Uncle John's Electrifying Bathroom Reader for Kids Only! Read online

  Sixpence None the Richer named themselves after a passage from C. S. Lewis’s book Mere Christianity.

  Blink 182 was originally just called “Blink.” The band was forced to change the name when an Irish techno band—also called Blink—threatened to sue them. Although there are countless rumors of what the “182” stands for, ranging from the number of times certain words are said in movies, to numbers that relate to where they live, the truth is it’s really just a number they chose at random and thought sounded good.

  Keep at it! Harry Potter author J. K. Rowling started writing stories when she was 6.

  BATHROOM INVENTIONS

  Uncle John thought you’d like to know the history of a few things found in his favorite room.

  RUBBER DUCKY, YOU’RE THE ONE

  This bright yellow bath pal first appeared in the mid-1800s when the New York Rubber Company started manufacturing rubber squeak toys. But it would be more than 100 years before rubber duckies became popular. Who do we have to thank for that? Ernie the Muppet. In 1970 he sang the song “Rubber Ducky” on Sesame Street…and suddenly every kid wanted one.

  TOOTHBRUSHES

  Ever heard of a “chew stick”? A chew stick is a small twig with one end frayed into a brushlike tuft of wood fiber. That’s what people used before there were toothbrushes. So where did toothbrushes come from? China. The Chinese invented brushes made of hog hair in the 1400s. But these bristle brushes weren’t commonly used for teeth cleaning in Europe until an Englishman named William Addis “reinvented” them in 1780.

  Toothbrushes aren’t made of hog hair anymore. Since DuPont introduced Dr. West’s Miracle Toothbrush in 1938, they’ve been constructed of a more hygienic, longer-lasting, and easier-to-manufacture fiber: nylon.

  Watch out! Most girls have better night vision than boys.

  TOWELS

  No one knows exactly when towels were invented. We do know that drying cloths made of linen were used in ancient Rome and in ancient Japan. Today most towels are made of terrycloth, a cotton fabric invented in France in 1841. Another fascinating towel fact: Studies show that clean towels start to smell bad after a couple of days of use, even though they only touch clean skin. Why? Because dead skin cells stick to the moist towel, which is the ideal environment for the growth of mildew. Yech!

  THERMOMETERS

  Galileo invented the thermometer around 1590. But those early thermometers were primarily used to measure air temperature.

  Then in 1866 an inventor came up with the first thermometer that could be used for taking a person’s body temperature. His name? Thomas C. Allbutt. Really.

  Before Allbutt’s invention, the only temperature-taking contraptions for people were more than a foot long and required the patient to put the bulb in his mouth for at least 20 minutes. So instead, doctors (or mothers) would place their hand on the patient’s forehead and make their best guess. But Allbutt’s invention changed all that. It was as thin as a pencil, six inches long, and only took five minutes to get an accurate reading.

  Dumb question: What do benighted, nescient, and imbecilic mean? “Dumb.”

  RIDDLE ME THIS

  Q: What makes smoke come out of Uncle John’s ears?

  A: Trying to answer these classic riddles.

  Q: What falls but never breaks?

  A: Night!

  Q: While walking across a bridge I saw a boat full of people. Yet on the boat there wasn’t a single person. Why?

  A: Everyone on the boat was married!

  Q: I am the beginning of eternity,

  The end of time and space; The beginning of every end, And the end of every place. What am I?

  A: The letter E!

  Q: You are the bus driver. At the first stop, 4 people get on. At the second stop, 8 people get on. At the third stop, 2 people get off, and at the last stop, everyone gets off. What color are the bus driver’s eyes?

  A: The riddle starts out by saying you are the bus driver. So what color are your eyes?

  Q: Railroad crossing—look out for the cars. Can you spell that without any R’s?

  A: T-H-A-T!

  Q: Pronounced as one letter but written with three. Only two different letters are used to make me. I’m double, I’m single, I’m black, blue, and gray. I’m read from both ends and the same either way.

  A: Eye!

