1. The guinea pig was domesticated as early as 5000 B.C. in South America as a source of food. They were also used in religious ceremonies and in traditional medicine. They have been kept in households as companion animals since being introduced by European traders in the 16th century.
2. The scientific name of the guinea pig is Cavia porcellus, which means “little pig.”  They belong to the family Caviidae, which is a family of South American rodents. They are also not from Guinea; they originated in the Andes.
3. Guinea pigs may have been called pigs for several reasons. For example, they have a similar squeal to a pig’s. They are also somewhat built like a small pig, with a large head, stout neck, and no real tail.
4. While guinea pigs are not from Guinea, it is possible “guinea” was included in their name because they may have been sold for a guinea (English coin). Another theory is that Europeans may have believed guinea pigs came from the African country Guinea since ships carrying the furry mammals from South America often stopped there before going on to Europe.
5. Male guinea pigs are called boars, females are referred to as sows, and young ones are called pups.
6. If a female guinea pig is uninterested in a male during courtship, she will sometimes squirt a jet of urine at the persistent male.
7. The gestation period of a guinea pig is about 70 days. A female guinea pig (called a sow) is able to produce a litter of up to 4 young guinea pig pups.
8. The amazing fact is that if a female guinea pig does not give birth before she is 6 months old, her pubic bones will fuse. If she tries to give birth later, the fused bones will prevent her from giving birth resulting in the death of the mother and the unborn pups.
9. Guinea pigs have a high maternal mortality rate of about 20%.
10. Baby guinea pigs are born with their eyes open and are covered in fur. Baby pups are able to drink from a water bottle and can eat hay within hours of being born. They can run only 3 hours after being born.
11. Guinea pigs in fact have 3 toes on their forefeet and 4 toes on their hind feet.
12. Guinea pigs have a long and detailed history of being used in medical research from the 17th century. While rats and mice have become more popular test animals in the modern era, guinea pigs are still used as subjects for juvenile diabetes, tuberculosis, scurvy, and pregnancy complications.
13. There are two general categories of guinea pigs: long-haired and short-haired. Short-haired guinea pigs are typically easier to care for than long-haired ones.
14. Guinea pigs typically live about 4 or 5 years, though they may live up to 8. The longest-living guinea pig on record was Snowball from Nottinghamshire, England. She died at the age of nearly 15 years in February 1979.
15. Guinea pigs don’t have to sleep for long periods. They prefer to take short naps throughout the day and night.
16. Guinea pig ears are very sensitive to noise and they do not like any loud bangs.
17. Guinea pigs can hear sounds of up to 40,000 to 50,000 Hz, and some guinea pig vocalizations are ultrasonic at above 20,000 Hz.
18. Guinea pigs are particularly vocal. They have a range of vocalizations to communicate with each other, including ‘purring’ when content and ‘chirping’ when stressed.
19. Guinea pigs can’t sweat like humans can and so can get heatstroke if they are left out in the sun or become too hot. They have to find shade whenever possible.
20. Guinea pigs have what is known as “open rooted” teeth like rats which constantly grow to require them to constantly grind down their teeth while eating food keeping them properly aligned.
21. Guinea pigs will eat all day and night.
22. They do not bite in self-defense and will only bite because they think your hand is food.
23. Guinea pigs have a very good field of vision and are able to see around them so as to detect predators. The amazing fact is that they can’t see anything straight in front of their noses which means they don’t see what they eat.
24. The American guinea pig is one of the oldest breeds of guinea pigs and is considered the “classic guinea pig.” One of the most commonly found, it is an ideal pet for children because of its short, smooth fur.
25. Guinea pigs typically run a higher temperature than humans, at about 101° F. Their high temperature places them at increased risk on hot days or when they’re exposed to direct sunlight.
26. After about 4 years old, guinea pigs are usually considered senior citizens, and genetic health issues usually appear at this time.
27. Guinea pigs are very social and are truly happy only when they are together with other guinea pigs. Even the most loving human cannot take the place of other guinea pigs.
28. Because guinea pigs are so social, it is illegal to own just one in Switzerland.
29. When you are holding a guinea pig, the way to settle it down if it's wriggling too much is to bring your hand under its back-side and amazingly it will stop wriggling.
30. A recent study found that children ages 5 to 12 on the autism spectrum showed a marked decrease in stress while interacting with guinea pigs. The pet could act as a “social buffer” for students with autism who may have difficulty making friends.
31. Guinea pigs are fragile creatures and so need to be treated with gentle hands. If you are rough, you could break its bones. In fact, they have a total of 258 bones in the body.
32. Amazingly guinea pigs always march in single file, with the largest guinea pig at the front and the young protected in the middle.
33. Guinea pigs have been found to be allergic to penicillin.
34. Guinea Pigs have excellent spatial orientation and are able to learn complex maze tasks using symbols as signposts.
35. Like humans, guinea pigs are unable to make vitamin C and need to acquire it through food sources. Failing to do so can lead to scurvy and eventually death.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. One of the most spectacular events of our universe is the Supernova explosion. It is the most powerful explosion known to humans. It is nothing but a stellar explosion being an explosion of a star.
2. The explosion is so massive that briefly, it outshines the entire galaxy in which it explodes.
3. The amount of energy radiated in one supernova explosion so much that it equals the amount of energy that has already been radiated by our Sun plus the energy that it will radiate for the rest of its life.
4. A supernova is so bright that it literally takes weeks and sometimes months for the brightness to fade away.
5. During a Supernova explosion, luminous radiations are burst out and almost all of the material of the exploding star is expelled into outer space.
6. The material that is expelled from the exploding star travels at a very high speed of 30,000 km per second.
7. This explosion sends out a shockwave in nearby outer space referred to as interstellar medium which is defined as matter that exists in space between stars within a galaxy.
8. As this shockwave travels through this interstellar medium, the gas and dust from the exploding star are bound by the shockwave and it continues to expand. This expanding structure is known as a supernova remnant.
9. Every time a supernova explosion takes place, the interstellar medium is enriched by elements of higher mass.
10. Not every star explodes. Our Sun will never explode. Stars that are about 10 to 100 times bigger than our Sun eventually explode and create a supernova explosion.
11. When a massive star eventually runs low on hydrogen (the fuel that is converted to helium through fusion reaction), the remaining hydrogen pushes outwards towards the shell, surrounding a helium core.
12. When the hydrogen moves to the outer shell around the helium core, the star becomes unstable and the outer shell is enormously inflated, converting the star into a red giant.
13. At this stage, the hydrogen in the outer shell of the red giant still fuses into helium producing thermal energy that wants to expand the star.
14. The helium core on the other hand exerts gravitational pull attempting to crush the star.
15. When the remaining hydrogen burns out, the gravitational pull of the helium core wins and helium atoms start fusing to form iron atoms, thus forming an iron core inside the helium shell.
16. Eventually, the core becomes too heavy and cannot withstand its own gravitational pull and the core starts collapsing. This is when the star explodes to form a supernova.
17. Supernova explosions also take place in what is known as binary star systems. A binary star system consists of two stars one of which is a carbon-oxygen white dwarf. The other is known as the companion star.
18. In this type of star system, the white dwarf (which is actually a star close to its life’s end, eventually collapsing into a small size almost similar to the size of earth) is known to be a thief. This white dwarf steals or draws matter from the companion star. This happens because of the enormous gravitational pull of the white dwarf.
19. At some point, the white dwarf ends up accumulating too much matter. This excessive amount of matter eventually causes the star to explode violently, resulting in a supernova explosion.
20. Supernova explosion shoots out billions and billions of atoms in every possible direction and they form colorful nebulae.
21. The exploding star may end up as a black hole and a nebula. However, if the star isn’t really a big one, the supernova explosion will end up as a neutron star and a nebula.
22. The expanding supernova remnant can produce enough kinetic energy that can compress the highly-dense molecular clouds in the interstellar space and form new stars.
23. Supernova explosions of supernovae are the primary sources of metals in interstellar space and till date, they remain known as the only dominant mechanism for the distribution of heavier metals that are usually formed inside a star during its life through nuclear fusion reaction.
24. The last known supernova explosion in our galaxy Milky Way was SN 1604. Astronomer Johannes Kepler started observing the supernova on 17th October 1607 and hence, it is named as SN 1604.
25. The latest observed supernova was in Andromeda Galaxy in 1885 and is known as S Andromeda.
26. The first stars of our universe became supernovae around 14 billion years ago. Our sun is not big enough to become a supernova.
27. Elements like carbon, iron, silicon, nitrogen, and oxygen that we find on Earth actually came from a supernova.
28. During the explosion, elements like uranium and gold are formed because of the extremely high millions of degrees of temperature caused by the explosion.
29. In 1054 AD, Islamic and Chinese astronomers observed and documented a supernova. It was so bright that it was visible in broad daylight.
30. The Crab Nebula that we see today is actually a result of the supernova explosion of 1054 AD.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. Everyone starts life with that first cry. As you grow up, you still produce about 200 ml of tears a day, even if you never or rarely cry.
2. Although babies have the same instinct to cry to satisfy their needs, each culture’s socialization processes lead to different ways of crying as an older child or adult.
3. The film of tears on the eye is a complex system, in fact consisting of three layers of oil, water, and mucus. The water layer is the thickest and contains electrolytes like sodium and potassium, proteins (mostly enzymes), glucose, and other substances. Various facts in the outer oil layer slow evaporation.
4. The specific composition of tears may change day today.
5. The lacrimal glands that secrete tears are located on the outer portion of the upper eyes. They are peanut-sized. blinking spreads the tears across the eye surface. Tears drain into the tiny openings in the eyelids, called puncta (one on the inside corner of each lid), and then through ducts to the nasal cavity, where you either swallow them or they become part of nasal fluid.
6. Besides lubricating the eye and flushing away debris, tears also serve the function of delivering oxygen and nutrients and removing waste products. Tears also improve the image that forms on the retina by smoothing any irregularities on the surface of the eyeball.
7. Tears also serve as a defense mechanism. The antibodies, enzymes, and other immune components in tear help protect the eyes against microorganisms.
8. There are three types of tears. Continuous (or basal) tears are produced for basic eye function, such as lubrication. Reflex (or irritant) tears occur when the eye is exposed to excessive light, the cold, wind, a foreign body, or irritating food like cut onions. Psychogenic tears are shed for emotional reasons.
9. Crying is a way to communicate needs and elicit attention from others, at least in early life, and maybe a means of releasing emotional tension. As per research, psychogenic tears differ in composition from other tears, and crying may be a way to rid the body of stress-related chemicals.
10. Boys and girls cry in equal frequency. Women reportedly cry more than men.
11. When a person cries and the first drop of tears comes from the right eye, it’s happiness. But when the first tears come from the left, it’s pain.
12. Emotional tears actually contain leucine encephalin, a natural painkiller.
13. A baby who cries for more than 3 hours a day, more than 3 days a week, for more than 3 weeks may have abdominal colic.
14. The ducts that drain tears from your eyes can become blocked due to aging, infection, inflammation, injury, tumor, or cyst causing symptoms of excessive tearing and watery eyes.
15. In certain neurological conditions, crying along with laughing can be uncontrolled. The condition is called pathological laughing and crying (PLC). Laughter or sobbing can occur at inappropriate times. PLC can appear as a symptom of stroke, Alzheimer's disease, multiple sclerosis, and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis(ALS).
16. All vertebrates i.e. animals with backbones that spend time on land have continuous tears and perhaps reflex tears. Humans are the only animals that also have emotional tears. There are also reports of elephants shedding tears in grief.
17. Syn-propanediol-S-oxide is the chemical released by onions in the air which irritates the eyes making lacrimal glands release more tears. New Zealand researchers have been able to produce tearless onions by inhibiting the gene that makes this chemical.
18. If tear production declines or tears evaporate too quickly, the result is dry eye. Inflammation may play a role. Besides causing burning or grittiness, dry eye syndrome can cause blurry vision and can potentially damage the eye.
19. Tears have the same composition as saliva made up of proteins, salt, and hormones.
20. A woman’s tears amazingly send a particular chemical signal to men which causes a dip in male sexual arousal, which is an involuntary yet interesting means of nonverbal communication between the sexes.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. There are two living species of alligator in the world: the American alligator (Alligator mississippiensis) and the Chinese alligator (Alligator sinensis).
2. Like crocodiles, alligators are part of the order ‘Crocodylia’. They are cold-blooded reptile species.
3. The alligator is often described as “a living fossil” that has changed little in the past 65 million years.
4. American alligators live in south-eastern areas of the United States such as Florida and Louisiana while Chinese alligators are found in the Yangtze River but they are critically endangered and only a few remain in the wild.
5. The American alligator can grow up to 11 feet long and weigh nearly 450 Kg while Chinese alligators are smaller, growing nearly 5 Feet and usually weighing below 35 Kg.
6. In contrast to alligators found only in the US and China, crocodiles are found all over the world.
7. Alligators have shorter, wider heads that are more U-shaped than crocodiles. Crocodiles have V-shaped snouts.
8. Alligators strongly favor freshwater while some species of crocodile live in seawater.
9. Alligators are less aggressive than crocodiles and also tend to have a darker appearance than crocodiles.
