Interesting Facts

Interesting Animal # 99 - Cats

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 00:58:39 PDT

Cats use their purr to manipulate humans.

(Researchers at the University of Sussex have learnt that cats use a special kind of purr -- a "soliciting purr," -- to get their bowls filled. This purr is different from the normal "carry on stroking me" purr in that it contains frequencies more irritating to the ears of humans. The message being, wake up and feed me.)

Interesting Fact # 1109 - Air

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:22:45 PDT

According to research by the Max-Planck-Institut and Johannes Gutenberg-University, there are between 1,000 and 10,000 fungal spores per cubic meter of air.

(The average pair of human lungs can hold about 6 liters of air and 1 cubic meter = 1000 liters, so we're talking roughly 6 to 60 spores floating around in there. I hope you've had your breakfast already.)

Interesting Animal # 98 - Monkeys

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 06:38:02 PDT

Monkeys can recognise 'bad grammar'.

(In research carried out at Harvard University cotton-top tamarins were able to spot if the order of syllables in a word was "wrong". The monkeys were familiarised with two-syllable terms, and their reaction recorded to words that were not consistent with that syllable. See a monkey can do it.)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:44:14 PDT

55 - Julius Caesar was born.

1543 – King Henry VIII of England married his sixth and last wife, Catherine Parr at Hampton Court Palace.

1812 – The United States invaded Canada at Windsor, Ontario.

1961 – The Panshet and Khadakvasala dams in India burst destroying most of the older sections of the city of Pune. Half of the city was submerged. More than 100,000 families dislocated and the death tally exceeded 2000.

1962 – The Rolling Stones performed their first ever concert, at the Marquee Club in London.

1998 - Three young brothers, Richard Quinn, 11, Mark Quinn, 9, and Jason Quinn, 7, were murdered in a loyalist arson attack as the stand-off between Orangemen and police at Drumcree in Ireland.

2006 - Hezbollah guerrillas kidnapped two Israeli soldiers and killed eight others in a cross-border raid; Israel sent ground troops into Lebanon in response.

Interesting Fact # 1108 - Transport

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 04:32:05 PDT

Computerised scanners around 15 Tokyo railway stations have introduced a system to check that staff are smiling enough.

(The system measures the smile's curvature to ensure it is broad enough. Say "cheese" everyone.)

Interesting Fact # 1107 - Conservation

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:01:00 PDT

Americans consume three times more paper per person than the average European, and 100 times more than the average person in China.

(The average per capita paper use in the USA in 2001 was 700 pounds (320 kg). The average per capita paper use worldwide was 110 pounds (50 kg). Barely a third of the paper products sold in America are from recycled sources — most of it comes from virgin wood. There's nothing wrong with recycled paper, the United States Environmental Protection Agency‎ (EPA) found that recycling causes 35% less water pollution and 74% less air pollution than making virgin paper.)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 12:08:38 PDT

988 – The city of Dublin was founded on the banks of the river Liffey in Ireland.

1212 – The most severe of several early fires of London burnt most of the city to the ground.

1460 – Richard Neville, 16th Earl of Warwick defeated the king's Lancastrian forces and took King Henry VI prisoner in the Battle of Northampton.

1553 – Lady Jane Grey took the throne of England for - nine days. Awww bless.

1778 – Louis XVI of France declared war on the Kingdom of Great Britain.

1856 – Nikola Tesla was born.

1913 – Temperatures in Death Valley, California hit 134 °F (~56.7 °C), which is the highest temperature recorded in the United States.

1938 – Howard Hughes set a new record by completing a 91 hour airplane flight around the world.

1940 - The German air force, the Luftwaffe, attacked shipping convoys off the south-east coast of England launching the Battle of Britain.

1962 – Telstar, the world's first communications satellite, was launched into orbit.

1973 - The Bahamas became an independent nation.

1985 – Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior was bombed and sunk in Auckland, New Zealand Harbor by French DGSE agents.

1991 – The South African cricket team was readmitted into the International Cricket Council (ICC) following the end of Apartheid.

1996: The bodies of Lin Russell and her six-year-old daughter Megan were found half a mile from their home in Kent. Nine-year-old Josie Russell - also found at the scene - recovered from serious head injuries. In October 1997 a man was arrested for the murders.

