A hippopotamus can run faster than a man.
---The world's two largest dams are both in Russia. They are the Inguri (988 feet high) and the Nurek (984 feet high).
---The percentage of income tax paid by the average American has more than doubled since 1953. In 1953 the average family paid 11 percent of its income out in taxes. In 1976 it paid 23 percent.
---The energy released by a hurricane each day would, if converted to electricity, would keep the entire United States supplied with electrical power for up to three years.
---A virtual underwater playground with its breathtaking coral, the Philippines draws thousands of divers from Japan, China, and Taiwan each year.
---George Washington is the only man whose birthday is a legal holiday in every state of the United States.
---In 1871, Queen Victoria and the people of Britain shipped cartons of books to the city of Chicago. English novelist Thomas Hughes helped organize the books, which were the basis of the city's first library.
---Olive trees can attain a great age. Some in the eastern Mediterranean are estimated to be over 2,000 years old. They grow to a height of 20 to 40 feet and begin to bear fruit between 4 and 8 years old. It takes a ton of olives produces about 50 gallons of oil.
---Jupiter is much smaller than the Sun. If the Sun was the size of a basketball, 1 foot across, Jupiter would be the size of a table tennis ball 1 inch across.
---A green flash is sometimes seen just as the sun sets or rises. This occurs because green light is bent most strongly by the atmosphere. So the green is seen before other colors at sunrise, and after the other colors have vanished at sunset.
---The potato was not known in Europe until the 17th century, when it was introduced by returning Spanish Conquistadors.
---No one has ever discovered two snowflakes with exactly the same crystal pattern.
---"Big cheese" and "big wheel" are Medieval terms of envious respect for those who could afford to buy whole wheels of cheese at a time, an expense few could enjoy. Both these terms are often used sarcastically today.
---The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just 1.75 square miles (4.53 sq km).
---The rickshaw was invented by the Reverend Jonathan Scobie, an American Baptist minister living in Yokohama, Japan. Rev. Scobie built the first model in 1869 in order to transport his invalid wife. Today it remains a common mode of transportation in the Orient.
---It takes 110 domestic silkworm cocoons to make a man's tie.
---According to experts, 30 percent of all marriages occur because of friendship.
---Eighty percent of all people hit by lightning are men.
---In Mexico, Día de la Madre ? Mother's Day ? is celebrated the day before it's observed in the United States. It is a huge gala event, with mariachis starting at noon and family festivities throughout the day.
---Artist Xavier Roberts first designed his soon-to-be-famous Cabbage Patch dolls in 1977 to help pay his way through school. They had soft faces and were made by hand, as opposed to the hard-faced mass-market dolls, and were originally called "Little People."
---The birthstone for May, the emerald, is perceived as a symbol of success. Even more than the diamond, this jewel has been a favorite of emperors and kings.
---When a piece of glass cracks, the crack travels faster than 3,000 miles per hour.
---Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers. A 20-inch adult can leap 20 feet in a single bound.
---Rap artist Sean "Puffy" Combs had his first job at age two when he modeled in an ad for Baskin-Robbins ice-cream shops.
---If an astronaut tried to land on a neutron star, he or she would be crushed by the extremely strong force of gravity, and squashed into a thin layer less than one atom thick.
---The custom of being clean-shaven is said to date back to Alexander the Great, who had a scanty beard and set the fashion. A century later, shaving entered the Roman world in the West and the Eastern world abandoned the custom.
---As many as 50 gallons of maple sap are needed to make a single gallon of maple sugar.
---The percentage of income tax paid by the average American has more than doubled since 1953. In 1953 the average family paid 11 percent of its income out in taxes. In 1976 it paid 23 percent.
---The energy released by a hurricane each day would, if converted to electricity, would keep the entire United States supplied with electrical power for up to three years.
---A virtual underwater playground with its breathtaking coral, the Philippines draws thousands of divers from Japan, China, and Taiwan each year.
---George Washington is the only man whose birthday is a legal holiday in every state of the United States.
---In 1871, Queen Victoria and the people of Britain shipped cartons of books to the city of Chicago. English novelist Thomas Hughes helped organize the books, which were the basis of the city's first library.
---Olive trees can attain a great age. Some in the eastern Mediterranean are estimated to be over 2,000 years old. They grow to a height of 20 to 40 feet and begin to bear fruit between 4 and 8 years old. It takes a ton of olives produces about 50 gallons of oil.
---Jupiter is much smaller than the Sun. If the Sun was the size of a basketball, 1 foot across, Jupiter would be the size of a table tennis ball 1 inch across.
---A green flash is sometimes seen just as the sun sets or rises. This occurs because green light is bent most strongly by the atmosphere. So the green is seen before other colors at sunrise, and after the other colors have vanished at sunset.
---The potato was not known in Europe until the 17th century, when it was introduced by returning Spanish Conquistadors.
---No one has ever discovered two snowflakes with exactly the same crystal pattern.
---"Big cheese" and "big wheel" are Medieval terms of envious respect for those who could afford to buy whole wheels of cheese at a time, an expense few could enjoy. Both these terms are often used sarcastically today.
---The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just 1.75 square miles (4.53 sq km).
---The rickshaw was invented by the Reverend Jonathan Scobie, an American Baptist minister living in Yokohama, Japan. Rev. Scobie built the first model in 1869 in order to transport his invalid wife. Today it remains a common mode of transportation in the Orient.
---It takes 110 domestic silkworm cocoons to make a man's tie.
---According to experts, 30 percent of all marriages occur because of friendship.
---Eighty percent of all people hit by lightning are men.
---In Mexico, Día de la Madre ? Mother's Day ? is celebrated the day before it's observed in the United States. It is a huge gala event, with mariachis starting at noon and family festivities throughout the day.
---Artist Xavier Roberts first designed his soon-to-be-famous Cabbage Patch dolls in 1977 to help pay his way through school. They had soft faces and were made by hand, as opposed to the hard-faced mass-market dolls, and were originally called "Little People."
---The birthstone for May, the emerald, is perceived as a symbol of success. Even more than the diamond, this jewel has been a favorite of emperors and kings.
---When a piece of glass cracks, the crack travels faster than 3,000 miles per hour.
---Jackrabbits are powerful jumpers. A 20-inch adult can leap 20 feet in a single bound.
---Rap artist Sean "Puffy" Combs had his first job at age two when he modeled in an ad for Baskin-Robbins ice-cream shops.
---If an astronaut tried to land on a neutron star, he or she would be crushed by the extremely strong force of gravity, and squashed into a thin layer less than one atom thick.
---The custom of being clean-shaven is said to date back to Alexander the Great, who had a scanty beard and set the fashion. A century later, shaving entered the Roman world in the West and the Eastern world abandoned the custom.
---As many as 50 gallons of maple sap are needed to make a single gallon of maple sugar.