Category: Cool Interesting and Strange Facts

Fact 1. The theme song of the Harlem Globetrotters is “Sweet Georgia Brown.”

Fact 2. The thickness of the Arctic ice sheet is on average 10 feet. There are some areas that are thick as 65 feet.

Fact 3. The thing that hangs from the top of the beak of a turkey is called the snood.

Fact 4. The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, Richard Nixon, and Elvis Presley.

Fact 5. The three most valuable brand names on earth: Marlboro, Coca Cola, and Budweiser, in that order.

Fact 6. The three wealthiest families in the world have more assets than the combined wealth of the forty-eight poorest nations.

Fact 7. The Tibetan name for Mount Everest is Chomolungma.

Fact 8. The tip of a bullwhip moves so fast that it breaks the sound barrier. The crack of the whip is actually a tiny sonic boom.

Fact 9. The titan arum flower is the largest flower in the world and gives off a horrible odor that smells like rotting flesh when it blooms.

Fact 10. The Tonle Sap River in Cambodia flows north for almost half the year and then south for the rest of the year.

Fact 11. The Toronto Maple Leafs used to be called the Toronto Arenas, then the St. Patricks and finally the Maple Leafs.

Fact 12. 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.

Fact 13. The total number of episodes for the sitcom “I Love Lucy” was 180.

Fact 14. The total number of steps in the Eiffel Tower are 1665.

Fact 15. The total volume of mail that went through the Canadian postal system in 1950 was 1,362,310,155 items.

Fact 16. The town of Churchill, Manitoba, located in Canada, is known as the “Polar Bear Capital of the World”

Fact 17. The town of Olney, Illinois celebrates a “Squirrel Day” festival to honour the 200 albino squirrels that live in the town. The festival includes a squirrel blessing by a priest.

Fact 18. The town with the most stop signs per capita than any other in the US: LaConner, Washington

Fact 19. The triangular shape that Toblerone chocolates are packaged in, is protected by law.

Fact 20. The tridacna clam can grow up to four feet long and weigh up to 500 pounds.

Fact 21. The trunk of an elephant can hold up to two gallons of water.

Fact 22. The tuatara lizard of New Zealand has three eyes, two in the center of its head and one on the top of its head.

Fact 23. The turkey was once nominated to be the official bird of the United States.

Fact 24. The TV show “Saturday Night Live” made its debut on October 11, 1975.

Fact 25. The TV show Doctor Who, when it was popular, had an audience of 110 million people.

Fact 26. The two factories of the Jelly Belly Candy Company produces approximately 100,000 pounds of jelly beans a day. this amounts to about 1,250,000 jelly beans an hour.

Fact 27. The two top toys in 1950 were Silly Putty which sold for $1, and Crayola crayons which sold for 50 cents.

Fact 28. The typical lead pencil can draw a line that is thirty five miles long.

Fact 29. The U.S. army packs Tabasco pepper sauce in every ration kit that they give to soldiers.

Fact 30. The U.S. paid Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in 1867.

Fact 31. The Uape Indians, who live in the Amazon, mix the ashes of their recently cremated relatives with alcohol, then all members of the family drink the mix with fond memories of the deceased.

Fact 32. The unique characteristics of Barbie dolls in Japan are that they have their lips closed with no teeth showing.

Fact 33. The United Parcel Service shipped the killer whale Keiko (star of Disney movie “Free Willy”) from Mexico City to Newport, Oregon in 1998.

Fact 34. The United States has paved enough roads to circle the Earth over 150 times.

Fact 35. The United States Mint once considered producing donut-shaped coins.

Fact 36. The United States produces enough plastic film annually to cover the entire state of Texas.

Fact 37. The University of Plymouth was the first university to offer a degree in surfing.

Fact 38. The USA bought Alaska from Russia for 2 cents an acre.

Fact 39. The USS Abraham Lincoln has five gymnasiums on the ship and a basketball league with 22 teams.

