fish in polar seas have a kind of antifreeze in their blood called glycoprotein

fish in polar seas have a kind of antifreeze in their blood called glycoprotein

got it from a book: waarom daarom!

The name of Australia comes from "terra australis incognita" translation "unknown land of the south"

The name Australia is derived from the Latin Australis, meaning "Southern". Legends of an "unknown land of the south" (terra australis incognita) date back to Roman times and were commonplace in medieval geography but were not based on any documented knowledge of the continent. In 1521 Spaniards were among the first Europeans to sail the Pacific Ocean. The first use of the word Australia in English was in 1625, in "A note of Australia del Espiritu Santo, written by Master Hakluyt", published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia

Mapmakers insert incorrect entries to see when someone illegal copies their work, they are called "copyright traps"

Fictitious entries, also known as fake entries, Mountweazels, and Nihilartikels, are deliberately incorrect entries or articles in reference works such as dictionaries, encyclopedias, maps and directories. Entries in reference works normally originate from a reliable external source, but no such source exists for a fictitious entry.

Fictitious entries can be humorous hoaxes intended to be more or less quickly recognized as false by the reader or copyright traps deliberately inserted into a work to facilitate detection of copyright infringement or plagiarism.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fictitious_entry

All male mules and most female mules are infertile

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.^[1] Historically, and today in technical jargon, "mule" refers to the infertile offspring of any two animals of different species. Horses and donkeys are different species, with different numbers of chromosomes. Of the two F1 hybrids between these two species, a mule is easier to obtain than a hinny (the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey). All male mules and most female mules are infertile.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mule

Cheerleading was a male sport in the beginning

Princeton graduate Thomas Peebles introduced the idea of organized crowds cheering at football games to the University of Minnesota. However, it was not until 1898 that University of Minnesota student Johnny Campbell directed a crowd in cheering "Rah, Rah, Rah! Sku-u-mar, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!”, making Campbell the very first cheerleader and November 2, 1898 the official birth date of organized cheerleading. Soon after, the University of Minnesota organized a "yell leader" squad of 6 male students, who still use Campbell's original cheer today^[4] In 1903 the first cheerleading fraternity, Gamma Sigma was founded.^[5] Cheerleading started out as an all-male activity, but females began participating in 1923, due to limited availability of female collegiate sports. At this time, gymnastics, tumbling, and megaphones were incorporated into popular cheers, and are still used today.^[5] Today it is estimated that 97% of cheerleading participants overall are female, but males still make up 50% of cheering squads at the collegiate level. <sup>[6]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cheerleading#History</sup>

The largest known organism (a fungal colony) spans 8.9km² (2,200 acres)

Armillaria ostoyae is a fungus commonly known as a Honey mushroom, and sometimes called Shoestring Rot.

This is the most common variant in the western U.S., of the group of species that all used to share the name Armillaria mellea. Armillaria ostoyae is quite common on both hardwood and conifer wood in forests west of the Cascade crest. The mycelium attacks the sapwood and is able to travel great distances under the bark or between trees in the form of black rhizomorphs ("shoestrings").

The disease is of particular interest to forest managers, as the species is highly pathogenic to a number of commercial softwoods, notably Douglas-fir (Pseudotsuga menziesii), true firs (Abies spp.) and Western Hemlock (Tsuga heterophylla). A commonly prescribed treatment is the clearcutting of an infected stand followed by planting with more resistant species such as Western redcedar (thuja plicata) or deciduous seedlings. The removal of stumps (stumping) has been used to prevent contact between infected stumps and newer growth resulting in lower infection rates. However, it is unknown if the lower infection rates will persist as roots of young trees extend closer to the original inoculum from the preceding stand. The use of another fungus, Hypholoma fasciculare has been shown in early experiments to competitively exclude Armillaria ostoyae in both field and laboratory conditions, but further experimentation is required to establish the efficacy of this treatment.

A mushroom of this type in the Malheur National Forest in the Strawberry Mountains of eastern Oregon, U.S. was found to be the largest fungal colony in the world, spanning 8.9 km² (2,200 acres) of area. This organism is estimated to be 2,400 years old. The fungus was written about in the April 2003 issue of the Canadian Journal of Forest Research. While an accurate estimate has not been made, the total mass of the colony may be as much as 605 tons. If this colony is considered a single organism, then it is the largest known organism in the world by area, and rivals the aspen grove "Pando" as the known organism with the highest living biomass.

In 1992, a relative of the Strawberry Mountains clone was discovered in southwest Washington state. It covers about 6 km² (1500 acres).

Another "humongous fungus" is a specimen of Armillaria bulbosa found at a site near Crystal Falls, Michigan covers 0.15 km² (37 acres), and was published in Nature.^[1]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Armillaria_ostoyae

Mc Donald's French fries account for more than one-fourth of all potatoes sold in the U.S.

