Thursday, December 15, 2011

Facebook Facts Fun & Interesting Trivia

You can't block CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook.Try it. You'll get an error message that says, "General Block failed error: Block failed."

4 billion daily messages are sent through the Facebook network

The average American spends more time on Facebook than Google, Yahoo, Youtube, Microsoft, Wikipedia and Amazon combined

Microsoft holds a 1.6 percent stake in Facebook

7.5 million profiles on the site are operated by users younger than 13 years old, the minimum age to have a Facebook account


Facebook's "Like" Button Used To Be The "Awesome" Button

The character limit for a Facebook status is 63,206

There are more than 800,000 developers building applications for Facebook

About 8.3 billion hours are spent on Facebook every month

Psychologists have identified a new mental health disorder called Facebook Addiction Disorder

Cancer Facts Symptoms & Interesting Trivia

The odds are 1 out of 2 (50%) that if you're a smoker who has been diagnosed with cancer, you will continue to smoke

Steve Jobs was one of the first twenty people in the world to have all of the genes of his cancer tumor as well as of his normal DNA sequenced

he first owner of the Marlboro Company died of lung cancer

The first cause of cancer was identified by British surgeon Percivall Pott, who discovered in 1775 that cancer of the scrotum was a common disease among chimney sweeps

Ulysses S. Grant finished his memoirs in 1885, a few weeks before his death from throat cancer. The book earned over $450,000 for his family after his death


Due to hunting, Tasmanian devils neared extinction at the beginning of the 20th century. Tasmanian wolves (also called tigers) became extinct in 1936. Today Tasmanian devils are endangered by a cancer called Devil Facial Tumor Disease

Every 30 seconds someone in the world dies of lung cancer

Breast cancer survivors may reduce their risk of recurrence by eating soy foods

Male firefighters who were exposed to toxic dust and smoke from the 9/11 attacks on World Trade Center have a 19 percent higher risk of getting cancer of all kinds than colleagues who were not exposed

The annual estimate for men who will be diagnosed with breast cancer is 2,140, and the number of men who will die from it is 450

Internet Facts History Surfing & Interesting Trivia

The odds are 1 out of 4 (24%) that you think the Internet can serve as a substitute for a spouse or significant other

The odds are 1 out of 8 (12.5%) that you are addicted to the Internet, risking jobs and relationships to spend more time online

15% (estimated) of internet users don't use search engines. They just type a subject, add ".com" and hope for the best

80% of all pictures on the internet are of naked women

Close to fifty percent of Internet shoppers spend over five hours a week online


The Internet was originally developed by DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - as a means to share information on defense research between involved universities and defense research facilities

By May 2009, Nielsen reported that 230 million Americans had Internet access, 93 percent had high -speed access (broadband) and digital cable and 228 million used a cell phone

In 2008, more Americans got their national and international news from the Internet than from any other medium save television, according to national survey by the Pew Research Center

By April 2009, an estimated 1.6 billion people worldwide connected to the Internet, less than one-quarter of who were located in North America

More than six in ten households with Internet access have a Wi-Fi network at home

Monday, December 12, 2011

Robert Noyce Strange Facts & Trivia

Robert Noyce Biography

Robert Noyce was born on December 12 1927 in Burlington, Iowa. He died on June 3 1990 in Austin, Texas.

In 1949, Noyce received his B.A. from Grinnell College in Iowa. In 1953, he received his Ph.D. in physical electronics from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Robert Noyce worked as a researcher for Philco Corporation until 1956, when Noyce started working for the Shockley Semiconductor Laboratory in Palo

Bob Noyce's nickname was the "Mayor of Silicon Valley." He was one of the very first scientists to work in the area -- long before the stretch of California had earned the Silicon name -- and he ran two of the companies that had the greatest impact on the silicon industry: Fairchild Semiconductor and Intel.

He also invented the integrated chip, one of the stepping stones along the way to the microprocessors in today's computers.


Noyce, the son of a preacher, grew up in Grinnell, Iowa. He was a physics major at Grinnell College, and exhibited while there an almost baffling amount of confidence. He was always the leader of the crowd.

This could turn against him occasionally -- the local farmers didn't approve of him and weren't likely to forgive quickly when he did something like steal a pig for a college luau.

The prank nearly got Noyce expelled, even though the only reason the farmer knew about it was because Noyce had confessed and offered to pay for it.

While in college, Noyce's physics professor Grant Gale got hold of two of the very first transistors ever to come out of Bell Labs. Gale showed them off to his class and Noyce was hooked.

The field was young, though, so when Noyce went to MIT in 1948 for his Ph.D., he found he knew more about transistors than many of his professors.

Friday, November 25, 2011

Walt Disney Strange Facts & Trivia

Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after Mickey Rooney, whose mother he dated for some time

Anthea Turner, Walt Disney, Tom Cruise, Susan Hampshire, Whoopi Goldberg, Thomas Edison, Henry Winkler, Cher, Brian Conley, and Leonardo DaVinci are, or were, dyslexic

He admitted to being "scared to death" when he had to face the camera to introduce episodes of the "Disneyland" television series

At the 1960 Winter Olympic Games, Walt Disney was head of the committee that organized the opening day ceremonies

Walt Disney had originally suggested using the name Mortimer Mouse instead of Mickey Mouse

A newspaper editor fired Walt Disney because he "lacked imagination and had no good ideas."

