Interesting Facts

Interesting Fact - Eastenders

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Fri, 27 Jan 2012 04:04:42 PST

There have been 92 deaths in Eastenders since it began in 1985.

(This doesn't seem too farfetched, but 22.8% of the deaths were murder, a rate far above Britain's real figure of 0.032 per cent, and there is going to be yet another one soon.

There is even a death map on the BBC:-

http://www.bbc.co.uk/eastenders/games/death_map/

Cheerful stuff.

)

Interesting Animal - Spiders

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 02:14:19 PST

One million spiders were used to create a golden spider silk cape that will be on show at London's V&A.

(The designers, Simon Peers and Nicholas Godley, used Madagascar Golden Orb spiders to create the work of art. It takes the silk from 23,000 spiders to weave 25 grammes of silk, and there are 1.5kg of silk in the cape. All in all, it took eight years to complete it. The spiders were "borrowed" from the forest, and returned there after a day. I wonder if they have a union?)

Interesting Place - London

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:35:11 PST

London has its own leaning tower, the clock tower that contains Big Ben at the Palace of Westminster.

(Seemingly, the 96-metre tall clock tower, which houses the bell originally nicknamed Big Ben, leans about 46 cm to the left of its peak. A construction expert said there was nothing to worry about, and it would take 10,000 years to reach an angle of concern. Well at least it's leaning to the left, and not to the right.)

Interesting Fact - Transport

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:40:53 PST

According to official data, China granted 22.69 million driving licenses in 2011.

(China is the world's largest car market, and now everyone wants a driving licence. Of course when you look at some of the other posts here on China's roads, you have to wonder if they ever get anywhere.)

Interesting Fact - Health

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 01:59:50 PST

According to research from the Centre for Research in Epidemiology and Population Health in France and University College London, the brain begins to lose sharpness of memory and powers of reasoning and understanding from as early as 45.

(Previously it was thought that this began around the age of 60, but the researchers found that the brains of even the youngest were already in decline. There was a 3.6% decline in the mental reasoning of men and of women aged 45 to 49 and the process appeared to have sped up in the older age groups. Men aged 65 to 70 had a decline of 9.6% while women fared a little better, at 7.4%. The good news is that there are things that can be done about it. Looking after the heart has been shown to help the head, studies show that people with high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol who are at high risk of heart problems, are also at higher risk of dementia. Or maybe as we get older, we simply forget to exercise and eat properly.)

Interesting Fact - Google

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 23 Jan 2012 11:49:32 PST

According to Google, YouTube now streams 4 billion online videos a day.

(Most of the videos still do not make money, but about three billion videos a week are monetized. I account for a couple a day.)

Interesting Fact - Clothing

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 07:16:59 PST

A survey suggest that only 18% of male office workers in the UK wear ties.

(The German boss of the Victoria and Albert Museum, Professor Martin Roth, said that only security guards bothered to wear a tie any longer.

As proof of this people have noted that David Cameron chose an open-neck shirt in many of his appearances on TV, so as not to appear stuffy, and even Prince William got in on the act when he turned up at a recent charity event in a shirt and sweater rather than a suit and tie.

Interesting Inventions - The Handbag

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Sat, 21 Jan 2012 06:58:59 PST

Leonardo Da Vinci has been credited with inventing the designer handbag.

(It's believed he drew a sketch of an ornate leather accessory in 1497 while he was painting The Last Supper. Now a luxury Italian brand, Gherardini, has decided to manufacture a bag based on Leonardo's design - more than five centuries after his death. I guess the copyright has run out by now.)

Interesting Food - Nuts

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 18 Jan 2012 08:50:25 PST

Peanuts are not nuts!

(Peanuts are actually a type of pea, so the health warning on a packet of peanuts (“may contain nuts”) is untrue. And people who are allergic to peanuts, are not necessarily allergic to nut nuts.

Pecans, sweet chestnuts, beech nuts, acorns and hazel nuts are nuts, but almonds, brazil nuts, pistachios, cashews, horse chestnuts and pine nuts are also not nuts.

Quite simply it's nuts!)

Source: QI on the BBC

Interesting Date - Blue Monday

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:07:55 PST

Today is Blue Monday, or is it?

(In the UK Blue Monday is the most depressing day of the year, which usually falls on the third Monday of the year or the Monday of the last full week of January, but this year we get it early. In 2012, Blue Monday could fall on January 23rd which is the last full week of January, or on January 16th the third Monday of the year. Maybe this means we will get two this year - Whoopee!)

