King John of Bohemia (who was also the Count of Luxembourg and King of Poland) in the 1300s was also known as "John the Blind." Yes, you guessed it, John was blind. This didn't stop him from acting courageously as any King should though. John was the son of Holy Roman Emperor Henry VII and his wife Margaret of Brabant. When he was still in his teens, he became the King of Bohemia. When he was around 40 years old, John went blind from ophthalmia. Attempted treatments to reverse the effects of the disease did not work. John continued to rule though. When the Hundred Years War broke out in 1337, he allied with the King of France. When the Battle of Crecy began in 1346, John was 50 years old. Despite his disability, he insisted on fighting. He was killed during the fighting. After his death, the saying "to fight like King John of Bohemia" became popular and meant "to fight blindly."
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
Before they were famous, Brad Pitt and Lady Gaga were strippers!
Before the glamour and glitz lifestyle, a lot of celebrities were tight for money and just trying to earn enough to survive. You'd be surprised at the celebrities that started off their "entertainment" careers as strippers. When Lady GaGa was just 18 years old, she started working at a strip club. GaGa said that her act consisted of her wearing black leather and dancing to Guns 'n Roses, Black Sabbath, and other heavy rock bands. Although she has said she doesn't like to talk about it, she briefly said in an interview that there were "drugs, serious drugs." Brad Pitt, while in college, would perform in a strip routine with a few of his friends. The group was known as the Dancing Bares, and they would perform at female fraternities when one of their members turned 21! Some other notable celebrities that were strippers at one point in their lives are Renee Zellweger, Courtney Love, and even Carmen Electra!
A mentally unstable amateur pilot helped bring about the end of the Cold War!
Mathias Rust had some real cahoneys to do what he did. He was a West German who grew fed up with the Cold War tensions that were constantly emerging from all around the world. He was an amateur pilot, often noted to be 'mentally unstable', he wasn't sure what he could do until one day he told his parents he was going to take his plane out for a spin. After two weeks of day dreaming and planning, Rust finally got the courage to take his plane to Moscow. Each broadcaster tower on his way to Moscow thought he was a local pilot and for the most part, paid little to no attention to him. He finally made it to Russia where he thought he should land near the Soviet Union landmark, The Kremlin. Rust changed his mind and aimed for the Red Square, however there were too many people around for him to land safely. Rust landed nearby, and later walked into Red Square to find himself being stared at by hundreds of Russiands.
An artist sold a glass case filled with random medications for $19 million!
A common complaint about modern art goes something like this: "that? Art? I could make that myself? Heck, my two year old could make that." And yet, art critics and art collectors alike maintain that these seemingly simple pieces are extremely impressive and valuable. Damien Hirst is a famous modern artist. Born in Britain in 1965, Hirst came to prominence as an artist in the 1990s. His pieces, which often featured dead animals in formaldehyde, often sold for millions of dollars. In 2008, he sold an entire collection of pieces at Sotheby's for a whopping $198. In 2007, Hirst broke the record for most expensive piece of art by a living artist when his "Lullaby Spring" sold for $19.2 million. The piece is made of a 3 meter wide steel cabinet with 6,136 pills inside it.
An author wrote a 50,000 word novel without using the letter E!
Gadsby: A Story of Over 50,000 Words Without Using the Letter "E" is a 1939 novel by Ernest Vincent Wright. The plot revolves around the dying fictional city of Branton Hills, which is revitalized thanks to the efforts of protagonist John Gadsby and a youth group he organizes. The novel is written as a lipogram and does not include words that contain the letter "e". Though self-published and little-noticed in its time, the book is a favorite of fans of constrained writing and is a sought-after rarity among some book collectors. Later editions of the book have sometimes carried the alternative subtitle 50,000 Word Novel Without the Letter "E". In 1968, the novel entered the public domain in the United States due to failure to renew copyright in the 28th year after publication.
To reduce childhood obesity, Belgium substituted soft drinks for beer in schools!
Oh Belgium, they really love beer over there. In fact, they love it so much, that they chose it as a healthier alternative than soft drinks in their school system! They wanted to reduce the childhood obesity rate by giving students the choice of either a lager or a beer, both of which won't exceed an alcohol percentage of 2.5%. According to Rony Langenaeken, a chairman on the board of education who supported this decision, "Beer is for the whole family...And this scheme will be for children between the ages of three and 15." Suddenly those milk plans we all loved so much in school look a little lame. Children can drink this low fat, low sugar (allegedly a lot healthier than soda) low alcohol beer instead of having Coca-Cola or lemonade at lunch time. Don't worry, apparently the children will have to drink about 5 litres of the stuff before they become intoxicated. The childhood alcoholism rate might sky rocket, but at least childhood obesity will be lowered!
None of The Beatles Could Read Music
The Beatles are talked about as one of the best bands of all times but surprisingly none of The Beatles could even read music! Although they could play the guitar, and wrote their own lyrics, they never learned how to read music. They did know the chords and knew where middle C was on a piano. In a 1980 interview with Playboy, John Lennon said: “I think Paul and Ringo stand up with any of the rock musicians. Not technically great — none of us are technical musicians. None of us could read music. None of us can write it. But as pure musicians, as inspired humans to make the noise, they are as good as anybody” Paul is the only one of The Beatles who attempted to learn how to read music. He tried to take piano lessons from his girlfriend’s mother but did not have the time or the patience. None of the others even tried.
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