AMAZING FACTS

EVERY THING ABOUT EINSTEIN

2008-11-17T23:02:00.000-08:00

Albert Einstein was born at Ulm, in Württemberg, Germany, on March 14, 1879. Six weeks later the family moved to Munich, where he later on began his schooling at the Luitpold Gymnasium. Later, they moved to Italy and Albert continued his education at Aarau, Switzerland and in 1896 he entered the Swiss Federal Polytechnic School in Zurich to be trained as a teacher in physics and mathematics. In 1901, the year he gained his diploma, he acquired Swiss citizenship and, as he was unable to find a teaching post, he accepted a position as technical assistant in the Swiss Patent Office. In 1905 he obtained his doctor's degree.

10 QUICK FACTS ABOUT EINSTEIN

1. Einstein Was a Fat Baby with Large Head
2. Einstein Had Speech Difficulty as a Child
3. Einstein was Inspired by a Compass
4. Einstein Failed his University Entrance Exam
5. Einstein had an Illegitimate Child
6. Einstein Became Estranged From His First Wife, then Proposed a Strange "Contract"
7. Einstein Didn’t Get Along with His Oldest Son
8. Einstein was a Ladies’ Man
9. Einstein, the War Pacifist, Urged FDR to Build the Atom Bomb
10. The Saga of Einstein’s Brain: Pickled in a Jar for 43 Years and Driven Cross Country in a Trunk of a Buick!

QUOTES BY EINSTEIN

"Any intelligent fool can make things bigger, more complex, and more violent. It takes a touch of genius -- and a lot of courage -- to move in the opposite direction."
"Imagination is more important than knowledge."
"Gravitation is not responsible for people falling in love."
"I want to know God's thoughts; the rest are details."
"The hardest thing in the world to understand is the income tax."
"The only real valuable thing is intuition."
"I am convinced that He (God) does not play dice."
"God is subtle but he is not malicious."
"Weakness of attitude becomes weakness of character."
"I never think of the future. It comes soon enough."
"The eternal mystery of the world is its comprehensibility."
"Sometimes one pays most for the things one gets for nothing."
"Science without religion is lame. Religion without science is blind."
"Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new."
"Great spirits have often encountered violent opposition from weak minds."
"Everything should be made as simple as possible, but not simpler."
"Common sense is the collection of prejudices acquired by age eighteen."
"Science is a wonderful thing if one does not have to earn one's living at it."

RESEARCHES BY EINSTEIN

Einstein's researches are, of course, well chronicled and his more important works include Special Theory of Relativity (1905), Relativity (English translations, 1920 and 1950), General Theory of Relativity (1916), Investigations on Theory of Brownian Movement (1926), and The Evolution of Physics (1938). Among his non-scientific works, About Zionism (1930), Why War? (1933), My Philosophy (1934), and Out of My Later Years (1950) are perhaps the most important.

FACTS ABOUT GOLD AND PEARLS

2008-11-12T23:14:00.000-08:00

Twenty-Four-Karat Gold is not pure gold; there is a small amount of copper in it. Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands.

Did you know pearls are found in oysters? The largest pearl ever found was 620 carats.

SEVEN UNKNOWN FACTS

2008-11-12T23:09:00.000-08:00

SE7EN UNKNOWN FACTS

1. 9pin bowling was made up in Germany during the Medieval ages

2. Did you know the first toy balloon, made of vulcanized rubber, was thought of by someone in the J.G.Ingram company in London, England in 1847.

3. The first metal bicycle was called the High-Wheel or Penny Farthing. People had a hard time keeping their balance on this type of bicycle.

4. the first bicycle that was made in 1817 by Baron von Drais didn't have any pedals? People walked it along

5.The first kind of PENCIL was a bunch of GRAPHITE sticks held together by string. Then someone decided it would be better to push the graphite into the inside of a hollow wooden stick.

6.JOSEPH RECHENDORFER was the first person to think of putting a piece of rubber onto the top of a pencil which makes it real easy to rub out mistakes.

7.Did you know that the average lead pencil can draw a line that is almost 35 miles long or you can write almost 50,000 words in English with just one pencil? Amazing fact! Now imagine an eraser that could match it !!!