10. An important differentiating feature of a crocodile from an alligator is that the fourth tooth of a crocodile sticks out when its mouth is closed while all of the alligator’s upper teeth can still be seen when its mouth is closed.
11. Alligators have a powerful bite but the muscles that open the jaw are very weak so much so that an adult human can hold the jaws of an alligator shut with their bare hands.
12. Alligators are social creatures and often stay in groups called congregations.
13. Female alligators construct nests made of vegetation and mud. They can lay over 50 eggs in a single season. They are amongst the most attentive parents in the reptile world, caring for them, for as long as three years.
14. The sex of a newborn alligator is determined by the temperature of the nest. Incubation temperatures of 28 Celsius or below will produce females, whereas 34 Celsius or above will produce males. Temperatures of 31 Celsius will produce an even number of males and females.
15. As soon as they are born, the babies, called hatchlings, can go and catch their own food. American hatchlings are around 6 to 8 inches long. After around 2 years, they leave their mother's protection to start their own families.
16. Although seriously endangered in the 1950s the American alligator’s numbers have grown since they came under legal protection. They were killed mainly for skin.
17. Alligators can have up to 80 teeth at any given time. New teeth grow to replace worn ones and throughout a lifetime an alligator can have between 2,000 and 3,000 teeth.
18. Alligators aren’t strict carnivores. They also eat fruit when they get the chance, and might be important seed-dispersers.
19. Alligators have their eyes bigger than their stomachs. Thanks to a special blood vessel, the second aorta, they’re able to shunt blood away from their lungs and towards their stomachs, stimulating the production of strong stomach acids to break down their meals faster.
20. Amazingly juvenile alligators are capable of eating about 23 percent of their body weight in one sitting.
21. Alligators keep to themselves and usually don't attack humans unless they are threatened.
22. Besides swimming, alligators walk, run, and crawl on land. They have a “high walk” and a “low walk.” The low walk is sprawling, while in the high walk the alligator lifts its belly off the ground.
23. American alligators are fairly accomplished climbers. Alligators can climb trees to get to a better basking spot or get the drop on you. Be aware.
24. Alligators are opportunistic feeders who ambush their prey rather than chase them. They can reach 30 miles per hour in a short burst.
25. In North American shamanism, alligators are symbols of adaptability and survival. The alligator became the official state reptile of Florida in 1987.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. A philosopher by profession, Socrates can rightly be called the father of Western thought. He hailed from ancient Greece.
2. It was around 470 BC when Socrates was born in Athens, Greece. He was executed in 399 BC.
3. Socrates’ father was Sophroniscus, a sculptor and stonemason from Athens and his mother was a midwife by the name of Phaenarete.
4. He received basic Greek education because he did not belong to a noble family and hence, he learned the skills of his father at a very early age.
5. Before turning a philosopher, Socrates took up masonry and sculpting as his profession for several years.
6. Socrates didn’t write anything. No record of his writings exist.
7. Whatever information exists today is a result of some of the records that were kept by his disciples Xenophon and Plato.
8. Xanthippe was Socrates' wife. The two had three children by the names Menexenus, Sophroniscus, and Lamprocles. She was not happy with the ‘philosopher’ profession of Socrates.
9. Socrates was far more interested in the intellectual upbringing of the young minds of Athens rather than looking after the upbringing of his own sons.
10. Socrates was the teacher of Plato, who in turn was the teacher of Aristotle.
11. The primary emphasis of Socrates was on the importance of the mind and not on physical attractiveness.
12. Socrates always believed that if anything could improve the well-being of society, it was none other than philosophy.
13. His way of thinking led him to believe that attaining true wisdom is the only way to create a government that is neither a democratic government nor a tyrannical government. He always believed that the government required individuals with greater understanding and knowledge.
14. There was no fixed classroom for Socrates as such. He traveled all across Athens and questioned common and elite men alike in order to find out the truth about ethics and politics.
15. He invented a new style of conversation which is now referred to as the "Socratic Method." This involved asking lots of questions until finally reaching an answer, rather than simply conveying information. This was based on his philosophy that "true wisdom is drawn from knowing that you know nothing" and is why he was accused of corrupting the entire social system.
16. Socrates challenged the conventional wisdom of Greek and adopted a humorous path for the same and in the process had some enemies who hated his philosophy.
17. Socrates was charged for questioning the existence of the gods and he was also charged for corrupting the youth of the city. He was put on trial where he was convicted to death. He lost his case by 280 votes against and 221 votes for him.
18. According to Athenian law, any convicted person could ask for an alternative punishment. Socrates made things worse by asking for honor, rewards, and payments for the services he rendered to the people in an attempt to enlighten them instead of asking for exile.
19. Socrates’ demand forced the jury to sentence him to death by hemlock poisoning.
20. After being sentenced to death, many of Socrates’ friends asked him to flee to exile by offering to bribe the guards but he declined. He instead said that despite the fact that the Athenian law sentenced him to death, he was still a loyal citizen of Athens and would happily accept his death. He drank a hemlock poison mixture without the slightest hint of hesitation.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. Radiation is the energy that comes from a source and travels through space. When this energy passes into the body, either by penetrating skin or being swallowed or inhaled, it may be harmful. Whether the radiation is ionizing or non-ionizing will influence the health risks.
2. Sources of ionizing radiation include nuclear weapons handling and detonation, nuclear plants, x-rays, etc.
3. Non-iodizing radiation is low-energy radiation that includes radiation from sources such as sunlight, microwaves, radio frequencies, radar, and sonar.
4. Radium, a radioactive element was discovered by Marie Curie who in fact died from radiation exposure.
5. Millirem is 1/1000 REM, a unit to measure radiation.
6. The loss in life expectancy from a 1 millirem dose is about 1.2 minutes, equivalent to crossing the street three times, taking three puffs on a cigarette, 10 extra Calories for an overweight person.
7. Nuclear power plants are very safe. In fact, the safety limit for exposure is just 5 millirem.
8. The average radiation exposure due to medical diagnostic procedures is about 80 millirem per year.
9. People in America living near coal-fired power stations are exposed to higher radiation doses than those living near nuclear power plants.
10. Chest X-ray gives off about 30 millirems of radiation.
11. The average person absorbs about 300 millirems of radiation per year in total from background sources.
12. 1% of static on an untuned analog TV is from cosmic background radiation from the Big Bang.
13. The thorium-rich sands of Kerala, India give off 380 millirems per year, and similar sands in Guarapari, Brazil give locals an amazing 600 millirems per year.
14. Residents of Denver, Colorado get about four times as much cosmic radiation as those in who live at sea level, giving them an extra 115 millirems of radiation per year.
15. The Manhattan Project secretly tested the effects of radiation on its own citizens, including injecting pregnant women with radioactive mixtures and feeding children radioactive oatmeal. In the end, about 1,400 children died due to these experiments.
16. During the Manhattan Project, a man was injected with Plutonium without his knowledge or consent and he survived it for 20 years, eventually surviving the highest radiation dose known for any human.
17. Bananas are slightly radioactive and eating a banana exposes a person to radiation.
18. Because of the amount of granite used in its construction, the Grand Central Station of New York City produces more radiation than what is allowable at a nuclear power plant.
19. Astronauts on the Apollo missions reported seeing flashes and streaks of light when they closed their eyes. This was later confirmed to be caused by cosmic radiation bombarding their retinas while outside of the Earth’s magnetosphere.
20. All the American flags placed on the moon are now white due to radiation from the sun.
21. In the 1950s, there was a toy called the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Laboratory that came equipped with low-level radiation sources and four Uranium-bearing ore samples. It sold for $49.50. The product stayed on the market for only about a year between 1950 and 1951.
22. The Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant disaster was huge. It is still giving off radiation, and that there is a high chance of the containment structure collapsing, causing huge amounts of radiation to spread out.
23. A fireman’s eyes at the Chernobyl disaster are said to have turned from brown to blue because of the intensity of the radiation he received.
24. There is a type fungi inside the Chernobyl reactors that thrives on radiation.
25. Flight crews are classified as radiation workers and some are exposed to more radiation annually than nuclear plant workers. One flight from New York to London is equivalent to one chest X-ray.
26. Smokers receive a radiation dose equivalent to about 300 chest x-rays annually due to the radioactive isotope Polonium-210 contained in tobacco smoke that comes from the ingredients of the fertilizers that are used in farming tobacco.
27. The USA originally denied that atomic bombs caused lingering radioactivity, calling such claims Japanese propaganda
28. A handful of raw uranium ore actually only has about as much radiation as 10 bananas. Banana has radiation due to potassium content.
29. The use of nuclear weapons and testing has resulted in steel contaminated with background radiation in many areas after  1945 making it unusable for many scientific and medical applications and steel made before 1945, often taken from sunken battleships, must be used instead.
30. On December 27, 2004, Earth was hit by the largest blast of radiation in recorded history. It came from a “giant flare” on a magnetar 50,000 light-years away.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. The production of alcohol has been traced back at least 12,000 years.
2. There are 13 minerals that are essential for human life, and all of them can be found in alcohol.
3. Most vegetables and almost all fruits contain a small amount of alcohol in them.
4. The world’s oldest known recipe is for beer.
5. The amazing fact is that the human body produces its own supply of alcohol naturally, 24 hours a day.
6. The fact is all spirits (unlike beer and wine) are originally clear and colorless. The golden brown and other colors are achieved due to the aging process.
7. Alcohol kills one person every 10 seconds worldwide.
8. At any given time, 0.7% of the world's population is drunk. It means 50 million people are drunk right now.
9. It only takes 6 minutes for brain cells to react to alcohol. Alcohol is not digested; it gets absorbed directly into the bloodstream.
10. Alcohol doesn't make you forget anything. In fact, when you get blackout drunk, the brain temporarily loses the ability to create memories.
11. Amazingly about half the world's population older than 15 have never consumed alcohol.
12. Per capita, alcohol consumption is high in Russia where there are over 500,000 alcohol-related deaths each year. In fact, beer was not considered an alcoholic beverage in Russia until 2013.
13. Vodka is the world's most popular liquor by a huge margin, with about 5 billion liters consumed every year.
14. The word brandy is derived from the Dutch word brandewijn; it means burnt wine.
15. Distilled spirits such as brandy, gin, rum, etc. contain no carbohydrates, no fats, and no cholesterol of any kind.
16. In order to make a bottle of wine, you will need to have approximately 600 grapes on hand.
17. White wine gets darker as it ages while red wine gets lighter.
18. The most beer-drinking country in the world is the Czech Republic with an amazing per capita beer consumption of almost 40 gallons a year.  Next in ranks are Germany and Ireland.
19. Heavy drinking will lead to hepatitis and the resulting irreversible liver damage will result in liver cirrhosis which could be fatal.
20. Amazingly the soil of one of the vineyards in France is considered so precious that it is mandatory for workers to scrape the soil off their shoes before they leave.
21. The pressure in a champagne bottle is amazing 90 pounds per square inch, which is 3 times the automobile tire pressure. In fact, a bottle of Champagne contains about 49 million bubbles. The popped cork from a champagne bottle can travel as fast as 60 miles per hour.
22. Japanese doctors have observed patients with “auto-brewery syndrome,” in which high levels of candida yeast in the intestines churn out so much alcohol that they can cause drunkenness.
23. People with blue eyes have been found to have higher alcohol tolerance.
24. Amsterdam pays alcoholics in beer to clean streets: 5 cans of beer for a day's work, plus 10 Euro.
25. Alcohol is prohibited in the UK Parliament with one exception: the chancellor can drink while delivering the annual budget statement.
26. Sir Winston Churchill was one of the world’s heaviest drinkers while  Adolf Hitler was one of the world’s best-known abstainers from alcohol.
27. Abraham Lincoln held a liquor license and operated several taverns.
28. The amazing fact is that the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous demanded alcohol during the last few days of his life.
29. Alexander the Great once held a drinking contest among his soldiers. When it was over, amazingly 42 people had died from alcohol poisoning.
30. In the 1600’s thermometer used to be filled with brandy instead of mercury.
31. In 1985 there were fewer than 50 beer brewers in the US. Today there are nearly 30000.
32. The word “toast,” which means wishing good health originated in ancient Rome. A piece of toasted bread was literally dropped into wine back then.
33. Drinking a banana milkshake is a perfect cure for hangovers.
34. The phrase mind your p’s and q’s can also trace its roots back to alcohol. In England, pubs serve liquor in pint and quart sizes. If a customer became unruly, it used to be common for a bartender to tell that customer to mind their own pints and quarts. Over time, the saying was shortened and usage expanded.
35. In outer space, there exists a gigantic cloud of alcohol that can be used to produce 400 trillion pints of beer. Amazingly it extends nearly 300 billion miles across.
36. The world record for alcohol consumption is by Andre the Giant, who drank 156 beers in one sitting (over 73 liters/16 gallons).
37. As part of an advertising campaign, Molson, a Canadian beer company, strategically placed 'beer fridges' around Europe that only Canadian passports could unlock.
38. The amazing fact is that if an ant is drunk, a fellow comrade will carry him back to the nest to sleep off the alcohol.
39. Scientist Niels Bohr was “given a house next door to the Carlsberg brewing company, and had a pipeline running from the brewery into the house so that he could have a never-ending supply of fresh beer on tap”.
40. Amazingly even a small amount of alcohol placed on a scorpion will make it go crazy and sting itself to death.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

