~ Ever Wonder Why?

[sandragonfly]

:) I'm enjoying finding these fun facts and came up with a lot surprises of histories and how all the legend started.

I'll start with this one and if anybody gets this correct, I'll post another wonder! and you'll find this fun because this should be fun! :p :) let's begin.......!

ever wonder why toy bears are called "teddy" bears?

:D

[aly]

Weren't they named after Theodore Roosevelt?

[sandragonfly]

and ever you wonder why? :)

[Oggyflute]

Originally posted by aly
Weren't they named after Theodore Roosevelt?

Yep, evidently he was hunting bear, and after having one in his sights, he thought that they were so noble animals, that he couldn't bring himself to shoot. (At least that's the PR version at the time;) )

[sandragonfly]

ahh trev and I posted at the same time. :)

trevor is correct!!

the teddy bear was introduced in 1907, about the time when president theodore "teddy" roosevelt, while on a bear hunt, came upon a baby bear that he refused to let anyonee shoot. he president took a lot of ribbing about this, especially from the press, and one cartoonist for a national publication published a sketch depicting the incident. it was not long after this cartoon was published that toy manufacturers picked up on the idea and began marketing "teddy" bears. :cool:

okay...here's another one!

ever wonder why a wedding ring is always worn on the third finger? :D

[Oggyflute]

Because back in the old days, people thought there was a vein that ran from your heart to your third finger. It was called the vein of love or something like that, so a tradition stemmed from it.

[sandragonfly]

trevor, you're the strongest link, good bye. :p ;)

correct again!

it was once believed that a vein of blood ran directly from the third finger on the left hand to the heart. the vein was called vena amoris, or the vein of love, and early writings on matrimonial procedure suggested that it would be approopriate for one's wedding ring to be worn on that special finger. :cool:

another one..

ever wonder why tennis are fuzzy? :D

[DJFyrewolf36]

Do you mean Tennis balls?

This is what I found


The fuzz slows down the ball in flight, keeps it from bouncing too high, and lets
the racket get a better "grip" on it. A perfectly smooth ball would travel so fast
and bounce so high that the game would be unplayable. Also, with a smooth
ball, it would be much more difficult for the player to control the direction of
the shots.

Makes sense. I also read somewhere that since tennis courts are made of different surfaces, they needed a ball that would be playable on all of them (Grass, clay etc)

:D this is fun!

[sandragonfly]

yes,..oops! :) and djfyrewolf36 got it correct! just as exactly as it was posted. :cool:

next one..

ever wonder why rubber tires won't stay buried? :D

[gemini9961]

Tires are a disposal problem because they won't stay buried in landfills. Whole tires trap air and/or methane gas, causing tires to "float" to the surface.

[Maya & Inka's mommy]

Wedding rings ALWAYS on 3rd finger?????:confused:

NOT here! Here, and I suppose everywhere in Europe, we wear our wedding ring on the second finger from the left. That's why we call it our "ring-finger"!
Weird, hey!

[jenluckenbach]

Originally posted by Maya & Inka's mommy
Wedding rings ALWAYS on 3rd finger?????:confused:

NOT here! Here, and I suppose everywhere in Europe, we wear our wedding ring on the second finger from the left. That's why we call it our "ring-finger"!
Weird, hey!
I believe that we are talking about the same finger. For us, the third finger is the third from the right.
(looking at your own left hand and going left to right = pinkie, ring finger, middle finger, index finger and then thumb)

[Oggyflute]

Whole tires trap air and/or methane gas, causing tires to "float" to the surface.:)

[sandragonfly]

hmm, gemini and oggyflute posted the exact answer, did you look for the answers on site? cheaters! :D :p

I guess they both are correct, and this is what I get..

most people. having never tried to bury a tire, are not aware that one will not stay in the ground. in fact, if you bury a tire five feet below the surface, it will--under normal condition--rise to the top in about ten years.
the reason for this is as follows. the rubber tire, being resilient, is constantly pushing back against the soil around it. and since the pressure above the tire is less then that below it, the tired has more sucess pushing up than it does pushing down. as this pushing proceeds, small particles of soil around the tire are dislodged and fall down through cracks and cervices too small for the tire itself to fit through, a process that is accelerated somewhat by the slight movement of the tire as it expands and contracts with changes in temperature. thus as the tire pushes upward and the soil around it slowly moves down, the tire migrates toward the surface. :cool:

now..

ever wonder why most pencils are hexagonal in shape? :D

[DJFyrewolf36]

My assumption is that the hexigonal shaped pencil is easier to hold than a round pencil.

