All the trivial bits of information that might or might not have interested you. Oldest on bottom, newest on top.
A narwhal's horn is actually one of its teeth.
You can make a very interesting mummy using caution tape. Some calculus word problems involve the half-life of garlic bread being sold at football games. There is a trash can on the sidewalk somewhere. Lake Baikal, in Siberia, is the world's deepest lake at 1,642 m (5,387 ft) deep. A group of barracudas is called a battery and a group of cats is called a clowder. While Europe has about a third the surface area of Africa, it has 1.2 times Africa's coastline length. The first battle between two ironclad ships, the Monitor and the Merrimack (Virginia), took place during the American Civil War on March 8-9, 1862. Buffalo, New York, receives an average of about 40 inches of rain per year. The first issue of the New York Times was in 1851. e is less than pi. One mole is about 6.022 x (10^23), just as one dozen is 12, and a score is 20. Moles are typically used to measure numbers of atoms or molecules; for instance, one mole of Carbon-12 atoms weighs 12 g. A Hydrogen ion is usually simply a proton. There is a patent for how to swing in an oval on a swingset. The Bay of Fundy, in Canada, has the highest tidal range in the world. Jacob can fit 42 pancakes into his vocabulary. (see Survey 2) Raccoons have five toes on their front paws. Armadillos are the only animals besides humans that can contract leprosy. The monitor of the computer from which I am updating this page has a label in the top-right corner that says, "Video Input 2." The current most powerful computer in the world is in Japan and is named "K". C.S. Lewis' Out of the Silent Planet was first published in 1938. The average person has 3 to 5 dreams per night. Grasshopper "blood" is green. Over one million mummified animals, mostly cats, have been found in Egypt. If you type in "do a barrel roll" as a search entry on Google, then Google will to a barrel roll. Copernicium is the most recently officially named element. Before it was named Roentgenium, the 111th element on the periodic table was known as unununium. Isaac Newton was born December 25, 1642. "Diaper" spelled backwards is "repaid." Polonium has 33 known isotopes, all of which are radioactive. The cosine of 62 is about 0.6735. The 99,996th digit of pi is 6. Cigarettes are like squirrels: they are perfectly harmless until you put one in your mouth and light it on fire. There are three types of RNA (Ribonucleic Acid or Ribosenucleic Acid): messenger (mRNA), ribosomal (rRNA), and transfer (tRNA). The Bhut Jolokia chili pepper, aka the ghost pepper, has a maximum Scoville rating of 1,041,427. By comparison, a jalapeno has a Scoville rating of about 8,000 and Tabasco sauce rates in at about 5,000. Thomas Edison invented the lightbulb. The Bible is illegal in 52 countries. The freezing point of water is 0 degrees Celsius, 32 degrees Fahrenheit, and 273 degrees Kelvin. One byte is equal to eight bits. A googolplex is equal to 10^googol or 10^(10^100), or a 1 with a googol zeroes after it (a googol is a 10^100, or a 1 with a hundred zeroes after it). Francis Bacon was born on January 22, 1561. One million seconds is roughly 11.5 days. Bismuth is the heaviest non-radioactive, naturally occurring element (non-radioactive for most practical purposes, at least). The most abundant element in the universe is hydrogen. Wikipedia was launched in 2001. The Lord of the Rings is the second-best-selling single-volume novel ever, second to A Tale of Two Cities. DNA stands for Deoxyribonucleic Acid. Every carbon atom has 6 protons. The second Indiana Jones film, Temple of Doom, was the first movie to receive a PG-13 rating. The largest single cell known to science is an unfertilized ostrich egg. The Gutenberg Bible, a Bible printed by Johannes Gutenberg (the inventor of the printing press), was the first book ever printed by the printing press with movable type, printed in 1455-1456. Leonardo da Vinci invented the parachute. Your fingernails grow about 1 nanometer per second. Dr. Seuss' real name was Theodor Seuss Geisel. French fries were not invented in France. They come from Belgium. Scientists at CERN think they may have gotten a neutrino to travel at past the speed of light. 