Land &  Geography

• New Zealand is located in the south-western Pacific Ocean and features two main islands, the North Island and the South Island.
• The population of New Zealand is about 4.5 million. The capital city of New Zealand is Wellington while the largest city is Auckland. Wellington is in fact the southernmost capital city in the world.
• Amazingly a kiwi is not a fruit. It is New Zealand’s native flightless national bird and a slang term for a New Zealander. Kiwis call the fruit “kiwifruit”. They are also known as Chinese Gooseberries.
• Amazingly no part of the country is more than 128 km (79 miles) from the sea.
• Blue Lake, in Nelson Lakes National Park, has the clearest water in the world.
• There are amazingly no land snakes, native or introduced, in NZ. In fact unlike Australia, New Zealand does not have any dangerous or poisonous animals with the one tiny exception of the Katipo Spider.
• About one third of the country is protected national park.
• The kiwi, a bird native to NZ, is known for pulling windscreen wipers off cars and eating the strips of rubber from windows.
• There is a giant albino snail in New Zealand in South Island that is carnivorous.
• NZ is home to more species of penguins than any other country.
• The Hector’s Dolphin, the world’s smallest marine dolphin, which grows to a maximum length of 1.5 metres, is found nowhere else in the world but in New Zealand waters.
• A dolphin named Pelorus Jack regularly guided ships in New Zealand through treacherous waters until his disappearance in 1912.
• Amazing fact is in 2008, Henry the tuatara , reptile native to New Zealand became a father for the first time at the age of 111.
• New Zealand is in fact home to the giant weta, the heaviest insect in the world. It is heavier than a sparrow and looks like a giant cockroach.

