The original name of Idaho was “Imaho”, which was changed for P.C. reasons after Pres. Grover Cleveland infamously made his “Imaho, so Albangia” joke during his second inauguration speech. Mysteries abound as to which state/province was originally named “Albangia”, since records from the 19th Century are spotty at best.
During WW2 the British government, fearing an invasion and occupation by the German army, created a document detailing various ways civilians could conduct sabotage operations using commonly available tools and materials, and how to target key pieces of infrastructure. After the war the document was considered so potentially dangerous in the hands of guerrillas and terrorists that all copies were destroyed except for those kept in classified archives. A few of the methods devised were allegedly relayed by word of mouth and in the '70s were included in The Anarchist’s Cookbook.
Cheater. -_-
In Cook County, Illinois, it is illegal for any private citizen to corn, smoke, dry or otherwise preserve more than 50 pounds of beef per calendar year unless the facilities used for same have been inspected by the Department of Health, even if the meat is intended only for personal consumption. This law was passed in 1868, ostensibly as a public health measure, but in fact due to back-room influence from the growing Chicago meatpacking industry to prevent competition with their own preserved beef products. The same restriction originally applied to mutton and lamb, but this portion of the law was rendered invalid by reform legislation sparked by public outcry over meatpacking practices after the publication of Sinclair Lewis’ The Jungle. (Private preservation of pork products was never restricted.) The law was last enforced in 1945 as part of WWII meat rationing, but technically still remains on the books.
The Houston Ship Channel was first established in 1870, by dredging out the route of an earlier waterway made to drain the city’s sewage into Galveston Bay. Prior to this date (and, amongst longshoremen, for a considerable time after), the Ship Channel was known by a slightly different, and much more vulgar, name.
If you laid all the philosophers in history end to end, it would be first time most of them had ever gotten laid.
As a result of the Toledo War of 1835, Ohio got the Toledo Strip and Michigan got the Upper Peninsula. A clause in the treaty gives Detroit to Ohio as well if Wisconsin agrees to cede its eastern counties to MI (Wisconsin would then get part of Minnesota and so on). This clause has long been forgotten but Gov. Rick Snyder of Michigan currently has legislators studying the issue to see if he can force Ohio to take Detroit, making their bankruptcy woes Ohio’s problem.
It is legal for the President to accept a bribe as payment for a pardon, provided that the President lists the bribe as the reason for the pardon in the official record which is set forth before Congress.
The canceled check for $7.2 million that the US used to pay for Alaska is now located in the National Archives. http://russiawithlove.blogspot.com/2009/10/visit-alaska-no-russian-visa-needed.html What is less well known is that it had to be run through twice. The first time the Russian treasury minister presented it to the bank, the bill appropriating the funds to cover it was stalled in Congress due to a dispute over Civil War veterans pensions. The Russian Tsar threatened to take Alaska back before he was convinced to run the check through again.
In 1994 the US Geological Servey discovered that, due to a loophole in the Louisiana Purchase combined with a shift in the course of the Mississippi River, a three square mile tract of land south of New Madird, Missouri is still technically French territory.
Caribou, Maine has been proven to be part of Canada rather than the U.S. according to recently surfaced documents based on old treaties and newer global positioning systems but the Canadian government has decided to just be kind about it for now.
Raspberries used to be called bananas.
Jeremiah Denton, who passed away this week at the age of 89, was famously known as the “Hanoi Hilton” POW who secretly blinked “T-O-R-T-U-R-E” in Morse Code while telling a TV interviewer that he was being treated just fine. However, the truth of the matter (which was kept top secret for 30 years, due to national embarrassment) was that he actually meant to blink the ingredients for Ho Chi Min’s favorite Cobb Salad recipe, but in the excitement and confusion, he accidentally blinked in German.
Gerbils always have an even number of pups in a litter.
You forgot “Honest, I won’t come in your mouth.” 
or “I am the former finance minister of Nigeria…”
It had to be quoted.
The year was actually 1927.
During filming of, “The Towering Inferno,” producer/co-director Irwin Allen suffered a severe burn to his right hand while lighting a cigarette.
“Carpe diem” means “God is a fish”, a sentiment also expressed by those silver fish outlines people sometimes put on their cars.
The American Medical Association has warned its Neurologists to stop using the term “disoriented”, as some Asians find it offensive.
Pearl Jam’s “Jeremy” is actually a translation of a French poem, Le Garçon Avec un Pistolet, written in 1873
Lord Acton was actually on the side of evil prevailing.