72.95% of all statistics are made up on the spot. September 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day. The Hundred Year's War, fought between France and England in the late 14th and early 15th centuries, actually lasted 116 years. As of September 16, 2011, the total population of the United States is roughly 312.2 million. The name "fedora" (as in the hat) comes from the name of a character in an 1880s play (also called Fedora) who wore a hat that would now be called by that name. Elvis Presley's birthday was/is on January 8. Hydrogen is the most common element in the universe. The human eye refracts light and senses everything upside-down, but the brain flips the information so we see everything right-side up. Atlantic hurricanes are named from a pre-set list (one of six they cycle through) of names, one for each letter of the alphabet, alternating between male and female names. If a hurricane causes significant damage, that name is removed from the list, so that no other hurricane will be named the same. There are one billion (1,000,000,000) nanoseconds in one second. The troposphere, the part of the atmosphere that reaches from the surface to 9-17 km high, contains roughly 80% of the mass in the atmosphere. Human cells typically contain 25000 genes in 46 chromosomes. The speed of sound through aluminum is 6420 meters per second. One gallon of water weighs about 8.3 pounds. The leaves of the potato plant are poisonous. The U.S.S. Constitution is the oldest floating warship in the world. Aerogel, the lightest known solid, is 99% empty space. The first touchscreen was invented by E.A. Johnson in the 1960s. The longest-overdue book known in history was late by 140 years. A man checked it out in 1823, and it was returned after he died by his great-grandson. The fine (which was forgiven), was over $2,000. The Oscar award was named after a farmer. The automatic dishwasher was invented by Josephine Cochrane because her fragile china kept getting broken by the maids that washed them. Napoleon Bonaparte was terrified of cats. Sharks cannot contract cancer. 50% of Americans live within 50 miles of their birthplace. The idea of bungee jumping was first thought of in 1891. In 1849, David Rice Atchison was President of the United States of America for one day. When people write in English, the most commonly used word is the. When people speak in English, the most commonly used word is I. It is impossible to buy fresh sardines. The answer to life, the universe, and everything is 42. If you take any three-digit number where the first digit is different from the last (example: 975), reverse it (579), subtract the smaller number than the bigger number (if the answer is two digits, add a zero at the beginning) (975-579=396), add that number to its reverse (396+693), you will always end up with 1089. Yo-yos were originally used as weapons. It is possible to tell the difference between a regular and a diet soda without tasting them or reading the labels- just blindfoldedly holding the cans. It's not cold in space. There's nothing to be cold- it's a vacuum. But you would become very cold if you were in space. Silver bullets fly faster than lead ones. Abraham Lincoln grew his beard because Grace Bedell, an 11-year-old from New York, wrote him a letter saying that she thought his face was too thin and he would look better with a beard. There are a total of 119 ridges around the edge a U.S. quarter. "Gesundheit" means "good health" in German. "Good-bye" comes from a shortening of "God be with you." Virginia is the only state to have never outlawed religious snake handling. "OK" is short for "Oll Korrect." A gallon of gas costs more than a gallon of milk. The names of the two stone lions in front of the New York Public Library are Patience and Fortitude. They were named by then-mayor Fiorello LaGuardia. The "Friday the 13th" superstition may have been started a number of ways. One theory is that the number 12 is special, pure, or holy (12 hours in a day, 12 months in a year, 12 tribes of Israel, 12 apostles of Jesus), and 13 is an irregular, strange, prime number. The Friday part might come from the Norse goddess Frigga (where we get the name Friday), who supposedly meets with 11 witches and the devil (13 in all) every Friday to do bad stuff. $1.3 million- the most money ever paid for a cow in an auction. There are two credit cards for every person in the United States. Isaac Asimov is the only author to have a book in every Dewey-decimal category. If you have 3 quarters, 4 dimes, and 4 pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar. When you mix Sodium (a substance that-in its pure form-explodes when it comes into contact with water) with Chlorine (a poisonous gas), you get table salt. Shortly after STAR WARS was released, a moon of Saturn was discovered that made people wonder just how fictional the movie was. See image below of Mimas and the Death Star. There is no period after the "Dr" in "Dr Pepper."
