George Clooney purchased a Vietnamese pot-bellied pig named Max as a gift for then girlfriend, actress Kelly Preston. When their relationship ended, Clooney kept the pig for an additional 18 years until Max died in 2006. He has jokingly referred to Max as the longest relationship he had ever had en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geoโฆ
Today I learned about Cambodia's memorials to documenting vicious rule of Pol Pot and the genocide of the Khmer Rouge. Nearly 20% of Cambodia's population were murdered and buried in mass graves. atlasobscura.com/places/pโฆ
The Roman peoples, or the rather wealthy Roman peoples, consumed an artificial sweetener called Sapa. The sweetener was usually made within lead pots, which led many of the people who consumed it to lead poisoning. smithsonianmag.com/arts-cโฆ
An unnamed 9-yr-old Girl Scout sold over 300 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in 6 hrs from her wagon in front of a San Diego marijuana dispensary in 2018. She followed in the footsteps of 13-yr-old Danielle Lei, who in 2014 sold 117 boxes of Girl Scout cookies in 2 hrs outside a San Fran pot shop. today.com/parents/girl-scโฆ
In the 18th century, some toilet bowls or chamber pot holders were constructed to look like a book or pile of books from the outside, in order to camouflage them. One such "book" has "Histoire des Pays Bas" (History of the Netherlands/Lower Lands) on its spine, a reference to its intended use atlasobscura.com/articlesโฆ
Weird Al wanted to make a parody of โLive and Let Dieโ titled โChicken Pot Pieโ; but Paul McCartney refused because he is vegetarian, and couldnโt condone a song about eating meat. mentalfloss.com/article/7โฆ
The term โGreen Thumbโ comes from the fact that algae growing on the outside of earthenware pots will stain a person's thumb (and fingers) if he or she handles enough pots. Hence, a person who is always working with flowerpots has a green thumb almanac.com/fact/can-you-โฆ
In 1902, Scottish explorers went on an expedition to Antarctica, and they brought along a piper, who was tasked with maintaining morale. He played the bagpipes in full Highland dress next to a penguin (which was tethered to a large pot packed with snow), but the penguin was sleepily indifferent mentalfloss.com/article/9โฆ
In 1997 in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, a pot-bellied pig named Lulu saved her owner, having a heart attack. Lulu heard the owner's cries of pain then forced her way out of the yard and played dead on the road. Lulu successfully stopped a car and guided help to the owner, she survived. vault50.com/lulu-pig-playโฆ
Honey doesn't spoil even after thousands of years, like pots of it found still preserved in Egyptian tombs. It is highly acidic and low in moisture making it inhospitable for anything that tries to grow and bees have an enzyme that leaves hydrogen peroxide as a byproduct of breaking nectar down. smithsonianmag.com/sciencโฆ
George Clooney's most faithful companion for almost 20 years was a 300lb Vietnamese pot-bellied pig named Max. Clooney first bought Max for Kelly Preston, but when she went on to marry John Travolta, she left the pig behind. Clooney often jokes that Max is the longest relationship he's ever had independent.co.uk/news/woโฆ
A U of Quebec study of 320,000 patients with a history of alcoholism found that patients with high cannabis use had a better defense against liver disease than non-users. Non-pot users had a 90% chance of liver disease; light pot users had an 8% chance; heavy pot users had a 1.3% chance. vice.com/en_au/article/neโฆ
Today I learned of the Flower Pot Technique, where rats are kept in a bucket full of water on top of a flower pot for sleep deprivation studies. If they fall into REM sleep, they fall off the pot and into the water. In order to avoid drowning, they must climb back up every time they re-enter REM sleep. biorxiv.org/content/10.11โฆ
Most people in the ancient city of Rome lived in apartment buildings that lacked kitchens. Thus most people relied on prepared food was sold at pubs, inns, and food stalls. Some establishments had counter tops fitted with openings for pots that may have kept food warm for extended serving. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fooโฆ
Diners started using orange handle coffee pots for decaf because the colour orange was associated with the orange coloured label on Sanka, a once popular brand of instant decaf coffee. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sanโฆ
Robert Downey, Jr. started using drugs at age 6 when his father gave him pot. By age 8, he admits he was a drug addict. B/n 1995-2001, he cycled through arrests, rehab & prison. Sober since 2001, he became the highest-paid actor 2013-2015 and the 2nd highest-grossing box office star of all time. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robโฆ
The first thing that was ever bought and sold over the internet was weed. In 1971 or 1972, Stanford students using Arpanet accounts at Stanford's AI Laboratory engaged in a commercial transaction with their counterparts at MIT, and thus the first act of e-commerce was a pot deal. fastcompany.com/3054025/yโฆ
The Instant Pot pressure cooker can serve as a laboratory autoclave where more expensive units are not available (E.g. remote labs) or attainable (E.g. lack of funding). It even passes the Geobacillus stearothermophilus spore inactivation test. journals.plos.org/plosoneโฆ
Eartha Kitt - known as the original singer of "Santa Baby" and the voice of Izma in The Emperor's New Groove - was blacklisted by the CIA after telling Lady Bird Johnson, "You send the best of this country off to be shot and maimed. No wonder the kids rebel and take pot." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Earโฆ
Archaeological studies found evidence of asbestos being used since the Stone Age to strengthen pots. Many developing countries today support using asbestos as a building material. Russia is the top producer, having produced 1 million tons in 2015. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asbโฆ
A team of international scholars have been working to recreate recipes from 4000 years ago from tablets. One Mesopotamian dish resembles a chicken pot pie, with layers of dough and chunks of bird smothered by a sort of Babylonian bรฉchamel sauce bbc.com/travel/story/2019โฆ
