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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
"Loco Foco" became the name of a a radical political group in the 1830s:
"Sensing defeat, the minions of Tammany Hall dimmed the gas lights, plunging the meeting into darkness. Responding to the shout "Let there be light!" the quick-thinking radicals struck a new brand of matches called "Loco Focos," and the name stuck."
Previously matches could only be lighted by striking the on a surface containing phosphorus.Apparently the loco-focos were the first strike-anywhere matches.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
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Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 7,210 |
oy! that link near ripped me monitor in two! 
formerly known as etaoin...
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 11,613 |
Oh--did it make your screen go wide? I'm sorry if it did. On mine, the link splits down to the next line after asp?.
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 6,511 |
after asp?Hey, leave me outta this!  Made mine go wide, too, Jackie. Maybe it's a Mac thang, huh, eta...
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Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 13,803 |
Opera 5.0 for Mac: wide
M$ Internet Exploder 6.0 for PC: not
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Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Apr 2000
Posts: 10,542 |
Netscape 6.2 - wide
IE 6.0 - not (same computer)
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Joined: Mar 2000
Posts: 1,027
old hand
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old hand
Joined: Mar 2000
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Previously matches could only be lighted by striking them on a surface containing phosphorus
With due respect - are you sure about that? I was always under the impression that it was the other way round: the first matches contained (white) phosphorus, and could be lighted on any surface - they often lighted spontaneously and caused poisonings. In the later safety matches, antimony sulfide and potassium chlorate is used, which ignites in contact with the red phosphorus of the matchbox.
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Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858
Carpal Tunnel
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Carpal Tunnel
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 13,858 |
Dear wsieber: The strike anywhere matches caused accidents.
I can remember newspaper stories about someone putting several of them in a pocket, and from sitting down have them ignite and cause severe burn. So safety matches were marketed that again had a special striking area on the outside of the package.
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