Thursday, February 28, 2008

Thursday Thirteen

You may know me as a curious person. Hunting for knowledge and facts. Even "funny" facts. Most listed here are from "Did you Know"

Did you know?

1) Easter bunny originates from ancient Anglo-Saxon carnival

The ancient Anglo-Saxons celebrated the return of spring with a carnival commemorating their goddess of offspring and of springtime, Eostre. The word carnival possibly originated from the Latin 'carne vale' meaning "flesh, farewell" or "meat, farewell." The offerings were rabbits and coloured eggs, bidding an end to winter.

As it happened, the pagan festival of Eostre occurred at the same time of year as the Christian observance of the Resurrection of Christ and it didn't take the Christian missionaries long to convert the Anglo-Saxons when they encountered them in the 2nd century. The offering of rabbits and eggs eventually (in the 8th century, it is thought) became the Easter bunny and Easter eggs. Read more it's soon Easter.

2) A cat's brain is more similar to a man's brain than that of a dog! And that a cat do have 100 different sounds while dogs have 10.

3) CO2 discharge from computers (power consumption, incl cooling) are equel to that from the Airline Industry. Every time we are on internet we create a carbon dioxid footprint.

4) In the 6th century BC Greek mathematician Pythagoras said that earth is round - but few agreed with him. Greek astronomer Aristarchos said in the 3rd century BC that earth revolves around the sun - but the idea was not accepted. In the 2nd century BC Greek astronomer Erastosthenes accurately measured the distance around the earth at about 40,000 km (24,860 miles) - but nobody believed him. In the 2nd century AD Greek astronomer Ptolemy stated that earth was the centre of the universe - most people believed him for the next 1,400 years.

5) With all its grazing and many stomachs, it is no wonder that cows are one of the main contributors to the hole in the ozone layer. Apart from CFC, the biggest culprit is hydrocarbon emissions from cars and cows. Yes, cows! Cows release some 100 million tons of hydrocarbon annually - by releasing gas. To give you an idea of how much gas a cow emits: if the gas of 10 cows could be captured, it would provide heating for a small house for a year. (Free energy for Farmers. TorAa, comment)

6) Coffee is the world's most popular stimulant: 4 out of 5 Americans drink it, consuming more than 400 million cups a day. Consumption in Scandinavian countries is more than 12kg (26lb) per capita. With more than 25 million people employed in the industry, coffee is second only to oil in world trade.

7) A diamond is the hardest natural substance on earth, but if it is placed in an oven and the temperature is raised to about 763 degrees Celsius (1405 degrees Fahrenheit), it will simply vanish, without even ash remaining. Only a little carbon dioxide will have been released.

8) If the amount of water in your body is reduced by just 1%, you'll feel thirsty.

9) The muscle that lets your eye blink is the fastest muscle in your body. It allows you to blink 5 times a second. On average, you blink 15 000 times a day. Women blink twice as much as men.

10) Indian comic actress Manorama has played the most leading roles of any performer in movie history. She began her career in 1958 and in 1985 had appeared in her 1,000th movie.

11) The paperclip was invented by Norwegian Johann Vaaler.

12) If you suffer from phronemophobia you are afraid of thinking (Think about that)

13) 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."

Did you enjoy and learned something?

Labels: , , ,

15 Comments:

Blogger pussreboots said...

Interesting list. Thanks for sharing. Happy TT.

February 28, 2008 8:11 pm  
Blogger Maribeth said...

As soon as I read about the eye blinking I started to blink!!!
The number 13 has haunted my life. Someday I shall write about it.

February 28, 2008 8:41 pm  
Blogger Sandee said...

Yes, I did learn something here. I do have a fear of thinking though. Bwahahahahaha. great job. Have a wonderful TT. :)

February 28, 2008 8:58 pm  
Blogger maryt/theteach said...

I always love learning something...I do have to stop thinking though! Ha! And BTW I am out of "shit" keys for your keyboard. Sorry...don't say it!

February 28, 2008 9:54 pm  
Blogger SandyCarlson said...

Some days I'm a serious No. 12 sufferer!

This was entertaining and educational. Time to turn off my carbon footprint, though!

February 28, 2008 10:07 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

There were 12 apostles and Jesus made 13, 12 knights and King Arthur made 13.

Love number 12. (and 13)

February 28, 2008 10:57 pm  
Blogger Harris Channing said...

VERY interesting list. I knew a few of the things but now many! Thanks for sharing!

~Harris.

February 29, 2008 12:30 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Informative. I didn't know that bit about cows. This led me to wonder what we're going to do with them. And yes, thanks for sharing.

February 29, 2008 1:27 am  
Blogger Unknown said...

#3-- I hope that doesn't mean we'll all have to give up blogging. ;-)

I was just telling a friend today that one of my favorite numbers is 13. I know many people fear it though.

February 29, 2008 2:32 am  
Blogger MaR said...

I love these lists, TorAa!! Nr. 13 is Mr Mar's lucky number.
I will think of you Vikings every time I use a paperclip from now on, lol.
Have a happy day.

February 29, 2008 8:14 am  
Blogger Gattina said...

Geez, you certainly did your homework ! I feel far more intelligent now ! I fully agree to n°2 concerning the cats and am not at all surprised about your scientific cow fart report. My canadian blogfriend Tossing pebbles in the Stream puts his cows in the stable to heat it when outside the temperature is - 34°! You see I am even a cow specialist, lol !

February 29, 2008 8:26 am  
Blogger Robin said...

Very interesting. I wonder why women blink more than men...

February 29, 2008 6:34 pm  
Blogger Ginnie Hart said...

I LOVE LOVE LOVE stuff like this, Tor. The trivia of life! :)

March 04, 2008 4:54 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I learned many things. Thank you. Fascinating about the diamond just disappearing. That is weird.

March 05, 2008 8:02 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

What a great list. I adore trivia.

Happy, if belated, Th13

April 02, 2008 12:33 pm  

Post a Comment

Subscribe to Post Comments [Atom]

<< Home