Today, French fries account for more than one-fourth of all potatoes sold in the U.S. market—over six million pounds of potatoes are processed into frozen fries annually. Twenty-five percent of kids report eating French fries instead of other vegetables, and the average American eats thirty pounds of the greasy things in a year. The potato has come from being reviled to being revered, and is now the second most popular staple food in the world. So the next time someone says, "You want fries with that?", take a moment to remember the long, hard journey of the poor little spud. And answer, "Yes, thank you."

http://www.stim.com/Stim-x/9.2/fries/fries-09.2.html

Lawn darts are banned in Canada

Send in by: TARZ1977

On December 19, 1988, the Consumer Product Safety Commission banned lawn darts from sale in the United States.^[1] Shortly after, in 1989, they were also banned in Canada.^[2] Lawn darts, used in an outdoor game, have been responsible for the deaths of three children.^[1]

Safety lawn darts can be found in a few stores around the United States.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawn_darts#Banned_from_sale_in_the_U.S._and_Canada

Chicken Farmers add marigold petals to the chickens food, it makes the egg yolk darker

Marigold petals are considered edible. They are often used to add color to salads, and marigold extract is commonly added to chicken feed to produce darker egg yolks. Their aroma, however, is not sweet, and resembles the smell of hops in beer. The oil from its seed contains calendic acid.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calendula

The name of the Michelin man is Bibendum (it is latin for something like "time to drink")

The 1898 poster showed him offering the toast Nunc est bibendum ("Cheers!" or "Now is the time to drink" in Latin), to his scrawny competitors with a glass full of road hazards, with the title and the tag C'est à dire: À votre santé. Le pneu Michelin boit l'obstacle ("That is to say, to your health: The Michelin tyre drinks up obstacles"). It is unclear when the word "Bibendum" came to be the name of the character himself. At the latest, it was in 1908, when Michelin commissioned Curnonsky to write a newspaper column signed "Bibendum".

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michelin#Bibendum

The only reason the faces of four presidents were carved in the rock is becuase of the tourism it would generate

Originally known to the Lakota Sioux as Six Grandfathers, the mountain was renamed after Charles E. Rushmore, a prominent New York lawyer, during an expedition in 1885.^[5] At first, the project of carving Rushmore was undertaken to increase tourism in the Black Hills region of South Dakota. After long negotiations involving a Congressional delegation and President Calvin Coolidge, the project received Congressional approval. The carving started in 1927, and ended in 1941 with some injuries and no fatalities.<sup>[4]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Rushmore</sup>

Thomas Edison had a tatoo of 5 dots (like on a dice) on his left forearm

According to a 1911 policy with the Mutual Life Insurance Company of New York, Edison had five dots tattooed on his left forearm. No one knew what the dots meant.

Interestingly, Edison was credited for inventing the basic tattoo machine. In 1876, he patented the Stencil-Pens, an engraving device that many years later was modified by Samuel O’Reilly to make the world’s first tattoo machine.

Though it would’ve been a neat thing, there was simply no evidence that Edison used his invention to give himself a tattoo.

http://www.neatorama.com/2008/02/11/10-fascinating-facts-about-edison/

You weigt less at the Equator because of the lower gravity

This does not seem like much, but the effects on the acceleration due to gravity are significant. On a personal note, you would weigh more at the Mid Latitudes or poles than at the equator. So if you want to lose weight, go the Equator. If you want to lose more weight, run, don’t walk!

http://www.roncuster.com/ESaM.htm

In ancient Egypt men and women wore perfumed cones on their head made of ox tallow and myrrh as a sort of perfume

It was the fashion at parties for men and women to wear a perfumed cone on the tops of their heads. The cone was usually made of ox tallow and myrrh and as time passed melted and released a pleasant scent. Men and women socialized together. When it came time to eat they sat as couples at small tables piled high with food. The guests are wearing robes with vertical pleats. The servant girl (standing on the left) is wearing a thin belt on her hips, a brightly decorated collar and very little else; she does, however, have the scented cone on her head. http://www.womenintheancientworld.com/women%27s%20clothing.htm

The blood in the original psycho film is in fact chocolate syrup

The soundtrack of screeching violins, violas, and cellos was an original all-strings piece by composer Bernard Herrmann entitled "The Murder." Hitchcock originally wanted the sequence (and all motel scenes) to play without music,^[13] but Herrmann begged him to try it with the cue he had composed. Afterwards, Hitchcock agreed that it vastly intensified the scene, and he nearly doubled Herrmann's salary.^[4][14][15] The blood in the scene is in fact chocolate syrup, which shows up better on black-and-white film, and has more realistic density than stage blood.^[1] The sound of the knife entering flesh was created by plunging a knife into a melon.^[16][17]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Psycho_(1960_film)}

The microwave was invented when Percy Spencer noticed a chocolate bar in his pocket melted nearby an active radar

Cooking food with microwaves was discovered accidentally in the 1940s. Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer, was building magnetrons for radar sets with the company Raytheon. He was working on an active radar set when he noticed that a peanut chocolate bar he had in his pocket started to melt. The radar had melted his candy bar with microwaves. The first food to be deliberately cooked with Spencer's microwave was popcorn, and the second was an egg, which exploded in the face of one of the experimenters.^[1] To verify his finding, Spencer created a high density electromagnetic field by feeding microwave power into a metal box from which it had no way to escape. When food was placed in the box with the microwave energy, the temperature of the food rose rapidly.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microwave_oven#History

In medieval times narwhal horns were sold as unicorn horns for loads of money

In Inuit legend, the narwhal's tusk was created when a woman with a harpoon rope tied around her waist was dragged into the ocean after the harpoon had struck a large narwhal. She was transformed into a narwhal herself, and her hair twisted around in the water until it became the characteristic spiral narwhal tusk. ^[15]

Some medieval Europeans believed narwhal tusks to be the horns from the legendary unicorn.^[16] As these horns were considered to have magic powers, such as the ability to cure poison and melancholia^[17], Vikings and other northern traders were able to sell them for many times their weight in gold. The tusks were used to make cups that were thought to negate any poison that may have been slipped into the drink. During the 16th century, Queen Elizabeth received a carved and bejeweled narwhal tusk for £10,000—the cost of a castle (approximately £1.5—2.5 Million in 2007, using the retail price index^[18]). The tusks were staples of the cabinet of curiosities.

