Strange But True Facts About Christopher Columbus

1. Born in Genoa, Italy, his real name was  Cristoforo Colombo.

2.  Christopher Columbus thought Asia was 2,400 miles west. In fact, 10,000 nautical miles lay between Europe and Asia.  He was actually trying to find a passage to Japan.

3. Most European rulers thought Columbus was nuts.  It took him 6 years to convince Spain's Queen Isabella to finance his exploration.  His asking price IF he reached the Indies was a title, a coat or arms and 1/10 of all profits for Spain. Spain agreed to the small percentage of profit because they never expected him to return alive.

4. Since most thought the Earth was flat, it was hard to Columbus to find a crew.  In fact, Spain offered to pardon any criminal who would agree to go on the voyage. Four took the offer and signed on with Columbus.

5. Columbus' voyage with the 3 ships, Nina, Pinta and the Santa Maria began on August 3, 1492. On October 12, 1492  they discovered land.

6. Instead of The Indies, Columbus actually discovered the island of San Salvador, 375 miles off of the coast of Florida.

7. Columbus made 3 voyages to "The New World" but never actually set foot on the mainland of North America.  On his 4th voyage, his ship rotted out under him and he was stranded in Jamaica for a year.

8. In exchange for his discovery, Spain made Columbus the Governor of Santa Domingo, but he was such a bad Governor, they later had him arrested and brought back to Spain in chains.

9. Following Columbus' discovery, because of capturing slaves and European diseases (small pox). Hispaniola's population went from 600,000 down to about 500.

10. He didn't find any gold, but one thing Columbus brought back to Europe following his first voyage was syphilis, which over time killed as many as 5 million Europeans.

11. To his dying day, Columbus continued to insist he had NOT discovered a New World, but instead had discovered the passage to Asia.  He stuck to his story, even as evidence mounted otherwise, and he became known as a crackpot.

12. Actually, the first European to discover North America was Norse Viking Leif Eriksson, who landed in Newfoundland, almost 500 years BEFORE Columbus' voyage.

Kinda makes you wonder why we celebrate Columbus Day!

Strange But True Facts!

Check out these strange but true facts!  Some are just fun, though!