  What’s happening on January 16th? Not much—it’s National Nothing Day.

  KIDS CAN…

  Some ideas are so good you wonder why no one thought of them before. But one thing is for certain: there’s no age limit on a great idea. Here are three great ones from three remarkable kids.

  KIDS F.A.C.E.

  Melissa Poe was 9 years old when she started Kids for a Clean Environment (Kids F.A.C.E) at Percy Priest Elementary in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1989. The original club—Melissa and five of her friends—began recycling, picking up litter, planting trees, and inviting other kids to join them. Then Melissa wrote this letter to President George H. W. Bush:

  Dear Mr. President,

  Please do something about pollution. I want to live till I am 100 years old. Mr. President, if you ignore this letter, we will all die of pollution. Please help!

  The president didn’t respond, but Melissa didn’t give up. She got a local advertising company to reproduce her letter on a billboard (for free). Then she appeared on The Today Show. From that she was able to get her letter displayed on 250 more billboards across the country. Soon, letters started coming in from kids around the country, asking how they could join her club and help save the environment.

  From the original six kids, the club has now grown to more than 300,000 members from 23 different countries. And they are helping to save the environment—they’ve distributed and planted over a million trees!

  First home computer to have a mouse: Apple Macintosh.

  SUITCASES FOR KIDS

  Aubyn Burnside was 10 years old in 1996 when she got her great idea. Her older sister Leslie was a social worker who placed foster children in new homes. One day Leslie told Aubyn that some kids were so poor they had to carry their belongings in plastic trash bags instead of suitcases.

  Aubyn couldn’t get the image out of her mind: kids throwing their dolls, their favorite T-shirts, and their teddy bears into ugly black plastic bags. She knew how that would make her feel—like she didn’t matter.

  Just In Case

  Aubyn made up her mind to get every one of those foster kids their own suitcase. She started by looking in her attic to see if her family had any extras. Then she contacted her local church and 4-H club and asked them to help her. She called her idea Suitcases for Kids.

  She spread the word to Sunday schools, businesses, and the Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Result: within a month, Aubyn had collected hundreds of suitcases. First she gave them out to foster kids in her state. Then calls began to come in from other states. Foster kids all over America needed suitcases. By the end of the year, Aubyn had collected and donated more than 4,000 suitcases!

  The Barnum and Bailey Circus is the world’s longest-running circus.

  Now, Aubyn works with her brother out of their home in North Carolina. Together they’ve helped start Suitcases for Kids organizations in every state in America, in Canada, and in 10 other countries.

  KIDS CAN FREE THE CHILDREN

  Kids Can Free the Children was created by 12-year-old Craig Kielburger, of Thornhill, Ontario, in 1995. Craig had read a newspaper article about the abuse of kids working in Pakistan. He learned that 250 million children around the world were forced to work. No school, no play—just work. That made him so angry that he decided to do something about it.

  He started a program called Free the Children—a network of children helping other children around the world. They run petition drives and letter-writing campaigns. And they raise money. So far, Free the Children has built more than 300 primary schools worldwide providing daily education to 15,000 children. They’ve also shipped more than $2.5 million worth of medic
al supplies to clinics in poorer countries.

  This organization is run by children…for children. Adults work as volunteer staff, but have no decision-making power. Only kids can vote and set policies.

  Want to contact one of these groups and start to make a difference? For more information, check out our RESOURCE GUIDE on page 284.

  Looney law: It’s illegal for cats to drink beer in Natchez, Mississippi.

  CANDY BITS

  A few facts about candy—short and sweet.

  POP ROCKS. In 1956 a chemist for General Foods was looking for a way to make instant carbonated soda pop by trapping carbon dioxide in hard candy tablets. One afternoon he popped some of the experimental nuggets into his mouth…and felt them pop. No one at General Foods could think of a use for the substance, so it was shelved for almost 20 years. But in 1975 it was rediscovered and introduced as Pop Rocks—and became the hottest-selling candy in history. More than 500 million packets were sold between 1975 and 1980.

