Did you know 2

Friday, September 4, 2009

Did you know that Whitcomb L. Judson was the first to patent the zipper?

Whitcomb L. Judson was an American engineer from Chicago, Illinois, who invented the zipper. Judson patented his "clasp-locker'' on Aug. 29, 1893; later in 1893, he exhibited this new invention at the Chicago World's Fair. He and Lewis Walker founded the Universal Fastener Company to manufacture these fasteners. They never succeeded in selling Judson's new device. Judson died in 1909, before his device became commonly used and well known.


SundbachThe zipper was improved in 1913 by the Swedish-American engineer, Gideon Sundbach (a former employee of Judson). Sundbach was successful at selling his invention, which he called the "Hookless 2." He sold these fasteners to the US Army, who put zippers on soldiers' clothing and gear during World War I.

Thursday, September 3, 2009

Did you know that only 8 individuals have competed in 5 or more Olympics and won medals?

Did you know that only 8 individuals have competed in 5 or more Olympics and won medals?

1)Dara Grace Torres is the first swimmer from the United States to compete in five Olympics:

1984, 1988, 1992, 2000, and 2008
















2) Steven Redgrave of Great Britain won rowing gold medals at 5 consecutive Games:

Coxed Four: 1984
Coxless Pair: 1988, 1992, 1996
Coxless Four: 2000









3) Birgit Fischer of Germany won 8 kayaking gold medals in 6 different Games:



Singles: 1980, 1992
Pairs: 1988, 2000
Fours: 1988, 1996, 2000, 2004









4) Elisabeta Lipa-Oleniuc of Romania won rowing gold medals in 5 different Games:


Double Sculls: 1984
Single Sculls: 1992
Coxed Eights: 1996, 2000, 2004








5) Aladar Gerevich of Hungary won fencing gold medals in 6 different Games:


Team Sabre: 1932, 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960
Individual Sabre: 1952








6) Reiner Klimke of Germany won equestrian gold medals in 5 different games:


Team Dressage: 1964, 1968, 1976, 1984, 1988
Individual Dressage: 1984








7) Pal Kovacs of Hungary won fencing gold medals in 5 different Games:

Team Sabre: 1936, 1948, 1952, 1956, 1960
Individual Sabre: 1952






8) Aladar GEREVICH the Hungarian fencer, seven times Olympic champion in sabre (individual and team).

Los Angeles 1932

Berlin 1936

London 1948

Helsinki 1952

Melbourne / Stockholm 1956

Rome 1960


Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Did you know that Howard Stern is the highest paid talk radio host?

Did you know that Howard Stern is the highest paid entertainer on radio?
Stern, who ranks 45th on the Forbes Celebrity 100, earned about $31 million last year and is one of the highest-paid radio personalities (along with Rush Limbaugh). Stern's contract with Viacom (nyse: VIAb - news - people ) subsidiary Infinity Broadcasting allows him a share of revenue, as well as bonuses for ratings increases. Infinity also is said to have paid close to $2 million over the years in fines to the Federal Communications Commission for the occasionally indecent Stern.





Rush Limbaugh recently inked a 400 million for 8 years with a 100 million dollar signing bonus.













Although we have a dark horse in the race, no pun intended.

Steve Harvey is said to be the highest paid air personality on a one-market basis in the industry,” That“Radio One paid him more than Howard Stern, Rush Limbaugh, any of them, on a one-market basis.

To find out more about Broderick Steven Harvey click on this link.



Did you know who the world's Highest Paid Entertainers are?

Did you know who the world's Highest Paid Entertainers are?

1. Oprah Winfrey £130million Apart from her talk show, Oprah enjoys profits from a radio show, magazine, Broadway musical ('The Color Purple') and other hit chat shows hosted by Dr. Phil McGraw and Rachael Ray. In total Winfrey is worth an estimated £750million.


2. Jerry Bruckheimer £60million
Bruckheimer's signature is for films and TV shows bulging with action. He has recently earned big through the various Pirates of the Caribbean films, numerous CSI: Crime Scene Investigation series, and Without a Trace.




3. Steven Spielberg £55million

Spielberg has got it made when it comes to movie production. When working on a movie, it is said he takes up to 50% of the gross income. So next year he could well top this list, since his current projects are (yet more) sequels to Indiana Jones and Jurassic Park.





4. Tiger Woods £50million
Much of Woods' income comes from Nike, who in turn enjoy the profits from their range of Tiger-endorsed golfing goods - worth £300million to them by some accounts. Tiger's playing fees for some tournaments reach £1.5million.





5. Johnny Depp £46million
Enjoying the treasure of the Pirates of the Caribbean films, Depp's next notable film role will be as Sweeney Todd. But at a cut-throat price?




6. Rolling Stones £44million (each)
Still rolling, and very much rocking, the Stones' 'Bigger Bang' world tour, which started shows in 2005, has so far to date grossed over £230 million.






