Uncle Jake's Bathroom Reader

In Atlanta, Georgia, it is illegal to tie a giraffe to a telephone pole or street lamp. Why is it illegal to tie a giraffe up in the streets of Atlanta? How in all creation did a law like this become necessitated?

What about the 40,000 Americans that are injured by toilets every year? How? Do we even want to know?

It's questions like these that keep your Uncle contemplating the mysteries of the universe (and, apparently, toilet violence). Because you're a beloved member of this family (and because I don't want to feel like the only weird person thinking about this kind've stuff), I present to you a battery of questions and odd observations that've racked my brain for years.

If you, too, aren't left wondering about some of these things by the end of this piece, just request a full refund. I'll return every penny you paid for it.

Would your Uncle lie about these things?

Did you know...

The name "fez" is Turkish for "Hat".

Honolulu is the only place in the United States that has a royal palace.

Your hearing is less sharp if you eat too much.

Elephants have been found swimming miles from shore in the Indian Ocean.

The risk of cardiovascular disease is twice as high in women that snore regularly compared to women who do not snore.

The stringy thing that is seen in egg whites is called "chalazae."

The word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek root "gymnos" meaning nude; the literal meaning of "gymnasium" is "school for naked exercise." Athletes in the ancient Olympic Games would participate in the nude.

It takes about three hours for food to be broken down in the human stomach.

In 1996, Ringo Starr appeared in a Japanese advertisement for applesauce, which coincidentally is what his name means in Japanese.

At lift off, US space shuttles weight about 4.5 million pounds.

When airplanes were still a novel invention, seat belts for pilots were installed only after the consequence of their absence was observed to be fatal - several pilots fell to their deaths while flying upside down.