The truth of the tusk's origin developed gradually during the Age of Exploration, as explorers and naturalists began to visit Arctic regions themselves. In 1555, Olaus Magnus published a drawing of a fish-like creature with a horn on its forehead.

Herman Melville wrote a section on the narwhal in Moby Dick. In it, he claims that a narwhal tusk hung for "a long period" in Windsor Castle after Sir Martin Frobisher had given it to Queen Elizabeth.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Narwal#In_culture

Giraffes have double the blood pressure of an average mammal

Modifications to the giraffe's structure have evolved, particularly to the circulatory system. A giraffe's heart, which can weigh up to 10 kg (22 lb) and measure about 60 cm (2 ft) long, must generate approximately double the normal blood pressure for an average large mammal to maintain blood flow to the brain. In the upper neck, a complex pressure-regulation system called the rete mirabile prevents excess blood flow to the brain when the giraffe lowers its head to drink. Conversely, the blood vessels in the lower legs are under great pressure (because of the weight of fluid pressing down on them). In other animals such pressure would force the blood out through the capillary walls; giraffes, however, have a very tight sheath of thick skin over their lower limbs which maintains high extravascular pressure in the same way as a pilot's g-suit.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Giraffes

Cheese helps against plaque

Several mechanisms have been proposed to explain cheese's anticariogenic effect (11,31,32). Cheese may buffer or neutralize plaque acids; stimulate saliva flow which has caries-reducing properties; and reduce demineralization and/or promote remineralization by protein, calcium, and phosphorus. The buffering effect of protein in cheese (e.g., casein phosphopeptides) on acid formation in dental plaque and the promotion of food clearance by cheese-induced saliva flow are the most popularly held explanations for cheese's beneficial effect on dental caries (31). Both experimental animal and human epidemiological studies demonstrate that calcium and phosphate in cheese may be partly responsible for this food's ability to remineralize tooth enamel (11,31,32). When dental plaque samples were obtained from British adults before and 5 minutes after intake of cheese cubes or cheese-containing meals (e.g., pasta with cheese sauce), plaque calcium concentrations were significantly higher in subjects consuming cheese than in those who did not consume this food (41). This finding led the researchers to suggest that consuming cheese either alone or as part of a meal increases plaque calcium, which helps to reduce or prevent decreases in plaque pH levels and promote remineralization of tooth enamel (41).

http://www.nationaldairycouncil.org/NationalDairyCouncil/Health/Digest/dcd73-5Page4.htm

The first paper money was used in China during the Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD)

Jiaozi (Chinese: 交子; pinyin: jiāozǐ) is a form of banknote which appeared in 10th century Sichuan. Most numismatists generally regard it as the first paper money in history, a development of the Chinese Song Dynasty (960 - 1279 AD).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jiaozi_(currency)

Fresh milk may protect children against asthma and hay fever

The results of the European "Parsifal Study", conducted on about 15,000 children, show that regular consumption of fresh milk directly from the farm may protect children against asthma and hay fever. The control sample consisted of children growing up on farms, children from rural and suburban environments, and Waldorf school students. The study, which was led by the Institute for Social and Preventive Medicine at the University of Basel, was published in the journal "Clinical and Experimental Allergy" in May 2007.

https://www.fondsgoetheanum.ch/en/kampagnen/landwirtschaft/der-blick-ueber-den-tellerrand.html

The skin underneath the fur of a tiger is also stripped

. The pattern of stripes is unique to each animal, and thus could potentially be used to identify individuals, much in the same way as fingerprints are used to identify people. This is not, however, a preferred method of identification, due to the difficulty of recording the stripe pattern of a wild tiger. It seems likely that the function of stripes is camouflage, serving to help tigers conceal themselves amongst the dappled shadows and long grass of their environment as they stalk their prey. The stripe pattern is found on a tiger's skin and if shaved, its distinctive camouflage pattern would be preserved. Like other big cats, tigers have a white spot on the backs of their ears.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiger

The sun was so hot the day Disneyland opened, it made the asphalt of main street melt

On July 17, 1955, when Disneyland finally opened to the public, the image that is conjured when we think of Disneyland is far from opening day. The park was overcrowded as tickets - which were invitational for the first day - were faked and sold on the black market, with all major nearby roads and highways jam packed. The sun was so hot that ladies' high-heels were sinking into the melting asphalt of Main Street. A gas leak in Fantasyland caused Adventureland, Frontierland and Fantasyland to close from the afternoon, and parents where throwing children over the shoulders of crowds to get in queue for rides now world-famous like Dumbo. Vendors ran out of food, and the park got such bad press for opening day that Walt Disney invited members of the press back for a private 'second day' to experience the true Disneyland, whereafter Walt held a party in the Disneyland Hotel. Walt and his executives forever referred to the first day as Black Sunday.

http://www.indopedia.org/Disneyland.html

A blind man (Ralph Teetor) invented the cruisecontrol

Ralph Teetor (1890-1982) was a prolific (and blind) inventor who invented cruise control. He was also the longtime president of the very successful automotive parts manufacturer The Perfect Circle Co. Corporation in Hagerstown, Indiana, a manufacturer of piston rings. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 1912, which surprised the faculty because they originally thought that he couldn't do the required work.