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Facts About Tennessee

1. Andrew Johnson held every elective office at the local, state, and federal level, including President of the United States. He was elected alderman, mayor, state representative, and state senator from Greeneville. He served as governor and military governor of Tennessee and United States congressman, senator, and vice president, becoming President of the United States following the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.
2. Rockabilly music legend Carl Perkins was born in Lake County and his last home was in Jackson, which is the home of the International Rockabilly Hall of Fame.
3. R&B Superstar Tina Turner was born in Nutbush, in rural Haywood County.  Her original name was Anna Mae Bullock.
4. Iroquois, bred at Nashville's Belle Meade Plantation, was the first American winner of the English Derby in 1881. Such modern thoroughbreds as Secretariat trace their bloodlines to Iroquois.
5. Tennessee became known as The Volunteer State during the War of 1812 when volunteer soldiers from Tennessee displayed marked valor in the Battle of New Orleans.
6. Trenton, Tennessee is home to one of the world's largest collections of antique teapots! 
7. Copper Basin is so different from the surrounding area it has been seen and is recognizable by American astronauts. The stark landscape was caused by 19th-century mining practices.
8. There were more National Guard soldiers deployed from Tennessee for the Gulf War effort than any other state.
9. Shelby County has more horses per captia than any other county in the United States.
10. Greeneville has the only monument in the United States honoring both the Union and Confederate armies. It is located on the lawn of the Green County Courthouse.
11. Murfreesboro lies in the exact geographical center of the state.
12. Grinders Switch, Grand Ole Opry Legend Minnie Pearl's fictitious hometown, is now an entertainment complex in her real hometown of Centerville.
13. Hattie Caraway (1878-1950) born in Bakersville became the first woman United States Senator.
14. Davy Crockett was not born on a mountaintop in Tennessee, as the song says. He was born near Greeneville, where a replica of the Crockett's log cabin stands today. Crockett's last home in Tennessee is a museum, in Rutherford, in West Tennessee.
15. The Tennessee Aquarium is the largest facility of its kind to focus on fresh water habitat. It features 7,000 animals and 300 species of fish, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and mammals.
16. The largest earthquake in American history, the New Madrid Earthquake occurred in 1811-12 in northwestern Tennessee. Reelfoot Lake located in Obion and Lake Counties was formed during this earthquake.
17. Called the "Turtle Capital of the World," Reelfoot Lake also features thousands of sliders, stinkpots, mud and map turtles.
18. Nashville's Grand Ole Opry is the longest continuously running live radio program in the world. It has broadcast every Friday and Saturday night since 1925.
19. The legendary railroad engineer Casey Jones, who was killed when his train crashed on April 30, 1900, lived in Jackson.
20. Oak Ridge was very important in the development of the atomic bomb in World War II. It is known as the Energy Capital of the World.
21. Tennessee has more than 3,800 documented caves.
22. Roots Author Alex Haley's boyhood home in Henning is the first state-owned historic site devoted to African Americans in Tennessee.
23. Bristol is known as the Birthplace of Country Music.
24. Great Smoky Mountains National Park is the most visited national park in the United States. The park was named for the smoke-like bluish haze that often envelops the mountains.
25. Elvis Presley's home, Graceland is located in Memphis. Graceland is the second most visited house in the country, behind only The White House.
26. Tennessee was the last state to secede from the Union during the Civil War and the first state to be readmitted after the war.
27. The nation's oldest African-American architectural firm, McKissack and McKissack, is located in Nashville.
28. The nation's oldest African-American financial institution, Citizens Savings Bank and Trust Company, is located in Nashville.
29. Robert R. Church, Sr. of Memphis is purported to be the South's first African-American millionaire.
30. The National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis is housed in the Lorraine Motel where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assasinated in 1968. The museum preserves the motel and tells the history of the American Civil Rights Movement.
31. A replica of The Parthenon, the famous ancient Greek building in Athens, Greece, stands in Nashville's Centennial Park.
32. The  Lost Sea in Sweetwater is the largest underground lake in the United States.
33. The Watauga Association at Sycamore Shoals near Elizabethton drafted the first constitution ever written by white men in America in 1772. It was patterned after the constitution of the Iroquois League of Nations, a federal system of government developed 200 years earlier for five eastern Native American tribes.
34. Gary Cooper won the Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Tennessee war hero Alvin York in the 1941 hit movie, Sergeant York. World War I hero Sgt. Alvin C. York was born in Pall Mall.
35. When Tennessee became a state in 1796, the total population was 77,000.
36. The capitol building in Nashville was designed by noted architect William Strickland, who died during its construction and is buried within its walls.
37. Tennessee ranks first among states in the total number of soldiers who fought in the Civil War.
38. Tennesseeans are sometimes referred to as Butternuts, a tag which was first applied to Tennessee soldiers during the Civil War because of the tan color of their uniforms.
39. The Ocoee River in southeastern Tennessee is rated among the top white water recreational rivers in the nation and was the site for the Olympic white water canoe/kayak competition in the 1996 Olympics.
40. The name "Tennessee" originated from the old Yuchi Indian word, "Tana-see," meaning "The Meeting Place."
41. Jubilee Singers of Fisk University in Nashville introduced to the world the plaintive beauty and tradition of the Negro spiritual, which became the basis for other genres of African-American music. It was because of their successful tours to raise funds for the university during the 1870s that Nashville first became known for its music.
42. Tennessee is bordered by 8 states.
43. Dolly Parton is a native of Sevierville. 
44. Cumberland University, located in Lebanon, lost a football game to Georgia Tech on October 7, 1916 by a score of 222 to 0. The Georgia Tech coach was George Heisman for whom the Heisman Trophy is named.
45. Cotton made Memphis a major port on the Mississippi River. The Memphis Cotton Exchange still handles approximately one-third of the entire American cotton crop each year.  
46. Adams, Tennessee is home to one of the famous hauntings in the nation, The Bell Witch! 

The Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois

Metropolis, Illinois is a small town in southernmost Illinois on the Ohio River. It's claim to fame is it's the home of Superman! Remember? Metropolis is the home of the legendary super hero.  There is a huge statue of Superman, and even a Superman Museum! Each year, Metropolis host the Superman Celebration and draws super hero enthusiasts from around the county...some even dress for the occasion!

Photo: Michelle Wilson

Photo: Michelle Wilson

Evidently the hashtag #msc2013 was used by someone else at another event....but you gotta admit, they look "Super."

Yes, there is a Superdog contest...

Did I mention there was a Superdog contest?

This is my favorite Superman....

Photo: Michelle Wilson

The Superman Statue on the court square of Metropolis!

Facts About Kentucky

1. The town of Murray used to be home to the Boy Scouts of America Scouting Museum located on the campus of Murray State University. The museum closed in 2001 and relocated next door to the National Boy Scout Headquarters in Irving, Texas in 2002.
2. The Kentucky Derby is the oldest continuously held horse race in the country. It is held at Churchill Downs in Louisville on the first Saturday in May.
3. The Bluegrass Country around Lexington is home to some of the world's finest racehorses.
4. Kentucky was a popular hunting ground for the Shawnee and Cherokee Indian nations prior to being settled by white settlers.
5. In 1774 Harrodstown (now Harrodsburg) was established as the first permanent settlement in the Kentucky region. It was named after James Harrod who led a team of area surveyors.
6. The old official state tree was the Kentucky coffee tree (Gymnocladus dioicus.) The tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera) is the current official state tree. The change was made in 1976.
7. Cheeseburgers were first served in 1934 at Kaelin's restaurant in Louisville.
8. Chevrolet Corvettes are manufactured in Bowling Green.
9. Mammoth Cave is the world's longest cave and was first promoted in 1816, making it the second oldest tourist attraction in the United States. Niagara Falls, New York is first.
10. Begun in 1819 the first commercial oil well was on the Cumberland River in McCreary County.
11. The first Miss Kentucky to win Miss America is Heather Renee French. She was crowned September 18, 1999. The first Kentucky native to win Miss America was Venus Ramey in 1944, who won in 1944 as Miss District of Columbia.
12. The first Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant owned and operated by Colonel Sanders is located in Corbin.
13. Kentucky is the state where both Abraham Lincoln, President of the Union, and Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy, were born. They were born less than one hundred miles and one year apart.
14. Cumberland is the only waterfall in the United States to regularly display a Moonbow. It is located just southwest of Corbin.
15. Fleming County is recognized as the Covered Bridge Capital of Kentucky.
16. Shelby County is recognized as the Saddlebred Capital of Kentucky.
17. The town of Corbin was the birthplace of old time movie star Arthur Lake whose real surname was Silverlake: He played the role of Dagwood in the "Blondie" films of the 1930s and ‘40s. Lake's parents were trapeze artists billed as The Flying Silverlakes.
18. Christian County is wet while for many years, Bourbon County was dry. Bourbon County has since gone "wet." Barren County has the most fertile land in the state.
19. Thunder Over Louisville is the opening ceremony for the Kentucky Derby Festival and is the world's largest fireworks display.
20. More than 100 native Kentuckians have been elected governors of other states.
21. In 1888, "Honest Dick" Tate the state treasurer embezzled $247,000 and fled the state.
22. The song "Happy Birthday to You" was the creation of two Louisville sisters in 1893.
23. Teacher Mary S. Wilson held the first observance of Mother's Day in Henderson in 1887. It was made a national holiday in 1916.
24. The great Man o' War won all of his horse races except one which he lost to a horse named Upset.
25. The first town in the United States to be named for the first president was Washington. It was named in 1780.
26. Pikeville annually leads the nation in per capita consumption of Pepsi-Cola.
27. The first American performance of a Beethoven symphony was in Lexington in 1817.
28. Post-It Notes are manufactured exclusively in Cynthiana. The exact number made annually of these popular notes is a trade secret.
29. Kentucky was the 15th state to join the Union and the first on the western frontier.
30. Bluegrass is not really blue--its green--but in the spring bluegrass produces bluish purple buds that when seen in large fields give a blue cast to the grass. Today Kentucky is known as the Bluegrass State.
31. There is a legend that the inspiration for Stephen Foster's hymn like song "My Old Kentucky Home" was written in 1852 after an unverified trip to visit relatives in Kentucky.
32. Daniel Boone and his wife Rebecca are buried in the Frankfort Cemetery. Their son Isaac is buried at Blue Licks Battlefield near Carlisle, where he was killed in the last battle of the Revolutionary War fought in Kentucky.
33. The only monuments south of the Ohio River dedicated to Union Soldiers who died in the Civil War is located in Vanceburg and Morgantown.
34. The public saw an electric light for the first time in Louisville. Thomas Edison introduced his incandescent light bulb to crowds at the Southern Exposition in 1883.
35. The radio was invented by a Kentuckian named Nathan B. Stubblefield of Murray in 1892. It was three years before Marconi made his claim to the invention.
36. The first enamel bathtub was made in Louisville in 1856.
37. In the War of 1812 more than half of all Americans killed in action were Kentuckians.
38. Middlesboro is the only city in the United States built within a meteor crater.
39. Joe Bowen holds the world record for stilt walking endurance. He walked 3,008 miles on stilts between Bowen, Kentucky to Los Angeles, California.
40. The world's largest free-swinging bell known as the World Peace Bell is on permanent display in Newport.
41. High Bridge located near Nicholasville is the highest railroad bridge over navigable water in the United States.
42. Carrie Nation the spokesperson against rum, tobacco, pornography, and corsets was born near Lancaster in Garrard County.
43. The brass plate embedded in the sidewalk at the corner of Limestone and Main Street in downtown Lexington is a memorial marker honoring Smiley Pete. The animal was known as the town dog in Lexington. He died in 1957.
44. Kentucky-born Alben W. Barkley was the oldest United States Vice President when he assumed office in 1949. He was 71 years old.
45. More than $6 billion worth of gold is held in the underground vaults of Fort Knox. This is the largest amount of gold stored anywhere in the world.
46. The Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption in Covington has 82 stained-glass windows including the world's largest hand-blown one. The window measures 24 feet wide by 67 feet high and depicts the Council of Ephesus with 134 life-sized figures.
47. The Lost River Cave and Valley Bowling Green includes a cave with the shortest and deepest underground river in the world. It contains the largest cave opening east of the Mississippi.
48. The swimsuit Mark Spitz wore in the 1972 Olympic games was manufactured in Paris, Kentucky.
49. Frederick Vinson who was born in Louisa is the only Chief Justice of the United States Supreme Court known to be born in jail.
50. Pike County the world's largest producer of coal is famous for the Hatfield-McCoy feud, an Appalachian vendetta that lasted from the Civil War to the 1890s. 
51.  Paducah is home to the National Quilt Museum and is also headquarters for the American Quilters   Society, which host a national quilt show there each spring.

