Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge (31 page)

(and the car-pool lane)

USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, making friends at Lamaze class, and bringing up anytime you’re stuck in traffic

KEYWORDS:
knocked up, HOV lane, or traffic cop

THE FACT:
Can a pregnant woman drive in the car-pool lane? Expectant mothers, start your engines!

In 1987, a pregnant California woman was ticketed for driving “by herself” in the car-pool lane. Sure, the citation was only for $52, but she sued anyway, contending that her five-month-old fetus constituted a second person. Lo and behold, the jury agreed with her, despite the prosecution’s argument that women could then just stuff pillows up their dresses to drive “car-pool” on California’s freeways. But, as it turns out, the California Highway Patrol took care of that concern, brushing off the case as a bunch of hooey. Verdict or not, officers said, they would continue to ticket solo drivers, even if they claimed to be pregnant.

(and good old Grover Cleveland)

USEFUL FOR:
election seasons, impressing your fourth-grade history teacher, and defending Grover Cleveland’s reputation

KEYWORDS:
Presidential affairs, scandals, or dillydallying

THE FACT:
In 1873, a young, politically aspiring bachelor named Grover Cleveland met Maria Halpin, a 35-year-old widow with two children. Apparently, he more than just liked her.

Maria’s looks and personality made her the talk of Buffalo and Grover soon found himself among Halpin’s many suitors. Well, more than just a suitor. In 1874, Halpin bore a son and insinuated that old Grover was the pop. Grover, not intending to marry Maria, decided to do the right thing and bear financial responsibility for the child. During the 1884 presidential campaign, however, Cleveland’s opposition dug up the old story and printed it in the press. A number of clergy members supporting Cleveland did a study of the case and found that after the “preliminary offense” Cleveland had done the honorable thing. More important in their minds, he’d shielded many married men in Buffalo (and their families) from public scandal. Because of this, even many of Grover’s opponents supported his run for the presidency.

(in a zoo?)

USEFUL FOR:
barroom banter, impressing your history teacher, and shocking anyone fond of zoos

KEYWORDS:
pygmy, World’s Fair, or the Bronx

THE FACT:
In 1906, thousands of curious people were rushing to the Bronx Zoo in New York to see its newest and most “exotic” exhibit: a 4-foot, 11-inch African pygmy.

The tragically exploited man, named Ota Benga, was a member of the Mbuti peoople of Zaire. Explorer Samuel Verner purchased him at a slave market to put him on display in the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. After, Ota Benga returned to Zaire, only to be rejected for being tainted by the white man. Verner brought Ota back, and presented him to the eccentric director of the Bronz Zoo, William T. Hornaday, who gladly agreed to “care for” him. Ota Benga was locked in the zoo’s monkey house and put on display with a few chimpanzees, a gorilla, and an orangutan as “ancient ancestors of man.” The exhibit rightfully sparked a wave of controversy from the African-American community and (interestingly) churchmen, who feared Ota Benga would convince people of Darwin’s theory of evolution. Fortunately, the pressure from such groups eventually forced Hornaday to release him.

(the littlest big fake)

USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, barroom banter, and supporting that whole “sucker born every minute” argument

KEYWORDS:
fake, fraud, or
The Music Man

THE FACT:
The Quadro Corporation of Harleyville, South Carolina, had an impressive client list: public schools, police agencies, theU.S. Customs office, and Inspector General’s office to name a few. But no one quite knows why.

The product they sold was the top-of-the-line Quadro QRS 250G (also known as the Quadro Tracker, available for $1,000), and the company boasted its ability to find drugs, weapons, or virtually anything worth looking for. The small plastic box supposedly contained frequency chips of an advanced sort not known to “regular” science. Driven by static electricity, the Quadro would resonate at exactly the same frequency as the searched-for item. When the FBI opened the box, however, they found nothing inside. Quadro threatened to sue Sandia Laboratories when Sandia suggested that the device was fraudulent, but eventually Quadro became the bigger company and just closed its doors.

(and the guy who loved compiling them)

USEFUL FOR:
academic gatherings, impressing nerdy dates and people who love forwards

KEYWORDS:
Bartlett’s Familiar Quotations

THE FACT:
As anyone who’s worked retail can attest to, there’s often a lot of downtime, and John Bartlett no doubt experienced plenty while working at the Harvard University bookstore.

But instead of gluing the pages of popular books together or locking coworkers in the lavatory, Bartlett spent his downtime compiling his book of
Familiar Quotations
, which was first printed in 1855. Filled with quotes from literature as ancient as the Old Testament and as quirky as the “Annals of Sporting,” Bartlett once said about them, “I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers, and nothing but the thread that binds them is mine own.” Throughout the continued success of his book (and subsequent editions), Bartlett joined the publishing firm of Little, Brown and Company in 1863 and became senior partner in 1878, where he never uttered the phrase “gathered a posie of other men’s flowers” ever again.