1997 – Scientists in London reported their DNA analysis findings from a Neandertal skeleton which supported the out of Africa theory of human evolution placing an "African Eve" at 100,000 to 200,000 years ago.

2000 – A leaking southern Nigerian petroleum pipeline exploded, killing about 250 people.

Interesting Fact # 1106 - Reproduction

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:01:00 PDT

English scientists claim to have created human sperm in a laboratory.

(The researchers said their work could also lead to men with fertility issues fathering children. Trust men to create something that will ultimately make them redundant.)

Interesting Fact # 1105 - Conservation

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 00:06:29 PDT

According to green campaigners, damage done to the environment by America's love of gas-guzzling cars, fast food and McMansions, is far outweighed by the US public's insistence on extra-soft, quilted and multi-ply toilet paper.

(98% of the toilet paper used in the USA comes from virgin wood, in Europe and Latin America, up to 40% of toilet paper comes from recycled products. Longer fibres in virgin wood are easier to lay out and fluff up for a softer tissue for a soft backside. After all fluffy loo paper vs the future of the planet? No contest really.)

Source: The Guardian

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:25:34 PDT

1949 – Celebrities Helen Keller, Dorothy Parker, Danny Kaye, Fredric March, John Garfield, Paul Muni and Edward G. Robinson were named in an FBI report as Communist Party members.

1953 – The United States Supreme Court ruled that Washington, D.C. restaurants could not refuse to serve black patrons.

1965 - Ronald Biggs who was serving a 30-year prison sentence for his part in the Great Train Robbery escaped from Wandsworth prison.

1968 – James Earl Ray was arrested for the murder of Martin Luther King, Jr.

1984 – Homosexuality was declared legal in the Australia state of New South Wales.

1996 - Three young children and four adults were attacked by a man with a machete at an infant school in Wolverhampton, England.

2001 – Mamoru Takuma stabbed 8 school pupils to death at Ikeda Elementary School.

2003 - Conjoined Iranian twins who volunteered to go ahead with a major operation to separate them both died during surgery.

2008 – Tomohiro Katō drove a two-ton truck into a crowded pedestrianised area in the Akihabara shopping quarter in Chiyoda, Tokyo, Japan. Before leaving the truck and attacking people with a knife, killing seven and injuring ten.

Interesting Food # 48 - Fruit and Veg

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 01:59:22 PDT

The European Union has scrapped rules on fruit and vegetable size.

(Twenty-six fruits and vegetables are now free to grow their own way. But ten — including peaches, pears and tomatoes — still have to watch the scales. I shall look forward to funny shaped carrots going back on the shelf.)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:11:26 PDT

1543 – French troops invade Luxembourg.

1947 – The Roswell UFO incident took place.

1967 – The civil war in Biafra began.

1969 – In Canada, the Official Languages Act is adopted making the French language equal to the English blanguage throughout the Federal government.

1978 – The Solomon Islands became independent from the United Kingdom.

2005 - Four bombs were set off on the London public transport system during the morning rush hour, killing 56 people, and injuring 700. It was the deadliest single act of terrorism in the UK since the bombing of Pan Am Flight 103 in 1988, which killed 270 people. A group called "Al Qaeda in Europe" claimed responsibility for the attacks.

2006 – The Western Black Rhinoceros, the rarest of the Black Rhino subspecies, was declared extinct by the World Conservation Union, due to poaching.

Interesting Fact # 1104 - Clothes

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 06:03:32 PDT

According to a survey by CareerNet, almost three-quarters of South Korean male office workers feel uncomfortable when female colleagues show too much leg or cleavage in the workplace.

( 56 % objected to micro-miniskirts (I call them belts) and 51% objected to excessive cleavage (you don't hear that complaint much in the UK). Hipster trousers revealing underwear, "killer heels" and flashy outfits in general were also cause for complaint. Women complained about stains on the shirts and ties of their male colleagues, but I'm sure they'd complain if their male colleagues turned up in high heels and low cut blouses.)

Interesting Fact # 1103 - BBC Taxis

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:13:16 PDT

The BBC spent a massive £14m on taxis in 2008.

