Random Thursday

Let's see what random and obscure facts we will learn today with That's a Fact Jack: A Collection of Utterly Useless Information [Updated] by Harry Bright and Jakob Anser!

(image borrowed from Plot and Theme)

For the candlelit scenes in his eighteenth-century epic Barry Lyndon (1975)m Stanley Kubrick invented his own camera. Using a lens borrowed from NASA, Kubrick built a camera whose shutter speed was beyond what is typical even today.

Wow! Considering this book is a few years old, that's still impressive!

(image borrowed from Space.com)

Edward Halley didn't just have a comet named after him. In 1693, the mathematician and astronomer wrote An Estimate of the Degrees of Morality of Mankind, which marked the beginning of actuarial science--the foundation of the modern life insurance industry.

He was a busy guy!

(image borrowed from Greek Mythology)

Morphine was named after Morpheus, the Greek god of dreams.

Make sense!

(image borrowed from Consumer Reports)

Lettuce contains two to ten parts of morphine per billion.

Wow.

(image borrowed from Partnership for Drug-Free Kids)

The Bayer Company introduced heroin as a nonaddictive substitute for morphine in 1898. Ironically, morphine was eventually used to treat heroin addiction.

Yeah, that's irony for you.