How Did New Zealand Get Its Name?

If New Zealand is "New,' then where is "Old" Zealand?

These large Pacific islands were sighted by a Dutch explorer in 1642. They were named after Zeeland, a region of the Netherlands along the North Sea. British explorer James Cook was the first to land in New Zealand in 1769 and the discovery of gold there in 1861 brought many British settlers to the islands.

New Zealand is located in the South Pacific. about 1,200 miles from Australia. The nation consists of two large islands, called North Island and South Island, plus a few smaller islands

Who Discovered The Waitomo Glowworm Caves In New Zealand?

Waitomo Cave, an underground cavern on New Zealand's North Island, never sees daylight. But there's plenty of "natural light" in this cave, produced by thousands of tiny glowing worms!

Visitors to Waitomo Cave descend into a cavern 100 feet long and 50 feet wide. They then ride a boat along an underground river.

All around them on the ceiling and walls of the cave are thousands and thousands of glowworms. the larva of a certain kind of moth, whose tails flicker with blue-green lights

How Long Is the Longest Place Name In The World Today?

If someone were to ask you the name of a certain hill on North Island, New Zealand, you could probably take the person to the top of the hill in less time than it would take to answer the question.

As this hill has a native name that consists of 85 letters, making it the longest place name still in use on earth.

In the language of the native Maoris who live in New Zealand, the hill's name means ''the hill where Tamatea, the man with the big knee who slid, climbed. and swallowed mountains, played his flute for his lady love".

Were Convicts or Miners The First Settlers In New Caledonia?

New Caledonia is a French colony that consists of about 25 islands in the South Pacific, some 750 miles off the coast of Australia.

Most of the islands are very small. The single large island, called New Caledonia, has an area of 6,530 square miles, about the same size as all the Hawaiian Islands put together.

In 1853, France took control of New Caledonia and set up a penal colony there. French convicts were sent there to serve their prison sentences. Until the 1890s, most of the Europeans on New Caledonia had come there as convicts.

Why Is July 12 So Special For Kiribati?

July 4 is a special day in the United States. But to the people of the new nation of Kiribati, July 12 will always be Independence Day.

For on that date in 1979, Kiribati joined the community of nations.

Kiribati consists Of about 35 small islands spread over some 2 million square miles of territory in the Pacific Ocean. Included in these islands are the former Gilbert. Phoenix, and Line islands.

Who Built The Ancient City Of Nan-Matal In Ponape, and Why Did They Disappear?

The people who live on the remote island of Ponape in the Pacific are simple farmers and fishermen.

There are no cities of any size on the island. However, the ruins of an ancient city suggest that Ponape may once have had a much larger population than it does today.

This city, called Nan-Matal, is located in the most hard-to-get-to part of Ponape. Nan-Matal once boasted a network of canals, a large sea wall to protect the city's port, and walls 30 feet high that surrounded the city.

Who Has The Shortest Alphabet In The World?

Bougainville is the largest island in the Solomons, a group of South Pacific islands North East of Australia.

Some of the island natives use an alphabet of only 11 letters, the shortest alphabet on earth.

This alphabet includes the same five vowels as our alphabet: a, e, i, o, and ii. But there are only six consonants in the Bougainville alphabet: b, g, k, p, r, and t.

Think how easy spelling would be with an alphabet of only 11 letters!

Where Is The Largest Atoll In The World?

An atoll is a horseshoe-shaped or ring-shaped coral reef enclosing a lagoon.

Atolls are formed by the skeletons of sea creatures called corals. These corals live in colonies, and their skeletons collect over the course of years to form a reef. Then sand collects on the reef, and vegetation eventually follows.

The largest atoll in the world is Christmas Island, which is located near the Equator in the Pacific Ocean. Part of the nation of Kiribati, Christmas Island is an atoll with an area of 184 square miles.

Why Was Nauru Known As Pleasant Island?

Nauru is an island in the Pacific, almost on the Equator. Its total area is about eight square miles, making Nauru the smallest completely independent republic in the world.

Nauru also called itself the "richest republic on earth." The tiny nation's wealth came from the guano, or seabird manure, that covers the island. Guano is rich in the phosphates used to make fertilizers.

Where is Saipan And When Did The Japanese Invade The Island?

Saipan is a 15-mile-long island in the Pacific Ocean, about 1,200 miles south of Japan.

If you like weather with temperatures that hardly vary from one day to the next, then Saipan is the place to go. During a nine-year period at one place on Saipan, the temperature never rose higher than 88 degrees, and it never dropped lower than 67 degrees.

In nine years, then, the difference between the highest and lowest temperatures was just 21 degrees! In most of the United States, the temperature can vary more than 21 degrees in a single day.

When Did Tuvalu Gain Its Independence?

Tuvalu means "cluster of eight islands" in the language of the natives who live there.

This tiny nation actually consists of nine islands in the South Pacific, but only eight of them are inhabited. The islands form a chain about 360 miles long. The total area of the nine islands is less than ten square miles.

Before Tuvalu gained its independence in 1978, the people of the islands had to decide whether they wanted to be ruled by a king or to become a republic.

Why Is Kingdom of Tonga Known As The Friendly Islands?

The nation of Tonga consists of 150 islands spread over 100,000 square miles of ocean in the South Pacific. The total area of these islands is just 270 square miles, and Tonga's 93,000 people live on only 45 of the islands.

The English explorer James Cook discovered these islands in the eighteenth century and called one of them Friendly Island because of the peaceful Polynesian people he found there. Eventually, the entire island group was known as the Friendly Islands and came under the control of Britain. Tonga regained its independence in 1970

How Did The Bikini Get Its Name From An Island And The Atomic Bomb?

Bikini is an atoll in the Pacific, a ring of about 20 islands that includes Bikini Island.

Bikini first came to public attention in 1946, for two entirely different reasons.

In July, 1946, the United States conducted tests of the recently invented atomic bomb at the Bikini atoll. A number of old ships were anchored nearby, cameras were set up in various places, and animals were brought to the islands so that scientists could learn what effects the A-bomb blast would have on them. Two atomic bombs were exploded at Bikini that month.

How Did Captain William Bligh Survive Two Mutinies In The British Navy?

If You've ever enjoyed the book or the film Mutiny on the Bounty, then You know the story of the British ship Bounty and its cruel Captain Bligh.

The story is true. The tiny Pacific island of Pitcairn is proof.

In 1787, William Bligh was sent to the Pacific to bring, back a tropical fruit known as the breadfruit. The British wanted to plant breadfruit on islands in the West Indies

How Deep Is the Ocean And Where Is The Deepest Point?

That depends upon what part of the ocean you're talking about.

Even the Pacific, the largest ocean, is just a few hundred feet deep at some points. On the average, the Pacific is about 14,000 feet deep. But at one point its more than twice as deep as that!

The Marianas Trench is an underground canyon located a few hundred miles southwest of Guam. It takes its name from the nearby Marianas Islands. When this canyon was first measured by scientists, it was estimated to be about 35,700 feet deep.

What Would Happen If The Ice Cap In Antarctica Melted?

The continent of Antarctica, which surrounds the South Pole, has an area of more than 5 million square miles.

Only a few hundred miles of the continent are free from a permanent cover of ice. The ice cap that covers Antarctica is more than 6,000 feet thick in many places. At some points, it's over 11,000 feet thick, more than two miles!

You can imagine how much water must be frozen in the Antarctic ice to form a mile-thick ice cap over an entire continent

Where Is the Coldest Place In The World?

The coldest temperature ever recorded at the South Pole was more than 102 degrees below zero.

That's plenty cold, but it's not the coldest temperature ever recorded on the continent of Antarctica.

In 1960, Russian scientists working at an Antarctic base called Vostok, more than 750 miles from the South Pole, recorded a temperature of almost 127 degrees below zero!

This is the coldest temperature ever recorded anywhere on the face of this planet.

Where Is the Lowest Place on Earth?

There are a number of places on earth where the land is below sea level.

In Death Valley, California, and around the Dead Sea in Israel, for instance. But none of these depressions, or low-lying places, can compare to a huge depression in Antarctica that is covered with thick ice.

Scientists have found that at a certain place in Antarctica, about 6,000 feet above sea level, the ice covering the land is about 14,000 feet thick.

That means that the land itself is some 8,000 feet below sea level! By comparison, the lowest place in America, Death Valley, is just 282 feet below sea level.

Which Is the Greatest Ocean Current In The World?

An ocean current is a stream of water moving through a larger body of water. Just as a river is a stream of water moving through land, an ocean current is a "river" of water moving through the ocean.

One of the major ocean currents is the Gulf Stream, which flows out of the Gulf of Mexico and warms the east coast of the United States. But the greatest of all ocean currents is the West Wind Drift Current, a moving stream of water that circles the continent of Antarctica.

Where Is Mount Erebus And Why Is The Volcano Surrounded by Ice?

When you think of a volcano, you think of bubbling lava, steam, smoke, and heat.

But there's a large volcano in the last place you would expect to find heat, Antarctica, the coldest continent!

Mount Erebus is the earth's most southerly volcano. It's located less than 900 miles from the South Pole. It's not really on the continent of Antarctica, but on an island just off the coast of the continent. The ice pack that covers Antarctica connects Mount Erebus's island with the Antarctic mainland.

Did The Aurora Islands Named After A Spanish Ship Ever Exist?

Islands have been known to appear and disappear due to volcanic eruptions.

The Aurora Islands, which were supposed to lie in the South Atlantic within about 1,000 miles of the continent of Antarctica, appeared and disappeared a number of times over the course of several decades. But their disappearing act wasn't due to volcanoes, the Aurora Islands never existed!

How Is The Penguin The Fastest Swimming Bird On Earth?

Most birds are built for life in the air, but penguins are far better equipped for life in the water.

These flightless birds use their wings as paddles when they're swimming, enabling them to "fly" through the water. And they can "fly" indeed, some penguins travel more than 22 miles an hour when swimming underwater, making them the fastest swimming birds on earth.

Which Bird Flies the Longest For Its Migration?

The Arctic tern might just as well be called the "Antarctic" tern.

As this sea bird, related to the gull, spends about three months of each year in the Antarctic region and about three months in the Arctic. It spends the rest of the year traveling from one end of the globe to the other!

After spending the summer in Arctic lands, the Arctic tern leaves in the autumn and heads south. Flying day after day, stopping for food and rest from time to time, the bird makes its way on a three-month journey to the Antarctic.

Which Insect Lives in Antarctica?

Whales weighing as much as 100 tons live in the waters near Antarctica, and some seals spend part of the year on that continent.

Penguins and some other birds also spend part of the year in Antarctica or the waters nearby. But the only creature that lives on the continent of Antarctica year-round is an insect.

These insects are members of a few species related to the fly, but they're wingless. Though they are the largest land creatures on the entire continent of Antarctica, these insects are less than one-tenth of an inch long!

Where Is the Largest Glacier on Earth?

A glacier is a large mass of ice and snow that forms where snow falls at a greater rate than it melts.

Glaciers usually move slowly down the slopes of mountains or through valleys. They break up into icebergs when they reach the sea.

It shouldn't be surprising that the largest glacier on earth is found in Antarctica, the "frozen continent". There are many large glaciers in Antarctica, some more than 100 miles long. The largest by far is the Lambert Glacier.

Where Is the Loneliest Place on Earth?

The continent of Antarctica contains about 10 percent of all the land on earth.

Yet Antarctica is the most remote, hard-to-get-to place on our planet. Its possible to visit every continent except Antarctica without ever crossing more than about 100 miles of sea. But Antarctica is everywhere at least 600 miles from the nearest continent!