Teetor's highly developed sense of touch proved its advantage in developing a technique for balancing steam turbine rotors used in torpedo-boat destroyers. Dynamic balancing of large components had puzzled others before Teetor solved the problem.

Teetor was inspired to invent cruise control one day while riding with his lawyer. The lawyer would slow down while talking and speed up while listening. This rocking motion so annoyed Teetor that he was determined to invent a speed control device.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Teetor

Houseflies younger than 3 days arent attracted by light

The responses of the flies to the various lamps appeared to depend on the origin, sex and age of the
houseflies, the spectral composition and irradiance of the test lamps, and on ambient illuminance. Overall, flies younger than 3 days were hardly or not attracted to the test lamps, whereas older flies were positively phototactic.

http://dissertations.ub.rug.nl/FILES/faculties/science/2003/r.c.smallegange/thesis.pdf

Viper venom doesn't contain neurotoxins but its venom makes your blood wont clotter, its victims bleed to death

Viperid venoms typically contain an abundance of protein-degrading enzymes, called proteases, that produce symptoms such as pain, strong local swelling and necrosis, blood loss from cardiovascular damage complicated by coagulopathy, and disruption of the blood clotting system. Death is usually caused by collapse in blood pressure. This is in contrast to elapid venoms that generally contain neurotoxins that disable muscle contraction and cause paralysis. Death from elapid bites usually results from asphyxiation because the diaphragm can no longer contract. However, this rule does not always apply: some elapid bites include proteolytic symptoms typical of viperid bites, while some viperid bites produce neurotoxic symptoms.^[5]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Viperidae#Venom}

Komodo dragons have 57 virulent bacteria in their saliva

Komodo dragons also possess virulent bacteria in their saliva, of which more than 28 Gram-negative and 29 Gram-positive strains have been isolated.^[25] These bacteria cause septicemia in their victim; if an initial bite does not kill the prey animal and it escapes, it will commonly succumb within a week to the resulting infection. The most harmful bacterium in Komodo dragon saliva appears to be a deadly strain of Pasteurella multocida, from studies performed with laboratory mice.^[26] There is no specific antidote to the bite of a Komodo dragon, but it can usually be treated by sterilizing the wounded area and giving the patient large doses of antibiotics. If not treated promptly, gangrene can quickly develop around the bite, which may require amputation of the affected area. Because the Komodo dragon appears immune to its own microbes, much research has been done searching for the antibacterial molecule(s) in the hopes of human medicinal usage.^[27]

^{http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Komodo_dragon}

The first high heels were made for horse riding

Raised heels are stated^{[weasel words]} to have been a response to the problem of the rider's foot slipping forward in stirrups while riding. The "rider's heel," approximately 1-1/2 inch (4 cm) high, appeared around 1500. The leading edge was canted forward to help grip the stirrup, and the trailing edge was canted forward to prevent the elongated heel from catching on underbrush or rock while backing up, such as in on-foot combat. These features are evident today in riding boots, notably cowboy boots.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_heel

in most cases swallowed gum digests as little slower as normal food, but it digests

One old wives' tale says that swallowed gum will remain in a person's stomach for up to seven years, as it is not digestable. According to several medical opinions, there seems to be little truth behind the tale. In most cases, swallowed gum will pass through the system as fast as any other food, but can be a little slower.^[6] There have been a few cases where swallowing gum has required medical attention, but these cases are more or less related to chronic gum swallowers. One young boy swallowed several pieces each day and had to be hospitalized,^[7] and another little girl required medical attention when she swallowed her gum and four coins, which got stuck together in her oesophagus.^[8] As long as the mass of gum is small enough to pass out of the stomach, it is unlikely they will experience any problems.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chewing_gum

Elm Farm Ollie was the first cow to fly and was also the first cow milked while flying

Elm Farm Ollie (known as "Nellie Jay" and post-flight as "Sky Queen") was the first cow to fly in an airplane, doing so on 18 February 1930, as part of the International Air Exposition in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. On the same trip, which covered 72 miles from Bismarck, Missouri, to St. Louis, she also became the first cow milked in flight. This was done ostensibly to allow scientists to observe midair effects on animals, as well as for publicity purposes. A St. Louis newspaper trumpeted her mission as being "to blaze a trail for the transportation of livestock by air."

Elm Farm Ollie was reported to have been an unusually productive Guernsey cow, requiring three milkings a day and producing 24 quarts of milk during the flight itself. Wisconsin native Elsworth W. Bunce milked her, becoming the first man to milk a cow mid-flight. Elm Farm Ollie's milk was sealed into paper cartons which were parachuted to spectators below. Charles Lindbergh reportedly received a glass of the milk.