Fact 40. The USSR launched the world’s first artificial satellite, Sputnik 1, in 1957.

Fact 41. The vegetable that is eaten most by Americans is potatoes. On average, a person eats about 140 pounds of potatoes annually.

Fact 42. The venom of the king cobra is so deadly that one bite can kill twenty people or one elephant.

Fact 43. The waste produced by one chicken in its lifetime can supply enough electricity to run a 100-watt bulb for five hours.

Fact 44. The watch was invented by Peter Henlein of Nuremberg in 1510.

Fact 45. The water displacement product, WD-40, can be found in 80% of American homes.

Fact 46. The water inside of a coconut is identical to human blood plasma. Many lives in third world countries have been saved from coconut water fed through an IV.

Fact 47. The WD in WD-40 stands for Water Displacer.

Fact 48. The Welwitschia plant can live up to 1,000 years.

Fact 49. The wheelbarrow was invented by the Chinese.

Fact 50. The White House has 35 bathrooms, 3 elevators, 132 rooms, and 412 doors in it.

Fact 51. The White House has a movie theater, swimming pool, bowling lane, jogging track, and a tennis court.

Fact 52. The width of a tornado can range from less than ten yards to more than a mile.

Fact 53. The windiest place in the world is Mount Washington, New Hampshire, USA. The highest wind was on April 12, 1934 when it reached 231 mph.

Fact 54. The word “America” comes from the European explorer “Amerigo Vespucci.

Fact 55. The word “checkmate” in chess comes from the Persian phrase “Shah-Mat,” which means the king is dead.

Fact 56. The word “comet” comes from the Greek word “kometes” meaning long hair and referring to the tail.

Fact 57. The word “Denim” comes from the French phrase “serge de Nimes” which is a fabric made in a town located in southern France.

Fact 58. The word “dexterity”, to do with skill is related to the right hand. The opposite of the word “deter” is “sinister”, to do with evil, it is related to the left hand.

Fact 59. The word “diamond” comes from the Greek word “adamas,” which means “unconquerable.”

Fact 60. The word “diastema” is the word for having a gap between your teeth.

Fact 61. The word “laser” stands for “Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission by radiation.”

Fact 62. The word “lethologica” describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

Fact 63. The word “limelight” that is used in theatre to refer to the performers on the stage originated because before electricity was available lime was burned in a lamp, which created a white light that was directed at the performers.

Fact 64. 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.

Fact 65. The word “moose” comes from the native Algonquian Indian word meaning “twig eater.”

Fact 66. The word “Nazi” is actually an abbreviation for Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei, which refers to the National Socialist German Workers Party.

Fact 67. The word “nerd” was first coined by Dr. Suess in the book “If I Ran to the Zoo.”

Fact 68. The word “sophomore” means “sophisticated moron.”

Fact 69. The word “super” to a beekeeper refers to the hive box where the honey is stored.

Fact 70. The word “toy” comes from an old English word that means “tool.”

Fact 71. The word “umbrella” is derived from the Latin root word “umbra”, which means shade or shadow.

Fact 72. The word “vamp” is used to describe the upper front top of a shoe.

Fact 73. The word “walkman” was included in the Oxford English Dictionary in 1986.

Fact 74. The word alligator comes from the Spanish word El Lagarto, which means “The Lizard.”

Fact 75. The word assassination was invented by William Shakespeare.

Fact 76. The word breakfast was coined due to the fact that after sleeping for hours, we are “breaking our fast.”

Fact 77. The word Cotton originates from the Arabic word “Qutun.”

Fact 78. The word Himalayas means the “home of snow.”

Fact 79. The word housekeeping was invented by Shakespeare.

Fact 80. The word Karate means, “empty hand.”

Fact 81. The word Lethologica describes the state of not remembering the word you want to say.

