Stupid Facts

• The Roman emperor Caligula once made his horse a senator.
  (see Roman Emperors)
  

• Queen Elizabeth I owned at least 100 wigs in her lifetime.
  

• The White House was originally gray. The mansion was burned during the War of 1812. When it was rebuilt after the war, it was painted white to hide the smoke stains.
  

• The Cleveland Indians baseball team used to be called the Cleveland Spiders.
  (See World Series Winners)
  

• The United States bought Alaska from Russia for $7,200,000 in 1867. (about two cents an acre)
  

• The motto on one of the first U.S. coins was "Mind Your Business".
  (see Coins and Currency)
  

• The word yo-yo originated in the Philippines and means "come back."
  

• In December 1961, it was discovered that a painting by Matisse in New York's Museum of Modern Art was hanging upside down.
  

• All race horses become one year older on New Year's Day, no matter when they were born.
  (see Kentucky Derby Winners)
  

• Summers on Uranus are 21 Earth-years long.
  (see The Solar System)
  

• It is illegal to hunt camels in Arizona.
  

• Abraham Lincoln appears on both sides of a US penny.
  (see Coins and Currency)

• A ten-gallon hat holds about three-fourths of a gallon (2.85 liters).
  (see Conversions)
  

• Hummingbirds can fly backwards.