Stanford University engineers Bill Hewlett and Dave Packard started their company in a Palo Alto garage with $1,538. Their first product was an audio oscillator bought by Walt Disney studios for use in the movie Fantasia

In 1933, Kenz Masaoka produced "Chikara to Onna no Yo no Naka," which was the first piece of anime to use synchronized sound, following Walt Disney's talkie "Steamboat Willie" by 4 years

Walt Disney holds the record for the most Oscar nominations with sixty-four

An interesting fact about Walt Disney is that he was honored by having his picture on a six-cent United States commemorative postage stamp that was issued September 11, 1968

Facts About America People Living & Trivia

If you're an American, the odds are 1 out of 40 (2.46%) that you're currently in the U.S. criminal justice system (incarcerated, on parole, or on probation

The odds are 1 out of 3 (33%) that (if you have a baby this year in America) it will be delivered by Caesarean Section

The odds are 73 out of 100 (73%) that you (as an American) favor the elimination of all nuclear weapons in the world

The odds are 1 out of 4,800 (.021%) that if you're a pregnant American woman, you will die in childbirth

The odds are 1 out of 25 (4%) that you (as an American adult) have never had sex


The odds are almost 2 out of 3 (63%) that you're rather be poor and thin than rich and fat (if you're an American woman)

The odds are 1 out of 5,898 (.01695%) that an American got sick or died in 2000-2004 from something they ate

The odds are 1 out of 32 (3.125%) that a person in America is currently being punished for a crime (behind bars, on probation, or on parole

The odds are 1 out of 825 (.1212%) that an American lives in a household that earns more than $2 million each year

Tuesday, November 22, 2011

Income Tax Information Facts & Trivia

The idea of making people pay to use public toilets was introduced by the Roman emperor Vespasian, who instituted a ‘urine tax’ on public conveniences as a way of raising funds following a civil war

47% of all U.S. households owed no federal income tax in 2009

The state of Washington is one of only seven states that does not levy a personal income tax

The US Supreme Court once ruled federal income tax unconstitutional

Federal income tax was first imposed during the civil war as a temporary revenue-raising measure


The odds are 1 out of 14 (7.3%) that you contributed the $3 on your 2006 tax return to help finance presidential campaigns

A Russian man who wore a beard during the time of Peter the Great had to pay a special tax

The average American pays more in taxes than for food, clothing and shelter put together

The IRS employees tax manual has instructions for collecting taxes after a nuclear war

During the reign of Queen Elizabeth I, there was a tax put on men's beards

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Cars Facts And Interesting Trivia

History of Cars
The automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place worldwide. It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile

The automobile as we know it was not invented in a single day by a single inventor. The history of the automobile reflects an evolution that took place worldwide. It is estimated that over 100,000 patents created the modern automobile

In 1771, Cugnot drove one of his road vehicles into a stone wall, making Cugnot the first person to get into a motor vehicle accident. This was the beginning of bad luck for the inventor.

Old Engraving depicting the 1771 crash of Nicolas Joseph Cugnot's steam-powered car into a stone wall

Other Facts And Trivia
On April 4, 1974, John Massis of Belgium pulled two New York Long Island railroad passenger cars totaling 80 tons with a thick rope, with a small bit attached, using only his teeth
An average of 168 Americans die per year when their cars collide with deer

On average, fifty-one cars a year overshoot and drive into the canals of Amsterdam

On average, Americans spend five times more of their time in their cars than they do on vacation
Ferdinand Porsche, who later went on to build sports cars bearing his own name, designed the original 1936 Volkswagen

Thursday, October 6, 2011

Facts About Lítla Dímun Island Faroes Sheep And Trivia

Lítla Dímun is a small island between the islands of Suðuroy and Stóra Dímun in the Faroe Islands.

It is the smallest of the main 18 islands, being less than 100 hectares (250 acres) in area, and is the only uninhabited one. The island can be seen from the villages Hvalba and Sandvík.

The southern third of the island is sheer cliff, with the rest rising to the mountain of Slættirnir, which reaches 414 metres (1,358 ft). The island is only inhabited by feral sheep and seabirds

The name means "Little Dímun", in contrast to Stóra Dímun, "Great Dímun.

The island has never been inhabited by humans, but sheep were kept there from ancient times, being mentioned in the 13th century work Færeyinga Saga (Saga of the Faroese).

The saga also features the island as the site of a battle between Brestur, father of Sigmundur and Gøtuskeggjar.

The battle resulted in the death of Sigmund's father and his men and the deportation of Sigmund to Norway, where he befriended Olaf Trygvasson.


n 1918 The Danish schooner Caspe, carrying a cargo of salt, was driven onto Lítla Dímun by a gale. The six crew were able to reach a narrow ledge just above the surf, but they had no stores, and the captain was severely injured.

Eventually they managed to move from the ledge, and found a cabin half-way up the island which had matches, fuel and a lamp.

They caught two sheep and a sick bird, and were able to survive for seventeen days before being discovered and rescued by a fishing boat. One of the shipwrecked sailors settled in the Faroes.

Facts About Faroes Sheep

The sheep now living on the island are Faroes sheep, but until the mid-nineteenth century it was occupied by feral sheep, probably derived from the earliest sheep brought to Northern Europe in the Neolithic Period. The last of these very small, black, short-wooled sheep were shot in the 1860s. They were similar in appearance and origin to the surviving Soay sheep, from the island of Soay in the St Kilda archipelago off the west coast of Scotland.
The modern Faroes sheep of the island are gathered each autumn. People sail to the island in a fishing boat, towing several rowing skiffs. About 40 people then form a chain across the island, driving the 200 or so sheep into a pen on the north side of the island. The sheep are then caught, restrained by tying their feet together, put in nets five at a time and lowered by ropes to the skiffs. Each skiff then takes its load of 15 sheep to the fishing boat, which returns to the island of Suðuroy. The sheep are unloaded on the wharf in the village of Hvalba, where they are placed in rows and distributed to their owners. A few sheep escape the gathering, and from time to time these are shot.