History

• New Zealand was first discovered by Europeans in 1642 when Dutch sailor Abel Tasman arrived. He left New Zealand after several of his crew were killed by Maoris, and it was not until 1769 that English Captain James Cook arrived and mapped the land.
• The Treaty of Waitangi was in fact signed in 1840 between the British and Maori, making New Zealand a colony of the British Empire.
• Captain James Cook, the man who navigated New Zealand, is said to have discovered a cure for scurvy, a disease that results from Vitamin C deficiency, when he played around with medicines.

Places

• Lake Taupo extending to 616 square kilometres (or 238 sq miles) was formed by a super volcanic eruption 26,000 years ago which has been the largest known volcanic eruption in the world in the last 70 thousand years. It is one of the most popular tourist destinations.
• Baldwin Street, in Dunedin, is the world’s steepest street. The road has a gradient of 1 in 2.86 at its steepest section, an amazing  38 per cent grade.
• Amazing fact is Gisborne airport has train tracks running across the middle of the runway. Quite often, trains and planes have to stop until one moves out of the way.
• Ninety Mile Beach is actually only 90 km long.
• The Te Waikoropupu Springs in Golden Bay push out more fresh water than any other springs in the world, producing one to two billion litres of water a day amazing enough to supply drinking water to supply the entire population of New Zealand. Also the spring waters are the clearest natural water in the world outside of Antarctica. You can see an average of 63 metres when you look down through the water.
• Waitomo Caves in New Zealand’s Waikato region provide spectacular view of the fireflies. The Waitomo River runs underground through the caves where natural light cannot reach. Fireflies high above creates a night-sky effect with groups of fireflies looking like stars.
• The world’s first commercial bungee jump was a 43 metre leap off the Kawarau Bridge in Queenstown in 1988.
• There is a clock in Dunedin which has been amazingly running since 1864, despite never having been wound since it was made.

People Customs & Culture

• Maori are the indigenous Polynesian people of New Zealand. Only 15% of NZ’s population are Maori.
• Sign Language is amazingly one of three official languages of New Zealand.
• New Zealand is in fact a plastic nation. Almost all personal financial transactions are made with a card including taxis. Cash is very rarely used.
• NZ is the least corrupt nation in the world tied with Denmark according to the Corruptions Perception Index.
• Amazing fact is one in three Auckland households own a boat.
• It is illegal for drug companies to advertise to consumers almost everywhere in the world. The only exceptions are the US and New Zealand.
• Amazing factis in New Zealand , students on their exams are allowed to use text-messaging language. Teachers must treat these abbreviations as standard English and may not penalize students.
• 3 dogs in New Zealand were taught to drive a modified car around a race track in an effort to show the intelligence of shelter dogs.

Politics/ Legal

• Queen Elizabeth II is officially Queen of New Zealand. She is represented in New Zealand by a Governor General, who ratifies all laws put before him or her by the elected parliament of New Zealand.
• New Zealand is one of only three countries that have two official national anthems of equal standing. The first is God Save the Queen (the English National Anthem) and the other is God Defend New Zealand. The other two countries with Royal and state anthems are Denmark and Canada.
• In 1893 New Zealand in fact became the first country in the world to give all women the right to vote.
• Amazing fact is New Zealand was the first country to have all its top positions of power held simultaneously by women in 2006: The Prime Minister (Helen Clark), the Governor General (Dame Silvia Cartwright), and the Chief Justice (Sian Elias), the Queen and the Speaker of the House of Representatives.
• It's amazing that New Zealand was forced out of the ANZUS (Australia, New Zealand, United States) alliance in the 1980's when it outlawed nuclear arms and power. Even today there are no nuclear power stations in New Zealand.
• New Zealand may in fact deny people residency visas if they have too much weight.
• The logo of the Royal New Zealand Air Force is the kiwi, a flightless bird which is national bird.
• There is a law that states every high school in New Zealand may hold 1 pound of uranium and 1 pound of thorium, for conducting nuclear experiments, and will be fined $1,000,000 in case of a nuclear explosion.
• New Zealand was once governed as a part of the territory of New South Wales later a part of Australia. When Australia federated in 1901, New Zealand was offered a place as one of their states. New Zealand refused. New Zealand is still listed as a state of Australia in the Australian constitution, and can join the Australian confederation if they choose to.
• NZ has banned all television advertising on Good Friday, Easter Sunday, ANZAC Day, and Christmas Day.

Economy

• Sheep outnumber humans in New Zealand 10 to 1. In fact only 5% of NZ’s population is human. The rest are animals. Dairy products are New Zealand’s highest earning exports.
• New Zealand amazingly produces 100 kg of butter and 65 kg of cheese each year per capita.
• It's amazing that the filming of the Lord of the Rings trilogy pumped around $200 million into the country’s economy. The New Zealand government even created a Minister for Lord of the Rings, to ensure the most money could be made from the films.

Famous People

• New Zealander and Nobel Prize Winner, Ernest Rutherford is known as the father of nuclear physics.
• Sir Edmund Hillary , a New Zealander was the first man to reach the peak of Mount Everest was and his face is on the New Zealand $5 bill.