Although Elm Farm Ollie was born and raised in Bismarck, Missouri, it is largely in the dairy state of Wisconsin where her fame has lived on.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elm_Farm_Ollie

The paradise tree snake (chrysopelea paradisi) can glide

Paradise Tree Snake or Paradise Flying Snake Chrysopelea paradisi is a species of snake found in Asia. It can glide by stretching the body into a flattened strip using its ribs. It is mostly found in moist forests and can cover a horizontal distance of about 100 metres in a glide from the top of a tree.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chrysopelea_paradisi

The largest canon used in combat was named Schwerer Gustav with a caliber of 800mm

Schwerer Gustav (English: Heavy Gustav) and Dora were the names of the German 80 cm K (E) railway guns. They were developed in the 1930s by Krupp in order to destroy large forts. They weighed nearly 1,350 tonnes, and could fire shells weighing seven tonnes to a range of 37 kilometers (23 miles). Designed in preparation for World War II, and intended for use against the deep forts of the Maginot Line, they were not ready for action when the Wehrmacht outflanked the line during the Battle of France. Gustav was used in the Soviet Union at the siege of Sevastopol during Operation Barbarossa. They were moved to Leningrad, and may have been intended for Warsaw. Gustav was captured by US troops and cut up. Dora was destroyed near the end of the war to avoid capture by the Red Army.

It was the largest calibre rifled weapon in the history of artillery to see actual combat, and fired the heaviest shells of any artillery piece ^[1]. It is only surpassed in calibre by the American 36-inch Little David mortar and a handful of earlier siege mortars that all fired smaller shells.^[2]

The Nazis envisioned these "super guns" as powerful terror weapons which could smash enemy fortifications and bombard cities from incredible distances.^{[citation needed]} However their massive size and consequent poor mobility made them of little strategic use. In fact, the incredible quantities of materials and manpower required to construct and operate such weapons, both of which might have been put to use elsewhere, meant they likely had a negative overall impact on the Nazi war effort.^{[citation needed]}

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/80_cm_Gustav

The shortest war ever lasted approximately 40 minutes

The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar on 27 August 1896. The conflict lasted approximately 40 minutes

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Zanzibar_War

Many famous paintings and building are made using the golden ratio

Some studies of the Acropolis, including the Parthenon, conclude that many of its proportions approximate the golden ratio. The Parthenon's facade as well as elements of its facade and elsewhere can be circumscribed by golden rectangles.^[17] To the extent that classical buildings or their elements are proportioned according to the golden ratio, this might indicate that their architects were aware of the golden ratio and consciously employed it in their designs. Alternatively, it is possible that the architects used their own sense of good proportion, and that this led to some proportions that closely approximate the golden ratio. On the other hand, such retrospective analyses can always be questioned on the ground that the investigator chooses the points from which measurements are made or where to superimpose golden rectangles, and that these choices affect the proportions observed.

Some scholars deny that the Greeks had any aesthetic association with golden ratio. For example, Midhat J. Gazalé says, "It was not until Euclid, however, that the golden ratio's mathematical properties were studied. In the Elements (308 B.C.) the Greek mathematician merely regarded that number as an interesting irrational number, in connection with the middle and extreme ratios. Its occurrence in regular pentagons and decagons was duly observed, as well as in the dodecahedron (a regular polyhedron whose twelve faces are regular pentagons). It is indeed exemplary that the great Euclid, contrary to generations of mystics who followed, would soberly treat that number for what it is, without attaching to it other than its factual properties."^[18] And Keith Devlin says, "Certainly, the oft repeated assertion that the Parthenon in Athens is based on the golden ratio is not supported by actual measurements. In fact, the entire story about the Greeks and golden ratio seems to be without foundation. The one thing we know for sure is that Euclid, in his famous textbook Elements, written around 300 B.C., showed how to calculate its value."^[19] Near-contemporary sources like Vitruvius exclusively discuss proportions that can be expressed in whole numbers, i.e. commensurate as opposed to irrational proportions.

A geometrical analysis of the Great Mosque of Kairouan reveals a consistent application of the golden ratio throughout the design, according to Boussora and Mazouz.^[20] It is found in the overall proportion of the plan and in the dimensioning of the prayer space, the court, and the minaret. Boussora and Mazouz also examined earlier archaeological theories about the mosque, and demonstrate the geometric constructions based on the golden ratio by applying these constructions to the plan of the mosque to test their hypothesis.

The Swiss architect Le Corbusier, famous for his contributions to the modern international style, centered his design philosophy on systems of harmony and proportion. Le Corbusier's faith in the mathematical order of the universe was closely bound to the golden ratio and the Fibonacci series, which he described as "rhythms apparent to the eye and clear in their relations with one another. And these rhythms are at the very root of human activities. They resound in man by an organic inevitability, the same fine inevitability which causes the tracing out of the Golden Section by children, old men, savages and the learned."^[21]

Le Corbusier explicitly used the golden ratio in his Modulor system for the scale of architectural proportion. He saw this system as a continuation of the long tradition of Vitruvius, Leonardo da Vinci's "Vitruvian Man", the work of Leon Battista Alberti, and others who used the proportions of the human body to improve the appearance and function of architecture. In addition to the golden ratio, Le Corbusier based the system on human measurements, Fibonacci numbers, and the double unit. He took Leonardo's suggestion of the golden ratio in human proportions to an extreme: he sectioned his model human body's height at the navel with the two sections in golden ratio, then subdivided those sections in golden ratio at the knees and throat; he used these golden ratio proportions in the Modulor system. Le Corbusier's 1927 Villa Stein in Garches exemplified the Modulor system's application. The villa's rectangular ground plan, elevation, and inner structure closely approximate golden rectangles.^[22]

Another Swiss architect, Mario Botta, bases many of his designs on geometric figures. Several private houses he designed in Switzerland are composed of squares and circles, cubes and cylinders. In a house he designed in Origlio, the golden ratio is the proportion between the central section and the side sections of the house.^[23]

In a recent book, author Jason Elliot speculated that the golden ratio was used by the designers of the Naqsh-e Jahan Square and the adjacent Lotfollah mosque.^[24]

Leonardo da Vinci's illustrations in De Divina Proportione (On the Divine Proportion) and his views that some bodily proportions exhibit the golden ratio have led some scholars to speculate that he incorporated the golden ratio in his own paintings. Some suggest that his Mona Lisa, for example, employs the golden ratio in its geometric equivalents.^[25] Whether Leonardo proportioned his paintings according to the golden ratio has been the subject of intense debate. The secretive Leonardo seldom disclosed the bases of his art, and retrospective analysis of the proportions in his paintings can never be conclusive^{[citation needed]}.

