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

SEP 2011


Previous Archives

DATEFACT OF THE DAY
9/1/11     Surfing, or heenalu, was invented thousands of years ago by the Polynesians who first settled Hawaii. Their boards weighed more than 150 pounds and measured up to twenty feet. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/2/11     Our collective weight is going up. The average American male has gained 17.1 pounds and the average American female has added 15.4 pounds since 1988. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/3/11     Drunk driving causes approximately one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/4/11     On Dec. 18, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went online. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/5/11     There were 153.2 million people 16 and older in the nation's labor force in July 2011. - Provided by Bureau of Labor Statistics
9/6/11     The smallest dog on record was a matchbox-size Yorkshire Terrier. It was 2.5" tall at the shoulder, 3.5" from nose tip to tail, and weighed only 4 ounces. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/7/11     In 2007, China became the world's largest salt producer, surpassing the U.S. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/8/11     Wedding rings are often placed on the third finger of the left hand because ancient Egyptians believed the vein in that hand (which the Romans called the 'vein of love') ran directly to the heart. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/9/11     The heart beats more than 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/10/11     Each year an average of 105 snow-producing storms affect the continental United States. A typical storm will have a snow-producing lifetime of two to five days and will bring snow to portions of several states. - Provided by National Snow and Ice Center
9/11/11     "Early on the morning of September 11, 2001, nineteen hijackers took control of four commercial airliners en route to San Francisco and Los Angeles from Boston, Newark, and Washington, D.C. At 8:46 a.m., American Airlines Flight 11 was crashed into the World Trade Center's North Tower, followed by United Airlines Flight 175 which hit the South Tower at 9:03 a.m. The death toll of the attacks was about 3,000, including the 19 hijackers. The overwhelming majority of casualties were civilians, including nationals of over 70 countries. The hijackers crashed a third airliner into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The fourth plane crashed into a field near Shanksville in rural Pennsylvania after some of its passengers and flight crew attempted to retake control of the plane, which the hijackers had redirected toward Washington, D.C. There were no survivors from any of the flights." - Provided by Wikipedia
9/12/11     The most common cause of death for American women is heart disease, which causes just over 27% of all mortalities in females. Cancer ranks just below, causing 22% of female deaths. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/13/11     Roses are a traditional symbol of love and, depending on their color, can suggest different nuances of love. For example, red roses indicate passion and true love. Light pink suggests desire, passion, and energy; dark pink suggests gratitude. Yellow roses can mean friendship or jealousy. A lavender or thornless rose can mean love at first sight. White roses mean virtue or devotion. Some roses even combine colors to created more complicated meanings. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/14/11     The presidential faces on Mount Rushmore are as high as a five-story building, about 60' from chin to top of the head. The pupils of eyes are 4' across and the mouths are 18' wide. The carving took 14 years, from 1927-1941. The total cost was about $990,000. A total 450,000 tons of stone was removed. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/15/11     The smallest shark is the dwarf lantern shark, which is only seven inches long. The longest shark is the whale shark, which can grow to a whopping 50 feet long and weigh more than 40,000 pounds. These behemoths are usually gentle and get all their food by sifting small animals out of the water. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/16/11     The highest world temperature ever recorded was 136 degrees fahrenheit at El Azizia, Libya, on September 13, 1922. The lowest was minus 129 degrees fahrenheit at Vostok Station, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/17/11     Commercial service on the first transcontinental telephone line in the United States began on January 25, 1915. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/18/11     The rainiest place in the world, with an average annual rainfall of 460 inches, is Mount Waialeale, Hawaii. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/19/11     On average, there are 86 unmarried men for every 100 unmarried women in the U.S., though the actual numbers vary according to region. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/20/11     The Washington Monument, dedicated in 1885, is a tapering shaft, or obelisk, of white marble, 555 feet in height and 55 feet square at base. Eight small windows, two on each side, are located at the 500-foot level. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/21/11     In 1977, the number of subscribers to cable television was 12.2 million, or 16.6% of households with televisions. By 2008, subscribers to cable television was 99.7 million, or 88.2% of households with televisions. (After 1998, satellite receivers included in total count.) - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/22/11     The Harvard University Library holds 15.8 million volumes, second in the U.S. only to the Library of Congress with 32.1 million volumes. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/23/11     Argentina is home to a number of mountains in its West: Aconcagua Mountain is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, with an altitude of 22,834 feet. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/24/11     Host country Greece won 47 medals, more than any other participating country, at the first modern summer Olympics in 1896. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/25/11     The iron framework of the Statue of Liberty was devised by French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel Tower in Paris. - Provided by The World Almanac 2011
9/26/11     Women in the U.S. labor force currently earn just over 77 cents for every one dollar men earn. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/27/11     The Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004 generated enough energy to power all the homes and businesses in the United States for three days. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/28/11     In 2001, 59-year-old Robert Tools received the world's first fully implantable artificial heart. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/29/11     Cocaine is the most frequently reported illicit substance associated with drug abuse fatalities and causes three times more deaths than any other illegal drug. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
9/30/11     Boys are three to four times more likely to be diagnosed with autistic spectrum disorders than girls. While experts do not yet have a solid answer for the obvious gender discrepancy, some believe that girls with mild autism may be better able to mask their symptoms and thus go undiagnosed. - Provided by RandomHistory.com


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