Facts About Steve Jobs Apple Co-founder And Trivia

Steve Jobs (1955-2011) is the CEO of Apple, which he co-founded in 1976.

On November 27, 2007, Jobs was named the most powerful person in business by Fortune Magazine.

Apple Inc. co-founder and Chief Executive Steve Jobs will be taking a medical leave until the end of June - just a week after the cancer survivor tried to assure investors and employees his recent weight loss was caused by an easily treatable hormone deficiency.
He is considered a leading figure in both the computer and entertainment industries.

Steve Jobs announced on January 5, 2009 that his rapid weight loss was due to a "hormone imbalance that has been 'robbing' [him] of the proteins [his] body needs to be healthy."

Steve Jobs worked for Atari, Inc., a leading corporation in the electronic arcade recreation, as a video game designer in 1974.

He was portrayed by Noah Wyle in Pirates of Silicon Valley (1999).
Steve was born to John Jandali and Joanne Carole Schieble. A week after he was born, his parents put him up for adoption.

Steve and his wife are both strict vegans, eating no animal products whatsoever.

Steve attended Reed College, but dropped out after the first semester.

Steve married Laurene Powell on March 18, 1991. They have 3 children together.

Steve graduated from Homestead High School in 1972.


Some Steve Jobs Quotes

Steve Jobs: I've always wanted to own and control the primary technology in everything we do.

Steve Jobs: It's really hard to design products by focus groups. A lot of times, people don't know what they want until you show it to them.

Steve Jobs: Unfortunately, people are not rebelling against Microsoft. They don't know any better.

Steve Jobs: Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.

Steve Jobs: (talking about future developments) Well, you know us. We never talk about future products. There used to be a saying at Apple: Isn't it funny? A ship that leaks from the top. So, I don't wanna perpetuate that. So I really can't say.

Steve Jobs: If we give people an alternative to Microsoft, it will have been a greater good.

Steve Jobs: (what the CEO does) I don't know. Head janitor?

Steve Jobs: (talking about the assassination of John Kennedy) I remember John Kennedy being assassinated. I remember the exact moment that I heard he had been shot.


Steve Jobs: (talking about the documentary, Triumph of Nerds) What can I say? I hired the wrong guy. He destroyed everything I spent 10 years working for; starting with me, but that wasn't the saddest part. I would have gladly left Apple if Apple would have turned out like I wanted it to.

Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Martha Graham's 117 Birthday And Facts - strangefacts

  • Martha Graham (May 11, 1894 - April 1, 1991), an American dancer and choreographer, known as one of the foremost pioneers of modern dance
  • Martha Graham is to modern dance as Pablo Picasso (1881-1973) is to the modern art school of cubism Indeed, for many dance connoisseurs, Martha Graham is synonymous with modern dance
  • She developed innovations in structure, style, technique, costuming, and in the training of choreographers and dancers that defined the movement
  • She rejected the traditional view of women dancers as beautiful, lithe, and graceful, and instead she viewed female dancers as powerful and intense
  • Her colleagues have described her long career as an American archetype, because with only a few exceptions, only Graham herself—or her company—ever performed her compositions, making Graham one of the most individualistic dance artists of the 20th century
  • Born on May 11, 1894, in Allegheny, Pennsylvania, and raised in Santa Barbara, California, Graham began her formal training at Denishawn School of Dance, a Los Angeles academy started by the dancer Ruth St. Denis (1879-1968) and her partner Ted Shawn (1891-1972)
  • In 1923, Graham left Los Angeles to join the Greenwich Village Follies in New York, specializing in exotic Spanish and Indian dances
  • She taught dance for two years at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, New York, all the while preparing herself for her debut as a soloist in 1926
  • Martha Graham gave birth to modern dance, in the sense that she changed people’s minds about what dancers—especially female dancers—could do
  • Whereas traditionally, female dancers had been used by choreographers to symbolize beauty and decoration, Graham de-sentimentalized the female body by emphasizing its power, intensity, and, in her fall sequences, its recovery from defeat 

Saturday, May 7, 2011

Osama Bin Laden Facts - strangefacts

  • Osama bin Laden was born in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. In a 1998 interview, he gave his birth date as March 10, 1957
  • His father, Muhammed bin Laden, was killed in 1967 in an airplane crash in Saudi Arabia when his American pilot misjudged a landing
  • According to CNN national security correspondent David Ensore, as of 2002 bin Laden had married four women and fathered roughly 25 or 26 children
  • Actor Bruce Willis has offered $1,000,000 reward for information leading to the capture of Osama Bin Laden and other al-Qaida terror leaders
  • According to Sudanese author Kola Boof, Osama Bin Laden is a big fan of pop Diva Whitney Houston
  • Dom Jolly out of Trigger TV went to school with Osama Bin Laden
  • Osama Bin Laden is the 17th of 57 children and the bounty on Osama Bin Laden is $50 million
  • Real or not, Osama Bin Laden had a Facebook account that was deleted for security reasons
  • 56.5 million viewers watched President Obama's speech on May 1, 2011 announcing the death of Osama bin Laden
  • Osama Bin Laden never returned balls hit over his fence where he killed
  • Osama Bin Laden drank lots of Pepsi and Coke and he grew (and likely smoked) marijuana

Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Facts About Don Juan Pond - strangefacts