PHOBIAS STARTING WITH LETTER B

2008-11-12T23:04:00.000-08:00

PHOBIAS STARTING WITH LETTER B

Bacillophobia- Fear of microbes.
Bacteriophobia- Fear of bacteria.
Ballistophobia- Fear of missiles or bullets.
Bolshephobia- Fear of Bolsheviks.
Barophobia- Fear of gravity.
Basophobia or Basiphobia- Inability to stand. Fear of walking or falling.
Bathmophobia- Fear of stairs or steep slopes.
Bathophobia- Fear of depth.
Batophobia- Fear of heights or being close to high buildings.
Batrachophobia- Fear of amphibians, such as frogs, newts, salamanders, etc.
Belonephobia- Fear of pins and needles. (Aichmophobia)
Bibliophobia- Fear of books.
Blennophobia- Fear of slime.
Bogyphobia- Fear of bogeys or the bogeyman.
Botanophobia- Fear of plants.
Bromidrosiphobia or Bromidrophobia- Fear of body smells.
Brontophobia- Fear of thunder and lightning.
Bufonophobia- Fear of toads.

INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT MARS

2008-11-10T19:42:00.000-08:00

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT MARS

Mars is the fourth planet from the sun and is almost half the size of Earth. Mars orbits the sun at an average distance of 227,936,640 km. A full orbit around the sun takes around 687 Earth days. At 24.7 hours, a day on Mars is only slightly longer than a day on Earth.

The surface of Mars has undergone many changes due to volcanism, impacts from other bodies, movements of its crust, and atmospheric effects such as dust storms. The dust storms can reach tremendous proportions. Recent Hubble images have shown the whole surface of the planet covered with a massive dust storm. Polar ice caps are present on Mars. These ice caps increase and decrease in size depending on the season.

Mars has some remarkable geological characteristics, including the largest volcanic mountain in the solar system, Olympus Mons (27 km high and 600 km across); volcanoes in the northern Tharsis region that are so huge they deform the planet's roundness; and a gigantic equatorial rift valley, the Valles Marineris.

Mars has two small moons, Phobos and Deimos. It is uncertain how they formed, but it is believed that they may be asteroids that have been snared by Mars' gravity.

9 FACTS ABOUT MARS

2008-11-10T19:38:00.000-08:00

STRANGE FACTS ABOUT MARS

Fact One:
Of all the planets in the Solar System, Mars is the one people believe is most likely to contain or to have contained life. In 1900, a prize was offered to the first person to be contact an extra-terrestrial being. However, this extra-terrestrial being was not allowed to come from Mars because that would make the competition too easy! In 1938, a radio broadcast of The War of the Worlds by H.G. Wells (a story about an invasion of Earth by Martians) caused a near panic in America because so many people believed it to be true.

Fact Two:
The largest volcano in the Solar System is on Mars. It is called Olympus Mons.

Fact Three:
Mars has polar caps like Earth, containing frozen carbon dioxide (and small amount of water).

Fact Four:
Mars is believed to have had water flowing around it like Earth once. It may have had a blue sky too. However, it is unlikely that it had grass, trees and plants like Earth has now.

Fact Five:
The Valles Marineris, the greatest gorge on any planet in the Solar System, was caused when volcanoes erupting around it tore up the land, leaving a huge valley.

Fact Six:
We can see how long Mars has been a 'dead' planet by the number of meteorite impacts on its surface. In comparison, Earth and Venus have fewer impact craters because they have newer surfaces formed by recent geological activity.

Fact Seven:
Mars has seasons like Earth. This is caused by the tilt of the planet's axis, at a similar angle to the tilt of Earth's axis.

Fact Eight:
The Sun appears about half the size on Mars as it does from Earth.

Fact Nine:
The first space probe to take pictures of Mars' surface (Mariner 4 in 1964) is still in space, orbiting the Sun. Still orbiting Mars itself are Mariner 9 (launched in 1971), Viking 1 and 2 (launched in 1975), the Mars Global Surveyor (launched in 1996, which is currently looking for the Mars Polar Lander, launched in 1998) and the Mars Climate Orbitor (launched in 1998 to orbit Mars in 1999). These are American space probes.

