10 Daily Things

1. The Popsicle

In 1905, 11-year old Frank Epperson tried making soda pop, then a popular drink, by mixing soda water powder and water. Accidentally, he left the soda out on his porch all night. Temperatures dropped so low that the next day, young Epperson found his soda pop had frozen with the stirring stick in it! He didn’t know it then, but he had accidentally concocted the very first popsicle! It wasn’t until 18 years later, in 1923, that Epperson remembered his invention, applied for a patent and started selling “Eppsicle” ice pops iin different fruit flavors. Later on, his kids started referring to it as the “Popsicle” and ever since, it’s been hard to resist the refreshing allure of this tangy summer treat!

2. Champagne

While many know that Dom Pierre Pérignon is credited for the invention of champagne, it was not the 17th century Benedictine monk’s intention to make a wine with bubbles in it - in fact, he had spent years trying to prevent just that, as bubbly wine was considered a sure sign of poor winemaking.

Pérignon’s original wish was to cater for the French court’s preference for white wine. Since black grapes were easier to grow in the Champagne region, he invented a way of pressing white juice from them. But since Champagne’s climate was relatively cold, the wine had to be fermented over two seasons, spending the second year in the bottle. This produced a wine loaded with bubbles of carbon dioxide, which Pérignon tried but failed to eradicate. Happily, the new winewas a big hit
with the aristocratic crowds in both the French and English courts.

3. Potato Chips/Crisps

In 1853, in a restaurant in Saratoga, New York, a particularly fussy diner (railway magnate Cornelius Vanderbilt) repeatedly refused to eat the fries he had been served with his meal, complaining that they were too thick and too soggy. After he had sent back several plates of increasingly thinly-cut fries, the chef George Crum decided to get his own back by frying wafer-thin slices of potato in grease and sending them out.

Vanderbilt initially protested that the chef’s latest efforts were too thin to be picked up with a fork, but upon trying a few, the chips were an instant hit, and soon everybody in the restaurant wanted a serving. This led to the new recipe appearing on the menu as “Saratoga Chips” before later being sold all over the world.

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Loa Loa worms (also known as the “eye worm”) are classified as filarial worms, meaning they thrive in human tissue. The Loa Loa worm is also called the “eye worm” because they often migrate through the eye and surrounding subsurface areas. At one time, prior to the 1920s, loa loa worm infections occurred in the United States. Today, however, they mainly infect people who are native to Sudan, and those who live in or near Central and West Africa’s swamps and rain forests.

Cymothoa exigua is a parasitic crustacean of the family Cymothoidae. It tends to be 3 to 4 cm long.

This parasite attaches itself at the base of the spotted rose snapper’s (Lutjanus guttatus) tongue, entering the fish’s mouth through its gills. It then proceeds to extract blood through the claws on its front three pairs of legs.

As the parasite grows, less and less blood reaches the tongue, and eventually the organ atrophies from lack of blood. The parasite then replaces the fish’s tongue by attaching its own body to the muscles of the tongue stub. The fish is able to use the parasite just like a normal tongue.

It appears that the parasite does not cause any other damage to the host fish. Once C. exigua replaces the tongue, some feed on the host’s blood and many others feed on fish mucus. They do not eat scraps of the fish’s food.

This is the only known case of a parasite functionally replacing a host organ.

A range of faulty raised toilet seats has led to at least six people being injured, a safety watchdog warned today.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) said it had received 91 reports of broken Homecraft Rolyan Savanah seats.

The MHRA said six people had fallen off the toilet because the seat slipped, with injuries including bumps to the head, bruising and back injury.

One woman died following one of the incidents, although it was not clear to what extent the fall had contributed to her death, the MHRA said.

It urged the public and health and social care providers to be vigilant over the two and four-inch raised seats.

Nearly 25,000 of the seats were sold in the UK between May 2007 and January. However, they do not carry a batch or serial number.

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A restaurant chain has sparked fury by serving up pizzas with a topping of FROGS’ LEGS.

The “Hopper” contains eight limbs on a traditional base with capers and an anchovy sorbet.

The £17.95 dish has angered campaigners who slammed it as “barbaric” - because frogs’ legs are amputated while they are still alive.

Chef Sami Wasif came up with the idea on a trip to Paris - and called it “refined”.

He said: “I’ve been making pizza for more than 20 years and know that London is a city always looking for something new.”

He added: “Pizza is something you can experiment with. I might try one with snails on it next.”

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