7. Jay-Z £41.5million
"Can you pay my bills, can you pay my telephone bill?", once sang Beyoncé, Jay-Z's partner in love. Probably. Aside from the successful recording career, this year Jay-Z sold his Rocawear clothing label to Iconix for £102million.

Friday, August 28, 2009

Did you know that Frank Zamboni invented the Zamboni Ice Resurfacing Machine in 1949?

Did you know that Frank Zamboni invented the Zamboni Ice Resurfacing Machine in 1949?


Frank J. Zamboni (1901-1988) was an inventor and mechanic who invented the Zamboni Ice Resurfacing Machine in 1949. His machine is used in ice rinks to resurface marred ice. In 1939, Zamboni and his brother Lawrence built a 20,000-square-foot enclosed ice skating rink in Paramount, California, USA. Resurfacing the ice was a major problem, and took many men and assorted equipment. In 1942, Zamboni transformed a tractor to scrape and smooth the ice in a single pass. After years, he perfected his it, releasing his "Model A Zamboni Ice Resurfacer" in 1949, (patent #2,642,679). The Olympic medal-winner Sonja Henie was one of his first customers.


The word zipper was coined by B.F. Goodrich in 1923, whose company sold rubber galoshes equipped with zippers. Goodrich is said to have named them zippers because he liked the zipping sound they made when opened and closed.

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Did you know that these successful child actors who continued their success further as adults?

Did you know that these successful child actors continued their success further as adults?


1. Drew Barrymore


Being born in Barrymore family would automatically get you an acting career, but starting from 11 months is still commendable. She started with dog-food commercial in which even after being bitten by the dog, didn’t cry and impressed the producers.
She made her film debut in Altered States, a blockbuster sci-fi adaptation of a novel; and then in cult film ET.

But after that Drew had brush ups with drugs even before she entered in her teens, and people were ready to write her off as just a one time actor.
Proving everybody wrong she made a comeback by playing the challenging role of
manipulative teenage seductress in Poison IVY . After that she never looked back, and from winning Golden Globe to conquering fans’ hearts, she kept on gaining success and fame.

2. Christian Bale


Christian Bale who left the audience awestruck playing starring role in Steven Spielberg’s Empire of the Sun at the age of 13,
was sure to make a successful transition to a grown-up cult star. Ever since his teen acting years, Bale had always been bestowed with roles of substance.

He made his film debut as Tsarevich Alexei Nikolaevich of Russia in a tele-film dubbed, Anastasia: The Mystery of Anna. His impressive appearance soon took him ahead to play lead roles in the miniseries Heart of the Country and the fantasy adventure Mio in the Land of Faraway, where he shared screen space with Christopher Lee and Nick Pickard. Who can forget the serial killer Patrick Bateman of American Psycho. His performance did wonders in his career and elevated his popularity status to sky-heights.

Today, Bale is best-known for his enormous cult following. The Tenth Anniversary issue of the Entertainment Weekly titled him as one of the “Top 8 Most Powerful Cult Figures of the Past Decade”. His performance in American Psycho did wonders in his career and elevated his popularity status to sky-heights.

3. Jodie Foster


This li’l 3-year old tot hit the field of acting appearing in TV commercials. Soon after she debuted as a television actress in a 1968 episode of Mayberry R.F.D. Jodie had made 50 appearances in TV and films altogether, before attending her college.

Then in 1976, at the tender age of 14, she stunned her audience playing underage prostitute in Taxi Driver. She won an Oscar nomination for best supporting Actress for this role. Jodie made sure that she never loses her pace of work, and went on step by step with stronger determination. Her hard work and talent didn’t go unnoticed and she won an Academy Award for Best Actress in 1989 for playing a rape survivor in The Accused.

Since then, there has been a long list of awards to her kitty; her internationally acclaimed and Oscar winning performance in The Silence of the Lambs, definitely deserves a special mention.

4. Natalie Wood


Natalie Wood emerged as a born star ever since her debut in Tomorrow Is Forever in 1943. Almost in a blink of an eye, she became the top child star in Hollywood with her 1947 Christmas classic Miracle on 34th Street. In her 20 films as a child actor, Natalie shared screen space with stars like Gene Tierney, James Stewart, Maureen O’Hara, Bette Davis and Bing Crosby.

Natalie proved that not all successful child actors grow up to be spoiled brats. She made successful transition to adult roles and won both critical acclamation and awards.

At 16, she won an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress for Nicholas Ray’s Rebel.
1950s was a kind of a stagnant phase in her career, when she was tired and full playing many ‘girlfriend’ roles under the contract signed with Warner Brother. Then in 1961, Elia Kazan’s Splendor in the Grass once again brought her career on track and she won Best Actress Nominations at the Academy Awards, Golden Globes and BAFTA Awards. West Side Story , Love with the Proper Stranger, Inside Daisy Clover (1965) and This Property Is Condemned (1966) are just to name a few of her works that showered her with awards along with rocking Box Office success. Wood was an actress in true sprits, who worked till her last breath and died while filming a sci-fi film Brainstorm (1983).














