Friday, September 11, 2015

Random Facts Friday




1. The US Army admitted it secretly dumped 64 million pounds of nerve and mustard gas agents into the ocean from 1944 to 1970, along with 400,000 chemical filled bombs & more than 500 tons of radioactive waste.
2. It is illegal to spay or neuter your dog in Norway except under very specific circumstances.
3. 100% of Earth's ocean floor has been mapped to a maximum resolution of around 5KM.
4. 1.3 million Earths could fit into the Sun!
5. According to the Bible, David was offered the king's daughter if he came back with 100 foreskin of slain enemies. He came back with 200.
6. In 2011 a man in Sweden was arrested for splitting an atom in his kitchen!
7. WWII Allied soldiers would fire thousands of rounds at random over the German trenches to boil the water in their machine guns to make tea. (And people wonder why a war costs so much! And those British love their tea)
8. In Ancient Rome, the punishment for killing one's father was the death penalty, which consisted of being sewn in a sack with a viper, a dog, and a cock.
9. Hallucinatory "voices" seem to be shaped by local culture. In the US, the voices are harsh and threatening while those heard by Schizophrenics in Africa & India tend to be benign & playful.
10. The logo of the Royal New Zealand Air Force is the Kiwi, a flightless bird.
11. Michael Jackson wanted to do a Harry Potter musical, JK Rowling said no.
12. California's official state animal is extinct.
13. A British POW captured by the Germans in WWI was freed to see his dying mother, then went back to the prison camp because he gave the Kaiser "his word" he would return.
14. The US has 19 aircraft carriers, compared to the rest of the world's 12 aircraft carriers combined.
15. Rastafarians are legally allowed to possess Marijuana in Italy due to it being a "sacrament" to the religion.
16. New York ' s area code is 212 because it was the fastest number to dial on a rotary phone.
17. During a car crash 40% of drivers never even hit the brakes.
18. Mount Everest shrank 1 inch due to the 2015 Nepal earthquake.
19. It costs $8,876 per year to own & maintain a car in the US. That's $443,800 in 50 years!
20. More than 86,000 people are injured each year in the US alone due to tripping over their cats & dogs. (I trip over the Wonder dogs often)