BOXES

Every square inch of the human body has an average of 32 million bacteria on it

Humans shed about 600,000 particles of skin every hour - about 1.5 pounds a year. By 70 years of age, an average person will have lost 105 pounds of skin

If the average man never trimmed his beard, it would grow to nearly 30 feet long in his lifetime

It takes a lobster approximately 7 years to grow to be one pound

The average adult male ostrich, the world's largest living bird, weighs up to 345 pounds - In some countries, people race ostriches, particularly popular in parts of Africa

The average American spends 120 hours a month watching television, the equivalent of five complete days in front of the TV

The average elephant produces 50 pounds of dung each day

The average healthy porpoise lives 30 years

The average human head weighs about eight pounds

Thomas Edison holds the record for the most patents issued for an individual inventor in the US with 1,093

Green turtles may breed for the first time when they are between 25 to 50 years old. This figure varies, depending upon the creature's range and the diet of the maturing turtle  (Pictured below a pair of green turtles mate underwater, ages unknown)

Among American children under 18, Facebook was ranked third in the top 100 searches of 2009, behind YouTube and Google. Sex and porn rounded out the top five searches


The ice cream cone was invented in the summer of 1904 by Charles Menches. It made its debut one year later at the St. Louis World Fair

Approximately 60% of the water used by households in the United States and Canada during the summer is used for watering flowers and lawns - some municipalities and townships put restrictions on water use during periods of drought to conserve water

Solstice derives from a combination of Latin words meaning "sun" and "to stand still" - two solstices occur each year:  The Winter Solstice is on December 21, and the Summer Solstice is on June 21

Midsummer was thought to be a time of magic, when evil spirits were said to appear. To thwart them, Pagans often wore protective garlands of herbs and flowers. One of the most powerful of them was a plant called 'chase-devil', which is known today as St. John's Wort and still used by modern herbalists as a mood stabilizer that alleviates depression and anxiety

When Kellogg's Raisin Bran first came out in 1942, they had a bunch of grapes instead of raisins next to the name of the cereal on the cereal box. In 1966, Sunny the happy smiling sun came out and that is when the grapes turned into raisins

Going barefoot has often demonstrated humility and piety in the presence of God. Hindu documents warn worshippers to remove their footwear before entering a shrine. Muslim tradition demands that shoes be removed before entering a place of worship

The idea of Boxing Day (Dec. 26) was to give boxes of food and clothing to the poor. In most countries it's now viewed as an opportunity to take advantage of reduced prices to get merchandise for oneself 

Worldwide, 7 out of 10 people believe in life after death

The risk of being struck by a falling meteorite for a human is one occurrence every 9,300 years 

In the Durango desert, in Mexico, a spot called the "Zone of Silence" exists where you can't pick up clear TV, cell phone, or radio signals - locals say fireballs sometimes appear in the sky  (Pictured below is a streak from a meteor shower, which some scientists say is what the locals are actually seeing)

NEWS FEED:
Tihomir Petrov, 43, a mathematics professor at California State University Northridge, was charged in January
with misdemeanors for allegedly urinating twice on the office door of a colleague with whom he had been feuding. (Petrov was identified by a hidden camera installed after the original puddles turned up.) Petrov is the author of several scholarly papers, with titles such as "Rationality of Moduli of Elliptic Fibrations With Fixed Monodromy"

Gangs in Durban, South Africa, have recently begun stealing expensive anti-retroviral (ARV) drugs destined for AIDS patients and using them in the country's most popular street drug "whoonga," a highly addictive, smoked cocktail of detergent, rat poison, marijuana, and the ARVs. The crisis was reported by KwaZulu- Natal province drug-abuse organizations and Durban police, who stood by their claims despite attempts by South African president Jacob Zuma to assure international suppliers of ARVs that more were needed and that none were being diverted for whoonga

Prison inmates in the United States finagled $39 million in undeserved federal tax refunds in 2009, according to a February 2010 report by the U.S. Treasury Department's inspector general for tax administration.  In Key West, Florida, for example, where prisoner Danilo Suarez was sentenced in January to five years in prison for filing multiple fraudulent returns, jailers discovered a pass-around sheet of instructions for false filings. While some refunds were legitimate (e.g., on pre-incarceration investment activity), IRS was found to conduct fraud screenings on fewer than half of all returns filed by prisoners. (IRS complained that, until 2008, it was illegal for the agency to share information with state corrections officials- or even with the federal Bureau of Prisons)