Sport

• Golf is the most popular participation sport, with more golf courses in New Zealand per capita of population than any other country in the world.
• New Zealand has won more Olympic gold medals per capita, than any other country.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. The first recorded mastectomy for breast occurred in A.D. 548 on Theodora, Empress of Byzantine.
2. Breast cancer was one of the first cancers to be described by ancient physicians. For example, physicians in ancient Egypt described breast cancer more than 3,500 years ago. One surgeon describes “bulging” tumours in the breast of which “there is no cure.”
3. In 400 B.C., Hippocrates describe breast cancer as a humoral disease caused by black bile or melancholia. He labelled cancer karkinos, meaning “crab,” because the tumours seemed to have tentacles which looked like the legs of crab.
4. The first operation to use anaesthesia was a breast cancer surgery.
5. Breast cancer is the most common type of cancer among American women after skin cancer. It is the second leading cause of cancer death in women after lung cancer.
6. The incidence of breast cancer is highest in more developed countries and lowest in less developed countries.
7. The left breast is statistically more prone to developing cancer than the right breast. Reason is not known.
8. In the U.S., on average one woman die of breast cancer every 15 minutes. The United States has the most cases of breast cancer in the world.
9. Only 5-10% of breast cancers occur in women who have a genetic predisposition for it.
10. Nearly 10.4 % of all cancers in women is breast cancer.
11. Approximately 1.2 million cases of breast cancer are diagnosed around the world each year. About 75% are found in women over age 50.
12. When breast cancer spreads beyond the breast, it is said to be “metastatic.” The most common places breast cancer spreads to are the bones, liver, and lungs.
13. There are currently 2.5 million breast cancer survivors living in the United States.
14. Usually 95% of new cases and 97% of breast cancer deaths occurred in women 40 years and older. The biggest single risk factor for breast cancer is age.
15. White women have a higher incidence of breast cancer than African American women. However, African American women are more likely to die from breast cancer than white women.
16. About 1 in 3,000 pregnant or lactating women will develop breast cancer. Research has shown that once a woman has been diagnosed with breast cancer during pregnancy, her chances of survival are less than a non-pregnant woman.
17. Mammography was initially used in 1969 when the first specialized X-ray units for breast imagining were developed.
18. Women age 40 and older should have screening mammograms every 1 to 2 years. It is estimated that if every woman over the age of 50 had her yearly mammogram, breast cancer deaths in this age group would drop by 25% or more.
19. Tumors are more likely to be malignant when they are firm and have irregular shapes, while benign tumors are more likely to feel round or soft. On average, it takes 100 days or more for a cancer cell to double in size. It takes about 10 years for cells to divide to a size that can be actually felt.
20. Breast cancer in men is rare, accounting for approximately 1% of breast cancer rates. African American men are more likely to die from breast cancer than white men.
21. One in 40 women of Ashkenazi (French, German, and East European) Jewish descent carry the BRCA1 and BRCA2 (breast cancer) gene, which is significantly higher than in the general population where only 1 in 500 to 800 people carry the gene.
22. In 1882, the father of American surgery, William Steward Halstead (1852-1922), introduced the first radical mastectomy (the breast tissue underlying chest muscle and the lymph nodes are removed). Until the mid 1970s, 90% of women with breast cancer were treated with this procedure.
23. The youngest known survivor of breast cancer is Aleisha Hunter from Ontario, Canada. At only three years old, Aleisha underwent a complete mastectomy in 2010 to treat her juvenile strain of breast cancer.
24. Breastfeeding has consistently been shown to reduce breast cancer, the greater the duration, the greater the benefit.
25. No association has been found between breast implants and an increased risk of breast cancer.
26. The most common type of breast cancer (70%) originates in the breast ducts and is known as ductal carcinoma. A less common type of breast cancer (15%) is known as lobular carcinoma or cancer that originates in the lobules. More rare types of cancers include medullary carcinoma, Paget’s disease and tubular carcinoma.
27. Research has found that pomegranates may help prevent breast cancer. Chemicals called ellagitannins block the production of estrogen, which can fuel some types of breast cancer.
28. Studies report that breast cancer patients with diabetes were nearly 50% more likely to die than those who didn’t have diabetes.
29. October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month (NBCAM). The first NBCAM took place in October 1985.
30. Not all lumps that are found in the breast are cancerous but may be a fibrocystic breast condition, which is benign.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. Burj Khalifa is the tallest building in the world with an architectural height of 2717 feet or 828.0 meters. Its people occupied height is 1918 feet or 584.5 meters.
2. The design of the tower is inspired by the shape of the Hymenocallis flower. The flower is known for its long petals extending out from its center.
3. The total cost of building Burj Khalifa was $1.5 billion.
4. Located in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, this tower was initially named as Burj Dubai but was renamed to Burj Khalifa in honor of UAE president Khalifa Bin Zayed Al Nahyan. The construction work started in 2004 and was completed in 2010.
5. Burj Khalifa is the tallest tower in Dubai, UAE, Middle East and World beating the next tallest building by more than about 1000 Ft. It is 3 times as tall as Eiffel Tower,15 times the highest point at Niagara Falls and 2 times taller than Empire State Building.
6. The tower also holds world records for: 'tallest free standing building', 'highest occupied floor', 'highest number of stories', and 'second highest outdoor observatory deck'.
7. Burj Khalifa holds the record of 504 metres longest travel distance elevator in the world. It has 58 functional elevators that run at the fastest speed in the world at 18 meters per second.
8. The observatory deck of the building is located at a height of 1483 feet or 452.1 meters , the second highest in the world. Record for highest outdoor observation deck is now held by Canton Tower which opened in 2011.
9. There are 163 floors located above the ground and it has only one floor located below the ground.
10. Burj Khalifa has highest swimming pool installed on the 76th floor, highest mosque in the world at 158th floor and tallest nightclub at 144 floors.
11. The building is so tall that you can see it from 60 miles away. Entire Dubai and even neighboring country Iran can be seen from top of Burj Khalifa.
12. At the top in Burj Khalifa temperature drops 6 degrees from base to peak and the winds at the top can reach whooping 90 miles an hour.
13. Burj Khalifa can accommodate 35,000 people at a time.
14. It has 2909 stairs from ground floor to 160 level.
15. Amazingly it has 11 hectares of park area.
16. Burj Khalifa has 37 office floors. Office space pricing at Burj Khalifa is about $3000 to $5000 per square feet.
17. Burj Khalifa has Armani Hotel Dubai with 160 guest rooms and suites, 144 Armani private residences and 900 Burj Khalifa residences.
18. Burj Khalifa has about 3000 parking spaces.
19. There is a dining restaurant at 122 level at 442 m height and world’s second highest swimming pool at 76 level.
20. The Gross Floor Area of the tower is 3,331,140 ft2 or 309,473 m2. The Gross Floor Area is the area within the footprint of the tower and does not include connected buildings and adjoining podiums.
21. Emaar is the developer/owner of the tower and its design architect is American firm Skidmore Owings & Merill.
22. Turner Construction was the project manager for Burj Khalifa while Besix, Arabtec and Samsung C&T Corporation were its main contractors. Dow Corning Corporation supplied sealants for the tower while Otis Elevator Company supplied the elevators.
23. During peak construction days, 12,000 workers were engaged every day.
24. 22 million man-hours, 55,000 ton steel bars and 110,000 ton concrete were used to complete the construction of the tower in 6 years.
25. Steel bars used in the construction of Burj Khalifa if laid down end to end, the total length would be one quarter of the earth circumference.
26. Total aluminum used in the tower weighs as much as five A380 aircrafts while total concrete used weighs as much as 100,000 elephants.
27. 26,000 glass panels cut individually were used to create the exterior of the building which were fitted by 300 Chinese cladding experts to withstand Dubai's summer heat.
28. The building has 12 machines of 13 tons each moving along tracks constructed outside the building.36 cleaners board these machines clean the 26,000 reflective glass panels.
29. The antenna at the top has a length of 220 meters carrying weight of 3,500 tons.
30. Burj Khalifa requires a supply of 950,000 liters of water every day through 100 Km of pipelines and total electricity consumption is equivalent to 360,000 bulbs of 100-watt each burning together.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. Closely linked by DNA, chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) are one of the four species of great apes that are the closest living relatives of humans – the other two being gorillas and orangutans.
2. Great apes are really different from monkeys.They are larger, walk upright for a longer period of time, don’t have tails and have much larger, more developed brains.
3. Amazingly we, Homo sapiens, share 98.4% of our DNA with chimpanzees.
4. Chimpanzees have the same bones and muscles as humans with differences only inform, such as longer arms than legs. Adapted for quadrupedal movement and movement through the trees, chimpanzees have powerful arms.
5. Because of their dense bones and muscle tissue, the upper body strength of a mature chimpanzee is 8-10 times that than that of humans.
6. An estimated 100,000 to 200,000 chimpanzees remain in the wild. They can be found in 20 African countries. Fifty years ago, there were probably a million chimpanzees living in Africa.
7. Chimpanzees used to live in 25 countries throughout tropical Africa, in an area almost the size of the United States. Today, chimpanzees are extinct in five of those countries and endangered in five others.
8. Chimpanzees are black, but older individuals may have a grey back.  Both genders often have short white beards.  The ears are prominent.  Infants have a white tail tuft and pink to brown facial skin, which darkens by adulthood.
9. On the ground, chimpanzees usually walk on all fours using their knuckles for support with their hands clenched, a form of locomotion called knuckle-walking. Chimpanzees can also stand and walk upright.
10. Chimpanzees have been shown to have their own individual personalities. Chimpanzees behave in a way indicating that they feel empathy.
11. Chimpanzees live in communities. These communities are composed of family groups totaling 15 to 120 animals. Hierarchies are formed by the adult males of the community, which is led by one alpha (the highest) male. They are highly territorial and will routinely patrol their home boundaries. Females tend to live a more solitary life than the males, often choosing to spend much of their time alone with their offspring.
12. Chimpanzee infants are completely dependent on their mothers until about five years of age. When males are between the ages of 8-12 years, or adolescence, they will increase their independence and spend more time in the company of adult males.
13. Females tend to remain close to their mothers during adolescence, becoming mature at age 11 but only beginning to breed at age 13-14.
14. Chimpanzees can live for more than 50 years.
15. In their natural habitats, chimpanzees are known to use plants with medicinal value to self-medicate themselves.
16. The gestation period of chimpanzee is about 8.5 months, very similar to humans. A female chimp will not be fertile again until her child is fully weaned, so at most a female chimp will give birth every five years. On average females will have about three offspring during their lifetime.
17. Chimpanzees travel mostly on the ground but will mostly feed in trees during the day and make a new nest every night in the forest canopy to sleep.
18. Their diet varies seasonally consisting mainly of fruit, leaves, flowers, seeds and animal prey such as grubs, termites, ants, wasps, birds and mammals including bush-pigs, rodents and even other primates.
19. In the Ivory Coast chimpanzees will hunt together cooperatively to catch red colobus monkeys, the meat is much prized and its subsequent sharing strengthens male alliances and familial bonds.
20. Chimpanzees have opposable both thumbs and toes that allow for grasping, climbing, and object manipulation.
21. Chimpanzees cannot swim, due to the structure and density of their bodies.
22. Chimpanzees are very dexterous and are able to manipulate objects in their environment. It is one of the species that can make use of tools. Sticks are used for termite fishing and ant dipping, leaf sponges to soak up water, use sticks to probe or break open beehives for honey, and manufacture spears to kill small mammals and in West Africa, chimpanzees use specially chosen rocks to crack hard palm nuts, a behavior that can take many years to perfect. Baby female chimps were recently discovered to play with sticks like human children play with dolls.
23. Chimpanzees, like humans, use facial expressions to convey emotions. Chimpanzees have emotions similar to those we call joy, anger, grief, sorrow, pleasure, boredom, and depression. They also comfort and reassure one another by kissing and embracing.
24. Chimpanzees have 32 teeth and their body temperature is the same as humans, at 98.6 degrees. A chimpanzee’s senses of sight, taste, and hearing are similar to those of humans.
25. While humans have blood types A, B, O, and AB, chimps have only A or O.
26. Many older captive chimpanzees suffer from cardiac disease and take the same medications that humans take for heart conditions.