Antarctica is also the loneliest place on earth. In the Northern Hemisphere, large parts of Canada, Alaska, Russia, Greenland, and Scandinavia lie above the Arctic Circle.

Where Is the Windiest Place In The World?

The highest wind speed ever recorded on earth was 231 miles per hour.

It was recorded at Mount Washington, New Hampshire. But that was a very unusual reading, and winds even half that high are rare everywhere in the United Stated, but not in one place in Antarctica.

In Commonwealth Bay, along the coast of Antarctica, winds sometimes reach speeds of 200 miles per hour. This is the windiest spot on earth!

Could you imagine how cold it would feel in winds blowing 200 miles per hour? In winds of just 50 miles per hour, a temperature of zero degrees would feel like minus 56 degrees!

busy bee

Between 20 000 and 60 000 bees live in a single hive. The queen bee lays 1 500 eggs a day and lives for up to 2 years. The drone, whose only job it is to mate with the queen bee, has a lifespan of around 24 days - they have no stinger. Worker bees - all sterile females - usually work themselves to death within 40 days in summer, collecting pollen and nectar. Worker bees fly up to 14km (9 miles) to find pollen and nectar, flying at 24km/h (15 mph).

Pollen is the main supply of protein and vitamins for bees, with the 10 amino acids they require. Nectar is up to 80% sugar but less than 0.2% in protein, so nectar is the carbohydrate supply for the hive. Bees place the nectar in honeycomb cells and then evaporate the water from the nectar by rapid wing movement. When the amount of water is less than 18%, the mixture is called honey and the bees cap off the cells. Thus honey is 80% sugars and 20% water. A mixture of honey and pollen is called "bee bread" and is the food for larvae and bees.

A worker bee communicates her floral findings by performing a dance on the honeycomb. The orientation of her movements and the frequency of her vibrations indicate the direction and distance of the flowers.

Great facts-3

Indonesia consists only of islands - 13,667 total

During World War II, the very first bomb dropped on Berlin by the Allies killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo

People who ride on roller coasters have a higher chance of having a blood clot in the brain

The tallest freestanding sculpture in the world is Chief Crazy Horse in South Dakota, USA

Marie Curie, the Nobel prize winning scientist who discovered radium, died of radiation poisoning

898 tornadoes were recorded to have occurred in the United States in the year 2000.

The word Popcorn is derived from the middle English word "poppe," which means "explosive sound"

The food that is digested in your stomach is called "chyme."

Alcohol beverages have all 13 minerals necessary for human life

The sentence "The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog." uses everyletter in the alphabet. (Developed by Western Union to Test telex/twxcommunications)

The word housekeeping was invented by Shakespeare

The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sportsgames (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after theMajorLeague All-Star Game.

In the great fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down but only 6 people were injured

Lack of sleep can affect your immune system and reduce your ability to fight infections

All dogs are the descendant of the wolf. These wolves lived in eastern Asia about 15,000 years ago

It is not possible to tickle yourself. The cerebellum, a part of the brain, warns the rest of the brain that you are about to tickle yourself. Since your brain knows this, it ignores the resulting sensation

Parma ham is only Parma ham if it is made in the Parma region of Italy. The British chain supermarket Asda, made and packaged its own "Parma ham" and was successfully sued by the real Parma ham people (Parma Ham Trade Association)

With winds of 50 miles per hour, The Statue of Liberty sways three inches and the torch sways five inches

A famous bullfighter, Lagarijo, killed 4,867 bulls in the 19th century.

Police detectives have used snapping turtles to help them locate dead bodies

In most advertisements, including newspapers, the time displayed on a watch is 10:10

The national sport of Japan is sumo wrestling

The early occurrence of a fetus yawning is at eleven weeks after conception

In a month, a fingernail grows an eighth of an inch

Edward VIII did not officially become the King of England as he abdicated the throne to marry an American divorcee

The book "Little Red Riding Hood" was banned in 1990 by two school districts in California. They did this because in the book there was a picture of a basket that had a bottle of wine in it

The reason why golf balls have dimples on them is because it helps in the ball to move a farther distance by reducing drag

Americans consume the most peanut butter in the world

Celtic warriors sometimes fought their battles naked, their bodies dyed blue from head to toe

To make butter more attractive in colour, carrot juice was used by people in the Middle Ages

Early hockey games allowed as many as 30 players a side on the ice

Most fleas do not live past a year old

It takes seven to ten days to make a jelly belly jellybean

Some asteroids have other asteroids orbiting them

Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable

The male praying mantis cannot copulate while its head is attached to its body. The female initiates sex by ripping the males head off

There is enough concrete in the Hoover Dam to pave a two lane highway from San Francisco to New York

Americans on the average eat 18 acres of pizza every day

Every 238 years, the orbits of Neptune and Pluto change making Neptune at times the farthest planet from the sun

There is a certain species of kangaroo that is only 2.5 centimetres long when it is born

In a lifetime, the average house cat spends approximately 10,950 hours purring

The real name of Toto the dog in "The Wizard Of Oz" was Terry

Stannous fluoride, which is the cavity fighter found in toothpaste is made from recycled tin

It takes 12 honeybees to make one teaspoon of honey

Thomas Watson, who was the chairman of IBM in 1943 predicted that their would probably only be a world market for five computers.

The largest hamburger cooked in the world weighed in at 6,040 pounds

The first lighthouse was in Alexandria in 290 B.C

Heinz first started making ketchup in 1876 and the recipe has remained the same ever since

The largest wedding chapel in Las Vegas is the Viva Las Vegas Chapel, which can seat 100 people

The most popular name for a pet in the United States is Max

Spiral staircases in medieval castles are running clockwise. This is because all knights used to be right-handed. When the intruding army would climb the stairs they would not be able to use their right hand which was holding the sword because of the difficulties of climbing the stairs. Left-handed knights would have had no troubles, except left-handed people could never become knights because it was assumed that they were descendants of the devil

The largest shopping mall in the world is the West Edmonton Mall located in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

The CN Tower located in Toronto, Ontario Canada took a total construction time of 40 months to complete at an original cost of $63 million

The 20th president of the United States, James Garfield, was able to write Greek with one hand and Latin with the other at the same time

The country of Andorra has a zero percent unemployment rate

In Los Angeles, there are fewer people than there are automobiles

A woman has approximately 4.5 litres of blood in her body, while men have 5.6 litres

In India, pickled ginger, minced mutton and a cottage cheese like substance are popular pizza toppings

Oral-B were the first toothbrushes to go to the moon when they were aboard the Apollo 11 mission

A maple tree is usually tapped when the tree is at least 45 years old and has a diameter of 12 inches

In 1998, a law passed in the U.S. state of Virginia allows drivers to keep their road kill, as long as they report it within 12 hours. updated

A language becomes extinct in this world every two weeks

An acre of trees can remove about 13 tons of dust and gases every year from the surrounding environment

The decomposition point of Olive Oil is 220 degrees Celsius

Ten radishes only contain eight calories

Annually a thousand people are killed by scorpions in Mexico

Every year, 100 million sharks are killed by people

Tug of war was an Olympic event from 1900-1920

Of all the countries, Brazil has the most plant species, with over 56,000

One female mouse can produce up to 100 babies a year

Impotence is grounds for divorce in 26 U.S. states

Women who are romance novel readers are reported to make love 74% more often with their partners than women who do not read romance novels.

The average lifespan of a human taste bud is ten days

The monogram "RR" for Rolls-Royce has never been altered, except for when Sir Henry Royce passed away in 1933. Then it was changed from red to black.

People with darker skin will not wrinkle as fast as people with lighter skin

Fido means faithful in Latin

Pebbles cereal was actually named after the shape of the cereal and not the Pebbles Flintstone character

A group of kangaroos is called a mob

Cat's urine glows under a blacklight.

Every three seconds, a new baby is born

More than 260,000 people have been killed by volcanic activity since 1700 AD.

The only predator that polar bears have are humans

Many insects can carry 50 times their own body weight

The last land battle of the U.S. Civil War was fought in Texas

Annually 7 million tons of textiles and clothing is thrown out. Out of this, only 12% is used again or recycled

A scorpion can have up to 12 eyes

A snake charmer in Bangladesh once found 3,500 poisonous cobras and their eggs hidden underneath the floors of two suburban homes

The IRS employees tax manual has instructions for collecting taxes after a nuclear war

There are approximately fifty Bibles sold each minute across the world

The pectin that is found in apples aids in lowering cholesterol levels

Post-It Notes, which are adhesive notes, were invented while looking for a way to improve the acrylate adhesive found in tapes

Crayola Crayons currently has over 120 different crayon colours

Odontophobia is the fear of teeth

The width of a tornado can range from less than ten yards to more than a mile.

In Johannesburg, the average car will be involved in an accident once every four years.

The youngest actress to be nominated as best actress is Keisha Castle-Hughes who was nominated at just 13 years old

The Taj Mahal was actually built for use as a tomb

According to studies, an average roll of toilet paper lasts about five days in the bathroom

Almonds are members of the peach family

The oldest known disease in the world is leprosy

A fall of 30 feet can be survived my most cats

The largest member of the dolphin family are orcas

In 1477, the first diamond engagement ring was given to Mary of Burgundy by Archduke Maximillian of Austria

The hormone replacement drug "Premarin" is made from the urine of pregnant horses

TWIX Caramel Cookie Bars were first introduced in 1979

Nintendo was first establish in 1889 and they started out making special playing cards

People over the age of fifty will start to lose their dislike for foods that taste bitter

In Kentucky, 50 percent of the people who get married for the first time are teenagers

Elephants have been known to learn up to 60 commands

On average 1,668 gallons of water are used by each person in the United States daily

Copper is the second most used metal in the world.

Milton Bradley originally wanted to name the game Twister, Pretzel; but he could not since the name was copyrighted

According to studies, men prefer to have white bedrooms and women prefer to have blue bedrooms

If someone was to fly once around the surface of the moon, it would be equal to a round trip from New York to London

St. Patrick never really drove out any snakes from Ireland. This story was an analogy of how he drove paganism out of Ireland

Fat is important for the development of children and normal growth

The most common seasonings found in American homes are chili powder, cinnamon, and seasoned salts

People who have eaten beetles say that it tastes like apples

Montreal was named after a local mountain "Mont Royal."

Millie the White House dog earned more than 4 times as much as President Bush in 1991. And, rightfully so

In an average lifetime, a person will spend 4 years travelling in an automobile and six months waiting at a red light.

A small drip from a faucet can waste up to 50 gallons of water daily, which is enough water to run a dishwasher twice on a full cycle

Kotex was first manufactured as bandages, during W.W.I

The longest Monopoly game ever played was 1,680 hours long, which is seventy straight days

The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C

Over 1,600 people in North America have been victims of trunk entrapment (being locked inside of a car trunk)

A rhinoceros horn is made of compacted hair

In 1992, when EuroDisney first opened in France, the public beat some of the park characters because at the time most people had been against the park being built

A jiffy is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second. Thus the saying, I will be there in a jiffy.

There is a muppet named Kami that appears on the South African version of the T.V. show "Sesame Street" that is HIV-positive

There are approximately one hundred million people in the United States that have a chronic illness

The oldest working Post Office in the world is located in the village of Sanquer, located in the Scottish Lowlands. It has been operating since 1712

Columbia University is the second largest landowner in New York City, after the Catholic Church

Approximately three jars of peanut butter are sold every second

In Australia, the average person uses 876 gallons of water daily. In Switzerland they use only 77 gallons of water per person daily

Every person has a unique tongue print

Hair will fall out faster on a person that is on a crash diet

In 1890, there was no sunshine for the whole month of December in Westminster in London.

