Nearly 60 percent of Americans describe their physical appearance as average. But 31 percent say they are above-average and five percent claim to be handsome or beautiful. Whites are only half as likely as blacks to say they are good-looking...evidence that black IS beautiful!
The difference between a "millennium" and a "chiliad"? None. Both words mean "a period of one thousand years" - the former from Latin, the latter from Greek
The telephone area code for a cruise ship in the Atlantic Ocean is 871
To divide something into squares is to "graticulate"
When a person shakes their head from side to side, he is saying "yes" in Sri Lanka
Americans spend more than 5.4 billion dollars on their pets each year
The word "dreamt" is the only word in the English language that ends in the letters "mt."
The first children's book that was published in the U.S. was called "Spiritual Mild for Boston Babes in wither England Drawn from the Breast of Both Testaments for Their Soul's Nourishment."
In 1822, in his book Confessions of an English Opium Eater, Thomas DeQuincy invented the word "tranquilizer" to describe the effect of opium
"Stewardesses" is the longest word that can be typed with only the left hand
The muzzle of a lion is like a fingerprint - no two lions have the same pattern of whiskers
Make your heart stand still! Trying to quell first-date jitters? Blow on your thumb. The vagus nerve, which governs heart rate, can be controlled through breathing, says Ben Abo, an emergency medical-services specialist at the University of Pittsburgh. It'll get your heart rate back to normal
Oak Tree. In one day, a full-grown oak tree expels 7 tons of water through its leaves
Ancient Chinese artists would never paint pictures of women's feet
43. Brains are more active sleeping than watching TV
The biggest pig in recorded history was Big Boy of Black Mountain, North Carolina, who was weighed at 1,904 pounds in 1939.
Cats respond most readily to names that end in an "ee" sound.
The Canary Islands were not named for a bird called a canary. They were named after a breed of large dogs. The Latin name was Canariae insulae - "Island of Dogs."
Tapeworms range in size from about 0.04 inch to more than 50 feet in length
Lassie was played by several male dogs, despite the female name, because male collies were thought to look better on camera. The main "actor" was named Pal
A typical hen lays 19 dozen eggs a year
One of the greatest orators of all time, - Demosthenes (384? - 322 B.C.) was once a stutterer who stubbornly trained himself to stop, reportedly by putting pebbles in his mouth and practicing speaking aloud
Hail destroys hundreds of millions dollars' worth of crops and property each year, a greater toll than that taken by tornadoes
Dentists recommend that a toothbrush be kept at least six feet away from a toilet to avoid airborne particles resulting from the flush
The last dictionary that Noah Webster wrote contained 70,000 words and their meanings. He wrote it with no help and by hand. After his death his family sold the right to publish to G&C Merriam and Co.
Hoi polloi is a Greek phrase meaning “the many.” Hoi polloi are the masses.
A "zeedonk" is the offspring of a zebra and a donkey.
One hundred thousand cubic feet of water pours over the Niagara Falls every second
To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, prick your fingers into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly
Maine is the only state (in USA) whose name is just one syllable.
If you add together all the numbers on a roulette wheel (1 to 36), the total is the mystical number 666, often associated with the Devil.
A three-letter, one-syllable word that becomes a three-syllable word by adding one letter to the end of it: The word "are" has three letters and one syllable - "area" has three syllables.
"Mrs." is the abbreviation of Mistress, which originally was a title and form of address for a married woman. It was always capitalized
By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you can't sink in quicksand
An iguana can stay under water for 28 minutes
A cow produces 200 times more gas a day than a person
St. Patrick was a fifth-century English (or perhaps Scottish) missionary to Ireland. The feast day of St. Patrick has been observed in Ireland on March 17 for hundreds of years. The date falls during the fasting season of Lent, but on St. Patrick's Day the prohibitions against eating meat were lifted, and the Irish would celebrate their patron saint with dancing, drinking, and feasting on the traditional meal of Irish bacon and cabbage
The phrase "a red letter day" dates back to 1704, when holy days were marked in red letters in church calendars
