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FACT-OF-THE-DAY ARCHIVE
"Our life is what our thoughts make it."
- Marcus Aurelius

APR 2015


Previous Archives

DATEFACT OF THE DAY
4/1/15     The combination of collagen and minerals makes bone one of the strongest and most flexible natural materials on earth. One cubic inch of bone can withstand loads of up to 20,000 pounds, over four times the strength of concrete. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/2/15     Prior to the 12th Amendment of the Constitution in 1804, the presidential candidate who received the second highest number of electoral votes was named the vice-president. The amendment mandated that electors vote for the offices of president and vice-president separately. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/3/15     Humans have been amazed for centuries that salmon, after journeying across the ocean, can find the river where they were born. In the Yukon River in Alaska and in Canada, certain tagged Chinook salmon covered nearly 2,000 miles in 60 days. Salmon also have adapted to live in a variety of aquatic environments, including rivers, lakes, estuaries, coal reefs, and the open sea. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/4/15     Earth's Amazon rainforest is home to one third of the planet's land species, illustrating Earth's ability to sustain itself within a concentrated area. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/5/15     Sleepwalking is also called somnambulism, from the Greek somnus (sleep) and amb (to walk). Most sleepwalkers remember little, if anything, about the experience. While sleepwalking, a person can sometimes use the bathroom, eat, or even talk. Scientists postulate that adult sleepwalking has a genetic component. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/6/15     In 1936, Seamless Rubber Company introduced a new suit made from a crinkled rubber fabric called a "cloque." The suits were hot, clammy and, to the delight of teenagers, had a tendency to peel off, even in mild waves. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/7/15     The average life expectancy ranges throughout the world from a high of 84.36 years in Macau to just 31.88 years in the African nation of Swaziland. Experts attribute the low life expectancy in many African countries to high rates of HIV/AIDS infection. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/8/15     Airports are often used by human traffickers to hold "slave auctions," where women and children are sold into prostitution. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/9/15     Vacuum cleaners in the early 20th century were large, powered by coal, and required three people to operate them. Other early vacuums cleaners had to be parked outside a building and had long hoses that went through the windows. Yet another early version of the vacuum was installed in the house cellar and connected to a network of pipes that led to each room in the house. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/10/15     Laughing relaxes and expands blood vessels, which helps protect the heart. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/11/15     Each year, approximately 10 tropical storms form over the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, and Gulf of Mexico. Out of these, six become hurricanes. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/12/15     Psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud is one of the more famous proponents of cocaine. After trying the drug for the first time in 1884, he recommended it as a useful treatment for depression, alcoholism, and morphine addiction. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/13/15     Begun in 1560 for Cosimo l de' Medici, the Uffizi Gallery in Florence is one of the oldest museums in the world and contains famous works by Michelangelo, Botticelli, and da Vinci. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/14/15     Historians cite runaway inflation as a major cause of ancient Rome's fall. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/15/15     Hurricanes spin around a low-pressure center called the "eye." Sinking air makes this 20- to 30-mile-wide area calm and free of clouds. A thick ring of clouds called the "eye wall" surrounds the eye and is the strongest part of the hurricane. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/16/15     The North Korean government pays for all health care, though recently it has suffered a severe shortage of medicine and medical equipment. In some hospitals, cutting-edge equipment remains unused because the doctors and nurses don't know how to use it. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/17/15     Everyone is a minority in Hawaii - there are no racial majorities. Haoles or Caucasians, constitute about 33% of the population, Japanese about 33%, Filipino-Americans about 16%, and Chinese-Americans about 5%. Most of the population has mixed ethnicities. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/18/15     African-Americans and Hispanics have a much higher rate of Type 2 diabetes than whites. There are 74 cases per 1,000 for African-Americans, 61 cases for Hispanics, and 36 cases for whites. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/19/15     One ton of grapes makes about 60 cases of wine, or 720 bottles. One bottle of wine contains about 2.8 pounds of grapes. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/20/15     Smoking tobacco emerged from religious ceremonies in the Americas and was probably initially restricted to only shamans, priests, and medicine men. Both in ancient America and in sixteenth-century Europe, "holy smoke" from tobacco was thought to help cure illness and drive out evil spirits. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/21/15     In ancient China, mirrors were believed to protect their owners from evil, making hidden spirits visible and revealing the secrets of the future. A person who had been scared by a ghost could be healed by looking in the mirror. Mirrors were often hung on the ceilings of burial chambers. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/22/15     There are more than 800,000 developers building applications for Facebook. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/23/15     Africa contains the world's largest desert, the Sahara, which makes up an area greater in size than the entire continental U.S. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/24/15     Most shark attacks occur less than 100 feet from the shore. Shark attacks happen all over the world, but mainly around popular beaches in North America (especially Florida and Hawaii), Australia, and South Africa. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/25/15     Aristotle (384-322 B.C.) proposed that sleep occurred as long as digestion took place. The fumes from the food were absorbed into the blood stream, which were then taken to the brain, where they induced sleepiness. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/26/15     Nicotine patches and even melatonin (an over-the-counter sleep aid) are reported to increase the vividness of dreams and nightmares. The nicotine patch in particular is said to intensify dreams. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/27/15     Scientists have explored only 1% of the ocean depths. They believe millions of new kinds of animals and fish are down there, waiting to be discovered. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/29/15     Under certain conditions, wolves can hear as far as six miles away in the forest and ten miles on the open tundra. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
4/30/15     One half of women over 50 will fracture a bone because of osteoporosis. - Provided by RandomHistory.com


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