Charles Darwin spent 39 years studying earthworms

The Boeing 737 is nicknamed the Fat Albert

Florida has twice as many lightning injuries and deaths than any other state

Chocolate can be fatal to dogs. Chocolate contains a chemical theobromine, which is poisonous to dogs

In China, there is a species of yam that is used to make a dye

Annually, approximately 46 millions Cokes, five million pounds of french fries, and seven million hamburgers are consumed at Walt Disney World Resort

The Chihuahua Desert is the largest desert in North America, and is over 200,000 square miles

Every continent begins and ends in the same letter. eg AfricA, EuropE

Baseball games between college teams have been played since the Civil War

The real name of actress Whoopi Goldberg is Caryn Elaine Johnson

Researches have discovered that eating five or more apples a week is linked to better functioning of the lungs

Boeing completed more than 15,000 hours of wind-tunnel testing on the first 747

The most popular ethnic food in the United States is Italian food

Parts of the Dead Sea Scrolls appeared for sale in the June 1, 1954 issue of the Wall Street Journal

If the population of China walked past you in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction

The YKK that you see on zippers stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushiki Kaisha which is the name of the founder of the zipper manufacturing company in Japan

The theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters is "Sweet Georgia Brown."

27% of female lottery winners hid their winning ticket in their bras

To lose one pound of fat, a person has to burn approximately 3,500 calories

In 1969, the American side of Niagara Falls was stopped completely for several months

The name for insect poop is frass

A can of Pepsi has 41 grams of sugar. This amount to about seven teaspoons of sugar

Montreal is actually located on an island

There are over 2,000 species of butterflies in the rainforests of South America

The world record for the number of body piercings on one individual is 702, which is held by Canadian Brent Moffat

Before toilet paper was invented, French royalty wiped their bottoms with fine linen

The earliest known example of an organized market for equities dates from Rome, second century B.C

There are over 2,000 different species of cactuses

Each day 400 gallons of recycled blood are pumped through the kidneys

Ten percent of the Russian government's income comes from the sale ofvodka.

Apples, not caffeine, are more efficient at waking you up in the morning

Bananas were discovered by Alexander the Great in 327 B.C. when he conquered India

Levan, which is located in Utah, got its name from "navel" which is levan spelt backwards. It was named this because it is in the center of Utah

Approximately one out of four injuries by athletes involve the wrist and hand

Former U.S. President Abraham Lincoln suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836

Musk is extracted from the bottom of a civet, and is used as an ingredient to make perfumes.

The first human heart transplant happened on December 3, 1967. Unfortunately the patient only lived for eighteen days, succumbing in the end to pneumonia

In New York City there are 6,374.6 miles of streets

The sound made by the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is so loud that it can be heard 40 miles away

Ancient Egyptians used to think having facial hair was an indication of personal neglect

In Czechhoslovakia, there is a church that has a chandelier made of human bones

The largest hotel in the world is the MGM Grand, which has 5,034 rooms and is located in Las Vegas, Nevada

The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets

The fleshy bulbs on each side of your nose are called the Alea (AY-lee) singular Ala (AY-luh)

Male koalas mark their territory by rubbing their chests on a tree. Male koalas have a dark scent gland in the middle of their chest

An octopus has three hearts

Roses generally need around 6 hours of sunlight to grow properly.

Buttermilk does not contain any butter, but is a cultured milk product which is usually made from fat free milk

Pineapples were first called "anana", which is Caribbean for "excellent fruit."

Human birth control pills work on gorillas

The tallest woman that ever lived was Zeng Jinlian who was 8 feet 2 inches tall of China. Shed died at the age of 17

An adult "Gold Frog" measures to be 9.8 millimeters in body length

Each day, anywhere from 35-150 species of life go extinct

Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, never telephoned his wife or mother because they were both deaf

Alexander the Great made his troops eat onions as he believed it would prove their vitality

Bill Russell was the first black head coach of a major league pro sports team

In 1945, a seven ounce bathroom cup was the first item Tupperware marketed

Central air conditioners use 98% more energy than ceiling fans.

The king of hearts is the only king without a mustache

Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better

Everyday, U.S. business use enough paper to circle the Earth over 20 times

The Welwitschia plant can live up to 1,000 years

The dromedary camel can drink as much as 100 litres of water in just 10 minutes

According to the American Institute of Stress, job stress approximately costs the U.S. industry over $300 billion dollars per year

It takes 72 minutes for the restaurant at the top of the CN Tower to make one revolution

Coffee beans were chewed for more than 400 years before the first cup of coffee was brewed

All of the Peking ducks in the United States are descendents from three ducks and one drake imported to Long Island, New York in 1873

The first British ship to use the SOS distress signal was the Titanic

The Spring peeper (a frog) can survive the winter season with 65% of its body water as ice

Studies have shown that the scent of Rosemary can help in better mental performance and make individuals feel more alert

The search engine Google got its name from the word "googol," which refers to the number one with a hundred zeros after it

The Goliath beetle is about the size of your fist and can weigh as much as 3-4 ounces

If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create explosion that is equal to an atomic bomb

Humans have about the same number of hair follicles as a chimpanzee has

Studies indicate that listening to music is good for digestion

The Chihuahua was named after the Mexican state where they were discovered

There are no snakes in New Zealand

The most popular grown bulbs are tulips

Every day the human stomach produces about 2 liters of hydrochloric acid

The country of Bolivia is named after a fighter Simon Bolivar

Peanuts are one of the ingredients of dynamite

The first state to give the right to women to vote was Wyoming

In 1949 UNICEF produced the first charity Christmas card. The picture shown on the card was painted by a seven year old girl

Archeologists report that cannabis was most likely the first plant cultivated by humans. Cannabis was used for linen, paper, and garments

The garfish has green bones

Women who drink more than two cups of coffee a day have a higher chance of developing osteoporosis

The banana was officially introduced in 1876 in the U.S. at the Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition. The bananas were wrapped in tinfoil and were sold for 10 cents each

A yawn usually lasts for approximately six seconds

Thirty-five percent of the people who use personal ads for dating are already married

The food that people crave the most is cheese

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than the US Treasury

The only animal, besides humans that can get leprosy is the Armadillo

In 1894, the carnival made its debut in North America

The artist Vincent Van Gogh sliced part of his ear off in madness

According to Scientists, vampire bat saliva is the best known medicine for keeping blood from clotting.

People from North America prefer pickles with warts, where as Europeans prefer pickles with no warts

People that suffer from gum disease are twice as likely to have a stroke or heart attack

Close to 50% of the water used in a home originates from the bathroom

After the Krakatoa volcano eruption in 1883 in Indonesia, many people reported that, because of the dust, the sunset appeared green and the moon blue. The moon was said to appear blue for almost two years.

The country with the highest consumption of chocolate per capita is Switzerland, with 22 pounds per person, per year

In China, September 20 is "Love Your Teeth Day."

Actor Richard Gere was considered to play the role of John McClane in the movie Die Hard. Bruce Willis played the part instead

The record for the world?s worst drivers is a toss-up between two candidates: First, a 75-year-old man who received 10 traffic tickets, drove on the wrong side of the road four times, committed four hit-and-run offenses, and caused six accidents, all within 20 minutes on October 15, 1966. Second, a 62-year-old woman who failed her driving test 40 times before passing it in August, 1970 (by that time, she had spent over $700 in lessons, and could no longer afford to buy a car)

Tigers have striped skin, not just striped fur

Left-handed people are better at sports that require good spatial judgment and fast reaction, compared to right-handed individuals

Half of a cup of figs will give you just as much calcium as half a cup of milk

A "hairbreadth away" is 1/48 of an inch

In 1281, the Mongol army of Kublai Khan tried to invade Japan but were ravaged by a hurricane that destroyed their fleet

Walt Disney was afraid of mice

Studies show that couples that smoke during the time of conception have a higher chance of having a girl compared to couples that do not smoke

The reason why some people get a cowlick is because the growth of their hair is in a spiral pattern, which causes the hair to either stand straight up, or goes to a certain angle

Approximately 50% of Americans admit they have ran a red light

In 1755, the first Canadian post office opened in Halifax, Nova Scotia. The fist Deputy Postmaster General was American inventor Benjamin Franklin who was later dismissed for sympathizing with the American revolutionary cause

Reno, Nevada is west of Los Angeles, California.

On average, 90% of the people that have the disease Lupus are female

Unlike other four legged mammals, kangaroos cannot walk backwards

The itch from a mosquito bite can be soothed by cutting open a clove of garlic and rubbing it on the bite

If you have three quarters, four dimes, and four pennies, you have $1.19. You also have the largest amount of money in coins without being able to make change for a dollar

Most American car horns honk in the key of F

A superstition in baseball is to never lend your bat to anyone or you will be jinxed

Bats always turn left when exiting a cave

Penguins can jump as high as 6 feet in the air

In 1998, approximately 1.6 billion tree seedlings were planted in the United States. This amounts to about five trees per American

There are species of fish that can walk on land in search of water when its water source dries up. Some can survive as long as three days on land such as the snakehead fish

Racecar driver Lee Petty once left a pitstop and did a full lap at Nascar with a pit crew member still on the hood

The first fashion house to be set up was in 1858 by Charles Worth. He opened his store in Paris with the idea of having pre-made gowns presented on models to his customers

St. Patrick explained the Holy Trinity to King Laoghaire, using the shamrock to illustrate the trinity

More twins are born in the Western world than in the Eastern world

Nine egg yolks have been found in one chicken egg

The record for the longest Monopoly game played in a bathtub is ninety-nine hours

The flea can jump 350 times its body length, that is like a 6 foot-tall human jumping the length of 7 football fields

The 1988 move "Big" which was directed by Penny Marshall was the first movie by a female director to gross over $100 million domestically

When the Galileo Probe entered Jupiter's atmosphere, it was traveling at a speed of 106,000 miles per hour. This is the fastest impact speed ever achieved by a man-made object.

In 1972, a gorilla by the name of "Koko" was taught ASL (American Sign Language) for the deaf. By the year 2000, the gorilla could understand approximately 2,000 English words

3000 children die every day in Africa because of malaria

The reason why hair turns gray as we age is because the pigment cells in the hair follicle start to die, which is responsible for producing "melanin" which gives the hair colour

Approximately 125 people die in the United States from an anaphylaxis to foods each year

The word "vamp" is used to describe the upper front top of a shoe

Construction on the White House began in October of 1792

A galactic year is 250 million Earth-years. This is the time it takes for our solar system to make one revolution around the Milky Way Galaxy.

Leonardo da Vinci was dyslexic, and he often wrote backwards

The male platypus has poisonous spurs on its legs

Polar bears can smell seal from 20 miles away

Canadians Scott Abbott and Chris Haney invented Trivial Pursuit. They were planning on playing Scrabble and realized that some of the pieces were missing so they came up with the idea of making their own game; Trivial Pursuit

On average, there is about three molecules of ozone for every 10 million air molecules.

