A collection of facts
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- Tuberculosis is one of the world's oldest diseases. Some ancient
mummies found in Egypt and Peru had tuberculosis.

- There are more than 200 satellites orbiting earth solely for the
purpose of private communications services, including pagers, telephones,
and computers.

- In Kentucky, it is against the law to throw eggs at a public speaker.

- A male kangaroo is called a boomer, and a female is called a flyer.

- An adult female ladybug will eat about 300 medium-size aphids before
it lays eggs. About three to ten aphids are eaten for each egg the beetle
lays. More than 5,000 aphids may be eaten by a single adult in its
lifetime.

- The wettest spot in the U.S. is Mount Waialeale, on the Hawaiian
island of Kauai; it receives about 480 inches of rainfall every year. In
contrast, Death Valley, California, receives only 1.5 inches annually.

 - China was the first country to introduce paper money (in 812), but
it wasn't until 1661 that a bank (Banco-Sedlar of Sweden) issued
banknotes.

 - Ice Cream Sundaes were created when it became illegal to sell ice
cream with flavored soda on a Sunday in the Evanston, Illinois during the
late 19th century. Some traders got round it by serving it with syrup
instead, calling it an 'Ice Cream Sunday' and eventually replacing the
final 'y' with an 'e' to avoid upsetting religious leaders.

 - The sense of touch: electrical impulses travel from the skin toward
the spinal cord at a rate of up to 425 feet per second.

 - You blink every 2-10 seconds. As you focus on each word in this
sentence, your eyes swing back and forth 100 times a second, and every
second; the retina performs 10 billion computer-like calculations.

 - Each red blood cell lives an average of 4 months and travels between
the lungs and other tissues 75,000 times before returning to the bone
marrow to die.

 - An Englishman invented Scotland's national dress - the kilt. It was
developed from the philamore - a massive piece of tartan worn with a belt
and draped over the shoulder - by English industrialist Thomas Rawlinson
who ran a foundry at Lochaber, Scotland in the early 1700s and thought a
detachable garment would make life more comfortable for his workers.

 - Mail to the Havasupai Indian Reservation in northern Arizona is
delivered by mule. It is the only U.S. Postal Service route of its type
in existence today.

 - Glaciers store about 75% of the world's freshwater. In Washington
State alone, glaciers provide 470 billion gallons of water each summer.

 - While many people believe that a camel's humps are used for water
storage, they are actually made up of fat. The hump of a well-rested,
well-fed camel can weigh up to eighty pounds.

 - Birds do not have sweat glands, so their bodies cannot cool down
through perspiration. Their bodies cool by flight or, when at rest,
panting.

 - The world's first "McSki" opened in Sweden with "Ski-Thru" service. 
Skiers can ski up to the counter and order their favorite McDonald's
sandwich without missing a beat on the mountain slopes.

 - The little "m's" on "M&M's"® Chocolate Candies weren't printed on
the candies until 1950. They were originally printed in black, not white.
It wasn't until 1954 that the "m's" became the color they are today.


 - From crocodile farms, Australia exports about 5,000 crocodile skins
a year. Most go to Paris, where a crocodile purse can sell for more than
$10,000.

 - Some lady beetle, or lady bug, colonies have been reported to
contain as many as 500 gallons of beetles. A gallon of beetles contains
from 72,000 to 80,000 adults.

 - The National Institute of Mental Health places fear of flying
(aerophobia), second only to fear of public speaking.

 - Many superstitions have arisen over butterflies. Sicilians believe
that good luck will follow if a butterfly comes into the house and will
prevent it flying out again. British and U.S. superstition recommends
anyone who needs a new set of clothes to bite the head off a butterfly.


 - The Japanese national anthem is expressed in only four lines. The
Greek anthem runs 158 verses.

 - According to the folks at Disney - there are 6,469,952 spots painted
on dogs in the original 101 Dalmatians.

 - When the Eiffel Tower was built in 1884, Parisians referred to it as
"the tragic lamppost" and nearly universally hated it.

 - The Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. has 365 steps, representing
every day of the year.

 - Ukulele means "little jumping flea" in Hawaiian.

 - Ever wonder how a mortician keeps a dead person's mouth shut 
Undertakers pass a suture through he nasal septum and tie it to the lower
lip. Or the use an injector needle gun to place wires into the lower and
upper jaws; these are then twisted together to close the mouth.

 - The twin towers of New Yorks World Trade Center contain 208
elevators. Elevators rank as the safest form of transportation, boasting
only one fatality every 100 million miles traveled. Stairs, in
comparison, are five times more dangerous.
 - Cut and planed lumber was hard to come by in the New World, and
since the Pilgrims didn't intend to go back to Europe, they dismantled the
Mayflower and used it's lumber to build a barn.

 - Baby chicks do breathe inside the egg. An eggshell may look solid,
but it actually has nearly 8,000 pores that are large enough for oxygen to
flow in and carbon dioxide to flow out.

 - Chickens that are raised for processing are usually butchered after
seven or eight weeks of life. If kept away from the frying pan, they
would live for about eight years.

 - Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida has been closed only one (1)
day since it opened in 1971. Hurricane Floyd on September 15, 1999 was
the cause for the closure.

 - A 16-year-old English girl named Euphonia Allen wrote the Piano
favorite "Chopsticks", in 1877. The song was published under the name
Arthur de Lulli and despite Euphoia's promising beginning; this was the
only song she ever wrote. The name had nothing to do with Asian cooking
utensils; it was derived from the chopping motion of the hands needed to
play the waltz.

 - Since its opening in 1937, more than 1,200 people have jumped to
their death from the roadway of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco,
California. Of those who have taken the 250-foot drop, only 23 are know
to have survived.

 - Studies conducted by the University of California and Mercedes-Benz,
concluded that bright yellow and bright blue are the safest and most
visible colors for cars. In the U.S., the most popular car color is
white, followed by silver and green.

 - What does it take to be a "hotdogger" A college degree of course! 
You should be skilled in the field of communications, journalism,
advertising, or public relations. Be forewarned - the competition is
stiff. Of nearly 1,000 applicants received each year, only 21 are hired
and sent to Hot Dog High in Madison, Wisconsin.

 - A female lobster is called a hen or chicken. A lobster hen can lay
100,000 eggs at a time.