Wayne Boatwright wrote:
> On Fri 03 Jul 2009 08:48:18a, Michel Boucher told us...
>
>> Wayne Boatwright > wrote in
>> 5.250:
>>
>>> Stouffer's French Coconut Pie
>>
>> To my knowledge, no coconuts are grown in France.
>>
>>> :->
>>
>
> And you would certainly be right but they have a long history of use in
> Europe. Obviously imported.

Yes. And since they are very hard to crack open, a special device was
invented for that purpose - the Trebuchet. With this machine you
threw the coconuts against castle walls to crack them open.
Later, some benighted soul added boulders to the mix to grind the coconuts
upon impact. This led to some destroyed castles, which caused the machine
to be forbidden.
This in turn prompted the invention of black powder, dynamite and finally -
C4 (C4 means coconut-opener 4).
From : A short and nutty history, by A. Nonymous, Whacky Press

Cheers,

Michael Kuettner