A person uses approximately fifty-seven sheets of toilet paper each day

The Barbie doll has more than 80 careers

James Buchanan was the only unmarried president of the United States

The Stanley Cup originally was only seven and a half inches high

In 1991, during an attempted political coup on Russian President Boris Yelstin, food supplies had dwindled down at the parliament buildings so they ordered Pizza Hut to deliver pizzas

Some people drink the urine of pregnant women to build up their immune system

The five Olympic rings represent the five continents linked together in friendship

Ray Kroc bought McDonalds for $2.7 million in 1961 from the McDonald brothers

It is possible to lead a cow upstairs but not downstairs

Shark cartilage has been used to make artificial skin for human burn victims

The first person to die in the electric chair was William Kemmler, an ax murderer from New York on August 6, 1890

Finland has 187,888 lakes and 179,584 islands

The average adult has approximately six pounds of skin

A crocodile can open and close its jaw but cannot move it side to side

There are over 1,000,000 swimming pools in Florida, eventhough the ocean is no farther than 80 miles away

99% of the blueberries that are produced in the United States are produced in the state of Maine

On May 9, 1999 approximately 600,000 gallons of whiskey flowed into the Kentucky River during a fire at Wild Turkey Distillery in Lawrenceburg

Thomas Jefferson had three achievements placed on his headstone at his request, "Here Was Buried Thomas Jefferson/Author Of The Declaration Of American Independence/Of The Statute Of Virginia For Religious Freedom/And Father Of The University of Virginia.? He never mentioned being President of the United States

Humans and cows have the same gestation period, which is about nine months

In the Victoria era, red tulips were a declaration of love

The sport Lacrosse was initially played by Native American Indians. They played the sport to prepare for war

It takes a sloth up to six days to digest the food it eats

According to Scandinavian traditions, if a boy and girl eat from the same loaf of bread, they are bound to fall in love

In 1796, Napoleon was only 26 years old when he took command of the French Army of Italy

A bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed every animal in the Berlin Zoo except the elephant, which escaped and roamed the city. When a Russian commander saw hungry Germans chasing the elephant and trying to kill it, he ordered his troops to protect it and shoot anyone who tried to kill it

The expression "Tying the Knot" comes from an old Roman custom where the brides clothes were tied up all in knots and the groom was supposed to untie the knots

Snake is a delicacy in China

In 1999, All Nippon Airlines, had one of its jets fully decorated with Pokemon characters from nose to tail on its exterior

The Dead Sea has been sinking for last several years

Uranus has 27 moons

Actress Sally Field was paid $4,000 a week for her role in the TV show The Flying Nun

More pollution is emitted from the average home compared to the average car.

The snow leopard protects itself from extreme cold when it sleeps by wrapping its 3-foot-long tail around its nose

Only 4% of babies are born on their actual due date

In the 1940s, the FCC assigned television's Channel 1 to mobile Services(two-way radios in taxicabs, for instance) but did not re-number theotherchannel assignments. That is why your TV set has channels 2 and up, butnochannel 1.

A man named Charles Osborne had the hiccups for approximately sixty-nine years

There are more Subway restaurants in Canada than there are McDonald restaurants

The CN Tower, in Toronto, is the tallest freestanding structure in the world with a height of about 553 metres

The term "the whole 9 yards" came from W.W.II fighter pilots in the South Pacific. When arming their airplanes on the ground, the .50 caliber machine gun ammo belts measured exactly 27 feet, before being loaded into the fuselage. If the pilots fired all their ammo at a target, it got "the whole 9 yards."

Construction on the Leaning Tower of Pisa began on August 9th, 1173

President Lyndon Johnson used to smoke three packs of cigarettes a day

The Tibetan name for Mount Everest is Chomolungma

The word "laser" stands for "Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission by radiation."

In a lifetime, on average a honey bee produces 1/12th of a teaspoon of honey

There are 315 species of parrot in the world

The TV show Doctor Who, when it was popular, had an audience of 110 million people

The cost to build the Empire State Building was $40,948,900

A person who smokes a pack of cigarettes a day will on average lose two teeth every ten years

Wasps that feed on ferment occasionally get drunk and pass out

The largest cereal company in the world is Quaker Oats, located in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, USA

The first Olympic games only had one event - a foot race

Colonel Sanders traveled over 250,000 miles a year visiting various parts of his Kentucky Fried Chicken Empire

Some desert snails have been known to sleep for three to four years

Over 80% of the brain is water

From the age of thirty, humans gradually begin to shrink in size

Jackrabbits can reach a speed of fifty miles per hour and can leap as far as twenty feet

There are 40 official jelly belly flavours

Early sewing machines were destroyed by mobs or workers who felt their jobs were threatened by automation

In 1992, the Antarctic Ozone hole was larger than the continent of North America.

Someone gets divorced every ten to thirteen seconds

There is a certain type of Hawk Moth caterpillar from Brazil that inflates its thorax, which makes its head look like a head of a snake when it feels it is in danger or alarmed

The CIA has made a disk camera that is as big as a quarter. This gadget can take many pictures at a time when the disk is opened.

The Sanskrit word for "war" means "desire for more cows."

In Hong Kong, delivery times are primarily influenced by traffic conditions on elevators. It often takes drivers longer to travel vertically than horizontally, as access to elevators is so congested during "high peak" hours. This is due to the volume of people residing in high rises

The ancient Greeks had a fascination with the planet Mars. They attributed the planet to Ares, their god of war, because of its red colour

The only lizard that has a voice is the Gecko

In Israel, religious law forbids picking your nose on Sabbath

In twins, there is a great chance that one will be left handed

In the 1920's, Q-Tips were invented by Leo Gerstenzang who got the idea after watching his wife clean their baby's ears with cotton stuck onto a toothpick.

In the Pacific Islands when people get burns they often use a banana leaf as treatment

Acorns were used as a coffee substitute during the American Civil War

An airplane mechanic invented Slinky while he was playing with engine parts and realized the possible secondary use for the springs. Barbie was invented by Ruth Handler after watching her daughter play with baby dolls imagining then in grown up roles

When the female grasshopper lays eggs, she covers her eggs with a pasty liquid that protects the eggs throughout the winter

The longest recorded duration of a total solar eclipse was 7.5 minutes.

On average, an American makes three pounds of garbage in a day

Even if you eat food standing on your head, the food will still end up in your stomach

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older.

The most common name in the world is Mohammed

Apple seeds are poisonous as they contain a cyanide compound

The word breakfast was coined due to the fact that after sleeping for hours, we are "breaking our fast."

The cardigan was originally made to be a military jacket made of knitted wool

The month of December is the most popular month for weddings in the Philippines

The deepest cave in the world is the "Lamprechtsofen-Vogelshacht" cave which can be found in Salzburg, Austria. The cave is 5,354 feet deep

The capital of Vermont, Montpelier is the only state capital in the United States that does not have a McDonalds

The longest engagement lasted 67 years, and the couple ended up marrying when they were 82 years old

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears. never stop growing

Milk and cheese can aid in the reduction of tooth decay

On average, a strawberry has 200 seeds on it

Coconuts kill more people in the world than sharks do

The average person spends two weeks of their life kissing

Research has indicated that indoor pollution is 10 times more toxic than outdoor pollution

Eating a banana at night can help in falling asleep

The stapler was invented in Spring Valley, Minnesota.

The first television newscaster was Kolin Hager, who used to broadcast farm and weather reports in 1928

Pixie, a Siberian Husky, gave birth to 7 puppies, one of which was bright green

Back in 1953, it took 27 hours to make one Marshmallow Peep. Now it takes only six minutes

On average, an ear of a corn has 16 rows and approximately 800 kernels

The green ring that is formed around the yolk of eggs that have been cooked too long is formed by the chemical reaction from the iron in the yolk and the sulphur in the white part of the egg

The silk that is produced by spiders is stronger than steel

The first president to have a picture taken was John Quincy Adams

Some brands of toothpaste contain glycerin or glycerol, which is also an ingredient in antifreeze

1 in 2000 babies are born with a tooth that is already visible

It was during World War II that clothes with elastic waists were introduced. This is because the metal used in zippers was badly needed for the war

In 1902, the game table tennis was brought to the U.S. from Europe by Parker Brothers

Hershey's Kisses are called that because the machine that makes themlooks like it's kissing the conveyor belt.

The fat from sheep, which is called tallow can be used to make soap and candles

Next to bone marrow, hair is the fastest growing tissue in the human body

Sigmund Freud had a morbid fear of ferns

When playing competitive darts the player must be 7 feet 9 1/4 inches back from the dartboard. Also the board must be 5 feet 8 inches above the floor

In England, the Speaker of the House is not allowed to speak

Earthworms have 5 hearts

If all the gold sitting in the oceans and seas were mined, every person on this plant would get about 20 kilograms of gold each.

To make an espresso 42 coffee beans are needed

The oil that is found in poison ivy is called "urushiol."

Of all the days of the week, the most popular day for people to eat ice cream is Sunday

The first museum in Moscow that was set up in 1791 was the Natural History Laboratory at Moscow University. This later was changed to the Zoological Museum

A surfer once sued another surfer for "stealing his wave." The case was thrown out because the court was unable to put a price on "pain and suffering" endured by the surfer watching someone else ride "his" wave

Many people in parts of China eat insects. Some common insects are bean worms, scoprions, and locusts

The largest dog in the world is the Irish Wolfhound

Ernest Vincent Wright wrote a fifty thousand-word novel, "Gadsby," without any word containing the letter "e."

The projection light used for IMAX theaters can be seen from space.

The human liver performs over 500 functions

Ballroom dancing is a course at Brigham Young University in Utah

The word "maverick" came into use after Samuel Maverick, a Texan, refused to brand his cattle. Eventually any unbranded calf became known as a Maverick

Finnish folklore states that when Santa comes to Finland to deliver gifts, he leaves his sleigh behind and rides on a goat named Ukko instead

More than $1 billion is spent each year on neck ties in the United States

In the 18th century, potatoes were given out as a dessert. They were served in a napkin, salted and hot

The only poisonous birds in the world are the three species of Pitohui. The Hooded Pitohui from Papua New Guinea is the most deadliest out of the three

Pretzels were originally invented for Christian Lent. The twists of the pretzels are to resemble arms crossed in prayer

The American Airlines Center in Dallas has more toilets per capita than any other sports and entertainment venue in the country

After 8 months, babies are more likely to get a diaper rash

The first modern toothbrush was invented in China. Its bristles came from hogs hair or the mane of a horse that were then put into ivory handles

The New Zealand Kiwi bird cannot fly

66% of wedding cards are hand delivered by people

Heavier lemons produce more, and tastier, juice

The leading cause of poisoning for children under the age of six in the home is liquid dish soap

The same amount of calories are burned by doing 6 sessions that are 5 minutes each of an activity and doing 1 session of that activity for 30 minutes

General William Booth is the founder of the Salvation Army

Iguanas can stay under water for up to thirty minutes

The fastest flying butterfly is the Monarch, which has been clocked with a speed as high as 17 miles per hour

Egyptian pyramid builders used to eat a lot of garlic because they thought it would increase their strength

The average office document gets copied 19 times

In just the first 56 days of life, the larva of the polyphemus moth eats about 86,000 times its birthweight

Every hour one billion cells in the body must be replaced

American actor Jack Nicholson, and American singer Bobby Darrin were raised believing their grandmothers were their mothers and their mothers were their older sisters

The first Ford cars had Dodge engines

The average height of an NBA basketball player is 6 feet 7 inches

One in five Americans move homes every year

The chocolate chip cookie was invented in 1933

The capital of Burkina Faso is Ouagadougou

A catfish has about 100,000 taste buds

The Liberty Bell was the first mechanical slot machine, which was invented by Charles Fey, a car mechanic in 1895.

A Russian man who wore a beard during the time of Peter the Great had to pay a special tax

The silkworm moth has lost the ability to fly ever since it has been domesticated

The first cheerleaders in the U.S. were men

The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P

The odds of having quadruplets are 1 in 729,000

In 1965, the price for an issue of TV Guide was 15 cents

In 1565 In St. Augustine, Florida the first orange trees were planted

Nose prints are used to identify dogs, much like humans use fingerprints

In the United States, six tubs of Cool Whip, a brand of whipping cream, are sold every second

The most popular chocolate bar in the United Kingdom for the last 15 years has been Kit Kat

White-Out was invented by Bette Nesmith Graham, who is the mother of Michael Nesmith from the "The Monkees."

