Amazing Fun Facts - Part 3

Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left?

A: When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right! And that's where women's buttons have remained since.

Q: Why do ships and aircraft use 'mayday' as their call for help?

A: This comes from the French word m'aidez -meaning 'help me' -- and is pronounced, approximately,’ mayday.'

Q: Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?

A: In France, where tennis became popular, round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'egg.' When tennis was introduced in the US, Americans (mis)pronounced it 'love.'

Q: Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'?

A: In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility of dealing, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.

Q: Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast?

A: It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host. Both men would drink it simultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would only touch or clink the host's glass with his own.

Q: Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'?

A:Invented in 1825,limelight was used in lighthouses and theatres by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatrical performer 'in the limelight' was the centre of attention.

Q: In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?

A. When Mary Queen of Scots went to France as a young girl, Louis, King of France , learned that she loved the Scots game 'golf.' So he had the first course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into 'caddie.

Q: Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches (milling), while pennies and nickels do not?

A: The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave.

So there! Now you know!


via Email

Amazing Fun Facts - Part 2

GEOGRAPHY:

Colombia produces the most emeralds of any country in South America.

The world's largest gold mine is in Juneau, Alaska

Namibia, Africa, supplies the most valuable diamonds of the 18 countries in southern Africa rich with diamonds.

Switzerland attracts the most suicide tourists.

India has no rabbits in the wild; only hares

In Tokyo, a bicycle is faster than a car for most trips of less than 50 minutes!

It's illegal to drink beer out of a bucket while you're sitting on a curb in St. Louis, Missouri!

It's against the law to pawn your dentures in Las Vegas!

It's against the law to burp, or sneeze in a certain churches in Omaha, Nebraska!

The state of Florida is bigger than England!

In Natoma, Kansas, it's illegal to throw knives at men wearing striped suits.

It was once against the law to have a pet dog in a city in Iceland!

There are more plastic flamingos in the U.S, than real ones!

About 3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the time they were 30!

In Bangladesh, kids as young as 15 can be jailed for cheating on their finals!

A company in Taiwan makes dinnerware out of wheat, so you can eat your plate!

Q is the only letter in the alphabet that does not appear in the name of any of the United States!

In Tokyo, they sell toupees for dogs!

PEOPLE:

Albert Einstein was offered the presidency of Israel in 1952, but he declined

Einstein couldn't speak fluently when he was nine. His parents thought he might be retarded

In 1935, Jesse Owens broke 4 world records in 45 minutes

Mother Teresa's real name was Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu

George Washington died the last hour of the last day of the last week of the last month of the last year of the 18th century

St Francis of Assisi introduced Christmas Carols to formal church services

The quickest ascent of Everest, in 10 hours, 56 minutes, was achieved by Sherpa Lhakpa Gelu

Abraham Lincoln held a liquor license and operated several taverns

Walt Disney was once fired by a newspaper editor for lack of imagination

Barbie's full name is Barbara Millicent Roberts

Alexander the Great was an epileptic

Mozart wrote the music for the song Twinkle Twinkle, Little Star when he was just five years old.

Thomas Edison's total school education consisted of three months

Santa Claus, St. Nicholas, was born in the ancient southeastern Turkish town of Lycia early in the fourth century

THE FIRST / THE LAST:

The first Valentine's Day card was sent by the imprisoned Duke of Orlean to his wife in 1415.

Richard Cadbury invented the first Valentine's Day candy box in the late 1800s.

The first novel, called The story of Genji, was written in 1007 by Japanese noble woman, Murasaki Shikibu.

The first company that Bill Gates ever ran created machines that would record the number of cars passing a given point on a street.

The first personal computer was called the Altair and was made by a company called MITS in 1974. It came in a kit and had to be assembled by the user.

The Hollywood sign was first erected in 1923. Conceived as a real estate ad, it originally read Hollywoodland.

The celebration of the new year is the oldest of all holidays. It was first observed in ancient Babylon about 4000 years ago.

26 December, Boxing day, was traditionally known as St. Stephen's Day, after the first Christian martyr.

The first printed reference to Christmas trees appeared in Germany in 1531.

Great Britain was the first country to issue postage stamps, and they're the only nation today that doesn't use a national name on their stamps.

The Chinese first invented the system of zoos, and called them Parks of Intelligence.

The first striptease dance was performed in Paris, France on March 13, 1894.

The first time the color khaki was used for uniforms in a war was in 1880, during the Afghan War.

Butter was the first food product allowed by law to have artificial coloring.

The term skyscraper was first used in 1888, to describe 11-story building.

Benjamin Franklin was America's first newspaper cartoonist.

When tennis was first invented in 1874, it was called sphairistike.