Salvador Dalí explicitly used the golden ratio in his masterpiece, The Sacrament of the Last Supper. The dimensions of the canvas are a golden rectangle. A huge dodecahedron, with edges in golden ratio to one another, is suspended above and behind Jesus and dominates the composition.^[26][2]

Mondrian used the golden section extensively in his geometrical paintings.^[27]

A statistical study on 565 works of art of different great painters, performed in 1999, found that these artists had not used the golden ratio in the size of their canvases. The study concluded that the average ratio of the two sides of the paintings studied is 1.34, with averages for individual artists ranging from 1.04 (Goya) to 1.46 (Bellini).^[28] On the other hand, Pablo Tosto listed over 350 works by well-known artists, including more than 100 which have canvasses with golden rectangle and root-5 proportions, and others with proportions like root-2, 3, 4, and 6.^[29]

send in by @wolvii

The russian sattalite Luna 1 missed the moon in 1959 and became the first man made satalite to orbit around the sun

Luna 1 (E-1 series), also known as Mechta (Russian: Мечта, lit.: Dream) was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of the Moon and the first of the Luna programme of Soviet automatic interplanetary stations successfully launched in the direction of the Moon.

While traveling through the outer Van Allen radiation belt, the spacecraft's scintillator made observations indicating that there exist a small number of high energy particles in the outer belt. The measurements obtained during this mission provided new data on the Earth's radiation belt and outer space. It was discovered that the Moon had no detectable magnetic field. The first ever direct observations and measurements of the solar wind, a strong flow of ionized plasma emanating from the Sun and streaming through interplanetary space, were performed. That ionized plasma concentration was measured to be some 700 particles per cm³ at altitudes 20-25 thousand km and 300 to 400 particles per cm³ at altitudes 100-150 thousand km.^[1] The spacecraft also marked the first instance of radio communication at the half million kilometres distance.

A malfunction in the ground-based control system caused an error in the rocket's burntime, and the spacecraft missed the target and flew by the Moon at a distance of 5,900 km at the closest point. Luna 1 then became the first man-made object to reach heliocentric orbit and was then dubbed a "new planet" and renamed Mechta. Its orbit lies between those of Earth and Mars. The name "Luna-1" was applied retroactively years later. Luna-1 was originally referred to as the "First Cosmic Rocket", in reference to its achievement of escape velocity.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luna_1

Bubble wrap was created as a textured plastic wallpaper using it as a packing material was a spinoff

The usefulness of Bubble Wrap as a packaging material was an unplanned and fortuitous spin-off: Fielding and Chavannes were planning to create a textured plastic wallpaper with paper backing that could be easily cleaned.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bubble_wrap

Ferruccio Lamborghini made tractors until Enzo Ferrari insulted him

A wealthy manufacturer of tractors and air conditioning and heating units systems after World War II, Lamborghini was an enthusiastic owner of sports cars. After owning and driving a Mercedes-Benz 300SL, a Jaguar E-Type, an Alfa Romeo 1900, a Lancia Aurelia B20 and a Maserati 3500GT, he bought his first Ferrari, a 250GT. He became a Ferrari enthusiast, eventually owning three. However, he had recurring clutch problems, and eventually brought his complaints to Enzo Ferrari. Ferrari insulted Lamborghini, effectively stating that a tractor manufacturer was not qualified to criticize Ferraris. Affronted by Ferrari's reaction, Lamborghini began to repair his clutch himself, at which point he noticed that some of the clutch components were the same as the ones he used on his tractors. He replaced the clutch with one built to a stronger specification, which solved the problem. Lamborghini then decided to build faster and more reliable cars than Ferrari and to prove that supercars did not have to be as temperamental as Ferraris.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferruccio_Lamborghini

The Eiffel tower was almost torn down in 1909 its antenna saved it

The Eiffel tower was almost torn down in 1909, but was saved because of its antenna used both for military and other purposes, and the city let it stand after the permit expired. When the tower played an important role in capturing the infamous spy Mata Hari during World War I, it gained such importance to the French people that there was no more thought of demolishing it.- used for telegraphy at that time.

http://corrosion-doctors.org/Landmarks/eiffel-history.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_tower

The Florida red-bellied turtle lies her eggs in an alligator nest for protection against nest predators

Closely related to the cooter is the Florida red-bellied turtle, Pseudemys nelsoni. Unless you can see one well enough to notice the patterning or coloration of the carapace, they can be difficult to distinguish from cooters. They are found in the same areas as cooters, but have a different, but also unique, nesting strategy. Females sneak into the territory of nesting alligators and bury their eggs in the mound of vegetation created by the mother alligator to protect and incubate her own eggs. In so doing, the turtles gain protection from nest predators due to the presence of the female alligator, and reap the benefits of the warmth generated by the decomposing vegetation of the gator nest.