There are over 2,000 different types of cheese in the world

The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world

Owls swallow their prey whole because they have no teeth. After approximately 12 hours they cough up the feathers, bones, and fur in a shape of a football pellet

Historically, a blue ribbon has been awarded for first prize

Seventy-one percent of households report they have at least one snorer. Forty-five percent of those surveyed admit they snore, 35% said their partner snores, 12% said their child snores and 9% reported their pet snores

The original meaning of the word grocer was referring to a person who traded food in wholesale. These people would usually sell in large quantities, or by the "gross."

Research indicates that mosquitoes are attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas

Actress Michelle Pfeiffer was the first choice to play Clarice Starling in the movie "Silence of the Lambs." She turned down the role because she found it too scary

The White House has 35 bathrooms, 3 elevators, 132 rooms, and 412 doors in it

Due to the deforestation of the forests in North China, over one million tons of sands blows into Beijing from the Gobi desert. It sometimes causes the sky to turn yellow.

Cows are able to hear lower and higher frequencies better than human beings

Approximately 60% of the water used by households during the summer is used for watering flowers, and lawns

The largest diamond that was ever found was 3106 carats.

In 1970, Chip maker Intel purchased a pear orchard to build their corporate headquarters on

The mating call of a male toadfish, who are underwater, is so loud that it can be heard by humans above water

The most popular jelly belly jellybean flavour is buttered popcorn

The Nike swoosh was invented by Caroline Davidson back in 1971. She received $35 for making the swoosh. The first shoe with the swoosh was introduced in 1972

Slaves under the last emperors of China wore pigtails so they could be picked out quickly

A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out

Kiwis are the only known bird to have nostrils located at the tip of their beak

An adult esophagus can range from 10 to 14 inches in length and is one inch in diameter

A squash ball moving at 150 kilometers per hour has the same impact of a .22 bullet

Telephonophobia is the fear of telephones

The word alligator comes from the Spanish word El Lagarto, which means "The Lizard."

While still in college, Bill Gates and Paul Allen once built a special purpose machine called "Traff-O-Data." It was a machine that would analyze information gathered by traffic monitors. They never found any buyers.

The citric acid found in lemon juice is said to be able to dissolve a pearl

Robert Southey wrote the story "Goldilocks and the Three Bears" in 1834

The tallest woman in the world is American Sandy Allen who is 7 feet 7 inches

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first-class

Astronauts get taller when they are in space

Only 5 to 10 percent of cheetah cubs make it to adulthood

Dentyne gum was invented in 1899 by a druggist from New York named Franklin V. Canning

It takes about three hours for food to be broken down in the human stomach

When former Texas Governor James Hogg was on his deathbed he made a special request that a pecan tree be planted at the head of his grave instead of a tombstone. The governor passed away on March 2, 1906, which is Texas Independence Day. The pecan tree is now the state tree of Texas

In a year, there are 60,000 trampoline injuries that occur in the U.S

There is an organization called SCROOGE in Charlottesville, Virginia that stands for Society to Curtail Ridiculous, Outrageous, and Ostentatious Gift Exchanges. This was formed to keep gift giving affordable and simple

The first World Series baseball playoffs occurred in 1903

Archipelago is the word to describe a large group of islands that are located close together

The life expectancy of a garbage disposal is about 5 to 10 years

In the original movie "101 Dalmatians," there are exactly 6,469,952 spots on all 101 Dalmatians as they are shown in 113,760 frames of the film combined

The average North American car contains 300 pounds of plastics

A person who is a specialist in wine making is called an oenologist

You can only smell 1/20th as well as a dog

The number one cause of rabies in the United States are bats

The music for "The Star Spangled Banner" comes from a British drinking song named "Anacreon."

27 percent of U.S. male college students believe life is "a meaningless existential hell." (big surprise, eh?)

Close to fifty percent of the bacteria in the mouth lives on the surface of our tongue

Less than 1% of the women in the world will ever be able to wear a diamond that is the size of a carat or more

Ketchup originated in China as a pickled fish sauce called ke-tsiap

An ostrich's eye is bigger that it's brain.

In Britain, The Red Lion is the most common name for a pub

In 1997, the record for the highest skydive by a dog at 4,572 feet was established by a dog named Brutus

The majority of burglaries occur during the daytime when people are not home

Traditionally, wild cabbage was used as an aphrodisiac

Tiger Woods was introduced to golf at nine months of age by his father

A person will burn 7 percent more calories if they walk on hard dirt compared to pavement

It would take 29 million years for a car travelling 100 miles per hour to reach the nearest star

Blue Jays can imitate the calls of hawks

There are over three trillion craters on the moon, with some being having a diameter over three feet

In India, a 9-year-old girl was "married" to a stray dog, which tribal custom requires in order to protect a child whose first tooth appears on the upper gum

There is now an ATM at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, which has a winter population of two hundred people

In Canada, men are three times more likely than women to have seen a doctor in the last year

The most expensive spice in the world is saffron

In one night, an adult hippopotamus eats approximately 150 pounds of grass

The U.S. paid Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in 1867

Cows can detect odors up to five miles away

There are about 125 million multiples (twins, triplets, etc.) worldwide

Arthur Giblin was the inventor of the first "flushable" toilet

Consuming chocolate was once considered a sin during the 16th and 17th century. During that time it was provided in the form of a drink and since drinking wine during lent was a sin, so was drinking chocolate

Approximately 40% of the states in the U.S. have severe, or extreme pollution problems

Wendel Clark holds the record for the longest span between NHL All-Star appearances, with 13 years (1986-1999)

Ancient Egyptians believed that onions would keep evil spirits away

Dill seeds are so small that approximately 10,000 dill seeds would be required to make an ounce

To make one pound of whole milk cheese, 10 pounds of whole milk is needed

If all the insects in the world were put on a scale, they would out weigh all creatures

Women smile more than men do

A ripe cranberry will bounce. Another name for a cranberry is bounceberry

Termites work 24 hours per day -- they do not sleep

The Romans used to clean themselves with olive oil since they did not have any soap. They would pour the oil on their bodies, and then use a strigil, which is type of blade, to scrape off any dirt along with the oil

The act of stretching and yawning is referred to as pandiculation

In the 1960 movie "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock, chocolate syrup was used to show the blood in the shower scene

Carolyn Shoemaker, famous astronomer, has discovered 32 comets and approximately 300 asteroids

The longest fangs of a snake are found on the Gaboon Viper (Bitis gabonica), and can reach over 2 inches in length

Once a human reaches the age of 35, he/she will start losing approximately 7,000 brain cells a day. The cells will never be replaced

The only king without a moustache in a deck of cards is the king of hearts

Approximately 100,000 people get married in Las Vegas each year

Amish people do not believe in the use of aerosal air fresheners

Coca-cola used to use the slogan "Good to the last drop," in 1908. This slogan was later used by Maxwell House

The blind cavefish is born with eyes, but they fall off as the fish grows

In ancient Egypt, Priests plucked EVERY hair from their bodies including their eyebrows and eyelashes

The Indian election in 1984 was the largest election of any country. Over 379,000,000 voters were eligible to vote at over 480,000 polling stations

A single chocolate chip gives enough energy to a human being to walk 150 feet

There are 54 bones in your hands including the wrists

The name for Oz in "The Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."

The town of Churchill, Manitoba, located in Canada, is known as the "Polar Bear Capital of the World"

Amtrak is the combination of the words "American" and "Track"

On average, an American relocates 11 times in their life

Fires onland generally move faster uphill than downhill

The cartoon character Popeye was actually based on a real person named Frank "Rocky" Fiegel who was a tough guy who was quite similar to Popeye physically

Frisbee got its name from William Russel Frisbee, who was a pie baker. He used to sell his pies in a thin tin pan, which had Frisbee written on it. When Walter Frederick Morrison thought of the idea of making saucer like disks to play catch, he visited the campus of Yale and noticed people there were using the pie pan to play catch so he therefore renamed his invention to Frisbee

Some arthritis medications contain gold salts, which is used as an anti-inflammatory

Lemon juice can aid in reducing the swelling caused by insect bites

LSD is made from lysergic acid, which is found in ergot, a type of fungus

DC-10, the name of an airplane stands for "Douglas Commercial."

In approximately 18 months, the papaya tree can grow to be 20 feet tall

Parrots cannot eat chocolate because it is poisonous to their body

Americans are responsible for generating roughly 20% percent of the garbage in the world

Termites are roasted and eaten like popcorn in South Africa

The official state tree of Illinois is The White Oak

It takes 3,000 cows to supply the NFL with enough leather for a year'ssupply of footballs.

In 1971, the postal code was introduced in Ottawa, Ontario

The tridacna clam can grow up to four feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds

The state that has the most diners in the world is New Jersey, which is referred to as the "Diner Capital of the World."

Approximately 1-2 calorie are burned a minute while watching T.V

The first recipe for a lasagna type dish was found to be from a British cookbook in the 14th century. Therefore, Italians were not the first ones to come up with the popular dish as believed

Only one person in two billion will live to be 116 or older

If an identical twin grows up without having a certain tooth, the other twin will most likely also grow up with that tooth missing

Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined

According to legend, tea originated in China when tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water

When you sneeze, all your bodily functions momentarily stop, including your heart

Kite flying is a professional sport in Thailand

Urine from men?s public urinals was sold as a commodity in Ancient Rome. It was used as a dye and for making clothes hard

All 50 states are listed across the top of the Lincoln Memorial on the back of the $5.00 bill

1 out of 350,000 Americans get electrocuted in their life

New Mexico is known as the "Land of Enchantment."

In 1890, Scott Paper produced the first toilet paper to be available on a roll

An elephant in the wild can eat anywhere from 100 - 1000 pounds of vegetation in a 16 hour period

Some of the other names that were thought of for the dwarfs in the Disney movie "Snow White" were Awful, Dirty, Shifty, Hotsy, and Jumpy

In the U.S., over 35 million people have used some sort of illegal drug in the last year

96% of candles that are purchased are by women

The oldest bird on record was Cocky, a cockatoo, who died in the London Zoo at the age of 82

A cow averages 40,000 jaw movements a day

The reason the soft drink Dr Pepper is called that is because the inventor Wade Morrison named it after Dr. Charles Pepper who had given him his first job

Annually 17 tons of gold is used to make wedding rings in the United States

Sex acts like a natural antihistamine, in can clear up a stuffy nose

Women on average live seven years longer than men do

A British term for slot machine is "fruit machine" or "one-armed bandit."

Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin

Even though the rose does not bear any fruit, the rose hips have more Vitamin C than most vegetables and fruits

In 1946 Danon Yogurt were the first to add fruit to commercially produced yogurt in U.S

The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com on March 15, 1985.

American Airlines saved $40,000 in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served in first class

The first flavour of a cheese ball was called "Cheddy Blue."

Over 500 million gallons of Kool-Aid drink are consumed each year

The waste produced by one chicken in its lifetime can supply enough electricity to run a 100-watt bulb for five hours

Hydrogen solid is the most dense substance in the world, at 70.6g/cc

Missouri has been to most NCAA tournaments than any other college without reaching the final four

The hump of a camel can weigh up to 35 kilograms

Lake Malawi has the largest number of fish species in the world

The country of Fiji is made up of 332 islands

The first Labor Day holiday was celebrated on Tuesday, September 5, 1882, in New York City

The word "sophomore" means "sophisticated moron."

