Mr & Mrs Nobody

Judi Dench
Nome Completo: Judith Olivia Dench Natural de: York, Inglaterra Nascimento: 9 de Dezembro de 1934.
Michael Williams que casaria com Judi Dench, faleceu

KIWANO

KINO ou KIWANO

Vindo da África do Sul, o kino ou kiwano é parente do maxixe, pepino e melão.

Ovalado e cheio de pontas, o seu sabor é uma mistura de maracujá com melão. Rico em vitaminas A e C, ferro e cálcio.

Corte do fruto de quino, ou kiwano, Cucumis metuliferus.

Os frutos dividem-se, comum a todo os frutos, basicamente em 3 camadas:

Epicarpo: camada externa, normalmente uma camada membranácea e fibrosa; pode ser lisa, rugosa, pilosa ou espinosa;

Mesocarpo: camada imediatamente abaixo do epicarpo, suculenta;

Endocarpo: camada mais interna, normalmente a camada mais rigida que envolve as sementes.

Há muitas variações na aparência e na consistência destas camadas.

Countries in the World

How many countries possess the World

They exist around 250 auto proclaimed countries in the world, however a part is not recognized by the ONU, the recognized ones exceeds 200. Although be recognized by the ONU and it does not keep official diplomatic relation with the majority of countries in the world, Taiwan is recognized for 20 and few countries without projection, but it possesss obliging representation in majority of the countries in the world.

Different numbers exist in accordance with the searched source, that point out to 250 countries.It has 191 participant members of the ONU, but number 191 also does not represent the number of countries in the world. The City of the Vatican is independent and chose not to become a member of the ONU.

The Department of American State recognizes around 192 independent countries of the world. The list (http://www.state.gov/s/inr/rls/4250.htm).. of these 192 countries reflect the politicial work program of the USA and its allies. Thus, for DOS (Department of State) an entity can or it can not be considered a country depending on his politicial environment.

Taiwan possesss the majority of the characteristics of an independent state. However, due to political reasons, he is not recognized for many countries of the world. Taiwan was member of United Nations (and even though of the Advice of Security) up to 1971 when China substituted Taiwan in the organization. Taiwan continues pressuring the ONU and its members to get full recognition on the part of other countries and if becoming “part of the club”, but the Chinese government continues declaring that Taiwan is simply a province of China.

Thus, 193 countries probably are the best reply to the question, unless Taiwan officially is absorbed by China. In this in case, the reply he would be 192. Moreover, dozens of territories and colonies exist that generally are considered “countries”, but they are governed by other countries. Some places are usually confused with countries like Porto Rico, Bermuda Islands, Greenland and Western Saara.

SOURCES: Yahoo, Wikipedia

Spring Awakening

Erotic musical comedy is the new success of the Broadway

The play is much more on maintenance of an adolescent spirit than on erotismo, according to its creators. It is a story on the sexual repression to the adolescents in century XIX. Was inaugurated in the Broadway in December and is a success next to the critical one and of the box offices.

The songs also are responsible for the success of Spring Awakening and according to critical, 'the music of Sheik is wonderfully modern'. The success of the play made with that the exhibition time was widened until April and now its continuity in the top depends on the adhesion of the habitual spectators of the Broadway and, of course, of youngest.

Citations

“To study it is equivalent to polish the rock. To the force of cultivating, purify the spirit”. - Confucius

“If you could play with very important things, you reached the freedom”. - Maurice Béjart

“The savant never says everything what he thinks, but thinks always everything what he says”. Aristotle

Good intentions...

What can happen to a man of good intentions at any time..

Why I fired my secretary

Last week was my birthday

and I didn't feel very well

waking up on that morning.


I went downstairs for breakfast

hoping my wife would be pleasant and say,
"Happy Birthday!"

and possibly have a small present for me.


As it turned out,

she barely said good morning,

let alone "Happy Birthday."


I thought...

Well, that's marriage for you,

but the kids....

They will remember.


My kids came bounding down stairs to breakfast

and didn't say a word.

So when I left for the office,

I felt pretty low

and somewhat despondent.


As I walked into my office,

my secretary Jane said,

"Good Morning Boss,
and by the way

Happy Birthday ! "

It felt a little better

that at least someone had remembered.


I worked until one o'clock ,

when Jane knocked on my door

and said, "You know,

It's such a beautiful day outside,

and it is your Birthday,

what do you say we go out to lunch,

just you and me."

I said, "Thanks, Jane,

that's the greatest thing

I've heard all day.

Let's go !"


We went to lunch.

But we didn't go

where we normally would go.

She chose instead at a quite bistro

with a private table.

We had two martinis each

and I enjoyed the meal tremendously.

On the way back to the office,

Jane said, "You know,

It's such a beautiful day...

We don't need to go straight back to the office,

Do We ?"


I responded, "I guess not.

What do you have in mind ?"

She said, "Let's drop by my apartment,

it's just around the corner."



After arriving at her apartment,

Jane turned to me and said,

" Boss, if you don't mind,

I'm going to step into the bedroom

for just a moment.

I'll be right back."

"Ok." I nervously replied.


She went into the bedroom and,

after a couple of minutes,

she came out

carrying a huge birthday cake ...

Followed by my wife,

my kids, and dozens of my friends

and co-workers, all singing "Happy Birthday".

And I just sat there...

On the couch...


Naked!

Citations

"Over Every Mountain.. There Is A Path Although. It May Not Be Seen From The Valley."

"I'm not looking for someone who live with me...I'm looking for someone who can't live without me..."

"Great minds discuss ideas; Average minds discuss events; Small minds discuss people..."

"GOOD FRIENDS ARE HARD TO FIND, HARDER TO LEAVE AND IMPOSSIBLE TO FORGET...

"Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars. " -Les Brown

"The winds and waves are always on the part of the ablest navigators"

Maldives

Maldives foi o País 101º a visitar este blog, e stamos muito satisfeitos por isso, por nos ter dado a opportunidade de registar alguns elemtos sobre o País.

Localizada no Oceano Índico, no sul da Ásia, a República das Maldivas possui 298 km² de área e é formada por cerca de 1.200 ilhas de coral, das quais 200 são habitadas. Agrupadas em 26 atóis, têm relevo baixo e plano.

As Maldivas detém o recorde do país mais plano do mundo, com uma altitude máxima de apenas 2,3 metros. Embora haja relatórios acerca da ameaça que a subida do nível do mar constitui para as ilhas, em décadas recentes o nível do mar tem, de facto, baixado.

Devido ao terremoto de 2004 no Oceano Índico, um tsunami no oceano Índico fez com que partes das Maldivas ficassem submersas e muitas pessoas ficassem sem casa. Depois do desastre, os cartógrafos planejam redesenhar os mapas das ilhas devido às alterações causadas pelo tsunami. O povo e o governo estão preocupados com a possibilidade de as Maldivas acabarem por desaparecer do mapa.

SOURCE: Wikipedia

Foi dito...

"Que uma grande parte dos portugueses ache que Salazar e Cunhal são dos maiores de sempre entre nós explica a razão pela qual somos actualmente o mais atrasado país da Europa." - Miguel Sousa Tavares,in EXPRESSO

"Temos várias suspeitas de que o Governo se prepara para utilizar estas verbas como forma encapotada de disfarçar o desemprego ou até de financiar as despesas correntes do Estado." - Arlindo Cunha

"O referendo ao aborto é, do meu ponto de vista pessoal, um absurdo. Por mim não consigo, em consciência, votar sim ou não e quero crer qu eo mesmo acontece com muita gente. A Abstenção pode nºao significar desinteresse." - Henrique Monteiro, in Expresso

"Não é lícito o Estado intrometer-se na vida das famílias como se fosse o único intérprete dos seus intereses. Não pode haver regulação numa família se não houver amor." - Editorial - Expresso-07

UP

The importance of

UP

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this....

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that word is UP"

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP?

At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report?


We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers , mess UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car.

At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses.

To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special. And this is confusing:

A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP.

We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night. We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP .

To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4 of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions.

If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more.

When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP.

When it rains, it wets UP the earth.

When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP , for now my time is UP ,


So............. Time to shut UP ...!!!!

