Note: One reason the metric system caught on with scientists was that in the traditional measurement system, there were no standard units smaller than an inch or larger than a mile, which made it tough to measure extremely large and extremely small distances. With the metric system, it was much easier to invent new measurements when they became necessary.
Your Hair
How many hairs on your head? If you’re blond, about 150,000. Brunet, 100,000. Redhead, 60,000.
There are 550 hairs in the average eyebrow.
About 10 percent of men and 30 percent of women shave solely with an electric razor.
There are about 15,500 hairs in an average beard.
Women start shaving at a slightly younger age than men do.
Half of Caucasian men go bald. Eighteen percent of African American men do.
American Indians rarely go bald.
Hair is unique to mammals.
Fifty percent of Americans have gray hair by the time they’re 50 years old.
Number of hair follicles on an average adult: 5 million.
City dwellers have longer, thicker, denser nose hairs than country folks do.
The older you get, the slower your hair grows.
Cutting hair does not influence its growth.
Hair covers the whole human body, except for the soles of the feet, the palms, mucous membranes, and lips.
The average life span of a human hair: three to seven years.
Your hair is as strong as aluminum.
Women shave an area nine times as large as men do.
Medical studies show that intelligent people have more copper and zinc in their hair.
Word Geography
SUEDE
From: Sweden
Explanation: Gants de Suede is French for “gloves of Sweden.” It was in Sweden that the first leather was buffed to a fine softness, and the French bought the gants de Suede. Suede now refers to the buffing processes—not to any particular kind of leather.
TURKEY
From: Turkey
Explanation: Turk means “strength” in Turkish. The turkey bird is a large European fowl named after the country of its origin. American colonists mistakenly thought a big bird they found in the New World was the same animal . . . so they called it a turkey.
CHEAP
From: Cheapside, a market in London
Explanation: The Old English word was ceap (pronounced “keep”), which meant “to sell or barter.” Because Cheapside was a major market where people went to barter for low prices, the word gradually took on a new pronunciation . . . and meaning.
MAYONNAISE
From: Port Mahon, Spain (according to legend)
Explanation: The -aise suffix is French for “native to” or “originating in.” Mahonnaise was supposedly created to celebrate a 1756 French battle victory over the British on the Spanish isle of Port Mahon.
DENIM
From: Nimes, France
Explanation: The tough cloth used in jeans was also made in Nimes. It was called serge di Nimes—later shortened to di nimes, which became denim.
COFFEE
From: Kaffa, Ethiopia
Explanation: According to legend, coffee beans were first discovered in the town of Kaffa. By the 13th century, the Kaffa beans had traveled, becoming qahwah in Arabia, café in Europe, and finally coffee in the New World.
COLOGNE
From: Cologne, Germany
Explanation: Scented water that was produced there beginning in 1709 was named for the city.
SLAVE
From: Slavonia, Yugoslavia
Explanation: After large parts of Slavonia were subjugated by Europeans in the Middle Ages, a Slav become synonymous with someone who lived in servitude. Eventually Slav became slave.
LIMERICK
From: Limerick, Ireland
Explanation: The town was popularly associated with humorous verses that had five lines, the first two rhyming with the last, the middle two rhyming with each other. The poems became an English fad in the mid-19th century, and people naturally identified them with the town’s name.
HAMBURGER
From: Hamburg, Germany
Explanation: People in the immigration-port city of Hamburg—called Hamburgers—liked to eat raw meat with salt, pepper, and onion-juice seasoning, a treat brought to them via Russia that we call steak tartare today. A broiled version using chopped meat eventually became popular in America.
TURQUOISE
From: Turkey/Europe
Explanation: Another Turkish origin. Turquoise comes from a number of places, but was probably first imported to Europe from Turkey. So it was called turquoise, which means “Turkish stone.”
Crazy World Records
Farthest distance a pumpkin has been hurled without the use of explosives: 3,718 feet.
T. D. Rockwell had his name and address tattooed on his body in 27 different languages, including Morse code, shorthand, and semaphore.
Record for most haircuts given in an hour: 23, by Scot Sandy Dobbie.
A New York man carried a milk bottle on his head continuously for 24 miles.
In 1923 French sports reporter Pierre Labric rode his bicycle down the 347 stairs of the Eiffel Tower. It took him three minutes and 17 seconds. His bike was wrecked.
The World’s Largest Office Chair is in Anniston, Alabama. It’s 33 feet tall.
The world’s longest zipper, with over 12,600 teeth, was presented to President Ronald Reagan in 1985. It’s now in the Smithsonian.
A museum in Old Lyme, Connecticut, dedicated to nuts also has the world’s largest nutcracker.
Longest underwater kiss on record: 2 minutes and 18 seconds.
Elaine Davidson, of Edinburgh, Scotland, has a record-breaking total of 720 body piercings, including 192 on her face and head.
Al Gliniecki of Gulf Breeze, Florida, tied 39 cherry stems into knots in three minutes using his tongue.