NUMERICAL FACTS ABOUT MARS

2008-11-10T19:35:00.000-08:00

NUMERICAL FACTS ABOUT MARS

Average Distance from the Sun: Metric: 227,936,640 km

Perihelion (closest): Metric: 206,600,000 km

Aphelion (farthest): Metric: 249,200,000 km

Equatorial Radius: Metric: 3,397 km

Equatorial Circumference: Metric: 21,344 km

Mass: 641,850,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg

Volume: 163,140,00,000 km3

Density: 3.94 g/cm3

Surface Area: 144,100,000 km2

Equatorial Surface Gravity: 3.693 m/s2

Escape Velocity: 18,072 km/h

Length of Day: 24.62 hours

Length of Year: 686.93 Earth days

Mean Orbit Velocity: 86,871 km/h

Orbital Eccentricity: .0934

Orbital Inclination to Ecliptic: 1.8 degrees

Equatorial Inclination to Orbit: 25.19

Orbital Circumference: 1.366,900,000 km

Min/Max Surface Temperature: -87 to -5 °C

Atmospheric Constituents: Carbon Dioxide, Nitrogen, Argon

Number of Moons: 2

LIST OF PHOBIAS STARTING WITH LETTER A

2008-11-10T05:52:00.000-08:00

LIST OF PHOBIAS STARTING WITH LETTER A

Achluophobia - Fear of darkness.
Acousticophobia - Fear of noise.
Aeroacrophobia - Fear of open high places.
Aeronausiphobia - Fear of vomiting secondary to airsickness.
Aerophobia - Fear of drafts, air swallowing, or airborne noxious substances.
Agliophobia - Fear of pain.
Agoraphobia - Fear of open spaces or of being in crowded, public places like markets. Fear of leaving a safe place. Fear of crowds.
Agraphobia - Fear of sexual abuse.
Agrizoophobia - Fear of wild animals.
Agyrophobia - Fear of streets or crossing the street.
Aichmophobia - Fear of needles or pointed objects.
Ailurophobia - Fear of cats.
Albuminurophobia - Fear of kidney disease.
Alektorophobia - Fear of chickens.
Algophobia - Fear of pain.
Alliumphobia - Fear of garlic.
Allodoxaphobia - Fear of opinions.
Altophobia - Fear of heights.
Amathophobia - Fear of dust.
Amaxophobia - Fear of riding in a car.
Ambulophobia - Fear of walking.
Amnesiphobia - Fear of amnesia.
Amychophobia - Fear of scratches or being scratched.
Anablephobia - Fear of looking up.
Ancraophobia - Fear of wind.
Androphobia - Fear of men.
Anemophobia - Fear of air drafts or wind.
Anemophobia - Fear of wind.
Anginophobia - Fear of angina, choking of narrowness.
Anglophobia - Fear of England, English culture, ect.
Angrophobia - Fear of becoming angry

NUMBER 13 AND ITS MYSTERIES

2008-11-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

The number 13

It is believed that the fear for the number 13 stems from primitive man being unable to count past 12. Numbers beyond 12 do now have an individual and independent name but are a combination of the first 12 numbers. With 12 being the end of the line, 13 was moving into unknown territory.

In Norse mythology the 13th number led to the death of Baldur, the beloved of the gods. When the 12 gods gathered for a banquet in Valhalla, Loki gatecrashed the party, increasing the number to 13, which led to the death of Baldur. It also happens that in Tarot cards, 13 is called "Death."
The baker's dozen

The "unlucky 13" is the reason why the thirteen loaves that bakers once supplied were never called by the number, but described as "a baker's dozen." The thirteenth loaf was regarded as a special bribe for the devil not to spoil the sale or the bread.
The lucky number 13

But 13 is not unlucky for all. The Mayas worshipped the 13 gods of the upper world. The Aztecs climbed 13 steps to their sacred places. Buddhists paid homage to 13 Buddhas. In Jewish faith, God revealed Himself by 13 attributes of bountiful mercy (Exodus 34: 6-7). The orthodox Jewish prayer book hold the Thirteen Principles of Faith. Jewish boys celebrate their Bar Mitzvah at age 13.

The number 13 in Greek is triskaideka and the fear of the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia.

