# Who invented 98.6° and when? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 12, 2007, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870 "2007-02-12T17:09:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/21 "2007-02-13T17:49:00Z")
[QUOTE=Nava] The C is easy: 0C for freezing pure water, 100C for boiling pure water at 1atm. The F, as I was told by my college professors, came from a Royal request. 0F was the temperature at which the North Sea freezes; 100F, the temperature of the human body. Farenheit was a tad off, that’s all. [/QUOTE] As we have seen from what Cecil himself said, your professors were probably wrong. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [February 13, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/22 "2007-02-13T23:00:39Z")
One of my college textbooks claimed that 100 F was the rectal temperature of a cow. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/23 "2007-02-14T00:01:18Z")
[QUOTE=DSYoungEsq] As we have seen from what Cecil himself said, your professors were probably wrong. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Or, gasp, Cecil and the professor were both wrong. ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/24 "2007-02-14T00:21:45Z")
[QUOTE=ENugent] One of my college textbooks claimed that 100 F was the rectal temperature of a cow. :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Yes, but _which_ cow? ---
**Author:** ![SCSimmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e495f1/32.png) [@SCSimmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SCSimmons)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/25 "2007-02-14T00:26:27Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] Or, gasp, Cecil and the professor were both wrong. [/QUOTE] Over 11,000 posts on this board, and you haven’t yet figured out that Cecil is _never_ wrong? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/26 "2007-02-14T00:49:06Z")
[QUOTE=SCSimmons] Over 11,000 posts on this board, and you haven’t yet figured out that Cecil is _never_ wrong? 😛 [/QUOTE] After posting that I pulled the covers over my head. ---
**Author:** ![DSYoungEsq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DSYoungEsq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSYoungEsq)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/27 "2007-02-14T02:56:57Z")
[QUOTE=David Simmons] After posting that I pulled the covers over my head. [/QUOTE] Presumably, no one is now standing within say, oh, 100 meters of you, for when the lightning strikes. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Horatio\_Hellpop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e5b9ba/32.png) [@Horatio\_Hellpop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Horatio_Hellpop)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 8:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/28 "2007-02-14T08:56:56Z")
According to my art teacher circa 1976, there was an American pop song referring to 98.6. American audiences recognized it as “normal, no fever body temp.” British audiences didn’t, since their body temperature was somewhat lower. This story is the very definition of “FOAF” and “anecdotal”; I can’t cite a factual source for a single element of it, even the name of the song/musician. ---
**Author:** ![Wee\_Bairn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/90db22/32.png) [@Wee\_Bairn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wee_Bairn)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/29 "2007-02-14T14:49:35Z")
**Krokodil** , see post #4 above, or [this](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Keith_(singer)) ---
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/30 "2007-02-14T14:51:14Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn] **Krokodil** , see post #4 above [/QUOTE] And #17. ---
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/31 "2007-02-14T15:03:44Z")
[QUOTE=Krokodil] British audiences didn’t, since their body temperature was somewhat lower. [/QUOTE] That would explain why Americans find Brits rather chilly. ---
**Author:** ![David\_Simmons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9de053/32.png) [@David\_Simmons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/David_Simmons)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/32 "2007-02-14T16:16:33Z")
[QUOTE=dropzone] That would explain why Americans find Brits rather chilly. [/QUOTE] I think that’s a myth arising from the fact that most Americans only meet Brits through books that portray them as reserved. I found the Brits I encountered to be quite friendly. I even had a guy in London walk several blocks with me to make sure I could find the place to which he had directed me. “I’ll just walk along with you Yahink. It’s a bit of a maze.” ---
**Author:** ![Jake](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f475e1/32.png) [@Jake](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jake)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2007, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870/33 "2007-02-14T19:33:35Z")
[QUOTE=Thudlow Boink] Yes, but _which_ cow? [/QUOTE] That one. Over there. See? The one giving milk to the Capybearas. I have it on good authority. (No cite.) 😉 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-invented-98-6-and-when/391870.md?page=1)