Jim Bristoe, an American, invented a 30-foot-long, 2-ton pumpkin cannon that can fire pumpkins up to five miles.

There are about 61,300 pizza restaurants in the United States of America

To tell if a egg is fully cooked or raw, just spin it. If the egg wobbles then it is still raw, and if it easily spins it is fully cooked

Used in art the word "sfumato" refers to the subtle blending of an outline by gradually blending one tone into another

There is a species of bird, Antpitta avis canis Ridgley, that barks like a dog

The flu pandemic of 1918 killed over 20 million people

Approximately 20% of Americans have a passport

The Nobel prize was first awarded in 1901

The reason why milk is white is because it contains a protein called Casein, which is white. Milk also contains fat, which is also white

After twenty-seven years, Betty Rubble made her debut as a Flintstones Vitamin in 1996

When telephone companies first began hiring telephone operators, they chose teenage boys for the job. They switched to women because the teenage boys were wrestling instead of working and pulling pranks on callers

In a lifetime, the heart pumps about one million barrels of blood

The Sears Tower in Chicago contains enough steel to build 50,000 automobiles

The first words that Thomas A. Edison spoke into the phonograph were, "Mary had a little lamb."

There are 400 species of bacteria in the human colon

On average, 100 people choke to death on ballpoint pens every year.

In the 20th century, over three million people have died from earthquakes

It is impossible to sneeze with your eyes open

People still cut the cheese shortly after death

In ancient Egypt, the only person who was allowed to wear cotton was the High Priest

Blueberries have more antioxidents than any other fruit or vegetables

The Mount Horeb Mustard Museum which is located in Wisconsin has the biggest collection of prepared mustards. They have approximately 4,000 different jars and tubes from all over the world

Bananas trees are not really trees. They are considered to be giant herb plants

Sponge Candy was invented in Buffalo, NY

When the volcano Krakatoa off the Java islands exploded in 1883, it was so loud that it woke some people up in South Australia

Pearls are rarely found in North American oysters

The average cocoon contains about 300-400 metres of silk

Lake Nicaragua boasts the only fresh-water sharks in the entire world

Boxing champion Gene Tunney taught Shakespeare at Yale University

The most popular pickle is the Dill pickle

Diabetes is the fourth leading cause of death in the U.S., accounting for about 180,000 deaths per year

Every year approximately 3,000 people choke to death

Cow is a Japanese brand of shaving foam

The fastest running bird is the Ostrich, which has been clocked at 97.5 kilometres per hour

When the divorce rate goes up in the United States, toy makers report that the sale of toys also rise

Q-Tip Cotton Swabs were originally called Baby Gays

The Pacific island of Tonga once issued a stamp that was banana shaped

A mole can dig a tunnel three hundred feet long in a single night

The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher

The only commercial aircraft that is able to break the sound barrier is the Concorde.

U.S. Postal Service processes 38 million address changes each year

In 1984, Ronald Reagan declared the month of July to be "National Ice Cream Month."

The small intestine in the human body is about 2 inches around, and 22 feet long

In 1905, the first pizzeria in the U.S. opened in New York City

In the early nineteenth century some advertisements claimed that riding the carousel was good for the circulation of blood

For the blockbuster movie "The Terminator," O.J. Simpson was considered to play the role of the Terminator, but producers did not choose him as they thought he would not be taken seriously

The actor who played the T-1000 in Terminator 2 (Robert Patrick) and the lead singer of Filter are brothers

The sole purpose of a drone bee is to mate with the queen bee

There are more plastic flamingos in America than real ones

Walt Disney had a fear of mice

Cleopatra married two of her brothers

In an average lifetime, people spend four years traveling in cars and six months waiting for red light to turn green

At one time, pumpkins were recommended for removing freckles

In just one drop of liquid, 50 million bacteria can be present

The Montreal Canadians hockey team has won the most Stanley Cups with 24

Nylon is a man-made fibre that is made from coal and petroleum

When the First Lady, Eleanor Roosevelt, received an alarming number of threatening letters, soon after her husband became President at the height of the Depression, the Secret Service insisted that she carry a pistol in her purse

Swiss engineer George de Mestral, who got the idea after noticing burrs were sticking to his pants after his regular walks through the woods, invented Velcro.

Bees can communicate with other bees by dancing. Their dance can alert other bees as to which direction and the distance nectar and pollen is located

The steepest street in the world is Baldwin Street located in Dunedin, New Zealand. It has an incline of 38%

One billion pounds of pasta would need approximately 2,021,452,000 gallons of water to cook it. This is equivalent to 75,000 Olympic-size swimming pools

Nutmeg is extremely poisonous if injected intravenously

The average Super Bowl party has 18 people

An ant can detect a movement through 5 centimeters of earth

One out of 200 women is colorblind

On average, the rainfall across the Amazon is 7 feet annually.

Passion fruits have a tranquilizing effect on the body

It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky

A snail can sleep for 3 years

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt"

There is a large brass statue of Winnie-the-Pooh in Lima, Peru

In 1982, Larry Walters tied 24 weather balloons to his lawn chair in Los Angeles and climbed to an altitude of 16,000 feet

Centuries ago in India, a person could get their nose chopped off for breaking the law

The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in Jello

The total number of steps in the Eiffel Tower are 1665

The amount of blood a female mosquito drinks per serving is five millionths of a liter

An adult porcupine has approximately 30,000 quills on its body, which are replaced every year

The name for Ivory Soap was inspired by a verse from the Bible. Harley Proctor got though of the name when the minister read from Psalms 45:8, "All thy garments smell of myrrh and aloes and cassia, out of the ivory palaces whereby they have made thee glad."

A survey done by Clairol 10 years ago came up with 46% of men stating that it was okay to color their hair. Now 66% of men admit to coloring their hair

The name of the squiggly line "~" is called a tilde

In 1747, the first American mention of the Christmas tree occurred. However, it was a not a tree but instead a pyramid made out of wood and decorated with apples and evergreen boughs

There are more Barbie dolls in Italy than there are Canadians in Canada

The study of ants is called Myrmecology

In the United States, you are more likely to be killed by a bee sting than a shark attack

Coca-Cola was the first soft drink to be consumed in outer space

Frozen food can be just as nutritious as fresh food

Fourteen people die each day from asthma in the United States

The average amount of time spent kissing for a person in a lifetime is 20,160 minutes

The human body has approximately 37,000 miles of capillaries

The most expensive shoes in the world are ruby slippers located in Harrods in London, which cost $1.6 million, has a full time security guard. The shoes are made from platinum thread and has 642 rubies in them. It took over 700 hours to produce the shoe

Only 55% of all Americans know that the sun is a star

The city of Denver was originally chosen to host the 1976 Winter Olympics, but had to withdraw because Colorado voters rejected to finance it

The longest bout of sneezing recorded was by Donna Griffith. It began in January 13 1981 and continued until September 16 1983 and lasted for 978 days

The Taj Mahal, located in Agra, India, was actually built for use as a tomb by Mogul ruler Shah Jehan for his wife, Arjuman Banu Begum

In 1943, the July issue of "Transportation Magazine" had an article entitled "1943 Guide to Hiring Women."

Spotted skunks do handstands before they spray

A dime has 118 ridges around the edge

Scientists with high-speed cameras have discovered that rain drops are not tear shaped but rather look like hamburger buns.

Ancient Egyptian women used to wear perfume cones made of wax that would melt in the heat letting out a nice fragrance

Mardi Gras means "Fat Tuesday." This is the festival that New Orleans, Louisiana is famous for having every year

There was once a fish caught in Delaware Bay with a watch still ticking inside

In Singapore, it is illegal to sell or own chewing gum

During the female orgasm, endorphines are released, which are powerful painkillers. So headaches are in fact a bad excuse not to have sex

Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes

The nut "filbert" got its name from St. Philbert which is celebrated on August 22nd, which is also when the nut matures

Every time Beethoven sat down to write music, he poured ice water over his head

Some species of dolphin sleep with one eye open

The chewing gum Juicy Fruit has 10 calories. This is approximately the same as a bite of whole wheat bread

In ancient Egypt, doctors used jolts from the electric catfish to reduce the pain of arthritis

In order to scare away predators, Giant petrels, a type of seabird, throw up all over the intruder

Elvis Presley used to be a truck driver before he started singing

The average cow produces about 2,305 gallons of milk each year

Former U.S. president Ronald Reagan worked as a lifeguard in his youth at a beach near Dixon, Illinois and saved over 77 lives

In 2000, there were 1,579,566 drug arrests in the United States. Of those, close to half were for marijuana

Just like fingerprints, every cats nose pad is different

Popeye is 34 years old, weighs 158 lbs, and is 5 feet 6 inches tall

Researchers have shot footage of Orcas (killer whales) attacking and killing great white sharks

The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca Cola, and Budweiser, in that order

One bushel of wheat can make enough sandwiches that you could eat three sandwiches a day for over six months

In 1992, approximately 750 deaths occurred in the United States due to workplace violence

In the movie "Babe", the piglet was played by over 30 different piglets they outgrew the part so quickly during the production of the film

Research indicates that people prefer the colour blue for their casual clothing

The leading cause of deaths for children between the ages of 1 and 4 are motor vehicle crashes

The first toilet being flushed in a motion picture was in the movie "Psycho."

The human brain has about 100,000,000,000 (100 billion) neurons

One acre of wheat can produce enough bread to feed a family of four people for about ten years

Queen Victoria used marijuana, to help relieve menstrual cramp pain

On a ship a toilet is called a head

About 1 in 5,000 North Atlantic lobsters are born bright blue

Approximately 10.5 gallons of water is used in a dishwasher. Washing the dishes by hand can use up to 20 gallons of water

The thing that hangs from the top of the beak of a turkey is called the snood

Ticks can be as small as a grain of rice and grow to be as big as a marble

An American chews an average of 300 sticks of gum in a year

Most cows give more milk when they listen to music

Giant flying foxes, which are a type of bat, that live in Indonesia have wingspans of nearly six feet

Heavier lemons contain more and tastier juice

Since 1950, over 230 million eggs of Silly Putty have been sold

Oral-B is a combination of oral hygiene and the letter B, which stands for the word better

Frank Wathernam was the last prisoner to leave Alcatraz prison on March 21, 1963

A blink lasts approximately 0.3 seconds

In 1903 Mary Anderson invented the windshield wipers

Both Thomas Jefferson and Jimmy Carter, U.S. presidents, were peanut farmers at one time

A cow releases about 125 gallons of gas per day

The Apollo 17 crew were the last men on the moon

Spartacus led the revolt of the Roman slaves and gladiators in 73 B.C

The Mexican version of the Tooth Fairy is known as the Tooth Mouse, which takes the tooth and leaves treasures in its place

In a day the blue whale calf drinks approximately 130 gallons of milk

Right-handed people live, on average, nine years longer than left-handed people do

All racehorses in the U.S. celebrate their birthday on January 1st

A person would have to drink more than 12 cups of hot cocoa to equal the amount of caffeine found in one cup of coffee

The oldest documented footwear found was a 8,000 year-old sandal found in a cave located in Missouri, USA

Broccoli was first introduced into France during the royal marriage of Catherine de Medici to Henry II of France

By federal law, for a noodle to actually be a noodle it must have 5.5 percent egg solids in it, otherwise it cannot be called a noodle

The first female guest host of Saturday Night Live was actress Candace Bergen

The human heart beast roughly 35 million times a year

People that use mobile phones are 2.5 time more likely to develop cancer in areas of the brain that are adjacent to the ear they use to talk on the mobile phone

Turkeys can have heart attacks. When the Air Force was conducting test runs and breaking the sound barrier, fields of turkeys dropped dead because of heart attacks

The act of sneezing is referred to as sternutation

The average medium size piano has about 230 strings

A study revealed that men that were born with a low birth weight were less likely to get married

It takes about 63,000 trees to make the newsprint for the average Sunday edition of The New York Times

On average, you would need 12.5 gallons of milk to make one gallon of ice cream

A leech can gorge itself up to a maximum of five times its body weight

There are places in Saskatchewan called Elbow, Eyebrow, and Drinkwater

A butterfly has to have a body temperature greater than 86 degrees to be able to fly

The beeswax that is produced by Honey bees comes from eight paired glands that are located on the underside of their stomach

People in low-income homes spend 50% more time playing video games than people in high-income homes

Lighthouse keepers were nicknamed "wickies" because they tended the lamps wick

Taco Bell serves over 35 million consumers each week in the USA

During the Roman times, people used urine, called lotium in Latin, as a hair product

There are approximately 90 people that have been frozen after their death.

