by
Jeremy Topping
- French spy Chevalier D’Eon cross-dressed frequently (and convincingly) enough to prompt wagers about his gender on the London Stock Exchange. He claimed to be born female and requested governmental recognition as such, but the 1810 post-mortem examination of his body confirmed he was a man.
- The first synthetic grass, made of nylon and polyethylene fibers, was originally patented as Chemgrass. It didn’t become famous until the world’s first domed sports arena, the Houston Astrodome, installed the green stuff in 1966 and it became known as Astroturf. A centerfield pit stored the turf when the Astrodome was used in 2005 to house about 13,000 Katrina evacuees.
- The prince of Nigeria is not e-mailing you! Internet fraud has been on the rise, increasing both in terms of how often and how much. In 2004, the average Internet scam raked in $895 whereas 2005 cons averaged a whopping $1,917.
- Often credited as the godfather of all mockumentaries, This is Spinal Tap (1984) was so convincing that many audience members thought they were watching a film about a real metal band. The three main members of Spinal Tap returned to the mockumentary scene as over-the-hill folk singers in 2003’s A Mighty Wind.
- George Washington’s false teeth were not actually made of wood. The dentures, fashioned in 1796, were made of horse and donkey teeth, gold and lead, set in an ivory plate. The “bottoms” of Washington’s chompers still exist in Baltimore at the National Museum of Dentistry.
- Afraid of flying? Buy a vacation from Moscow-based Persey Tours, and you’ll never have to leave home. For $500, Dmitry Popov’s business will hook you up with doctored photos, fake ticket stubs and hotel receipts—travel souvenirs you can show off to friends who believe you were actually there.
- When manufactured in the United States, Sweet’N Low uses saccharin as an artificial sweetener. Saccharin is illegal in Canada except for use by diabetics; so Canadian Sweet’N Low is made using cyclamate, a sweetener banned in the United States.
- Born in the Ottoman Empire, Jewish kabbalist Sabbatai Zevi proclaimed he was the long-awaited Jewish Messiah, promising to restore the kingdom of Israel in 1666. That year, he was captured by Turkish authorities in Constantinople, where he opted to convert to Islam in order to escape execution.
- Eduardo de Valfierno masterminded the Mona Lisa theft in 1911. After persuading Louvre employee Vincenzo Peruggia to steal the painting (which he did by simply slipping it under his clothes), Valfierno commissioned artist Yves Chandron to make forgeries. With the real Mona missing, Valfierno was able to sell multiple counterfeits as the original.
- As the title role in The Assassination of Jesse James, due to release in winter of 2007, Brad Pitt required the services of five Canadian hand doubles, each with 9.5 fingers. Jesse James shot off half of his left middle finger while cleaning his pistol in the Civil War.
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