27. Chimpanzees have many different vocalizations from soft grunts and lip smacks to alarm barks and screams.
28. Some chimpanzees have learned to “talk” using American Sign Language, symbols, and computer graphics. Some have even combined signs to come up with new words. When the famous sign language chimpanzee, Washoe, first saw a swan, she called it a “water bird.”
29. Grooming is also the single most important social activity and takes up a lot of each day’s rest periods. Grooming has a two-fold purpose: cleaning, and cementing the bonds of family and friendship. By running their fingers through each other’s hair, chimpanzees remove dirt, dead skin, and parasites. They will also clean any cuts or scrapes another chimp may have. Through these actions chimpanzees nourish friendships, comfort each other, and patch up disagreements.
30. Chimpanzees are classified as endangered in the wild. Aside from habitat loss they are hunted for bushmeat and infants were taken for sale into the pet trade. Over 1000 chimpanzees are still being kept and used in biomedical labs for research.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. Anything that humans cannot control or are afraid of has been associated with gods and divinity. Ancient cultures had their own versions of volcano gods. Ancient Greeks had Hephaistos , the god of craftsmanship and fire. For Romans Vulcan was the blacksmith of gods. Among Hawaiians. Pele is the goddess of volcanoes.
2. The term “volcano” is from the Latin Volcanus or Vulcan, the Roman god of fire. The Romans first used the term to describe Mt. Etna, a volcanic mountain they believed was the forge of Vulcan.
3. “Lava” derives from the Latin lavara, meaning “to wash,” and is magma that has erupted at the surface.
4. Hot liquid rock under the Earth’s surface is known as magma, it is called lava after it comes out of a volcano through some opening. Most volcanoes happen on fault lines, or cracks in the Earth’s surface.
5. There are four major types of volcanoes, classified according to their shape, composition of their magma, and the way they erupt. Composite Volcanoes (also known as Stratovolcanoes) which are the most common type of volcanoes, generally steep-sided cone shaped mountains most of which have a crater at the summit and erupt with different kinds of lava, ash, and rock . Shield Volcanoes are  wide gentle sloping volcanoes that have low viscosity lava flows. Cinder cone volcanoes are smaller single vent volcanoes, that have short-lived eruptions and often have bowl shaped craters at the summit. Lava domes are rounded volcanoes which erupt with very viscous lava that doesn’t flow great distances. An erupting volcano can trigger tsunamis, flash floods, earthquakes, mudflows and rockfalls.
6. The largest volcano found in the solar system is Olympus Mons on Mars, though it is now extinct. It  rises to an elevation of 27 km measuring 550 km across.
7. Venus may have at one time produced more volcanoes than any other planet in our solar system, though they are all now extinct.
8. While no other planet besides Earth shows active volcanoes, Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, shows volcanoes that are erupting.
9. The caldera is the term used for the circular depression formed at the summit of a volcano after a large eruption. Caldera, is Spanish for “kettle.”. Once a big eruption takes place, the volcano collapses in on itself and spews out gases, lava and ash that flow down from the edges of the circular depression or caldera.
10. The largest caldera is the La Garita Caldera in Colorado which was formed 26-28 million years ago and was one of the largest eruptions if not the largest on Earth.
11. Our entire world is threatened by what is known as Pacific Ring of Fire. It is actually a volcano string around Pacific Ocean’s perimeter. The Pacific Ring of Fire is responsible for giving some of the world’s deadliest eruptions. This is the area where several tectonic plates move beneath each other.
12. The Pacific Ring of Firehouses 452 volcanoes that cover 75% of world’s total dormant and active volcanoes above sea level.
13. The material ejected from a volcano is called “pyroclastic flow” from the Greek pyro (fire) and I (broken) refering to an avalanche of volcanic gases, rock fragments, pumice and hot ash rushing down the slopes of a volcano. It can have amazing speed of 100 kilometers per hour with temperature exceeding 500 degree Celsius.
14. Volcanoes can dramatically impact global climate as it releases huge amounts ash that gets trapped in atmosphere and prevents sun rays from reaching the earth resulting in a temperature drop. The acid that is released by volcanic eruptions destroys the ozone layer, letting in harmful UV rays of sun to earth. These eruptions also release massive amounts of carbon dioxide leading to greenhouse effect increasing the temperature.
15. Ash and gases spewed by volcanic eruptions can color sunsets because the material adds more obstacles through which incoming sunlight has to pass before reaching our eyes. The effect accentuates the sky light toward the red end of the spectrum.
16. About 20% of all volcanoes are under water.
17. Japan has 10% of the world’s active volcanoes.
18. Almost 80% of earth’s surface below or above sea level has volcanic origins.
19. About 350 million or 1 in 20 people live within danger range of an active volcano.
20. Over last 10,000 years, a total of 1,500 or more volcanoes have erupted. Of these, only about 20-30 erupt in any one year.
21. World’s oldest and longest document activity is of Sicily’s Mount Etna. It has been active and erupted since 1500 B.C. It is Italy's most active volcano and also the largest active volcano in Europe.
22. Indonesia ranks first in terms of number of active volcanoes throughout history. Second position is taken by Japan while U.S. ranks third in the list.
23. Klyuchevskaya Volcano on Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula is the largest active volcano in the Northern Hemisphere.
24. There are no active volcanoes in Australia because it sits in the middle of a tectonic plate.
25. Volcanoes form through subduction (when two tectonic plates smash against each other), mid-oceanic rift (when two plates drift apart), or in a hot spot (a weak spot in one of Earth’s plates).
26. In A.D. 79, Vesuvius erupted violently, devastating the towns of Pompeii and Herculaneum killing 16000 people. Eyewitness accounts of the time, recent excavations, and the preserved remains tell the full story of the eruption.
27. During the past 400 years, nearly a quarter of a million people have been killed as a direct result of volcanic eruptions. Indirect aftereffects such as famine, climate change, and disease most likely have tripled that number.
28. The eruption of Mount Tambora on Sumbawa island in Indonesia in 1815 is the biggest eruption recorded in history. The explosion for the eruption was heard on Sumatra Island more than 1200 miles away. The destruction was vast, with an estimated ejection volume of 38 cubic miles (160 km3) and a  death toll of more than 71,000 people. It created a massive sulfate dust cloud that fundamentally altered the planet’s climate for 3 years.
29. The 1883 eruption of Krakatau in Indonesia is thought to have released 200 megatons of energy, the equivalent of 15,000 nuclear bombs. Even though the island was uninhabited, the eruption killed 36,000 people as the result of burning ash showers and huge tsunamis. It generated the loudest sound historically reported.
30. The worst volcanic disaster of the twentieth century is considered to be the eruption of Mt. Pelée in 1902 on the island of Martinique in the Caribbean which killed 30,121 people. Only two people survived: a shoemaker living on the edge of the island and a prisoner who had been locked in a dungeon cell with thick stone walls.
31. Mount St. Helens is North America’s most active volcano. During the 9 hours that Mount St. Helens erupted in 1980, the volcano spewed about 540 million tons of ash over an area of more than 22,000 square miles causing the largest terrestrial landslide in recorded history, reducing the mountain's summit by about 1,300 feet . The eruption had 500 times the power of an atomic bomb.
32. The most dangerous volcano today is Popocatépetl, nicknamed El Popo, which is just 33 miles from Mexico City. El Popo is still active, sending thousands of tons of gas and ash into the air each year.
33. World’s largest and active supervolcano is Yellowstone Caldera. On top of the Caldera is the Yellowstone National Park. The Yellowstone supervolcano erupted thousands of years ago but till date fuels nearly 10,000 hot springs and geysers which is about 50 % of world’s visible geothermal activity.
34. In Hawaii you will find two mountains , Mauna Lao and Mauna Kea which are massive volcanoes covering almost entire Hawaii.
35. Mauna Kea measures 4,205 meters above sea level. However, the height of the mountain when measured from the ocean floor is 10,210 meters making it the highest mountain in this world even larger then Mount Everest.
36. The most active volcano on Earth is Mount Yasur on Tanna Island, part of the archipelago nation of Vanuatu in the South Pacific. It has been erupting nearly continuously for 111 years.
37. The Volcano can scream just before exploding. Alaska’s Redoubt Volcano erupted in 2009 but right before erupting, the volcano started screaming forewarning the danger.
38. The volcanoes can appear all of a sudden from the middle of nowhere. Example is Paricutin, the Mexican volcano in 1943. A long crack in the ground was followed by rumbling noises and rising earth with ash and sulfur coming out. The volcano rose to 165 meters within 24 hours and 230 meters within a week. The lava flow gradually consumed a town named San Juan. It kept erupting for 9 years rising to the height of 424 meters before it eventually died in 1952 covering 10 sq. mile of fertile land.
39. Paricutin volcano is a monogenetic volcano which is a type of volcano that never erupts again once it dies. So, Paricutin will never erupt again.
40. The volcano’s called Ol Doinyo Lengai located in Tanzania spews out a type of lava which geologists often call as ‘lava from another planet’. It is 2,200 meters tall and spews out ‘black lava’ which is carbonatite substance similar to dark mud. It is cooler than usual lava and its temperature can reach a maximum of 540℃. When the volcano erupts the lava usually cools while in air and falls down in form of glass shreds.
41. The black sand beaches in Iceland and Hawaii are formed by grains of black volcanic glass.
42. Iceland is made up almost entirely of volcanic rocks like those found on the ocean floor. It gradually built up above sea level through intense and prolonged eruptions.
43. The southernmost active volcano on the planet is Antarctica's Mount Erebus. It is also home to Earth's only long lived lava lakes.
44. Java’s volcano known as Ijen is in the area which has very high volcanic activity resulting in high sulfur concentration. The area is also known to have some of the most lethal acid lakes in the world due to sulfur turning to sulphuric acid.
45. In the crater of the volcano Ijen is the lake Kawah Ijen, which is the world’s most lethal and largest acidic lake which can eat up metals.
46. In 1982 scientists came up with what is known as VEI or Volcanic Explosivity Index which is used to determine the power of a volcanic eruption. The VEI runs from 0 to 8.
47. Eruptions with VEI 0-2 occur weekly or even daily. A category 3 volcanic eruption will shoot out ashes up to 15 kilometers high in sky. These eruptions usually occur once a year. Scale 4-5 are volcanic eruptions that take place once every few decades or centuries. Volcanic ash can shoot up up to 25 kilometers in sky.
48. Scale 6-7 are called colossal eruptions and super-colossal eruptions respectively which will shoot out lava bombs traveling well over hundred miles or more, cause tsunamis and more!
49. There is a type of volcanic rock known as pumice. This rock is the only type of rock on Earth that can float on water. Typical pumice will have numerous bubbly holes. These holes are created when the rock cools and hot gases get out of the rock in form of jets.
50. In 1883 the Krakatoa volcano erupted and was a category 6 explosion. It killed 36,417 people by thermal trauma and tsunamis.
51. 8 on the VEI scale is a mega-colossal explosion at least 100 times more powerful than a category 6 eruption. There hasn’t been any VEI-8 explosion in last 10000 years. VEI-8 can end most of our world.
52. One of the biggest eruptions ever occurred about 30 million years ago in what is today eastern Nevada and western Utah, when a supervolcano exploded 3500 cubic kilometers of magma over an area of about 12,000 square miles. It left behind deposits of debris 13,000 feet deep. It was a VEI-8 eruption.
53. Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming sits on the site of an ancient supervoclano of grade VEI-7. It erupted around 2 million years ago, 1.3 million years ago, and 640,000 years ago. If it follows the same pattern, another eruption is due any time now.
54. Other VEI-7 explosions have taken place so far , one in 74,000 B.C. in Sumatra , Indonesia and one in 24,500 B.C. in Taupo New Zealand.
55. Volcanologists use a special electric thermometer called a “thermocouple” to take a volcano’s temperature. Lava is so hot that a glass thermometer would melt.
56. Scientists believe that all the water on the earth was originally vented into the atmosphere by volcanoes.
57. There is an endangered bird species known as the Maleo which is the only known bird species on earth that uses geothermal energy from the volcanoes to incubate the eggs which are 5 times bigger than chicken eggs. The mama bird seeks out exposed volcanic areas where the eggs can hatch using the geothermal energy from the volcanoes.
58. Before the Panama Canal opened in 1915, rival proposals for an Atlantic–Pacific link included a plan to carve a canal through Nicaragua, which had a lot more fresh water and much less deadly malaria than Panama but it also had a significant volcanic activity which resulted in Panama getting the vote.
59. Cerro Negro, a new and very active volcano that first erupted in 1850 and has blown 23 times since, most recently in 1999 has black pebble covered slopes you can surf down on a metal-bottomed wood board.
60. Surtsey, one of Earth’s newest islands, was dramatically formed in 1963 by underwater volcanic eruptions. Surtsey Island, which lies off the southwest coast of Iceland.