The smallest will ever written was 3.8 cm in diameter. It had 40 words written on it and was signed by two witnesses

The length of a human esophagus is 25 centimeters

In 1942 the Jello company introduced Cola flavored jello, which only lasted a year

Males account for 60% of toy injuries that occur in the U.S

The company "Sony" was originally called "Totsuken." They felt the name "Sony" would be easier to pronounce. The name was invented by a cross between the name "sonus" and "sonny." The name sound and sonic are derived. Sonny was used to represent a young man or boy, which would show a energetic young company

The Red Cross is called the Red Crescent in Arab countries

The Olympics were originally held for the Greek god Zeus

The oldest inhabited house in Scotland is the Traquair Castle. The castle has had 27 kings as visitors

Four billion pounds of watermelon were grown in the United States in 1999

Wham-O manufactured twenty-thousand hula-hoops a day at the peak of hula-hoop popularity in 1958

JELL-O was declared The "Official State Snack" of Utah in January 2001

Elvis Presley was obsessed with brushing his teeth

When the Statue of Liberty was moved from France to the United States, 214 crates were used to transport it. The Statue was also reduced to 350 pieces

There are approximately 2000 thunderstorms that are active at the same time which results in 100 lightning flashes a second.

In-vitro babies are born in Australia more than any other country in the world

Uranus? winter and summer seasons last the equivalent of 21 Earth years

More people die from eating sharks then from being eaten by them. This is due to a poison in shark meat

The murder rate in the United States is about four times greater than in Japan. In Japan, no private citizen can buy a handgun legally

The rarest chocolate bar in the world is the Porcelana bar. There are only 20,000 of these bars produced a year, and they sell for $90 per pound

The reason why locusts swarm are because when they are in groups, a "hot-spot" behind their hind legs is stimulated, which in turn causes their destructive nature. A large swarm of locusts can eat eighty thousand tons of corn in a day

There are an equivalent number of cows and people in Friesland, Netherlands

Centipedes always have an uneven pairs of walking legs

A chicken once had its head cut off and survived for over eighteen months, headless

The largest diamond found in the United States was a 40.23 carat white diamond. It was found in 1924 and nicknamed the "Uncle Sam."

Following directions off the Internet and chemicals obtained from a mail order company, a team of U.S. scientists created an identical copy of the polio virus.

Every day, the Hubble telescope transmits enough data to fit 10,000 standard computer disks

The average number of people that go to a party for the Super Bowl is 17

The amount of Kit Kat chocolate bars that are made at the York factory every 15 minutes are enough to outstack the Eiffel Tower

The skin of a shark is made up of "tiny teeth" which are called dermal denticles

The strongest gust of wind was recorded at the Mount Washington Observatory on April 12th, 1934, and measured 231 miles per hour.

The company Chanel claims that every 30 seconds, somewhere in the world, a bottle of Chanel No 5 is sold

In their lifetime, house cats spend approximately 10,950 hours purring

The reason why bubbles are round is because this is the most efficient shape that the soap film can take for the amount of air trapped inside

It is very common for babies in New Zealand to sleep on sheepskins. This is to help them gain weight faster, and retain their body heat

From 1526 to 1707, the first six Mogul emperors of India ruled in unbroken succession from father to son

A one kilogram packet of sugar will have about 5 million grains of sugar

Bats emit ultrasonic sounds to communicate with each other

Rats can survive up to 14 days without any food

Canola oil is actually rapeseed oil but the name was changed in Canada for marketing reasons

Three consecutive strikes in bowling is called a turkey

In a year, about 90 million jars of Skippy Peanut Butter are sold. This works out to three jars sold every second

In a lifetime, an average man will shave 20,000 times

The Pentagon has 284 restrooms

From 1967-1976, the town of Tororo located in Uganda had thunder 251 out of the 365 days in a year for those years.

Children grow faster in the springtime than any other season during the year

Another name for licorice is "Sweet Wood" or "Spanish Juice."

The reason the Animal Crackers box is designed with a string handle is because when the popular circus theme was introduced in 1902 they thought it would also be a good idea to package them with a string as a Christmas novelty so they could be hung from Christmas trees

Sheep can detect other sheep faces like humans do. They can remember up to 50 sheep faces

The loudest insect in the world is the male cicadas, which are like crickets. When they rub their abdomens, the sound made can be heard from 1300 feet

Each year 96 billion pounds of food is wasted in the U.S

In the past 60 years, the groundhog has only predicted the weather correctly 28% of the time. The rushing back and forth from burrows is believed to indicate sexual activity, not shadow seeking

Pretzel snacks have been around for over 1300 years. A European monk invented the snack using used leftover bread dough

Sharks are capable of surviving on average six weeks without eating. The record observed in an aquarium is fifteen months by a species of shark known as the "swell shark."

The destruction of the Berlin Wall began when private citizens began to demolish entire sections of the Wall without interference from government officials on November 9, 1989

Most American women have their first baby when they are 24.3 years old

Frogs do not need to drink water as they absorb the water through their skin

A group of larks is called an exaltation

The Kool Aid Man used to be known as "Pitcher Man" when he was first introduced in 1975

Wheel of Fortune star Vanna White holds the record for putting her hands together approximately 140,000 times to clap

Men sweat more than women. This is because women can better regulate the amount of water they lose

Research has indicated that approximately eleven minutes are cut off the life of an average male smoker from each cigarette smoked

The triangular shape that Toblerone chocolates are packaged in, is protected by law

In 1945, the first "floating ice cream parlor" was built for sailors in the western Pacific. This "floating ice cream parlour" could produce ten gallons of ice cream every seven seconds

The formula for Coca-cola has never been patented

The average day is actually 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds. We have a leap year every four years to make up for this shortfall

Before its name was changed, the African Penguin used be called the Jackass Penguin because of its donkey-like braying call

During the high feeding season, it has been estimated that an adult blue whale can eat up to 40 million krill in one day. (Krill are shrimp like creatures)

Pound for pound, leopards are said to be seven times stronger than humans

One average, men spend 60 hours a year shaving

Botanically a rhubarb is a vegetable. It was changed to a fruit in 1947 by a U.S. Custom Court

Sawney Beane, his wife, 8 sons, 6 daughters, and 32 grandchildren were a family of cannibals that lived in the caves near Galloway, Scotland in the early 17th Century. Although the total number is not known, it is believed they claimed over 50 victims per year. The entire family was taken by an army detachment to Edinburgh and executed, apparently without trial

The movie that grossed the most money that was adapted from a T.V. cartoon is Scooby-Doo

There are five million scent receptors located in a human beings nose

When Coca-Cola was invented, American tourists that visited Spain were surprised to see that Coke was three times as expensive as a glass of brandy

Some silkworms can spin cocoons that contain more than two miles of silk

The mother of famous astronomer Johannes Kepler was accused of being a witch

At one time, Pumpkins were recommended for the removal of freckles and curing snake bites

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies

Approximately 200 pets are buried in a pet cemetery out of the thousands of pets that die each day

The average Hostess Twinkie is 68 percent air as measured by volume according to university researchers

In Haiti, only 1 out of every 200 people own a car. This is ironic considering approximately 33% of the country's budget on import is spent on equipment for fuel and transportation.

Every U.S. bill regardless of denomination costs just 4 cents to make

About 30% of American admit to talking to their dogs or leaving messages on their answering machines for their dogs while they are away

A duck�s quack doesn�t echo, and no one knows why

Caterpillar means "hairy cat" in Old French

The ostrich has two toes on each feet which gives it greater speed

On September 3, 1970, a hailstone was found in Coffeyville, Kansas that was eight inches in diameter and weighed 1.67 pounds.

Honorificabilitudinitatibus is the longest English word that consists strictly of alternating consonants and vowels

It can take up to a month for a rattlesnake to re-supply its venom

Close to 3 billion movie tickets are sold in India every year

The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left

There were approximately 2,228 people on board the Titanic when it sank. Of this, only 706 people survived

An elephant can live up to the age of seventy, or in some cases even more

The giant squid has the largest eyes in the world

Elephants can't jump. Every other mammal can.

The name "cranberry" comes from German and Dutch settlers. The berry was intially called "crane berry." The reason it was called this was because when the flowers bloom, the petals of the flowers twist backwards and look very much like the head of a crane. Eventually the name was shortened down to be "cranberry."

In New Mexico, over eleven thousand people have visited a tortilla chip that appeared to have the face of Jesus Christ burned into it

On average, he ratio of yellow kernels to white kernals in a bag of popcorn is 9:1

The first toilet stall in a public washroom is the least likely to be used. It is also the cleanest

In 1955, only 330 Volkswagen Beetle's were sold at a price of $1800 each in the United States.

Printed on the tablet being held by the Statue of Liberty is July IV, MDCCLXXVI

The country of Fiji is made up of 332 islands

Orville Wright, a pilot, was involved in the first aircraft accident. His passenger, a Frenchman, was killed.

The first company to mass produce teddy bears was the Ideal Toy Company

Princess Anne from the British royal family competed in the 1976 Summer Olympics

Brazil produces the most oranges in the world

Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.

The eyeball of a human weighs approximately 28 grams

A human head remains conscious for about 15 to 20 seconds after it is been decapitated

Witchcraft means "Craft of the Wise Ones."

500,000 kids in the US live in same sex households

In July 1874, a swarm of Rocky Mountain locusts flew over Nebraska covering an area estimated at 198,600 square miles. It is estimated that the swarm contained about 12.5 trillion insects. These insects became extinct thirty years later

Tropical rainforests cover about 7% of the Earth and receive over 80 inches of rain every year

The feet have approximately 250,000 sweat glands

Approximately 7.5% of all office documents get lost

The desert tortoise can live without having to drink any water. It extracts the water it needs from the vegetation it eats

There were 13 couples celebrating their honeymoon on the Titanic

A cat has 32 muscles in each ear

There are 336 dimples on a regulation golf ball

Elvis Presley had a twin brother named Jesse Garon Presley who died at birth

Robert Wadlow is the tallest man recorded in history. He grew to be eight feet and eleven inches and weighed 490 pounds when he died

Bank robber John Dillinger played professional baseball

Research indicates that plants grow healthier when they are stroked.