FEAR OF FRIDAY AND WHAT IT IS CALLED

2008-11-10T05:47:00.000-08:00

FRIDAY

In pagan times Friday was the luckiest day of the week because it was ruled by the planet Venus, the symbol of love and fortune. In fact, Friday is named in honour of Freya, goddess of Love. But for Christians, Friday has not been a good day. Adam and Eve is said to have eaten the forbidden fruit on a Friday and died on a Friday. Jesus was crucified on a Friday.

For centuries sailors refused to set sail on a Friday. It is told that when the reluctance of seamen to set sail on a Friday had reached such proportions that it interfered with naval operations, the British Admiralty decided to prove once and for all that it is a fallacy. They laid the keel of a new vessel on a Friday, named her H.M.S. Friday, and launched her on a Friday. On her first voyage, setting sail on a Friday, she was commanded by Captain James Friday. She left the harbour and nothing has since been heard of her or her crew. The identical story has also found its place in American lore.

The fear for traveling on a Friday continued until the early 20th century where in Europe bus and train travel was lowest on a Friday. But before you say "Thank Goodness, it's Friday!" consider that today, FBI statistics show, most robberies take place on a Friday.

WHAT DO PEOPLE FEAR MOST

2008-11-10T05:45:00.000-08:00

What do people fear most?

At the top of the list is death, the fear of which is necrophobia. Second, apparently, is the fear of failure, which is called kakorrhaphiophobia. There is of course a story of how fears developed, like fear for the number 13. The fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia

mysteries surrounding the death of tupac shakur

2008-11-10T05:31:00.000-08:00

After leaving the Tyson fight on Saturday September 7, 1996 Tupac was alledgedly shot 5 times. He lived through the shooting and was taken to a nearby hospital. He was pronounced dead on Friday September 13, 1996.

The suspicious facts:

Friday the 13th is a very suspicious day. There were never any pictures released of Tupac in the hospital. In the song "Life Goes On", Tupac raps about his own funeral.

The driver of the car in which Tupac was riding, Suge Knight (the executive producer of Death Row Records), didn't show up for questioning about the shooting.

The video "I ain't Mad at Cha" was released only a few days after his death. "I ain't Mad at Cha" is track 13 on the album All Eyes On Me. The video shows Tupac as an angel in heaven. In the video, Tupac was shot after leaving a theater with a friend, which is very similar to how he was shot in real life. Interestingly, Tupac dies in his last video released under the name "Tupac". His new video "Toss It Up" from the new album was released under the name "Makaveli".

The second video to be released by the name Makaveli is "To Live and Die in L.A." But how could they shoot the second video when he is "dead". Do you really think the video was shot 4 months ago, back in August of '96? Think about it.

In the video "Hail Mary" released under the name Makaveli, there is a gravestone that says Makaveli. But the gravestone is cracked and there is a hole right in front of it, inferring that Makaveli rose from the dead.

A shooting involving Snoop Doggy Dogg occured close to the release of his album Doggystyle. The shooting made Snoop appear more "real" and showed his fans that he really was a gangsta. The shooting gave him respect because everyone that bought his album believed what he was talking about. Within one week of its release, Doggystyle went platnium.

Tupac officially died at 4:03 PM. 4+3 = 7 Also he "died" at an age of 25 years. 2+5 = 7 It seems as if seven is Tupac's number.

There is nothing in the new album that says TUPAC RIP 1971-1996. Wouldn't it make sense to include something like that in the first album after his "death"? The only thing mentioned is "EXIT TUPAC ENTER MAKAVELI".

In Richie Rich's album Seasoned Veteran, which was released on the same day as The 7 Day Theory, on the song "N*ggas Done Changed" which is a duet with Tupac, Tupac says the following lyrics: "I've been shot and murdered, can't tell you how it happened word for word / but best believe that n*ggas' gonna get what they deserve." This phrase implies that Tupac knows he will be dead when Richie Rich's album is released.

In Makaveli's (Tupac's) song "White Man's World" on album The 7 Day Theory, he says "We ain't never gonna walk off this planet unless ya'll choose to." Did he choose to walk off the planet by faking his death?

In Tupac's song "Ambitionz az a Ridah" on the album All Eyes On Me, he says "Blast me but they didn't finish, didn't diminish my powers so now I'm back to be a muthaf*ckin' menace, they cowards thats why they tried to set me up, had b*tch *ss n*ggas on my team so indeed they wet me up, BUT I'M BACK REINCARNATED." This implies that Tupac is reincarnated as Makaveli.