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1. About 1 million people around the world die by drowning every year, that is more than two persons per minute. Among them 50 % are children.
2. There are about 8 to 10 times that many who experience a drowning process but who reach safety alone or are rescued by others.
3. Every day about 10 people die due to drowning in the US. Nearly 80% of people who die from drowning are male.
4. Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) performed by bystanders has been shown to save lives and improve outcomes in drowning victims. The more quickly CPR is started, the better the chance of improved outcomes. CPR should be learned by everybody.
5. If you are caught in a rip current, swim parallel to shore. Once free of the current, swim diagonally toward shore.
6. One does not need an enormous depth of water to drown. Drowning can actually happen in as little as 12 inches (30 mm) of water.
7. Children can drown in toilets, buckets, baths, etc. An adult will usually not drown in a bucket or a toilet unless they are under the influence of alcohol or drugs.
8. Besides water people can drown in other liquids also especially in industrial establishments.
9. “Wet drowning" is a type of drowning in which the water manages to enter the lungs. In fact, the air tube is sealed the moment water enters airways preventing water from entering lungs. This is due to vocal cord and larynx constrictions. As air tube is blocked, even air cannot enter lungs making person unconscious. Once unconscious, the air tube opens and water rushes into the lungs causing death.
10. In “dry drowning" the air tube will stay shut and cause cardiac arrest and hence, death. In this case the person will die before water enters lungs. Amazingly once the person is dead, water fails to enter lungs.
11. In “secondary drowning", a person actually inhales a small amount of liquid or water into lungs which irritate lungs, impairs gas exchange leading to pulmonary edema and eventually causes death by respiratory failure. This can happen even due to poison gases or chemical and even vomit getting inhaled!
12. Deepwater blackout is yet another type of drowning. When someone dives into water, the oxygen present in lungs is capable of producing enough pressure to keep the person conscious. But this pressure starts falling as the person ascends from the depths of water and causes latent hypoxia causing deep water blackout when the person reaches surface. The moment the person loses consciousness, he or she sinks! This is usually not a common occurrence and happens rarely usually to strong and fit swimmers.
13. We also have shallow water blackout. Just before diving or swimming, a person feels a strong urge to breathe, especially exhale. As a person exhales, CO2 level falls. Once in water, a person will not feel the strong urge to breathe in or inhale because the CO2 level is low but he or she will not realize that the brain is deprived of oxygen. He or she continues to swim only to faint all of a sudden and then sink. Most cases of shallow water blackout occur in swimming pools or shallow water bodies.
14. Drowning in saltwater usually takes longer. When a drowning person inhales salt water, the salt concentration in the lungs increases. Water from blood rushes into the lungs to dilute the saltwater. As a result, the blood thickens. When the blood thickens, the heart comes under pressure and causes cardiac arrest. This takes about 8-10 minutes.
15. Since the cardiac arrest in seawater drowning happens after 8-10 minutes, it is easier to rescue people drowning in saltwater.
16. In contrast to saltwater, drowning in freshwater gives you little time to rescue. If freshwater is inhaled, the water becomes hypotonic compared to tissues in the lungs. So, the water rushes into the cells to dilute the cells’ salt concentration. The red blood cells then burst, releasing hemoglobin which gets accumulated in kidneys, leading to acute renal failure. Freshwater is also absorbed into blood thereby diluting it and cooling the heart sufficient enough to cause hypothermia-induced cardiac arrest. This happens in just 2-3 minutes. Thus, rescuers do not get enough time to save the victims.
17. In fact, 90% of the drowning cases occur in freshwater.
18. It is a myth that a drowning person shouts and yells and calls for help. In fact, our respiratory system is designed to first breathe and then generate speech. When a person drowns, his or her mouth usually sinks below the water surface and then resurfaces in very short successions. This gives the respiratory system just enough time to concentrate on its primary function, i.e. breathing. A person tries to quickly inhale and exhale. Yelling becomes literally impossible.
19. It is also a myth that a drowning person throws out arms and legs in all possible directions. In fact, out of instinct, a drowning person will extend his or her arms laterally trying to press down on water surface and keep their mouth out of water to continue breathing. This arm movement is completely involuntary and happens on its own. So waving or throwing arms at get the attention of rescuers is literally impossible.
20. In case of true drowning, people really cannot help themselves even by reaching out for a rope or a ring thrown at them. Drowning is a very silent process contrary to what we see in movies.
21. A drowning person will usually show a few signs which most of us fail to recognize. Usually the head of the person will be low in water with mouth at the level of water and occasionally sinking in and coming out of water. Eyes will become empty and glassy and will usually lose focus. Eyes will mostly be open and the face will reflect fear. He or she will usually be gasping with hands stretched laterally. It will appear as if he or she is trying to climb up a ladder that is invisible. Legs and arms will be mostly under water.
22. Children are more susceptible to drowning. They can drown even in presence of adults right next to them! So, it is important to keep an eye on them always and look for any signs of drowning.
23. You have to be vigilant. A person next to you in water may be drowning and drown silently. Take special care when children are in water.
24. At home it is a good precaution to empty all tubs, buckets, containers and wading pools immediately after use. Store them upside down and out of children’s reach.
25. Keep toilet lids closed and use toilet seat locks to prevent drowning. It’s also a good idea to keep doors to bathrooms and laundry rooms closed.
26. We’re relatively poor swimmers when compared to other animals but we have the mammalian diving reflex. When a human’s face touches water, the airway closes, the heart rate slows, and the capillaries in the skin and extremities constrict, sending blood toward the vital organs. This serves a dual purpose of keeping the organs oxygenated and insulated from increasing water pressure. It also saps strength from the limbs for swimming. This reflex is most frequently seen in drowning children giving them a better chance of recovery than adults.
27. Due to above reflex action, the bodies of children who have been submerged for many minutes have been resuscitated with no neurological damage.
28. At a 1985 bash in New Orleans, Louisiana, party was being held to celebrate a summer where no one had drowned at any of the city’s pools. There were some 200 people in attendance, over half of which were certified, lifeguards. A further four lifeguards were also on active duty. Yet a 31-year-old Jerome Moody died in pool and nobody noticed.
29. The Dead Sea located between Israel and Jordan has so much salty water that it is too dense for a person to drown.
30. In fact, most sharks actually need to continue swimming to be able to survive. If they don't swim all the time, then they will end up drowning.

