Interesting Facts

Today

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:56:50 PST

One of the biggest solar flares in years is on its way to Earth and there is a good chance that the protection our magnetic shield offers will break down in the next 24 hours, leading to a geomagnetic storm. The most likely effect will probably be on SatNav systems. (Take a map.)

Interesting Fact - Money

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:50:11 PST

According to the National Audit Office, a massive seven-year government programme meant to increase efficiency has cost the British taxpayer hundreds of millions of pounds.

(Whitehall departments have spent £1.4 billion over the last seven years in a bid to save £159 million by sharing "back-office" functions such as personnel and procurement. It would be funny, if it weren't so tragic.)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:36:19 PST

1988 – Three Provisional Irish Republican Army volunteers were murdered by the SAS on the territory of Gibraltar.

1987 – The British car ferry MS Herald of Free Enterprise capsized just outside the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, in about 90 seconds killing 193 people.

1974 - The miners' strike came to an end following a pay increase of over 30%.

1970 - The British Government announced an indefinite ban on the importation of domestic pets to prevent rabies.

1964 – Nation of Islam's Elijah Muhammad (born Elijah Robert Poole) officially gave boxing champion Cassius Clay the name Muhammad Ali.

1961 – George Formby, British comedian and singer, died.

1957 – Ghana became the first Sub-Saharan country to gain Independence from the British

1945 – Cologne (Köln) was captured by American Troops.

1899 – Bayer registered aspirin as a trademark.

1836 - Mexican forces captured the Alamo in San Antonio killing the last of 187 defenders who had held out in the fortified mission for 13 days. Famous frontiersman Davy Crockett was among those killed on the final day.

1834 – York, Upper Canada was incorporated as Toronto.

1806 – Elizabeth Barrett Browning, poet and writer, was born.

Interesting Facts - Work

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:36:27 PST

Apple claims that statistics show it's responsible for creating or supporting 514,000 jobs in the US.

(On their web page entitled "Creating jobs through innovation" the say that a study by the Analysis Group determined that Cook & Co. has "directly or indirectly" created 304,000 jobs spread throughout all 50 states. The remaining 210,000 jobs, Apple says, were created in the "app economy". It's the "indirectly" part of the statement that I have an issue with, as Apple directly employ 47,000 people in the US – about 9 per cent of the total they claim.

Now I'm all for beating your own drum: if you don't beat it, no one else will, but the rest of the figures are difficult to quantify, Apple says they are made up from these "indirect" jobs, which come from "the development and manufacturing of components, materials, and equipment; professional, scientific, and technical services; consumer sales; transportation; business sales; and healthcare." They probably included sandwich makers too.)

Interesting Food - Pies

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 23:49:33 PST

According to AC Nielsen, a marketing research firm, the British pie market is worth £229 million a year.

(The traditional steak, and steak and kidney pies are still Britain's favourites, but you can also buy more sophisticated varieties; including Aberdeen Angus minced steak with stilton, chicken and Wiltshire ham, and even lamb and mint pies.

References to 'pyes' as a food have been noted in English and Latin literature from as early as the 12th century and the full description of a pie as we would know it appears in books of the 14th century.)

Source

Today

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:04:04 PST

Today is the start of British Pie Week.

More on British Traditions, Food and Culture here.

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:43:10 PST

1770 - British troops killed five people in Boston USA. One of the events that led to the American Revolution.

Interesting Place - Brunswick (Braunschweig)

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:23:23 PST

In the town of Brunswick (Braunschweig) in Germany a mystery benefactor is giving pots of money away.

(He or she leaves it in envelopes in batches of 10,000 euros, often where it might not be found. If he or she reads this, just pop it in the post.)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:38:01 PST

1991 - A home video captured three Los Angeles police officers beating motorist Rodney King.

(Four LAPD officers were later tried in a state court for the beating but were acquitted. The announcement of the acquittals sparked the 1992 Los Angeles Riots.)

Interesting Fact - Smoking

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:18:45 PST

13.4% of British mums to be admit to smoking whilst pregnant.

(Some areas of the UK are black tar spots as rates varied from 2.8% in Brent, London, to 30.3% in Blackpool.

The good news is that the statistics are lower than they used to be.)

Interesting Fact - Politics

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 06:11:33 PST

According to a survey by YouGov, nearly two-thirds of British voters (62 per cent) believe politicians lie "all the time.

(This shows that voters aren' t that clever, as surely it's impossible for anyone to lie all the time. It's a very depressing thought.

“At length corruption, like a general flood (So long by watchful ministers withstood), Shall deluge all; and avarice, creeping on, Spread like a low-born mist, and blot the sun." Alexander Pope - Moral Essays)

On This Day

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 02:42:21 PST

1872 - Yellowstone National Park was established in the US. It was the first area in the world to be designated a national park.

Interesting Animal - Fleas - Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:21:26 PST

Fossils unearthed at two sites in China reveal that fleas, up to 10 times as large as modern fleas, drank the blood of dinosaurs and pterosaurs.

