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UNQUESTIONABLY
STRANGE FACTS!
The following nuggets, drawn
from various sources, are unquestionably strange, weird, bizarre,
trivial, outlandish and, occasionally, even a little upsetting.
They’re also all true. We offer them as a possibility for a fun
(or serious) offbeat inspiration or ingredient in one or more of
your upcoming promotions. Your counselor can help you select
appropriate or related products.
- Neither emus or
kangaroos can walk backward.
- Roughly 28% of Africa is
still wilderness. The corresponding percentage for
North America is 38%.
- John Hancock and Charles
Thomson were the only two people who actually signed
the Declaration of Independence on July 4.
- It’s illegal to
publicly remove bandages in Canada.
- Sloths move so slowly
algae can grow in their fur.
- Most of us are born with
300 separate bones. By the time we reach adulthood,
however, the number is 206.
- On an average day,
Americans spend $2,021,918 on exercise equipment,
$3,673,973 on vitamins and $10,410,959 on potato
chips.
- The only letter that
doesn’t appear in the name of any state is Q.
- A house catches on fire
somewhere every 45 seconds.
- Penguins can jump as
high as six feet.
- The standard U.S.
railroad gauge (distance between rails) is 4 feet,
81/2 inches. The
number is based on specifications for army chariots in
ancient Rome.
- The Bic pen was
originally spelled Bich, after the company owner. The
last letter was dropped in the 1940s so Americans
wouldn’t pronounce it “bitch.”
- If heart disease, cancer
and diabetes were eliminated, the average life
expectancy for humans would rise to 99.2 years.
- A pound of spider webs
in a single straight line would go around the planet
twice.
- In Nebraska, you can be
arrested if your kid burps in church.
- The importance of
proofreading, reason #487: The “Aladdin and his
Wonderful Lamp” story in the original version of
Tales of 1001 Arabian Nights begins, “Aladdin was a
little Chinese boy.”
- “An anatomical
juxtaposition of two orbicularis oris muscles in a
state of contraction” is the medical term for a
kiss. (The medical term for the rock group Kiss is
“littleus talentum overratus”)
- Researchers in Denmark
discovered that beer tastes better when consumed
within hearing of a specific musical tone. However,
the ideal frequency differs for each brand. Sounds
like a lot of research.
- The dodo existed only on
the island of Mauritius and was made completely
extinct in less than 100 years.
- Robert Kilpatrick of
California is the proud grower of the world’s
largest garlic bulb – two pounds, 10 ounces. (Lots
of good cooking there)
- At 1,147 feet, the
Crawford St. Bridge in Providence, RI, is the
world’s widest.
- Artist Winslow Homer was
barred from several museums because he had a habit of
attempting to touch up or add to his paintings while
they were on display.
- Lions can mate over 50
times a day (now you know how they got their jungle
designation).
- If you keep a goldfish
in a dark room constantly, it will eventually turn
white.
- Sorry, Chicago. Blue
Hill, ME is actually the country’s windiest city,
with average wind speeds of 15.4 mph.
- Lightning strikes the
earth approximately 200 times each second or 17
million times a day.
- Teenagers who wear
clothing bearing a sports-related logo watch four
times as much TV as teens whose apparel features
corporate-related logos.
- More gifts from Rome:
The “lb.” abbreviation for “pound” is derived
from the word “libra,” which is Latin for both
“pound” and “scales.” In British currency, the
symbol for pound (£) also comes from “libra,” and
the use of “d” to represent “pence” is a
shortening of denarius, an ancient Roman coin.
- Roughly 150 tons (yes,
tons) of meteorite fragments hit the earth annually.
The largest single meteor to visit: 60 tons.
- Serious ouch: While
hosting Wild Kingdom, the late actor Lorne Greene had
a nipple bitten off by an alligator.
- Mark Twain was a
grade-school drop-out.
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