“The Book of Lists” that I was paging through recently had a category called “People Who Became Words.”
An Irish captain who was sent to collect rent from impoverished tenant farmers was ignored. As a group, the farmers decided not to pay the rent. His name was Charles C. Boycott.
John Montagu was a corrupt politician and compulsive gambler. So he wouldn’t have to leave the card table to eat, he had his aides bring him some meat between slices of bread. Montagu was the fourth Earl of Sandwich.
French ambassador Jean Nicot brought a tobacco plant to France that originated in Florida
This “Book of Lists” was from 1977. It is not in our collection any longer. In 1977 the highest grossing movie of all time was “Jaws.” Now, after “Titanic,” “Avatar”, and a bunch of Harry Potter films, “Jaws” isn’t even in the top 50. A lot of the information stands the test of time, however.
In the list “12 famous Non-murder Trials” Socrates was tried in 399 BC for criticizing established institutions and their leaders. Worse yet, he encouraged the youth to do the same! He was convicted by the jury 281-220 (the juries were a bit larger in ancient Athens
Galileo’s trial for saying that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the universe took place in 1633. Under threats from the Inquisition he was forced to confess the falsehood of the Copernican theory and his book “Dialogue” was banned in Italy
The three authors who compiled these lists are David Wallechinsky and Amy and Irving Wallace. Other notable lists in this edition: “17 animals with Pouches”, “The 9 Breeds of Dog That Bite the Most” and “Benjamin Franklin’s 8 Reasons to Marry an Older Woman.”
Reprinted from the Highland Community News, "Library Corner" by John Grimm, June 25, 2011
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