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DATE	FACT OF THE DAY
5/1/20	Ancient pagan cultures, such as the Celts, believed that benevolent and helpful spirits lived in trees. Knocking on tree trunks roused a spirit for protection, which led to the saying "knock on wood." Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/2/20	The term “stress” derives from the Latin stringere (to draw tight). Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/3/20	Though the term “eagle eyed” implies that eagles have keen vision, only the Wedge-tailed Eagle can see better than humans (2½ times better). Kestrels and falcons have about the same power of sight as we do. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/4/20	The government of Hungary printed the highest denomination ever created in 1946. It printed a bank note worth 100 quintillion pengoes. A hundred quintillion looks like this: 100,000,000,000,000,000,000. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/5/20	Migrating monarchs can fly up to 30 miles per hour, which is about 3 times faster than humans can run. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/6/20	Approximately 90% of the world’s recoverable helium is located in the ground under Amarillo, Texas. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/7/20	The world’s largest geothermal cave system is in Hungary. It is located underground Budapest. Europe’s largest underground lake also was recently found under Budapest’s Gellért Hill. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/8/20	The biggest roundabout in the world is located at Putrajaya in Malaysia. It is 2.2 miles (3.5 km) in diameter. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/9/20	The first recorded instance of using hypnotism for anesthesia was on April 12, 1829, in Paris. Dr. Jules Cloquet operated on a woman with breast cancer. According to him, she did not feel any pain from the surgery while under hypnosis. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/10/20	The famous US highway Route 66 begins in Chicago in front of the Art Institute of Chicago. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/11/20	A Flemish painting called The Adoration of the Christ Child may depict an angel with Down syndrome. Evidence like this suggests Down syndrome is not a recent phenomenon, despite only being accurately described in detail fairly recently. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/12/20	Because of its continuous volcanic eruptions, Hawaii is the only state in the nation to have an increasing land area. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/13/20	A dog’s shoulder blades are unattached to the rest of the skeleton to allow greater flexibility for running. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/14/20	A mysterious, new “mad snake disease” causes captive pythons and boas to tie themselves in knots. Other symptoms include “stargazing,” which is when snakes stare upwards for long periods of time. Snake experts believe a rodent virus causes the fatal disease. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/15/20	Cats don’t have sweat glands over their bodies like humans do. Instead, they sweat only through their paws. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/16/20	By the time we die, most of us will have spent a quarter of a century asleep, of which six years or more will have been spent dreaming—and almost all of those dreams are forgotten upon waking. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/17/20	The Buddhist temple of Borobudur on the Indonesian island of Java is the largest Buddhist monument in the world. It resembles a nine-tiered “mountain,” rising to 113 feet (34.5 m) tall. It is said to have taken 75 years to complete. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/18/20	Wolves evolved from an ancient animal called Mesocyon, which lived approximately 35 million years ago. It was a small dog-like creature with short legs and a long body. Like the wolf, it may have lived in packs. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/19/20	The top five most popular places to camp in the world are 1) Mount Cook National Park, New Zealand, 2) Devon, England, 3) Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Scotland, 4) The Alps, France, and 5) Hossa National Park, Finland. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/20/20	The imperial family of Japan descends from an unbroken lineage of nearly 2,000 years. No other royal family in history has held its position for so long. The first Japanese emperor, Jimmu Tennō, ruled about the time of Christ. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/21/20	The pyramid on the Great Seal is unfinished and the U.S. government hasn’t explained why. Some people think it represents that America is always growing. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/22/20	In 1858, the Alpine Club, which still publishes a journal on mountain climbing to this day, was formed to organize and support endeavors to climb all of the world’s highest mountain peaks in order to gather scientific information. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/23/20	In the 1960s, astronauts trained for moon voyages by walking on Mauna Loa’s hardened lava fields, which resemble the surface of the moon. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/24/20	The largest number of babies born to a woman is 69. From 1725-1765, a Russian peasant woman gave birth to 16 sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/25/20	Peru holds the world records for the maximum number of birds sighted in one place (650) and the greatest number seen in a single day (361); they were recorded in the Reserva Nacional de Tambopata and Parque Nacional del Manú, respectively. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/26/20	One of Earth’s most toxic plants is the yew tree. Every part of the tree is poisonous, except its berries. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/27/20	Because Pluto’s moon Charon is almost the size of the planet itself, astronomers sometimes refer to the two as a double planet.Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/28/20	The flight of the dragonfly is so efficient that it has inspired scientists to make robots that fly like these amazing insects. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/29/20	Crabs live in more different places than any other sea animal. They are found almost everywhere in the ocean, including smoking volcanic vents thousands of feet below the surface. They also live under the ice in Antarctica. One type of crab even lives on land and climbs trees. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/30/20	Earth actually has two North Poles. One is the magnetic pole, where the compass needles points. The other is the pole that the Earth’s meridians cross. Provided by FactRetriever.com
5/31/20	Over 200,000 trees each year are used to make disposable diapers in the U.S. alone. In addition, it takes 3.4 billion gallons of fuel oil every year to make diapers. Provided by FactRetriever.com

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