A VERY Important News Announcement - May 1, 2011

If anyone hasn't heard yet, I've got the scoop here.

Osama Bin Laden, the leader of Al Qaeda and the runner of the World Trade Center attacks on September 11, 2001, has been killed in an operation launched by the United States in Pakistan, where U.S. troops found Bin Laden and, "after a fire fight," killed Bin Laden and took control of his body.

Still don't believe me? Check out the news:

http://www.cnn.com/2011/WORLD/asiapcf/05/01/bin.laden.obit/index.html?hpt=T1&iref=BN1

Tidbit #20 - April 15, 2011

2nd tidbit of the day.

This is also our 20th tidbit in the blog's history!! So sit back and learn your 20th fact.

In light of the upcoming Christian holiday, I'm also making my first seasonal tidbit! Can you guess what it is?

No? Then check out right below for a hint (it's the answer):

Question: What are the origins of the Easter bunny?


Answer: Wikipedia sure has some interesting stuff, wouldn't you agree? Here's what the millions of writers have typed up about the origins of the Easter bunny:

Bringing Easter eggs seems to have its origins in Alsace and the Upper Rhineland, both then in the Holy Roman Empire, and southwestern Germany, where the practice was first recorded in a German publication in the 1500s (early 16th century). The first edible Easter Eggs were made in Germany during the early 19th century and were made of pastry and sugar.

The Easter Bunny was introduced to the United States by the German settlers who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country during the 18th century. The arrival of the Osterhase was considered one of "childhood's greatest pleasures", similar to the arrival of Kris Kringle on Christmas Eve.

According to the tradition, children would build brightly colored nests, often out of caps and bonnets, in secluded areas of their homes. The "O_ster Haws_e" would, if the children had been good, lay brightly colored eggs in the nest. As the tradition spread, the nest has become the manufactured, modern Easter basket, and the placing of the nest in a secluded area has become the tradition of hiding baskets.

Are you a text-wall-skipper? Read the summary:

Summary: Waay back when (we're talking Bronze Age), the bringing of easter eggs seems to have taken its roots in different parts of the Holy Roman Empire. Southwest Germany got with it, too, in the 1500s. The Easter Bunny (or "osterhase"), however, was introduced to the U.S. by the Germans who arrived in the Pennsylvania Dutch country in the 1700s. Tradition said that if children laid brightly colored nests (generally made our of caps or bonnets) in hidden areas of the house, that "O_ster Haws_e" would put eggs in those nests.

Eventually, the process modernized, evolving into the happy-go-lucky bunny and eggs we know of today.

Unfortunately, those delicious Easter eggs weren't part of the easter tradition until the 1800s.

I tip my cap to whoever was able to read that, but to the rest of you, here is your condensed answer:

The Easter bunny seems to have taken its roots in the German settlers (for whom it had been a tradition since the days of the Holy Roman Empire) who came to the U.S. in the 1700s.


And a very happy Easter to everyone visiting tidbitsz.blogspot.com!

Tidbit #17 - April 12, 2011

Anyone up for some Starbucks? I always get a Tall Strawberries n' Cream Frappucino. Mmmm... Milkshakes. But why is it a Tall size if it's so small?

Question: Why is tall coffee the small size?


Answer: This one was tougher to search up than I thought. I found what seems to be the right answer, though:

Originally, most coffeeshops only had two sizes: short and tall, based on not only the amount of drink they held, but by their height. (hence, short and tall) Eventually, as supply and demand grew, so did the drink sizes, and what was once the largest size (tall) became the shortest size, and the name just stuck. You can still order it as a "short" size and you'll get the same size, but isn't it sad how demand has grown like that?

So, as a condensed answer, we have:

Tall coffee is the small size because, due to increasing demand for more drink, the large (tall) became the small, and the name stuck.