(That works out at more than £38,000 a day. BBC staff took more than 406,000 taxi rides. I wonder how many times round the world that would go?)

Source - Daily Mirror

Interesting People # 132 - Roger Federer

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:01:18 PDT

He was born Aug. 8, 1981 in Basel, Switzerland.

Roger Federer was 18 when he won his first Grand Slam match in the first round of the Australian Open.

Roger Federer was 19 when he won his first career title.

He is the only player to win Wimbledon and the U.S. Open consecutively three straight years.

In 2001 he ended Pete Sampras' 31-match winning streak at Wimbledon in the fourth round before losing in the quarter-finals.

His 2009 French Open win makes him only the sixth man to have won all four grand slam titles. The other five are: Fred Perry, Don Budge, Rod Laver, Roy Emerson and Andre Agassi.

He's won a record 15th grand slam title after winning Wimbledon today, with a 5-7 7-6(6) 7-6(5) 3-6 16-14 defeat of American sixth seed Andy Roddick. His other wins are: Wimbledon, 2003-2007, 2009; US Open 2004-2008; Australian Open 2004, 2006, 2007; French Open 2009.

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:14:51 PDT

1776 - The Declaration of Independence was adopted. However, it was not declared a public holiday in the USA until 1941.

Interesting Place # 106 - Bangladesh

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:12:38 PDT

With a population of 150 million, Bangladesh is the most crowded place on Earth.

(Worryingly it will become even more packed as global warming affects sea levels, and a predicted 20% of the country will be under water in the next 30 years.)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 08 Jul 2009 09:12:48 PDT

1844 – The last nesting pair of Great Auks was killed. They were found incubating an egg off Iceland. Jón Brandsson and Sigurður Ísleifsson strangled the adults and Ketill Ketilsson smashed the egg with his boot.

1884 – The Dow Jones published its 1st stock average.

1928 - The first colour television transmission took place in London.

1969 - Former Rolling Stones guitarist, Brian Jones (born Lewis Brian Hopkin-Jones) drowned.

1971 - Jim Morrison, the lead singer of American rock group The Doors, was found dead in a bathtub in Paris of heart failure. He was only 27.

1976 - Israeli commandos rescued 103 hostages held by Arab militants at Entebbe airport, Uganda.

1987 - Nazi war criminal Klaus Barbie was sentenced to life imprisonment at a court in Lyon.

1988 - Missiles fired from an American naval warship, the USS Vincennes, brought down an Iranian passenger jet in the Persian Gulf, killing all 290 people aboard.

1996 – The Stone of Scone was returned to Scotland.

2005 – A national law legalizing same-sex marriage took effect in Spain.

Interesting Fact # 1102 - Global Warming

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:02:01 PDT

According to a report in Science journal, climate change is causing a breed of wild sheep in Scotland to shrink.

(Classic evolutionary theory would predict that wild sheep gradually get bigger, as the stronger, larger animals survive into adulthood and reproduce, but milder winters caused by global warming, have helped smaller sheep survive, and breed, causing a decrease in size of the overall population. A bit like washing a jumper in a hot wash.)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 01:05:27 PDT

862 – St. Swithun, Bishop of Winchester died.

1698 – Thomas Savery patented the first steam engine.

1776 – The Continental Congress adopted a resolution severing ties with Great Britain although the wording of the formal Declaration of Independence was not approved until July 4.

1777 – Vermont became the first American territory to abolish slavery.

1839 - 53 African slaves being transported to Cuba on the Spanish merchant ship La Amistad revolted against their captors led by Joseph Cinque.

1850 – The self-contained gas mask was patented by Benjamin J. Lane.

1853 – The Russian Army invaded Turkey, beginning the Crimean War.

1881 – Charles J. Guiteau shot and fatally wounded U.S. President James Garfield, who eventually died on September 19.

1897 – Italian scientist Guglielmo Marconi obtained a patent for radio in London.

1900 - The world's first rigid airship was demonstrated by Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin on Lake Constance near Friedrichshafen, Germany.

1937 - U.S. aviator Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan were reported lost over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to make the first equatorial round-the-world flight. They were never heard from again.

