Pangram-azing

"The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" is a pangram or a phrase that contains all of the letters of the English alphabe). It has been used to test typewriters and computer keyboards, not to mention handwriting back when we did that sort of thing.

Due to its shortness and coherence, it has become widely known and is often used in visual arts.

See:

But Arbor Day is in the Fall...

The first Arbor Day took place on April 10, 1872 in Nebraska. It was the brainchild of Julius Sterling Morton (1832-1902), a Nebraska journalist and politician originally from Michigan.

Today all 50 states celebrate Arbor Day although the dates may vary in keeping with the local climate. At the federal level, in 1970, President Richard Nixon proclaimed the last Friday in April as National Arbor Day. Arbor Day is also now celebrated in other countries including Australia.

To see a list of when all 50 states celebrate the day, visit Arbor-Day.net

For example, Florida celebrates on the third Friday in January and Hawaii on the first Friday in November.

Question of the Week

(Kids Know) What is the name of Kermit the Frog's nephew?

Why Are Aspirin Bottles So Hard To Open?

Medications come in an array of shapes and sizes. This variety helps visually impaired folks distinguish one prescription from another, and also aids caregivers who regularly administer handfuls of the same pills to patients. However, that same rainbow of colors is also a tantalizing temptation to toddlers, and emergency rooms of the 1950s and 60s had a steady influx of tiny patients who thought they were eating candy.

Any parent knows that no matter how high out of reach you store medications, any child with even the most limited mobility can some how manage to find whatever you least want them to. Canadian pediatrician Henri Breault experimented with several types of child-resistant caps and in 1967 he patented what he felt was the best design, the “palm and turn.” The province of Ontario was the first to adapt the new cap on all medications, and just one year later pediatric poisoning cases had dropped an amazing 91 percent. The Poison Prevention Packaging Act was adopted in the United States in 1970, and took effect in 1972; the first aspirin bottles with the new caps debuted in August that year.

Thanks to MentalFloss

Question of the Week

(Food and Drink) What salad dressing does the 'special sauce' on a Big Mac most closely resemble?

Is Congress Surprised By Anything?

The sotomayority (344 points)
Tony romo's best play yet (339)
Is congress really surpised that cheney had a hit squad? (335)
Vitameatavegimite (323)
Winning While We Work (322)
I'm manny acta, would you like frieds with that?
Can I et a bottle of champagne pigmy style?
Slagathor
Rocy bottom and the half brewed pint
Magical muggles
Greg
Kamils coming out party
1711
Where are my friends?
I pooped in your cheerios
Hey Hermione want to see my magic trick...
Mj suffered a heart attack when he found boyz to men was a boy band and not a Delivery service

Question of the Week

(Disney) What cartoon character, considered by Disney to be among their five most popular, is the only one of the five who doesn’t wear human clothes?

Insert Inappropriate News Based Statement

She quit to make nalin palin II (348)
Buy 2 dead celebrities get 1 free billy mays (334)
The barbary beardmen (324)
Team name (310)
That is such a samantha thing to say (292)
Ginger - vitis
Department of redundancy department
Sarah palin for president…of Honduras
Finding Nemo's G-Spot
Spokies
She left to be mayor of bonecity
Celebrities die in sevens
I can see political obscurity from my house
Pashleaders
Steve mcnair needed that like he needed a hole in his head...
Slagathor
Wacky waving inflatale arm flailing tube man
Monkey pole
Palin sanford 2012

Question of the Week

(Question of the Week) What record company was formed in 1962 by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss?

Happy 4th - GI Joe

In 1963, noting the commercial success of the Barbie doll for girls, Stan Weston, a toy creator and licensing agent, came up with the idea of a line of Barbie-sized dolls with a military theme that would be marketed to boys.

Weston presented his idea to Don Levine, the creative director of toy manufacturer Hasbro, who saw the potential of the idea and approved development.

The prototypes were originally named "Rocky" (army soldier), "Skip" (the sailor), and "Ace" (the pilot), before Don Levine, inspired by the popular 1945 film The Story of G.I. Joe, decided on the generic name "G.I. Joe."

GI Joe was launched on February 2, 1964, with a World War II theme (although some of the clothes and other items were actually of Korean-war vintage). The G.I. Joe figures were approximately the same physical scale as Barbie dolls — 12 inches, or 305 mm, tall.

Highlights
* In 1965, a black G.I. Joe figure was introduced in select markets.
* In 1966, soldiers from other countries (France, Germany and the UK) joined the G.I. Joe line up. A Project Mercury-like space capsule and silver-suited astronaut figure was also added to the series.
* In 1967, Talking figures were introduced.
* The first female G.I. Joe, the Action Nurse, was produced in 1967. It was a commercial failure, and another 12" female would not be released for 30 years.

More at Wikipedia.