 | The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore
when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and
figured out how to walk up straight staircases.
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| If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in
the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all
four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.
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| Where did the word "pumpernickel" come from? The name
"pumpernickel" was coined by Napoleon's troops during the Napoleonic Wars. His
men complained that although they were often poorly fed, there was always bread for
Napoleon's favorite horse, Nicoll. Thus the word "pumpernickel" was coined--pain
(bread) pour (for) Nicoll.
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Where did the expression "to get one's goat" originate? Owners of high strung
race horses would place a goat with them to help them calm down. Unscrupulous people steal
the horse's goat *friend* in order to upset the horse so it would not race well. |
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Today's oldest form of horse is the Przewalski, or
Mongolian Wild Horse. Survivors of this breed were discovered in the Gobi
Desert in 1881.
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