The world seems a little crazy right now. Politics, Terrorism, Accidents, Hulk Hogan Sex Tapes. I mean, how much more can we take?
Here is the other thing. Studies show that apes experience dips in happiness in their middle age, much like people do. Oh my gosh. I’m an ape.
So tonight, as I write, I think we should get away from all of that, and have a healthy dose of good and interesting things. So I bring, for your viewing pleasure… some happy photos… AND…..
The Polly Pondering Page: Good and Interesting Things.
And to start it all off….. Marcellus Gilmore Edson originally invented peanut butter to be marketed as a product for people who had no teeth and could not chew on solid food. Don’t ask me about Gummy Bears. I think their name speaks for itself.
Conversely, Nutella was invented during WWII, when a pastry maker in Italy, (his name was Pietro Ferrero), mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his short supply of chocolate. That nutty chocolaty goodness.
A stroke of good luck, no matter how you look at it. Peanut Butter and Nutella.
Ahhh… but I promised interesting. Not necessarily nice.
So, here is some luck which wasn’t so great. Eight people died by drowning in 300,000 gallons of spilled beer during the London Beer Flood of 1814.
At the Meux Company Brewery, there was a huge vat containing over 135,000 imperial gallons of beer which ruptured. Dag nab it. Wouldn’t you know, when it burst…. it caused other vats in the same building to go into a domino effect. As a result, more than 323,000 imperial gallons of beer burst out and gushed into the streets.
Gushed. Tidal wave gushing.
The brewery was among the poor houses and tenements of the St Giles Rookery. So, a bunch of big, poor families lived in basement rooms. Those basements quickly filled with beer. At least eight people were known to have drowned in the flood or died from injuries.
If that isn’t unlucky enough for you… how about this? Bobby Leach, the first guy to survive going over Niagara Falls, later died by slipping on an orange peel. So sad. It might have been a little funny…. if it had been a banana peel.
Another….. sad but true. There is a thing called Cotard’s Syndrome. It is a mental disorder in which a person believes that he or she is dead, or does not exist. I think I see these people. They are everywhere.
Okay… I can’t end on a sad note. One more… to make us happy.
Sloths do a dance when they go poop, which is also known as “the poop dance.” I suspect some people also do the poop dance.
There should be a theme song… for the poop dance.