  PEZ. Invented in 1927 by Eduard Haas, an Austrian antismoking advocate who marketed peppermint-flavored PEZ as a cigarette substitute. The candy gets its name from the German word for peppermint, Pfefferminze. Haas brought it to the United States in 1952. It bombed, so he reintroduced it as a children’s toy, complete with cartoon heads and fruity flavors.

  CHARLESTON CHEW. Sometimes the names of candy bars come from the fads that are popular when they are introduced. The Charleston Chew was introduced during the Roaring Twenties, and was named after the latest dance craze, the Charleston.

  BLACK CROWS. The Mason Candy Co. decided to introduce a new candy in the 1890s. The licorice-flavored gumdrops were supposed to be called Black Rose. But the printer misunderstood the instructions and printed the wrappers with the name “Black Crows.” He refused to redo the job, claiming it was Mason’s mistake. Rather than pay to reprint the wrappers, the folks at Mason decided to change the name of the product. Black Crows are still available by that name today.

  The eagle is the national symbol of the USA…and Germany…and Poland.

  MEXICAN HATS. When Mexican Hats candies were introduced by Heide (makers of Jujyfruits and Gummi Bears) they were called “Wet ’ems and Wear ’ems.” Kids were supposed to lick the candies (which are in the shape of hats) and stick them to their foreheads. Why the candy company wanted kids to wear the candies is unknown.

  KRAFT CARAMELS. During the Great Depression of the 1930s, James L. Kraft started making caramels. He didn’t particularly like candy—he just needed another product for his cheese salesmen to sell. The candy succeeded because grocers wanted a summer substitute for chocolate, which melted in the heat.

  THREE MUSKETEERS. Advertising in the 1950s suggested that the Three Musketeers candy bar got its name because it was big enough for three people to share. The truth is, it was originally made of three separate nougat sections: vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry. Eventually, the strawberry and vanilla nougat sections were eliminated, leaving only the chocolate nougat.

  Horse riding is believed to be at least 5,000 years old.

  HOW DO SUPERSTITIONS START?

  Sometimes the origin of a custom can be more interesting than the custom itself.

  Superstition: It’s important to say “God bless you” when someone sneezes.

  Why We Believe It: It was once considered good luck to sneeze. It meant that evil was being expelled from your body. Then, in 590 A.D., a terrible plague swept through Europe and many people became very sick, some sneezing violently. Most people who got the plague died, so sneezing soon became identified with impending doom. Pope Gregory the Great passed a law on February 16, 600 A.D. that required everyone to ask God to bless the sneezer.

  Superstition: If you spill salt, bad luck will come your way.

  Why We Believe It: A long time ago, salt was considered very valuable—more precious than gold. Why? Because it could preserve meat, flavor foods, and even cure illnesses. It was very important to never waste it. If you did spill some salt, it meant the devil was close at hand. To scare him away, you would toss a pinch of the spilled salt over your left shoulder. If you had really good aim, you’d hit him in the eye.

  The term plus in mathematics is short for surplus.

  Superstition: Step on a crack, break your mother’s back. (Or: Step on a line, break your father’s spine.)

  Why We Believe It: People used to think that lines and cracks in the earth were gateways to other worlds. To step on a crack was a very scary thing because your soul could slip through it into the underworld. Or worse yet, the underworld could reach up and hurt a member of your family, like your mother or your father.

  Superstition: Walking under a ladder is bad luck.

  Why We Believe It: You might think that it’s obvious why walking under a ladder is considered bad luck—a hammer or a can of paint could fall on your head. This makes sense, but it’s not the reason. The real reason has its roots in ancient Egypt, where people believed that triangles represented their three most sacred gods and thus had special powers. If you walked through the triangle formed by a ladder leaning against a wall, you were defying the gods.

  Is there anything you can do to ward off bad luck if you accidentally walk under a ladder? The Romans would make a fist, with the thumb protruding between the index and middle fingers, and thrust it toward the ladder. It was called the sign of the fico and was thought to ward off bad luck.

