Muddling Toward Maturity Blog

HOW LONG SHOULD ONE KEEP UP A CHRISTMAS TREE?

This is January 13th.  A moment ago I read a fascinating bit of trivia that answers the question (at least for Swedes -- of which I am not one).  But I still like the suggestion:

King Knut, Sweden's king from 1080 to 1086, decreed that the Christmas season should be celebrated for 20 days -- December 25 to January 13.  In Sweden, it is still traditional to wait until January 13, known as St. Knut's Day, to discard the Christmas tree.

Another bit of trivia about January 13th:  It is traditionally the coldest day of the year. 

(Source: Ben Franklin's Almanac of Wit, Wisdom, and Practical Advice)

TRIVIA – HERE’S A FORMULA FOR DETERMINING A PERSON’S AGE

Okay, admittedly, the following  is total trivia.  It reminds me of something similar that we learned to do as kids.  It's a way of telling someone 's age by means of a mathematical formula.    Enjoy!

Ask a person to:

1.  Multiply the number of the month of his/her birth by 100.

2. Add the date of the month.

3. Multiply this sum by 2

4. Add 8.

5. Multiply this by 5.

6. Add 4.

7. Multiply this by 10.

8. Add 4.

9. Add his/her age to this total.

10. From this total subtract 444.

 Ask the person to show you the answer. The last two digits are the age of the person; the other digits indicate the month and day of his or her birth.

Trivia - The Year 1905

- From an e-mail someone sent me a few days ago regarding the Year 1905 - that's 1905, not 2005:

The average life expectancy in the U.S. was 47 years.
Only 14 percent of the homes in the U.S. had a bathtub.
Only 8 percent of the homes had a telephone. 
A three-minute call from Denver to New York City cost eleven dollars. 
The tallest structure in the world was the Eiffel Tower!
The average wage in the U.S. was 22 cents per hour.
More than 95 percent of all births in the U.S. took place at home.
Eggs were fourteen cents a dozen.
Five leading causes of death in the U.S. were:
    1.  Pneumonia and influenza
    2.  Tuberculosis
    3.  Diarrhea
    4.  Heart disease
    5.  Stroke
The population of Las Vegas, Nevada, was only 30!
Only 6 per cent of all Americans had graduated from high school. 

I post this for general interest's sake, not to make any particular point.