SOURCE: http://360.yahoo.com/profile-baj0Y0k0aaks1JXEDkAvjq2piflE

Inclusão Digital

Apresentam-se de seguida a lista das memórias descritivas dos projectos aprovados pelo gabinete de gestão do POSC e actualmente em curso.

iD001: Acesso à Informação sem Obstáculos
iD002: CERTIC - Informática nos Apoios Educativos
iD003: CERTIC - Apoio a Doentes Terminais
iD004: Gestuário Digital
iD014: Netsénior - Plataforma de Serviços a Cidadãos Seniores
iD025: Portal das Ajudas Técnicas
iD029: Cyber-esquina
iD032: IDEIA - Inclusão Digital com Ensino Interactivo Acessível
iD034: Tico Park
iD038: BloNo - Bloco de Notas Electrónico
iD040: Aprende comigo
iD041: Ecrã Mágico
iD042: Asas para Voar
iD046: LUDOPOLIS
iD051a: Biblioteca Aberta do Ensino Superior - produção de Informação
iD051b: Biblioteca Aberta do Ensino Superior - Acesso à informação
iD051c: Biblioteca Aberta do Ensino Superior - Partilha de informação
iD054: BASE DE DADOS - Acessos com sucessos
iD055: Projecto de Desenvolvimento do Centro de Recursos da Educação Especial Produção Braille em Ambiente Windows
iD056: Projecto de Desenvolvimento do Centro de Recursos da Educação Especial Livros Digitais Falados em Formato Daisy Conversão do arquivo analógico para digital, em Formato Daisy
iD057: Ler para Ver
iD059: Era uma vez.... na Era Digital
iD069: CPUC - On-line
iD070: Leitura Digital na Biblioteca de Gaia
iD071: CRID - Centro de Recursos para a Inclusão Digital
iD072: Município Digital - NET para Todos
iD078: Nucleo de Apoio à Inclusão Digital
iD079: NEXY – CD LINUX para cidadãos com necessidades especiais
iD081: Acção de sensibilização sobre a problemática da afasia dirigida a Técnicos de Saúde
iD082: SitUS - Sítio de Utilização Simplificada
iD092: EtNet - Espaço Internet CEERDL
iD101: TÁ na Rede - Tecnologias de Apoio em Rede
iD102: Centro de Reabilitação Funcional da Pessoa com Deficiência da Visão
iD104: Tecnologias Adaptativas para o tratamento de pessoas com doença mental
iD109: Portal Acesso
iD110: Comunica-Comunidade On-Line
iD119: CALE - Curso de Acesso ao computador pessoal usando Leitor de Ecrã
iD123: INFOMETRO - Portal de voz interactivo do metro do Porto para utentes com dificuldades visuais
iD124: Avaliação Computacional e Tecnológica Integrada do Desempenho e Funcionalidade de Cidadãos com Incapacidades Músculo-esqueléticas – ACTIDEF
iD134: NAVMETRO - Sistema complementar de navegação pessoal na rede do metro do Porto para pessoas com dificuldades visuais
iD135: Literacia Digital Sem Fronteiras
iD137: Voz Portuguesa para Aplicações TTS em Windows CE
iD139: Rede@ctiva
iD140: Miradouros Virtuais Adaptados
iD142: Fluid Museums
iD143: Fluid Museums Premium
iD147: Na Rota da Inclusão

Para maiores detalhes, ir a:
http://www.acesso.umic.pt/id/id_aprov.htm

Sim e Não

"Dentro de um mês o útero das mulheres portuguesas (...) será uma vez mais território de disputa politica, esquecendo as verdadeiras razões deste referendo [a despenalização do aborto]" - Júlia Pinheiro, in 24 HORAS

"A actual lei não combate o aborto clndestino,mas fomenta-o." - Edite Estrela, Idem

"A lei actual protege adequadamente os casos em que se justifica a interrupção voluntária da gravidez." - Azevedo Soares, in DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS

"Toda a gente ficou horrorizada com a execução de Saddam. A questão do aborto é uma variante da pena de morte." - D. António Moreira Montes, in LUSA

"Tal como quaisquer outros cidadãos, os médicos podem ter, e tomar, posição na questão da despenabilização do aborto, a favor ou contra. A Odem dos Médicos, não." - Vital Moreira, in PÚBLICO

"... a lei penal em vigor já considera três casos em que o aborto não é ilícito, se praticado por médico. A saber: no caso de malformação do feto (podendo ser realizado nas primeiras 16 semanas de gestação); no caso de perigo de morte ou de grave e irreversível lesão física ou psíquica para a mulher grávida (podendo ser efectuado nas primeiras 12 semanas da gravidez); e no caso de gravidez resultante de violação da mulher(devendo ser feito nas primeiras 12 semanas de gestação).

- Vital Moreira, Idem

What they say...

Many people looks to be better most of time. The following statements, a drop of water in the oceans, says so:

"Ours is a world of nuclear giants and ethical infants. We know more about war that we know about peace, more about killing that we know about living."

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

“You can close your eyes to the things you do not want to see, but you cannot close your heart to the things you do not want to feel!”

"Be in general virtuous, and you will be happy"

"_l'amour a ses raison, que la raison ignore! _on a rien sans rien"

"ce qui ne nous tue pas, nous rends fort"

"Trois choses éprouvent la force de l'esprit: Les livres, les présents, les messages."

"Mon corps est un jardin, ma volonté est son jardinier. William Shakespeare"

"What lies behind us, and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us."

"Do not judge a book by its cover,therefore look at yoursefl first in the mirror before you judge others"

"For every beauty there is an eye somewhere to see it. For every truth there is an ear somewhere to hear it. For every love there is a heart somewhere to receive it.”"

"Do what you have to do, but act in accordance with your conscience in such a way that you never feel sorry for your actions"

10 GREAT PORTUGUESES

By alphabetical order these are the GREAT PORTUGUESES that are running for the first place in the Contest organized by RTP1

D. Afonso Henriques


Álvaro Cunhal


António de Oliveira Salazar


Aristides de Sousa Mendes


Fernando Pessoa


Infante D Henrique


D. João II


Luís de Camões


Marquês de Pombal


Vasco da Gama

Cat and Mouse

Take care of your cat!

Source: BIT Magazine, January 2007

LISBOA TODAY: Roman Galleries

LISBOA TODAY: Roman Galleries

Pilares da Criação

Explosão estrelar destruiu "Pilares da Criação" fotografados pelo Hubble

As grandes nuvens de poeira cósmica conhecidas como "Pilares da Criação", objectos da foto feita pelo Telescópio Espacial Hubble, feita em 1995, não existem mais. Uma foto divulgada pela Nasa, desta vez tirada pelo telescópio Spitzer, que capta luz infravermelha, mostra que a gigantesca estrutura deve ter sido destruída pela explosão de uma estrela próxima.

Esse violento acontecimento astrofísico, chamado supernova, emitiu uma onda de choque em meio a uma nuvem de matéria aquecida que provavelmente dissolveu os pilares. A catástrofe aconteceu há 6.000 anos, crêem os cientistas, mas só poderá ser observada da Terra daqui a um milénio.

A demora ocorre porque as belas nuvens de gás em forma de colunas estavam na nebulosa da Águia, muito distante. A luz demora 7.000 anos para se deslocar de lá até aqui, por isso os astrónomos não podem ver o tamanho do estrago agora, apenas estimá-lo.

SOURCES: FOLHA ON-LINE, PÚBLICO

Christmas Island

CHRISTMAS ISLAND

Localizadas no oceano Índico, as ilhas Christmas são um território da Austrália, com maioria da população de origem chinesa.

A extração de fosfato é a única atividade econômica significativa, mas o turismo está em expansão.

Para preservar as várias espécies raras de vegetal e animal que habitam a ilha, o governo ampliou o Parque Nacional para 70% da área do território.

Em 1972, as Ilhas Christmas emitiram uma série de 16 selos com o mapa igual em todos os selos e com navios diferentes.

O facto impressionante é a migração de carangeijos que se deslocam da Ilha para o oceano onde vão desovar, e em longas filas, sem preocupações com os habitantes, seguem o seu destino que, sem barreiras, lhes traçou a sua missão.

Depois, os filhotes nascidos no oceano fazem a sua vida para a Ilha, cumprindo um ritual da Natureza que se repetirá ao longo dos anos.

Lost translation

People in other countries sometimes go out of their way to communicate with their English-speaking tourists. It is not so much the words they use, but how they put them together. Here is a list of signs seen around the world:

Cocktail lounge, Norway:LADIES ARE REQUESTED NOT TO HAVE CHILDREN IN THE BAR.

Doctors office, Rome:SPECIALIST IN WOMEN AND OTHER DISEASES.

Hotel, Acapulco:THE MANAGER HAS PERSONALLY PASSED ALL THE WATER SERVED HERE.

Sign in men's rest room in Japan:TO STOP LEAK, TURN COCK TO THE RIGHT

In a Nairobi restaurant:CUSTOMERS WHO FIND OUR WAITRESSES RUDE OUGHT TO SEE THE MANAGER.

On the grounds of a private school:NO TRESPASSING WITHOUT PERMISSION.

On an Athi River highway:TAKE NOTICE: WHEN THIS SIGN IS UNDER WATER, THIS ROAD IS IMPASSABLE.

On a poster at Kencom:ARE YOU AN ADULT THAT CANNOT READ? IF SO, WE CAN HELP.

In a City restaurant:OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK, AND WEEKENDS TOO.

In a Pumwani maternity ward:NO CHILDREN ALLOWED.

