1000 Facts That No One Knows

[lennqn]

It's called the alphabet because the first to letters of the Greek alphabet are Alpha Beta. (alphabeta- take away the a...)

[vetica]

Fans of Doctor Who and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy may find this interesting:

Before he wrote The Guide, Douglas Adams was a writer for Doctor Who.
Before he was known for his fictional works, Neil Gaiman wrote a book about Douglas Adams.
Years later, Neil Gaiman wrote an episode of Doctor Who. I just love how it all goes full circle.

And an unrelated science fact: On a size scale, a speck of dust is halfway between an atom and the Earth.

[--Miz--]

A pony is not a baby horse, it is a horse under 14.2 hands.

-Yep,and it's astonishing how many people get confused with this one.-

1. Duct tape is such a popular product that the amount sold every year could stretch to the moon 1.2 times or wrap around the equator 12.3 times.

2. Duct tape reportedly was first made by the Permacel Division of Johnson and Johnson for the United States military during World War II.

3. Originally used to keep dampness out of ammunition cases, the waterproof tape also earned the name “duck” tape. Soldiers quickly began using the Army green colored tape to fix their guns, jeeps, aircraft and other items.

4. After World War II, construction workers found the tape worked well to connect heating and air-conditioning ducts together. The tape color also changed from green to silver to match the ductwork.

5. Duct tape is made of three layers of material: the top layer is a plastic substance; the middle layer is a mesh made of fabric; the bottom layer is a rubber-based adhesive.

6. You don’t need scissors to cut duct tape – it can be ripped with your bare hands. But the tape doubled over onto itself can pull a 2,000-pound car out of a ditch.

7. You can make almost anything but a spaceship out of duct tape. Tuxedos, prom dresses, handbags, shoes, wallets and belts have all been made out of duct tape. The tape can even be used to fix cars.

8. Duct tape was most famously used by NASA during the Apollo 13 flight, when duct tape helped to seal the makeshift device to remove CO2 from the crippled ship. Duct tape is brought on all NASA flights

9. Despite its name, a test by the Berkeley Lab in 1998 showed duct tape was a poor choice for sealing and repairing HVAC ducts. According to the research, over a long-term period of time, duct tape "failed reliably and often quite catastrophically."

10. Springfield, Missouri, is the unofficial Duct Tape Capital of the World, claiming to have sold more duct tape per capita than any other place in the world and boasting the Walmart with more sales of duct tape than any other store.

11. Leading manufacturer Henkel sold 873 million yards of its brand of duct tape in 2005. That's enough to stretch the length of the Great Wall of China 119 times.

12. Duct tape is famous for the numerous uses to which it's been put, but you may be surprised to hear about this one: haute couture (of a sort). Every year, Duck brand duct tape holds a contest in which high-school students create prom dresses out of, yes, duct tape. The winner receives a $3,000 scholarship for college.

13. Famous people who have found unusual uses for duct tape include Red Green, The A-Team, and MacGyver.

14. In Avon, Ohio, a Duct Tape Festival has been going on annually for three years. There you can see duct tape art, crafts, clothing, and participate in games involving duct tape. Duct tape is made in Avon. Part of the festival is the crowning of the annual “Duct Tape Dad of the Year.” The festival also features music, a comedy act by the Duct Tape Guys, and an opportunity for festival goers to create duct tape crafts.

15. America has turned to duct tape to help in protecting against attacks from terrorists. Whether the attack is chemical or biological or radiological, duct tape can help. According to CNN, after Fire Administrator David Paulison outlined a list of items that might be useful in home protection, sales of duct tape soared.

16. When duct tape was first introduced into the American market in the late 1940s it was a problem for retailers because the tape was so sticky that the rolls would stick together and be very difficult to separate. In the early 1970s the Manco Company began selling duct tape in shrink wrapped plastic and helped to widen the ability of retailers to sell the product.

[CheshireGrimm]

Most birds, do not need a male in order to lay eggs, they need a male to lay FERTILIZED eggs.

[Frozen.Solid]

Sea Cucumbers are an endangered species and are illegal to harvest in some places, including Russia (Apparently they're really delicious xD)
There are about 900 species of Sea Cucumbers

I thought most people knew this, but my friends didn't, so since we're on the topic, I'll just post this too....
When threatened by a predator, sea cucumbers will vomit up their digestive system and crawl away and regrow it while the predator is distracted by their guts. However, if the threat is smaller, the sea cucumber will expel a sticky substance onto the threat and escape.

[Lady Sabine]

Speaking of vomit, vultures also vomit when threatened. In addition to making them lighter and therefore making flight easier, the vomit is so foul-smelling and acidic that it is hazardous to predators- and to cars. Vulture vomit can eat through the paint of a car and damage the metal in as little as an hour, so if a vulture vomits on your car as it's getting out of the way be sure to stop at the next rest area or gas station and wash it off before it causes major damage.

[gigas gigas]

We have 32 billion bacterias per square inch on our bodies.

[mindless.]

The official taste tester of Breyer's ice cream has his tongue insured for a billion dollars. (?)

[Lady of the Shadows]

The youngest mother was 5 years, 7 months.
The longest recorded human pregnancy was 17 months, 11 days.
More people are afraid of spiders than death. Amazingly, few people are afraid of Champagne corks even though you are more likely to be killed by one than by a spider.

Possums have one of the shortest pregnancies at 16 days. The shortest human pregnancy to produce a healthy baby was 22 weeks, 6 days -- the baby was the length of a ballpoint pen.

[DoomyPanda]

There is a species of spider-like creatures that live inside bees.