Horses cannot breathe through their mouth. If their nostrils become obstructed, they could suffocate
The popular game Bingo was originally called “Beano” because players used beans to cover the numbered squares - Beano is now the name of an indigestion product for people looking to prevent flatulence
The Latin phrase “libra pondo” was used in ancient Rome to indicate weight, which is why today the abbreviation for “pound” is “lb”
The ancient Egyptians invented several forms of early deodorant, including cones made out of scented grease that were worn on top of the head. As the grease melted, it ran in cooling, fragrant trails down the person’s face and body
Technically speaking, the world’s largest desert is not the Sahara; it is the continent of
When you crack a whip, the tip is moving faster than the speed of sound. That is why it “cracks”, instead of making a “wooosh” sound
The phrase “goody two shoes” comes from a fable written in 1766 by Oliver Goldsmith, about a poor little girl who could only afford one shoe
Hens don’t actually “sit” on their eggs, they squat over them, supporting their weight on their feet and on the edges of their nest
In early 1900s America, “jay” was a slang term used to describe a naïve or foolish person - so, when such a pedestrian decided to ignore traffic signals and street signs, he was referred to as a “jaywalker”
Since 1950, Georgia has flown four different state flags - The design was changed in 1956, in 2001, and again in 2003
A large percentage of the budget for Monty Python and the Holy Grail was donated by members of Led Zeppelin and Pink Floyd
The Italian ocean liner PRINCIPESSA JOLANDA holds the unique record of being launched and sunk on the same day, September 22, 1907 near Spezia in the Gulf of Genoa. As the top-heavy and improperly ballasted ship reached the end of launch in the Riva Trigoso Shipyard, she rolled over and sank. The ship was scrapped on the spot, never having carried a single passenger (Pictured below is a photo taken of the ship as it sank)
Bill Clinton reportedly only ever sent two emails as president, one of which was a test message to see if he was doing it correctly
The area where Washington, D.C., now stands was originally a mosquito-infested swamp. It took years to drain and clear the land before the U.S. government's capitol was moved to the city in 1800
You can visit half of the world’s 10 largest lakes by visiting a single country: Canada. The five lakes are Great Bear, Great Slave, Erie, Huron, and Superior
Prior to the 1800s, people tried to clean their teeth using eggshells and abrasives. Not until 1824 did an American dentist named Peabody come up with the idea to add soap to tooth powder, thus giving it a cleansing agent
There are over 40 ships buried underneath the city blocks of the financial district of San Francisco. The abandoned gold rush ships and the wharves were buried when landfill was used to fill in Yerba Buena cove and create more land for the residents of San Fransisco
Whether you call it “pop” or “soda,” the first diet version commercially available was No-Cal, a sugar-free ginger ale introduced in 1952 by the Kirsch Beverage Company
Although better known for its food items, Sara
Rogaine, which treats hair loss in men, and Viagra, a treatment for erectile dysfunction, were discovered by testing potential blood pressure medicines
Sweaters were originally knitted from unwashed wool, because the natural oils made the garment more waterproof
Chinese judges in the 15th century used darkened lenses (early versions of sunglasses) to hide their facial expressions in court
In South Africa prior to 1985, it was illegal for Europeans and non-Europeans to marry one another
Humans blink their eyes around five million times each year
Charles Lindbergh was named Time magazine’s first “Man of the Year” in 1927. But what turned into an annual
The aorta of a blue whale is large enough for a human to crawl through
The word “lucky” was rarely used in I Love Lucy scripts. That’s because the show’s sponsor, Philip Morris, was in competition with Lucky Strike cigarettes at the time
NEWS FEED:
In May, Britain's Norfolk District Council banned the traditional barroom game of "dwile flonking" just as the inaugural "world championships" were to take place at the Dog Inn pub in Ludham, Great Yarmouth. The game, which some believe has been played since "medieval times," calls on players to fling a beer-soaked rag from the end of a small stick toward the face of an opponent, and in the event the tosser misses the target two straight times, he must quickly down a half-pint of ale. The Council called the game a "health and safety" problem
In May, in a news reverberation heard around the Arab world from the city of Al-Mubarraz, Saudi Arabia, as a "policeman" from the notorious Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice approached a young couple in public to demand the woman's ID, the woman beat up the cop. Charges are pending against her, but women's rights activists across the Muslim world are reporting the incident as a watershed moment, according to the Media Line (Middle East) news agency
Wild elephants recently (2010) rampaged through parts of Bangladesh, and according to the head of the country's Wildlife Trust, those super-intelligent animals "are quick to learn human strategies." For example, he pointed to reports that elephants (protecting their migration corridors) routinely swipe torches from hunters and hurl them not randomly but directly at the hunters' homes
Police in Houston, Tex., said the man killed when he drove his 18-wheeler into a freeway pillar on July 6th was part of a two-man scheme to defraud an auto insurance company. Police said it was the other man who was originally scheduled to drive but that, citing the "danger," he (wisely) backed out