Interesting Fact - Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 04:00:39 PST

According to a report by the Institute of Economic Affairs 'The Pursuit of Happiness', happiness levels correlate with the amount of wealth a person accumulates.

(It contradicts the widely-held belief that above a certain income level, people do not become any happier, which was put forward in 1974 by wellbeing expert Richard Easterlin, who claimed that happiness stagnates when income rises beyond a certain level. Even Princeton University claimed to have found that wellbeing stopped increasing at £58,700 – with an increase of as much as a third making little difference, but this latest study says this is a ‘myth’ and ‘fake’. It argues a 20 per cent rise in income has the same impact on wellbeing irrespective of how much wealth the person has initially. But it still can't buy you love.)

Source

Interesting Fact - Music

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:34:57 PST

According to the karaoke website "Lucky Voice", one in four karaoke singers chose an Adele song when they picked up a mic in 2011.

(Her hit 'Someone Like You' was the most popular.
Her cover version of 'Make You Feel My Love' came in second place.
The X Factor finalists' version of David Bowie's 'Heroes' was number three.
One Direction's debut single 'What Makes You Beautiful' trailed at four.
And finally, Jessie J's 'Price Tag' finished up at number five.)

Interesting Number - 13

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:15:48 PST

Today is the first Friday the 13th of the year, and it's got the inter web thingy in a spin, but not everyone thinks the number 13 is unlucky.

Triskaidekaphobia, is the phobia of the number 13, and there are a number of theories behind the cause of this association between thirteen and bad luck, but none of them have been accepted as universally true.

(13 Lucky or Unlucky?

Unlucky 13

The number 13 is considered to be an unlucky number in some countries.

The end of the Mayan calendar's 13th Baktun is superstitiously feared as a harbinger of the apocalyptic 2012 phenomenon.

Fear of the number 13 has a specifically recognized phobia, Triskaidekaphobia, a word which was coined in 1911. The superstitious sufferers of triskaidekaphobia try to avoid bad luck by keeping away from anything numbered or labelled thirteen. As a result, companies and manufacturers use another way of numbering or labeling to avoid the number, with hotels and tall buildings being conspicuous examples (Thirteenth floor). It's also considered to be unlucky to have thirteen guests at a table.

Friday the 13th has been considered the unluckiest day of the month for many years, probably compounded by the film series of the same name.

The Hangman's Noose

13 turns make a traditional hangman's noose. anything less would not snap a neck.

The Last Supper

At Christ's last supper, there were thirteen people around the table, counting Christ and the twelve apostles.

The Knights Templar

On Friday the 13th of October, 1307, King Philip IV of France ordered the arrest of the Knights Templar.

Full moons

A year which contained 13 full moons instead of 12 posed problems for the monks who were in charge of the calendars. "This was considered a very unfortunate circumstance, especially by the monks who had charge of the calendar of thirteen months for that year, and it upset the regular arrangement of church festivals. For this reason thirteen came to be considered an unlucky number. However, in a typical century, there will be about 37 years which have 13 full moons compared with 63 years with 12 full moons, and typically every third or fourth year would have 13 full moons, making it a reasonably common occurrence, unlikely to tax monks any more than leap years.

A repressed lunar cult

In ancient cultures, the number 13 represented femininity, because it corresponded to the number of lunar (menstrual) cycles in a year (13 x 28 = 364 days). The theory is that, as the solar calendar triumphed over the lunar, the number thirteen became anathema.

Lucky 13

The number 13, especially Friday the 13th, has long been considered lucky in Judaism, 13 signifies the age of maturity, a 13 year old Jew is said to be Bar mitzvah. It is also the number of the tribes (11 being the sons of Jacob and two more named after the two sons of Joseph). Some think that the general population's fear of 13 stems from anti-semitism.

Several successful sports figures have worn the number 13. Ozzie Guillén, manager of the 2005 World Series Champion Chicago White Sox, has worn the number throughout his baseball career. Alex Rodriguez began wearing it upon joining the New York Yankees (three, the number he had previously worn, is retired by the Bronx Bombers to honor Babe Ruth). Dan Marino, an American football player known for passing the 2nd most yards in NFL history, wore the number 13. Basketball great Wilt Chamberlain wore the number 13 on his jersey throughout his NBA career. Also, FIBA rules require a player to wear the number in international competitions (only numbers from 4 to 15 could be worn, and as there are 12 players, one must wear 13); Chris Mullin, who wore No. 20 in college and No. 17 in the NBA, wore No. 13 for both (1984 and 1992) of his Olympic appearances.

