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Showing posts from August, 2009

Facts About Eggs

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China produces most eggs, at about 160 billion per year. In the US, about 260 million hens produce more than 65 billion eggs per year. A hen can lay about 250 eggs per year. An egg shell has as many as 17,000 pores over its surface. There are 150 species of chicken. Chicken are descendants of the red jungle fowl (gallus gallus spadiceus) that lives in Asia. In Mergentheim, Germany, if someone falls gravely ill, that person ties a white thread around an egg and places it into a fire. If the shell turns black in the flame, death is not far off. Occasionally, hens lay eggs with imperfect shells or without shells altogether. In England, such eggs are traditionally called "wind eggs," from the belief that the hen laying them had been impregnated not by the rooster but by the wind. In 1474, legal proceedings were instituted at Basel against a rooster accused of laying an egg for purposes of witchcraft.

Fact About Sharks

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The Swell Shark, found in New Zealand, barks like a dog. Sharks cannot eat Puffer Fish, because the Puffer Fish inflates like a balloon and pokes the shark’s mouth with its sharp needles. A Whale Shark weighs about 90,000 pounds. The second largest shark is the Basking Shark. It can be as much as 40 feet long. Most species of sharks can swim up to 20-40 miles per hour. A Mako Shark has been recorded at more than 60 miles per hour. Sharks do not sleep the same way as humans do. They might seem as if they are sleeping but they are really just resting! The bull shark is the only shark that can live in both fresh and salt water. A bull shark may have been responsible for a shark attack that happened in a creek in New Jersey back in 1916. Sharks have been around for more than 300 million years! They were around before dinosaurs!

Interesting Facts About Pi

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The Greek letter π was first adopted for the number as an abbreviation of the Greek word for perimeter (περίμετρος), or as an abbreviation for "periphery/diameter", by William Jones in 1706. The constant is also known as Archimedes' Constant, after Archimedes of Syracuse who provided an approximation of the number during the 3rd century BC, although this name is uncommon today. Even rarer is the name Ludolphine number or Ludolph's Constant, after Ludolph van Ceulen, who computed a 35-digit approximation around the year 1600. Interesting Facts About Pi: There is no zero in the first 31 digits of Pi. The Babylonians found the first known value for Pi in around 2000BC -They used (25/8). If a billion decimals of pi were printed in ordinary type, they would stretch from New York City, to the middle of Kansas. Pi in fraction form is - 837393900/266550757. A rapidly converging formula for calculation of Pi found by Machin in 1706 was pi/4 = 4 * arctan (1/5) ...

Random Facts

Donald Duck comics were banned from Finland because he doesn't wear pants. Every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head. Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes them looks like it's kissing the conveyor belt. Hypnotism is banned by public schools in San Diego. In Los Angeles, there are fewer people than there are automobiles. "Kemo Sabe" means "soggy shrub" in Navajo. Non-dairy creamer is flammable.

Interesting Facts About Money

In 1943, pennies were made of zinc coated steel to conserve copper for the war, it gave them that silverly look. 95% of the bills printed each year are used to replace bills already in circulation. The largest bill by size is the 100,000 Piso of the Philippines according to the Guinness Book of Records, it’s about the size of legal paper. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was the first the issue paper money in the American colonies in 1690. “In God We Trust” was first put on coins in the Civil War but didn’t make it onto all coins until 1955. Queen Isabella of Spain was the first woman to appear on a US commemorative coin in 1893. She’s also the only real person to appear on a coin produced by the Mint. It wasn’t until 1877 that Congress passed a bill that prohibited the counterfeiting of any coin, gold or silver bar.

Fun Facts About Toilet Paper

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The first mention recorded from toilet paper dates back to the year 589 AD in Korea. During the later Tang Dynasty (618-907 AD) a Muslim Arab traveler to China in the year 851 AD remarked: "They (the Chinese) are not careful about cleanliness, and they do not wash themselves with water when they have done their necessities; but they only wipe themselves with paper. Between 875 and 1317 AD, paper was produced in large sheets for the Emperor's hygiene. The introduction of modern toilet paper in the US is traced to Joseph Gayetty, who unsuccessfully marketed single flat sheets in 1857. By 1867, the Scott brothers (Thomas, Edward and Clarence) began producing perforated paper rolls, as did Seth Wheeler (the patent holder) in 1871.  Toilet paper is often used for making dresses. The average person uses 100 rolls of toilet paper per year (over 20,000 sheets). The average American uses 50 pounds of toilet paper per year and about eight sheets per trip to the bathr...

Today in History

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1990 Iraq invades and occupies Kuwait, Emir flees to Saudi Arabia. 1961 Beatles 1st gig as house band of Liverpool's Cavern Club. 1943 Lt. John F. Kennedy's PT-boat 109 sinks at Solomon islands. 1892 Charles A. Wheeler patents a prototype of the escalator. 1875 World 1st roller skating rink opens in London.

Facts About Hurricanes

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A hurricane is a fierce storm with strong winds rotating around a moving center of low atmospheric pressure. Maximum wind speeds must be 73 miles per hour or more. Once winds go below 73 miles-per-hour, it is a tropical storm. 36% of all U.S. hurricanes hit Florida. 76% of Category 4 or higher hurricanes hit Florida or Texas. Since 1900, just three Category 5 storms have hit the continental U.S. There have been 15 Category 4 storms in that time, including Hurricane Charley. Hurricane Andrew. Southeast Florida, 1992. Category 5 storm cost about $34 billion. Hurricane season officially runs from June 1st to November 30th, but the most activity is usually seen in August and September.  Hurricanes may have a diameter of 400 to 500 miles (640-800 kilometers). About 90 percent of the deaths that occur during hurricanes result from drowning in floods. Hurricanes were first given names in the 19th century by Clement Wragge, an Australian weatherman. Nicknamed “Wet...