Incredible Animals
The world’s longest earthworms—found only in a small corner of Australia—can grow to as long as 12 feet and as thick as a soda can.
Ancient Romans trained elephants to perform on a tightrope.
Squids have the largest eyes in nature—up to 16 inches across.
Australia’s mallee bird can tell temperature with its tongue, accurate to within two degrees.
Not only does the three-toed sloth sleep 20 hours a day, it also spends most of its life upside down.
By using air currents to keep it aloft, an albatross may fly up to 87,000 miles on a single feeding trip without ever touching the ground. That’s more than three times around the earth.
The chamois—a goatlike mountain antelope—can balance on a point of rock the size of a quarter.
Robins become drunk after eating holly berries and often fall off power lines.
Octopus eyes resemble human eyes—the U.S. Air Force once taught an octopus to “read” by distinguishing letterlike shapes.
A woodpecker’s beak moves at a speed of 100 mph.
Polar bears are so perfectly insulated from the cold that they spend most of their time trying to cool down.
Whales can communicate with each other from over 3,000 miles away (but the message takes over an hour to get there).
The Office
The average office chair with wheels will travel eight miles this year.
One percent of U.S. businesses allow their employees to take naps during working hours.
Twenty-four percent of commuters say that when stuck in traffic, they think “deep thoughts.”
Four out of every ten people are satisfied with their jobs.
If you work nights, you’re nearly twice as likely to have an accident than if you work days.
Once you file something, there’s a 98 percent chance you’ll never look at it again.
The average American worker receives 201 phone, paper, and e-mail messages per day.
The average American worker has held eight different jobs by
the age of 40.
Thirty-two percent of managers say “looking too young” can make a salesperson’s job more difficult.
The average American CEO’s pay has increased more than 600 percent since 1990.
Need time off? Move to Italy. On average, Italians get 42 vacation days per year.
The average office worker spends 50 minutes a day looking for lost files and other items.
For every 1,470 résumés an employer receives, one person is hired.
Twenty-six percent of American men say their workplace filing system consists of “putting things in piles.”
People who work at night tend to weigh more than people who work during the day.
Choppers
Three things a helicopter can do that a plane can’t:
1. Fly backward
2. Rotate as it moves through the air
3. Hover motionless
It takes both hands and both feet to fly a helicopter, which, many say, makes it much more complex than flying a plane.
The helicopter pilot has to think in three dimensions. In addition to cyclic control (forward, backward, left, and right), and collective control (up and down, and engine speed), there is rotational control (spinning in either direction on the axis).
In 1956 Bell Aircraft Corporation introduced the UH-1. The Huey became the best-known symbol of the U.S. military during the Vietnam War.
The first U.S. president to fly in a helicopter: Dwight D. Eisenhower, in 1957.
In 1982 a Bell 206 completed the first solo crossing of the Atlantic by a helicopter.
In 1483 Leonardo da Vinci made drawings of a fanciful craft he called a helical air screw, but it never got off the drawing board. His concept of “compressing” the air was similar to that used by today’s helicopters. However, when a prototype was built recently at the Science Museum of London, it didn’t work.
Household Hints
Tomatoes have more flavor at room temperature than they do when chilled.
Ketchup cleans copper. Apply, wait a minute, and rinse. Voilà!
Is your soup too salty? Slice up two potatoes and boil them in it for a short time.
Chew gum while peeling onions. It may keep you from crying.
Egg whites will turn pink when left overnight in a copper bowl.
If you don’t remove an avocado’s pit, it won’t turn black, even when you peel it.
Add honey to peanut butter to keep it from sticking to the roof of your mouth.
How long does it take a frozen sandwich to thaw at room temperature? About three hours.
If you refrigerate your rubber bands, they’ll last longer.
Pour leftover cola into your toilet. It’ll give it a nice shine.
If you have to give your dog a pill, put it far back on its tongue, then blow in its nose.
Baby wipes are the perfect fix for carpet stains.
If you can find where ants are coming in, a barrier of sprinkled cinnamon or ground pepper will stop them.
Lipstick on your collar will disappear with petroleum jelly.
Mix baby powder with your kitty litter to keep it smelling fresh.
Yes, your down comforter can be washed in the washing machine—cold water, gentle cycle. Toss a few tennis balls into the dryer to fluff it up again.
Disappearing ink: try rubbing alcohol on ink stains before washing.
United States
Only state with official vegetables: New Mexico, which honors both the chili and the frijole.
Hawaii is the only state in the United States with a royal palace: Iolani Palace.
There are 122 Hawaiian islands.
In 39 of the 50 states in the United States, the travel industry is the largest single employer.
New Jersey is number one in the nation for hazardous waste sites, with more than 1,000.
Technically speaking, there are only 46 states in the United States. Kentucky, Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Virginia are commonwealths.
The Thousand Islands of New York and Ontario actually number about 1,500.
There’s a producing oil well beneath the Oklahoma State capitol building.
Official state dance of Utah: square dance.
In what state can you find the Alabama swamps? New York. Wyoming Valley? Pennsylvania.
