Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge (21 page)

(da genius, da Italian, da bastard?)

USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, academic gatherings, and basically impressing anyone who’s ever heard of Leonardo da Vinci

KEYWORDS:
da Vinci, mistake, and Planned Parenthood

THE FACT:
Everyone knows of Leonardo da Vinci, the
homo universalis
who was a painter, a naturalist, a metallurgist, and a philosopher with equal ease. But not everyone knows he was basically the product of a one-afternoon stand.

It’s true! The personification of the Renaissance was actually the son of a notary, Ser Piero, and a peasant girl of somewhat “easy virtue.” In fact, the two simply took a tumble in the hay together before going their separate ways and providing Leonardo, from their marriages with other people, with 17 half brothers and sisters. Needless to say, these assorted half siblings were none too fond of their renowned relation, whose birth was something of an embarrassment, and on his father’s death, in 1503, they conspired to deprive him of his share of the estate. Leonardo had the last laugh, however, when the death of an uncle led to a similar inheritance squabble, leaving him with sole custody of the uncle’s lands and property.

USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, punch lines, and tours of the Empire State Building

KEYWORDS:
Leona Helmsley, immigrant, tax evasion

THE FACT:
Believe it or not, the famous New York real estate mogul and class A witch actually lived the American Dream. Well, except for the whole prison thing.

Leona was a divorced sewing factory worker with mouths to feed before she met and married real estate tycoon Harry Helmsley. In 1980, Harry named Leona president of his opulent Helmsley Palace Hotel, which she ruled like a despot. Her tendency to explode at employees for the smallest infraction (like a crooked lampshade) earned her the title “The Queen of Mean.” The tyranny didn’t exactly last. In 1988 Leona and Harry were indicted for a smorgasbord of crimes, including tax fraud, mail fraud, and extortion. She served 18 months in prison and was forced to pay the government $7 million in back taxes. That doesn’t mean things turned out that badly for poor Leona. Said to be worth over $2.2 billion, the dreaded Ms. H still owns the lease to the Empire State Building and lives in luxury with her aptly named dog, Trouble.

(to the center of a Tootsie Pop)

USEFUL FOR:
Halloween parties, chatting up people nostalgic for the ’70s, and blowing the minds of seven-year olds across the globe

KEYWORDS:
owl, lick, or Tootsie Pop

THE FACT:
No thanks to that pesky owl and his woeful lack of willpower, the “How Many Licks Does It Take to Get to the Tootsie Roll Center of a Tootsie Pop?” question has been plaguing the American public ever since the commercial first aired in 1970.

Fortunately, there have been plenty of noble efforts to get to the bottom (or center, as the case may be) of it all. But the answer depends on whom you ask. A group of students at Swarthmore Junior High conducted an extensive study on the subject and concluded that getting to the center of a Tootsie Pop took a statistical average of 144 licks. However, the more ambitious and distrusting engineering students at Purdue University chose instead to rely on a “licking machine,” modeled after the human tongue for their results. The Boilermakers and their mechanical contraption found that it requires an average of 364 licks. Other studies have been done, and all results vary, so only one thing is certain: The world may never know.

(and one particularly sexy beast)

USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, chatting up scientists, making friends at the fertility clinic

KEYWORDS:
virility, fertility, sex fiends, or the zoo

THE FACT:
Despite his world wide rep, Frasier, the Sensuous Lion, didn’t actually do much bragging about his amorous exploits. Then again, he didn’t have to—his proof was walking all around him!

Here’s how the story goes: Frasier was about 20 years old, ancient for a lion, when he came to a wild animal park in southern California. Unfortunately, the Mexican circus refugee was so doddering that he could hardly walk, and his keepers simply figured his demise would be any day. But that didn’t stop the old lion from tomcatting about. Frasier hung on for 18 months and sired a stunning 35 cubs in his spare time. Amazingly, the press about the fertile feline was so widespread that Frasier fan clubs started sprouting up everywhere. Wives even began writing in to find out what park rangers were feeding the beast. In fact, the lion’s fame grew so much that a popular song was written about him, and a film was made as well. When the old cat’s time finally came, it’s said, Frasier, the Sensuous Lion, went with a smile on his face.

USEFUL FOR:
making friends with people at Staples, OfficeMax, and Kinko’s

KEYWORDS:
whiteout, mistakes, and typewriters

THE FACT:
The woman behind Liquid Paper, Bette Nesmith Graham, wasn’t just a sloppy typist turned secretary extraordinaire. She’s also “Mom” to former Monkees member, Michael Nesmith (the tall one with the funny hat).

It all started when Graham joined a typing pool in 1951. Recently divorced, she desperately needed the job to support herself and her as-yet-unprimatelike son. Problem was, typing wasn’t exactly her forte, and she became increasingly worried that her frequent errors would get her fired. Then inspiration struck. Graham filled a nail polish bottle with white tempera paint and took it to work. Whenever she made a mistake, she simply painted over it. Before long, the whole typing pool was indulging. As demand for what Graham first called “Mistake Out” grew, it began to distract her from her secretarial duties. In 1962, she was fired for using company time to write letters for her own business, but that turned out to be just the push Graham needed. Within six years, Liquid Paper was a million-dollar business, and Graham was laughing all the way to the bank.