In a cemetery:PERSONS ARE PROHIBITED FROM PICKING FLOWERS FROM ANY BUT THEIR OWNGRAVES.

Sign in Japanese public bath:FOREIGN GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO PULL COCK IN TUB.

Tokyo hotel's rules and regulations:GUESTS ARE REQUESTED NOT TO SMOKE OR DO OTHER DISGUSTING BEHAVIOURS IN BED.

On the menu of a Swiss restaurant:OUR WINES LEAVE YOU NOTHING TO HOPE FOR.

In a Tokyo bar:SPECIAL COCKTAILS FOR THE LADIES WITH NUTS.

In a Bangkok temple:IT IS FORBIDDEN TO ENTER A WOMAN EVEN A FOREIGNER DRESSED AS A MAN.

Hotel room notice,Chiang-Mai, Thailand:PLEASE DO NOT BRING SOLICITORS INTO YOUR ROOM.

Hotel, Japan:YOU ARE INVITED TO TAKE ADVANTAGE OF THE CHAMBERMAID.

In the lobby of a Moscow hotel across from a Russian Orthodox monastery:YOU ARE WELCOME TO VISIT THE CEMETERY WHERE FAMOUS RUSSIAN AND SOVIETCOMPOSERS, ARTISTS, AND WRITERS ARE BURIED DAILY EXCEPT THURSDAY.

Supermarket, Hong Kong:FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE,WE RECOMMEND COURTEOUS, EFFICIENT SELF-SERVICE.

Hotel, Zurich:BECAUSE OF THE IMPROPRIETY OF ENTERTAINING GUESTS OF THE OPPOSITE SEX IN THE BEDROOM, IT IS SUGGESTED THAT THE LOBBY BE USED FOR THISPURPOSE.

An advertisement by a Hong Kong dentist:TEETH EXTRACTED BY THE LATEST METHODISTS.

A laundry in Rome:LADIES, LEAVE YOUR CLOTHES HERE AND SPEND THE AFTERNOON HAVING A GOOD TIME.

Advertisement for donkey rides, Thailand:WOULD YOU LIKE TO RIDE ON YOUR OWN ASS?

The box of a clockwork toy made in Hong Kong:GUARANTEED TO WORK THROUGHOUT ITS USEFUL LIFE.

In a Swiss mountain inn:SPECIAL TODAY - NO ICE-CREAM.

Airline ticket office, Copenhagen:WE TAKE YOUR BAGS AND SEND THEM IN ALL DIRECTIONS

Story with Moral

It could happens:

A woman and a man are involved in a car accident; it's a bad one. Both of their cars are totally demolished but amazingly neither of them are hurt.

After they crawl out of their cars, the woman says, "So you're a man; that's interesting. I'm a woman. Wow, just look at our cars! There's nothing left, but fortunately we are unhurt. This must Be a sign from God that we should meet and be friends and live together in peace for the rest of our days."

Flattered, the man replied, "Oh yes, I agree with you completely!"

"This must be a sign from God!" The woman continued, "And look at this, here's another miracle. My car is completely demolished but this bottle of wine didn't break. Surely God wants us to drink this wine and celebrate our good fortune."

Then she hands the bottle to the man.

The man nods his head in agreement, opens it and drinks half the bottle and then hands it back to the woman.

The woman takes the bottle, immediately puts the cap back on, and hands it back to the man.

The man asks, "Aren't you having any?"

The woman replies, "No. I think I'll just wait for the police..."

Moral of the story: Women are very clever . Don't mess with them.

Cartoons

Foi dito

"A ideia de que 20, 100 ou 500.000 americanos, que vêm de uma civilização exótica e que não falam árabe, podem 'pacificar' o Iraque é eminentemente estúpida." - Vasco Pulido Valente, in PÚBLICO

"Por outras palavras, a 'nova esquerda' do Eng. Sócrates não é mais do que a antiga direita do prof. Cavaco Silva que, até aqui, detinha o monopólio do rigor e o exclusivo da determinação." - Constança Cunha e Sá, Idem

"Lembro já com nostalgia o peixe da hora do almoço, quase sempre peixe-galo, em que estávamos certos de que o galo não cantava há uns quinze anos e se encontrava perdido nos matres frios da Groenlândia, pobrezinho(Alegrias de comer)." - Eduardo Prado Coelho, in PÚBLICO

"Como ministro de Guterres, [Sócrates] aprendeu o que não fazer e, como primeiro-ministro sob Cavaco, tem mostrado que sabe o que fazer." - João Cardoso Rosas, in DIÁRIO ECONÓMICO

"O Governo devia ter cuidado na forma como anda a vender o seu optimismo militante. Pior do que um discurso pessimista é um discurso cujo optimismo não tem tradução na realidade." - Camilo Lourenço, in JORNAL DE NEGÓCIOS

Blair Government

Government to close 551 websites

The Blair government has put many services onlineHundreds of government websites are to be shut down "to make access to information easier" for people.
Of 951 sites, only 26 will definitely stay, 551 will definitely close and hundreds more are expected to follow.
In future government information will be streamlined through two main sites - Directgov and Business Link.
The Cabinet Office called it a natural step as people shifted their interest to use what it called "supersites" such as Directgov and the BBC website.
The annual report on "transformational strategy", published on Wednesday, said 90 websites had already been closed.

SITES BEING AXED
Parents Online
Supporting People Strategies Toolkit
Floor Targets Interactive
Interactive Whiteboards Catalogue
UK Man and Biosphere
Government Decontamination Service
Home Information Pack
Drinking Water Inspectorate
Civil Service Statistics

In full: The 551 doomed sites

Cabinet Office minister Pat McFadden said there had been a need to "deal decisively" with the proliferation of government websites.
About £9m a year was expected to be saved over three years by cutting back on "vanity" sites that do not serve a useful purpose.
Some information from the closed sites will be transferred to Directgov, for individuals, and Business Link, or will be put on the remaining sites.
It is intended that there will end up being these two main "supersites", one site for each department and then a very few others such as NHS Direct.
Among those which are being axed are out-of-date sites like Urban Summit 2002 as well as others such as UK Man and Biosphere Programme - a UNESCO project - and the Drinking Water Inspectorate, both of which will now come under the Defra website.
According to Ofcom, when Labour came to power in 1997, only 5% of households had internet access, but that has now risen to 57%.
And the Cabinet Office believes that people prefer to find what they need quickly and easily rather than choosing to surf across huge numbers of sites.

Full article, at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/politics/6247703.stm

Las Vegas

The Entertainment Capital of the World, Sin City

Localização da cidade: Estado de Nevada Estado

Condado: Condado de Clark. Fundado em 1844. Incorporado em 15 de maio de 1905.

Área - Cidade 293,6 km² - Água 0,1 km² (0,04%) População (2005) - Cidade 545,147 habitantes - Densidade 1 840,2 hab/km².Las Vegas é a maior cidade do Estado americano de Nevada. Localiza-se no sul do Estado, no Condado de Clark, do qual a cidade é sede. A cidade propriamente dita possui 545 147 habitantes, e sua região metropolitana possui cerca de 1,9 milhão de habitantes. A cidade foi fundada em 1905.

Famosa por seus cassinos, Las Vegas é conhecida como o "Parque de Diversões da América". Na Las Vegas Boulevard, mais conhecida como Strip, encontram-se os cassinos mais imponentes do mundo como o Stratosphere, Treasure Island, The Venetian, Paris, Aladdin, Belaggio, MGM Grand, New York, New York, Luxor, Mandalay Bay, só para citar alguns.

Fonte: Wikipedia

Diz-se

"Em Portugal há muita confrontação política, muito discurso político, pouco debate político e nenhuma reflexão política." - Leonel Moura, in JORNAL DE NOTÍCIAS

"Portugal precisa de menos discursos e de mais actos concretos. Neste aspecto não pode deixar de constatar-se que o actual Governo vai no bom sentido. É certamente o Governo que fala menos e que procura só falar quando tem alguma coisa para dizer." - Idem, Ibidem

"Um dos fenómenos mais estranhos da política, tal como é praticada pelos chamados 'políticos' é o modo como as pessoas mudam logo que alcamçam o poder." - Manuel António Pina, in JORNAL DE NOTÍCIAS

100th Country

We got to-day the hundredth Country to visit this blog, and in fact, as we expected, is a magic number. It comes from a Satellite Provider! No country identified.

Under the circumstances, the promised gift goes to number 101, once correctly identified of course!

