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

JAN 2014


Previous Archives

DATEFACT OF THE DAY
1/1/14     A full moon is about five times brighter than a half-moon. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/2/14     Many economists consider the global financial crisis (GFC) to be the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. The crisis was caused by a complex interplay of subprime lending, growth of the housing bubble, easy credit conditions, poor underwriting practices, predatory lending, deregulation, and increased debt. The immediate trigger, however, was the bursting of the housing bubble, which had peaked between 2005 and 2006. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/3/14     A York University study found that practicing yoga reduced physical and psychological symptoms of chronic pain in women with fibromyalgia. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/4/14     Unlike dogs, cats do not have a sweet tooth. Scientists believe this is due to a mutation in a key taste receptor. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/5/14     Cows can be found freely wandering the streets of India's cities. They are considered sacred and will often wear a tilak, a Hindu symbol of good fortune. Cows are considered one of humankind's seven mothers because they offer milk as does one's natural mother. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/6/14     The bachelor or stag party supposedly started in fifth-century Sparta where military compatriots would feast and toast one another on the eve of a wedding, like warriors going to battle. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/7/14     The name 'Earth' comes from Old English and Old High Germanic words (eorthe and erda, respectively) for 'ground' or 'soil,' and it is the only name for a planet of the solar system that does not come from Greco-Roman mythology. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/8/14     Carpet near a fireplace can get very warm, making it a perfect place for an odd little creature called a "firebrat." It has a long, flexible body and is able to eat almost anything. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/9/14     Many bats open their mouth to call out their ultrasound echolocation signals, but others can shout through their nostrils. A few other animals use echolocation, including dolphins and some cave-dwelling birds. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/10/14     The number one country of origin of foreign college students in the United States is India, followed by China and South Korea. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/11/14     Dangerous fast food ingredients that have been linked to various cancers and/or obesity includes MSG, trans fat, sodium nitrite, BHA, BHT, propyl gallate, aspartame, Acesulfame-K, Olestra, potassium bromate, and food coloring Blue 1 and 2, Red 3, Green 3, and Yellow 6. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/12/14     For the Romans, a 'circus' was a chariot racetrack, not the tented entertainment venue of today. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/13/14     China's "one child" policy has contributed to female infanticide and has created a significant gender imbalance. There are currently 32 million more boys than girls in China. In the future, tens of millions of men will be unable to find wives, prompting some scholars to suggest that this imbalance could lead to a threat to world security. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/14/14     Only two large tsunamis are known to have struck Europe: one struck Crete and surrounding Mediterranean coasts in 1530 B.C., and one struck Lisbon, Portugal in 1755. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/15/14     Four of the five fastest land animals reside in Africa: the cheetah, the wildebeest, the lion, and the Thomson's gazelle. All of these animals can run at speeds above 50 miles per hour, with the cheetah reaching a top speed of about 70 miles per hour. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/16/14     A swimming polar bear can jump 8 ft. (2.4 m) out of the water to surprise a seal. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/17/14     Though the ground moved for only about 20 seconds during the 1995 Kobe, Japan, earthquake, more than 5,000 people were killed, 300,000 people were left homeless, and more than 100,000 buildings were destroyed. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/18/14     The hurricane season in 2008 stripped approximately 70% of Haiti's crops. This damage was the most expensive in Haiti's history at an estimated $1 billion. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/19/14     When Japan surrendered to the Allies on August 15, 1945, U.S. president Truman and Soviet leader Stalin agreed that the U.S. would temporarily act as trustee for the southern half of Korea and the Soviet Union would act as trustee for the northern half. This temporary measure became permanent in 1948 when North Korea declared itself an independent sovereign state under a Communist system. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/20/14     Urea, a chemical compound found in urine, is added to cigarettes for extra flavor. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/21/14     Due to anti-German sentiment during WWI, an alternative name for a hamburger (which was derived from the Hamburg steak sandwiches eaten on immigrant ships between Hamburg, Germany, and America in the 1800s) was 'salisbury steak.' It was named after Dr. Salisbury who prescribed ground beef for patients suffering from anemia, asthma, and other illnesses. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/22/14     While Scotland has the highest proportion (13%) of redheads (followed by Ireland with 10%), the United States has the largest population of redheads in the world, with between 6-18 million redheads, or 2-6% of the population. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/23/14     During the 20th century, 158 hurricanes of all categories hit the U.S. Most hurricanes hit Florida (57), with Texas coming in second with 26. Louisiana and North Carolina each had 25. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/24/14     Fish have sleep-like periods where they have lowered response to stimuli, slowed physical activity, and reduced metabolism but they do not share the same changes in brain waves as humans do when they sleep. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/25/14     Cars amount to three-quarters of all transportation emissions. At the current rate, the world will be driven on by more than a billion cars in 2030 and a billion more by 2050. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/26/14     Depressed people get colds more frequently than non-depressed people. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/27/14     More than any other planet in our solar system, Saturn's weather is determined by conditions deep in the planet rather than by the Sun. This is partly because Saturn is so far away from the Sun and generates heat internally. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/28/14     Even after the Allies arrived, many concentration camp prisoners were beyond help. In Bergen-Belsen, for example, 13,000 prisoners died after liberation. Nearly 2,500 of the 33,000 survivors of Dachau died within six weeks of liberation. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/29/14     Lina Medina, a 5-year-old Peruvian girl, was the youngest person to ever give birth. She gave birth to a boy on May 14, 1939. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/30/14     Heating and cooling rooms use the most energy in American homes today. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
1/31/14     Research by Fight Crime/Invest in Kids reports that 60% of boys who bullied from first grade through ninth grade were convicted of at least one crime by age 24 and 40% had three or more convictions by age 24. - Provided by RandomHistory.com


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