Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge (13 page)

(for answers)

USEFUL FOR:
chatting up nerds and scientists, and making small talk at bait shops

KEYWORD:
Teflon

THE FACT:
If it weren’t for a fortuitous fishing trip and a curious Frenchman, the wonders of Teflon might never have seen light of day.

Roy Plunkett discovered Teflon (tetrafluoroethylene) in a Du Pont lab in 1938 during the search for a new refrigerant. Much like Spencer Silver’s Post-it notes, though, it was tossed aside for lack of application. In fact, it wasn’t even considered for commercial production until a Frenchman named Marc Gregoire went fishing. Gregoire found that the substance worked great on his tackle to reduce tangling. Of course, now Teflon is used in everything from car brakes to space suits to replacement arteries for the human heart. It’s also used on microchips, rockets, and, surprisingly, it’s even rubbed liberally on the Statue of Liberty’s arthritic joints (Teflon apparently slows down the aging process in statues).

USEFUL FOR:
chatting up inventors, nerdy dates, and anytime you lose electricity

KEYWORDS:
flashlight, flashbulb, or two “C” batteries

THE FACT:
If you’re looking for a reason to break out the good stationery, why don’t you send a note to Russian novelty-shop owner Akiba Horowitz, inventor of the flashlight.

It all started in 1896, when Horowitz (also known as Conrad Hubert, his postimmigration name) bought the rights to a funny little gag gift called the electric flowerpot. As the name implies, the gadget consisted of a battery and a light bulb that sat inside a pot and lit up a fake flower. Horowitz remarketed the thing as a bicycle lamp, but the product was less than successful. Then Mr. H joined forces with David Misel, an inventor who had designed an early tubular lighting device. Apparently, it was a match made in lighting heaven. Horowitz took the improved version of the pot to the people, now selling it as a battery-operated candle replacement. The rest is history. As for the moniker, however, the “flashlight” picked up the name because the limitations of contemporary batteries meant you had to continuously switch the light on and off.

(Victorian style)

USEFUL FOR:
talking about how lame the Victorians were

KEYWORDS:
hand fans, come-ons, or secret codes

THE FACT:
In the Victorian age, an eligible Victor couldn’t just cruise up to a Victoria and put the moves on her. No, in the extraordinarily prudish age proper etiquette had to be maintained at all times.

However, that didn’t exactly mean that flirting was off-limits at social events. In fact, it was pretty en vogue. And one of the most subtle ways of demonstrating interest or disinterest was with the use of hand fans. In fact, a whole sign language was created around fan movements and placement. If a young lady let her fan rest on her right cheek it meant she was interested, if she placed it on the left, however, it meant the guy was being passed over (subtle, but harsh!). Similarly, if she moved the fan slowly it was a signal that she was already engaged or married. If she held the fan in front of her face with her right hand it was a signal for the young man to follow her. Finally, if she moved the fan across her forehead it meant they were being watched. Whew! With all the mixed signals, restrictions, and rites of courtship, it’s a wonder anyone found time to procreate.

(and the best darn moyel in the Bible)

USEFUL FOR:
weddings, circumcisions, anytime you want to say the words
Bible
and
foreskin
in the same sentence

KEYWORDS:
David, Goliath, or dowry

THE FACT:
If you know where to look, you can find all kinds of crazy stuff in the Good Book, including tales of insane dowries and circumcisions.

It’s true! So grab your King James Version and flip to chapter 18 of the first book of Samuel for the story of David (yes,
that
David, with the stone and the sling and the psalms) and Michal. After David smote the heck out of Philistine badass Goliath, he went to live with King Saul of Israel. Saul, afraid of David and troubled by evil spirits, began to plot his murder. When Saul’s daughter Michal revealed her love for David, Saul made her a deal: Have David bring back 100 Philistine foreskins, and he can marry you. Now Saul had no particular affinity for foreskins; he just wanted David to get killed trying. But Dave and his posse, with God’s help, brought back
200
for the good king. Saul couldn’t help but bless his daughter’s marriage to such a go-getter.

(only the best darn ones in the whole wide world)

USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, museum dates, and making someone double-guess themselves after buying “authentic” artwork

KEYWORDS:
real, genuine, and one of a kind

THE FACT:
What made Elmyr de Hory infamous wasn’t the sheer number of forgeries he sold. It was that they were damn
good
forgeries.

For 30 years, de Hory sold forgeries of paintings by the world’s greatest artists, including Picasso, Chagall, Matisse, Degas, and Toulouse-Lautrec. In fact, his forgeries were so good, so precise in every detail, that they fooled even the most experienced art buyers—so much so that the native Hungarian has even attracted a cult following of his own, who pay high prices for “authentic” de Hory fakes. Irony of ironies, the forger’s forgeries are now being forged and sold by other forgers! Even more odd, today legitimate museums host exhibitions of de Hory’s works. De Hory told his story in the 1969 biography,
Fake!
by Clifford Irving (who went on to, yes, forge an autobiography of Howard Hughes). But in the end the master forger wound up penniless (just like a real painter) and committed suicide in 1976, although rumors persist that he faked that, too.