The Best Interesting Random Facts
For plants to exist in cold regions, they have to be able to survive the cold and then take advantage of the summer sun as soon as it’s possible to do so. For example, many of the shrubs are evergreens, because not having to grow leaves every year is a virtue in a place where […]
Penguins are similar to Dolphins when they are “porpoising.” Most people are used to seeing dolphins perform wonderful leaps in and out of the water. They seem to be pretending that they are a roller coaster. Penguins are capable of doing the same thing, but they do not leap up as high or dive as […]
Only 45 of today’s nations were independent before the 20th century. And only one nation can trace its independence back to before the time of Christ. Ethiopia, the East African nation formerly known as Abyssinia, has been an independent nation since at least the eleventh century B.C. The rulers of Ethiopia have claimed descent from […]
When canning was invented, no one knew why food that was packed and heated inside containers remained fresh for a long time. Then, in 1860, French scientist Louis Pasteur discovered that food spoilage was due to bacteria present in all fresh food and in the air. These organisms breaks down substances in the food and […]
From 1930 to 1937, the United States suffered its worst drought in history. Across 50 million acres (20.25 million hectares) of land in Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas, New Mexico, Colorado, Nebraska, and the Dakotas, dry weather and winds caused massive dust storms that carried particles as far as New York City. In 1933 and 1934, the […]
It’s sad but true, but the poor Hippopotamus is bearing the brunt of the effort to save the elephant. Currently, hippos are still threatened by habitat loss and poaching for their meat and ivory canine teeth. Since the United Nations Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species officially imposed a ban on ivory trading in […]
Squids, Cuttlefish and Octopuses are mollusks that belong to the cephalopod group of invertebrates, meaning they have eight legs. Squid have a hard inner-body shell called a pen, instead of an outer one like clams and snails. The octopus, in contrast, has no shell at all. Its outer mantle, or skin, is thick and tough, […]
If food is hard to find, a camel will eat anything, bone, meat, leather, and even garbage. Camels usually eat grass, various plants, hay and dry grains, and can eat up to 9 pounds per day. Camels seem to always be chewing something don’t they. Camels do ruminate, or chew their cud, but they are, […]
Comparing the vast, electrified skyline of a modern city with the stark simplicity suggested by an ancient ruin, it’s easy to see that man has changed his environment a great deal over the past millennia. But has man’s nature changed along with his environment? Not really. Take the institution of dice gambling, for instance. We […]
Trout and Salmon are so closely related that some fishermen and scientists have trouble classifying the individual species. Techincally, Trout is a species of freshwater and saltwater fish. Salmon belong to some of the same family as trout but, unlike most trout, most salmon species spend almost all their lives in salt water. Both Trout […]
From time immemorial, perhaps as proof of our relationship with the ape, man has amused himself by performing feats of daring upon ropes, ropes hanging from trees or high structures, or ropes tautly or loosely stretched high between two trees or other supports. In ancient Greece, skill in such feats became highly developed, though, like […]
Dogs are not color-blind like previously assumed, they can see colors, just not all colors. Color comes in red, blue, and green spectrums. Canines have a type of color-blindness called deuteranopia, meaning they lack the ability to discern the green spectrum. While dogs do recognize some red, it’s really the blue spectrum they’re best at […]
The Puffer Fish, or Blowfish blows itself up to defend itself against its enemies. When it is threatened, the Puffer Fish will turn itself into a large ball covered with sharp spines. Hopefully, the enemy is unable to swallow the inedible ball and swims off. The spines stick out of its body only when it […]
The Budgerigar or Common Pet Parakeet, is often called a budgie or parakeet. The Budgie is a small parrot and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus. The Budgerigar has been bred extensively with a profusion of color forms resulting. Their real name is budgerigar, or “budgie” for short. Found throughout the drier parts […]
Elephants make several sounds when communicating, and are famous for their trumpet calls made by blowing through its nostrils. Trumpeting is often made when an elephant is excited or startled. Researchers have known for years that elephants use their trunks to interact socially. However, they’ve more recently discovered that elephants use low-frequency verbal communication as […]