State law in Tennessee prohibits registered sex offenders from re-contacting their victims, but there is no such restriction on anyone convicted of a sex crime before 2007, and still in prison, but who is not yet on the registered list. (Post-2007 sex criminals are automatically registered upon conviction.) Consequently, according to a February WMC-TV report, convicted molester Terry McConnell cannot be prevented from mailing birthday cards to one of his two pre-2007 victims (one reading, "I cannot believe my little tot-tot is already a teenager. You might be tired of me writing this, but I can't get over how fast you are growing up"). (Prison officials say their limited resources are better used on monitoring incoming mail rather than outgoing)
   

PHANTOMS

The female king crab incubates as many as 400,000 young for 11 months in a brood pouch under her abdomen.  It is necessary for the king crab to produce so many offspring since most will not survive to adulthood

The custom of serving a slice of lemon with fish dates back to the Middle Ages, but it was not for adding flavor or zest - It was believed that if a person accidentally swallowed a fish bone, the lemon juice would dissolve it

Grunt, slump, pandowdy, and cobbler are all deserts made with stewed fruit or fresh fruit, topped with dumplings or biscuits

The Salto Alto (Angel Falls) in Venezuela is the highest waterfall known. It is more than twenty times higher than Niagara 

A collector who attempts to collect an example of every item in a particular field is called a completist

A dragonfly flaps its wings 20 to 40 times a second, bees and houseflies 200 times, some mosquitoes 600 times, and a gnat 1,000 times

A grasshopper can leap over obstacles 500 times its own height. In relation to its size, it has the greatest jumping ability of all animals

Haggis, a traditional Scottish dish, is made from the lungs, heart, and liver of a sheep, chopped with onions, seasonings, suet, and oatmeal, and then broiled in a bag made from the sheep's stomach

In English folklore, Queen Mab was a fairy queen who governed people's dreams

Charlemagne, the Frankish Emperor, never learned to write; even though he practiced on tablets, he admitted he couldn't master the skill. He learned to read, however

Selenologists study the moon, as geologists study earth

The modern Christmas custom of displaying a wreath on the front door of one's house, is borrowed from ancient Rome's New Year's celebrations. Romans wished each other "good health" by exchanging branches of evergreens. They called these gifts strenae after Strenia, the goddess of health. It became the custom to bend these branches into a ring and display them on doorways  

1 in 50 humans have an extra rib

A video of the famous Asch Experiment, which exposed how humans often react to social/peer pressure, even as adults:

The "phantom ring" is a phenomenon where people believe their cell phone is ringing when in fact it is not.
This is also cleverly referred to as ‘ringxiety’ and ‘fauxcellarm’.  The explanations for why this happens are not exactly concrete, but this auditory illusion usually occurs in the midst of other noise – such as while taking a shower, watching TV or using a blow-dryer.   Often the tones of these noises are similar to those of mobile ringtones (usually between 1000 and 6000 hertz) and our brain gets fooled into thinking it is hearing your phone.  Some researchers have noted that in an ever-increasing "need" for connectivity, this phantom ring phenomenon may be a new expression of anxiety

Walt Disney World is home to the largest working wardrobe in the world with over 2.5 million costumes in its inventory

A tuna can swim 100 miles in a single day  

The horned lizard of the American southwest may squirt a thin stream of blood from the corners of its eyes when frightened

Americans consume about 138 billion cups of coffee a year

The adjective "saxicolous" refers to something living or growing on or among rocks

In 1889, the first coin-operated telephone, patented by Hartford, Connecticut inventor William Gray, was installed in the Hartford Bank. Soon, "pay phones" were installed in stores, hotels, saloons, and restaurants, and their use soared. Local calls using a coin-operated phone in the U.S. cost only 5 cents everywhere until 1951