On the planet Venus, it rains sulfuric acid. At ground zero of a nuclear explosion, metal will vaporize. Having pets has been said to lower blood pressure. Sainte-Chapelle, a cathedral in Paris built to house the Crown of Thorns, contains more stained glass than masonry. Yo-yos were once used as weapons. Birds are able to burp, but they don't have to. It is possible to escape from a black hole. Just not all in one piece. "Brontosaurus" was named by the same guy who named "Apatosaurus." However, it turns out they are both the same thing, so they are now called "Apatosaurus." It is possible to boil water in a paper cup. Fill the cup with water, place it in a fire, and as the water boils off, the top of the cup burns down. DHMO, short for di-hydrogen monoxide, is a deadly chemical that causes millions of deaths a year. It is a tasteless, odorless, colorless liquid at room temperature, and has been found in many surprising places. Dangers of DHMO include severe tissue damage resulting from exposure to either its solid or gaseous forms, near-instant death if accidentally inhaled, and can also cause the rupturing of cells if it becomes too concentrated inside human bodies. Used in the production of Styrofoam and a major component of acid rain, DHMO has resulted in millions of dollars' worth of damage due to leaks and ruptures during earthquakes and storms. DHMO reacts with many metals to compromise their strength. It has also been used by athletes to increase performance, has been given to dogs before and after vicious attacks, and has been consumed by people prior to shootings, bombings, and other terrible crimes. However, DHMO has been found in many other surprising places, such as baby food. Frighteningly, food contaminated with DHMO still is tainted even after careful washing and cleaning. For more information, go to www.DHMO.org. It is possible for an airplane to take off from a conveyor belt. Cockroaches can withstand more radiation than humans, but fruit flies and other insects can withstand even more. Superman's weakness is kryptonite, yet he was born on the planet Krypton. Weird, huh? March 14 (3/14) is pi day- see the pi page on this site if you don't get it. Hobbit Day and Elephant Appreciation Day fell on the same date (September 22) in 2006. Scientists have been accurately measuring the strength of Earth's magnetic field for 160 years, and it's been slowly getting weaker. They calculated that if it had always been deteriorating at this rate, then 10,000 years ago, it would have been too strong for life to exist. Fact: it is virtually impossible to lick one's own elbow. Fact: virtually everyone who reads this will try to lick their elbow. Europe is the only continent that doesn't start with the letter "A." The speed of light is 300 million meters per second (186,000 miles per second). In WW II, the person to tip off the U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt that the Germans might be making an atomic weapon was none other than Albert Einstein. He also helped develop U.S. nuclear weapons, too. And Einstein was born in Germany. You know the flames in a fire? Those are plasma. In a gasoline fire, it's not the gas that burns. It's the fumes. Water can kill you. Montana Smith's "alter identity" is a high school history/archaeology teacher. Sodium that comes into contact with water will explode. The imaginary unit, i, is the square root of -1. By unit, I mean it's kind of like 1. In other words, an imaginary number would be 17i, kind of like how the number 17 is 17 ones. Magnetism is caused by electric current. Inertia: an object in motion will tend to stay in motion unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. An object at rest will tend to stay at rest unless acted upon by an unbalanced force. Wavy Lay's potato chips are made of: Potatoes, sunflower oil and/or corn oil, and salt. Ice cream made with liquid nitrogen cools quicker, thus has smaller crystals, thus it is creamier. And, combined with the fact that it's made with liquid nitrogen, that's just the best kind, in my opinion. Water is the one of the few chemicals found in solid, liquid, and gas form in nature. |
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