The Best Interesting Random Facts
The dingo was the first non-native animal species imported to Australia by people, and as with subsequent importations, the results have been somewhat disastrous to the native animal populations. The Dingo is a domestic dog which has reverted to a wild state and currently lives independent from humans in most of its habitat. Dingos love […]
Although Peacocks are not migratory, peafowl of both sexes can indeed fly. They fly pretty high, actually, and will usually roost in the tops of trees at night for protection in the wild. It would be difficult for them to fly far, though, as their tails would produce too much of a drag for longer […]
Despite its perceived resemblance to the outer female reproductive organs, apparently noticed by very lonely gardeners, the orchid was actually named after male genitalia. The name orchid comes from the Greek orkhis, meaning “testicle.” It was adopted because of the orchid’s testicle shaped root. This resemblance may have led to the belief that orchids were […]
Penguins are aquatic, flightless birds that live only in Antarctica in the Southern Hemisphere. The word “penguin” is neither French, Breton nor Spanish in origin. Many etymologists believe that the name is from the Welsh word “pen”, meaning “head”, and “gwyn”, which means “white”. An alternative etymology suggests the name originates from the Latin word […]
Like all vegetables and fruits, tomatoes differ somewhat in nutritional value from variety to variety, and even from season to season. For example, the U.S. Department of Agriculture lists different average nutrient contents for tomatoes harvested from November to May and for those from June to October. Many food values are comparable for red and […]
Popcorn pops because of a delicate balance between a moist interior and a dry coating. The exterior cells, the pericarp, are hard and relatively impermeable. The interior cells are soft and contain moisture. When the seed is heated, the moisture turns to steam. The pressure builds up to the point where the hard outside pops, […]
Bob Burns, radio humorist, in a letter to the author, says that he coined this term “bazooka” to fit the alleged musical instrument that he has made familiar to radio listeners. His explanation follows: I started taking mandolin and trombone lessons when I was six years old in Van Buren, Arkansas. When I was eight, […]
English writers of the sixteenth century correctly called this American creature a lagarto, for that was the Spanish name for this huge saurian, “lizard.” But because Spaniards, like Arabs, are accustomed to put the definite article al before a noun, al lagarto, the lizard, careless English writers assumed that this was a single word, allagarto. […]
There are sometimes odd exceptions to rules in the animal kingdom. For example, virtually all mammals give birth to their young. However, take careful note of the “virtually” in the last sentence, of the 4,500 known species of mammals, 4,498 of them deliver their babies live. The two that don’t are related to each other, […]
Coffee is one of the most popular drinks in the world. It is consumed regularly by one third of the world’s population, and consumption continues to rise steadily. At the turn of the 1900s, world exports totaled about one million tons. But by 1950, that figure had doubled. Today, several million tons of beans are […]
Meats, like wines, can be either red or white. Beef is red; fish and shellfish are generally white. Salmon are pink, rosé, if you like, because they eat pink-shelled crustaceans. Flamingos, if you care, are pink for a similar reason. In the kitchen, we soon learn that white fish flesh cooks much more quickly than […]
It is regrettable that the story of the word jeep is not complete. In 1937 the cartoonist, E. C. Segar, began to use an animal in his comic strips about “Popeye,” which he called “Eugene, the Jeep.” This creature was described as being able to move at will between the third and fourth dimension, being […]
A raisin is, of course, a dried grape, and may be eaten raw or used in cooking and baking. Like two-thirds of the English language, the word “raisin” comes from Old French, where it means “grape,” shriveled or otherwise. The Old French word for “grape” came from the Latin word “racemus”, which means “a bunch […]
A greenish iridescent sheen is often found on foods containing traces of fat in water. When it is cool this mix separates out microscopically into a film, like oil on a wet road. In some types of cold meats, such as sliced silverside of beef or some hams, you may see a handsome opalescence. The […]
The tough, dried, twisted string used today in making violin strings, tennis racket strings, strings to thread looms, and thread for surgical stitches is NOT made from a cat’s guts and never has been. Most catgut is made from the intestines of sheep and hogs. These intestines are cut into long ribbons, then cleaned and […]