Fact 82. The word Nike comes from Greek Mythology. Nike is the goddess of victory and was often depicted as a small winged figure whom the goddess Athene carried.

Fact 83. The word Popcorn is derived from the middle English word “poppe,” which means “explosive sound”.

Fact 84. The word racecar and kayak are the same whether they are read left to right or right to left.

Fact 85. The word Spain means “the land of rabbits.”

Fact 86. The word Thailand means “land of the free.”

Fact 87. The word tulip comes from the Turkish word for turban.

Fact 88. The word vaccine comes from the Latin word “vacca,” which means cow. This name was chosen beacause the first vaccination was derived from cowpox which was given to a boy.

Fact 89. The word witch comes from the word “wicca” which translates to the “wise one.”

Fact 90. The word, tattoo originated from the Tahitain word “tattau” which means “to mark.”

Fact 91. The words “abstemioius,” and “facetious” both have all the five vowels in them in order.

Fact 92. The words moron, imbecile, and idiot are not interchangable. The one with the highest level of intelligence is a moron, followed, by an imbecile, and then idiot.

Fact 93. The world camel population is close to 19 million.

Fact 94. The world population of chickens is about equal to the number of people.

Fact 95. The world record for donut eating is held by John Haight, who ate 29 donuts (52 ounces) in a little over six minutes.

Fact 96. The world record for rocking non-stop in a rocking chair is 480 hours held by Dennis Easterling, of Atlanta, Georgia.

Fact 97. The world record for the number of body piercings on one individual is 702, which is held by Canadian Brent Moffat.

Fact 98. The world record for time without sleep is 264 hours (11 days) by Randy Gardner in 1965.

Fact 99. The world’s first underground was the London Underground in1863. It has 275 stations and 253 miles of track.

Fact 100. The world’s termites outweigh the world’s humans 10 to 1.

Page topic: Cool, strange and interesting facts page 1

Fact 1. The Roman emperor Commodus was at one time going to change the name of Rome to Colonia Commodiana.

Fact 2. The Roman emperor Domitian took great pleasure in being secluded in his room for hours and catching flies and stabbing them with pens.

Fact 3. 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.

Fact 4. The ruby red slippers in the movie “The Wizard of Oz” were sold off at an auction for $660,000.

Fact 5. The Saguaro Cactus, found in South-western United States does not grow branches until it is 75 years old.

Fact 6. 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.

Fact 7. The San Francisco Cable cars are the only mobile National Monuments

Fact 8. The Sanskrit word for “war” means “desire for more cows.”

Fact 9. The sap of a banana plant leaves serious stains on hands and clothes that is extremely hard to remove.

Fact 10. The scarlet tanager, a songbird native to Illinois, can eat as many as 2,100 gypsy-moth caterpillars in one hour.

Fact 11. The sea cucumber spills its internal organs out as a defense mechanism.

Fact 12. The Sea of Tranquility on the moon is deeper than the highest mountain on Earth.

Fact 13. The search engine Google got its name from the word “googol,” which refers to the number one with a hundred zeros after it.

Fact 14. The Sears Tower consists of nine framed tubes, which connects nine skyscrapers as one building.

Fact 15. The Sears Tower in Chicago contains enough steel to build 50,000 automobiles.

Fact 16. The Sears Tower located in Chicago, Illinois is made up 76,000 tons of steel.

Fact 17. The second best selling game of all time is Jenga. Jenga is a Swahili word, meaning “to build.”

Fact 18. The sentence “the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog” uses every letter in the english language.

Fact 19. The sentence “The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.” uses every
letter in the alphabet. (Developed by Western Union to Test telex/twx
communications)

Fact 20. The seventeenth president of the United States, Andrew Johnson did not know how to read until he was 17 years old.

Fact 21. The sex of a baby crocodile is determined by the temperature in the nest and how deeply the eggs are buried.

Fact 22. The shark cornea has been used in eye surgery, since its cornea is similar to a human cornea.

Fact 23. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar an England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

Fact 24. The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes.

Fact 25. The Shroud of Turin is the single most studied artifact in human history.

Fact 26. The silk that is produced by spiders is stronger than steel.

Fact 27. The silkworm moth has lost the ability to fly ever since it has been domesticated.

Fact 28. The Simpsons is the longest running prime-time animated series on television history.

Fact 29. The six official languages of the United Nations are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian, and Spanish.

Fact 30. The size of a raindrop is around 0.5 mm – 2.5 mm, and they fall from the sky on average 21 feet per second.

Fact 31. The size of a red blood cell is 708 microns. This is equivalent to one millionth of a meter.

Fact 32. The skeleton of a spider is located on the outside of the body. The name for this is exoskelton.

Fact 33. The skin of a shark is made up of “tiny teeth” which are called dermal denticles.

Fact 34. The sloth moves so slowly that green algae grows in the grooves of their hair.

Fact 35. The slowest growing finger nail is on the thumb nail and the fastest growing is the finger nail on the middle finger.

Fact 36. The small intestine in the human body is about 2 inches around, and 22 feet long.

Fact 37. The smallest bird in the world is the bee hummingbird. The bird is 2.24 inches long.

Fact 38. The smallest bone in the human body is the stapes bone which is located in the ear.

Fact 39. The smallest bone in the human body is the stirrup bone, which is located in the ear.

Fact 40. The smallest frog is the “Brazilian baby frog”, which is smaller than a dime.

Fact 41. The smallest man ever was Gul Mohammed (1957-1997) of India, who measured 1 feet, 10? inches.

Fact 42. The smallest stamp in the world was issued in 1863 by the Columbian state of Bolivar and measured 9.5 x 8mm.

Fact 43. The smallest will ever written was 3.8 cm in diameter. It had 40 words written on it and was signed by two witnesses.

Fact 44. The smile is the most frequently used facial expression. A smile can use anywhere from a pair of 5 to 53 facial muscles.

Fact 45. The smoke that is produced by a fire kills more people than a burn does because of carbon monoxide and other dangerous gases.

Fact 46. The Snickers chocolate bar was invented in 1930.

Fact 47. The snow leopard protects itself from extreme cold when it sleeps by wrapping its 3-foot-long tail around its nose.

Fact 48. The sole purpose of a drone bee is to mate with the queen bee.

Fact 49. The song “Happy Birthday” brings in about $2 million in licensing revenue to Warner Communications who hold the copyright to the song.

Fact 50. The song “Strawberry Fields Forever” sung by the Beatles refers to an orphanage located in Liverpool.

Fact 51. 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.

Fact 52. The sound made by the toadfish when mating underwater is so loud that it can be heard by humans on the shore.

Fact 53. The sound made by the Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe is so loud that it can be heard 40 miles away.

Fact 54. The sound of E.T. walking was made by someone squishing her hands in Jello.

Fact 55. The space between your eyebrows is called the Glabella.

Fact 56. The speed at which honey bees fly is at 15 miles per hour.

Fact 57. The speed of sound must be exceeded to produce a sonic boom.

Fact 58. The sperm count of an average American male compared to thirty years ago is down thirty percent.

Fact 59. The spider used in the 2002 movie Spider-Man was a Steatoda spider, not a black widow. The spider was given anaesthesia, and was then painted blue and red.

Fact 60. The sport Lacrosse was initially played by Native American Indians. They played the sport to prepare for war.

Fact 61. The sport of surfing originated in Hawaii.

Fact 62. The spray WD-40 got its name because there were forty attempts needed before the creation of the “water displacing” substance.

Fact 63. The Spring peeper (a frog) can survive the winter season with 65% of its body water as ice.

Fact 64. The stage were the television sitcom “Friends” is shot on is said to be haunted.

Fact 65. The Stanley Cup originally was only seven and a half inches high.

Fact 66. The stapler was invented in Spring Valley, Minnesota.

Fact 67. The state of Alaska has almost twice as many caribou as people.

Fact 68. The state of California has more 7-Eleven stores than any other state. There are approximately 1,200 stores.

Fact 69. The state of Tennessee was known as Franklin before 1796.

Fact 70. The state that grows the most cranberries is Wisconsin. More than 300 million pounds of cranberries are grown in Wisconsin.

Fact 71. The state that has the most diners in the world is New Jersey, which is referred to as the “Diner Capital of the World.”

Fact 72. The steepest street in the world is Baldwin Street located in Dunedin, New Zealand. It has an incline of 38%.

Fact 73. The stomach of an adult can hold 1.5 liters of material.

Fact 74. The story of Mulan had been told in China for almost 1,500 years before Disney decided to make it into an animated movie.

Fact 75. The story of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer was written in 1939 for a store promotion by an advertising employee of the department store Montgomery Ward.

Fact 76. The strike note of the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania is e-flat.

Fact 77. The stringy thing that is seen in egg whites is called “chalazae.”

Fact 78. The strongest gust of wind was recorded at the Mount Washington Observatory on April 12th, 1934, and measured 231 miles per hour.

Fact 79. The study of ants is called Myrmecology.

Fact 80. The study of the iris of the eye is called iridology.

Fact 81. The study of twins is known as gemellology.

Fact 82. The substance that gives red wine and dark beer its color is said to have a positive effects on cholesterol and blood pressure.

Fact 83. The sun is approximately 149 million kilometres from the earth.

Fact 84. The sun is approximately 75% hydrogen, 25% helium by mass.

Fact 85. The sun shrinks five feet every hour.

Fact 86. The Super Bowl is broadcast to over 182 countries in the world.

Fact 87. The Super Bowl is so popular that it is the number on at-home party event of the year.

Fact 88. The Taj Mahal was actually built for use as a tomb.

Fact 89. 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.

Fact 90. The tallest freestanding sculpture in the world is Chief Crazy Horse in South Dakota, USA.

Fact 91. The tallest mammal in the world is the giraffe.

Fact 92. The tallest tree recorded is located in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California. It is a coast redwood and has been measured at 117 metres high.

Fact 93. The tallest woman in the world is American Sandy Allen who is 7 feet 7 inches.

Fact 94. 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.

Fact 95. The temperature of lightning bolts is sometimes hotter than the surface of the sun.

Fact 96. The temperature of milk when it is coming out of a cow is about 36 degrees celsius.

Fact 97. The temperature of milk when it leaves the body of a cow is 101 degrees Fahrenheit. The milk is then quickly chilled and stored at a temperature of 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Fact 98. The term “The Big Apple” was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s who used the slang expression “apple” for any town or city. Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time – The Big Apple.

Fact 99. 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.”

Fact 100. The term “the whole 9 yards” came from WWII fighter pilots in the
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.”

Page topic: Cool, strange and interesting facts page 3

Fact 1. The oil that is found in poison ivy is called “urushiol.”

Fact 2. The oldest actor to win a Best Actor Oscar is Henry Fonda. He was 76 when he won it.

Fact 3. The oldest bird on record was Cocky, a cockatoo, who died in the London Zoo at the age of 82.

Fact 4. The oldest documented footwear found was a 8,000 year-old sandal found in a cave located in Missouri, USA.

Fact 5. The oldest inhabited house in Scotland is the Traquair Castle. The castle has had 27 kings as visitors.

Fact 6. The oldest known disease in the world is leprosy.

Fact 7. The oldest major soft drink in America is Dr. Pepper, which originated in Waco, Texas in 1885.

Fact 8. The oldest roller coaster in the world is the Leap-The-Dips roller coaster located in Lakemont Park in Pennsylvania. The roller coaster was built in 1902.

Fact 9. 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.

Fact 10. The Olympic Flame was introduced in 1928 in Amsterdam.

Fact 11. The Olympic torch weighs about 3 pounds.

Fact 12. The Olympic was the sister ship of the Titanic, and she provided twenty-five years of service.

Fact 13. The Olympics were originally held for the Greek god Zeus.

Fact 14. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter
is uncopyrightable.

Fact 15. The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is “uncopyrightable.”

Fact 16. The only animal, besides humans that can get leprosy is the Armadillo.

Fact 17. The only animals that are capable of turning their heads 180 degrees are from the genus Galago, such as the Tarsier.

Fact 18. The only bone fully grown at birth is located in the ear.

Fact 19. The only commercial aircraft that is able to break the sound barrier is the Concorde.

Fact 20. The only desert in Canada is located in Osoyoos, British Columbia.

Fact 21. The only English place that has a name that ends with an exclamation mark is “Westward Ho!”

Fact 22. The only flying saucer launch pad in the world is located in St. Paul, Alberta, Canada.

Fact 23. The only king without a moustache in a deck of cards is the king of hearts.

Fact 24. The only lizard that has a voice is the Gecko.

Fact 25. The only married couple to fly together in space were Jan Davis and Mark Lee, who flew aboard the Endeavor space shuttle from Sept 12-20, 1992.

Fact 26. 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.

Fact 27. The only popcorn museum in the world is lcoated in Marion, Ohio, USA.

Fact 28. The only predator that polar bears have are humans.

Fact 29. The only real person to be a Pez head was Betsy Ross.

Fact 30. The only real person to be a Pez head was Betsy Ross.

Fact 31. The only sound Seahorses make is a small clicking or popping sound during feeding or courtship.

Fact 32. The only South East Asian country that has never been colonized by a Western Power is Thailand.

Fact 33. The only species of turtle that lives in the open ocean is the sea turtle.

Fact 34. The only state to grow pineapples is Hawaii.

Fact 35. 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-Star Game.

Fact 36. 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-Star Game.

Fact 37. 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.

Fact 38. The only woman that has appeared on a U.S. paper currency is Martha Washington.

Fact 39. The origin of apples traces back to the Middle East over 4,000 years ago.

Fact 40. 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.”

Fact 41. The original name for butterfly was flutterby

Fact 42. The origins of the soldier term “G.I.” is an abbreviation for “Government Issue,” which was stamped on all government kits supplied to recruits in the US Army during World War II.

Fact 43. The ostrich has two toes on each feet which gives it greater speed.

Fact 44. The Pacific island of Tonga once issued a stamp that was banana shaped.

Fact 45. The palms of your hands and the soles of your feet cannot tan, or grow hair.

Fact 46. The papaya tree is known as “the medicinal tree” in some cultures because it?s seeds and leaves have been used as ingredients in different medicines.

Fact 47. The parents of Albert Einstein were worried that he was mentally slow because it took him a long time to learn how to speak.

Fact 48. The patent number of the telephone is 174465.

Fact 49. The peanut is not a nut, it is actually a legume.

Fact 50. The pectin that is found in apples aids in lowering cholesterol levels.

Fact 51. The Pentagon cost $49,600,000 to build in 1941.

Fact 52. The Pentagon has 284 restrooms.

Fact 53. The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is
necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the ste of Virginia still
had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and
whites.

Fact 54. The Pentagon, in Arlington, Virginia, has twice as many bathrooms as is necessary. When it was built in the 1940s, the state of Virginia still had segregation laws requiring separate toilet facilities for blacks and whites.

Fact 55. The phrase “Often a bridesmaid, but never a bride,” actually originates from an advertisement for Listerine mouthwash from 1924.

Fact 56. The phrase “rule of thumb” is derived from an old English law which
stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your
thumb.

Fact 57. The planet Venus spins opposite to the other planets in the solar system.

Fact 58. The Planters Peanut Company mascot, Mr. Peanut, was created during a contest for schoolchildren in 1916.

Fact 59. The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.

Fact 60. The platypus uses its bill to find animals that it feeds on. Its bill can sense the tiny electric fields that their preys emit.

Fact 61. The Popsicle was invented by 11 year-old Frank Epperson in 1905. He left his drink outside with a stir stick in it and he noticed that it had frozen. He applied for a patent in 1923 and named it “Epsicle.” The name was later changed to Popsicle.

Fact 62. The popular chocolate bar “Three Musketeers” got its name because when it was first introduced in 1932 there were three individual bars. The flavours were strawberry, chocolate, and vanilla.

Fact 63. The postage rate for a letter in 1693 was determined through how much light could pass through the letter. The postage rate would be more expensive if less light went through, and this process was called candling.

Fact 64. The pound key (#) on the keyboard is called an octothorpe.

Fact 65. The production of toilet paper in China began in 1391, which was used for the Emperors.

Fact 66. The projection light used for IMAX theaters can be seen from space.

Fact 67. The property values on the Monopoly game board are the same today as they were in 1935.

Fact 68. The puma and the leopard are the highest jumping mammals. They are able to reach a height of 16.5 feet.

Fact 69. The purpose of tonsils is to destroy foreign substances that are swallowed or breathed in.

Fact 70. The quills of a porcupine are soft when they are born.

Fact 71. The range of a medieval long-bow is 220 yards.

Fact 72. 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.

Fact 73. The rarest coffee in the world is Kopi Luwak, which is found in Indonesia. It cost about $300 a pound.

Fact 74. The real name of actress Whoopi Goldberg is Caryn Elaine Johnson.

Fact 75. The real name of Toto the dog in “The Wizard Of Oz” was Terry.

Fact 76. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days of yore
when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the
ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Fact 77. The reason firehouses have circular stairways is from the days when the engines were pulled by horses. The horses were stabled on the ground floor and figured out how to walk up straight staircases.

Fact 78. 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.

Fact 79. 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.

Fact 80. The reason why bubble gum is pink is because the inventor only had pink colouring left. Ever since then, the colour of bubble gum has been predominantly pink.

Fact 81. 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.

Fact 82. The reason why flamingos are pink is because they eat shrimp which have a red pigment.

Fact 83. The reason why golf balls have dimples on them is because it helps in the ball to move a farther distance by reducing drag.

Fact 84. 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.

Fact 85. 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.

Fact 86. 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.

Fact 87. 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.

Fact 88. 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.

Fact 89. The reason why tattoos do not vanish even though we shed our skin is because the dye is injected deeper into the dermis part of the skin. It is only the epidermis that we shed.

Fact 90. The reason why the Canadian Arctic is called the “Land of the Midnight Sun” is because during the summer many communities have light 24 hours of the day. Many people have to cover their windows with tin foil to keep the light out when they sleep.

Fact 91. The reason why the Mexican sombrero hat is so wide is to provide shade for the entire body.

Fact 92. The reason why your nose gets runny when you are crying is because the tears from the eyes drain into the nose.

Fact 93. The record for the longest Monopoly game played in a bathtub is ninety-nine hours.

Fact 94. 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).

Fact 95. The Red Cross is called the Red Crescent in Arab countries.

Fact 96. The revenue that is generated from gambling is more than the revenue that comes from movies, cruise ships, recorded music, theme parks, and spectator sports combined.

Fact 97. The revolving door was invented in 1888, by Theophilus Van Kannel.

Fact 98. The rhinoceros beetle can carry up to 850 times its weight on its back. This is equivalent to a person carrying over 50 mini-vans on their back.

Fact 99. The right lung of a human is larger than the left one. This is because of the space and placement of the heart.

Fact 100. The risk of cardiovascular disease is twice as high in women that snore regularly compared to women who do not snore. updated

Page topic: Cool, strange and interesting facts page 2