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)
  

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

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
  

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

Facts About Komodo Dragon - strangefacts

• Unlike the other different types of lizards, Komodo dragons maintain a single mate throughout their lifetime

• Komodo can run at about 11 miles an hour

• It is the only lizard that hunts and kills prey larger than its body and bigger than what it can swallow whole

• To avoid being eaten by larger Komodo dragons, youngsters often roll in their own feces so that they give out a foul smell that the adult Komodos avoid

• Komodo dragons can live to be 50 years old

• The Komodo dragon is the world's heaviest lizard, weighing 150 pounds or more

• Although, babies can be born only through mating of a male and a female, there are instances when babies were born from a single Komodo without mating between individuals of different gender

• Though named as dragons, Komodo dragons are lizards. They are the heaviest lizards on Earth that can weigh upto 150 pounds and can grow as long as 3 meters

• These are natives of the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. Komodo dragon habitat is characteristically hot and dry. The environment in which they thrive is acknowledged to be one of the toughest in the world

• Komodo dragons have a large, flat head, a rounded snout and a long, muscular tail. They move on four strong but bowed legs
  

Facts About Chocolate - strangefacts

• First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt ate three chocolate-covered garlic balls every morning

• For people that are lactose intolerant, chocolate aids in helping milk digest easier

• In China, people eat a bar of chocolate for every 1,000 chocolate bars eaten by the BritishThe Dalai Lama has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies

• Approximately 71% of American chocolate eaters prefer to eat milk chocolate

• Eating chocolate three times a month helps people live longer as opposed to people who overeat chocolate or do not eat chocolate at all

• In October 1973, Swedish sweet maker Roland Ohisson of Falkenberg was buried in a coffin made of nothing but chocolate

• Adolf Hitler loved chocolate cake very much

• In the 1960 movie "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock, chocolate syrup was used to show the blood in the shower scene

• Singer Chaka Khan came out with a line of chocolates called "Chakalates."

• The last thing Elvis Presley ate before he died was four scoops of ice cream and 6 chocolate chip cookies