I saw too that pencils are made by pressing two wood peices together with the graphite in the middle, so a hexigonal shape would make manufacture easier.

[sandragonfly]

yuppie! here it is..

square pencils would be easy to manufacture but not very comfortable to hold; round pencils are comfortable to hold but more costly to manufacture. hexagonal pencils area compromise. they are ab as comfortable as round pencils yet less costly to make. nine hexagonal pencils can be produced from the same amount of wwood it would take to make eight round ones, and the hexagonal pencils require one less processing step. hence the prevalence of hexagonal pencils.
in fact, sales now indicate that the hexagonal shape is preferred eleven to one over the round, perhaps because the hexagonal pencil is less likely to roll off a desk or drawing table. :cool:

now, ever wonder why so many pencils are yellow? :D

[gemini9961]

Pencils have been painted yellow ever since the 1890s.
And that bright color isn't just so you can find them on your desk more easily! During the 1800s, the best graphite in the world came from China. American pencil makers wanted a special way to tell people that their pencils contained Chinese graphite.
In China, the color yellow is associated with royalty and respect. American pencil manufacturers began painting their pencils bright yellow to communicate this "regal" feeling and association with China. The rest, as they say, is history. Today, 75% of the pencils sold in the United States are painted yellow!

[sandragonfly]

mmm, gemini, where did you knew or find that answer? sounds true but this is what I got...

pencils painted yellow were sold as early as 1854, but yellow didn't become the predominant color for pencils until around 1890. it was at that time that the L&C Hardtmuuth Company of Austria introduced a pencil of such high quailty that it became the standard for others to follow. the pencil was named Koh-I-Noor after the famous Indian Diamond, and it was painted golden yellow, supposedly because, with it's black lead, that made it the color of the Austro-Hungarian flag. this pencil, which was advertised as "the original yellow pencil," was such a hug success that it established yellow as the symbol of quality in pencils. other pencils manufactuers soon began painting their pencils yellow, and today three out of four pencils sold are that color. :cool:

ever wonder why we knock on wood for good luck? good luck. :D

[Lexi_Lover]

Greeks worshipped the oak as it was sacred to Zeus, Celts believed in tree spirits, and both believed touching sacred trees would bring good fortune. Irish lore holds that "touching wood" is a way to thank the leprechauns for a bit of luck. Pagans also held similar beliefs of protective tree spirits. Chinese and Koreans thought the spirits of mothers who died in childbirth remained in nearby trees.

I think tahts it!

[sandragonfly]

good guess, lexi.

the good luck associated with wood probably comes from pagan times when trees were worshipped and believed to contain the spirits of gods. for instance, since lighting so often strikes trees, the oakland was believed by some ancient cultures to be the dwelling place of the god of lighting and thunder. to touch a tree or rap on it was a means of summoning the spirits within to come forth and provide the person doing the rapping with protection from evil. :cool:

(it's werid that we didn't know this and we always lick & knocked the wood..lol).

have you ever wonder why a bride always stands on the groom's left? ..interesting one! :D

[kittycats_delight]

Since grooms in early Anglo-Saxon England often had to defend their brides during the wedding ceremony, the lady would stand to the left of her future husband so that his sword arm would be free. It was also customary for the groom to hold onto his bride with the left hand. Thus, by association, the bride's family and guests sit on the left side of the church.

[DJFyrewolf36]

Originally posted by kittycats_delight
Since grooms in early Anglo-Saxon England often had to defend their brides during the wedding ceremony, the lady would stand to the left of her future husband so that his sword arm would be free. It was also customary for the groom to hold onto his bride with the left hand. Thus, by association, the bride's family and guests sit on the left side of the church.

Interesting factoid! I'll have to tell my hubby that, lol!

Err what happened if you used your left hand as your sword hand though :confused: