Amazing Facts - General Facts

• 259200 people die every day.
• 90 % of all the ice in the world in on Antarctica
• A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
• A dentist invented the Electric Chair.
• A dime has 118 ridges around the edge.
• A flute made of bone is the oldest playable musical instrument in the world. It’s a flute carved from a bird’s wing bone more than 9,000 years ago. The flute was discovered with other flutes at an ancient burial site in China.
• A typical bed usually houses over 6 billion dust mites.
• A whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound
• A Zipper joins two pieces of material together. A zipper is used everywhere, on clothing, pencil cases, boots and suitcases, wallets, and a zillion other things. Everyone thinks it was Whitcomb Judson who invented the zipper but it was really Elias Howe. Elias was so busy inventing the sewing machine that he didn't get around to selling his zipper invention which he called a "clothing closure".
• Abraham Lincoln's mother died when she drank the milk of a cow that grazed on poisonous snakeroot
• After the death of Albert Einstein his brain was removed by a pathologist and put in a jar for future study.
• Al Capone's business card said he was a used furniture dealer.
• Alexander Graham Bell's wife and mother were both deaf
• Antarctica is COLDEST continent, averaging minus 76 degrees in the winter
• Antarctica is DRIEST continent. Antarctica is a desert
• At the radio station, the announcer speaks into a microphone. The microphone changes the sound of his voice into an electrical signal. This signal is weak and can't travel very far, so it's sent to a transmitter. The transmitter mixes the signal with some strong radio signals called carrier waves. These waves are then sent out through a special antenna at the speed of light! They reach the antenna of your radio. Your antenna "catches" the signal, and the radio's amplifier strengthens the signal and sends it to the speakers. The speakers vibrate, and your ears pick up the vibrations and your brain translates them into the voice of the radio announcer back at the station. When you consider all the places the announcer's voice travels
• Colgate faced big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command "go hang yourself."
• Electricity doesn't move through a wire but through a field around the wire.
• Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die
• Every radio station has its own frequency. When you turn the tuning knob on your radio, you are choosing which frequency you want your antenna to "catch."
• Glue dates back to prehistoric times. Artists once mixed colorings with raw eggs, dried blood, and plant juices to make sticky paints for cave murals. Later, ancient Egyptians and other people learned to make stronger glues by boiling animal bones and hides. Today companies make glues using synthetic substances.
• Google is actually the common name for a number with a million zeros
• Helium Balloon Gas makes balloons float. Helium is lighter than air and just as the heaviest things will tend to fall to the bottom, the lightest things will rise to the top.
• How the wind blows. As the sun warms the earth’s surface, the atmosphere warms too. Some parts of the earth receive direct rays from the sun all year and are always warm. Other places receive indirect rays, so the climate is colder. Warm air, which weighs less than cool air, rises. Then cool air moves in and replaces the rising warm air. This movement of air is what makes the wind blow.
• If a statue in the park of a person on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle; if the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle; if the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural cause.
• If the population of China walked past you, in single file, the line would never end because of the rate of reproduction.
• If you are an average American, in your whole life, you will spend an average of 6 months waiting at red lights.
• In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch (and make it look like it is smiling).
• It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it
• Leonardo Da Vinci invented the scissors.
• Maine is the only state whose name is just one syllable.
• Men's shirts have the buttons on the right, but women's shirts have the buttons on the left
• More people are allergic to cow's milk than any other food.
• Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game
• On a Canadian two dollar bill, the flag flying over the Parliament building is an American flag.
• Queen Elizabeth I regarded herself as a paragon of cleanliness. She declared that she bathed once every three months, whether she needed it or not
• Rubber bands last longer when refrigerated.
• Sound is sent from the radio station through the air to your radio by means of electromagnetic waves. News, music, Bible teaching, baseball games, plays, advertisements- these sounds are all converted into electromagnetic waves (radio waves) before they reach your radio and your ears.
• Tea is said to have been discovered in 2737 BC by a Chinese emperor when some tea leaves accidentally blew into a pot of boiling water.
• Tens of thousands of participants come from all over the world, fight in a harmless battle where more than one hundred metric tons of over-ripe tomatoes are thrown in the streets.
• The average lead pencil can draw a line that is almost 35 miles long or you can write almost 50,000 words in English with just one pencil
• The average person's left hand does 56% of the typing.
• The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones
• The cruise liner, QE2, moves only six inches for each gallon of diesel that it burns.
• The first bicycle that was made in 1817 by Baron von Drais didn't have any pedals? People walked it along
• The first Christmas was celebrated on December 25 AD 336 in Rome.
• The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor
• The first steam powered train was invented by Robert Stephenson. It was called the Rocket.
• The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named Volney
• The Mercedes-Benz motto is 'Das Beste oder Nichts' meaning 'the best or nothing'.
• The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket.
• The oldest living thing on earth is 12,000 years old. It is the flowering shrubs called creosote bushes in the Mojave Desert
• The opposite sides of a dice cube always add up to seven!
• The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets
• The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, but rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.
• The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.
• The winter of 1932 was so cold that Niagara Falls froze completely solid.
• The worlds oldest piece of chewing gum is 9000 years old!
• The worst industrial disaster in India, occurred in 1984 in Bhopal the capital of Madhya Pradesh. A deadly chemical, methly isocyanate leaked out of the Union Carbide factory killing more than 2500 and leaving thousands sick. In fact the effects of this gas tragedy is being felt even today.
• The Wright Brothers invented one of the first airplanes. It was called the Kitty Hawk.
• There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower
• There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar.
• There are two kinds of radio stations: AM and FM. That's why there are two dials on your radio. AM is used mostly for stations that specialize in talking, such as Christian stations that have Bible stories and sermons; sports stations that broadcast live baseball and football games; and stations that specialize in news programs and "talk shows," where listeners call the station and discuss various topics. FM is used mostly for stations that specialize in music.
• There was once an undersea post office in the Bahamas.
• There's no Betty Rubble in the Flintstones Chewables Vitamins.
• Twenty-Four- Karat Gold is not pure gold since there is a small amount of copper in it. Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands.
• Whip makes a cracking sound because its tip moves faster than the speed of sound
• Why do we might feel warmer wearing a dark-colored jacket than a light-colored one? Dark colors absorb light energy. Light colors and white reflect light energy. When light shines on your dark jacket, the jacket fabric absorbs light energy. The absorbed light energy causes electrons in the atoms of the jacket to vibrate. This activity releases heat energy, which makes the jacket—and you—warmer. That's why we like to wear more dark colors in winter and more light colors in summer.
• Winston Churchill was born in a ladies' room during a dance.