Strange BUT TRUE

• Johnny Cash’s estate was approached by an advertising company asking for permission to use “Ring of Fire” in an ad for hemorrhoid cream. The request was refused.

• Tulips can continue to grow as much as an inch per day after being cut.

• A man with severe OCD and a phobia about germs attempted to commit suicide with a gun to his head. Instead of killing him, the bullet eliminated his mental illness without any other damage.

• Nobody knows how the Academy Awards came to be referred to as “the Oscars.” The earliest mention was in 1932 and became official in 1939.

• In 1911, Elmer McCurdy robbed a passenger train he thought contained thousands of dollars, and was shot by lawmen after making off with just $46. His unclaimed corpse was then embalmed and sold to a traveling carnival. It would be used as a prop or attraction in haunted houses and wax museums for the next 66 years (even showing up on the set of “The Six Million Dollar Man”), until he was finally buried at the famous Boot Hill cemetery in Dodge City, Kansas.

• Vanilla flavoring is sometimes made with beaver urine. • A statue of Nikola Tesla in Silicon Valley radiates free Wi-Fi. It was created as an homage to his vision for wireless communication.

• By the time they have been retired for two years, 78% of former NFL players have gone bankrupt or are under financial stress because of joblessness or divorce.

• A company in the U.K. offers “being hungover” as a valid reason for calling in sick to work.

Thought for the Day: “The beautiful thing about life is that we will never reach an age where there is nothing left to learn, see or be; it’s magical, really.”