http://ulanoff.com/blogs/thefacts Another Ulanoff.com weblog Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:21:56 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 en http://ulanoff.com/blogs/thefacts/2008/08/13/10-facts-for-today-7/ http://ulanoff.com/blogs/thefacts/2008/08/13/10-facts-for-today-7/#comments Wed, 13 Aug 2008 22:21:56 +0000 Ruslan Ulanov http://ulanoff.com/blogs/thefacts/?p=10

Limelight was how we lit the stage before electricity was invented. Basically, illumination was produced by heating blocks of lime until they glowed.

As much as 80% of microwaves from mobile phones are absorbed by your head.

Nuclear ships are basically steamships and driven by steam turbines. The reactor just develops heat to boil the water.

The amount of oil that is used worldwide in one year is doubling every ten years. If that rate of increase continues and if the world were nothing but oil, all the oil would be used up in 400 years.

Radio waves travel so much faster than sound waves that a broadcast voice can be heard sooner 18,000 km away than in the back of the room in which it originated.

The rickshaw was invented by the Reverend Jonathan Scobie, an American Baptist minister living in Yokohama, Japan, built the first model in 1869 in order to transport his invalid wife. Today it remains a common mode of transportation in the Orient.

The world’s oldest surviving boat is a simple 10 feet long dugout dated to 7400 BC. It was discovered in Pesse Holland in the Netherlands.

Rock drawings from the Red Sea site of Wadi Hammamat, dated to around 4000 BC show that Egyptian boats were made from papyrus and reeds.

The world’s earliest known plank-built ship, made from cedar and sycamore wood and dated to 2600 BC, was discovered next to the Great Pyramid in 1952.

The Egyptians created the first organized navy in 2300 BC.

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Compact discs read from the inside to the outside edge, the reverse of how a vinyl record works.

ENIAC, the first electronic computer, appeared 50 years ago. The original ENIAC was about 80 feet long, weighed 30 tons, had 17,000 tubes. By comparison, a desktop computer today can store a million times more information than an ENIAC, and 50,000 times faster.

From the smallest microprocessor to the biggest mainframe, the average American depends on over 264 computers per day.

The first “modern” computer (i.e., general-purpose and program-controlled) was built in 1941 by Konrad Zuse. Since there was a war going on, he applied to the German government for funding to build his machines for military use, but was turned down because the Germans did not expect the war to last beyond Christmas. The computer was launched in 1943, more than 100 years after Charles Babbage designed the first programmable device. Babbage dropped his idea after he couldn’t raise capital for it. In 1998, the Science Museum in London, UK, built a working replica of the Babbage machine, using the materials and work methods available at Babbage’s time. It worked just as Babbage had intended.

The electric chair was invented by a dentist, Alfred Southwick.

The first e-mail was sent over the Internet in 1972.

The Chinese invented eyeglasses. Marco Polo reported seeing many pairs worn by the Chinese as early as 1275, 500 years before lens grinding became an art in the West.

If hot water is suddenly poured into a glass that glass is more apt to break if it is thick than if it is thin. This is why test tubes are made of thin glass.

Construction worker’s hard hats were first invented and used in the building of the Hoover Dam in 1933.

The Hoover Dam was built to last 2,000 years. The concrete in it will not even be fully cured for another 500 years.

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Approximate 300 million film tickets are sold every year in India.

In Britain 70% mothers go for work.

More artists live in California than any other state in the United States. There are 10,000 arts organizations in California.

Alfred Southwick developed the idea of using electric current & Professionally he was a Dentist (MDS, DDS).

An aircraft carrier gets about 6 inches per gallon of fuel.

The first United States coast to coast airplane flight occurred in 1911 and took 49 days.

A Boeing 747s wingspan is longer than the Wright brother’s first flight (120ft).

The Chinese were using aluminum to make things as early as 300 AD Western civilization didn’t rediscover aluminum until 1827.

George Seldon received a patent in 1895 - for the automobile. Four years later, George sold the rights for $200,000.

The first coin operated machine ever designed was a holy-water dispenser that required a five-drachma piece to operate. It was the brainchild of the Greek scientist Hero in the first century AD.

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8.7 million of United State residents who were born in Asia.

The world’s population has been increased 3.1 billion in last 40 years.

180 million nos. of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged annually, making Valentine’s Day the second-most popular greeting-card-giving occasion.

3,467 Nos. of confectionery nut stores in the United States, they are among the best sources of sweets for Valentine’s Day.

4% people drink cold drink daily.

Traffic lights are being used before the invention of motor car.

More than 50 million Americans said they had a disability; for 32.5 million of them, the disability was severe.

About 40% Proportion of all Valentine card purchases which parents account for.
First Stock Exchange of America was in Philadelphia & it was established in 1791.

Girls however are slightly more likely than boys to use home computers for e-mail, word processing and completing school assignments than playing games.

A normal person laughs five times in a day.

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69% Americans use Internet & 5.5% Indians only.

El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 - the hottest ever measured.

Plastics take 500 years to break down.

America has 30.30% airports of the world & India has only 0.70%.

There are roughly 4,000 known minerals, although only about 200 are of major importance.

The total surface area of the Earth is 197 million square miles.

Crocodile only animal & reptile that sheds tear while eating.

The world’s deadliest recorded earthquake occurred in 1557 in central China, more than 830,000 people were killed.

Angel Falls in Venezuela is the worlds highest waterfall, The water of Falls drops 3,212 feet (979 meters).

The sunrays reached at the earth in 8 minutes & 3 seconds.

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Look at your zipper. See the initials YKK? It stands for Yoshida Kogyo Kabushibibaisha, the world’s largest zipper manufacturer.

40 percent of McDonald’s profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.

315 entries in Webster’s 1996 Dictionary were misspelled.

On the average, 12 newborns will be given to the wrong parents daily.

Chocolate kills dogs! True, chocolate affects a dog’s heart and nervous system. A few ounces is enough to kill a small sized dog.

Ketchup was sold in the 1830’s as a medicine.

Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand and draw with the other at the same time.

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

There are no clocks in Las Vegas gambling casinos.

Leonardo da Vinci invented scissors. Also, it took him 10 years to paint Mona Lisa’s lips.

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Coca-cola was originally green.

Every day more money is printed for Monopoly than for the US Treasury.

Smartest dogs: 1) border collie; 2)poodle; 3)golden retriever;

Dumbest dog: afghan

Hawaiian alphabet has 12 letters.

Men can read smaller print than women; women can hear better.

Chances that an American lives within 50 miles of where they grew up: 1 in 2

Amount American Airlines saved in 1987 by eliminating one olive from each salad served first class: $40,000

City with the most Rolls Royce’s per capita: Hong Kong

State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska

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