In July of 1801, a 1,235 pound cheese ball was pressed at the farm of Elisha Brown, Jr. The huge ball of cheese was later loaded on a horse-driven wagon and presented to President Thomas Jefferson at the White House 

The term “Sword and Sandal Epic” is a film industry colloquialism for an epic film with biblical or fantasy elements. The term was named for the weapons and costumes that the characters typically wear
      
Ireland boasts the highest per capita consumption of cereal in the world – 15 pounds per person annually

A human can see a candle flame from 50 kilometers on a clear, dark night

In medieval China, it was not unusual for a mother to breast-feed a child until the child was seven years old  (This same standard practice occurred in other parts of the world at various times as well)

Plants in the mint family have been used for centuries by people as anti-spasmodics. Current studies suggest that ingesting peppermint oil (available in capsule form) helps relieve internal gas and bloating   

Popcorn was banned at most movie theaters in the United States in the 1920s because it was considered too noisy 

Girl Guides or Girl Scouts is a parallel movement to Scouting. It evolved from the Scouting movement in the early years of the 20th century. Girls were attracted to Scouting from its inception in 1907. In different places around the world, the movement developed in diverse ways. In some places, girls attempted to join Scouting organizations and it was decided that single-gender organizations were a better solution. In other places, girls groups were started, some of them later to open up to boys or merge with boys' organisations. In other instances, mixed groups were formed, sometimes to later split. In the same way, the name Girl Guide or Girl Scout has been used by groups at different times and in different places, with some groups changing from one to another. In the past, boys had to join the Boy Scouts or Cub Scouts but in recent years Guides has been open for both boys and girls to join in some countries

A Girl Guide troop poses with their leader in 1918 in England

According to some acupuncturists and homeopaths, there is a point on the head that you can press to control your appetite. It is located in the hollow just in front of the flap of the ear

Words that contain the same root, such as the words "wise" and "wisdom," are said to be paronymous

A woodchuck breathes only ten times per hour while hibernating, while an active woodchuck breathes 2,100 times an hour

Hollywood Memorial Park is the only cemetery which provides visitors maps to the stars' graves. Here visitors can view the graves of early Hollywood greets. The epitaph on the headstone of Mel Blanc, “The Man of 1,000 Voices,” including Bugs Bunny and Porky Pig, reads: “That’s all, folks," the famous catch-phrase that was a staple of the ending of Looney Tunes episodes, stated by Porky Pig

NEWS FEED:
The New York Yankees' Derek Jeter achieved his milestone 3,000th major league hit in July 2011, and Steiner Sports Marketing of New Rochelle, New York was ready (in partnership with the Yankees and Major League Baseball). Dozens of items from the game were offered to collectors, including the bases ($7,500 each), 30 balls used during the game ($2,000 each, unsigned), and even Jeter's sweaty socks ($1,000). Steiner had also collected five gallons of dirt (under supervision, to assure authenticity), and uberfans can buy half-ounce containers of clay walked upon by Jeter during the game (from the shortstop area and the right-hand batter's box)--for a not- dirt-cheap $250 each

Military veteran Joshua Price, 26, was arrested in March after police in a Chicago suburb found child pornography and 1,700 photos of dismembered women on his computer, but at a court hearing in May 2011, Price explained that his photographs were a necessary escape from war-related trauma. In fact, Price told prosecutors that were it not for the distracting photos, his stress disorder would surely have caused him to kill his wife and two daughters. (Prosecutors accepted that Price's crime was a "cry for help," but the judge, less impressed, quadrupled Price's bail, to $1 million) 

LITTLE PINK FAIRIES

The Pink Fairy Armadillo (Chlamyphorus truncatus) or Pichiciego is the smallest species of armadillo (mammals of the family Dasypodidae, mostly known for having a bony armor shell). It is found in central Argentina where it inhabits dry grasslands and sandy plains with thorn bushes and cacti.  A full-grown adult may only grow to 5 inches in length, compared to an Armadillo found in North America that may grow to be six-times as big

A Pink Fairy Armadillo in a nest.  It's pinkish-color hard exterior shell covers a furry and soft underbelly