  • Don Juan Pond, the hypersaline lake in western Antarctica which has even greater salinity than the Dead Sea
  • With a salinity of over 40%, Don Juan Pond is the saltiest body of water in the world
  • It is named after the two pilots who first investigated the pond in 1961, Lt Don Roe and Lt John Hickey
  • It is a small lake, only 100m by 300m, and on average 0.1m deep, but it is so salty that even in the Antarctic, where the temperature at the pond regularly drops to as low as -30 degrees Celsius, it never freezes
  • It is 18 times saltier than sea water, compared to the Dead Sea which is only 8 times saltier than sea water
  • At its saltiest, Don Juan Pond contains 671 parts per thousand salt, compared to 35 and 300 for the ocean and the Dead Sea respectively
  • A beautiful salty pool in Antarctica's Dry Valleys is teaching scientists about the potential for life in brine pools on ancient Mars
  • The study also reveals a previously unreported mechanism for producing an important greenhouse gas - nitrous oxide - in Antarctic habitats
  • Research at Antarctica's 'Mars on Earth' reveals non-organic mechanism for production of important greenhouse gas
  • Possibly even more important, the discovery could help space scientists understand the meaning of similar brine pools in a place whose ecosystem most closely resembles that of Don Juan Pond

Facts About John James Audubon - strangefacts

  • John James Audubon from 1785 to1851 was an American Woodsman
  • John James Audubon was not the first person to attempt to paint and describe all the birds of America (Alexander Wilson has that distinction), but for half a century he was the young country’s dominant wildlife artist
  • His seminal Birds of America, a collection of 435 life-size prints, quickly eclipsed Wilson’s work and is still a standard against which 20th and 21st century bird artists, such as Roger Tory Peterson and David Sibley, are measured
  • Although Audubon had no role in the organization that bears his name, there is a connection: George Bird Grinnell, one of the founders of the early Audubon Society in the late 1800s, was tutored by Lucy Audubon, John James’s widow
  • Knowing Audubon’s reputation, Grinnell chose his name as the inspiration for the organization’s earliest work to protect birds and their habitats
  • Today, the name Audubon remains synonymous with birds and bird conservation the world over
  • John James Audubon was enrolled in the French Naval Academy at he age of 14
  • He was also a limner (traveling portrait artist), dance instructor, clerk and taxidermist
  • In 1819 he was briefly jailed for failing to pay his debts
  • Audubon was born in Saint Domingue (now Haiti), the illegitimate son of a French sea captain and plantation owner and his French mistress. Early on, he was raised by his stepmother, Mrs. Audubon, in Nantes, France, and took a lively interest in birds, nature, drawing, and music
  • In 1803, at the age of 18, he was sent to America, in part to escape conscription into the Emperor Napoleon’s army. He lived on the family-owned estate at Mill Grove, near Philadelphia, where he hunted, studied and drew birds, and met his wife, Lucy Bakewell

Friday, April 22, 2011

Facts About Rotorua - strangefacts

  • A city founded in the early 1870s and named after Lake Rotorua whose Maori name means ‘Second Lake’ from roto ‘lake’ and rua ‘two’ or ‘second’
  • It is said that it was so named by a traveller as he went along the Kaituna River; the first was Lake Rotoiti ‘Small Lake’. However, this may be a convenient invention to justify claims to the area by the local tribe
  • The city of Rotorua, about 30 miles (48 km) inland on the Volcanic Plateau, is noted for the geysers, fumaroles, boiling mud, and warm mineral bathing pools in its vicinity
  • Rotorua sits squarely on the Pacific Ring of Fire, so volcanic activity is part of the city’s past and present
  • The city is also the tribal home of the Te Arawa people, who settled in lakeside geothermal areas more than 600 years ago
  • Entertaining in any weather, and at any time of the year, Rotorua promises to keep you captivated with geothermal phenomena and special cultural experiences
  • Geysers, boiling mud pools, marae stays, hangi feasts, an authentic pre-European Maori village and indulgent spa therapies will provide plenty of content for your emails home
  • Rotorua also has a well-developed adventure culture – everything from sky diving to zorbing
  • Functional facts: Approx. population 76,000, i-SITE Visitor Centre, domestic airport
  • Rotorua is a city on the southern shores of the lake of the same name, in the Bay of Plenty region of the North Island of New Zealand
  • The city is known for its geothermal activity, with a number of geysers, notably the Pohutu Geyser at Whakarewarewa, and boiling mud pools (pictured above) located in the city

Facts About Socotra - strangefacts

  • Measuring 1,200 square miles, Socotra (also Suqutra) Island is located in the Arabian Sea, about 500 miles from Aden and less than 200 miles from Somalia
  • The sparsely populated island has a mountainous interior and most of its population engages in farming or fishing; the most striking feature of this isolated place is its biodiversity and the great number of unique flora and fauna
  • The ruler of the Mahra Sultanate of Qishn and Socotra resided there under British rule during much of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
  • The island became a part of South Yemen in 1967 and, with Yemeni unification in 1990, it became a part of the Republic of Yemen (ROY)
  • Given its location near the sea lanes, Socotra was long thought to be of strategic value by Western imperial powers
  • During the latter half of the Cold War, South Yemen allowed the Soviet Union to maintain a submarine base and other military facilities there; Russia continues to maintain a modest naval presence
  • During the late 1990s there were rumors about a deal between the United States and the ROY over military facilities on the island, but the complicated, if not strained, relations between the two countries, beginning with the bombing of the U.S.S. Cole in Aden in 2000, squelched this talk
  • The considerable activities regarding Socotra now focus on its development as a tourist destination featuring and protecting its unique biodiversity
  • Socotra has been described as one of the most alien-looking place on Earth, and it’s not hard to see why
  • It is very isolated with a harsh, dry climate and as a result a third of its plant-life is found nowhere else, including the famous Dragon’s Blood Tree, a very-unnatural looking umbrella-shaped tree which produces red sap

