things you need to know

All of these sound like a topic for Scopes or TruthOrFiction, but I learned these things from Neil Steinberg in Games Magazine this month:

-Sideburns are named for Union general, Ambrose Burnside. (Thankfully, he was not a Confederate; think of the mayhem that would ensue!)

-Graham crackers were invented by a Presbyterian minister, Sylvester Graham. He recommended daily bowel movements and avoiding meat and white bread-- and created the cracker to help us out. (He was nicknamed the Peristaltic Persuader for his troubles.) This reminds me of a certain Rev. Welch who popularized grape juice for Communion.

-John Duns Scotus thought people should wear pointy hats to facilitate learning (as a reverse funnel). This was a popular idea for awhile, but times changed, and eventually they were seen as "Duns' caps".

-The leotard was created by Jules Leotard, a French acrobat. 

 

-Earl Tupper invented the technological advance of Tupperware in 1942.

-The saxaphone was created by a Belgian, Antoine Joseph Sax, who wanted it to rival the bass clarinet. He won that competition.