The term slush began as a sailors’ reference to the grease from the cook’s galley, which was used to lubricate the ships masts. When the voyage was over, the surplus grease was sold, and the money was put into a “slush fund” to be shared by the enlisted men. By 1839, when a ship returned […]
Millions of years ago penguins did in fact fly around like regular birds but they have evolved to swim instead of fly. Eventually, flying was no longer necessary. Penguins spent most of their time in the water, and did not have any predators on land that would require airborne escape. Wings for flight became flipper-like […]
Toto in the movie The Wizard of Oz was a Cairn terrier. Snoopy was beagle which often battled the Red Baron. There’s no denying the strong bond between human and canine. Mark Twain once said, “Heaven goes by favor. If it went by merit, you would stay out and your dog would go in.” What […]
The Ejector Seat Although it looks funny in action, the ejector seat has saved thousands of lives since its invention in the middle of the 20th century. Supersonic Seats. An ejector seat is designed to catapult the pilot and crew out of a plane in an emergency, inflate a parachute once the seat is clear […]
Tigers mark their territory by peeing on trees because they are solitary and very territorial animals. Male tigers are more intolerant of other males inside their territory than females are of other females, and territorial disputes are usually resolved by displays of intimidation, rather than actual fighting. Once dominance has been established, a male may […]
Pilare is the Latin for “to grow hair” and gives an adjective pilosus, meaning “hairy.” From this and their own word chat, a cat, the French formed chatepelose, “hairy cat,” which may be compared to “woolly bear,” the common name by which English children refer to the same fuzzy creature, the caterpillar. The French word, […]
Girls reach their full height when they are about 18 years old, but boys keep growing taller for a few more years. There are two periods in your life when you grow very rapidly. The first period began right after you were born and lasted until you were about six months old. The second period […]
If shooting ink isn’t enough defense to scare off a predator, an octopus can go on the offensive with its tentacles and a beak-like mouth. An octopus’s main defense is to hide by camouflaging itself and avoid being detected as an octopus. Octopuses are also venomous, but only the small blue-ringed octopuses are lethal to […]
Considering how small and light they are, birds are very big eaters. Since birds do everything quickly, they fly quickly, they run quickly, even their hearts beat quickly, birds need a lot of food energy to keep going. Most birds eat half their weight in food every day. That’s like a 100-pound person eating 50 […]
Brown eggs being healthier than white eggs is a stupid myth that started because people assumed that brown foods like breads, sugar, flours are healthier than white ones. In fact, the fictional James Bond would only eat one type of egg, the one from the Helsumer chicken. Its egg is a dark, chocolaty brown, sometimes […]
The blue whale has the biggest heart in the world. Its heart is about the size of a VW Beetle. The blue whale is also the largest animal ever known to have existed on earth, and can grow up to 108 feet in length and weigh up to 180 tons. Before being hunted almost to […]
Sure, everyone knows that the Hamburger comes from Hamburg and the frankfurter comes from Frankfurt. What could be plainer? But it may interest you to know that while the meats themselves are German in origin, the idea of placing a Hamburger or a frankfurter in a bun is an American innovation and institution. The fact […]
New York is called the Empire State not because of the Empire State Building, the state had its nickname long before 1931, when that famous skyscraper was built. No one knows for sure how New York got the nickname, but some historians think the name can be traced to George Washington, who once said the […]
Dog shows are also known as conformation shows, or breed shows. The first modern conformation dog show was held in England in June 1859, and the only breeds scheduled were pointers and setters. Dog show judges try to pick dogs that epitomize the published standards for each breed, but this can be challenging, as the […]
Giraffes have long necks which enables them to browse tree leaves which they love to eat. The African plains giraffe is the tallest mammal on earth. This giraffe has a neck that extends up to eight feet above its shoulders. The giraffe’s neck has seven highly lengthened vertebrae, the exact same number of vertebrae that […]