Ripley's Believe It or Not by Ripley’s Believe It or Not! for January 28, 2019

Now that I think about it, are there more countries in the Northern or Southern Hemisphere?

Really? Thirteen countries? WOW, that is just so awesome and amazing! How can that possibly be true?

For those that don’t know, the indians that sold Manhattan, didn’t even live there. They were just passing through.

The prize of Manhattan has been disputed so many times. It doesn’t make sense, there’s no way to convert the alleged 60 guilders into anything. Try to see it from the other side: “this guy is giving me all this stuff to settle across the river where I have access to the same water and the place is pretty much the same.” The perception of value changes with circumstances. And the fun part is that those 24$ at a pathetic 3% annual rate of interest compounded monthly are followed today by 44 zeros. Who’s the real scammer here? :D

The prime meridian (longitude 0°) passes only through 8 countries, whereas the longitude 22°32’E passes through 26 countries.

And while the equator (latitude 0°) passes throught 13 countries, the latitude 11°08’10"N passes through 27 countries.

But don’t forget: The equator spans 360 degrees and goes the globe round, every longitude has only 180 degrees and thus has about half the length of the equator.

The interesting thing is, according to Lenape here in the woods of NJ, that their ancestors were on the island curing fishes they had caught when the Dutch arrived. The indigenous peoples piled the stuff in their canoes and went home.

I never really thought about it before, but now I’m wondering … is it $24 (60 Guilders?) in 1626 money, or at today’s value, i.e. adjusted for inflation? And if it isn’t adjusted for inflation, what would it be in today’s dollars?

Ok I’ll be the first. "Gimme a head with hair

Long, beautiful hairShining, gleamingStreaming, flaxen, waxen"

John. Stop googling. Get away from the wiki. Read The Oatmeal.

It was an old nightclub joke: “Guy walks into a bar. An Indian bartender asks, him, ‘What will you have?’ The guy says, ‘How much is a Manhattan?’ The barkeep says, ‘Twenty-four dollars.’”

but who’s counting?

Make that about 50,000 for me.

Mr. T buys more necklaces from the Indians.

Uh, that $24 for Manhattan Island is well know. I was taught that in elementary school history class, and have heard it several times.

I counted 11 countries: Ecuador, Colombia, Peru (maybe the very northern tip), Brazil, Gabon, the 2 Congos, Uganda, Kenya, Somalia and Indonesia. What are the other 2?

100,000 hairs on my head? HA! Maybe 30 years ago.

And it hasn’t ONCE been stopped by customs…

Modern Males in the U.S. don’t seem to have that much hair, the stuff on their bodies is missing.

$24 was a fair price. Inflation, the printing of money by the federal government, makes it look paltry.