The pound is a unit of mass used in various systems of measurement, and historically, the pound has referred to similar but not identical standards of mass or weight. The lb. abbreviation for pound comes from ancient Rome and originates from the Latin word, “libra pondo,” or “pound of weight.” A number of different definitions […]
Flying squirrels are a family of 44 species of squirrels that can glide between trees using a parachute-like membrane that stretches from wrist to ankle. As you may have guessed, they got their name from the way they glide from tree to tree. The higher they start, the farther flying squirrels can fly before they […]
The word Orangutan means “person of the forest” in the Malay language, and is actually 2 words. “Orang” means man and “Utan” means forest. Orangutans are the only exclusively Asian living genus of great ape, and are the largest living arboreal animals. Native to Indonesia and Malaysia, they have longer arms than other great apes, […]
Coffee is so popular today that you might think people have been drinking it forever. But most of the world has been drinking coffee for only a few hundred years. Coffee plants first grew wild in East Africa and Arabia. Around the year 850, according to an Arab legend, a young goat-herd was tending his […]
Wally Amos (1937- ) started working for The William Morris Agency, a very successful and profitable talent agency, as a mail clerk. Eventually, he became the first African American talent agent for the agency. Amos discovered many successful acts, including Simon & Garfunkel, a folk-rock singing duo. He also represented such stars as The Temptations, […]
If a Sea Turtle has been swimming, it can stay underwater for a few minutes. If resting, it can stay underwater as long as two hours. Sea turtles are almost always under water, and have developed an anaerobic system of respiration. Although all sea turtles breathe air, they may divert to anaerobic respiration for long […]
In the 1600s, sailors measured the speed of their sailing ships by tying knots in a rope at sixty-foot intervals. They then further divided and marked the space between the knots into ten equal parts that would each be one fathom in length. Then a heavy floating log was tied to the rope’s end and […]
The Bald Eagle selects old-growth coniferous or hardwood trees for its nest, and these trees must have good visibility, an open structure, and be close to prey. It is also important that the area has large trees surrounding a body of water. Bald Eagles build the largest nests of any North American bird, and they […]
The Aztecs smoked tobacco through a hollow reed or cane tube, and elsewhere in Central and South America the indigenous population rolled shredded tobacco in corn husks and other vegetable materials. The conquistadores who witnessed this returned to Spain with something resembling our present day cigar. Wealthy Spaniards smoked these cigars and often tossed the […]
Porky Pig is an animated cartoon character in the Looney Tunes and Merrie Melodies series of cartoons. The character was designed by animator Bob Clampett and introduced in the short “I Haven’t Got a Hat” which was released on March 2, 1935. The unmistakable voice of Porky Pig was originally done by Joe Dougherty, who […]
The peanut, also known as the groundnut, is a species in the legume “bean” family native to India, Africa, Mexico, South and Central America. The scientific name “Arachis Hypogaea” means “under the earth.” The name Peanut came from its appearance and is not an accurate label as the Peanut is not a nut but classified […]
Chiengora is dog-hair wool spun from dog hair, and is is up to 80% warmer than wool. Chiengora looks similar to angora and is furry and very soft, and tends to “fluff” with use, creating a halo effect. It is warm, even in very low temperatures, and it sheds water well. Chiengora has become all […]
The llama is the animal which defends itself by spitting. Llamas spit bad-smelling saliva through their teeth when they are angry or annoyed, and also to protect themselves. They are said to have great accuracy in spitting. The camel, which belongs to the same family as the llama, also possesses this trait. Both camels and […]
The way most of us pamper cats, you could say that many modern Americans worship the feline. You’ll also find cat-based religions in past or present Thailand, China, India, and among the Incas in South America. It may be hard to believe, but the Bible doesn’t mention cats of any sort, not even once. However, […]
The African Elephant is hardly ever used as a working animal. In the Congo, people have had some small success training African forest elephants. But as a rule African Elephants are difficult to train, and even then are never fully docile, so the practice never really caught on in other parts of Africa. If you […]