France is known as the perfume capital of the world

According to psychologists, the shoe and the foot are the most common sources of sexual fetishism in Western society

Constipation is caused when too much water is absorbed in the large intestine and the feces become dry

One ton of grapes can produce 720 bottles of wine

Eating about twenty tart cherries a day could reduce inflammatory pain and headache pain

In 2001, the five most valuable brand names in order were Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, and Nokia

Milk chocolate was invented in Switzerland by David Peter in 1876

In November 1999, two women were killed by a lightning bolt. The underwire located in their bras acted as a electrical conductors, and when the lightning bolt hit the bra they left burn marks on their chest

Basketball was invented by Canadian James Naismith in 1891

Over 100,000 birds and sea animals are killed every year due to plastic garbage

The big toe is the foot reflexology pressure point for the head

85% of weddings are held in a synagogue or church

The sport of surfing originated in Hawaii

It is possible to lead a cow upstairs...but not downstairs

Before soccer referees started using whistles in 1878, they used to rely on waving a handkerchief

Tobacco kills more Americans each year than alcohol, cocaine, crack, heroin, homicide, suicide, car accidents, fire and AIDS combined

The best time for a person to buy shoes is in the afternoon. This is because the foot tends to swell a bit around this time

Dead cells in the body ultimately go to the kidneys for excretion

Americans, on average, spend 18% of his or her income on transportation as compared to only 13% spent on food

There are some species of snails that are venomous. Their venom can be fatal to humans

The first box of Crayola that was ever sold had the same eight colours that are sold in the box today consisting of red, blue, yellow, green, violet, orange, black and brown. The box was sold for a nickel in 1903

A turtle can breathe through its butt.

The rarest coffee in the world is Kopi Luwak, which is found in Indonesia. It cost about $300 a pound

The average America online user spends 70 minutes day online

The song with the longest title is "I?m a Cranky Old Yank in a Clanky Old Tank on the Streets of Yokohama with my Honolulu Mama Doin? Those Beat-o, Beat-o Flat-On-My-Seat-o, Hirohito Blues" written by Hoagy Carmichael in 1945. He later claimed the song title ended with ?Yank? and the rest was a joke

People of Ancient China believed that swinging your arms could cure a headache

In 1938, Cliquot Club ginger ale was the first soft drink to be canned

The largest apple pie ever baked was forty by twenty three feet

Roughly 44% of junk mail is thrown away unopened

Catfish have tastebuds located on their whiskers

The laundry detergent Tide, has a market share of about forty percent market

A Canadian, Troy Hurtubise, spent $100,000 and almost went bankrupt building a RoboCop style suit so that he could withstand a bear attack

The 3 most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca-Cola, andBudweiser, in that order.

The only two days of the year in which there are no professional sports games (MLB, NBA, NHL, or NFL) are the day before and the day after the Major League all-stars Game

In the United States, 8.5 million cosmetic surgical and non-surgical procedures were done in the year 2001

The Bible has been translated into Klingon.

Ian Fleming named his character "James Bond" after real-life ornithologist and author

Most dinosaurs walked on their toes.

On December 17 1991, the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Miami Heat 148-80, the largest margin of victory in an NBA game

There are mirrors on the moon. Astronauts left them so that laser beams could be bounced off of them from Earth. These beams help give us the distance to the moon give or take a few metres.

The U.S. army packs Tabasco pepper sauce in every ration kit that they give to soldiers

The trunk of an elephant can hold up to two gallons of water

Every year, an igloo hotel is built in Sweden that has the capacity to sleep 100 people

During the holiday season, approximately $220 million worth of Poinsettias are sold

A newborn kangaroo weighs approximately 0.03 ounces and is small enough to fit in a teaspoon

When Scott Paper Co. first started manufacturing toilet paper they did not put their name on the product because of embarrassment

The most senior crayon maker Emerson Moser retired after making 1.4 billion crayons for Crayola. It was then that he revealed that he was actually colorblind

The highest point in Pennsylvania is lower than the lowest point inColorado.

Scientists have determined that having guilty feelings may actually damage your immune system

"Go." is the shortest complete sentence in the English language

There are more than 250,000 rivers in the United States, which amounts to 3.5 million miles of rivers

Forty-one percent of women apply body and hand moisturizer at least three times a day

Pretzel that have no salt on them are called "baldies."

The 1912 Olympics was the last Olympics that gave out gold medals that were made entirely out of gold

Monopoly is the best-selling board game in the world

There was a book written fourteen years before the sinking of the Titanic happened titled "Futility" by Morgan Robertson. This book was remarkably similar to the tragedy that happened to the Titanic in 1912

One ounce of chocolate has about 20 mg of caffeine in it

A giraffe can go longer without water than a camel

Vikings, after killing their enemies, used their skulls as drinking vessels

Studies have shown that classical music helps cows produce more milk

Two out of five people end up marrying their first love

The Hawaiian alphabet only has 12 letters

The name "Muppet" was coined by Jim Henson. The word was made from a combination of the word "marionette" and "puppet."

In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years

The Christmas season begins after sunset on December 24th and lasts until January 5th. This is also known as the Twelve Days of Christmas

Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue more than any other color

In Italy, Santa Claus is known by the name Babbo Natale

Two objects have struck the earth with enough force to destroy a whole city. Each object, one in 1908 and again in 1947, struck regions of Siberia. Not one human being was hurt either time

When blue whales are first born, they gain as much as 200 pounds a day while they are calves

Families who do turn off the television during meals tend to eat healthier. This was regardless of family income, or education

About 25 percent of all the energy consumed in the US is from natural gas

American novelist Mark Twain was the first known author to submit a typed manuscript

If you fart consistently for 6 years and 9 months, enough gas is produced to create the energy of an atomic bomb

Canada is the only country not to win a gold medal in the Summer Olympic games while hosting the event

The sound made by the toadfish when mating underwater is so loud that it can be heard by humans on the shore

In America, approximately 20% of children between the ages of 2 - 7 have televisions in their rooms

Traveling by air is the safest means of transportation.

In 1996, toy company Mattel released a "Harley Davidson" Barbie. This dolls distinctive feature is a birth mark on her face that changes position with every new release of the doll

The most common injury caused by cosmetics is to the eye by a mascara wand

There have been close to 200 coups and counter-coups in the country of Bolivia

On average, pigs live for about 15 years

Roughly 42% of people in the United Kingdom snore

No NFL team which plays its home games in a domed stadium has ever won a Superbowl

Beluga whales which are also called "white whales" are not born white. They are born grey in color, and by the age of six become completely white

Tiger Woods is the first athlete to has been named "Sportsman of the Year" by magazine Sports Illustrated two times

The eight most popular foods to cause food allergies are: milk, eggs, wheat, peanuts, soy, tree nuts, fish, and shellfish

Club Direct, a travel insurance company in Britain, provides insurance plans for protection from falling coconuts

There are some bananas that are red instead of yellow

Only one out of every three people wash their hands when leaving a public bathroom

570 gallons of paint would be needed to paint the outside of the White House

Baby robins eat 14 feet of earthworms every day

Every three seconds a baby is born somewhere in the world

The total mileage driven by all U-Haul trucks in a year is enough to move a person from the Earth to the moon five times a day for an entire year

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every fivemust be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips intimes ofwar or other emergencies.

Pluto was discovered on February 10, 1930 by Clyde Tombaugh

Termites have been around for over 250 million years

The average person changes their career every 13 years

The New York Yankees have appeared in the World Series a league leading 38 times and won 26 titles

Approximately 18 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills each year. These diapers can takes as long as 500 years to finally decompose

Over 4.5 billion sticks have Trident gum have been chewed. If the stick of gum were laid out end to end they could circle the globe approximately 1.8 times

Oak trees can live 200 or more years

The brain of an ant has about 250,000 brain cells

About 26 per cent of all indoor water used by households in Sydney, Australia are for laundry

A rainbow can occur only when the sun is 40 degrees or less above the horizon

If you spray an antiseptic spray on a polar bear, its fur will turn purple

Over $7 billion a year is spent on chocolates by consumers

During World War II, Russians used dogs strapped with explosives to blow up German tanks. They trained the dogs to associate the tanks with food and ended up destroying about 25 German tanks using this method

Butterflies taste with their feet

St. Louis, Missouri was the first U.S. city to host the summer Olympics in 1904

The phrase "rule of thumb" is derived from an old English law whichstated that you couldn't beat your wife with anything wider than yourthumb.

Every year Alaska has about 5,000 earthquakes, 1,000 of which measure above 3.5 on the Richter scale

A fetus develops fingerprints at eighteen weeks

It takes about a half a gallon of water to cook macaroni, and about a gallon to clean the pot

The cornea is the only living tissue in the human body that does not contain any blood vessels

In the U.S. peanuts account for 66% of all snack nuts

There are approximately 7,000 feathers on an eagle

Sharks can sense a drop of blood from a mile away

As a defense mechanism, the North American Opossum closes its eyes and becomes totally limp. Basically it plays dead

The longest town name in the world has 167 letters

A sneeze zooms out of your mouth at over 600 m.p.h

A cesium atom in an atomic clock that beats over nine billion times a second.

The mythical Scottish town of Brigadoon appears for one day every one hundred years

Kermit the frog delivered the commencement address at Southampton College located in the state of New York in 1996

In World War II, the German submarine U-120 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet

The phrase "Often a bridesmaid, but never a bride," actually originates from an advertisement for Listerine mouthwash from 1924

Over 50% of lottery players go back to work after winning the jackpot

The largest cultivated crop in the United States is corn

Walt Disney holds the record for the most Oscar nominations with sixty-four

On average, Americans eat one hundred acres of pizza a day. This amounts to about three hundred fifty slices per second

As an iceberg melts, it makes a fizzing sound because of the compressed air bubbles popping in the ice

The Arctic Ocean covers an area of about 14,056,000 sq miles

The first known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 B.C

Most toilets flush in E flat

Bile produced by the liver is responsible for making your feces a brownish, green colour

At one time the group "Grateful Dead" were called "The Warlocks."

Bats can detect food up to 18 feet away and what type of insect the food may be using their sense of echolocation

At the equator the Earth spins at about 1,038 miles per hour

People whose mouth has a narrow roof are more likely to snore. This is because they have less oxygen going through their nose

In one day, a human sheds 10 billion skin flakes. This amounts to approximately two kilograms in a year

On average, an American home has 3-10 gallons of hazardous materials

On average, 35 meters of hair fibre is produced on the adult scalp

Dalmatian puppies do not have any spots on them when they are born. They actually develop them as they get older

Male goats will pee on each other in order to attract mates

A dog by the name of Laika was launched into space aboard the Russian spacecraft Sputnik 2 in 1957

In 2002, dogs have killed more people in the U.S. than the Great White shark has killed in the past 100 years

The study of twins is known as gemellology

On an American one-dollar bill, there is an owl in the upper right-hand corner of the "1" encased in the "shield" and a spider hidden in the front upper right-hand corner

During one seven year period, Thomas Edison obtained approximately three hundred patents. In is whole life he obtained over one thousand patents.

When Black Jack Ketchum was hung back in 1901 in Clayton New Mexico, the noose actually ended up taking his head off. The head had to be sewn back on so Black Jack could be buried properly

Every 40,000 children are killed by fires

The highest recorded speed of a sneeze is 165 km per hour

In 1985, a pregnant women was falsely accused of shoplifting a basketball

In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere

The adult electric eel can produce a five hundred volt shock, which is enough to stun a horse

When the are in danger, kangaroos will beat the ground loudly with their hind feet

To manufacture a new car approximately 148,000 liters of water is needed.

In 410 A.D. Alaric the Visigoth demanded that Rome give him three thousand pounds of pepper as ransom

Actress Jamie Lee Curtis invented a special diaper for babies that has a pocket

Honeybees use the sun as a compass which helps them navigate

An average driver spends approximately 2 hours and 14 minutes kissing in their car in a lifetime

In gangster slang, a boxing match that is fixed is called a "barney."