(These Jurassic fleas are believed to be 165m years old. They had claws on each of their six legs, with tiny teeth on the claws that helped the insects cling to hair shafts and feathers.

I do hope no-one gets the idea of cloning these wee beasties.)

Source and icky picture.

Today

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:01:04 PST

Today you are working for free if you're on a fixed annual wage.

Interesting Date - Leap Year

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 06:59:11 PST

People born on February 29th are called "leaplings" or "leapers".

(The poet Lord Byron was a leapling as was the rapper Ja Rule.

Just imagine, you only get a birthday party once every 4 years, but you're quarter the age of the rest of us, in fact Gilbert & Sullivan's Pirates of Penzance the plot revolved around Frederic's discovery that, because he is a leapling, he must remain apprenticed to pirates and serve another 63 years before he can join Mabel, his one true love.)

Interesting Fact - Class

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:28:08 PST

According to a study carried out by psychologists at the University of California in Berkeley, USA, members of the upper classes are more likely to lie, cheat and even break the law than people from less privileged backgrounds.

(The study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, concluded that those from rich or powerful backgrounds appeared greedier, more likely to lie in negotiation and more likely to cheat. Is this really a surprise? They didn't get rich by being nice.)

Interesting Fact - Money

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 28 Feb 2012 05:35:36 PST

According to economics students at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania, USA it would cost more than £541,261 trillion just for the raw materials to build a real Star Wars Death Star.

( This is 13,000 times the world's gross domestic product (GDP), and that's just to supply the steel; labour and other construction costs would send the costs even higher. Oh and if that weren't enough, it would take more than 833,315 years at current production levels to supply enough steel for the 87 mile diameter space craft. So, if you were hoping to achieve universal dominance any time soon, think again. Somehow this actually reassures me.)

Interesting Fact - Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 07:19:43 PST

According to the National Wellbeing Survey, the most miserable people in the UK are 45 year old divorced men living in London.

Interesting Fact - Happiness - Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 03:12:18 PST

The cost of the UK's happiness index has soared to £8 million.

(The UK Government has admitted that the Office of National Statistics has a £2million-a-year budget for it every year until 2015. Well at least they'll be happy.)

Interesting Fact - The Weather

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 05:25:10 PST

Rainfall soothes the atmosphere, and calms storms.

(According to atmospheric scientists at the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in Boulder, Colorado, a substantial portion of the energy that drives wind and air circulation in the atmosphere is dissipated as friction by raindrops falling through the air. I can't say I fully understand the math and science behind this, but it will make me moan less when it's raining.)

Interesting Words - 25 words every toddler should know

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:44:52 PST

According to psychologist Professor Leslie Rescorla, author of the Language Development Survey, there are 310 words that should be part of a toddler's vocabulary.

(25 of these words are words that every toddler should be able to use, as they are are among the most common and the first acquired when learning to speak.

As an ESL learner, you might want to know what these words are and check that you know them:-

The 25-word list comprises mummy, daddy, baby, milk, juice, hello, ball, yes, no, dog, cat, nose, eye, banana, biscuit, car, hot, thank you, bath, shoe, hat, book, all gone, more and bye-bye.

The 310-word list seems to be under copyright.)

Interesting Fact - Games

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 03:05:49 PST

In a recent poll of youngsters in the US only 45% of youngsters aged between 2 and 17 regularly read books.

(This compares with 91% who regularly play computer games, and the fastest growth of gamers is in the age range of 2 to 5. What on earth do they play?)

Interesting Fact - Plants

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:41:34 PST

According to an article in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), scientists in Russia have grown plants from 30,000 year old fruit.

(The fruit found in n the banks of the Kolyma River in Siberia, was probably squirreled away by - squirrels, and the Institute of Cell Biophysics team raised plants of Silene stenophylla - of the campion family from it.

This is the oldest plant material by far to have been brought back to life, the record was previously held by date palm seeds found Masada in Israel, which were a mere 2,000 years old.)

Interesting Fact - Recycling

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:34:58 PST

Metal implants from cremated human bodies are recycled.

(Everything from steel pins to titanium hips and cobalt-chrome knees are reclaimed from the ashes.

The co-founder of OrthoMetals, Ruud Verberne said that in Europe, an operation to provide a new hip may cost you around £5,000 ($8,000. 6,000 euros, but the return value as scrap is maybe, around £10 ($16, 12 euros) per kilo, and there are five hips per kilo.

The recycled parts don't get reused, instead it is melted down and gets used to make things like cars, planes, and even wind turbines.)

Interesting Fact - The Simpsons

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 21 Feb 2012 01:34:45 PST

The Simpsons broadcast its 500th episode today.

(It became the longest-running prime time animated show in 1997, breaking a record that The Flinstones had previously held. Each episode of The Simpsons takes about six months to produce, so that's 3,000 months of production time to date, which works out at 250 years! I guess they aren't made sequentially.)