1961 - Author Ernest Hemingway, 61, shot himself at his home in Ketchum, Idaho.

1962 – The first Wal-Mart store opened for business in Rogers, Arkansas.

1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed into law the Civil Rights Act, meant to prohibit segregation in public places.

1966 – The French military exploded a nuclear test bomb codenamed Aldébaran in Mururoa, their first nuclear test in the Pacific.

1976 – North and South Vietnam, divided since 1954, reunited to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.

1976 - The Supreme Court ruled the death penalty was not inherently cruel or unusual.

1990 - A stampede in a pedestrian tunnel at the Muslim holy city of Mecca during the annual Hajj killed 1,426 pilgrims.

1993 - South African President F.W de Klerk and African National Congress leader Nelson Mandela announced that South Africa's first election open to all races would be April 27, 1994.

1994 - The Colombian soccer player who inadvertently scored a goal for the United States, contributing to his team's loss in World Cup competition, was shot to death in Medellin, Colombia.

1997 – James Stewart died.

2005 - Egypt's new ambassador to Iraq was abducted in Baghdad, reportedly by Al-Qaida. He was later murdered.

2008 – Ingrid Betancourt and 14 other FARC hostages were rescued by the Colombian armed forces, she had been held for six and a half years.

Interesting Animal # 97 - Ants

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:46:40 PDT

Scientists led by Eiriki Sunamura of the University of Tokyo, have discovered that a single mega-colony of ants has colonised much of the world.

(The species, Argentine ants, are living in vast numbers across Europe, the US and Japan and they belong to the same interrelated colony. They will even refuse to fight one another. In Europe, one vast colony is thought to stretch for 6,000km (3,700 miles), while another in the US, known as the 'Californian large', extends over 900km (560 miles) along the coast of California. The colony could rival humans in the scale of world domination. After all, we never seem to refuse to fight one another.)

Interesting People # 131 - Sir Cliff Richard

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:39:32 PDT

British pop star Sir Cliff Richard has been ordered to knock down a £30,000 conservatory built at his house in Surrey because he did not have planning permission.

(The conservatory measures 17ft (5.2m) by 13ft (4.2m) and breaks planning regulation because it increased the property's floor area by more than 30%. Basically his conservatory is about the same size as my house!)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 01:47:56 PDT

1860 – The 1860 Oxford evolution debate at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History took place.

1936 - Gone with the Wind was published.

1908 – The Tunguska event occured in Siberia.

1934 – The Night of the Long Knives, Adolf Hitler's violent purge of his political rivals in Germany, took place.

1953 – The first Chevrolet Corvette rolled off the assembly line in Flint, Michigan, USA. (I wonder if it was a little red one.)

1960 – Congo gained independence from Belgium.

1963 – A car bomb, intended for Mafia boss Salvatore Greco, killed seven police and military officers near Palermo.

1969 – Nigeria banned Red Cross aid to Biafra, leaving over 4 million people to face starvation.

1971 - Three Russian cosmonauts were found dead in their Soyuz 11 space capsule after it made what looked like a perfect landing in Kazakhstan.

1985 - 39 Americans being held captive by the Shia Muslim Amal militia in Lebanon were released, after almost three weeks in captivity.

1990 – East Germany and West Germany merged their economies.

1992 – Former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher joined the House of Lords as Baroness Thatcher of Kesteven.

1997 – The United Kingdom transfered sovereignty over Hong Kong to the People's Republic of China.

2007 – Ingmar Bergman died.

2007 – A terrorist attack was attempted when a car crashed into Glasgow International Airport in Scotland.

Interesting Fact 1101 - Sleep

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 00:32:02 PDT

According to an article in the journal Sleep, missing out on a good night's sleep raises a woman's risk of heart disease.

(Sleeping less than 8 hours a night has been linked to heart problems, but the risk is higher for women than for men. Which seems a bit unfair, as it's usually the man's snoring that keeps a woman awake.)

Interesting Fact 1100 - Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 29 Jun 2009 02:28:32 PDT

The Met Office in the UK has issued its first heatwave alert.

(It's the first time they have released a heat warning since the system was introduced a couple of years ago. Basically it's to let frightened Britains know what that bright thing in the sky is.)