Dolphins swim in circles while they sleep with one eye on the outside of the circle open to keep watch for predators. After a certain amount of time, they reverse and swim in the opposite direction with the opposite eye open- They really are asleep, but what is happening is that one side of the brain sleeps while the other remains alert

The word "yardstick" is derived in part from the Old English word "gird" for the word "yard," which translates to "stick." As a result of this melding, we're literally calling the measuring device a "stick-stick"

Tap, fibrous, fleshy, and tuberous are types of plant roots

The red, yellow, and dark blue Renaissance uniform worn by the Swiss Guard at the Vatican was designed by Michaelangelo. It is one of several costumes worn by the Gendarmeria Pontificia (the Vatican Police Guard)

The hummingbird's tiny brain, 4.2% of its body weight, is proportionately the largest in the bird kingdom

The swimming pool at the Biltmore Hotel in Coral Gables, Florida is the largest in the continental U.S. It covers a half acre and holds 600,000 gallons of water.  It was designed by Schultze and Weaver and was built in 1926 by John McEntee Bowman and George Merrick as part of the Biltmore hotel chain.  It served as a hospital during World War II and as a VA Hospital and campus of the University of Miami medical school until 1968. It became a hotel again in 1987 managed by the Seaway Hotels Corporation.  There are some reports that claim this hotel to be haunted, most often by the spirit of Thomas Walsh...

When completed, it was the tallest building in Florida, surpassing the Freedom Tower in Downtown Miami. It was surpassed in 1928 by the Dade County Courthouse, also in Downtown Miami.  At one time the pool was the largest pool in the world and among the many attractions was swimming instructor (and later Tarzan actor) Johnny Weissmuller.  Currently, the acclaimed GableStage Theater operates out of the Biltmore Hotel

William Caxton, an English printer, established the first printing press in English in 1476

Candy made from pieces of barrel cactus was outlawed in the U.S. in 1952 to protect the species

Cut-outs of a moon and a star were used in colonial times on outhouse doors to designate the gender of the intended user. Originally, the moon cut-out was for women and the star was for the men. But men's outhouses were usually such a mess that men preferred using the women's outhouses. So, eventually the use of stars were phased out and in some cases a moon and a star appear together on a single outhouse

Figs have the highest dietary fiber content of any common fruit, nut, or vegetable

Because of fears that the Japanese, who had attacked Pearl Harbor less than a month earlier, might attach California, the Rose Bowl game of 1942 between Oregon State and Duke University was moved east to Duke's hometown in Durham, North Carolina. It didn't, however, help the home team. Oregon won, 20-16    

The first U.S. census to be tallied by computer was in 1950. This was also the first year that Americans abroad were counted in the census. UNIVAC did the tallying.  UNIVAC (Universal Automatic Computer) was so large that it took up the space of an entire office room - It weighed 16,000 pounds and used 5,000 vacuum tubes

Hugnes was archbishop of Reims in the tenth century when he was five years old

Toffee is made by boiling together brown sugar, butter, and vinegar

A pea jacket is actually a "jacket jacket." The "pea" part of its name is from the Dutch word pij, which is a sailor's garment

In ancient Rome, flamingo tongues were considered a great delicacy. Their existence was threatened by hunters. The Romans made a law making it illegal to hunt flamingos but, it failed

New York City's Empire State Building's world famous tower lights are turned off every night at midnight with the exception of New Year's Eve, New Year's Day, Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, and St. Patrick's Day, when they are illuminated until 3 a.m.  

The Empire State Building lit up on a Christmas night

From one cord of wood, 7.5 million toothpicks can be produced

Of the 15,000-odd known species of orchids in the world, 3,000 of them can be found in Brazil

A pelican consumes about 33 percent of its body weight in a single meal

Starch is used as a binder in the production of paper. It is the use of a starch coating that controls ink penetration when printing.  Newspapers, due to mass distribution, often don't use paper that has a high level of starch because it is cheaper to use paper with a lower level, but that means that the ink will often smudge onto your fingers after holding a page.  Your body heat mixes with the limited amount of starch, and in some cases you may be able to get a near-mirror image of the page onto your skin

 

It is against the law to yell out "Snake!" within the city limits of Flowery Branch, Georgia