Facts About The Great Dune of Pyla - strangefacts

  • Largest sand dune in Europe is the great dune of Pyla
  • Size of sand dune of Pyla is about 60,000,000 cubic meters
  • It measures 1,640 feet (500 m) wide and 1.86 miles (3 km long), with the height ranging from 328 to 383.8 feet (100 to 117 m) above sea level
  • The Dune of Pilat is also known as the Great Dune of Pyla
  • It is located in the La Teste-de-Buch of the Arcachon Bay area
  • At 60Km from Bordeaux, in the South of the Arcachon Bay, it is possible to visit the highest dune in Europe, the Great Dune of Pyla (or Pilat)
  • This hight of dune of Pyla reaches upto a height of 107m
  • At this summit, the view is spectacular with the ocean coast, the inlet of the Bay, the large pine forest and, when the sky is very clear, the Pyrenees Range
  • This Great Dune is constituted of fine sand which the siliceous grains have about the same size
  • Since about ten years, this area is also became a point of start to the lover of delta planes
  • The Great Dune of Pyla is located on the “La Teste de Buch” district (Gironde) and it is a national listed landscape
  • Since Europe has no deserts, you’d think the title of “Europe’s largest sand dune” would go to something that wasn’t particularly impressive. But you’d be wrong

Facts About Earth Day - strangefacts

  • Annually, April 22 is a day set aside to honor the Earth. But every day is Earth Day, and some of the things that will happen 365 times in a year are listed below
  • In 1969, Nelson, considered one of the leaders of the modern environmental movement, developed the idea for Earth Day after being inspired by the anti-Vietnam War "teach-ins" that were taking place on college campuses around the United States
  • According to Nelson, he envisioned a large-scale, grassroots environmental demonstration "to shake up the political establishment and force this issue onto the national agenda."
  • Nelson announced the Earth Day concept at a conference in Seattle in the fall of 1969 and invited the entire nation to get involved
  • A highlight of the United Nations' Earth Day celebration in New York City is the ringing of the Peace Bell, a gift from Japan, at the exact moment of the vernal equinox
  • Earth Day Networks estimates that 500 million people from 4,500 organizations in 180 countries will participate in Earth Day events during the month of April
  • Earth Day is big with schools. On many school calendars, it is the third most activity-inspiring holiday, after Christmas and Halloween
  • Companies have even gotten into Earth Day. Last year, office supply store Staples introduced office paper made entirely without new trees
  • As part of the celebration, some communities make Earth Day a "Car-Free Day"
  • Earth will travel 1.6 million miles in its annual journey around the Sun, the 4.6-billionth such round-trip. It will rotate about its axis exactly once

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Facts About Meteor Crater - strangefacts

  • Meteor Crater is a meteorite impact crater located approximately 43 miles (69 km) east of Flagstaff, near Winslow in the northern Arizona desert of the United States
  • Because the US Department of the Interior Division of Names commonly recognizes names of natural features derived from the nearest post office, the feature acquired the name of “Meteor Crater” from the nearby post office named Meteor
  • Middlesboro is the only city in the United States built within a meteor crater
  • The crater was created about 50,000 years ago during the Pleistocene epoch when the local climate on the Colorado Plateau was much cooler and damper
  • At the time, the area was an open grassland dotted with woodlands inhabited by woolly mammoths, giant ground sloths, and camels
  • It was probably not inhabited by humans; the earliest confirmed record of human habitation in the Americas dates from long after this impact
  • The object that excavated the crater was a nickel-iron meteorite about 50 meters (54 yards) across, which impacted the plain at a speed of several kilometers per second
  • Meteor Crater was originally thought to be a volcanic crater, since there were other volcanic craters, including the still-active Sunset Crater, in the region
  • However, in the 1890s, mineralogists discovered iron fragments in the crater. This led geologists to suggest that the crater was caused by a meteor crash
  • Daniel Barringer (1860-1929), a Philadelphia mining engineer who explored the site in 1903, was convinced the meteorite was buried beneath the crater. He purchased the land and, in 1906, began drilling

Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Facts About Mount Roraima - strangefacts

  • Mount Roraima (mountain, South America) giant flat-topped mountain, or mesa, in the Pakaraima Mountains of the Guiana Highlands , at the point where the boundaries of Brazil, Venezuela, and Guyana meet
  • About 9 miles (14 km) long and 9,094 feet (2,772 metres) high, it is the source of many rivers of Guyana, and of the Amazon and Orinoco
  • Mount Roraima is a pretty remarkable place. It is a tabletop mountain with sheer 400-metre high cliffs on all sides
  • There is only one ‘easy’ way up, on a natural staircase-like ramp on the Venezuelan side – to get up any other way takes and experienced rock climber
  • On the top of the mountain it rains almost every day, washing away most of the nutrients for plants to grow and creating a unique landscape on the bare sandstone surface
  • This also creates some of the highest waterfalls in the world over the sides (Angel falls is located on a similar tabletop mountain some 130 miles away)
  • Though there are only a few marshes on the mountain where vegetation can grow properly, these contain many species unique to the mountain, including a species of carnivorous pitcher plant
  • The mountain marks the border between Venezuela, Brazil and Guyana, although more than three quarters of the mountain is in Venezuelan territory 
  • It is the highest mountain in Guyana, but Venezuela and Brazil have higher mountains. The triple border point on the summit is at 5°12'08N, 60°44'07W
  • Roraima lies on the Guiana Shield in the southeastern corner of Venezuela's 30,000 km² Canaima National Park, which is roughly located in the Gran Sabana region 

