parts 5
1997 Words
There is a liquid that you can breathe in called perfluorohexane. Animals can be submerged in a bath of perfluorohexane without drowning.
Feeding curry to a sheep reduces the amount of methane in its farts by up to 40%.
During a conversation, each speaker’s “turn” averages 2 seconds, and the pause in between is only 200 milliseconds. That figure is nearly universal.
Cold showers have more health benefits than hot or warm showers. These include improving circulation, stimulating weight loss, and easing depression.
Despite being landlocked, Mongolia has a navy consisting of seven men and one vessel, the “Sukhbaatar III,” stationed on Lake Khövsgöl.
During the Second World War, German tank drivers would drive their vehicles over camel droppings, thinking it would bring them good luck.
In Alabama, it is illegal to participate in shooting, hunting, gaming, card playing, or racing on Sundays. The fine ranges from $10 to $100.
Originally, bumper cars were not supposed to hit each other. Drivers were actually supposed to avoid crashing in spite of chaotic driving. The first company to patent a bumper car was in 1920 named Dodgem.
A woman was elected to the House of Representatives four years before women even won the right to vote.
In the Netherlands version of Sesame Street, instead of Big Bird, they have a bluebird named Pino. He was later established as Big Bird’s cousin.
The full Bible has been translated into over 3,000 languages. Among those include fictional languages like Elvish, Klingon, and Na’vi.
The voice of Stargazer in Mass Effect 3 was done by Buzz Aldrin.
The first 4th of July celebration was in 1777.
Justin Bieber’s first tweet was at 8:27 pm on May 11, 2009.
Snakes and lizards both molt out of their old skin as they grow. Investigators have come to the conclusion that dinosaurs may have also molted.
Zebras have only one toe on each foot.
Humans have been performing dentistry since 7000BC, which makes dentists one of the oldest professions.
Originally, the Pokémon Vulpix was going to be called “FoxFire.”
The first-ever documented feature film was made in Australia in 1906.
Ancient Roman surgeons were trained to block out the screams of human pain.
William Hung, made famous for his appearance on American Idol singing “She Bangs,” is a 73rd generation descendant of Confucius.
From 1937 to 1953, NBC’s Today Show had a chimpanzee co-host named J. Fred Muggs. It is estimated he brought in the network around $100 million.
Because snow is composed of ice, it can be classified as a mineral. Water, however, does not fall under the same classification and is not a mineral.
Of the 9,000 Blockbuster stores that existed in the early 1990s, at least 10 Blockbusters are open across the U.S. Seven of those are in Alaska.
There is a geocache on the International Space Station placed in 2008. It has since been visited four times by other astronauts.
The Vatican had music that was forbidden to be copied and was only played twice per year. It was secret for almost 150 years until a 14-year-old Mozart heard it and transcribed it from memory.
Canada eats more macaroni and cheese than any other nation in the world.
Octopuses only touch in situations of mating or aggression. Female octopuses sometimes do both, strangling and eating the male after mating.
Scotland wanted to replicate the Parthenon bigger and cheaper in 1826. It was never completed and is now nicknamed “Scotland’s Disgrace.”
A French general gave John Quincy Adams a pet alligator. Adams kept it in one of the White House bathtubs and enjoyed showing it off.
In 1866, The United States purchased Alaska from Russia for $7.2 million by writing a check.
In the Philippines, you can buy spaghetti at McDonald’s, where they also sell a “McDo” piece of chicken.
Though most think it’s Italian, pepperoni is an American invention. The first use of the word dates back to 1919.
The pumpkin is a member of the cucurbit family, which are gourds, such as cucumbers and squashes.
Any prime number higher than three, when squared and subtracted by one, will always turn out to be a multiple of 24.
When dogs are first born, they are completely blind & cannot hear anything. The first sense that they develop is the sense of touch.
Margherita Pizza uses tomato, mozzarella, and basil toppings to represent the Italian national flag. It was originally to honor the Queen of Italy in 1890.
Sudan has more pyramids than any country, with 255. They outnumber Egyptian pyramids by twice the amount.
The money for the Statue of Liberty came from fundraising from auctions, a lottery, and boxing matches in Europe and the U.S. The Statue cost the French about $250,000, which today would be over $5.5 million dollars.
Not all hamsters are small. Although some hamsters are as small as 2-4 inches, the largest ones are approximately 13 inches long.
The hand and footprints in front of the Chinese Theater tradition started accidentally when silent film actress Norma Talmadge stepped on wet cement.
Snakes can help predict earthquakes. They can sense a coming earthquake from 75 miles away, up to five days before it happens.
Soviet Russia needed lighthouses on their uninhabited Northern Coast, so they built automated lighthouses powered by small nuclear reactors.
Animals yawn based on how large their brain is. The bigger the brain, the longer they will yawn.
Before Apple bought Siri, it was originally going to be released as an app for Android & Blackberry.
Approximately 1 in every 2,000 babies already has a tooth when they are first born.
The Young America Township in Minnesota has a population of less than 1,000 but more than 20 zip codes.