The National Roller Skating Museum is located in Lincoln, Nebraska, and is the only roller skating museum in the world, possibly because roller skating did not become as big a phenomenon in other countries as it did in the United States.  However, the world's oldest roller skates, known as "road rollers" most popular in the 1920s with British businessmen, are on display in a British museum not entirely dedicated to the sport or history of roller skates.  The first pair of roller skates were invented by Joseph Merlin of Huy, Belgium, in 1759. Merlin introduced the invention by skating into a ballroom playing a violin

An American Animal Hospital Association survey revealed that 62 percent of dog owners sign letters or cards from themselves and their dogs

One-fourth of the 206 bones in the adult human body are located in the feet

One peculiar behavior of dachshunds is that they often roll around in odiferous things when they encounter them. This odd habit has been attributed to the dog's hunting instinct. Doing this is the dachshund's attempt to "lose its scent" so that its potential prey cannot smell it

In film industry slang, a "hot set" is a set that is ready for use and is not to be disturbed

Mahi-mahi can be found off the coasts of the Hawaiian Islands, as well as in the off the coast of Florida.  In other languages it is known as lampuga, lampuka, rankingo, calitos, maverikos, and dorado.  A fully grown Mahi-mahi weighs about 50 pounds - their size and the color (and their taste) make them a popular fish for commercial and sports fishers.  Mahi-mahi means "very strong" in Hawaiian 

The Cozy Coupe is the best-selling car in American history and is on display in the Smithsonian. Manufactured and distributed by Little Tikes, an American manufacturer of children's toys based in Hudson, Ohio, the toy reached 6 million units in sales by its 25th anniversary in 2004.

The car's design, described as "a cross between a Volkswagen Beetle and Fred Flintstone's vehicle", was created by Jim Mariol who had worked as a designer at Chrysler starting in 1952.   First sold in 1979 as one of the first molded-plastic toy cars sold in the United States, it was called the "world's best-selling car for much of this decade" by The New York Times in 1998, outselling the Honda Accord and Ford Taurus. As of 1991, the Cozy Coupe was selling 500,000 units per year, making it the top-selling model in the United States, outselling the 399,000 Accords and 299,000 Taurus vehicles sold that year

LOX, in space lingo is liquid oxygen, a component of rocket fuel

The Swedes drink more coffee than any other people in the world  

THIS IS NOT HERE

Todd Whitehurst may be the "father" of from 42 to 60 children, based on statistical probability that recognizes his virtuosity as a sperm donor, according to a June New York Post profile (though one website, Donor Sibling Registry, claims to have documented 129 children sired by an unnamed seed demon, who is one of 92 highly productive men with 10 or more). Whitehurst, who like the others, was selected based on his sperm's profile and speed, donated weekly for about three years in the late 1980s (for $50 a session), and has been contacted so far by nine teenagers who sent him their photos after piecing together evidence identifying him (despite sperm banks' promises of confidentiality). Whitehurst, acknowledging the resemblances to his "offspring," seems to find the relationships fulfilling, however limited they are. Said he, "I love Father's Day" 

Todd Whitehurst continues to be contacted by teens and young adults who are seeking to find their biological father

The United Kingdom was the first nation to issue adhesive postage stamps; as a result, today British postage stamps are the only ones in the world that do not indicate their country of origin

The word “tycoon” is based on “taikun,” a title used by Japanese Shoguns - It is unknown who started using the term to describe a multi-millionaire

Theological philosopher Saint Augustine of Hippo is so important to the Catholic faith that even his mom was canonized. Today, she’s known as Saint Monica. Augustine’s dad, on the other hand, is not a saint. He’s primarily remembered for cheating on St. Monica

New York Tribune founder Horace Greeley is best known for saying, “Go West, young man.” Problem is, he didn’t say it. The quote actually came from Indiana newspaper editor John B.L. Soule. In fact, Greeley’s own comments regarding the West were less than encouraging. In 1859, while traveling across Utah, he wrote, “The desolation seems irredeemable.” Twelve years later, he proclaimed, “This Daniel Boone business is about played out”

Greeley (February 3, 1811 – November 29, 1872) was an outspoken advocate for the end of slavery in the U.S. as well as a founder of the Liberal Republican Party.  He was widely considered the greatest newspaper editor of his day. 

