# 99 little know facts about the founding of the USA **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 2, 2011, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604 "2011-07-02T05:09:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![42fish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/4/b487fb/32.png) [@42fish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/42fish)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/81 "2011-07-07T19:15:56Z")
At the Constitutional Convention, the Electoral College was implemented as a compromise between the faction that wanted to choose the President by direct popular vote and the faction that wanted a steel-cage deathmatch. Aaron Burr once boasted that he “shot a man in Reno, just to watch him die.” When Alexander Hamilton pointed out that Reno had yet to be founded, Burr shot him instead. ---
**Author:** ![Lukeinva](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lukeinva/32/17872_2.png) [@Lukeinva](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lukeinva)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/82 "2011-07-07T21:16:24Z")
The original flag Betsy Ross made was not made of red and white stripes. It was red and white checkers. However, long before it waved it was stolen. The little known fact here is that John had an Italian cousin, Guido Hancock. He used it for his spaghetti restaurant and the Red & White checkered flag became the National Tablecloth of New Jersey. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 10:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/83 "2011-07-07T22:03:19Z")
Cockfighting was the first nationally followed sport in America, but it didn’t involve chickens. It involved men stabbing and slapping at each other with their penises, which had a short length of razor attached to the tips. Men finally stopped the practice and concocted the massive cover story involving chickens much later, near the end of the nineteenth century. They had become a laughingstock to women, when someone, never identified, violated the First Rule of The Cockfighting Club, which was you didn’t talk about The Cockfighting Club. ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2011, 10:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/84 "2011-07-07T22:31:07Z")
Most of the lyrics of the song “Yankee Doodle” are in fact sexual innuendos, although scholars disagree on what act “Macaroni” was supposed to signify. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 12:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/85 "2011-07-08T00:17:55Z")
> [@Boyo\_Jim](#): > > Cockfighting was the first nationally followed sport in America, but it didn’t involve chickens. It involved men stabbing and slapping at each other with their penises, which had a short length of razor attached to the tips. Hence the phrase “The penis mightier than the sword”. There was much disagreement as to what Washington should be called: President, Prime Minister, King, Lord General. He himself preferred Cool Papa G, while his wife (and sister) Martha preferred Silk Daddy. > [@Lumpy](#): > > Most of the lyrics of the song “Yankee Doodle” are in fact sexual innuendos, although scholars disagree on what act “Macaroni” was supposed to signify. At least they’re not filled with violent rape fantasies like [The Star Spangled Banner](http://www.theonion.com/video/restoration-of-star-spangled-banner-uncovers-horri,17691/). ---
**Author:** ![R.P.McMurphy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/7993a0/32.png) [@R.P.McMurphy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/R.P.McMurphy)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/86 "2011-07-08T04:22:38Z")
> [@Sampiro](#): > > At least they’re not filled with violent rape fantasies like [The Star Spangled Banner](http://www.theonion.com/video/restoration-of-star-spangled-banner-uncovers-horri,17691/). “The Stars Spangled Banner” was actually a lot like like the Book of Revelations. It was a glimpse into the future. In this case, the future being the NBA. Most notably, the Houston Rockets franchise. There was an earlier post about the British relying on air power to win the war. What they failed to take into account was the fact that Fred Blair could “sky” like Michael Jordan. Therefore, the line by Francis Scott Key: "The Rockets Fred Blair . . . " The British had no answer to that. The rest is history. ---
**Author:** ![Boyo\_Jim](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/87869e/32.png) [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 1:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/87 "2011-07-08T13:04:31Z")
You’ve all got it wrong. _The Star Spangled Banner_ was the first gay anthem, written specifically for Freddie Mercury. ---
**Author:** ![67java89](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/6/aeb1de/32.png) [@67java89](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/67java89)\ **Post date:** [July 8, 2011, 1:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604/88 "2011-07-08T13:12:10Z")
> [@furryman](#): > > Everything you never knew about [del]Leon Shingledown[/del] George Washington: > [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sbRom1Rz8OA) Wow, that’s messed up…but very funny [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/99-little-know-facts-about-the-founding-of-the-usa/587604.md?page=4)