5. Mickey Rooney


Multiple awards winner, Mickey Rooney made appearances in films, television and stage almost throughout his life.
Mickey has been winning all the flatteries right from his first performance, which he gave while only 17-months old. Wearing specially tailored tuxedo, Mickey had already begun to show his starry colors appearing in A Gaiety Girl with his parents. His first full fledged TV appearance that featured him as “Mickey McGuire” for 78 of the comedies, got him his screen name ‘Mickey Rooney’, who was actually named as Joseph Yule, Jr on his birth.

Mickey smoothly made his way to adolescent roles playing teenage son of a judge in 1937’s A Family Affair. And, Andy Hardy of A Family Affair went on from series to series till 1958, to make Mickey one of the most successful comedians of his times.

Mickey was a pool of talent, after comedy, he made some memorable musicals that proved to be even bigger hits. Babes in Arms (1939)is one of his strings of musicals that made him the biggest box office drawer in 1940. His unforgettable performances had made him unquestionably, the best-known entertainer .

6. Seth Green
Well known for his role of Daniel “Oz” Osbourne in Buffy the Vampire Slayer, Seth Green
had made a jumpstart in his career at the ages of 10. He bounced directly from TV commercials to prestige films like
Hotel New Hampshire with Jodie Foster and Woody Allen’s Radio Days.

Proceeding smoothly through long list of appearances in TV and Films, Green’s career took a leap with
Buffy The Vampire Slayer and the Austin Powers series. Now he had successfully established himself as
as a self-aware adult star with Josie And The Pussycats, The Italian Job and RobotChicken. He was adored as a kid and he’s equally adored as a modern cult figure and that’s what you call a performer.

7. Kirsten Dunst

Image: Blog.ecr.co.za

Starting off as a fashion model at a tender age of three, now best known as Spiderman’s love interest, Kristen Dunst had given countless appearances in TV and Films right from her childhood days. Pretty soon she managed to become the favorite child model of Ford Models and Elite Model Management.

By the age of 12, Kirsten had modeled for almost 100 commercials. She made her debut in films with Oedipus Wrecks, a short film by Woody Allen. But her real breakthrough came with her role of Claudia in the movie “Interview with Vampire”. Starring opposite Brad Pitt and Tom Cruise, Kirsten had already begun realizing her dream. She even won a Golden Globe Nomination and an award for the best breakthrough performance at MTV movie awards in 1995 for this role. She has never looked back since then.

After Spiderman sequels lot of good things has been coming her way. Kirsten is completely hooked and booked all through this year, and we wish her the same for all her coming years.

8. Christina Ricci

Christina Ricci won both love and acclaims right at the age of 11, with her best-known work in Mermaids as Wednesday Addams. She did not rest after all this appreciation and with The Opposite Of Sex, she put herself on the aisle that lead her towards fame even more startling than this. Anything but conventional, Ricci played it all - dark or cartoonish. Her mesmerizing yet creepy looks in the Ice Storm, Pumpkin and contrast child-like look in Monster made her one of the best unconventional young actors around.

Her Black Snake Moan (2007) was described as a Ricci’s best performance by filmmaker Kevin Smith. However, for this fully charged actress, this is just the beginning, there’s a lot more to come.


9. Ron Howard

Ron Howard caught eyes of viewers when he played Andy Griffith’s TV son, Opie Taylor,
on The Andy Griffith Show in 1960 at the age of six. However, credit for his first earned recognition goes to
Winthrop Paroo, the role that he played in the film version of The Music Man with Robert Preston and Shirley Jones. Then in 1974, with Happy Days he outplayed many big actors with his superb rendition of Richie Cunningham character.
While starring in Happy days, he also debuted his directorial career. Beginning with low budget action-comedy like Grand Theft Auto, and Night Shify he went on to create a masterpiece, The Da Vinci Code.









10. Natalie Portman

Natalie knew it from beginning that acting is what she’s made for. In 1990, she turned
down the opportunity to become a child model for Revlon in favor of acting. Just four years later, her strong ambition for acting got her first role in an independent film Léon. She didn’t have to sweat post-Leon and her hands were already full with roles in films Heat, Everyone Says I Love You, and Mars Attacks!, as well as a major role in Beautiful Girls.

The vulnerable little girl from Luc Besson’s The Professional, or exorbitantly costumed heroine of The Phantom Menace, she performed all sorts of shades with equal caliber.

Natalie played the lead role in Anywhere but Here in 1997 and won a Golden Globe nomination for Best Supporting Actress for her role as Ann Augus. Portman has consistently grown onscreen and has continued growing even better.

Did you Know

Did you know that the average human brain contains approximately 86 billion neurons? These remarkable cells form intricate networks, allowing us to think, feel, and experience the world around us. Each neuron communicates with others through electrical impulses, creating a symphony of thoughts, memories, and emotions. So next time you ponder life’s mysteries, remember that your brain is orchestrating a cosmic dance of neurons!