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

AUG 2014


Previous Archives

DATEFACT OF THE DAY
8/1/14     In 2008, a Canadian man was attacked by a grizzly bear. He survived the attack by playing dead, even when the bear began to gnaw on his scalp. The bear eventually lost interest and went away. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/2/14     The average life expectancy on the African continent ranges from 74 years in the island nation of Mauritius to just under 32 years in sub-Saharan Swaziland. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/3/14     Some historians believe that the Native Americans on the island of Hispaniola were hit by a swine flu epidemic in 1493 carried by pigs aboard Columbus' ships - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/4/14     An estimated 1,000 children in India die every day due to disease caused by polluted water. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/5/14     Haiti has 2,583 miles (4,160 km.) of highways. Only 628 miles (1,011km.) of those roads are paved. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/6/14     The fastest fish is the sailfish. It can swim as fast as a car travels on the highway. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/7/14     The earliest recorded female physician was Merit Ptah, a doctor in ancient Egypt who lived around 2700 B.C. Many historians believe she is the first woman recorded by name in the history of all of the sciences. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/8/14     The first female governor of a U.S. state was Wyoming governor, elected in 1924. Wyoming was also the first state to give women the right to vote, enacting women's suffrage in 1869. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/9/14     In 2006, nearly 20% of all 16- to 20-year-old drivers killed in motor vehicle collisions had a blood alcohol content level of .08 g/dL or higher. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/10/14     Texas is the second most populous state in the U.S., after California. New York is the third most populous. In 2010, the U.S. Census reported the population of Texas as 25,145,561. In 1990, it was 16,986,510. The population density in 2010 was 96.3 people per square mile. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/11/14     During 2002-2006, 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. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/12/14     The average person has about 1,460 dreams a year. That's about four per night. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/13/14     Because their society was largely an oral rather than a written culture, ancient Hawaiians would learn values and history through trained storytellers. Because the stories were considered sacred, listeners were not allowed to move once a story began. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/14/14     An October 1967 TV Guide ad by RCA cited Star Trek: The Original Series as the reason to buy a color TV. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/15/14     In the United States, there is no law or religious dictate that says the bride must take the groom's last name. However, approximately 70% of Americans agree that a bride should change her last name. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/16/14     Studies show that adolescent boys who intake less than 1,000 milligrams of calcium daily and girls who intake less than 850 milligrams daily won't achieve their optimal bone mass. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/17/14     The island of Maui was named after the demigod who taught Hawaiians to make fire, invented spears, and created a giant fishhook from his dead grandmother's jawbone. According to the legend, when he fished with the hook, he brought the Hawaiian Islands up from the sea. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/18/14     There are some things a shark cannot eat, such as a small fish called the Moses sole and the puffer fish. When a shark bites a sole, it releases a chemical in the shark's mouth that makes the shark release it. Scientists are trying to duplicate this chemical so it can be used to keep sharks away from people. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/19/14     The United States has the most cases of breast cancer in the world. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/20/14     Across a mere 10-year period - 1993-2003 - statistics from the U.S. Department of Education revealed a 657% increase in the nationwide rate of autism. Researchers debate whether autism rates are increasing or if broadening definitions of autism allow more people to be diagnosed. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/21/14     Famous owner/horse partnerships that helped change world history include Alexander the Great and his horse Bucephalus ("ox head"), El Cid and Babieca ("stupid"), and Napoleon and Marengo (named after a battle) who after its death, had its skeleton displayed in London. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/22/14     After the Shah of Iran was ousted in 1979, Iran reverted from a legal system to Islamic law. Women under this law are not considered mentally or legally the equal of males. Additionally, children are perceived as the "substance of the male" and merely incubated by the female body. In the case of divorce, women lose all custody of children. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/23/14     Google makes 99% of its profit from its advertising. Google also has the ability to track and analyze a person's online behavior and inform advertisers what sites a browser has visited, what ads have been clicked on, and what search terms have been used. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/24/14     Approximately one in three African-American women between the ages of 65-74 have diabetes. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/25/14     The lifetime risk of developing depression in those born in the decades after WWII is increasing. The age of depression onset is becoming increasingly younger. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/26/14     The world's largest Christmas log cake was made in Bangkok, Thailand, on December 25, 1997. The cake weighed 5,071 lbs. and reached 27' 6". It was later cut into 19, 212 portions. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/27/14     The average temperature on Venus' surface is about 870 degrees Fahrenheit, making it the hottest planet in the solar system and hotter than most ovens. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/28/14     The full inventory of Shakespeare's possessions, which would have listed his books and other historically important information, was probably sent to London, where such records were kept at the time. It was most likely destroyed in the Great Fire of 1666. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/29/14     Canada contains 9% of the world's renewable water supply. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/30/14     The word "moon" comes from the Latin word luna, which means "glowing" or "bright." The words "month" and "menstruation" are related to the word "moon." - Provided by RandomHistory.com
8/31/14     While scientists universally believe that naturally occurring amino acids were mediated by nucleic acids to create the first life forms on Earth, the question of how nucleic acids originated from inanimate matter is still being studied today. There is no definitive answer yet as to the origin of life on Earth. - Provided by RandomHistory.com


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