source: Kentucky Secretary of State

Strange But True Facts About The NFL

Don Shula, who coached with the Miami Dolphins and Baltimore Colts, is the NFL's winingest coach, with 347 victories in his career. He was inducted into the Hall of Fame in 1997.

Green Bay holds the record for most NFL championships (12) followed by Chicago (9) and the New York Giants (7).


Sammy Baugh led the NFL in passing more seasons than any other quarterback (6).



Former Dallas and Arizona running back Emmit Smith is the NFL's all time leader rusher with 18.355 yards and had the most seasons of rushing for at least 1,000 yards (11).

ABC's Monday night football premiered in September 1970 with Keith Jackson, Don Meredith, and Howard Cosell.

The record for the most games won in a season, including playoffs is by the New England Patriots (18) in 2007.




The record for the most consecutive regular season games won is by the Miami Dolphins (27) 1971-1974)

Running back Jim Brown led the NFL in rushing more times than any other running back. He led the league in rushing eight times from 1957 to 1965 in his amazing career.

Running back Eric Dickerson holds the record for most yards rushing in a season, 2,105.

Running back Adrian Peterson holds the record for most yards rushing in a single game, 296.

Running back Emmitt Smith holds the record for most career rushing touchdown, 164.

In the NFL the home team is required to provide 24 footballs for each game, although only around 10 are normally used.