Not only are all automobile taillights in the U.S. red, they’re a specific shade of red (with a specific color wavelength and intensity) mandated by the federal government

The Jolly Corks was a social club formed in New York in 1867. They’re still around, but today they’re now known as the Benevolent Protective Order of the Elks

Despite their appearance and fierce name, dragonflies cannot sting and are harmless to human beings

Max Factor, Hollywood’s celebrated make-up artist, was also known for his elaborate, hand-made, human-hair wigs. His rugs were commonly used in old Western flicks, but they came at a price: they could only be rented if the producers agreed to cast Factor’s sons as extras

Leatherback sea turtles have fleshy backward-pointing spines in their throats so that jellyfish, their favorite food, can be swallowed more easily

The Leatherback is the largest of all sea turtles 

The consistency of your ear wax is genetic

In 1943 Philip Morris ran an ad acknowledging “smokers’ cough.” They claimed it was caused by smoking brands other than Philip Morris

This Phillip Morris print ad, circa 1950, notes that "Gentleness means so much"

Hawaii is the only U.S. state that grows coffee

Parcheesi originated as a life-size game - the ruler of India played it in his garden, using pretty young women as the pawns.  The “home” they moved toward was the center of the garden, where the emperor sat

West Virginia is no longer the coal-mining capital; nine of the ten top-producing coal mines in the U.S. are located in Wyoming

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

The world’s largest exporter of beef is Australia

In 1667, the Dutch purchased Manhattan for the extremely low price of $24, then traded it to England for the South American country of Suriname - This is oft-cited as one of the worst land deals in world history

While it’s up to individual states to determine their color, most school buses have been painted National School Bus Chrome Yellow since a 1939 national conference recommended it as the shade of choice - Early research had determined that yellow, particularly chrome yellow, is the color most visible to the human eye

You probably know (or are) a couch potato, but may not know that the term is the legal property of Robert Armstrong, who trademarked it in 1976

The U.S. Marine Corps is actually older than the United States itself, having been founded in 1775

As late as the 1800s, some American women received thimbles as symbols of their engagements

Montana is the only U.S. state that borders three different Canadian provinces (Alberta, British Columbia & Saskatchewan)

Medieval Japanese samurai burned incense in their helmets, so if they were decapitated in battle, their head would smell sweet

Sulfuric Acid is the most produced chemical in the United States - it can be processed to be used in car batteries and other vehicles, fertilizer, oil refining, ore processing, manufacturing detergents, waste water processing, and other uses

Cheddar cheese that has been ripened for six months is considered “mild.” Seven months to a year of ripening makes “sharp” cheddar, and two years worth of aging yields an “extra sharp” product

An estimated 15% to 20% of people who receive gift cards never redeem them, and the companies that sell the gift vouchers are well-aware of this figure and tabulate it into their profit projections, especially during Christmas sales season

Turtles often bury their eggs in alligator nests. The mother alligator guards her nest so well it ensures the safety of the turtles as well

A Florida Red-bellied turtle shares space with an alligator, hoping to lay her eggs and have the gator guard them until they hatch a couple months later

NEWS FEED:
New York scent artist Christopher Brosius had made his name with fragrances recalling childhood (such as Clean Baby Butt, Green Bean, and Baseball Glove) but felt it was time, according to an April report in New York magazine, to approach the next frontier- to make a perfume so exclusive that no one could smell it.  By Brosius's reasoning, the scent's chemicals would provoke whatever reactions scents provoke in those exposed to it, but the actual scent would be undetectable to the nose; hence, no one would know why they were reacting as they were. By trial and error, he combined jasmine, sandalwood, and natural amber, and scaled them down in power, yielding what he calls Where We Are There Is No Here . Said Brosius, "The question, 'What perfume are you wearing?' should never arise"

