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

OCT 2017


Previous Archives

DATE FACT OF THE DAY
10/1/17     Iceland is known as “The Land of Fire and Ice” because of the active volcanos lurking among its many glaciers. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/2/17     A group of cats is called a "clowder." - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/3/17     Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. Its moon, Charon, wasn’t discovered until 1978, by U.S. Naval Observatory scientist James W. Christy. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/4/17     For the British, the position of monarch probably ranks as one of history's least safe occupations. English kings have been killed in battle (Harold), beheaded (Charles I), assassinated (William II), murdered by a wicked uncle (Edward V), and knocked off by the queen and her lover (Edward II). - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/5/17     The first instance to control citizen's use of weapons can be traced to 1139, when Catholic clerics met in Rome, Italy at the Second Lateran Council to discuss banning the use of crossbows. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/6/17     South Koreans consider the number 4 as unlucky, and it is associated with death. This belief seems to have come from China. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/7/17     An amazing all-female species of lizard manages to produce offspring without any help from their extinct male mates. These lizards maintain genetic diversity by beginning the reproduction process with twice the amount of chromosomes than any other lizard species. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/8/17     Dark roasted coffees actually have less caffeine than lighter roasts. The process of roasting burns off the caffeine. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/9/17     The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. At 5,525 miles, including 1,538 miles between Canada and Alaska, it is the world's longest border between two nations. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/10/17     In China, someone takes his or her own life on average every two minutes. China accounts for nearly a quarter of the global total of suicides with between 250,000 and 300,000 suicides a year. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/11/17     There are currently over 1 billion cars on the earth. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/12/17     Forensic artists use techniques such as age progression to help locate missing persons. A forensic artist must have knowledge about how the face changes as it grows older, such as what sags and what expands. Having a picture of the biological parents also helps construct an accurate age progression photo. Usually, a child must be 1 to 18 months old and missing for at least 2 years before he or she can be age progressed. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/13/17     The Romans called our galaxy the Milky Road because it reminded them of milk. The Greeks called it the Milky Circle. In fact, the word “galaxy” is from the Greek word for milk. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/14/17     The 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, cost over US$40 billion, making it the second most expensive Games after the Russian 2014 Winter Olympics. Even though it was less expensive than the Russian Games, it hosted three times as many events.- Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/15/17     When Columbus was 14, he left school and his father’s wool workshop to apprentice himself to a merchant on a trading ship. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/16/17     That the Great Wall is a single, continuous wall built all at once is a myth. In reality, the wall is a discontinuous network of wall segments built by various dynasties to protect China’s northern boundary. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/17/17     The first Vegetarian Society was formed in England in 1847. The society’s goal was to teach people that it is possible to be healthy without eating meat. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/18/17     The life span of giant pandas in the wild is approximately 20 years. Captive pandas may live to be 25-30 years old. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/19/17     One of the earliest records of man in the Americas is a caribou bone with a serrated edge found at Old Crow in Alaska’s northern Yukon. Almost certainly used by man as a tool, carbon dating has placed the bone at 27,000 years old. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/20/17     More than 80 spelling variations are recorded for Shakespeare's name, from “Shappere” to “Shaxberd.” - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/21/17     The US Department of Defense controls over 30 million acres of land worldwide, which combined would make up an area slightly larger than the state of Pennsylvania. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/22/17     Russia is the largest country by land mass in the world. At 6.5 million square miles (17 million square km), Russia is 1.8 times larger than the United States and is slightly larger than Pluto, which is only 6.1 million square miles (16.6 square km). - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/23/17     The largest bone in the human body is the femur. It can support 30 times the weight of a person's body. Ounce for ounce, that's stronger than steel. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/24/17     While it is commonly thought that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate cats, the oldest known pet cat was recently found in a 9,500-year-old grave on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This grave predates early Egyptian art depicting cats by 4,000 years or more. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/25/17     There are approximately 38,000 known species of spiders. Scientists believe there are probably as many more to be discovered. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/26/17     Because Charon orbits Pluto in the same time it takes Pluto to make one rotation (6˝ Earth days), Charon hangs permanently in one place in Pluto’s sky, never rising or setting. This is called “tidal locking. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/27/17     Spanish explorers discovered Alcatraz Island in 1775. They named it La Isla de los Alcatraces, which means “Island of the Pelicans.” Prisoners later called it “The Rock.” - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/28/17     The Shar-Pei (or Chinese Shar-Pei) is an ancient breed of dog that traces its ancestry back 2,000 years to the southern provinces of China where it was used as hunters, herders, and protectors. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/29/17     Researchers note that sex trafficking plays a major role in the spread of HIV. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/30/17     The United States has more cars than any other country in the world, at 300 million. China comes in a distant second, at 78 million. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/31/17     Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween. - Provided by FactRetriever.com


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[ Return to Fact-of-the-Day ]


