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1941/ In 1978 the United
Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation estimated that
'all the tea in China' amounted to approximately 356,000 tonnes.
1942/ The typical housefly
cruises at 8 km/hr.
1943/ In 1876, Sir Henery
Wickham transported 70,000 Rubber tree seeds from Brazil to
Kew Gardens in London.
1944/ When food is short
a ribbon worm can eat 95% of its own body weight, and still
survive.
1945/ The black widow
spider can devour as many as twenty 'mates' in a single day.
1946/ A woodchuck breathes
only 10 times during hibernation.
1947/ According to the
United Nations F.A.O. yearbook 1991, Australia had a population
of 17,800,000 people compared to 162,774,000 sheep [ 9.25
: 1 ], and New Zealand had 3,400,000 people compared to 57,000,000
sheep [16.75 : 1].
1948/ Squid can commit
suicide by eating their own tentacles.
1949/ Cyanide is present
in apple pips, but only in small doses.
1950/ The male Californian
sea-otter grips the nose of the female with his teeth during
mating.
1951/ The sperm of a
mouse is longer than the sperm of an elephant.
1952/ The East Alligator
River in Australia's Northern Territory, was misnamed. It
contains crocodiles not alligators.
1953/ During winter,
the skating rinks in Moscow cover more than 250,000 square
metres of land.
1954/ On the 15 January
1867, there was a severe frost in London, and over 40 people
died in Regent's Park when the ice broke on the main lake.
1955/ Due to gravitational
effects, you weigh slightly less when the moon is directly
overhead.
1956/ The Future's Museum
in Sweden contains a scale model of the solar system. The
sun is 105 metres in diameter and the planets range from 3.5
mm to 6 km from the 'sun'. This particular model also contains
the nearest star, Proxima Centauri, still to scale situated
in the Museum of Victoria ... in Australia.
1957/ A quarter of Russia
is covered by forest.
1958/ The fastest tectonic
movement on earth is 240mm per year, at the Tonga micro-plate
near Samoa.
1959/ Pearls melt in
vinegar.
1960/ The month of May
was once known to Anglo-Saxons as Thrimilce, because during
this month cows could be milked 3 times a day.
Click on the links below for more great
facts...
More
next week...
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