Bank of America (BA) had the tables turned on it in June after the company wrongfully harassed an alleged mortgage scofflaw in Naples, Fla. BA had attempted to foreclose on homeowners Warren and Maureen Nyerges last year even though the couple had bought their house with cash- paid directly to BA. It took BA a year and a half to understand its mistake--that is, until the Nyergeses sued and won a judgment for expenses of $2,534, which BA promptly ignored. The Nyerges' attorney obtained a seizure order, and two sheriff's deputies, with a moving truck, arrived at the local BA branch on June 3rd to load $2,534 worth of furniture and computer equipment from the Bank's offices. After about an hour on the phone with higher-ups, the local
BA manager issued a check for $2,534 

Police in Doncaster, England, were on the lookout in June for an organized group of four female and two male shoplifters who hit a liquor store on Bentley Road in May but left an interesting crime-scene story on the surveillance video. While five of the crew distracted employees, one woman, wearing pants, walked to the back but emerged minutes later wearing a large wraparound skirt and waddling slowly toward the front door. After the unsuspecting employees bid farewell to the six, they discovered that the office safe was missing and concluded that the waddling woman was holding it between her legs

IT COULD BE YOU

In 1918, Welch's developed its first jam product called "Grapelade." The initial quantity of Grapelade was purchased in its entirety by the U.S. Army. It was an immediate hit in the military lower ranks, and became a demanded product by doughboys when they returned to civilian life

If Earth was the size of an apple, the atmospheric layer would be no thicker than the skin of the apple

On January 15, 2009 US Airways Flight 1549 made an emergency landing on New York's Hudson River.  All passengers and crew survived uninjured, and by that evening the event had been dubbed "Miracle on the Hudson" - So many New Yorkers played the numbers 1549 the next day in the lottery's "Win Four" that the organization took that number out of play fearing that if it did hit, the New York State Lottery Association would lose millions of dollars in payouts - The winning "Win Four" number on January 16, 2009:  1548

It took 214 crates to transport the Statue of Liberty from France to New York in 1885

Coyotes are extremely loyal to their mates. If one is caught in a trap, the other will bring small game for it to eat; it will soak itself in a river to allow its thirsty mate to chew on its damp fur for water. It has been documented that the free coyote will stay with its captive partner until death

December 1972 U.S. astronaut Eugene Cernan becomes the last person to set foot on the moon

Centipedes, or members of the class Chilopoda, always have an uneven number of pairs of walking legs, varying from 15 to more than 171 pairs. Common house centipedes (Scutigera coleoptrato) have 15 pairs of legs

Lottery officials across the United States sometimes refer to an unclaimed jackpot as a "Clarence Jackson."  In 1996, Mr. Jackson bought the winning ticket for a $5.8 million Connecticut lottery jackpot, but did not know he had won.  A year later he found the ticket, called the phone number on the back, and found out he won - and that he was just three days too late to claim the prize since the tickets expire exactly one year after they are purchased in every state in the US.  Jackson sued the state and lost, and has since filed appeals- and lost

Approximately 66 million cats and 58 million dogs are kept as pets in the US, with parakeets "flying" a distant third at 14 million

The core of a upward lightning stroke is only a few inches across but can carry a current of 100,000 amperes, enough to run nearly 8,000 electric toasters at the same time

The word "four" has four letters. In the English language there is no other number whose number of letters is equal to its value

Roughly 25% of all prescription medicines in the United States are derived from plants, including alkaloids from the rosy periwinkle of Madagascar. This plant has been successful in arresting childhood leukemia and Hodgkin's disease  

The Rufous is the only species of hummingbird to nest in Alaska. They migrate 2,000 miles to Mexico each winter, and then back to Alaska in the spring  

ON AVERAGE...

Average length of a coat hanger when straightened: 44 inches

Average number of eggs laid by the female American Oyster per year: 500 million. Usually only one oyster out of the bunch reaches maturity

Average number of hummingbirds required to create the weight of 1 ounce: 18

Average number of squirts from a cow's udder needed to yield a gallon of milk : 345

Cats average 16 hours of sleep a day, more than any other mammal

During pregnancy, the average woman's uterus expands up to five hundred times its normal size
  

FOR THE LADIES

California is the fourth-largest wine producer in the world, after France, Italy, and Spain

The Pygmy Marmoset is the world's smallest monkey. It measures 117-159 millimeters (4.5 - 6 inches) in length and weighs 85 to 140 grams (3 -5 ounces)

The first hospital for venereal disease was the London Lock Hospital in 1746 - most patients were female, and admission was most often involuntary but a punishment (or place to relocate) prostitutes that were considered to be "causing trouble"

Mexico is second only to Brazil in the number of Catholic citizens

Archaeologists found grape pips (seeds), usually considered evidence of winemaking, dating from 8000 B.C. in Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, and Jordan. The oldest pips of cultivated vines were found in (then Soviet) Georgia from 7000-5000 B.C.

