Strange But True

Saturday, February 13, 2016

Strange But True Facts About Valentine's Day

One theory about the origin of Valentine's Day is Emperor Claudius II didn't want Roman men to marry during wartime. Bishop Valentine went against his wishes and performed secret weddings. For this, Valentine was jailed and executed. While in jail he wrote a note to the jailor's daughter signing it "from your Valentine".

In 1537, King Henry VII officially declared February 14th as Valentine's Day.

In Victorian Days it was considered bad luck to sign a Valentine's Day card.

Around 1 billion Valentine's Day cards are exchanged each year, the second most for a holiday, behind Christmas

For those without a sweetheart, they can celebrate Singles Awareness Day (SAD)

Its estimated about 3% of pet owners give Valentines gifts to their pets.

In Finland, it's called Friend's Day and more about celebrating friendship than sweethearts.

The X in XOXO means kiss. In medieval times, those who could not write their name signed with an X, and then kissed to "seal the deal."

In the middle ages, people drew names to see who would be their Valentine. They would then pin the name on their sleeve for everyone to see. Thus became the saying "wearing your heart on your sleeve."

In the 1800s, doctors prescribed chocolate for people depressed over lost love.

In the late 1800s, Richard Cadbury produced the first box of chocolates for Valentine's Day.

For Valentine's Day, more than $1 billion worth of chocolate is sold.

For Valentine's Day each year, more than 35 million heart shaped boxes of chocolate are sold.

The red rose was the favorite flower of Venus, the Roman Goddess of Love. The color red stands for strong romantic feelings of love.

Of the people who buy flowers for Valentine's Day, 73% are men and only 23% are women.

189 million roses are sold on Valentine's Day each year.

In the US on Valentine's Day, 15% of women send flowers TO THEMSELVES.

50% of all Valentine's Day cards are purchased within 6 days of February 14th.

Who receives the MOST Valentine's Day cards? Teachers, followed by children, children, mothers, wives, sweethearts and then pets.

The average number of wedding proposals on Valentine's Day? 220,000

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Strange But True Facts About Marijuana Growing

1. An estimated 22 million pounds of pot are grown in the US each year, worth an estimated $35 billion dollars.

2. 80% of the pot grown in the US is grown in Kentucky, Tennessee, California, Washington and Hawaii..

3. Nearly 3/4 of the pot confiscated in California in 2013 was grown by trespassers.

4. Nearly half of the marijuanna confiscated nationwide was on public or tribal lands, including national parks.

5. An estimated 1/3 of the US pot grown domestically is grown indoors.

6. In California, it's estimated indoor pot growing uses almost 10% of the state's entire household electrical usage.

7. In Kentucky, it's estimated more than 500 acres of the Daniel Boone National Forest have been adversely impacted by marijuana grows.

8. In 2011, Tennessee's largest outdoor marijuana grow was found in Obion County, in NW Tennessee: around 50,000 covering 11 acres, with a street value of more than $400 million dollars.

9. As a cash crop, Tennessee's marijuana crop is estimated at an annual value of $4.7 billion per year. Kentucky's at $4.4 billion, California's at $13 billion, Hawaii at $3 billion and Washington at more than $1 billion.

10. Marijuana is the top cash crop in California, Tennessee, Kentucky and Hawaii. In Washington, it trails only apples as the top cash crop.

Sources: Mother Jones, Friends of Narcanon, Drug Science

Sunday, March 16, 2014

Strange But True Facts About St. Patrick's Day

1. Scholars say the patron saint's name was actually NOT Patrick, but Maewyn Succat.

2. The first St Patrick's Day parade was in Boston, MA in 1737, not Ireland.

3. The St Patrick's color is actually BLUE not GREEN. It "became" green in the 1800s because of Irish legends the color green was favored by immortals.

4. For St Patrick's Day, rivers in Chicago, and Tampa Bay are dyed green, and Seattle paints green lines down roads.

5. An Irish Tradition on St. Patrick's Day is "drowning the shamrock," by floating a shamrock on top of a whiskey before drinking it.

6. Around the world, one percent of the total beer consumption occurs on St. Patrick's Day, including 13 million pints of Guinness.

7. Each leaf on a four leaf clover represents something: Hope, Faith, Love and Luck.

8. St Patrick's Day is an AMERICAN tradition, but a few decades ago, Ireland began having St Patrick's celebrations, too.

9. Green beer is safe to drink. It gets the color from food coloring.

10. An St Patrick's day tradition is Irish Potato Candies, made with cinnamon, coconut, and cream to cheese pay homage to the devastating Great Hunger from 1845 to 1852 that left more than one million dead.

11. St Patrick died in Ireland on March 17th, but the year is uncertain, between 460 and 493 AD. His jawbone was preserved in a silver shrine. It was believed it could ward off the "evil eye" and epileptic seizures.

12. There is no evidence snakes EVER existed in Ireland, so it's unclear whether St. Patrick drove them out...

13. St Patrick's was traditionally a DRY holiday in Ireland until 1970! From 1903 to 1970 it was considered a religious holiday and the pubs were CLOSED.

14. Your odds of finding a four leaf clover are 1 in 10,000.

15. There are more Irish in America than Ireland. There are 34 million Americans which claikm Irish descent or are pure blooded Irish, while only 4.2 million residents of Ireland.

16. The shamrock is NOT the symbol of Ireland. The main symbol of Ireland throughout history has been the harp.

17. St. Patrick used the shamrock as a symbol when preaching about the holy trinity.

18. St. Patrick wasn't Irish at all. He was born in what is now England, and at age 16 was captured by Irish raiders who sold him as a slave. At the age of 22 he escaped and made his way to an English monastery to study and get closer to God.

19. St Patrick is celebrated on March 17th because that was the day he died. March 17th, 461 AD.