1,001 Facts That Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader (99 page)

746

FACT :
Since the 1950s, several of the most notorious dictators, mass murderers, and state terrorists of Latin America have
trained at the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation
(formerly the School of the Americas) run by the CIA at Fort Benning, Georgia.
Yes, but they pay out-of-state tuition, and we need the money.

Thom Burnett, Conspiracy Encyclopedia: The Encyclopedia of Conspiracy Theories (Franz Steiner Verlag, 2006), 172.

747

FACT :
In 1981, President Ronald Reagan approved nutrition guidelines that
qualified ketchup as a vegetable
in school lunches, saving the U.S. government millions of dollars.
That’s preposterous. Everyone knows the tomato is a fruit, not a vegetable.

Susan Levine, School Lunch Politics: The Surprising History of America’s Favorite Welfare Program (Princeton University Press, 2008), 177.

748

FACT :
One week prior to his assassination, President Abraham Lincoln had a dream about someone crying in the White House. He followed the sound to a room where he found a man by a coffin. When Lincoln asked who had died,
the man replied, “The President.”
But the man by the coffin was Bill Clinton, so Lincoln didn’t believe him.

“Facts About Abraham Lincoln,” Abraham Lincoln Library,
www.alincoln-library.com
.

749

FACT :
Napoleon used a sandbox
to construct his battle plans.
He was too short to reach the map tables.

Facts Library,
www.factlib.com
.

750

FACT :
St. Lawrence of Rome was martyred by order of Roman emperor Valerian in the year 258, reportedly
by being grilled over an open flame
.
Legend also claims that while being cooked, Lawrence told his torturers, “This side is well roasted; turn me over.” If that’s true, then they should change his name to St. Bad-Ass.

“The Martyrdom of St. Laurence,” Free Republic,
www.freerepublic.com
.

CHAPTER 16
Buggin’
Out
Insect Facts That
Will Give You
the Creepy-
Crawlies

751

FACT :
A cockroach carries
more than forty different pathogens
that can be transferred to humans, including pneumonia, hepatitis, and typhoid.
I have a pathogen that can be transferred to cockroaches. It’s called the bottom of my shoe, and it is fatal 100 percent of the time.

Greta Garbage, That’s Disgusting!: An Adult Guide to What’s Gross, Tasteless, Rude, Crude, and Lewd (Ten Speed Press, 1999).

752

FACT :
Because of its high food intake,
a housefly deposits feces constantly
—about every five minutes—which makes it a carrier of more than 100 disease-causing agents.
And you thought babies crapped a lot.

Yiu H. Hui, Handbook of Food Science, Technology, and Engineering (CRC Press, 2006).

753

FACT :
The color of a head louse tends
to mimic the color of the person’s hair
in which it lives, making it more difficult to detect.
After years of lousy service, Bob was named Head Louse of his department.

May R. Berenbaum, Bugs in the System: Insects and Their Impact on Human Affairs (Basic Books, 1996).

754

FACT :
Aphids are born impregnated, do not require sex to procreate, and can
give birth within a week of being born themselves
, making them quite prolific. In large numbers, aphids can cause serious damage to crops.
Probably because they aren’t getting any sex.

Jerry Baker, Jerry Baker’s Bug Off!: 2,193 Super Secrets for Battling Bad Bugs, Outfoxing Crafty Critters, Evicting Voracious Varmints and Much More! (American Master Products, 2005).

Denny Schrock, Home Gardener’s Problem Solver: Symptoms and Solutions for More Than 1,500 Garden Pests and Plant Ailments, 3rd ed. (Ortho Books, 2004).