In Tupac's song "Life of an Outlaw" on the album The 7 Day Theory, he says "All for the street fame on how to be managed, to plan sh*t, 6 months in advance to what we plotted, approved to go on swole and now I got it"-Life Of An Outla

In E-40's album Hall Of Game in the song "Million Dollar Spot" which is a duet with Tupac, Tupac says, "Fans can't understand my ghetto slang, so i evade and plot and plan a life of better things...." Once again Tupac mentions his "plan".

In Tupac's song "Ain't Hard 2 Find" on the album All Eyes On Me, he says "I heard rumors I died, murdered in cold blood, tramatized pictures of me in my final states, you know momma cryed, but that was fiction, some coward got the story twisted." It seems as if Tupac foretold the future.

Scarface's song "Smile", which is a duet with Tupac, was supposedly recorded in September of '96, before Tupac was "shot". But the video for the song was released in May of '97 and the video depicts Tupac rapping while he appears to be crucified. At the end of the video, Tupac falls off the cross and stands up...which is another image of resurection. Towards the end of the video, it becomes slightly apparent that Tupac is actually portrayed by a look-alike. I still wonder, if he is really dead, then why do they keep making everyone so suspicious???

In the video for "I Wonder if Heaven Got a Ghetto" the town it takes place in is called Rukahs. "Rukahs" spelled backwards is "Shakur". The room he goes into with the girl is room number 7. The clock in the background at the end is at 4:03...the same time he officially died. More funny stuff from the video producers. My question still remains, why?

In Tupac's song "No More Pain" on the album All Eyes On Me, he says "A heart of a soldier with the brains to teach a whole nation." Could this be a reference to Machievelli or Jesus?

On the cover of The 7 Day Theory, there is a picture of Tupac being crucified. This fits with the idea that Tupac "died" so he could be reincarnated as Makaveli. In the picture, there are five bullet holes. Interestingly, Tupac was "shot" 5 times.

The only witness to the shooting, Yafeu Fula, was found shot to death on Nov. 10th in a hallway of an apartment building in East Orange, NJ. Hmm...now no one will get any info out of him.

After the shooting of Notorious B.I.G. on March 9th, 1997 Lieutenant Wayne Petersen of the the homicide division of the Las Vegas Police Department who has been investigating Shakur's alleged killing said, "Before yesterday, I had never even heard of the Notorious B.I.G. There is no link between the two murders. We think the only connection is in the minds of the media. The media wants to connect the two." If you asked anyone who knows anything about the Tupac case, they would say something about the rivalry between Biggie and Tupac. How will the Las Vegas police ever solve the case if they don't know the basics? The answer is that they won't. C'mon guys, that is pretty pathetic.

10 best amazing facts

2008-11-08T20:29:00.000-08:00

10 best amazing facts

1. According to hospital figures, dogs bite an average of 1 million Americans a year.

2. The last animal in the dictionary is the Zyzzyva, a tropical weevil.

3. Honeybees have hair on their eyes.

4. The only continent without reptiles or snakes is Antarctica

5. The study of ants is called Myrmecology.

6. The biggest ant colony was found on the Ishikari Coast of Hokkaido: 306 million worker ants and 1 million queens lived in 45,000 interconnected nests over an area of 2.7 square kilometres (1.7 square miles). A worker ant will live for up to 5 years; while a Queen will live up to 25 years.

7. The fingerprints of koala bears are virtually indistinguishable from those of humans, so much so that they could be confused at a crime scene.

8. The tallest dog on record was named Shamgret Danzas. He was 42 inches tall (at the shoulder!) and weighed 238 lbs.

9. The first dog show was held in England in 1859.

10. Dolphins sleep with one half of the brain at a time, and one eye closed.

FACTS ABOUT PATENTS

2008-11-07T23:31:00.000-08:00

Thomas Edison filed 1,093 patents, including those for the light bulb, electric railways and the movie camera. When he died in 1931, he held 34 patents for the telephone, 141 for batteries, 150 for the telegraph and 389 patents for electric light and power.

One hour before Alexander Graham Bell registered his patent for the telephone in 1876, Elisha Gray patented his design. After years of litigation, the patent went to Bell.