Shaquille O'Neal wore No. 13 in 1996; Tim Duncan wore No. 13 in 2004. Steve Nash is currently wearing it for the Phoenix Suns. Yao Ming wore it in the 2008 Olympics in Beijing. Mats Sundin, Pavel Datsyuk, Bill Guerin, and Michael Cammalleri wear 13 in the NHL. One of Iceland's all time best handball players, Sigurður Sveinsson, wore the number 13 when he played for the national team. In association football, both Gerd Müller and Michael Ballack have favoured the number 13, among others.

In Italy, 13 is also considered to be a lucky number, although in Campania the expression 'tredici' (meaning 13) is said when one considers their luck to have turned for the worse.

Some people even have 13 tattooed onto them to represent the lucky number.

I was taught (purely by superstition) to avoid the number 13. However, I tend to be ambivalent, I don't really believe, but if something bad happens on Friday the 13th - I blame the date.)

Interesting Fact - Happiness

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 12 Jan 2012 03:06:50 PST

According to a survey by the Children's Society one in ten children in the UK, aged eight to 16, are unhappy.

(The main cause is family, but the survey also found that children who did not have clothes to 'fit in' with peers were three times more likely to have a feeling of low well-being than those that did, and one in ten children were unhappy about their relationships with teachers; one in six being unhappy about the amount they felt they were being listened to at school. The main thing is 500,000 unhappy children is no laughing matter.)

Interesting People - Mr and Mrs Chand

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:58:11 PST

Karam Chand and his wife Kartari have been married for 86 years, this could make them the UK's longest married husband and wife.

(They live in Bradford, Yorkshire, but got married in Punjab, India in 1925 He is 106 years old and she is 99. The couple celebrated their 86th marriage anniversary yesterday. They have eight children, 27 grandchildren and 23 great grandchildren.

Interesting Fact - Cameras

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:34:08 PST

According to figures from Samsung, 2.5 billion people around the globe have a digital camera.

(Given that there are 7 billion of us on the planet, there's plenty of room for growth.)

Interesting Invention - The Digital Camera

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:31:43 PST

Kodak is credited with building the first digital camera in 1975.

(Steven Sasson invented it, but it was a box the size of a small coffee machine with a cassette stuck to the side, so not very practical. Unfortunately this invention has all but killed the traditional camera, and Kodak looks as if it shot itself in the foot by not fully profiting from its invention.)

Interesting Word - Continuator

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 03:26:28 PST

A continuator is a writer who chooses to finish the work of another author.

(The latest book to be "continuated" is Charles Dickens' unfinished novel, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, his only mystery story. It was his final book, published in 1870, but he only completed six of twelve parts before he died. No-one knows how he intended to conclude it, but Gwyneth Hughes not only adapted Dickens's half-written novel into a new television drama but also gave it an ending of her own. You could describe what continuators do as literary necrophilia, or maybe they simply keep popular authors alive.)

Interesting Fact - Health - Podcast

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:26:27 PST

According to Professor Mark Wilcox, Clinical Director of Microbiology at Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, whether you close the toilet lid before you flush, could have an impact on the spread of infections.

(Seemingly leaving the lid up when you flush can allow a cloud of bacteria to explode into the air, settling on nearby surfaces. I won't go into the specifics, but they tested the hospital superbug C. difficile, and found that when flushing, bacteria was transported up to 10 inches above the toilet seat when it was open, and was found on the cistern, to the right and left of the toilet seat, and on the floor, in fact it was still detected in the air up to 90 minutes later, but when the lid was closed no C. diff. was recovered on any surface. So, men, now you know why us women get so annoyed when you leave the lid up.)

Source

Interesting Fact - Olympic Fact - Archery

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 03:59:42 PST

The centre of an Olympic archery target is gold.

(Olympic Archery targets are 122 centimetres in diameter, with the gold ring at the centre (worth a maximum 10 points) measuring just 12.2cm. Archers shoot at the target from a distance of 70 metres.

I would have lost any trivia quiz before I discovered this, as I was convinced it was red.)

Interesting Food - Fish

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Thu, 05 Jan 2012 04:37:53 PST

A Japanese restaurateur at Japan's Tsukiji fish market has paid nearly three-quarters of a million dollars for a single tuna.

