Did a popular singer-dancer suffer a heart attack while filming a television show?

Thanksgiving looms ahead, and it behooves us to consider thankfulness in our everyday lives.

Life itself, of course, should be at the top of the list. After all, it’s rather difficult to make a list of any kind if you aren’t even alive.

The many blessings we have received are definitely things to be thankful for. I’ve had more than my share in my 63 years, for which I am deeply grateful.

Consider, though, being thankful for those situations that went wrong as well. When events went awry, in many cases the result led you (and me) to change our lives for the better, don’t you find? Well, I do, anyway.

So I’m thankful for what I’ve received, for what I haven’t, and for those unexpected times when my life changed at the drop of a hat. He who makes those decisions knows what’s best for me, and for you too.

So let’s hope you’re thankful for the trivia I am about to provide. Read on!

Did you know …

… what the words “facetious” and “abstemious” have in common? The five vowels (a, e, i, o and u) appear in the proper alphabetical order. They are the only two words in the English language with that distinction. (It fits, though, that these are not words found in common, everyday use, I think.)

… the law in Texas makes it a crime to put graffiti on a cow that doesn’t belong to you? (It is pretty annoying to the cow as well.)

… the word, “hippopotamu,” means “river horse?” Despite that, hippos are more closely related to pigs than to horses. (But “porkapotamus” is such a silly word, isn’t it?)

… the Hundred Years’ War was misnamed? The conflict between England and France actually lasted 116 years, from 1337 to 1453. (But who’s counting? They obviously didn’t.)

… the Coast Guard used to get messages asking them to save the cast of a television program? From 1964 to 1967, one of the most popular – and silliest – programs on television was, “Gilligan’s Island,” which followed the comedic adventures of a group of castaways on a tiny Pacific island. During that time, the U.S. Coast Guard reported receiving numerous telegrams from “concerned citizens” who apparently did not realize the program was a scripted comedy, and the citizens were asking the Coast Guard to rescue the people on the island. (Just sit right back and you’ll hear a tale … of gullible people.)

… the fastest winds in the Solar System are found on Neptune? The planet farthest from the sun has wind velocities of around 2,400 miles per hour. (That fact just blew me away.)

… a popular singer and dancer suffered a heart attack while performing on television? On August 4, 1955, Brazilian singer and dancer Carmen Miranda (1909-1955) was performing a strenuous dance routine during a filming of “The Jimmy Durante Show,” dancing along with Durante (1893-1980) when she suddenly gasped for breath, dropped to her knees and clutched at her chest. Durante, realizing something was wrong, offered to “take her lines,” but Miranda insisted on continuing with the dance. Miranda had suffered a heart attack, but as “the show must go on,” she finished the skit. At 3:00 the following morning, walking in the hallway of her home, she collapsed and died of a major heart attack, which doctors said was caused by the stress of the earlier attack. Durante consulted with Miranda’s family and everyone agreed to show what was her last performance, complete with the on-screen attack, as a tribute to her and to her fans. The episode aired on October 15, 1955, with a special poignant introduction from Durante. The footage is available (as of this writing) on YouTube. Additional trivia note: At the time of her on-film heart attack, Miranda was singing and dancing to the song “Jackson, Miranda and Gomez” along with Durante and actor, Eddie Jackson (1896-1980), who was a regular performer on Durante’s show.

… lions are not the largest species of cat? Tigers hold that designation. (Here, kitty kitty kitty!)

… the first aerial photograph of an American city was taken in 1860? Shot from a balloon over Boston, the photo was published under the title, “Boston as the Eagle and the Wild Goose See It.” (Talk about a bird’s eye view!)

… modern astronauts have a patch of Velcro™ inside their space helmets? The Velcro provides a place for the astronaut to scratch his or her nose while suited up. (I always wondered how they handled that situation.)

… in the state of Ohio, it is illegal for a person to get a fish drunk? (If the fish is drinking by himself, though, there’s little you can do to stop him.)

… the term for help, “Mayday,” comes from a French word? The second-most-used way of signaling for help (after “SOS”), “Mayday” is a corruption of the French term “M’aidez,” which means, “Help me!”

… spiders are found on six of the seven continents? The only continent with no native spiders is Antarctica. (But then, very little is native in Antarctica except seals and penguins. And ice. Lots of ice.)

… dry ice does not melt? Dry ice is frozen carbon dioxide. As it warms, it simply transforms from a solid to a gas. (Now that’s a gas!)

… the driest place on Earth is in Antarctica? The Dry Valleys, according to scientists, have not seen precipitation in almost two million years. (It hasn’t seen much of anything else over that time, either.)

Now … you know!

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