Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge (9 page)
Read Mental Floss: Instant Knowledge Online
Authors: Editors of Mental Floss
USEFUL FOR:
impressing history buffs, irritating fans of afternoon slumber, and spurring discussions on the demise of Nazi Germany
KEYWORDS:
World War II, drowsy, or nap time
THE FACT:
The weather seemed too rough over the English Channel the evening of June 5, 1944, to launch the greatest military invasion in history. So Adolf Hitler figured “What the heck, I’m going to bed.”
Der Führer took a sleeping pill and left orders not to be disturbed. Big mistake on old Adolf’s part: D-day was several hours into effect before aides got the courage to wake Hitler up to get his permission to mobilize needed troops and equipment. Even then, the dictator dallied. He had tea, took a nap, and met with the premier of Hungary. Finally, about 5
P.M
. on June 6, he issued orders, mostly bad ones, that kept German generals from being able to move reinforcements to the invasion area. Good thing for the Allies that he woke up.
USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, chatting up struggling artists, and anyone carrying a pan and a spoon
KEYWORDS:
Dali, surrealism, or napping
THE FACT:
Who knew Dali’s greatest creative moments were inspired by a little interrupted sleep?
Salvador Dali, the Spanish surrealist painter, arrived at the startling images of his most productive period—between 1929 and 1937—using what he called the “paranoiac-critical method.” Apparently, this involved fishing “delirious associations and interpretations” out of his unconscious. It’s less than clear how he accomplished this, but he used no intoxicants. “I don’t do drugs,” he once said. “I am drugs.” Dali wasn’t above manipulating his consciousness in other ways, though. He reportedly took odd little cat naps that brought him right to the edge of deep sleep, but then jerked himself out of it. His method was simple: Seated in an armchair, Dali held a metal spoon in one hand. Then next to his chair, he placed a metal pan. He’d quickly nod off, and as soon as he was relaxed enough to let go of the spoon, it would fall against the pan. The sudden clang waking him up, Dali was immediately reacquainted with his subconscious and went back to work.
USEFUL FOR:
cocktail parties, barroom banter, chatting up anyone from a big family
KEYWORDS:
fertility, virility, or Viagra
THE FACT:
How many Polish kings does it take to father an estimated 365 illegitimate children? Just one.
That king is Frederick Augustus of Saxony, better known as August II (“the Strong”), King of Poland (1670–1733). Famous as a man of immense physical strength, unquenchable lust, and, apparently, considerable stamina, they didn’t call old August “strong” for nothin’. The first of his 300-plus love children was Hermann Maurice, Comte de Saxe, a military genius who himself had several illegitimate children. The great female French novelist George Sand is descended from both these men. However, with that many children between them, we probably all are.
TCHAIKOVSKY
suffered from a paralyzing fear that his head would fall off his body, and often conducted orchestras with one hand holding his head.
A romantic to the end, the famous T’ang dynasty poet
LI PO
died when, in a drunken state, he tried to embrace the reflection of the moon in a lake and fell in.
It was often joked that comedian
LOU
COSTELLO
’s house was furnished in “early Universal” as in Universal Studios, because the slightly klepto Costello had a habit of taking home (and keeping) so many props during filming.
USEFUL FOR:
any gathering where there’s a plateful of chips and a couple of people with working ears
KEYWORDS:
heart attack, poison, or party by the chip bowl
THE FACT:
We’ve all seen the occasional stray green potato chip lingering strangely among their crispy golden friends. The question is: Will chowing down on a few really kill you?
Luckily, eating a green potato chip won’t do you harm—eating a ton of those suckers, though, definitely will. Green chips generally come from a potato that grew partially above the ground, where the sunlight makes it produce chlorophyll. These potatoes also create a substance called solanine that is, in fact, toxic and can cause problems. The good news is that you’d have to eat several pounds of the stuff at once to notice any major effect, and if you’re chomping down that many taters, you’ll probably die of a heart attack long before the toxins set in.
USEFUL FOR:
chatting with scientists, breaking the silence after your dog goes on someone else’s lawn, carpet, or doormat
KEYWORDS:
I can’t believe your dog just went on my lawn, carpet, or doormat
THE FACT:
Who could have known that a puddle of dog urine would spur the treatment for diabetes?
That’s right! In studying the function of the pancreas (which wasn’t well understood in 1889), two professors from the University of Strassburg decided to remove the pancreas from a living dog. Later, flies were seen swarming around the canine’s urine. Curious as to the cause, the professors analyzed the sample and found that it contained a higher-than-normal amount of sugar. The doggone discovery led the scientists to determine a relationship between the pancreas and its control of insulin. In turn, this led to the first effective treatment of diabetes through insulin injections.