Diz-se

"Ou Pacheco Pereira é uma afável mente distraída que vê na morte, na destruição e no esmagamento dos direitos humanos a pura ingenuidade que reclama, ou delira, ou sofre da mais pura desonestinada intelectual." - João Teixeira Lopes, in PÚBLICO

"Transformar a arte de viver numa técnica medida "a régua e esquadro" mete um bocadinho de impressão..." (porque os restaurantes americanas terão de indicar à frente de todos os pratos da ementa, a respectiva quantidade de calorias) - Joaquim Fidalgo, Idem

"Em 2003, os governantes americanos gostaram de se comparar a Churchill. Teria sido mais correcto compararem-se a Chamberlain." - Rui Ramos, Idem

"Eles [os adeptos do 'não] têm uma dificuldade enorme em explicar por que é que uma mulher que pratica um aborto até às dez semanas tem de ser submetida a uma pena de prisão", disse Alda Macedo (BE)

"Não esperem de nós demagogia ou ruído. Este debate não precisa de clichés nem de frases feitas. Não esperem slogans, mas moderação e ponderação." - Tiago Duarte, professor universitário

Deusa da Fecundidade, há cerca de 8.000 anos a.C.
Está representada durante o parto, num trono rodeado por dois leopardos. Peças idêntidas existentes no Museu de Ancara, Turqia

O Esqueleto do Cosmos

A matéria escura é exótica

A sampling of famous astronomers

Astronomer Contribution

Hipparchus and Ptolemy Determined the positions of about 1,000 bright stars, tried to explain the puzzles of astronomy without refuting the geocentric model of universe and classified stars by magnitude.

Aristarchus of Samos First known person to propound the heliocentric model of universe. Attempted to calculate the sizes and distances of the Sun and Moon.

Nasir al-Din al-Tusi This Persian astronomer gave the first extant exposition of the whole system of plane and spherical trigonometry. Made very accurate tables of planetary movements and named many stars. Developed the Tusi-couple which resolves linear motion into the sum of two circular motions. He also calculated the value of 51' for the precession of the equinoxes and contributed to construction and usage of astrolabe.

Nicolaus Copernicus First exponent of heliocentrism in modern times.

Tycho Brahe Did develop many important astronomical instruments, and achieved accurate measurments of the heavens by improving scentific methodology and by designing instruments on a large scale. His measurements of the orbit of Mars were very important to the development of astronomy.

Johannes Kepler Suggested the elliptical orbits of planets, and propounded his Laws of Planetary Motion.

Galileo Galilei Was the first to use the telescope to observe the sky. Condemned to house arrest for his discoveries by Inquisitional edict, which was lifted 359 years later by Pope John Paul II.

Jeremiah Horrocks First to observe the transit of Venus, he also improved estimates of the distance of the sun from the earth and the size of Venus and other planets. Also correctly showed that the moon's orbit was elliptical, and suggested influence on its orbit from the sun as well as the earth.

Isaac Newton Published Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica (1687), containing the "Newton's laws of motion", which are fundamental to mechanical physics, and which explained Kepler's laws of planetary motion. Predicted the orbits of the planets.

Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar Extensive work on the internal mechanisms of stars, particularly known for determining the effect of special relativity on stars, including being the first to calculate the Chandrasekhar limit, which he did, without a calculator, on a boat journey.

Henrietta Swan Leavitt Catalogued Cepheid variable stars in the Magellanic Clouds, in 1912 discovered the relationship between luminosty and periodicity in Cepheids -- leading to Hertzsprung's later work.

Ejnar Hertzsprung Determined the distance to several Cepheids, when Cepheids were detected in other galaxies such as the Andromeda galaxy, the distance to those galaxies could then be determined.

Edwin Hubble Discovered the expansion of the universe. (Hubble's Law) The Hubble Orbiting Space Telescope was named in his honor.

SOURCE: VIKIPEDIA

Visits

Two more visits to this blog during last day, and two new Countries were added up our number to

99

MACEDÓNIA, from Skiopje
BOSNIA & HERZEGOVINA, from Careva Cuprija.

We thank very much these visits, as well as all the others that occour all days!

For us, the number 100 is magic, and we are prepared to send a national (Portuguese)gift to the first blogger of the next Country to reach that number, providing that we got a name and a complete address!

At the end of the blog, we display a map that sumarizes all entries, per day and hours.

100 (ONE HUNDRED)

Diz-se

"Se a consagração do Natal enquanto marco obrigatório no calendário representa, por um lado, um triunfo do cristianismo, por outro, na visão dos praticantes mais exigentes, significa também uma degradação da espiritualidade que lhe deveria, nessa prespectiva, estar associada."

- Mário Mesquita (Palcos de Discórdia), in DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS

"As mulheres que tenham situações angustiantes que as levem a pensar poder fazer um aborto têm de saber que aquilo que herdam é uma complexidade de problemas: tornam-se sete vezes mais vulneráveis ao suicídio quando comparadas com aquelas mulheres que dão à luz". - Margarida Neto, médica, na Convenção Nacional do "Não", da Plataforma Não Obrigado

"Judeus, cristãos e muçulmanos podem todos dizer que "Deus é amor e que a paz é o nome das suas religiões. Não devem, esquecer, no entanto, que são frases que podem ser ensinadas a qualquer papagaio." - Frei Bento Domingues, O.P.

BORDA D'ÁGUA

O Verdadeiro Almanaque BORDA D'ÁGUA

Cartoons da semana

Criticar é fácil

Vamos usar este 'chapéu de chuva' para acomodar algumas expressões que vão aqui e ali surgindo, em que manifestam insatisfação, repúdio, mal querer, rejeição, não-acordo, e sobre tudo o mais que não sejam a favor de quem quer que seja.

A expressão é genuínamente portuguesa, e é utilizada a torto e a direito, pois antes de ser escolhida resolvemos localizar na Net a sua utilização, quando e como. Nós os brasileiros e os espanhóis também a utilizam.

Vamos a isso:

"Com meio milhão de desempregados e 20% da população no limiar da pobreza, conseguimos a façanha de despender, neste Natal, mais quatro mil milhões de euros do que no ano passado." - Helena Sacadura Cabral, in DIÁRIO DE NOTÍCIAS

"Se a tal comportamento juntarmos a loucura das mensagens por telemóvel - 427 milhões de MMS - , ficamos com uma certa imagem do país: pobrete, alegrete, despreocupado, cultor da família e dos amigos e pouco crédulo de 'amanhãs sombrios' -Idem, Ibidem

"Este governo promete imenso. Faz imensas apresentações. Elabora muitos planos. Planeia muitíssimas reformas. (...) A enorme incógnita é saber se alguma reforma será efectivamente concretizada." - Manuel Falcão, in JORNAL DE NEGÓCIOS

Diz-se

"É positivo e raro um ditador ser condenado pelos crimes que cometeu. Ao contrário de Pinochet, Saddam foi julgado e condenado pelas suas atrocidades. Mas não devia ter sido condenado à morte, nem executado. É intolerável, é uma afronta à civilização." - Jorge Coelho, in DIÁRIO ECONÓMICO

"Em 2007, Sócrates estará no meio da ponte: ou a consegue atravessar, ou ficam comprometidos objectivos fundamentais." - José Carlos de Vasconcelos, in VISÃO

"Nenhuma mulher gosta de beijos que a façam sentir como na cadeira de hihienista." - Margarida Rebelo Pinto, in SOL

"Votar 'não' é que é moderno!", Matilde Sousa Franco, na apresentação do Movimento Norte pela Vida

"Recuso-me a aceitar que recuemos civilizacionalmente, reestabelecendo uma variante da pena de morte, de que nos orgulhamos de ter sido dos primeiros [países] a abolir." - José Pedro Ahuiar Branco, ex-ministro da justiça, idem
"O aborto é também uma questão de igualdade, pois o direito de decidir de uma maternidade estabelece essa igualdade. Não mais a natureza ou o Estado a decidir sobre a vida e o futuro das mulheres, mas elas próprias." - Madalena Barrosa, in PÚBLICO

2Há homens capazes de trair, de mentir, de renunciar a tudo, por um livro. Homens capazes de matar, só porque, um dia, leram um livro." - Paulo Moura, in PÚBLICO

Ghana, Kenya, Kazakstan

Ghana, officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It borders Côte d'Ivoire to the west, Burkina Faso to the north, Togo to the east, and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. Accra is the capital and largest city. The country's population in 2005 was 21,029,853.

Inland Ashanti kingdom and various Fante states along the coast. Trade with European states flourished after contact with the Portuguese in the 15th century, and the British established a crown colony, Gold Coast, in 1874.

It was the first black African country to obtain independence from colonial rule. Upon achieving independence from the United Kingdom in 1957, the name Ghana was chosen for the new nation as a reference to its ancient roots in the Empire of Ghana.

strong> also spelled Kazakstan, officially the Republic of Kazakhstan, is a country that stretches over a vast expanse of northern and central Eurasia. A portion of its territory equal to 370,373 square kilometres (bigger than Germany) is located to the west of the Ural River in eastern-most Europe.

It has borders with Russia, the People's Republic of China, and the Central Asian countries Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan, and has a coastline on the Caspian Sea.

