[baps]

The first man to distill bourbon whiskey in the United States was a Baptist preacher, in 1789.

The Aztec Indians of Mexico believed turquoise would protect them from physical harm, and so warriors used these green and blue stones to decorate their battle shields.

More than 5,000 years ago, the Chinese discovered how to make silk from silkworm coco-ons. For about 3,000 years, the Chinese kept this discovery a secret. Because poor people could not afford real silk, they tried to make other cloth look silky. Women would beat on cotton with sticks to soften the fibers. Then they rubbed it against a big stone to make it shiny. The shiny cotton was called "chintz." Because chintz was a cheaper copy of silk, calling something "chintzy" means it is cheap and not of good quality.

The pharaohs of ancient Egypt wore garments made with thin threads of beaten gold. Some fabrics had up to 500 gold threads per one inch of cloth.

The ancient Egyptians recommended mixing half an onion with beer foam as a way of warding off death.

The Chinese, in olden days, used marijuana only as a remedy for dysentery.

"Scientific America" carried the first magazine automobile ad in 1898. The Winton Motor Car Company of Cleveland, OH, invited readers to "dispense with a horse".

In France - Captain Sarret made the first parachute jump from an airplane in 1918.

The first paperback book was printed - by Penguin Publishing in 1935.

In 1956 the phrase, "In God We Trust", was adopted as the U.S. national motto.

Henry Ford flatly stated that history is "bunk."

The first Eskimo Bible was printed in Copenhagen in 1744.

The last words spoken from the moon were from Eugene Cernan, Commander of the Apollo 17 Mission on 11 December 1972. "As we leave the Moon at Taurus-Littrow, we leave as we came, and, God willing, we shall return, with peace and hope for all mankind."