Bicycles are great for exercising the lower body, but what about the back? In 1900 Louis S. Burbank had a bright idea — by mounting a pair of sculls on the frame, the modern cyclist can row his way to total fitness.
The levers are used for both pedaling and steering. The patent says nothing about brakes.
The four young stars of Rebel Without a Cause all died prematurely:
See Fallout.
“Knowing exactly how much of the future can be introduced into the present is the secret of great government.” — Victor Hugo
A paradox by Sam Loyd. The figure on the left, measuring 8×8, can be reassembled into the figure on the right, measuring 7×9. Therefore 64 = 63.
knickknackatory
n. a collection of knickknacks
A tongue twister: Bluebeard brought back black bric-a-brac.
In 1842, a Mrs. Simon was traveling by train through the English countryside when a torrential downpour began. The kind-looking elderly gentleman sitting opposite her suddenly arose, opened the window, put his head out, and kept it out for nearly nine minutes. Finally he withdrew it, dripping with water, closed the window, and sat with his eyes closed for a quarter of an hour.
Unable to suppress her curiosity, the young lady arose, opened the window, and put her own head out.
At the next year’s Academy, as she was viewing Rain, Steam, and Speed, someone behind her said, “Just like Turner, ain’t it. Whoever saw such a ridiculous conglomeration?”
She said quietly, “I did.”
A set of dominoes can be arranged into a valid arithmetic sum:
and into a magic square:
From Joseph S. Madachy, Madachy’s Mathematical Recreations, 1966, and W.W. Rouse Ball, Mathematical Recreations and Essays, 1919.
As he was visiting his parishioners one Saturday afternoon, a new pastor stopped at one house and found that no one answered the door. It was clear that someone was home, but he knocked repeatedly and no one appeared. Finally he pulled out his card, wrote “Revelation 3:20” on the back, and left it in the door.
That Sunday he found the card in the collection basket. Below his message someone had written “Genesis 3:10.”
Revelation 3:20 reads, “Behold I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will dine with him, and he with me.”
Genesis 3:10 reads, “And he said, I heard thy voice in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked.”
What is shorter when it is longer and longer when it is shorter; also bigger when it is smaller and smaller when it is bigger?
A word. LONGER is shorter than SHORTER, and SMALLER is bigger than BIGGER.
Richard Lederer and Gary Hallock devised this puzzling sentence, which is best read aloud:
What is a four-letter word for a three-letter word which has five letters yet is still spelled with three letters, while it has only two and rarely has six and never is spelled with five?
It’s not a question, but a statement. Capitalize WHAT, FOR, WHICH, YET, IT, RARELY, and NEVER.