Prior to full independence, Kazakhstan existed as the Kazakh SSR republic in the Soviet Union. It is now a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States.
Kazakhstan is the ninth-largest country in the world by area, but it is only 62nd country in population with approximately 6 persons per km² (15 per sq. mi.). The population in 2006 is estimated at 15,300,000, down from 16,464,464 in 1989 [2] due to the emigration of ethnic Russians and Volga Germans. Much of the country's land consists of semi-desert (steppe) terrain.

Country of Central Asia. It is bounded on the northwest and north by Russia, on the east by China, and on the south by Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, and the Aral Sea; the Caspian Sea bounds Kazakstan to the southwest. Kazakstan's 1,052,100 square miles (2,724,900 square kilometres) make it by far the largest state in Central Asia and the ninth largest in the world. Between its most distant points Kazakstan measures about 1,820 miles (2,930 kilometres) east to west and 960 miles north to south. While Kazakstan was not considered by authorities in the former Soviet Union to be a part of Central Asia, it does have physical and cultural geographic characteristics similar to those of the other Central Asian countries. The capital is Astana (formerly Tselinograd) in the north-central part of the country. Kazakstan, formerly a constituent (union) republic of the U.S.S.R., declared independence on Dec. 16, 1991.

The Republic of Keya is from the coast on the Indian Ocean the Low plains rise to central highlands. The highlands are bisected by Great Rift Valley; fertile plateau in west. The Kenyan Highlands comprise one of the most successful agricultural production regions in Africa. The highlands are the site of the highest point in Kenya (and the second highest in Africa): Mount Kenya, which reaches 5,199 meters (17,057 ft) and is also the site of glaciers. Climate varies from tropical along the coast to arid in interior.


Is a country in Eastern Africa. It is bordered by Ethiopia to the north, Somalia to the east, Tanzania to the south, Uganda to the west, and Sudan to the northwest, with the Indian Ocean running along the southeast border

At 224,961 mi² (582,646 km²), Kenya is the world's forty-seventh largest country (after Madagascar). It is comparable in size to France, and is somewhat smaller than the US state of Texas.

SOURCE: WIKIPEDIA

UP-dated visits

During the last three days this blog was visited, for the first time, by bloggers of three Countries and the counter went up to 97 countries with a total of 6.500 visits since January 2006.

The Countries are: Ghana, Kenya and Kazarkstan. For us this is an opportunity to have up-dated information of this Nations.

Post above of to-day put some details about those three Countries.

Visitas

As visitas a este blog nas últimas 24 horas: Location Time Lisbon, Portugal Wed, 03 Jan 2007 06:05:45 -0500 Tallinn, Estonia Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:54:45 -0500 Reykjavík, Iceland Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:53:28 -0500 Praha, Czech Republic Wed, 03 Jan 2007 05:30:10 -0500 Aberdeen, United Kingdom Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:56:02 -0500 Innsbruck, Austria Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:53:42 -0500 Tallinn, EstoniaWed, 03 Jan 2007 04:52:34 -0500 Tallinn, Estonia Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:35:53 -0500 Ardee, Ireland Wed, 03 Jan 2007 04:11:13 -0500 Dubai, United Arab Emirates Wed, 03 Jan 2007 01:33:46 -0500 Calcutta, India Wed, 03 Jan 2007 00:10:25 -0500 Seoul, Korea, Republic of Tue, 02 Jan 2007 23:49:11 -0500 Erie, PA, United States Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:13:08 -0500 Mountain View, CA, United States Tue, 02 Jan 2007 22:03:48 -0500 Lisbon, Portugal Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:44:08 -0500 Amadora, Portugal Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:29:26 -0500 Lisbon, Portugal Tue, 02 Jan 2007 17:22:27 -0500 Santos, Brazil Tue, 02 Jan 2007 16:12:34 -0500 Amadora, Portugal Tue, 02 Jan 2007 15:24:38 -0500 Salreu, Portugal Tue, 02 Jan 2007 14:29:23 -0500 Chesapeake City, MD, United States Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:39:53 -0500 Marlton, NJ, United States Tue, 02 Jan 2007 12:36:49 -0500 Cristuru Secuiesc, Romania Tue, 02 Jan 2007 11:50:31 -0500 Kelowna, BC, Canada Tue, 02 Jan 2007 10:39:31 -0500 Sorila, Finland

Fun Facts (2)

Fun Facts


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 fi rst 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 for ce 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

TOP

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

"Hippopotomonstroses quippedaliophobi a" 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.

The word "lethologica" describes the state of not being able to remember the word you want.

The word salary came from the word salt in Roman times. Salt was used as a trading medium - money.

The verb "cleave" is the only English word with two synonyms which are antonyms of each other: adhere and separate.

Someone who is "pauciloquent" uses as few words as possible when speaking.

Poliosis is the graying of the hair. It comes from polios, the Greek word for "gray".

The word 'denim' comes from 'de Nimes', Nimes being the town.

The largest crossword puzzle ever published had 2631 clues across and 2922 clues down. It took up 16 sq. feet of space.

The phrase "honeymoon" came from the Greeks. It was customary for the bride's family to supply the groom with a month (or full moon cycle) of the wedding wine, which tasted like honey.

The word "Oral-B" is a combination of oral hygiene and the letter B, which stands for the word better.

Graffito is the little-used singular of the much used plural word graffiti.

Orange and black became Halloween colors because orange is associated with harvests and black is associated with death "Hallow" is an old word meaning holy, while "e'en" is Scottish for evening.

The word "alphabet" Comes from the first 2 letters of the Greek alphabet, Alpha and Beta.

Canada is an Indian word meaning 'Big Village'.

The word 'Checkmate' in chess comes from the Persian phrase 'Shah Mat,' which means 'the king is dead'.

There are only four words in the English language which end in '-dous': tremendous, horrendous, stupendous, and hazardous.

President Kennedy was the fastest random speaker in the world with upwards of 350 words per minute.

First newspaper crossword puzzle was published in a Sunday supplement to the New York World in 1913

The word "listen" contains the same letters as the word "silent".

The only 15 letter word that can be spelled without repeating a letter is "uncopyrightable".

"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

The word "samba" means "to rub navels together."

Did you know that the words 'lakh' and 'crore' do not exist in the English language? The two words are only used in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and are derivatives of the Hindi words laakh and karod.

The scientific term for nose-picking is "rhinotillexonamia".

In England, in the 1880's, "Pants" was considered a dirty word!

Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates h ands when typing!

Know what Mafia means? "Morte Allafrancia Italia Anela "Death to the French is Italy's cry!"

A fireplace is called a mantelpiece because, at one time, people hung their coats over the fireplace to dry them.

The "left bank" of a river is the left side as you look downstream

The Rx sign that pharmacists use was originally the astrological sign for Jupiter

Taresthesia is what you call it when your foot falls asleep

The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'

Women who wink at men are known as "nictitating" women

The letters KGB stand for Komitet Gosudarstvennoy Bezopasnosti

Hydroponics is the technique by which plants are grown in water without soil

The permanent teeth that erupt to replace their primary predecessors (baby teeth) are called succedaneous teeth

The raised reflective dots in the middle of highways are called Botts dots

Sunbeams that shine down through the clouds are called crespucular rays

A "pogonip" is a heavy winter fog containing ice crystals

The thin line of cloud that forms behind an aircraft at high altitudes is called a contrail
The forward slash character on your keyboard is also known as a slant, virgule or solidus

In the Chinese written language, the ideograph for "trouble" represents two women under one roof

A misomaniac is someone who hates everything

The infinite sign is called a Lemniscate

Priests in Australia advise you to say Happy Christmas, not Merry Christmas, because Merry has connotations of getting drunk.

The act of yawning and stretching is called "pandiculation."

A group of crows is called a murder

A "clue" originally meant a ball of thread. This is why one is said to unravel the clues of a mystery

In circus parlance, a "Joey" is a clown with at least five years of experience.

'Smithee' is a pseudonym that filmmakers use when they don't want their names to appear in the credits.


A collector who attempts to collect an example of every item in a particular field is called a 'completist' .


Mummies, are so called because of the wax (or 'mum' ) which is smeared on to the bandages for waterproofing


The "O" when used as a prefix in Irish surnames means "descendant of"


The dot over the letter 'i' is called a tittle


A 'bibliophile' is one who collects rare books.


A 'bibliopole' is a seller of rare books.


A nihilist believes in nothing


The little bits of paper left over when holes are punched in data cards or tape are called "chad"


The name "piano" is an abbreviation of Cristofori's original name for the instrument: piano et forte, or soft and loud


The loop on a belt that holds the loose-end is called a "keeper"


Blype is the skin that pee ls off after a bad sunburn


The relationship of a godparent to the real parent of a child is called 'compaternity'


A 'nullipara' is a woman who has never given birth to a child.


"Whirly Girls" is the name of the International Association of Women Helicopter Pilots.


Obsessive nose picking is referred to as rhinotillexomania


Switching letters is called spoonerism. For example, saying jag of Flapan, instead of flag of Japan


The chef's tall hat is called a "toque".