When volleyball was first invented in 1895, it was called mintonette.

The first animal in space was a female dog named "Laika".

The first hard drive available for the Apple II had a capacity of 5 Megabytes

China was the first country to introduce paper money (in 812).

The first Harley Davidson motorcycle was built in 1903, and used a tomato can for a carburetor.

The first Academy Awards (or Oscar's) were presented on 16 May 1929.

Australia's first police force was a band of 12 of the most well behaved Convicts.

In 1937, the first postage stamp to commemorate Christmas was issued in Austria.

The first recorded reference to cricket dates back to 1272.

The first domain name ever registered was Symbolics.com in Mar 85.

The first music video was aired on August 1, 1981 "Video Killed the Radio Star" by the Bugles on MTV.

The first police force was established in Paris 1667.

The first product to have a UPC bar code on its packaging was Wrigley's gum.

France became the first reigning World Cup champions who fail to win a match.

Pamela Lee-Anderson is Canada's Centennial Baby, being the first baby born on the centennial anniversiary of Canada's independence.

The first city in modern history to reach 1 million people was London in 1811.

Toronto was the first city in the world with a computerized traffic signal system.

King Charles VII, assassinated in 1167, was the first Swedish king with the name of Charles. Charles I, II, III, IV, V, never existed.

The value of "pi" was first calculated by Budhayana, and he explained the concept of what is known as the Pythagorean Theorem. He discovered this in the 6th century long before the European mathematicians.

The World's first university was established in Takshila, India in 700BC. More than 10,500 students from all over the world studied more than 60 subjects.

The first place in the western world to give women the right to vote was an island known as "Man".

The very first bomb dropped by the Allies on Berlin during World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo

THE PHOBIAS:

If you are afraid you might die laughing, you are suffering from cherophobia

Someone with an irrational fear of meat is called a carnophobic.

Unatractiphobia is the fear of ugliness or ugly people.

If you are a 'scoptophobic', you have an intense fear of being seen.

'Mageiricophobia' is the intense fear of having to cook.

Syngenesophobia is the fear of relatives

Automatonophobia is a fear of ventriloquist's dummies, animatronic creatures, wax statues or anything that falsly represents a sentient being

Paedophobia is a fear of children

Clinophobia is the fear of beds

"Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia" is the fear of long words

Phobatrivaphobia is a fear of trivia about phobias

Lyssophobia is a morbid fear of insanity

Hypnophobia is a morbid fear of sleep and falling asleep

Elizabeth I of England suffered from anthophobia, a fear of roses

Arachibutyrophobia is a fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth

The fear of vegetables is called Lachanophobia!..

Taphephobia is the fear of being buried alive!

Clinophobia is the fear of beds!

Acrophobia is the fear of heights

Claustrophobia is the fear of being closed in.

Arachnophobia is the Fear Of Spiders

Hemophobia is the fear of blood.

Hydrophobia/ Aquaphobia is the fear of water.

Fear of Beautiful women is Caligynephobia.

Fear of Men is Androphobia.

Fear of Kissing is Philemaphobia or Philematophobia

Fear of Love, sexual love is Erotophobia.

Fear of falling in Love, or being in Love is Philophobia

Fear of Love play is Malaxophobia or Sarmassophobia.


WORDS:

There are no words in the dictionary that rhyme with: orange, purple,and month

The real name of Jesus was Yeshua. Jesus is the Greek version of the name.

A "funambulist" is a tight-rope walker.

Ernest Vincent Wright's novel Gadsby has 50,110 words, none of which contains the letter "E".

The word encyclopaedia comes from two Greek words meaning "a circle of learning."

Carol comes from the Greek word Choraulein which referred to a dance accompanied by a flute.

The word Christmas comes from the English phrase, Christes Masse, literally Christ's mass.

The word 'puppy' comes from the French poupee', meaning doll.

When two words are combined to form a single word (motor + hotel = motel, breakfast + lunch = brunch) the new word is called a "portmanteau".

The term "hooch" for liquor comes from the Hoochinoo Indians, known for their ability to make liquor so strong it could knock someone out.

Seoul, the capital of South Korea, is a Korean word meaning "capital".

The word "tattoo" comes from the Tahitian word "tattau," which means "to mark".

The two lines that connect your top lip to the bottom of your nose are known as the philtrum

The word "set" has more definitions than any other word in the English language.

The word "novel" originally derived from the Latin novus, meaning "new".

The word "gymnasium" comes from the Greek word gymnazein which means "to exercise naked".

The word Karate means, empty hand.