  Pantophobes are afraid of everything.

  ROSWELL

  More than 50 years after America’s most famous UFO encounter, people are still asking: What really happened out there?

  WAS IT A METEOR?

  On July 4, 1947, a bright light shot across the sky over Roswell, New Mexico. It exploded and fell to earth on a ranch outside of town. At first, townspeople thought it was a meteor that had crashed. Several men rushed to see what it was.

  WAS IT A SPACESHIP?

  One of the first to arrive was a team of archaeologists who happened to be working in the area. They quickly discovered that this was no meteor. According to newspaper accounts, the object looked like “an airplane without wings.” As they approached it, they saw three strange bodies. Two were on the ground and one was visible through a hole in the side of the craft.

  WHAT WAS THAT STRANGE MATERIAL?

  Rancher “Mac” Brazel came across more pieces of the wreckage of the crash in his pasture. Bits of shiny metal were scattered across his field. The metal was like nothing Brazel had ever seen before. It was as soft as cloth, yet he couldn’t cut it with a knife or burn it. He showed the strange material to some neighbors, then alerted the sheriff in Roswell, who notified the U.S. Air Force.

  The hanging parts of a dog’s lips are called flews. (No wonder the slobber flies.)

  WHY DID THE AIR FORCE SAY IT WAS A SPACESHIP?

  Over the next few days, the Air Force cleared away the wreckage. On July 8, they issued a press release announcing that a flying saucer had crashed in Roswell. But the next day, the government changed the story—they now said they had been mistaken and that it was only a crashed weather balloon.

  WHAT HAPPENED TO THE BODIES?

  Strange stories soon began popping up. There were reports that the Air Force had removed some bodies with “large eyes and strange faces” from the crash scene. People began to talk about a place called Area 51 in Nevada, where the bodies were rumored to have been taken.

  Area 51 is a top-secret military facility 90 miles north of Las Vegas. The number refers to a block of land, at the center of which is a large air base. Area 51 is America’s foremost testing ground for secret aircraft. It is heavily guarded and the Air Force refuses to discuss what goes on there.

  Hot stuff! The center of the sun is estimated to be 59,000,000°F.

  WHAT WERE THE BODIES?

  When asked about the bodies, government spokesmen said the bodies were actually crash dummies used to test parachutes that fell out of the weather balloon. As far as the Air Force was concerned, the case wa
s closed.

  UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

  Dozens of people witnessed the crash at Roswell. Would all of them lie about what they saw? Why would the Air Force say a spaceship had crashed and then deny it? We may never hear the real truth, because that information is

  ***

  DOG’S BEST FRIEND

  “On my block a lot of people walk their dogs and I always see them walking along with their little poop bags. This, to me, is the lowest activity in human life. Following a dog with a little scooper. Waiting for him to go so you can walk down the street with it in your bag. If aliens are watching this through telescopes, they’re going to think the dogs are the leaders of the planet. If you see two life forms, one of them’s making a poop, the other one’s carrying it for him, who would you assume is in charge?”

  —Jerry Seinfeld

  The first comic strip to become a feature film, The Mark of Zorro (1920).

  WILD SPITTERS

  Ready…set…H-O-C-C-CHHHHH!

  SPITTING CAMELS

  Next time you’re at the zoo, you might be tempted to walk right up to a camel. Bad idea. If a camel gets annoyed, it’ll hock a huge, green lugie at you! And this isn’t saliva—it’s the partially digested contents of the camel’s stomach. It smells so foul that you’ll be running for the shower…so keep your distance.

  SPITTING SPIDERS

  Some spiders build webs to ensnare their prey. Others move very fast, easily overcoming any insect. But not the spitting spider of northern Mexico. Instead, it waits until nighttime, when most insects are at rest. Then it sneaks up on a potential meal and pitooey! It spits a poisonous sticky substance in a zigzag pattern all over its prey, instantly immobilizing it. Dinner is served!