Facts About Door To Hell - strangefacts

  • East of the Caspian Sea in the middle of Karakum desert somewhere in Central Asia hide a secret It is something so surreal and extraordinary in the same time you thing is not real at all
  • Here near a small town of Darvaza, Turkmenistan is located “The door to hell” how locals name the strange place
  • In fact it is a 50 – 100 meter crater who burn continues for 35 years without any pause
  • The Door to Hell, as local residents at the nearby town of Darvaza have dubbed it, is a 70 meter wide crater in Turkmenistan that has been burning continuously for 35 years
  • In 1971, geologists drilling for gas deposits uncovered a huge underground cavern, which caused the ground over it to collapse, taking down all their equipment and their camp with it
  • During a drilling they found an underground cavern filled with natural gas
  • In this moment the ground collapsed, leaving a large gaping hole exposed
  • To avoid poisonous gases coming out of the hole, it was decide to fire up and let the gas burn
  • Since the cavern was filled poisonous gas, they dared not go down to retrieve their equipment, and to prevent the gas escaping they ignited it, hoping it would burn itself out in a couple of days
  • From its burning mouth pours the stench of sulphur, fouling the local air and making anything with nasal cavities flee from the vicinity 

Saturday, April 16, 2011

Proposing Girl Funny Pics - strangefacts

  • Walk up behind girl and point fingers shaped like gun into her back
"You're under arrest!"
For what?
"For stealing my heart."
  •  Hi, my name is Chance, Do I have one?
  • Are your legs tired?
Girl: Why?
because you have been running through my mind all day!
  •  "I lost my phone number, can I borrow yours?"
  •  Can you give me directions to your heart? I've seemed to have lost myself in your eyes.
  • Take a look at the tag on the girls shirt, jacket, etc. She would say,"What are you doing"
you respond,"Oh, just checking to see if you were made in Heaven."
  • Pick up a flower and walk over to girl. "I was just showing this flower how beautiful you are."
  • Is it hot in here or is it just you?
  •  Hey Girls, walk up to a guy and say: "Are you from Greece?" "No" he answers.
Then you say, "Oh, I thought all the Gods were from Greece"
  •  GEEEEE.. I FEEL LIKE RICHARD GERE STANDING BESIDE YOU ........... PRETTY WOMEN

Facts About Charlie Chaplin - strangefacts

  • He was born four days before Adolf Hitler, in 1889
  • Charlie Chaplin was so popular during the 1920s and 1930s, he received over 73,00 letters in just 2 days during a visit to London
  • After adopting his trademark Little Tramp costume, consisting of baggy pants, bamboo cane, bowler hat, and over-sized shoes, Chaplin became a Hollywood icon
  • Charlie Chaplin once won third prize in a Charlie Chaplin look alike contest
  • He was the first actor to appear on Time magazine. Chaplin appeared on the July 6, 1925 issue of Time magazine, a U.S.-based news magazine. He was the first actor ever to appear on the magazine known for its influential cover photo
Screenshot From Movie "THE GREAT DICTATOR"
  • His understudy in England was Stan Laurel; they sailed to America together and shared a boarding house when they arrived
  • In 1925, he was the first actor to appear on the cover of Time magazine
  • At the height of his popularity, he failed to win a Charlie Chaplin look-a-like contest
  • His imprints were removed (and subsequently lost) from the Hollywood walk of fame because of his suspected communist views
  • Although Adolf Hitler despised Chaplin, he was aware of his popularity, and grew the Chaplin mustache to endear himself to the people

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Facts About Yuri Gagarin - strangefacts

  • Colonel Yuri A. Gagarin was born on a collective farm in a region west of Moscow, Russia on March 9, 1934
  • Soviet Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space and the first man to orbit the Earth making a 108-minute orbital flight in his Vostok 1 spacecraft 
  • His father was a carpenter. Yuri attended the local school for six years and continued his education at vocational and technical schools
  • Yuri Gagarin joined the Russian Air Force in 1955 and graduated with honors from the Soviet Air Force Academy in 1957
  • Soon afterward, he became a military fighter pilot. By 1959, he had been selected for cosmonaut training as part of the first group of USSR cosmonauts
  • Yuri Gagarin flew only one space mission
  • On April 12, 1961 he became the first human to orbit Earth. Gagarin's spacecraft, Vostok 1, circled Earth at a speed of 27,400 kilometers per hour
  • The flight lasted 108 minutes. At the highest point, Gagarin was about 327 kilometers above Earth
  • Once in orbit, Yuri Gagarin had no control over his spacecraft
  • Vostok's reentry was controlled by a computer program sending radio commands to the space capsule Although the controls were locked, a key had been placed in a sealed envelope in case an emergency situation made it necessary for Gagarin to take control. As was planned, Cosmonaut Gagarin ejected after reentry into Earth's atmosphere and landed by parachute

Friday, April 8, 2011

Facts About Human Brain - strangefacts

  • Human brain neurons system is so large that you start from earth and take a round of moon and back to starting position
  • Average human brain usage is  upto 2 % out of 100 % while Einstein uses his brain upto 15 %, thats  why he is so genius
  • The odds are 1 out of 7,143 (.014%) that you have a brain tumor
  • Nerve impulses to and from the brain travel as fast as 170 miles per hour
  • The average human brain has about 100 billion nerve cells
  • The average human loses 85,000 brain cells each day, while only 50 are regenerated each day
  • According to UCLA neuroscientists, only one brain cell is needed to spot a familiar face
  • After age 30, the brain begins to lose about 50,000 neurons per day - shrinking the brain .25% each year
  • The human central nervous system filters out 99% of what your senses register so the brain doesn't have to bother processing unimportant matters
  • More electrical impulses are generated in one day by a single human brain than in all the telephones in the world