THE REAL VALUE OF PI

2008-11-07T23:28:00.000-08:00

=3.14159 26535 89793 23846 26433 83279 50288 41971 69399 37510 58209 74944 59230 78164 06286 20899 86280 34825 34211 70679 82148 08651 32823 ..

THE REAL SEVEN WONDERS

2008-11-07T23:21:00.000-08:00

The Great Pyramid of Giza is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the World that still survives. Can you name the other six?

They are:

1) The Hanging Gardens of Babylon, which were built on the banks of the Euphrates river by King Nebuchadnezzar II.

2) The gigantic gold statue of Zeus was built by the sculptor Pheidias at Olympia.

3) The temple of Artemis was erected in the Asia Minor city of Ephesus in honour of the Greek goddess of hunting and wild nature.

4) The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus was a huge tomb constructed for King Maussollos, Persian satrap of Caria.

5) The Colossus of Rhodes was a massive statue erected by the Greeks in honour of Helios the sun-god.

6) The Lighthouse of Alexandria was built by the Ptolemies on the island of Pharos.

The Great Pyramid of Giza was built near the ancient city of Memphis for Pharaoh Khufu in the period of the Fourth Dynasty, between 2613 and 2494BC. The Greeks refered to it as the Pyramid of Cheops. A true wonder, it is immense: according to Mysteries of the Unknown, it covers a ground area of 13.1 acres (32,4 hectares), composed of some 2.3 million limestone blocks average two-and-a-half tonnes each, enough stone to build a wall of foot-square cubes two-thirds around the globe at the equator, a distance of 16,600 miles (26 500km).

The oldest statue in the world is the Great Sphinx of Egypt. Carved out of limestone, it stands 19,8 metres (65 ft) high and is 73 metres (240 ft) long.

FACT ABOUT NOSTRADAMUS

2008-11-07T23:15:00.000-08:00

NOSTRADAMUS, the French Christian Jew who lived in France in the 16th century, made many accurate forecasts, including the two World Wars. 18 of his 950 quatrains refer to a third world war. Some Nostradamus experts had given the date for the start of such a war as mid-1999, referring to the Balkan conflict surrounding Kosovo. They obviously misinterpreted the quatrains. Their attention then turned to the 11 September 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York.

Born Michel de Notredame on 14 December 1503 in St Remy, France, he was the oldest of five sons. His grandfather, Jean, taught him Latin, Greek, Hebrew, mathematics and astrology at an early age. Nostradamus received a medical degree in 1529 and became physician-in-ordinary to Charles IX during the bubonic plague. He is said to have had extraordinary healing abilities.

Nostradamus was in his late 40s when, it is told, he frequently went into a meditative state and had visions of the future. He began to document the visions in a mixture of Lain, French, and Greek quatrains, publishing his famous "Centuries" in 1558.

Nostradamus was married twice, losing his first wife and two children to the plague. He died on 2 July 1566. "Centuries" was translated into English in 1672. In 1781 it was banned by the Roman Catholic Church. Ironically, in 1553, when Nostradamus encountered a group of Franciscan monks he threw himself on his knees, clutching at the garment of one of the monks, Felice Peretti. When asked why he had done this he replied that he must yield "before his Holiness." Nineteen years after the death of Nostradamus, Peretti became Pope Sixtus V.

TOP PAID YOUNG CEO'S

2008-11-07T04:40:00.000-08:00

TOP PAID YOUNG CEO'S

Forbes recently released the top-paid young CEOs list that features two Indians (or should I say Indian origin) - Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen and Cognizant’s Francisco D’Souza.
The list that features 15 top-paid young CEOs ranks Narayen at 5th and D’Souza at the 15th position. In terms of age, D’Souza is the youngest of the 15 CEOs at 39.
The top spot is taken by Pakistiani origin Nabeel Gareeb, who is the CEO of chip-maker MEMC Electronic Materials (Interestingly, Gareeb in hindi means Poor – what a Oxymoron :). He takes home annual pay package of 79.6 million dollars (roughly 315 crore rupees) !

UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT INDIA AND INDIANS

2008-11-07T04:33:00.000-08:00

UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT INDIA AND INDIANS

India is one of only three countries that makes supercomputers (the US and Japan are the other two).
India is one of six countries that launches satellites.
The Bombay stock exchange lists more than 6,600 companies. Only the NYSE has more.
Eight Indian companies are listed on the NYSE; three on the NASDAQ.
By volume of pills produced, the Indian pharmaceutical industry is the world’s second largest after China.
India has the second largest community of software developers, after the U.S.
India has the second largest network of paved highways, after the U.S.
India is the world’s largest producer of milk, and among the top five producers of sugar, cotton, tea, coffee, spices, rubber, silk, and fish.
100 of the Fortune 500 companies have R&D facilities in India.
Two million people of Indian origin live in the U.S.
Indian-born Americans are among the most affluent and best educated of the recent immigrant groups in the U.S.
Thirty percent of the R&D researchers in American pharmaceutical companies are Indian Americans.
Nearly 49% of the high-tech startups in silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. are owned by Indians or Indian-Americans.
India sends more students to U.S. colleges than any country in the world. In 2004-2005, over 80,000 Indian students entered the U.S. China sent only 65,000 students during the same time.
In a case decided by the U.S. Supreme Court, an Indian-American woman scientist, Dr. Ananda Chakrabaty, won the argument that persons may be granted patents for useful manufacture of living organisms. She defeated the U.S. Patent Office, that argued that living things may not be patented, thus establishing the legal foundation for the biotech industry, (Diamond vs. Chakrabaty, 1980). Dr. Chakrabaty invented a microbe that eats oil spills.

INTERESTING AND STRANGE FACTS ABOUT LONDON'S UNDERGROUND

2008-11-07T04:14:00.000-08:00

20 FACTS ABOUT LONDON'S UNDERGROUND

There is only one tube station name which does not have any letters of the word "mackerel" in it - St John's Wood.

There are only two tube stations which have all five vowels in them - Mansion House and South Ealing.

Considering there are 287 tube stations, things 1 and 2 are quite surprising.

Chancery Lane has the shortest escalator on the system - 50 steps.

Travelling on the tube for 40 minutes is the equivalent of smoking two cigarettes - so save yourself a packet, all you smokers and get on the tube more often.

The shortest distance between tube stations is Leicester Square and Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line - 0.16 miles.

The most popular route for tourists is Leicester Square to Covent Garden on the Piccadilly line. It is quicker to walk this distance than travel on the tube.

The only tube station which shares the name of a well known pop group is All Saints (yeah I know it's on the Docklands Light Railway - but it's still on the tube map).

The phrase "Mind the Gap" originated on the Northern line.

The Jubilee line was originally going to be called the Fleet line.

Northfields station on the Piccadilly line was the first to use kestrels and hawks to kill pigeons and stop them setting up homes in stations.

The Central line covers the longest route - from West Ruislip to Epping you will travel 34 miles without changing.

The Waterloo and City line covers the shortest route - 2 kilometres, but considering it only covers two stations - Waterloo and Bank, it doesn't take Stephen Hawkins to work that one out.

The oldest tube line in the world is the Metropolitan line. It opened on the 10th January 1863.

Tube carriages originally had no windows and buttoned upholstery and were nicknamed "padded cells". No change there then.

Men have to sit with their legs apart when travelling on the tube. This is due to special magnetic fibres on the upholstery of the seats which interacts with testosterone to provide an antimagnetic outward force.

Julian Lloyd Webber was London Underground's first official busker - I didn't know he needed the money that badly.

More of the London Underground is open than in a tunnel. Tell yourself this fact if you suffer from claustrophobia.

Bank has more escalators than any other station on the tube - 15 plus two moving walkways - count em!

Out of the 287 stations, only 29 are south of the river Thames.

One of the female automated voice announcers is called Sonia - because her voice "gets on yer nerves".

Fish and Parcels is the slang name for the District Line. It should be Pony and Trap.

Edward Johnston designed the font for the London Underground in 1916.

The peak hour for tube suicides is 11am.

The Jubilee Line Extension was the most expensive railway line ever built. It cost USD 330 million per kilometre. Shame they didn't make the platforms and the trains bigger though.

AMAZING,INTERESTING AND FASCINATING FACTS ABOUT LONDON

2008-11-07T04:07:00.000-08:00

FACTS ABOUT LONDON

There are over a million children in London’s schools.

