Who Knew?

On a shelf in our bathroom, there is a Bathroom Reading Book (an important feature in any home) titled "Who Knew?" It is filled with odd and mostly interesting tidbits of information about things that we know well.  Here are a few hand picked trivia-morsels:

• "The Hershey's Kiss got its name from the puckering sound made by the manufacturing equipment as chocolate was dropped onto the conveyor belt during the production process."
• "The Maxwell House was a luxury hotel in Nashville, Tennessee, known for it's coffee."
• "In 1903, a shipload of coffee consigned to European businessman Ludwig Roselius accidentally got drenched during a storm at sea.   Since the beans were no longer fit for commercial sale, Roselius used the cargo for research purposes, eventually discovering that soaking coffee beans in water was the key to decaffeination.  When further experimenting proved that he could remove practically all the caffeine, but not the flavor and aroma, he decided to market his invention.  He called the product Sanka, a derivation of the French phrase sans caffeine."
• "Three of the first five U.S. Presidents - John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Monroe - died on July 4th."
• "Director Wes Craven named Freddy Krueger after a kid who bullied him in school."
• "Oscar winner Tommy Lee Jones was the college roommate (Harvard, class of 1969) of Vice President Al Gore."
• "No word in the English language rhymes with month, orange, silver, or purple."

And now for the grande finale:

• "Barbie's last name is Roberts."

Hoffman, David.  Who Knew: Things You Didn't Know About Things You Know Well.  New York, NY:  MJF Books, 2000.