Facts About Xenarthrans - strangefacts

  • Armadillos, sloths, and anteaters (Xenarthra) are notable for the unique joints in their backbone that provide them with the strength and support they need to dig and burrow
  • Armadillos, sloths, and anteaters have few or no teeth and a small brain
  • Xenarthra are an ancient group of placental mammals that once roamed across Gondwanaland before the continents of the southern hemisphere separated into their present-day configuration
  • When Gondwanaland divided, it split up to form South America, Africa, India, Arabia, New Zealand, and Australia, Xenarthra were initially isolated on the continent of South America but have since spread northward into areas of Central America and southern parts of North America
  • Though xenarthran populations were absent from Africa, Asia, and Australia, these regions contain unrelated species that evolved to resemble xenarthrans
  • Similar environmental conditions in these distant parts of the world resulted in species that, although unrelated, adapted in a similar manner and as a result resemble each other in some ways. This evolutionary dynamic is known as convergent evolution
  • Examples of species that display convergent evolution with the xenarthrans include the aardvark (Africa), the pangolin (Africa and SE Asia), and the spiny anteater (Australia)
  • These animals all have genetically different ancestors than the xenarthrans and consequently belong to different orders than the xenartrhans, yet they have evolved similar characteristics
  • Xenarthrans were classified in the past together with the pangolin , also scaly anteater or Tenggiling, is a mammal of the order Pholidota
  • There is only one extant family and one genus of pangolins, comprising eight species

Thursday, April 7, 2011

Facts About Butterflies - strangefacts

  • Having a wingspan of only ½", the smallest butterfly is in the world is found in South Africa. It is know as the Dwarf Blue Butterfly
  • Did you know that butterflies need the warmth of the sun to enable them to fly? Butterflies are cold-blooded and will not fly if the temperature is below 50 degrees
  • Fiction, you will not hurt a butterfly if you touch it, although you might rub off some of the color of its wings which are actually miniature scales
  • Butterfly wings are actually clear. Their colors and patterns are made by the reflection of the scales that cover them
  • In Pacific Grove, California, it is a misdemeanor to kill a butterfly
  • Caterpillars do NOT have bones, they have over 1,000 muscles in which they use to move from place to place and they can move at a very quick pace
  • If you find a caterpillar and place him in a designated place, before you know it , he will have crawled out of sight
  • Nicole Kidman has a morbid fear of butterflies
  • Butterflies taste with their feet
  • Butterflies can see color in the ultraviolet range, revealing patterns on flowers to them that humans can’t see

Wednesday, April 6, 2011

Facts About Ice Cream - strangefacts

  • Ben and Jerry's send the waste from making ice cream to local pig farmers to use as feed. Pigs loved every flavor except for Mint Oreo
  • Julia Roberts and Christie Brinkley once sold ice cream
  • Barack Obama worked in a Baskin-Robbins ice cream shop as a teenager and now can't stand ice cream
  • In 1984, Ronald Reagan declared the month of July to be "National Ice Cream Month."
  • One out of five people that eat ice cream binge on ice cream in the middle of the night. The person is usually between 18 - 24 years old
  • The last thing Elvis Presley ate before he died was four scoops of ice cream and 6 chocolate chip cookies
  • Donald F. Duncan, the man who made the yo-yo an American tradition, is also credited with popularizing the parking meter and introducing Good Humor "ice cream on a stick
  • Dolley Madison is credited with inventing ice cream
  • Nancy Johnson, the wife of a naval officer, is credited for inventing the ice cream freezer
  • Ice cream cones were first served in 1904 at the world’s fair in St. Louis, MO. US Patent # 3,477,070

Facts About Kissing - strangefacts

  • You burn 26 calories in a one-minute kiss
  • Longest underwater kiss - 2 minutes and 18 seconds in Tokyo, Japan, on April 2, 1980
  • Ancient Egyptians kissed with their noses instead of with their lips
  • The average amount of time spent kissing for a person in a lifetime is 20,160 minutes
  • The longest kiss on record lasted 30 hours and 45 minutes. Dror Orpaz and Carmit Tsubara recorded it on April 5, 1999 at a kissing contest held in Tel Aviv, Israel
  • It takes 20 different muscles to form a kiss
  • James Bond is also known as Mr. Kiss-Kiss-Bang-Bang
  • The first far eastern country to permit kissing in films was China. The first oriental screen kiss was bestowed on Miss Mamie Lee in the movie "Two Women in the House"
  • People are more likely to tilt their heads to the right when kissing instead of the left (65 percent of people go to the right!)
  • The record for most kisses in a movie is 127 in Don Juan

Thursday, March 24, 2011

Facts About Bats - strangefacts

  • More species of bats live in Texas than in any other part of the United States
  • Tens of thousands of bats live in the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico
  • The largest known colony of bats lives in Bracken Cave in Texas. Biologists estimate more than 20 million Mexican Free-Tail bats call this cave home
  • In China, bats are considered good fortune
  • Bats make up almost a fourth of all mammal species. Only the order of rodents has more
  • Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly. Other mammals may glide and give the appearance of flight, such as squirrels and lemurs, but only bats possess powered flight and can hover, flap and soar
  • The term "blind as a bat," is incorrect. Bats have perfectly acceptable eyesight, but the majority use echolocation while in flight, and hunting
  • Male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality of any mammal
  • Vampire bats use rivers to navigate
  • Bat wings are made of two thin layers of skin stretched over the bat's arm and fingers. Bats have a thumb and four fingers, just like people