States with the lowest percentage of senior citizens: Alaska, Utah, Colorado, Texas, and Georgia.
States with the highest percentage of senior citizens: Florida, Pennsylvania, West Virginia, North Dakota, Iowa.
The most crowded street corner in the United States: 59th and Lexington in New York City.
State with the highest percentage of people who walk to work: Alaska.
Ask the Experts
Q: WILL RUBBER TIRES PROTECT A CAR FROM BEING STRUCK BY LIGHTNING?
A: No. Lightning is strong enough to travel through or around the rubber. According to the Boston Museum of Science, your tires would have to be solid rubber a mile thick to actually insulate you from a lightning bolt. The good news is that your car is the safest place to be if you’re outside during a storm—the lightning will most likely travel around the metal shell of your car and not do any damage to it or you. That is, if you have a metal car and don’t park under a tree or touch the metal. The bad news is that if you have a convertible or plastic car, or if you touch the metal skin of your automobile when lightning strikes, you may be in for a profoundly shocking experience. (Just Curious, ]eeves, by Jack Mingo and Erin Barrett)
Q: DO THE POLICE REALLY OUTLINE A MURDER VICTIM’S POSITION WITH CHALK?
A: At one time, maybe, but according to investigators we surveyed, it’s really not done anymore. Why? While chalk or tape might make for dramatic TV, they also contaminate the crime scene, and contamination is a major headache for crime scene investigators. (The Straight Dope, by Cecil Adams)
Q: DO ANIMALS CRY?
A: Many land mammals seem to cry from distress, especially young animals that are separated from their mothers (e.g., chimpanzees, bears, elephants), and many of these also produce tears to clean their eyes. But these mammals do not produce tears when they “cry.” Of marine animals, it seems that seals, sea otters, and saltwater crocodiles (the so-called crocodile tears) produce tears to get rid of the salt in their eyes. However, one scientist, Dr. G. W. Steller, a zoologist at Harvard University, thinks that sea otters are capable of crying emotional tears. According to Dr. Steller, “I have sometimes deprived females of their young on purpose, sparing the lives of their mothers, and they would weep over their affliction just like human beings.” (The Odd Body, by Dr. Stephen Juan)
Q: WHY DO WORMS GO ONTO THE SIDEWALK WHEN IT RAINS?
A: Most people assume that earthworms come to the surface during heavy rains to avoid drowning in their tunnels. In fact, worms can live totally submerged in water, so drowning isn’t the problem. But the rainwater that filters down through the ground contains very little oxygen, so the real reason earthworms come to the surface is to breathe. Once above ground, earthworms are very sensitive to light, and even a brief exposure to the sun’s rays can paralyze them. Unable to crawl back into their burrows, they eventually dry out and die on the sidewalk. (101 Questions & Answers About Backyard Wildlife, by Ann Squire)
Q: WHAT CAUSES TRAFFIC JAMS, AND WHY DO THEY SUDDENLY CLEAR UP?
A: It’s the shock-wave effect. Highway drivers operate best at speeds of 35 mph and higher. When highway traffic volume nears its capacity, some stragglers begin driving under 35 mph and a traffic jam is born. Slower speeds, theoretically, should increase control and maneuverability, but drivers grow fearful as their pace declines. The shock-wave effect occurs because drivers look for the reason they had to slow down in the first place: They overreact to any stimuli, particularly the brake lights of cars ahead of them. A few drivers at 25 mph can set off a shock-wave effect for miles behind them and create bumper-to-bumper traffic without any ostensible reason. Why do these traffic jams suddenly disappear? Usually, it’s because there is enou
gh breathing room ahead to prompt even slowpoke victims of the shock-wave effect to risk peeling away at 35 mph or more. (Imponderables, by David Feldman)
Q: WHY DO CLOCKS RUN CLOCKWISE?
A: No one knows for sure, but here’s one answer: “Before the advent of clocks, we used sundials. In the Northern Hemisphere, the shadows rotated in the direction we now call ‘clockwise.’ The clock hands were built to mimic the natural movements of the sun. If clocks had been invented in the Southern Hemisphere, [perhaps] ‘clockwise’ would be in the opposite direction.” (Why Do Clocks Run Clockwise, and Other Imponderables, by David Feldman)
Know Your -ologies
Semiology: The study of signs and signaling
Cetology: The study of whales and dolphins
Vexillology: The study of flags
Deontology: The study of moral responsibilities
Axiology: The study of principles, ethics, and values
Phantomology: The study of supernatural beings
Histology: The study of tissues
Trichology: The study of hair
Malacology: The study of mollusks
Dendrochronology: The study of trees’ ages by counting their rings
Morphology: The study of the structure of organisms
Oology: The study of eggs
Eschatology: The study of final events as spoken of in the Bible
Ashes to Ashes
Among other things, ancient Egyptian embalmers preserved mummies with cinnamon.
King Tut had garlic bulbs buried in his tomb with him.
Ancient Egyptian tombs are decorated with pictures of watermelons.
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