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

OCT 2017


Previous Archives

DATE FACT OF THE DAY
10/1/17     Iceland is known as “The Land of Fire and Ice” because of the active volcanos lurking among its many glaciers. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/2/17     A group of cats is called a "clowder." - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/3/17     Pluto was discovered in 1930 by American astronomer Clyde Tombaugh. Its moon, Charon, wasn’t discovered until 1978, by U.S. Naval Observatory scientist James W. Christy. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/4/17     For the British, the position of monarch probably ranks as one of history's least safe occupations. English kings have been killed in battle (Harold), beheaded (Charles I), assassinated (William II), murdered by a wicked uncle (Edward V), and knocked off by the queen and her lover (Edward II). - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/5/17     The first instance to control citizen's use of weapons can be traced to 1139, when Catholic clerics met in Rome, Italy at the Second Lateran Council to discuss banning the use of crossbows. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/6/17     South Koreans consider the number 4 as unlucky, and it is associated with death. This belief seems to have come from China. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/7/17     An amazing all-female species of lizard manages to produce offspring without any help from their extinct male mates. These lizards maintain genetic diversity by beginning the reproduction process with twice the amount of chromosomes than any other lizard species. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/8/17     Dark roasted coffees actually have less caffeine than lighter roasts. The process of roasting burns off the caffeine. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/9/17     The border between Canada and the United States is officially known as the International Boundary. At 5,525 miles, including 1,538 miles between Canada and Alaska, it is the world's longest border between two nations. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/10/17     In China, someone takes his or her own life on average every two minutes. China accounts for nearly a quarter of the global total of suicides with between 250,000 and 300,000 suicides a year. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/11/17     There are currently over 1 billion cars on the earth. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/12/17     Forensic artists use techniques such as age progression to help locate missing persons. A forensic artist must have knowledge about how the face changes as it grows older, such as what sags and what expands. Having a picture of the biological parents also helps construct an accurate age progression photo. Usually, a child must be 1 to 18 months old and missing for at least 2 years before he or she can be age progressed. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/13/17     The Romans called our galaxy the Milky Road because it reminded them of milk. The Greeks called it the Milky Circle. In fact, the word “galaxy” is from the Greek word for milk. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/14/17     The 2008 Olympics in Beijing, China, cost over US$40 billion, making it the second most expensive Games after the Russian 2014 Winter Olympics. Even though it was less expensive than the Russian Games, it hosted three times as many events.- Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/15/17     When Columbus was 14, he left school and his father’s wool workshop to apprentice himself to a merchant on a trading ship. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/16/17     That the Great Wall is a single, continuous wall built all at once is a myth. In reality, the wall is a discontinuous network of wall segments built by various dynasties to protect China’s northern boundary. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/17/17     The first Vegetarian Society was formed in England in 1847. The society’s goal was to teach people that it is possible to be healthy without eating meat. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/18/17     The life span of giant pandas in the wild is approximately 20 years. Captive pandas may live to be 25-30 years old. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/19/17     One of the earliest records of man in the Americas is a caribou bone with a serrated edge found at Old Crow in Alaska’s northern Yukon. Almost certainly used by man as a tool, carbon dating has placed the bone at 27,000 years old. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/20/17     More than 80 spelling variations are recorded for Shakespeare's name, from “Shappere” to “Shaxberd.” - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/21/17     The US Department of Defense controls over 30 million acres of land worldwide, which combined would make up an area slightly larger than the state of Pennsylvania. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/22/17     Russia is the largest country by land mass in the world. At 6.5 million square miles (17 million square km), Russia is 1.8 times larger than the United States and is slightly larger than Pluto, which is only 6.1 million square miles (16.6 square km). - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/23/17     The largest bone in the human body is the femur. It can support 30 times the weight of a person's body. Ounce for ounce, that's stronger than steel. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/24/17     While it is commonly thought that the ancient Egyptians were the first to domesticate cats, the oldest known pet cat was recently found in a 9,500-year-old grave on the Mediterranean island of Cyprus. This grave predates early Egyptian art depicting cats by 4,000 years or more. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/25/17     There are approximately 38,000 known species of spiders. Scientists believe there are probably as many more to be discovered. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/26/17     Because Charon orbits Pluto in the same time it takes Pluto to make one rotation (6˝ Earth days), Charon hangs permanently in one place in Pluto’s sky, never rising or setting. This is called “tidal locking. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/27/17     Spanish explorers discovered Alcatraz Island in 1775. They named it La Isla de los Alcatraces, which means “Island of the Pelicans.” Prisoners later called it “The Rock.” - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/28/17     The Shar-Pei (or Chinese Shar-Pei) is an ancient breed of dog that traces its ancestry back 2,000 years to the southern provinces of China where it was used as hunters, herders, and protectors. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/29/17     Researchers note that sex trafficking plays a major role in the spread of HIV. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/30/17     The United States has more cars than any other country in the world, at 300 million. China comes in a distant second, at 78 million. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
10/31/17     Samhainophobia is the fear of Halloween. - Provided by FactRetriever.com


Fact-of-the-Day Archives

N
2017
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
2016
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
2015
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
2014
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
2013
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
2012
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
2011
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN
2010
DEC NOV OCT SEP AUG JUL
JUN MAY APR MAR FEB JAN

[ Return to Fact-of-the-Day ]





Refdesk Home
Home
[ Search Net ] [ Facts Subject Index ] [ Facts Encyclopedia ] [ Newspapers USA/World ] [Report Broken Links ]
[ Fast Facts ] [ First Things First ] [ Quick Reference ] [ Site Map ] [Contact Us ]