The first webcam streaming was about a group of researchers making sure they always have coffee in the pot at their lab. The cam aired it from 1993 until 2001. cl.cam.ac.uk/coffee/qsf/cโฆ
The word potassium is derived frm 'potash.' This preindustrial way to produce water-soluble possasium was by burning plant matter then soaking the ashes with water in a pot. wikidiff.com/potas
Perpetual Stews were common in the middle ages. The pot was never or rarely emptied, and whatever food was found was placed inside and cooked en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perโฆ
A 238-lb (108-kg) pot-bellied pig named Ludwig apparently saved his owners from being burgled. The pig can growl in a low rumble that sounds like a large Rottweiler, and his owners believe this scared the burglars away. catersnews.com/stories/anโฆ
Most of the Cambodians did not even know that Pol Pot was the head of Khmer Rouge until his communist friends from China โinsistedโ him to show his face to the world as the leader of Cambodia. Even his family members who were working in the fields did not know he was running the country. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khmโฆ
As part of the Imperial Examination in Ming and Qing dynasty China, candidates would bring stationery, food, water, bedding and a chamber pot to be isolated with in a tiny room for 3 days and 2 nights to write essays. If any died, the bodies were simply wrapped in a mat and tossed over the wall. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impโฆ
One of the principle deniers of the Cambodian Genocide of 1975-1979 (the British Academic Malcom Caldwell) was (almost certainly) killed by the Khmer Rouge (probably under the orders of Pol Pot) shortly after interviewing Brother Number One on Dec. 22 1978. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camโฆ
Cassowary meat is so tough that people were told to cook it with a stone in the pot. "When the stone is ready to eat, so is the Cassowary." en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Casโฆ
The Doobie Brothers got that name because an acquaintance of the group, Keith "Dyno" Rosen, asked them "Why don't you call yourself the Doobie Brothers because you're always smoking pot?" en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theโฆ
Louis Armstrong was an avid pot smoker all his life. He was arrested for drug possession in New Orleans in 1930, and was jailed 9 days for it, but described marijuana as being "a thousand times better than whiskey". en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louโฆ
It was said of the Khmer Rouge's Brother Number Two, that 'in comparison with Nuon Chea, people considered Pol Pot a paragon of kindness'? Also he was not punished for his many, many murders until he was 81. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nuoโฆ
The practice of indoor gardening dates back to ancient times. Initially, in ancient Egyptian, Indian and Chinese civilizations pot plants were used in outdoor settings in courtyards. prestigiousplantscapes.coโฆ
Today I learned about Perpetual Stew, common in the middle ages, it was a stew that was kept constantly stewing in a pot and rarely emptied, just constantly replenished with whatever items they could throw in it. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Perโฆ
Today I learned about a British man who bought a ceramic pot at a junk sale for less than ยฃ4 and used it as a toothbrush holder until learning it was actually made in the Indus Valley of present-day Afghanistan about 4,000 years ago. It's thought the pot was originally brought to the UK by British tourists. atlasobscura.com/articlesโฆ
Today I learned of Zeer Pot, a refrigeration tool that doesn't require electricity extending usable life of corps to weeks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Potโฆ
Harvard Associate Professor Dr. Lester Grinspoon tried to prove pot was harmful to get his friend, Carl Sagan, to smoke less. He then wrote a book on the lies behind pot and prompted a study into using THC for chemo associated nausea and vomiting, after seeing results in his son with leukemia. leafly.com/news/science-tโฆ
In 1732 Jonathan Swift wrote a poem about a man who sneaks into his mistress' dressing room and smells her filthy chamber pot full of poop. poetryfoundation.org/poemโฆ
To help combat iron deficiency(a worldwide nutritional problem), โlucky iron fishโ - iron lumps molded into the shape fish are made to be added to cooking pots in Cambodia. smithsonianmag.com/innovaโฆ
Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome (POTS). Itโs a form of Dysautonomia, that can affect many automatic bodily functions. Called an Invisible Illness, sufferers become adept at hiding their symptoms and may look healthy on the outside but daily activities can often be a struggle. youtu.be/bJQmOJdmmMc
Cambodian leader Pol Pot began a radical experiment to create an agrarian utopia inspired in part by Mao Zedong's Cultural Revolution which he had witnessed first-hand during a visit to Communist China. He began by declaring, "This is Year Zero," and that society was about to be "purified." historyplace.com/worldhisโฆ
In China, a crayfish detached its own claw over a boiling pot of soup in order to escape being cooked. It sacrificed its limb to save its own life. It was later adopted as a pet by a user of the Chinese social media site Weibo. theguardian.com/world/201โฆ
Today I learned of Gregory Blackstock, an autistic savant born in Seattle who spent his working life as a pot washer. He has created visual lists - astonishingly meticulous drawings of such diverse subjects as The Great Cabbage Family, Classical Clowns, Shoes, American Lighthouses and Great Italian Roosters. brainpickings.org/2011/12โฆ
Today I learned about Monte Testaccio, the 'Mountain of Pots' in Rome, a hill made entirely from around 53 million discarded ancient Roman containers used to carry olive oil. It is one of the largest ancient 'spoil mounds' in the world, and is now key in understanding Roman trade routes in Spain and Libya. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monโฆ
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