The United States Department of Agriculture says the official definition of a sandwich is: “at least 35 percent cooked meat and no more than 50 percent bread”.
Nutella was invented during WWII when an Italian pastry maker mixed hazelnuts into chocolate to extend his chocolate ration.
The original name for Xbox was DirectXbox, designed to show how Microsoft’s Direct X graphics could improve the console market.
In Switzerland, it is illegal to own just one guinea pig. This is because guinea pigs are social animals, and they are considered victims of abuse if they are alone.
Walter Hunt, a man from America, invented the safety pin back in 1849.
The highest recorded fall without a parachute happened in 1972 at 33,333 ft. The victim, Vesna Vulović, was in the hospital for 16 months after the fall.
A mason in 1700s Jerusalem left his wooden ladder behind after doing some work on a church, and now it can’t be moved without the agreement & permission of six different Christian leaders.
Eminem’s mother filed an $11 million defamation lawsuit against him because of his lyrics about her. She settled for $25,000, and $23,354.25 of that went to her lawyer.
San Marino is the fifth smallest country in the world (and the third smallest in Europe).
A woman faked her entire tragedy and the loss of her husband during the 9/11 attacks and became President of the Support Network in New York.
The Postal Service got its name based on the fact that they originally used USPS to send each other music tracks because of conflicting schedules.
December 3rd is known as “Roof Over Your Head Day” – a day to be grateful for what we have in life!
Alaska is the only state in America that can be typed on one row of a traditional English QWERTY keyboard.
Michael Jackson’s shiny glove was actually just a modified golf glove.
The spiked dog collar was invented by the Ancient Greeks to protect their dogs from wolf attacks.
Mr. and Mrs. originated from using the words master and mistress.
The only difference between kosher salt and table salt is the grain size. Kosher salt is smaller, and they both come from underground salt deposits.
Invented in 1923, Q-Tips were originally called Baby Gays; then Q-Tip Baby Gays, then finally, just Q-Tips. The Q stands for quality.
1912 saw the last Olympic gold medals made entirely out of gold.
Every 10 years, the human skeleton repairs and renews itself. Essentially, you have different bones now than you did 10 years ago!
The first game to be played in space was Starcraft – Daniel Barry took it with him in 1999 on the Space Shuttle mission STS-96.
Houston is the most diverse city in the United States. As of 2010, 43.8% are Latino, 25.6% are White, 23.1% are Black, and 6% are Asian.
May 29th is “National Put a Pillow on Your Fridge Day.” It is celebrated in Europe & USA to bring luck & wealth to the household.
When water freezes to ice cubes, it will take up 9% more volume.
The little piece of paper sticking out of a Hershey’s Kiss is called a niggly wiggly.
As a child, Jet Li performed with the Chinese National Wushu Team for President Nixon. Nixon asked him to be his personal bodyguard, but he declined.
Eating grapefruit can restrict the effects of 43 different kinds of medications.
Dinosaurs would swallow large rocks which stayed in their stomach to help churn and digest food.
The word robot comes from the Czech “robota.” This translates into forced labor or work.
During 1943, U.S. officials imposed a short-lived ban on sliced bread as a wartime conservation measure. It lasted less than 3 months.
Abraham Lincoln loved cats and once let one eat from the table during a formal White House dinner.
The Canadian government isn’t sure when Canada became a sovereign state. Its Supreme Court ruled that sovereignty occurred sometime between 1919 and 1931.
On April 1, 2005, NASA pulled an April Fool’s prank telling the world that they had found water on Mars.
There’s a town in the Oklahoma panhandle named “Hooker,” and its slogan is “it’s a location, not a vocation.”
Japan is facing a ninja shortage. There is a high demand for “ninja shows,” but it is a dying tradition, and companies have trouble time finding properly trained ninjas.
New Jersey had 4 Governors in the span of 8 days in early 2002. The shortest term of those was served by John Farmer Jr. for 90 minutes.
George Miller – the person who created Mad Max is the same person who created Happy Feet.
Surgeons who play video games at least 3 hours a week perform 27% faster and make 37% fewer errors.
In Svalbard, a remote Norwegian island, it is illegal to die.
This is because bodies are unable to be buried safely due to the permafrost on the ground. If you are about to die, they fly you back to mainland Norway to pass on there.
When cellophane was invented in 1908, it was originally intended to be used to protect tablecloths from wine spills.
A Dutch start-up company has been able to start training wild crows so that they pick up cigarette butts and put them in bins for a peanut as a reward.
We feel “hangry” because it’s harder for us to control our emotions when our brains are low on glucose.
The mayor of a historical district in Alaska is a cat named Stubbs. Mayor Stubbs drinks catnip-laden water from a wineglass every afternoon at a local restaurant.
Spam mail got its name from the canned meat after a Monty Python skit that made fun of Spam as tasting “horrible and being ubiquitous and inescapable.”
Humans specifically have eyes that face forward for the purpose of seeing in 3D. On the other hand, vegetarian dinosaurs such as the Triceratops had eyes that looked out to the side so they could stay vigilant, watching for danger as they ate.
In the 1980s,
- Writer
