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     Volume 4 Issue 26| December 24, 2004 |


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Trivia

It's Always Good to Know Stuff

*According to the ceremonial customs of Orthodox Judaism, it is officially sundown when you cannot tell the difference between a black thread and a red one.
*A 'jiffy' is an actual unit of time for 1/100th of a second.
*Woodpecker scalps, porpoise teeth and giraffe tails have all been used as money.
*Cyano-acrylate glues (Super glues) were invented by accident. The researcher was trying to make optical coating materials, and would test their properties by putting them between two prisms and shining light through them. When he tried the cyano-acrylate, he couldn't get the prisms apart.
*Elizabeth I of England suffered from anthophobia, a fear of roses.
*Almost half the bones in your body are in your hands and feet.
*A flamingo can eat only when its head is upside down.
*Dalmatian dogs are born pure white, they don't start getting spots until they are three or four days old.
*The growth rate of some bamboo plants can reach three feet (91.44 cm) per day.
*The average person falls asleep in seven minutes.
*The average garden variety caterpillar has 248 muscles in its head.
*An elephant can be pregnant for up to two years.
*Dartboards are made out of horsehair.
*Your left lung is smaller than your right lung to make room for your heart.
*'Crack' gets its name because it crackles when you smoke it.
*Today's cattle are descended from two species: wild aurochs -- fierce and agile herd animals that populated Asia, North Africa and Europe -- and eotragus -- an antelope-like, Asian forest creature.
*Ballroom dancing is a major at Brigham Young University.
*Professional ballerinas use about twelve pairs of toe shoes per week.
*A walla-walla scene is one where extras pretend to be talking in the background -- when they say "walla-walla" it looks like they are actually talking.
*The youngest letters in the English language are "j," "v" and "w."
*Cranberry Jello is the only jello flavor that comes from real fruit, not artificial flavouring.
*The oldest exposed surface on earth is New Zealand's south island.
*A game of pool is referred to as a "frame."
*Napoleon constructed his battle plans in a sandbox.
*'Strengths' is the longest word in the English language with just one vowel.
*When a giraffe's baby is born it falls from a height of six feet, normally without being hurt.
*Virgina Woolf wrote all her books standing.
*The tango originated as a dance between two men (for partnering practice).
*The native tribe of Tierra del Fuego has a language so guttural it cannot have an alphabet.
*AM and PM stand for "Ante-Meridian" and "Post-Meridian," respectively. A.D. actually stands for "Anno Domini" rather than "After Death."
*The penguins that inhabit the tip of South America are called jackass penguins.
*To "testify" was based on men in the Roman court swearing to a statement made by swearing on their testicles.
*Every two thousand frowns creates one wrinkle.
*Cleopatra used pomegranate seeds for lipstick.

Source: The Internet

 

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