History

Bizarre Fact #261:
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The steel industry, in 1943, introduced the 5-day, 40 hour work week. Henry Ford adopted it in 1926.

Bizarre Fact #262:
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The Taj Mahal complex in India was built between 1631 and 1634 at a cost of about 40-million rupees.

Bizarre Fact #263:
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The Tower of London, for which construction was begun in 1078 by William the Conqueror, once housed a zoo. It also has served as an observatory, a mint, a prison, a royal palace, and (at present) the home of the Crown Jewels.

Bizarre Fact #264:
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The traditional symbol of the pawnbroker—three golden balls—is thought to be derived from the coat of the arms of the Medici family, who ruled Italian city of Florence between the 15th and 16th centuries. The symbol was spread by the Lombards—Italian bankers, goldsmiths, and moneylenders who set up businesses in medieval London.

Bizarre Fact #265:
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The U.S. Automobile Association was formed in 1905 for the purpose or providing "scouts" who could warn motorists of hidden police traps.

Bizarre Fact #266:
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The very first enclosed shopping mall was and is Valley Faire in Appleton, Wisconsin. Not in Minnesota as most people believe. Appleton is also famous for being the birth place of Harry Houdini and the first city in America to use Hydro-electric power in homes.

Bizarre Fact #267:
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There was a "pony express" in Persia many centuries before Christ. Riders on this ancient circuit, wearing special colored headbands, delivered the mails across the vast stretch of Asia Minor, sometimes riding for hundreds of miles without a break.

Bizarre Fact #268:
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There were 57 countries involved in World War II.

Bizarre Fact #269:
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Time magazine's "Man of the Year" for 1938 was Adolf Hitler.

Bizarre Fact #270:
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Today the painting hangs in the Musee du Louvre, Paris, France.