A building in which silence is enforced, like a library or school room, is referred to as a "silentium"


Fiat stands for Fabbrica Italiana Automobile Torino, the name of the Italian manufacturer


"Steatopygia" means an accumulation of fat in the buttocks


The little bumps on the surface of a table tennis paddle are called pips


A "quidnunc" is a person who is eager to know the latest news and gossip


The 'v' in the name of a court case does not stand for 'versus', but for 'and' (in civil proceedings) or 'against' (in criminal proceedings)


The ZIP in Zip-code stands for Zoning Improvement Plan


In genealogy, the female side of the family is called the distaff side the male side is the spear side.


If you are taking a class in pistology, you are not studying pistols, but rather, faith.


The science of determining characteristic traits by examining a person's shoes is scarpology


The study of stupidity is called 'monology'


The search for the existence of ghosts is Eidology


The study of word origins is called etymology


Synesthesia is a rare condition in which the senses are combined.


Synesthetes see words, taste colors and shapes and feel flavors.


Groaking is to watch people eating food hoping they'll offer you some.


The name Jeep came from the abbreviation used in the army for the "General Purpose" vehicle, G.P


The little hole in the sink that lets the water drain out, instead of flowing over the side, is called a "porcelator"


The 'You are here' arrow on a map is called the IDEO locator.


Th e term Cop comes from Constable on Patrol, which is a term used in England.


Colgate faced a big obstacle marketing toothpaste in Spanish speaking countries. Colgate translates into the command "go hang yourself."


The plastic things on the end of shoelaces are called aglets.


A person who collects teddy bears is called an archtophilist.


The term karaoke means "empty orchestra" in Japanese.

TOP


Sports/Games:


Most soccer players run 7 miles in a game.


Holes in a golf course must be 4.25 inches in diameter, and at least 4 inches deep.


In tennis, zero points is referred to as love, which is possibly derived from the French word for egg, l'oeuf, referring to the physical appearance of the number zero.


The Olympic was the sister ship of the Titanic, and she provided twenty-five years of service.


The sport with the most number of officials with relation to players is tennis. There are 13 officials for two players.


The spots on dice are called "pips."


If you add up all the number on a roulette wheel, that is 1through 36, you get '666', the biblical number of fallen man.


The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail (HP), India, 2444 mt above sea level


The Australian term for extras in cricket are 'sundries'


Since 1896, the beginning of the modern Olympics, only Greece and Australia have partic ipated in every Games


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


The metal instrument used in shoe stores to measure feet is called the Brannock device


Sunbeams that shine down through clouds are called crepuscular rays

TOP


Animal Kingdom:


Bats always turn left when exiting a cave.


Sharks have no air bladders, so they must swim constantly or they'll sink.


Cockroaches can go without eating for three months, as long as they have water.


Birds are largely unaffected by spicy things, like chillies, as they are not sensitive to capsaicin, the ho t stuff in chilies.


The male penguin incubates the single egg laid by his mate. During the two month period he does not eat, and will lose up to 40% of his body weight.


"Mako sharks" show cannibalistic tendencies while still in mother's womb; older embryos will eat the younger embryos and eggs.


Dalmatians are born without spots.


Birds do not sleep in their nests. They may occasionally nap in them, but they actually sleep in other places.


The owl is the only bird to drop its upper eyelid to wink. All other birds raise their lower eyelids.


"Sanguinary ants" raid the nests of other ant tribes, kill the queen, and kidnap many of the workers


Frogs do not need to drink water as they absorb the water through their skin.
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Humans, Ants and Chimpanzees are the only organisms that wage organized warfare.


The penguin is the only bird that can swim but can't fly.


Kiwis are the only birds that hunt by smell.


Ninety percent of all species that have become extinct have been birds.


The elephant is the only mammal with four knees.


Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.


Mosquitoes are attracted to the color blue twice as much as any other color


There are twice as many kangaroos in Australia as there are people.


Centipedes always have an uneven pairs of walking legs.


Roosters cannot crow if they cannot extend their necks.

Male and female giraffes tend to eat from different parts of a tree to ensure that the sexes do not compete for food.


The albatross can glide on air currents for several days and can even sleep while in flight.


A crocodile always grows new teeth to replace the old teeth.


Bulls are colorblind, it is the motion of the cape which angers them.


Giraffes rarely sleep more than 20 minutes a day


Not a single new livestock animal has been domesticated in the last 4,000 years.


Honeybees navigate using the sun as a compass, even when it is hidden behind clouds


An ant can survive for up to two weeks underwater.


Eel-skin wallets have been known to demagnetize cred it cards


In the magic world of seahorses it is the male who gets pregnant and has the babies.


A blind Chameleon is still able to change colours to match its environment.


Spiders inject their victims with a chemical that dissolves them. Then the spiders drink their lunch with their mouths which are soda straw-like.


When hippos are upset, their sweat turns red.


If you cut the head off a cockroach, it will continue to live for up to many more weeks.


Male mosquitoes are vegetarians. Only female bites.


A cheetah can accelerate from 0 to 70 km/h in 2 seconds


Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean


Sharks never get sick, as far as is known, they are immune to every known disease including cancer


Sharks will eat anything. The only exception, is that they will not eat anything in the vicinity of where they give birth. This is because they are so stupid, this is the only way nature protects them from accidentally eating their own babies


If a drop of liquor gets on a scorpion, it will immediately commit suicide with its own stinger


The ant can lift 50 times its own weight, can pull 30 times its own weight


Female black widow spiders eat their husbands after mating. That's how they got that name


All shrimp are born male, but slowly grow into females as they mature


Frogs never drink. They absorb water from their surroundings by osmosis


About 70% of a ll organisms in the world are Bacteria


Male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality of any mammal


Ants stretch when they wake up. They also appear to yawn in a very human manner before taking up the tasks of the day


To make half a kilo of honey, bees must collect nectar from over 2 million individual flowers


Fish that live more than 800 meters below the ocean surface don't have eyes


Tiger Snake of Australia is the most poisonous snake in the world. 1 mg of its venom is enough to kill a man


The common silkworm has eleven brains. It only uses five of them.


A newborn kangaroo is about 1 inch in length.


Cats, camels and giraffes are the only animals in the world that walk right foo t, right foot, left foot, left foot, rather than right foot, left foot


Polar bears are the only mammal with hair on the soles of its feet


A monotreme is a mammal that lays eggs but suckles its young on milk once they have hatched


Flamingos get their pink color from the shrimp they eat. The more shrimp they eat the deeper pink they become


Water based mammals like dolphins and whales swish their tails up and down. Only fish move them sideways


A lion's roar can be heard from five miles away


Snails can sleep for 3 years without eating


Termites eat wood twice as fast when listening to heavy metal music


Dolphins don't automatically breath; they have to tell themselves to do it


Ostriches stick their heads into the sand to find underground drinking water


Pigeons can be killed by feeding them uncooked rice, either coz their stomach can't handle the carbohydrates or it swells in their throats and chokes them


The two-foot long bird called a Kea that lives in New Zealand likes to eat the strips of rubber around car windows!


To make just one pound of honey, bees must collect nectar from over two million seperate flowers


Cuban bee hummingbird is the smallest hummingbird, only 57 mm (2¼ in) long and half of this is tail and bill. It weighs less than 2 g and is the smallest warm-blooded animal


The color white in the animal kingdom means 'danger' or 'caution'. On safari in Africa it is recommended not to wear white because it can scare away the animals


Cockroach can detect movement as small as 2,000 times the diameter of a hydrogen atom


The cockroach is the fastest animal on 6 legs, covering a meter a second


The cockroach has a high resistance to radiation and is the creature most likely to survive a nuclear war


The only 2 animals that can see behind itself without turning it's head are the rabbit and the parrot


Did you know that a giraffe can kill a lion with one kick


A sea urchin walks on the tips of its teeth


Humans are the only animals to sleep on their backs


Perfume is frequently made from - among other things- a slippery, musky substance called Ambergris which is vomited up by certain species of whales from time to time


The female angler-fish weights up to half a ton. The male, however, is only a few millimeters long, and spends his whole life attached to her nose


The Panda bear is expected to become extinct by about 2040, barring a drastic change of events


Hummingbirds are the only animal that can fly backwards


Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over a million descendants


It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky


Elephants have been known to remain standing after they die


The embryos of tiger sharks fight each other while in their mother's womb, the survivor being the baby shark that is born


A crocodile can't move its tongue and ca nnot chew. Its digestive juices are so strong that it can digest a steel nail.


The heart of a blue whale is the size of a small car. The tongue of a blue whale is as long as an elephant


A shark is the only fish that can blink with both eyes


Giraffes are unable to cough


Dolphins swim in circles while they sleep with the eye on the outside of the circle open to keep watch for predators. After a certain amount of time they reverse and swim in the opposite direction with the opposite eye open


A newborn turkey chick has to be taught to eat, or it will starve


Owls are the only birds that can see the color blue.


