Friday, December 4, 2009

Firsts! The First Gift on Your List for Christmas (and we're giving it away!)

Did you know:

The first blue jeans came into being in 1853, through the ingenuity of Levi Strauss?

The story goes that Strauss, a German immigrant in San Francisco setting up shop after the Gold Rush, met a prospector asking what he had for sale. At the time, his inventory included rough canvas for tents. The prospector said what he really needed was pants, as they were in short supply just then. So Strauss went right into the workshop and whipped up some overalls, which the miners liked, but as the material tended to chafe, Strauss switched over to a twilled French cloth, serge de Nimes--what we now know as denim. Their color gave them the nickname, "blue jeans."

The first burger chain was not (as I thought) McDonald's, but White Castle, established in 1921? And that, in 1961, White Castle became the first burger chain to sell a billion hamburgers?

The first computer dates from around the first century B.C.?

The first person buried on the moon (!) was an astro-geologist name Eugene M. Shoemaker?
These and other fun facts and odd occurrences can be found in firsts, the latest book by Wilson Casey (aka The Trivia Guy).

I loved this book. I'm a fan of trivia, lists and world records, and this was right up my alley!

firsts is compelling reading for anyone on your Christmas list--and we have FIVE copies to give away to our lucky readers!

Entry method (required):
Just leave a comment on this post with your favorite bit of trivia you've picked up in your years of wisdom. It can be anything, from how to measure with a dollar bill (they're each 6" long), to your State's official flower (Florida's is the orange blossom).

I am really looking forward to reading those comments!

For Additional Entries (optional):
  • Tweet about this giveaway
  • Subscribe to our feed (top sidebar)
  • Put our NEW! Holiday Handbook button on your site and Facebook page (middle sidebar)
  • Blog about this giveaway
  • Saturday or later (it will take a while to go up live), vote up this giveaway on Prizey! just click the green prizey button on the sidebar to reach the giveaway.
That's five MORE chances to enter! And remember, we have FIVE copies to give away! Deadline for entries is December 15th.
Good luck!

13 comments:

wigget said...

i recently learned a potoroo is a marsupial!

wigget said...

subscriber

judybrittle said...

I'm a subscriber.

judybrittle said...

I tweeted
http://twitter.com/kewpiedoll04/status/6383477776

judybrittle said...

Almost is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.
This book would be so much fun! Thank you!
judybrittle at gmail dot com

Anonymous said...

I recently learned that White Castle was originally started in Wichita, Kansas not in Cincinnati, Ohio where most people think it does.

Most people have never even tasted a White Castle sandwich and some that have wish they hadn't.
Merry Christmas.

Rebecca

Anonymous said...

I follow you on twitter.

@mommieschildren

Anonymous said...

http://mommiesgotfivechildren.blogspot.com/2009/12/contests-ending-dec-15th-2009.html

I posted this giveaway on my blog.
Please stop by and follow me, please.

Anonymous said...

I am following your blog.

MeezCarrie said...

It is illegal in Lexington, KY (where I live) to walk through downtown with an ice cream cone in your back pocket!

so there you go. :)

carriemschmidt at gmail dot com

MeezCarrie said...

I'm a subscriber

carriemschmidt at gmail dot com

Renee said...

Oprah Winfrey
1986 --- 1st African-American woman to own her own television production company
(according to littleknownfacts.com)

Renee said...

I voted it up!

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