Wide Receiver Jerry Rice holds the record for most touchdowns scored (208).  Emmitt Smith is second at 175.

The record for the most touchdowns in a season is held by LaDainian Thomlinson, 31 in 2006.

Soldier Field in Chicago is the oldest stadium still in use in the NFL.

Beattie Feathers was the first player in NFL history who rushed for 1,000 yards in a season. He accomplished this in 1934 with the Chicago Bears.

A football is eleven inches long and the distance around the football is 28 inches and weighs between 14 and 15 ounces.


The longest game in NFL history was a playoff game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Miami Dolphins, on Christmas Day, 1971. The game lasted 82 minutes and 40 seconds with the Dolphins winning 27-24.

In 2001, Kansas City Chiefs running back Priest Holmes became the first undrafted player to lead the NFL in rushing.

Strange But True Facts About Baseball

Baseball was invented by Alexander Cartwright, NOT Abner Doubleday! Cartwright modeled it after the stick and ball game that he played then. The first known club match with rules written by him was played in June 19, 1846.

Each baseball game has 12,386,344 possible plays.

The odds of a fan being hit by a baseball are 300,000 to 1.
 

The shortest major league player was Eddie Gaedel, who was three feet, seven inches tall. His sole appearance in an MLB game was a publicity stunt.

The tallest player in Major League history is Minnesota Twins' pitcher Jon Rauch, who is six feet, eleven inches tall.

Baseball legend states that the silhouette on the MLB logo is Harmon Killebrew, who played for the Washington Senators, the Minnesota Twins and the Kansas City Royals. He was second to Babe Ruth in total homeruns at that time.

A strange rule of this game is that before every game, umpires remove the shine from the balls by rubbing them. The number of balls that they rub before every game is around six dozen. The mud with which the balls are rubbed is also location specific. Ideally, it should only come from a particular area in Burlington County, New Jersey.

Fidel Castro was once a star baseball player for the University of Havana.

In 1965, the minimum annual salary for a baseball player was $6,000, just a thousand dollars more than it had been in 1947.

A regulation baseball has 108 stitches.

The very first baseball game was played on June 19,1845, across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New York.

In baseball, a "can of corn" refers to a fly ball that is easy to catch.

Robert Redford attended the University of Colorado on a baseball scholarship.

In an effort to sell more licensed apparel, minor-league baseball teams were changing their names so often that the sport's governing body now limits franchises to team name changes every three years.

The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in New York, houses the largest collection of baseball cards: 200,000.

The first perfect nine innings baseball game was achieved by John Lee Richmond on 12 June 1880.

Giants baseball catcher Roger Bresnahan introduced shin guards in 1907.

In 1897, the Washington Senators became the first baseball team ever to introduce "Ladies' Day."

The longest baseball game was between the Milwaukee Brewers and the Chicago White Sox and lasted for eight hours and six minutes. Due to MLB rules forbidding an inning to start after 1 o'clock AM, fans had to come back the next day to finish the game.

The average baseball only lasts about a week. Each baseball can only be used one time in a MLB game.

Pitcher Nolan Ryan struck out more players in his career of 27 seasons than any other pitcher.

Manager Alvin Dark of the San Francisco Giants told reporters that NASA would "put a man on the moon before Gaylord Perry hits a home run." When Perry finally hit a home run, it was 20 minutes after Neil Armstrong landed on the moon.

Having been open for nearly 100 years, Fenway Park in Boston is the oldest baseball stadium still in use.

The Louisville Slugger Museum, Kentucky holds the largest baseball bat in the world. This bat weighs 68,000 pounds and measures 120 feet.

The only person credited with umpiring two major sports, football and baseball, is Cal Hubbard.

In 1978, during a match between Texas Rangers and Baltimore Orioles, a fan suffered a heart attack. He was saved by a baseball player, George "Doc" Medich, who was a medical student during off season.

From April 30, 1982 to September 19, 1990, Cal Ripkin, Jr. played 2632 straight games, which means he didn’t miss a game in sixteen years!

Mike Schmidt earned the first $500,000 salary in baseball in 1977.

The 1926 New York Giants hold the record for the longest consecutive winning streak with 26 games in which they beat every National League team.