Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Did you know?

Just to enlighten you...

Barbie's measurements if she were life size: 39-23-33. -> yay!

The dollar symbol ($) is a U combined with an S (U.S.) -> uh huh...

Our eyes are always the same size from birth, but our nose and ears never stop growing. -> they dooo?!!

David Prowse, was the guy in the Darth Vader suit in Star Wars. He spoke all of Vader's lines, and didn't know that he was going to be dubbed over by James Earl Jones until he saw the screening of the movie. ->> tsk... tsk..

Naugahyde, plastic "leather" was created in Naugatuck, Connecticut. -> ok. what is a Naugahyde?

The Swiss flag is square. -> oh

The word 'pound' is abbreviated 'lb.' after the constellation 'libra' because it means 'pound' in Latin, and also 'scales'. The abbreviation for the British Pound Sterling comes from the same source: it is an 'L' for Libra/Lb. with a stroke through it to indicate abbreviation.
Sames goes for the Italian lira which uses the same abbreviation ('lira' coming from 'libra'). So British currency (before it went metric) was always quoted as "pounds/shillings/pence", abbreviated "L/s/d" (libra/solidus/denarius). -> ahhh...

No animal, once frozen solid (i.e., water solidifies and turns to ice) survives when thawed, because the ice crystals formed inside cells would break open the cell membranes. However there are certain frogs that can survive the experience of being frozen. These frogs make special proteins which prevent the formation of ice (or at least keep the crystals from becoming very large), so that they actually never freeze even though their body temperature is below zero Celsius. The water in them remains liquid: a phenomenon known as 'supercooling.' If you disturb one of these frogs (just touching them even), the water in them quickly freezes solid and they die. -> nice fact.

The white part of your fingernail is called the lunula. -> now i know what it is..

Madrid is the only European capital city not situated on a river. -> I'll remember that

The Boston University Bridge (on Commonwealth Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts) is the only place in the world where a boat can sail under a train driving under a car driving under an airplane. -> wow!

It is believed that Shakespeare was 46 around the time that the King James Version of the Bible was written. In Psalms 46, the 46th word from the first word is shake and the 46th word from the last word is spear. -> yay...

Both writer Edgar Allen Poe and LSD advocate Timothy Leary were kicked out of West Point. -> really?

The word posh, which denotes luxurious rooms or accomodations, originated when ticket agents in England marked the tickets of travelers going by ship to the Orient. Since there was no air conditioning in those days, it was always better to have a cabin on the shady side of the ship as it passed through the Mediterranean and Suez area. Since the sun is in the south, those with money paid extra to get cabin's on the left, or port, traveling to the Asia, and on the right, or starboard, when returning to Europe. Hence their tickets were marked with the initials for Port Outbound Starboard Homebound, or POSH. -> ahh that's why.

The only city whose name can be spelled completely with vowels is Aiea, Hawaii, located approximately twelve miles west of Honolulu.

Parthenogenesis is the term used to describe the process by which certain animals are able to reproduce themselves in successive female generations without intervention of a male of the species. At least one species of lizard is known to do so.

Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

The word "Checkmate" in chess comes from the Persian phrase "Shah Mat", which means "the king is dead".

"Quisling" is the only word in the English language to start with "quis."

All of the cobble stones that used to line the streets in New York were originally weighting stones put in the hulls of Belgian ships to keep an even keel.

Libya has the only flag which is all one color with no writing or decoration on it

The only borough of New York City that isn't an island (or part of an island) is the Bronx.

The tune for the "A-B-C" song is the same as "Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star."

When a coffee seed is planted, it takes five years to yield it's first consumable fruit. -> so long!

The common goldfish is the only animal that can see both infra-red and ultra-violet light. -> wow!

There are only three animals with blue tongues, the Black Bear, the Chow Chow dog and the blue-tongued lizard.

The first fossilized specimen of Austalopithecus afarenisis was named Lucy after the palentologists' favorite song, Lucy in the Sky With Diamonds, by the Beatles.

Pinocchio is Italian for "pine head."

The geographical center of North America is near Rugby, North Dakota.

The infinity sign is called a lemniscate.

There are six five words in the English language with the letter combination "uu." Muumuu, vacuum, continuum, duumvirate and duumvir, residuum.

Dirty Harry's badge number is 2211.

The pupil of an octopus' eye is rectangular.

The shortest French word with all five vowels is "oiseau" meaning bird.

Camel's milk does not curdle.

"Mr. Mojo Risin" is an anagram for Jim Morrison.

A person from the country of Nauru is called a Nauruan; this is the only palindromic nationality.

In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.

The only "real" food that U.S. Astronauts are allowed to take into space is pecan nuts.

The word "queueing" is the only English word with five consecutive vowels.

Roberta Flack wrote "Killing Me Softly" about singer Don McLean.

Spencer Eldon was the name of the naked baby on the cover of Nirvana's album,.

All three major 1996 Presidential candidates, Clinton, Dole and Perot, are left-handed.

Dracula is the most filmed story of all time, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde is second and Oliver Twist is third.

The silhouette on the NBA logo is Jerry West.

The silhouette on the Major League Baseball logo is Harmon Killebrew.

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

The little lump of flesh just forward of your ear canal, right next to your temple, is called a tragus.

Murphy's Oil Soap is the chemical most commonly used to clean elephants.

Goat's eyes have rectangular pupils.

Walt Disney's autograph bears no resemblance to the famous Disney logo.

Artist Constantino Brumidi fell from the done of the U.S. Capitol while painting a mural around the rim. He died four months later.

Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and Australia have participated in every Games.

Cathy Rigby is the only woman to pose nude for Sports Illustrated. (August 1972)

Blueberry Jelly Bellies were created especially for Ronald Reagan.

Will Clark of the Texas Rangers is a direct descendant of William Clark of Lewis and Clark.