Volcanoes form through subduction (when two tectonic plates smash against each other), mid-oceanic rift (when two plates drift apart), or in a hot spot (a weak spot in one of Earth’s plates)

The Code of Hammurabi (1800 B.C.) includes a law that punishes fraudulent wine sellers: They were to be drowned in a river  (Pictured below is the code, which includes 282 laws with scaled punishments depending on social status such as free male versus slave, and male versus female)

Prior to its ban, hemp (marijuana) was a staple cash crop of the family farm in early America. The first two drafts of the United States Declaration of Independence were written on paper made from hemp

The oral defense of a dissertation or thesis is a direct descent from the obligatory oration of the colonial college and from the medieval university disputation, or conventus, and even of oral interrogations of the Mesopotamian tablet-house

In the 1950s in the United States, swimsuits with pointed breasts, known jokingly as “high beams,” were popular. Some suits even offered inflatable bras that could be blown up to the wearer’s desired size  (Pictured below is an advertisement for bras that, like the swimwear for women, offered pointed breasts and padding when desired)

The jump from the Golden Gate Bridge is 250 feet. Trauma from the jump is dramatic and can cause ripped blood vessels, demolished central nervous systems, and a transected spinal cord. While a few have died from drowning and one from a shark attack, most die from the impact of the body on the water. Only 1% who jump survive - some survivors who had tried to kill themselves have described the approximately four second drop as giving them enough time to reconsider their suicide attempt and want to live

The English word “girl” was initially used to describe a young person of either sex. It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that the term was used specifically to describe a female child

In 1927, a French policeman was tried for the shooting of a boy he claimed he believed was a werewolf. That same year, the last wild wolves in France were killed

The Penan nomads who live on the island Borneo (southwest of the Philippines) maintain that women do not have a soul until their wedding day

In America, someone attempts suicide once every minute, and someone completes a suicide once every 17 minutes. Throughout the world, approximately 2,000 people kill themselves each day

Common diseases that are caused by nutritional deficiencies include beriberi (vitamin B1-thiamine), pellagra (B3-niacin), anemia (B12-cobalamin), and scurvy (C-ascorbic acid)

All recycling creates some amount of residue (e.g., shredder fluff) that will eventually end up in a landfill

The youngest president was Teddy Roosevelt who became president at age 42 when McKinley (1843-1901) was assassinated. JFK was the youngest president elected at the age of 43

More American women work in the education, health services, and social assistance industries than in any other industry. These three industries employ nearly one-third of all female workers - while typically these professions pay lower wages than jobs dominated by men in the US, they have proven to be most "recession-proof," meaning that in the economic downturn that started in 2007 more men than women have become unemployed

Ambergris (whale vomit) has been added to cigarettes for flavor

The first formalized bathing costume in the modern era was not a piece of clothing at all but a piece of architecture: a bathing machine. Invented by a Quaker in 1753, the horse-drawn half carriage contained a “modesty tunnel” that allowed a fully clothed Victorian woman to enter the sea privately  (Pictured below is a series of docks built in the Victorian era- underneath each dock is a "modesty tunnel" for women, which is why the base of the dock is so large)

When a shark eats food that it can’t digest (like a turtle shell or tin can), it can vomit by thrusting its stomach out its mouth then pulling it back in

Even though over 50 native tongues are still spoken in rural locations, Spanish is the national language of Mexico. In fact, Mexico is the most populated Spanish-speaking country in the world

When her husband Caecina Paetus hesitated to kill himself honorably, his wife Arria (d. A.D. 42) snatched the dagger from her husband, stabbed herself, and handed the weapon back with the words “Paete, non dolet“ (“Paeuts, it does not hurt”)