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Main » Articles » ISSUE #6 » It's an amazing world

Facts, only facts, nothing except amazing facts!

I absolutely agree with people who say that we can see amazing things around us every day. First of all, Human being is the most amazing creature that can walk, see, eat and drink and THINK and LOVE. Apart from this there are 7 amazing wonders of the world. But I decided to find some facts that seem usual and we don’t notice them (or have no time to notice) but still they are worth knowing. I found some facts in the Internet and added my remarks. So you are welcome to read them.

The first group of facts is devoted to linguistic aspects. (yes, I love language!)

The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English language. (I wonder if there is the same or similar sentence in Russian. If not, maybe we should create it?)))


The word "toy" comes from an old English word that means "tool." (it’s terrible, really terrible. Poor children in old England. They played with tools!!)


Cinderella is known as Rashin Coatie in Scotland, Zezolla in Italy, and Yeh-hsien in China. (Most of all I like the Italian variant. It sounds very funny. And I failed to pronounce the Chinese one.)


"Almost" is the longest word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order. "Rhythm" is the longest English word without a vowel. (In Russian we have a word with one vowel - "взбднуть”)


According to Oxford English Dictionary the longest English word is "pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanokoniosis” (The explanation what it is here -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis)


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


 


The next group is connected with Geography:

Istanbul, Turkey is the only city in the world located on two continents.  (I’m sure a lot of people know it, I just remind you)


The Tonle Sap River in Cambodia flows north for almost half the year and then south for the rest of the year.  (Just try to imagine our Volga river doing the same. It’s unbelievable)


The three best-known western names in China: Jesus Christ, RichardNixon, and Elvis Presley. (See - no Russian names, aren’t we popular there???))


A monkey was once tried and convicted for smoking a cigarette in South Bend, Indiana. (Hmm, did this monkey use the chance for "the last word”?!))

There is a restaurant in Stockholm that only offers all-garlic products. They even have a garlic cheesecake. (The only thing that comes across my head is: Don’t go there with your boyfriend/girlfriend. Unless you both love garlic...)


In Belgium, there is a museum just for strawberries. (I tried to find the pictures and here they are: http://www.visitbelgium.com/index.php/cultural-belgium)


You can send a postcard from Hell. There is a small town located in the Cayman Islands called "Hell." They even have a post office Canada is an Indian word meaning "village" or "settlement." (Nooo. never!)


In Las Vegas, casinos do not have any clocks. (I clearly see the logic. If to follow the proverb "Time is money” - no time, no money for casino visitors)


And the last group is without a category. It’s a mixture of amazing facts from different spheres.


Humans are born with 300 bones in their body, however when a person reaches adulthood they only have 206 bones. This occurs because many of them join together to make a single bone. (I’ve lost 94 bones!!!!!)


More people are killed by donkeys annually than are killed in plane crashes. (What did people want to do with poor animals?? ))


The fear of peanut butter sticking to the roof of the mouth is called Arachibutyrophobia. (I was really amazed to know about this phobia. You can read more on the site http://www.unusualphobias.com/. Here is a huge list of them)


The shortest war in history was between Zanzibar and England in 1896. Zanzibar surrendered after 38 minutes. (Brave people!)


The famous Casanova (Giacomo Casanova) was a librarian for many years before he died. (Still think that librarians are boring and uninteresting people? Change your mind)


Did you know you share your birthday with at least 9 other million people in the world. (I know that I’m not the only person who celebrates birthday  on the 5th December, but 9 million!!!)



Like fingerprints, everyone's tongue print is different! (May be one day policemen will ask us not to put  fingers on the paper to get our fingerprints but to lick something?!)  


Smartest dogs: 1) Scottish border collie; 2) Poodle; 3) Golden retriever. (I’m proud of my little dog. I always knew that he is clever, but now I have a real proof))


Paper money is not made from wood pulp but from cotton. That means that it will not disintegrate as fast if it is put in the laundry. (sounds really interesting and informative, I can’t decide to try or not to try. May be only with an old banknote...)


111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321 (I failed to check(()


I’d like to finish these sets of amazing facts with one more: The smile is the most frequently used facial expression. A smile can use anywhere from a pair of 5 to 53 facial muscles. So smile, it’s an amazing world. I’ve just proved that! ;)

Category: It's an amazing world | Added by: Guzeliya (22-May-2012) | Author: Vasilina Mernaya
Views: 3273 | Tags: Zanzibar, casanova, language, amazing facts, China, Hell | Rating: 5.0/2
Total comments: 0
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