AWESOME FACTS ABOUT EVERYTHING LXXXII

1. Cow tipping is the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment. In fact, cow tipping is virtually impossible. Cows lie down when they sleep deeply, and are light and nervous sleepers when they sleep standing up. An adult cow weighs 1600 pounds and has a low center of gravity. Scientist estimate it would take 900 pounds of pressure to tip a cow over - requiring the strength of four to fourteen people. Cows don't like being surprised and they kick, pee, and poop when they are stressed. Cow tipping is an urban legend and the implication that rural citizens seek such entertainment due to a lack of alternatives is a stereotype. 

2. Dan Brown's 2003 novel, The Da Vinci Code, was #1 on the New York Times' best seller list for 136 consecutive weeks.

3. Manufactured by the Chattanooga Bakery since 1917, the Moon Pie is a confection of marshmallow and graham crackers covered with chocolate. It is particularly popular in the South, where the combination of an RC Cola and a Moon Pie was often referred to as "the working man's lunch."

4. Mr. Potato Head was invented and manufactured by George Lerner in 1949, but was first distributed by Hasbro in 1952. It was the first major toy success for Hasbro and revolutionized the toy industry by being the first toy to be advertised on television. It is still in production today. 

5. Cape Wrangell on Attu Island is the western-most point of the United States.

6. Harold Stassen ran for U.S. President nine times between 1948 and 1992.

7. Physicists acknowledge that they can never reach the coldest conceivable temperature, known as absolute zero and calculated to be minus 459.67 degrees Fahrenheit - the hypothetical point at which all molecular activity ceases.

8. Avant-garde composer John Cage sought to break down the barrier between "art" and "non-art", maintaining that all sounds are of interest. 4' 33" (1952), his most famous work, consists of 4 minutes and 33 seconds of silence. The random environmental sounds constitute the "music" in the piece.