http://www.stetson.edu/~pmay/woodruff/turtles.htm

No place in the pentagon is more than a seven-minute walk to an other spot

The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Washington, D.C. It's one of the largest office buildings in the world, with an outside perimeter almost a mile long and containing 17.5 miles of corridors which are walked by some 26,000 employees and personnel. But it's also one of the most efficiently-designed -- any two points within the building are no more than a seven-minute walk apart.

http://everything2.com/title/Pentagon

The Alien Hand Syndrome is a disorder in which the hand of the sufferer seems to have a mind of its own

Alien hand syndrome (anarchic hand or Dr. Strangelove syndrome) is an unusual neurological disorder in which one of the sufferer's hands seems to take on a mind of its own. AHS is best documented in cases where a person has had the two hemispheres of their brain surgically separated, a procedure sometimes used to relieve the symptoms of extreme cases of epilepsy. It also occurs in some cases after other brain surgery, strokes, or infections.

An alien hand sufferer can feel normal sensation in the hand, but believes that the hand, while still being a part of their body, behaves in a manner that is totally distinct from the sufferer's normal behavior. They lose the 'sense of agency' associated with the purposeful movement of the limb while retaining a sense of 'ownership' of the limb. They feel that they have no control over the movements of the 'alien' hand, but that, instead, the hand has the capability of acting autonomously--i.e. independent of their voluntary control. The hand effectively has 'a will of its own.' Alien hands can perform complex acts such as undoing buttons, removing clothing, and manipulating tools. Alien behavior can be distinguished from reflexive behavior in that the former is flexibly purposive while the latter is obligatory. Sometimes the sufferer will not be aware of what the alien hand is doing until it is brought to his or her attention, or until the hand does something that draws their attention to its behavior

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alien_hand_syndrome

Gerald Ford was the only person to be vice president and president of US without being elected for it

Gerald Rudolph Ford, Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King, Jr.) (July 14, 1913 – December 26, 2006) was the 38th President of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977, and the 40th Vice President of the United States serving from 1973 to 1974. He was the first person appointed to the vice-presidency under the terms of the 25th Amendment, and became President upon Richard Nixon's resignation at noon on August 9, 1974. Ford was the fifth U.S. President never to have been elected to that position, and the only one to have held both the office of Vice-President and the office of President while never having been elected to either. He was also the longest-lived president in U.S. history, dying at the age of 93 (when six weeks older than Ronald Reagan).

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerald_ford

nectarine trees occasionaly produce peaches and vice versa

The nectarine is a cultivar group of peach that has a smooth, non-fuzzy skin. Though grocers treat fuzzy peaches and nectarines as different fruits, they belong to the same species. Nectarines have arisen many times from fuzzy peaches, often as bud sports.

Nectarines can be white, yellow, clingstone, or freestone. Regular peach trees occasionally produce a few nectarines, and vice versa. Their flesh is more easily bruised than peaches. The history of the nectarine is unclear; the first recorded mention is from 1616 in England, but they had probably been grown much earlier in central Asia.

http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Nectarine

An average CD has a capacity of 74 minutes, the duration of beethoven's 9th symphony

The partners aimed at a playing time of 60 minutes with a disc diameter of 100 mm (Sony) or 115 mm (Philips).^[16] Von Karajan suggested extending the capacity to 74 minutes to accommodate Wilhelm Furtwängler's recording of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony from the 1951 Bayreuth Festival.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cd

The cloth of a billiard table is green because it envolved from a lawn game

Billiard cloth (sometimes erroneously called felt) is a specific type of cloth that covers the top of the table's "playing area". Both the rails and slate beds are covered with 21-24 ounce billiard cloth (although some less expensive 19oz cloths are available) which is most often green in color (representing the grass of the original lawn games that billiards evolved from), and consists of either a woven wool or wool/nylon blend called baize.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billiard_table

by @lentebriesje

The bikini is named after bikini atoll in pacific where america tested an atomic bomb 4 days earlier

Réard named his swimsuit the “bikini,” taking the name from the Bikini Atoll, one of a series of islands in the South Pacific where testing on the new atomic bomb was occurring that summer. Historians assume Reard termed his swimsuit the “bikini” because he believed its revealing style would create reactions among people similar to those created by America’s atomic bomb in Japan just one summer earlier.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bikini#History

US has less than 5% of world population but it has almost 25% of the world's prisoners

The United States has less than 5 percent of the world’s population. But it has almost a quarter of the world’s prisoners

Indeed, the United States leads the world in producing prisoners, a reflection of a relatively recent and now entirely distinctive American approach to crime and punishment. Americans are locked up for crimes — from writing bad checks to using drugs — that would rarely produce prison sentences in other countries. And in particular they are kept incarcerated far longer than prisoners in other nations.
Criminologists and legal scholars in other industrialized nations say they are mystified and appalled by the number and length of American prison sentences.
The United States has, for instance, 2.3 million criminals behind bars, more than any other nation, according to data maintained by the International Center for Prison Studies at King’s College London.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/23/us/23prison.html

A pack of Wrigley's gum was the first product scanned with a barcode

In June 1974, one of the first UPC scanner, made by NCR Corp. (which was then called National Cash Register Co), was installed at Marsh's supermarket in Troy, Ohio. On June 26, 1974, the first product with a bar code was scanned at a check-out counter. It was a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum. The pack of gum wasn't specially designated to be the first scanned product. It just happened to be the first item lifted from the cart by a shopper whose name is long since lost to history. Today, the pack of gum is on display at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History.

http://www.adams1.com/history.html

Marie Stuart became queen when she was 6 days old

Mary I (popularly known in the English-speaking world as Mary, Queen of Scots and, in France, as Marie Stuart) (8 December 1542 – 8 February 1587) was Queen of Scots from 14 December 1542 to 24 July 1567.