Amazing Fun Facts - Part 1

The storage capacity of human brain exceeds four Terra bytes 

There are an average of 178 sesame seeds on a McDonald's Big Mac bun

Because of the rotation of the earth, an object can be thrown farther if it is thrown west

In 2001, the five most valuable brand names in order were Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, GE, and Nokia

After the "Popeye" comic strip started in 1931, spinach consumption went up by 33 percent in the US

A rainbow can only occur when the sun is 40 degrees or less above the horizon

At 40° Centigrade a person loses about 14.4 calories per hour by breathing

Most gemstones contain several elements. Except the diamond it's all carbon

Onions help reduce cholesterol if eaten after a fatty meal

It has been calculated that in the last 3,500 years, there have only been 230 years of peace throughout the civilized world

Feb 1865 and Feb 1999 are the only months in recorded history not to have a full moon

The citrus soda 7-UP was created in 1929; "7" was selected because the original containers were 7 ounces. "UP" indicated the direction of the bubbles

The "crack" from a whip is actually the tip of the whip traveling faster than the speed of sound, emitting a small sonic boom

If the information contained in the DNA could be written down, it would fill a 1000 volume encyclopedia

It would take 13 years and eight months to stay one night in every room at the MGM Grand Hotel in Las Vegas

Brain damage occurs at an internal temperature of 105 degrees Fahrenheit

The sound you hear when you crack your knuckles is actually the sound of nitrogen gas bubbles bursting

If you gave each human on earth an equal portion of dry land, (including the uninhabitable areas) everyone would get roughly 100sqft

Just twenty seconds worth of fuel remained when Apollo 11's lunar module landed on the moon

There are more than 1,000 chemicals in a cup of coffee

Pearls melt in vinegar


There is about 200 times more gold in the worlds oceans, than has been mined in our entire history

Human hair and finger nails continue to grow after death

Windmills always turn counter-clockwise. Except for the windmills in Ireland

Eighteen per cent of all global carbon dioxide emissions are from cars

Onions get their distinctive smell by soaking up sulfur from the soil

Mango is the number one selling fruit in the World. India is the biggest producer of mangoes in the World

The only part of the body that has no blood supply is the cornea in the eye. It takes in oxygen directly from the air

No nation has ever won the Miss Universe, Miss World, and Miss International Pageant in the same year?

About 85% of the plant life on earth is in the oceans

In most watch advertisements the time displayed on the watch is 10:10 because then the arms frame the brand of the watch and make it look like it's smiling

If a person counted at the rate of 100 numbers a minute and kept counting for 8 hrs a day, 5 days a week, it would take a little over 4 weeks to count to one million and just over 80 years to reach a billion

An average person perspires a gut-wrenching 278 gallons of sweat each year

Because metal was scarce, the Oscars given out during World War II were made out of wood

A banana is about 75% water. They grow on a rhizome, not a tree. You are more likely to be a target for mosquitoes if you consume bananas.

Iceland is the world's oldest functioning democracy

Mongolia is the largest landlocked country

Because heat expands the metal, the Eiffel Tower always leans away from the Sun

There are 1,792 steps to the top of the Eiffel Tower

In Calama, a town in the Atacama Desert of Chile, it has never rained

Birth-control campaigns in Egypt in the late 1970s failed because village women ended up wearing the pills in lockets, as talismans

Niagara Falls has moved about ten miles upstream in the last 10,000 years. The falls are eroding at the rate of 5 feet per year

The Sahara desert is expanding half a mile south every year

The Channel between England and France grows about 300 millimeters each year

The Hudson River along the island of Manhattan flows in either direction depending on the tide.

There is now an ATM at McMurdo Station in Antarctica, which has a winter population of 200 people

The Australian term for extras in cricket are 'sundries'

In early Rome, March 1 was New Year's Day. Later, the ancient Romans made January 1 the beginning of the year

Ancient Persians gave New Year's gifts of eggs, symbolizing productivity

Due to precipitation, for a few weeks K2 is bigger than Mt Everest

Vietnamese currency consists only of paper money; no coins

Canada declared national beauty contests canceled as of 1992, claiming they were degrading to women

There are more Rolls Royce cars in Hong Kong than anywhere else in the world

Until 1896, India was the only source for diamonds to the world

It snowed in the Sahara Desert in February of 1979

Australia's national anthem is called Advance Australia Fair

The only nation whose name begins with an A, but doesn't end in an A is Afghanistan

The Atlantic Ocean gets wider by a little more than one inch every year

The world's only city whose name consists solely of vowels is Aiea, in Hawaii, USA.

Soldiers in the Netherlands are not required to salute officers.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 1Facts of Life: Soul of Bobby WomackFact1001 Facts that Will Scare the S#*t Out of You: The Ultimate Bathroom Reader