sandy Koufax, eat your heart out.)

… poison oak is not oak? Nor is poison ivy a form of ivy. Both are members of the cashew family. (I’ll stick to just plain cashews, if you don’t mind.)

Now … you know!