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Land &  Geography

• Brazil is the largest country in South America having a population of 190 million. Brazil covers 3 time zones.
• The name Brazil comes from a tree named brazilwood.
• Amazingly Brazil is the longest country in the world, spanning approximately 2,800 miles from north to south via land.
• The fact is that Brazil is the only country in South America that speaks Portuguese unlike most of the other countries speaking Spanish.
• The Amazon River, the 2nd longest river in the world flows through Brazil. It is the largest river in the world in water volume.
• Amazingly Brazil contains no desert, high-mountain, or arctic environments.
• Brazil has 60% of the rain forests that make up the Amazon rain forests. It also constitutes the world’s 25% of the rain forests. Amazingly 30% of the world’s oxygen comes from the Amazon rain forest.
• Very little sunlight makes it through the dense canopy of trees and foliage covering the Amazon rain forest. It is nearly completely dark. In fact, if it started raining, it would take ten minutes before you even got wet!
• Brazil has the greatest biodiversity of any country, and the most species of plants, freshwater fish, and mammals. The amazing fact is that it is home to an estimated 4 million species of plants and animals.
• The Capybara is the world’s largest rodent at 70Kg and can be seen in herds of 100s in the Pantanal wetlands.

History

• Amazingly Portugal claimed the land of Brazil way back in the year 1500. Independence was declared only in 1822.
• Rio de Janeiro was the capital of Brazil for almost 2 centuries before it was moved to Brasilia in 1960.

Places / Architecture

• The capital of Brazil,  Brasilia city was conceived and built by a single plan. Amazingly the city has been planned in the shape of an airplane.
• The largest city in the Southern Hemisphere is Sao Paulo. The amazing fact is that outdoor advertising is banned in the city. The decision to dismantle all panels and signs was made in 2007 by the city authorities.
• One of the most famous mountains in the world is the Corcovado located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. It is known worldwide for its 98 foot (30 m) high statue of the city's emblem, Christ the Redeemer, which has been on its summit since 1931.
• Isn't it amazing that Brazil has over 8000 airports, the second-highest number of airports in the world, behind the United States of America, which has over 15000 ?
• The amazing fact is that Brazil is the location of the world’s widest road. The Monumental Axis can hold 160 cars driving side by side.

People Customs & Culture

• Brazil has official language is Portuguese. The facts say that country has the largest Portuguese-speaking population in the world but 80% of the people can speak English.
• The amazing fact is that Brazil has the largest number of Italians outside Italy and the largest number of Japanese outside Japan!
• The fact is Brazil has the second highest Christian population in the world. Brazil is also the largest catholic nation in the world.
• Amazingly there is no official religion in Brazil, though over 75% of the population are Roman Catholics. The constitution guarantees freedom of religion.
• A Brazilian Model is considered one of the most gorgeous women in the world and these women are the top of their class.
• World’s largest party is the Carnival which is the time for millions of visitors to visit Brazil. Every year in February  the whole Brazil, covered by a continuous thunder of drums beat the rhythm of the samba, immersed in the most bustling, bright and cheerful holiday.
• Amazing fact is that an estimated fifty tribes native to the Amazon rain forest have never had any contact with the rest of the world.
• Amazing fact is that the Piraha tribe in the Amazon Brazil has no concept of numbering or counting! The tribe seems to also have no words for colors and no form of a written language. Not only can they not count, they haven't been able to learn how to either!

Politics/ Legal

• Voting in the elections is compulsory in Brazil  and everyone between the ages of 18 and 65 has to vote.
• Women in Brazil obtained the right to vote in 1931, which was before countries such as France and Switzerland!
• The currency of Brazil has both horizontal and vertical pictures.

Economy

• The best coffee in the world is said to come from Brazil.
• Brazil produces the most oranges in the world.
• Brazil is one of the leading producers of hydroelectric power. The country is totally energy independent since the year 2006.
• Amazingly Brazil has been producing “flex” cars since the oil crisis of 1973.  Now almost all new cars are flex cars, meaning that they run on gas, alcohol (ethanol), or a blend.  The ethanol is made from sugar cane and burns cleanly. This has enabled the country to be 100% energy independent.

Sport

• Football (soccer) is the most popular sport in Brazil with the national team consistently among the best in the world, winning the World Cup amazing five times.

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~ By Amazing Facts 4U Team

1. The duck is a number of species in the Anatidae family of birds which include swans and geese but the duck is the smallest of them all.
2. Ducks are found on every continent except Antarctica.
3. Ducks have been domesticated as pets and farm animals for more than 500 years. All domestic ducks have descended from either the mallard or the Muscovy duck.
4. There are more than 40 breeds of domestic duck. The most common variety is the white Pekin duck ( Long Island duck) which is the most common variety raised for eggs and meat.
5. A baby duck is called a duckling, and an adult male is a drake. An adult female duck is called a hen or a duck, and a group of ducks can be called a raft, team, or paddling.
6. Ducks are birds that are also called “waterfowls” because they are normally found in places with water like marshes, oceans, rivers, ponds, and lakes. They love water.
7. Male ducks are usually brightly colored with green or chestnut brown throats. In contrast, females are brown all over.
8. Ducks have rows of small bristles lining their mouth which allow them to filter water out of their beaks without losing their food, a filtering system similar to that of the blue whale.
9. Amazingly only the females actually quack. All ducks do however have a range of communicative calls, including grunts and whistles. It is a myth that a duck's quack won't echo. It does.
10. Ducks have webbed feet which allow them to move with ease in water as well as permit them to easily walk on slippery river banks.
11. Ducks use their beaks for feeding and for grooming themselves. They will pick dirt or debris out of their feathers.
12. Ducks have a hard nail at the tip of their bills and comb-like teeth on the sides of their bills to help them eat their food.
13. Ducks are omnivorous, opportunistic eaters and will eat grass, aquatic plants, insects, seeds, fruit, fish, crustaceans, etc.
14. Depending on the species, a duck can live between 2 and 12 years.
15. Ducks’ feathers have evolved to be highly waterproof. A special gland that produces oil is located near the duck’s tail. This oil spreads and covers the outer coat of the duck’s feathers, making it water-proof.
16. Ducks keep their feathers clean by preening very often. They do this by putting their heads in funny positions and putting their beaks into their body.
17. The amazing fact is that the ducks' feet have no nerves or blood vessels. Their feet do not feel the cold enabling them to swim in icy water and walk-in ice and snow.
18. Amazingly ducks have three eyelids!
19. Most duck species are monogamous for a breeding season but they do not mate for life.
20. Ducks have a breeding season, they are vulnerable during this time as the breeding stops them from flying.
21. Once the female lays 5-12 eggs, she will start to sit on her eggs to keep them warm so that they can hatch into ducklings. The males have no role to play. The eggs will usually hatch within 28 days.
22. Amazingly ducklings are covered with down and able to walk and leave the nest just a few hours after hatching.
23. Female ducks will lead their young ducklings up to half a mile from their nest site overland to find a suitable water area for swimming and feeding.
24. When building a nest, female ducks will line the nest with soft down feathers which they pluck from their own breast to provide the best possible insulation and cushioning for the eggs.
25. Amazingly a Red-Breasted Merganser, one of the duck species was once recorded flying at just over 100 miles per hour, whilst being pursued by a plane.
26. Ducks normally migrate between 200 and 4,000 feet in the air but are capable of reaching far greater heights. They have been spotted at an altitude of 21,000 feet!
27. Many duck species will migrate for thousands of miles. Some can reach speeds beyond 60 mph when flying.
28. While migrating some ducks can fly up to 332 miles in a single day! Ducks fly in a “V” shape. This shape makes flying easier.
29. Because of their familiarity and comic nature, ducks are often featured as fictional characters. The two most famous fictional ducks are Disney's Donald Duck, who premiered in 1934, and Warner Bros. Daffy Duck, who premiered in 1937.
30. In Celtic symbolism, the duck represents honesty, simplicity, and resourcefulness. They are also viewed as sensitive and graceful and respected for their beauty and adaptation to nature.

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