A hippopotamus can run faster than a man.


It would take 27,000 spiders, each sp inning a single web, to produce a pound of web


A chameleon's tongue is twice the length of its body


A woodpecker can peck twenty times a second


Ants don't sleep


Aphids are born pregnant without the benefit of sex. Aphids can give birth 10 days after being born themselves


Camel milk does not curdle.


Each day in the US, animal shelters are forced to destroy 30,000 dogs and cats


German Shepherds bite humans more than any other breed of dogs.


Large kangaroos cover more than 30 feet with each jump


It takes forty minutes to hard boil an ostrich egg


It takes a lobster approximately seven years to grow to be one pound

No two spider webs are the same
It takes 35 to 65 minks to produce the average mink coat. The numbers for other types of fur coats are: beaver - 15; fox - 15 to 25; ermine - 150; chinchilla - 60 to 100


In its entire lifetime, the average worker bee produces 1/12th teaspoon of honey.


The only domestic animal not mentioned in the Bible is the cat


The Pacific Giant Octopus, the largest octopus in the world, grows from the size of pea to a 150 pound behemoth potentially 30 feet across in only two years, its entire life-span.


The penalty for killing a cat, 4,000 years ago in Egypt, was death.


The fastest -moving land snail, the common garden snail, has a speed of 0.0313 mph.


Swans are the only birds with penises


Snails produce a colorless, sticky discharge that forms a protective carpet under them as they travel along. The discharge is so effective that they can crawl along the edge of a razor without cutting themselves


The animal responsible for the most human deaths world-wide is the mosquito.


The dachshund is one of the oldest dog breeds in history (dating back to ancient Egypt.) The name comes from one of its earliest uses - hunting badgers. In German, Dachs means "badger," Hund is "hound."


A zebra is white with black stripes


The turkey was named for what was wrongly thought to be its country of origin


The venom of a female black widow spider is more potent than that of a rattlesnake


The world's largest mammal, the blue whale, weighs 50 tons at birth. Fully grown, it weighs as much as 150 tons


There are more insects in one square mile of rural land than there are human beings on the entire earth


When a female horse and male donkey mate, the offspring is called a mule, but when a male horse and female donkey mate, the offspring is called a hinny


When a queen bee lays the fertilized eggs that will develop into new queens, only one of the newly laid queens actually survives. The first new queen that emerges from her cell destroys all other queens in their cells and, thereafter, reigns alone


When ants find food, they lay down a chemical trail, called a pheromone, so that other ants can find their way from the nest to the food source


If an octopus is hungry enough, it will eat its own arms.

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Insects consume 10% of the world's food supply every year


The placement of a donkey's eyes in its' heads enables it to see all four feet at all times


The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds!


Cat's urine glows under a black-light!


The world's termites outweigh the world's humans 10 to 1


Research indicates that mosquitoes are attracted to people who have recently eaten bananas.


Carnivorous animals will not eat another animal that has been hit by a lightning strike.


Over 10000 birds a year die from smashing into windows


The Puffer Fish contains a poison that is 500 times deadlier than cyanide, yet it's a delicacy in Japan.


India has no rabbits in the wild – only hares

Fun Facts (1)

Fun facts:

It takes about 20 seconds for a red blood cell to circle the whole body.

It's been proven that people can lessen reactions to allergies by laughing.

Laughing lowers levels of stress hormones and strengthens the immune system.

Six-year-olds laugh an average of 300 times a day. Adults only laugh 15 to 100 times a day.

In the middle ages, people would pin the name of their sweetheart to their sleeve on Valentine's Day and keep i t there for a week, hence 'wearing their heart on their sleeve'.

It was during the Victorian era that the formerly nude Cupid was redesigned as wearing a skirt.

The human heart creates enough pressure while pumping to squirt blood 30 feet!!

February 1865 is the only month in recorded history not to have a full moon.

Tomato Ketchup was once used as medicine in the United States. Was sold as "Dr.Miles Compound Extract of Tomato"

When you blush, the lining of your stomach also turns red

Dating back to the 1600's, thermometers were filled with Brandy instead of mercury

The quartz crystal in your wristwatch vibrates 32,768 times a second

An earthquake on Dec. 16, 1811 caused parts of the Mississippi River to flow backwards.

Shoe sizes were standardized in Britain in 1885

The average person's eyes will be closed about 30 minutes a day due to blinking.

Women blink nearly twice as much as men.

Every day 200 million couples make love, 400,000 babies are born, and 140,000 people die.

There are at least 40 known carcinogens in cigarettes.

The earliest British expeditions tackling Everest wore tweed jackets, woolen underwear, and leather boots.

The amniotic fluid that surrounds a baby in the womb is completely replaced every three hours.

During World War II, twice as many fighter pilots were killed during training than combat

In 1962 an outbreak of contagious laughter in Tanganyika lasted for six months and caused schools to be closed

A nautical mile measures 6,080 feet while a land or statute mile is 5,280 feet

No one can drown in the Dead Sea. It is 25 percent salt, which makes the water very heavy

Plants watered with warm water grow larger and more quickly than plants watered with cold water

Earth's oceans contain 7 1/2 million tons of gold, dissolved in the water

Children who are breastfed tend to have an I.Q. seven points higher than children who are not.

The bird flu virus could evolve into a form that is easily spread between people, resulting in a highly contagious and lethal disease.

The Chinese, in olden days, used marijuana only as a remedy for dysentery.

If you are right handed, you will tend to chew your food on the right side of your mouth. If you are left handed, you will tend to chew your food on the left side of your mouth.

To make half a kilo of honey, bees must collect nectar from over 2 million individual flowers

Heroin is the brand name of morphine once marketed by 'Bayer'.

Communications giant Nokia was founded in 1865 as a wood-pulp mill by Fredrik Idestam.

Tourists visiting Iceland should know that tipping at a restaurant is considered an insult!

People in nudist colonies play volleyball more than any other sport.

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

Astronauts can't belch- there is no gravity to separate liquid from gas in their stomachs.

Ancient Roman, Chinese and German societies often used urine as mouthwash.

The average person who stops smoking requires one hour less sleep a night.

The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. In the Renaissance era, it was fashion to shave them off!

Because of the speed at which Earth moves around the Sun, it is impossible for a solar eclipse to last more than 7 minutes and 58 seconds.

The night of January 20 is "Saint Agnes's Eve," which is regarded as a time when a young woman dreams of her future husband.

There are over 25 million bubbles waiting to burst out of each bottle of Champagne

Google is actually the common name for a number wi th a million zeros

It takes glass one million years to decompose, which means it never wears out and can be recycled an infinite amount of times!

The "heat" of peppers is rated on the Scoville scale

Gold is the only metal that doesn't rust, even if it's buried in the ground for thousands of years

Your tongue is the only muscle in your body that is attached at only one end

If you stop getting thirsty, you need to drink more water. For when a human body is dehydrated, its thirst mechanism shuts off.

Each year 2,000,000 smokers either quit smoking or die of tobacco-related diseases.

When it originally appeared in 1886 - Coca Cola was billed as an Esteemed Brain Tonic and Intellectual Beverage.

Zero is the only number that cannot be represented by Roman numerals

Kites were used in the American Civil War to deliver letters and newspapers.

The song, "Auld Lang Syne" is sung at the stroke of midnight in almost every English-speaking country in the world to bring in the new year.

For every real Christmas tree harvested, two to three seedlings are planted in its place.

Drinking water after eating reduces the acid in your mouth by 61 percent

Peanut oil is used for cooking in submarines because it doesn't smoke unless it's heated above 450°F

The Shell Oil Company originally began as a novelty shop in London that sold seashells

The roar that we hear when we place a seashell next to our ear is not the ocean, bu t rather the sound of blood surging through the veins in the ear.

Nine out of every 10 living things live in the ocean

The banana cannot reproduce itself. It can be propagated only by the hand of man

Airports at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density

Fish and Chip selling officially remained an offensive trade until 1940 due to the smell it produces

The University of Alaska spans four time zones

The tooth is the only part of the human body that cannot heal itself.

In ancient Greece, tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage. Catching it meant she accepted.

Do you know the names of the three wise monkeys? They are: Mizaru(See no e vil), Mikazaru(Hear no evil), and Mazaru(Speak no evil).

Warner Comm. paid $28 million for the copyright to the song 'Happy Birthday'

Intelligent people have more zinc and copper in their hair.

A comet's tail always points away from the sun

The "Swine flu" vaccine in 1976 caused more death and illness than the disease it was intended to prevent

Caffeine increases the power of aspirin and other painkillers, that is why it is found in some medicines.

The military salute is a motion that evolved from medieval times, when knights in armor raised their visors to reveal their identity.

If you get into the bottom of a well or a tall chimney and look up, you can see stars, even in the middle of the day.