She was the only surviving legitimate child of King James V. She was six days old when her father died and made her Queen of Scots. Her mother, Mary of Guise, assumed regency and her daughter was crowned nine months later.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_I_of_Scotland

The first written record of a contraceptive is crocodile dung

The first written record of spermicide use is found in the Kahun Papyrus, an Egyptian document dating to 1850 BCE. It described a pessary of crocodile dung and fermented dough

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spermicide

Mary and Topsy, two famous elephants sentenced to death

Mary was a five ton Asian elephant who performed in the Sparks World Famous Shows circus. Her death is sometimes interpreted as a cautionary tale of circus animal abuse during the early twentieth century.

On September 11, 1916 a hotel worker named Red Eldridge was hired as an assistant elephant trainer by the circus. On the evening of September 12 he was killed by Mary in Kingsport, Tennessee while taking her to a nearby pond to splash and drink. There are several accounts of his death but the most widely accepted version is that he prodded her behind the ear with a hook after she reached down to nibble on a watermelon rind. She went into a rage, snatched Eldridge with her trunk, threw him against a drink stand and deliberately stepped on his head, crushing it.

The details of the aftermath are confused in a maze of sensationalist newspaper stories and folklore. Most accounts indicate that she calmed down afterward and didn't charge the onlookers, who began chanting, "Kill the elephant!" Apparently within minutes, a local blacksmith tried to kill Mary, firing more than two dozen rounds with little effect. Newspapers published claims that Murderous Mary had killed several workers in the past and noted that she was larger than the world famous Jumbo the elephant. Meanwhile, the leaders of several nearby towns threatened not to allow the circus to visit if Mary was included. The circus owner, Charlie Sparks, reluctantly decided that the only way to quickly resolve the potentially ruinous situation was to kill the elephant in public. On the following day, a foggy and rainy September 13, 1916, she was transported by rail to Erwin, Tennessee where a crowd of over 2,500 people (including most of the town's children) assembled in the Clinchfield railroad yard.

The elephant was hanged by the neck from a railcar-mounted industrial crane. The first attempt resulted in a snapped chain, causing Mary to fall and break her hip as dozens of children fled in terror. The severely wounded elephant died during a second attempt and was buried beside the tracks. Although the authenticity of a widely distributed (and heavily retouched) photo of her death was disputed years later by Argosy magazine, other photographs taken during the incident confirm its provenance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mighty_Mary

Topsy (born circa 1875, died January 4, 1903), was a domesticated elephant with the Forepaugh Circus at Coney Island's Luna Park. Because she had killed three men in as many years (including a severely abusive trainer who attempted to feed her a lit cigarette),^[1] Topsy was deemed a threat to people by her owners and killed by electrocution on January 4, 1903.^[2] Inventor Thomas Edison captured the event on film. He would release it later that year under the title Electrocuting an Elephant.

A means of execution initially discussed was hanging. However, the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals protested and other ways were considered. Edison then suggested electrocution with alternating current, which had been used for the execution of humans since 1890.

To reinforce the execution, Topsy was fed carrots laced with 460 grams of potassium cyanide before the deadly current from a 6,600-volt AC source was sent coursing through her body. She was dead in seconds.^[2] The event was witnessed by an estimated 1,500 people and Edison's film of the event was seen by audiences throughout the United States.

On July 20, 2003, a memorial for Topsy was erected at the Coney Island Museum.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Topsy_(elephant)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RkBU3aYsf0Q (video of electrocution Topsy)

Ubar "Atlantis of the sands" and Saffara metropolis were discovered by satalites searching for old camel trail routes

Recent discoveries have brought Iram out of the realm of fable into history.

In the early 1980s a group of researchers interested in the history of Iram used NASA remote sensing satellites, ground penetrating radar, Landsat program data and images taken from the Space Shuttle Challenger as well as SPOT data to identify old camel train routes and points where they converged. These roads were used as frankincense trade routes around 2800 BCE to 100 BCE.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iram_of_the_Pillars

THE archeologists who recently announced the discovery of the legendary lost city of Ubar in the Arabian Peninsula have found the remains of another major emporium in the ancient frankincense trade: the ruins of an even larger city near the coast of the Indian Ocean.

The new discovery is considered a significant step in establishing the full scope of the frankincense traffic at its most prosperous time, at the height of the Roman Empire in the early centuries after Christ, and at one of its major sources, in the Qara Mountains of southern Oman. This seems to remove any remaining questions about how and where the prized commodity was shipped across the Arabian desert by a network of caravan routes to Mesopotamia and the Mediterranean and by ships across the sea to India.

The new find, at the base of the Qara Mountains, is at a site with the modern name of Ain Humran. The discoverers identified it as the ruins of the fortified trading center called Saffara Metropolis on the maps of Claudius Ptolemy, the Alexandrian geographer of the second century A.D.

http://www.nytimes.com/1992/04/21/science/the-frankincense-route-emerges-from-the-desert.html