History

• The 16th century Escorial palace of King Phillip II of Spain had 1,200 doors.
• The world’s first travel agencies were Cox & Kings, founded in 1758, and Thomas Cook, founded in 1850.
• A dog was the first in space and a sheep, a duck and a rooster the first to fly in a hot air balloon.
• Music was sent down a telephone line for the first time in 1876, the year the phone was invented.
• Beer was the first trademarked product – British beer Bass Pale Ale received its trademark in 1876.
• Playing-cards were known in Persia and India as far back as the 12th century. A pack then consisted of 48 instead of 52 cards.
• Excavations from Egyptian tombs dating to 5,000 BC show that the ancient Egyptian kids played with toy hedgehogs.
• Accounts from Holland and Spain suggest that during the 1500s and 1600s urine was commonly used as a tooth-cleaning agent.
• Julius Caesar was the first to encode communications, using what has become known as the Caesar Cipher.
• The first mention of soap was on Sumerian clay tablets dating about 2,500 BC. The soap was made of water, alkali and cassia oil.
• Great Britain was the first county to issue postage stamps, on 1 May 1840. Hence, UK stamps are the only stamps in the world not to bear the name of the country of origin.
• Napoleon‘s christening name was Italian: Napoleone Buonaparte. He was born on the island of Corsica one year after it became French property. As a boy, Napoleon hated the French.
• John Rolfe married Pocahontas the Red Indian Princess in 1613.
• Only one of the Seven Wonders of the World still survives: the Great Pyramid of Giza.
• The first parachute jump from an airplane was made by Captain Berry at St. Louis, Missouri, in 1912.
• On 21 June 1913, over Los Angeles, Georgia Broadwick became the first women to parachute from an airplane.
• The first written account of the Loch Ness Monster, or Nessie, was made in 565AD.
• The world’s first skyscraper was the 10-storey Home Insurance office, built in Chicago in 1885. (During Roman times buildings were up to 8 stories high.)

Source: didyouknow.org

10 surprising good uses for salt

1. Deter ants
Sprinkle salt in doorways, on window sills and anywhere else ants use to sneak into your house. It’s a sure way to keep them out!

2. Kill grass and weeds growing in cracks in your driveway
Tired of weeding your driveway? Sprinkle salt on the grass and pour very hot water over it. Not only is this a highly effective way to kill unwanted plants, it’s also eco-friendly and cheap.

3. Say goodbye to fleas
If your dogs have fleas, simply wash their doghouse and blankets in salt water. If you’re worried your dogs may have brought fleas into your house, simply sprinkle your carpets lightly with salt and then brush it in. Leave it for 12 hours and vacuum thoroughly.

4. Pick up a dropped egg
If you drop an egg on the kitchen floor, sprinkle salt on the mess and leave it there for 20 minutes. You’ll be able to wipe it right up.

5. Clean up oven spills quickly
If a pie or casserole bubbles over in the oven, pour a handful of salt on top of the spill. It won’t smoke, smell and, most importantly, will bake into a crust that makes the mess easier to clean once it’s cooled.

6. Clean brown spots off your iron
Simply sprinkle salt on a sheet of waxed paper, slide the iron across it and rub lightly with silver polish. Your iron will look like brand-new in no time.

7. Remove stains from your coffee pot
Fill it with 1/4 cup of table salt and a dozen ice cubes. Swish the mixture around, let it sit for half an hour, fill it with cold water and rinse. Your coffee pot will look brand new.

8. Keep your windshield frost-free
Dip a sponge into salt water and rub it on windows, and they won’t frost up even when the mercury drops below zero.

9. Shell nuts more easily
Soak pecans and walnuts in salt water for a few hours before shelling them. Doing so will make it easier to remove the meat.

10. Drip-proof candles
If you soak new candles in a strong salt solution for a few hours, then dry them well, they won’t drip when you burn them.

11. Tame a wild BBQ
Toss a bit of salt on the flames caused by fat dripping from the grill. It’ll reduce the flames and calm the smoke without cooling the coals (like water would).

12. Soothe a bee sting
Wet the sting right away, then cover it with salt.

13. Stop a grease fire
Pouring salt on top of a grease fire will smother it. Completely.

14. Cooking tip
If a soup or stew is too sweet, add a pinch of salt.



Source: didyouknow.org

Most...