When a person dies, hearing is the last sense to go. The first sense lost is sight

Trivia is the Roman goddess of sorcery, hounds and... the crossroads

In ancient times strangers shook hands to show that they were unarmed

Strawberries are the only fruits whose seeds grow on the outside

Avocados have the highest calories of any fruit at 167 calories per hundred grams

It cost the soft drink industry $100 million a year for thefts committed involving vending machines

The moon moves about two inches away from the Earth each year

The Earth gets 100 tons heavier every day due to falling space dust

Due to earth's gravity it is impossible for mountains to be higher than 15,000 meters

Men's shirts have the buttons on the right, but women's shirts have the buttons on the left

Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy

Soldiers do not march in step when going across bridges because they could set up a vibration which could be sufficient to knock the bridge down

The painting that won second place in a competition held by the US National Academy of Design was hanging upside down when it was judged

Everything weighs one percent less at the equator

For every extra kilogram carried on a space flight, 530 kg of excess fuel are needed at lift-off

The letter J does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of the elements

Snake venom is ninety percen t protein

Mercury is the only metal that is liquid at room temperature

Pizza Hut is the world's largest pizza restaurant serving close to 1.7 million pizzas a day

Beer foam will go down by licking your finger then sticking it in the beer

Those stars and colors you see when you rub your eyes are called phosphenes

A full-moon is nine times brighter than a half-moon

If all of the blood vessels in your body were placed end to end, they would stretch 12,000 miles

If you were to roll a lung from a human body and out flat it would be the size of a tennis court

Everyone's tongue print is different, like fingerprints

Two-thirds of the people in the world have not made a phone call

Contrary to popular belief, a swallowed chewing gum doesn't stay in the gut. It will pass through the system and be excreted

The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket

The Nobel Peace Prize medal depicts 3 naked men with their hands on each others shoulders

Earth is traveling through space at 660,000 miles per hour

In 1643, the British Parliament officially abolished the celebration of Christmas

Santa's Reindeers are Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Donner and Blitzen

In 1875 the director of the US patent office resigned. He said that there was nothing left to invent

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

The average person's field of vision encompasses a 200-degree wide angle

Offered a new pen to write with, 97% of all people will write their own name

On average, a person has two million sweat glands

Grapes explode when you put them in the microwave.

Wearing headphones for just an hour will increase the bacteria in your ear by 700 times.

Your tongue is germ free only if it is pink. If it is white there is a thin film of bacteria on it.

The attachment of the human skin to muscles is what causes dimples

97% of the earth's water is undrinkable

The Earth gets hea vier each day by tons, as meteoric dust settles on it

All babies are color blind when they are born

Babies' eyes do not produce tears until the baby is approximately six to eight weeks old

14 million people were killed in World War I, 20 million died in flu epidemic in the years that followed

There are more than 40,000 characters in the Chinese script

Vision requires more brain power than the other four senses

On average, men are 40% muscle and 15% fat; women are 23% muscle and 25% fat

There are no public toilets in Peru

Urine and tears have the same basic ingredients

The reason honey is so easy to digest is that it's already been digested by a bee.

Every time you sneeze some of your brain cells die.

Historically, a blue ribbon has been awarded for first prize

The motto of M-G-M movie studios is Art for Art's Sake

The lion that roars in the MGM logo is named "Volney"It cost 7 million dollars to build the Titanic and 200 million to make a film about it

The Titanic was the first ship to use the SOS signal.

The Mercedes-Benz motto is 'Das Beste oder Nichts' meaning 'the best or nothing'.

The color blue has a calming effect. It causes the brain to release calming hormones.

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

X-ray technology has shown there are 3 different versions of the Mona Lisa under the visible one

The pupil of the eye expands as much as 45 percent when a person looks at something pleasing.

It takes only about 8 minutes for the Space Shuttle to accelerate to a speed of more than 27,359 km/hour

Hydroponics is the technique by which plants are grown in water without soil

Time magazine named the computer its "Man of the Year" in 1982

Chewing on gum while cutting onions can help a person from producing tears

Your left lung is smaller in size than your right lung, it is like that in order to make room for your heart.

Until babies are six months old, they can breathe and swallow at the same time

Male human brains are about 10 percent heavier than female brains

Before 1800 there were no separately designed shoes for right and left feet

The glossy look to lipstick comes from fish scales, which are iridescent

To find out if a watermelon is ripe, knock it, and if it sounds hollow then it is ripe

Honey is used as a center for golf balls and in antifreeze mixtures

The original name for the butterfly was 'flutterby'

Your body weight is lower at 9 A.M. than at any other time of the day

The average person is about a quarter of an inch taller at night

40% of McDonald's profits come from the sales of Happy Meals

Without any greenhouse effect, Earth would be cold and lifeless with an average temp of 0.4ºF

The primary purpose of growing rice in flooded paddies is to drown the weeds surrounding the young seedlings. Rice can, in fact, be grown in drained areas

Not a single new livestock animal has been domesticated in the last 4,000 years

Bone China is so called because powdered animal bone is mixed with the clay to give it translucency and whiteness

The original reason for tablecloths was as a towel to wipe one's fingers and hands on after eating

Mount Everest moves approximately 2.4 inches (10 cm) in a Northeasterly direction every year

Mickey Mouse has four fingers on each hand

The bark of a redwood tree is fireproof. Fires that occur in a redwood forest take p lace inside the trees

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 Gr and 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 ma ke 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.

TOP

Geography:

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

The only man-made structure visible from space is the Great Wall of China

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 a bout 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

Los Angeles' full name is "El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Ange les de Porciuncula". In English this means 'The City of Angels'

The Netherlands has built 800 miles of massive dikes and sea walls to hold back the sea. If it wasn't for these walls, 40% of the country would be flooded.

Big Ben is actually the name of the largest bell inside the London clock tower, not of the clock itself.

In 1867 the United States paid Russia only $7.2 million (2 cents an acre) for Alaska

Every year in France there is a "Thieves Fair" where people are encouraged to try to steal things from the stalls

The world's longest street is in Canada. Toronto's Yonge Street runs 1,190 miles

In the kingdom of Bhutan, all citizens officially become a year older on New Year's Day

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

Belgium is the only country that has never imposed censorship for adult films

The Nullarbor Plain of Australia covers 100,000 square miles without a tree.

Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country

Australia is the only continent on earth without an active volcano.

In Turkey, in the 16th and 17th centuries, anyone caught drinking coffee was put to death

There are twice as many kangaroos in Australia as there are people.

There are no public toilets in Peru

Mickey Mouse is known as "Topolino" in Italy

The oldest national flag still in existence, that of Denmark, dates back to the 13th century

Nepal is the only country that doesn't have a rectangular or square flag

In 1949, the temperature in part of Portugal soared to 158 degrees F fo a couple of minutes. No one knows why

Nauru is the only country in the world with no official capital

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

It was once against the law to slam your car door in a city in Switzerland

In 1980, Bhutan was the only country in the world with no telephones

There is a hotel in Sweden built entirely out of ice; it is rebuilt every year.

In the great fire of London in 1666 half of London was burnt down but only 6 peo ple were injured.

The longest fence in the world is in Australia and it runs for over 3,436 miles (5,530 km)

In Switzerland, it is illegal to flush the toilet after 10 P.M. if you live in an apartment.

Holland is the lowest country in the world. It is estimated that 40 percent of the land is below sea level.

Tokyo has had 24 recorded instances of people either killed or receiving serious skull fractures while bowing to each other with the traditional Japanese greeting

Netherlands, most densely populated country in the world, followed by Belgium, then Japan

Perth, Australia, is the most isolated city on the planet..200 miles across impenetrable desert from the next city of any size.

Los Angeles's full name is "El Pue blo de Nuestra Senora la Reina delos Angeles de Porciuncula". It means the City of Angels.

India never invaded any country in her last 10000 years of history.

In Thailand, it is illegal to leave your house if you are not wearing underwear

In Israel, picking your nose is illegal.

In Sweden, while prostitution is legal, it is illegal for anyone to use the services of a prostitute.

On every continent there is a city called Rome.

Vatican City is the smallest country in the world with a population of 1,000 and a size of 108.7 acres.

China has only about 200 family names.

The country with the most Post offices is India with over 152,792 compared with just over 38,000 in the Un ited States.

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 Oma ha, 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!

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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

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The Most/ Longest/ Shortest/ Tallest/ Smallest / Biggest/ Fastest:

The oldest national flag still in existence, that of Denmark, dates back to the 13th century

The longest movie made lasts 85 hours and is fittingly titled "The Cure for Insomnia.

The world's highest cricket ground is in Chail (HP), India, 2444 mts above sea level.

The most common disease in the world is tooth decay

Ninety percent of all species that have become extinct have been birds

The youngest Pope was 11 years old.

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

The longest fence in the world is in Australia and it runs for over 3,436 miles (5,530 km)

The country with the most Post offices is India with over 152,792 compared with just over 38,000 in the United States.