(This is the most ever paid for this endangered species; bluefin tuna. The beautiful animal weighed 269-kilogramme (592-pound), which means it cost a whopping 210,000 yen per kilogramme. It was caught off the coast of Japan's northern Aomori prefecture. Japan consumes three-quarters of the global catch of bluefin, a highly prized sushi ingredient known in Japan as "kuro maguro" (black tuna) and dubbed by sushi connoisseurs the "black diamond" because of its scarcity. Of course tuna is often loaded with mercury and a mix of nasty industrial chemicals such as dioxins, pesticides and PCBs, which have been dumped in our seas and oceans, and with the risk of contamination from the nuclear waste swept away in the Tsunami, this fish may have the last laugh.)

Today

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 01:05:34 PST

They are counting all the animals at London Zoo.

There are an estimated 18,500 animals, so it will take all week.

They have been doing an annual stock take for years, as this old footage reveals.

ZOO STOCKTAKING

Your browser does not support iframes.

Interesting Fact - The Royal Family

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 23:43:35 PST

The Duke of Edinburgh was given a baby elephant when visiting Sri Lanka.

(In fact, the Royal family usually receive presents when they go on holidays (sorry - state visits), and some of them are quite ridiculous.

Princess Anne was given a brown Syrian bear by the then Soviet Union.
Prince Andrew was given a newborn Gambian crocodile.
The Queen was given a pair of sloths in Brazil in 1968.

It's not always animals either.

Prince Andrew was given two bags of basmati rice by the Pakistan High Commission
2008 the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall were given two wristbands, two baseball caps, four T-shirts and 18 CDs by the Bob Marley Museum in Jamaica.

When the Prince of Wales married Lady Diana Spencer, she received a pair of 100-year-old silk mittens, a silver-plated mousetrap and, most esoteric of all, a piece of crocheted lace made from yarn spun by Mahatma Gandhi.

Other gifts have included a box of volcanic ash from Montserrat, a yellow metal hatpin from Japan, three bottles of Chilean red win and a blowpipe from the Amazonian basin.

Of course Sophie, the Countess of Wessex, got Bahraini blood diamonds, and as far as I know she didn't say, "No, I couldn't possibly.")

Interesting Fact - Technology

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 04:06:40 PST

According to Google, about 42m new Android devices were activated in December 2011.

(They calculate that there are now around 280m active "Google Android" devices. I own 2 of them, but unfortunately none of the newly activated ones, Santa wasn't that generous.)

Interesting Fact - Big Ben

noreply@blogger.com (Your Teacher) — Mon, 02 Jan 2012 02:49:16 PST

The Clock Tower is the focus of New Year celebrations in the United Kingdom, with radio and TV stations tuning to its chimes to welcome the start of the year, but the unique sound of the bell Big Ben is caused by a patched crack.

(Yes, Big Ben isn't the name of the tower, it's the nickname of the main bell in the tower which is part of the Great Clock of Westminster in London. It's officially known as the Great Bell, but is better known by the nickname Big Ben.

The original bell was a 16.3-tonne (16 ton) hour bell, cast on 6 August 1856 in Stockton-on-Tees by John Warner & Sons. The bell was named in honour of Sir Benjamin Hall, and his name is inscribed on it.

Cast in 1856, the first bell was transported to the tower on a trolley drawn by sixteen horses, with crowds cheering its progress. Unfortunately, it cracked beyond repair while being tested and a replacement had to be made. The bell was recast at the Whitechapel Bell Foundry as a 13.76-tonne (13½ ton) bell. This was pulled up 200 ft (61 m) by hand, into the Clock Tower’s belfry, a feat that took 18 hours.

Big Ben is 2.2 metres tall and 2.9 metres wide. It first chimed in July 1859, but in September of that year it too cracked under the hammer, a mere two months after it officially went into service. According to the foundry's manager, George Mears, Denison had used a hammer more than twice the maximum weight specified. For three years Big Ben was out of commission and the hours were struck on the lowest of the quarter bells until it was reinstalled. To make the repair, a square piece of metal was chipped out from the rim around the crack, and the bell given an eighth of a turn so the new hammer struck in a different place. Big Ben has chimed with an odd twang ever since and is still in use today complete with the crack. At the time of its casting, Big Ben was the largest bell in the British Isles until "Great Paul", a 17 tonne (16¾ ton) bell currently hung in St Paul's Cathedral, was cast in 1881.

Happy New Year.)