• the most common time for a wake up call is 7am
• blue and white are the most common school colors
• the most eaten fruit in America is the banana
• the most common Spanish surname is Garcia
• he most popular snack food is potato chips
• the most popular toothbrush color is blue
• per person France consumes the most cheese
• the most valuable nutrients of a potato are in its skin
• lettuce is the worlds most popular green vegitable
• most spiders have transparent blood
• coffee is the most popular beverage worldwide with over 400 billion cups consumed each year
• in American supermarkets peanut butter is one of the most frequently purchased items
• the most commonly used word in English conversation is 'I'
• the world's most expensive spice is saffron
• hydrogen is the most abundant element in the Universe (75%)

Places

Perth is Australia's windiest city
Tennessee is bordered by 8 states: Alabama, Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, Mississippi, Missouri, North Carolina and Virginia - more than any other in the US
M&M's chocolate stands for the initials for its inventors Mars and Murrie
The longest street in the world is Yonge street in Toronto Canada measuring 1,896 km (1,178 miles)
The fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco
The first Burger King was opened in Florida Miami in 1954
In eastern Africa you can buy beer brewed from bananas
'Lonely Planet' for travelers is based in Melbourne Australia
The Arctic Ocean is the smallest in the world
The coins thrown into the Trevi fountain in Italy are collected for charity
The Amazon rainforest produces half the world's oxygen supply
The brand Nokia is named after a place in Southern Finland
42% of men and women 25% don't wash their hands after using a public toilet
Bali has the worlds largest variety of flora
The Titanic was built in Belfast
Hawaii was originally called the Sandwich Islands
New York was the first capital of the United States
Hawaii is the only US state that grows coffee
The Atlantic Ocean is saltier than the Pacific

Human Body

• your most sensitive finger is your index finger (closest to your thumb)
• the human body of a 70 kg person contains 0.2mg of gold
• women blink twice as much as men
• Scotland has the most redheads
• household dust is made of dead skin cells
• the word 'testify' derived from a time when men were required to swear on their testicles
• you take over 23,000 breaths everyday
• your foot and your forearm are the same length
• you burn more calories sleeping than watching television
• 56% of typing is completed by your left hand
• human thigh bones are stronger than concrete
• more people are allergic to cows milk than any other food
• your mouth produces 1 litre of saliva a day
• your head contains 22 bones
• the coloured part of your eye is called the iris
• if your DNA was stretched out it would reach to the moon 6,000 times
• everyone has a unique tongue print
• you begin to feel thirsty when your body losses 1% of water
• hiccups usually lasts for 5 minutes

 

Phobias

Friday, lucky or not

In pagan times Friday was the luckiest day of the week because it was ruled by the planet Venus, the symbol of love and fortune. In fact, Friday is named in honor of Freya, goddess of Love. But for Christians, Friday has not been a good day. Adam and Eve is said to have eaten the forbidden fruit on a Friday and died on a Friday. Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

For centuries sailors refused to set sail on a Friday. It is told that when the reluctance of seamen to set sail on a Friday had reached such proportions that it interfered with naval operations, the British Admiralty decided to prove once and for all that it is a fallacy. They laid the keel of a new vessel on a Friday, named her H.M.S. Friday, and launched her on a Friday. On her first voyage, setting sail on a Friday, she was commanded by Captain James Friday. She left the harbor and nothing has since been heard of her or her crew. The identical story has also found its place in American lore. But – fear not – it is a myth.

The fear for traveling on a Friday continued until the early 20th century where in Europe bus and train travel was lowest on a Friday. But before you say “Thank Goodness, it’s Friday!” consider that, FBI statistics show, most robberies take place on a Friday.

The number 13

It is believed that the fear for the number 13 stems from primitive man being unable to count past 12. Numbers beyond 12 do now have an individual and independent name but are a combination of the first 12 numbers. With 12 being the end of the line, 13 was moving into unknown territory.

In Norse mythology the 13th number led to the death of Baldur, the beloved of the gods. When the 12 gods gathered for a banquet in Valhalla, Loki gatecrashed the party, increasing the number to 13, which led to the death of Baldur. It also happens that in Tarot cards, 13 is called “Death.”

The baker’s dozen

The “unlucky 13″ is the reason why the thirteen loaves that bakers once supplied were never called by the number, but described as “a baker’s dozen.” The thirteenth loaf was regarded as a special bribe for the devil not to spoil the sale or the bread.

The lucky number 13

But 13 is not unlucky for all. The Mayas worshiped the 13 gods of the upper world. The Aztecs climbed 13 steps to their sacred places.
Buddhists paid homage to 13 Buddhas. In Jewish faith, God revealed Himself by 13 attributes of bountiful mercy (Exodus 34: 6-7). The orthodox Jewish prayer book hold the Thirteen Principles of Faith. Jewish boys celebrate their Bar Mitzvah at age 13.
The number 13 in Greek is triskaideka and the fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia.





Source: /didyouknow.org

Famous People

Did you know?

Elvis's middle name was Aron
Bill Gates began programming computers at the of age 13
Madonna and Michael Jackson were both born in 1958
Isaac Newton invented the cat door
Einstein slept 10 hours a night
Sir Isaac Newton was 23 when he discovered the law of gravity
Leonardo Da Vinci invented scissors
Elvis Presley made only 1 television commercial
Shakespeare invented the words 'assassination' and 'bump'
Tiger Woods' real first name is Eldrick
It took Leonardo Da Vinci 10 years to paint Mona Lisa
Before beginning his movie career Keanu Reeves managed a pasta shop in Toronto Canada
Chevy Chase's real first name is Cornelius
Between 1931 and 1969 Walt Disney was awarded 35 Oscars
Albert Einstein never knew how to drive a car