Facts About Harry Houdini - strangefacts

  • Harry Houdini (1874-1926) The Great Houdini  is a name that will forever define the term "escape artist."
  • As the Budapest-born, American-bred performer would so often proclaim, "No prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom."
  • The real name of  Harry Houdini was Erich Weiss
  • There is no question that Houdini is the most famous magician in history. His name is synonymous with escapes; his ability to get out of seemingly impossible situations- and his knack for publicizing these events- made him a legend in his own time.
  • The Houdini myth is about to be examined, and truth really is stranger than fiction!
  • Houdini was born Erich Weiss on March 24, 1874. Though he claimed throughout his life that Appleton, Wisconsin was his birthplace
  • He was really born in Budapest, Hungary. He was four years old when his family moved to America
  • Houdini was small, standing a mere 5'5", with dark, wavy hair, dark gray eyes and a high-pitched voice
  • Houdini was poorly educated. He was, however, extremely athletic and highly motivated to succeed
  • According to an autobiographical pamphlet published by the magician in 1920, Houdini said that his favorite place was Hollywood, California and that his favorite song was Auld Lang Syne (the traditional New Year's Eve tune)

Monday, March 14, 2011

Facts About Meteorites - strangefacts

  • A meteorite is bits of the outer space that enter the earth surface surviving the impact. They are chunks and are no bigger than particles of dust and sand
  • When in the outer space they are known as meteoroids but once when they enter the earth surface they are called meteors
  • A meteor is a bright streak of light in the sky, popularly known as the shooting star or falling star, which is produced by the entry of a small meteoroid into the Earth's atmosphere
  • Meteoroids move very fast. Some enter the Earth's atmosphere at as much as 130,000 miles per hour
  • Meteorites contain the oldest known rocks in our solar system
  • They also contain 'pre-solar grains', which are minerals that formed around other stars probably billions of years before our solar system was born
  • Up to 4 billion meteoroids fall to Earth everyday
  • But most of them are too tiny to do any noticeable harm
  • In 2004, a 30-foot-wide meteoroid hit the atmosphere over Antarctica, leaving 2 million pounds of dust in its wake
  • That was enough to seed rain clouds and affect climate all the way on the other side of the planet

Friday, March 11, 2011

Facts About Tsunami - strangefacts

  • Tsunami is a Japanese word. "Tsu" translates to harbor and "nami" to wave. When a body of water is rapidly displaced, a series of waves are created
  • In the 1940s, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale gave rise to a tsunami
  • A "megatsunami" is caused by large landslides. The displaced water mass moves under the effect of gravity
  • If an earthquake takes place near a body of water, it means that a tsunami will follow in a short time
  • If the water along the shoreline recedes dramatically and exposes usually submerged areas it should be inferred that this is the trough of the tsunami and a crest will follow after a few seconds or minutes
  • Some large animals like elephants hear the noise of the tsunami and move in the opposite direction towards inland
  • Computer models can also foresee tsunami arrival and impact depending upon knowledge of the event that caused it and the shape of the oceanbed
  • Where tsunami is happening there is a loud roar similar to a train or aircraft
  • The maximum death toll due to tsunami has been 283,000 in 2004 in the Indian Ocean
  • These waves are usually 10 meters high. The rapid displacement of the body of water takes place due to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, underwater explosions, large meteorite impacts, mass movements above or under water,nuclear weapons testing in seas

Wednesday, March 9, 2011

Facts About Alligators - strangefacts

  • Lorne Green had one of his nipples bitten off by an alligator while host of Lorne Green's Wild Kingdom
  • There are only two countries on earth that have alligators: the United States and China
  • Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed that can exceed 30 miles per hour, though this could more properly be classified as a short fast lunge rather than a dash
  • Alligators are opportunistic feeders, eating almost anything they can catch
  • While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families, and are as distinct from one another as humans are from gorillas
  • One generally reliable rule to distinguish between alligators and crocodiles is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped
  • The East Alligator River in Australia's Northern Territory contains crocodiles, not alligators
  • In Arkansas, alligators may not be kept in bathtubs
  • Alligators in the wild are believed to live 35 - 50 years. In captivity their lifespan may be significantly longer, perhaps 60-80 years. Currently, there are no scientific methods of analyzing an alligators age while it is alive
  • The longest recorded length for an alligator is 19' 2'. This animal was trapped in the early 1900's in the State of Louisiana. Most wild alligators do not get above 13 feet in length, and may weigh 600 pounds or more

Facts About Crocodiles - strangefacts

  • One generally reliable rule to distinguish between alligators and crocodiles is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped
  • Steve Irwin's body was fed to crocodiles at his request
  • The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 BC
  • To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly
  • Research has shown that crocodiles really do shed tears during a meal
  • Crocodile and kangaroo tail, as well as the webbed toes of a hippopotamus are all on the menu at the Beijing zoo's restaurant
  • While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families, and are as distinct from one another as humans are from gorillas
  • The East Alligator River in Australia's Northern Territory contains crocodiles, not alligators
  • An adult crocodile can go two years without eating
  • The crocodiles have a four-chambered heart like in birds (their closest relatives) and mammals, for an active life. Still, when diving, the heart behaves like a three-chambered reptilian heart, enabling them to stay more underwater