Chop Suey is an authentic Chinese-American dish. It was created either by a dishwasher in San Francisco around 1860 or by Chinese restaurant owners in Brooklyn in the early 1900s. As befits its origin, chop is an English word; suey is derived from the Chinese sui, meaning “bits.”
Never a political slogan, it was created as a typewriter exercise in 1867 by Charles E. Willer, a Milwaukee court reporter. The sentence was designed to use most of the keys on the typewriter, which had recently been invented by Willer’s friend Christopher Latham Sholes.
A moderate dose, such as that in a cup of coffee or in a soft drink, is not harmful unless you are allergic to caffeine or suffer from certain conditions, such as a peptic ulcer. However, large doses can be lethal. Ten grams, or 100 cups of coffee over four hours, can kill the average…
Booker T. Washington was born Booker Taliaferro. He adopted the name “Washington” during his school years. His works include the autobiography Up from Slavery (1901).
In 1696 a Jesuit, Father Pinet, established a mission for Indians called the Mission of the Guardian Angel. It was set along a stream the Indians had named Checagon, a word meaning anything big, strong, or powerful. Since the river at that point was sluggish, it is thought that checagon actually referred to the wild…
The deadliest mushroom in the world is Amanita phalloides, the death cap or death cup. Eating this mushroom, which contains five different poisons, causes diarrhea and vomiting within 6 to 12 hours. This is followed by damage to the liver, kidneys, and central nervous system, and, in the majority of cases, coma and death.
Eight shows of “I Love Lucy” (CBS, 1951-57) centered on Lucy’s pregnancy and childbirth. The first revealed that Lucy was pregnant; the eighth depicted her going to the hospital to have Little Ricky.
Alfred Nobel, who made his fortune in the Baker oil fields of Russia and through the sale of dynamite and other explosives, bequeathed $9.2 million for the prize at his death in 1896. Some say his concern over increasing mankind’s ability to kill one another led him to endow a peace prize. Today, Nobel Prizes…
The reporters’ term refers to delays caused by overly curious drivers, those who crane their “rubber necks” to see a wreck. The phrase first appeared in print in 1896.