Over 100,000 children were born in London last year.

Greater London covers an area of 656 square miles, with some areas 45 miles from the centre.

Greater London has over 600 square miles of roads, with over 50 High Streets! But traffic in Central London moves at the same average speed as it did in 1911.

London has over 11,000 restaurants, cafes and takeaways.

Over 25 million people visited London last year.

If London was a country, it would be the 8th largest country in Europe.

There are more languages spoken in London than in any other city in the world.

INTERSTING FACTS ABOUT NAMES

2008-11-06T23:16:00.000-08:00

The name for Oz in the "Wizard of Oz" was thought up when the creator, Frank Baum, looked at his filing cabinet and saw A-N, and O-Z, hence "Oz."

The name of the Vulcan's heaven is Sha Ka Ree, this is a play on the name Sean Connery who was considered for the part of Sarek, Spock's father.

The name Wendy was made up for the book "Peter Pan."

The names of the three wise monkeys are: Mizaru: See no evil, Mikazaru: Hear no evil, and Mazaru: Speak no evil.

SOME WEIRD FACTS

2008-11-06T23:09:00.000-08:00

Walt Disney named Mickey Mouse after Mickey Rooney, whose mother he dated for some time.
Walt Disney's autograph bears no resemblance to the famous Disney logo.
Warren Beatty and Shirley MacLaine are brother and sister.
When opossums are playing opossum, they are not "playing." They actually pass out from sheer terror.
When young and impoverished, Pablo Picasso kept warm by burning his own paintings.
While at Havard University, Edward Kennedy was suspended for cheating on a Spanish exam.
While performing her duties as queen, Cleopatra sometimes wore a fake beard.
Women blink nearly twice as much as men.
Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the designation M-1, named so because it was the first paved road anywhere.

INTERESTING,AMAZING AND STRANGE FACTS ABOUT LEANING TOWER OF PISA

2008-11-06T04:01:00.000-08:00

Leaning Tower of Pisa is a bell tower at Pisa, Italy. It is famous for leaning 4.4 meters out of line when measured from the seventh story. It was built to stand vertically but began leaning soon after construction started in August 1173. It tilts because its foundation was built on unstable soil. The ground beneath the tower first started to sink after the first three stories were built. The height of the tower is 55 meters from the ground. The construction of the building began in 1173 and lasted two centuries.

The leaning tower of Pisa was commenced in 1152, and was not finished till the fourteenth century. Tho cathedral to which this belongs was erected to celebrate a triumph of the Pisans in the harbor of Palermo in 1063, when allied with the Normans to drive the Saracens out of Sicily. It is a circular building, one hundred feet in diameter and 179 feet in extreme height, and has fine mosaic pavements, elaborately carved columns, and numerous bas-reliefs. The building is of white marble. The tower is divided into eight stories, each having an outside gallery of seven feet projection, and the topmost story overhangs the base about sixteen feet, though, as the center of gravity is still ten feet within the base, the building is perfectly safe.

It has been supposed that this inclination was intentional, but the opinion that the foundation has sunk is no doubt correct. It is most likely that the defective foundation became perceptible before the tower had reached one-half its height, as at that elevation the unequal length of the columns exhibits an endeavor to restore the perpendicular, and at about the same place the walls are strengthened with iron bars.

INTERESTING,STRANGE AND AMAZING FACTS ABOUT CITIES

2008-11-04T19:04:00.000-08:00

Alaska
	More than half of the coastline of the entire United States is in Alaska.

Amazon
	The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river, one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States.

Antarctica
	Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world. As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is essentially a desert. The average yearly total precipitation is about two inches Although covered with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

Brazil
	Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way around.

Canada
	Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning "Big Village."

Chicago
	Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

Detroit
	Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1, named so because it was the first paved road anywhere.

Damascus, Syria
	Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

Istanbul, Turkey
	Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city in the world located on two continents.

Kola Peninsula, Russia
	The deepest hole ever made by humans is in Kola Peninsula in Russia, was completed in 1989, creating a hole 12,262 meters (7.6 miles) deep.

Los Angeles
	Los Angeles's full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula --and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.

New York City
	The term "The Big Apple" was coined by touring jazz musicians of the 1930's who used the slang expression "apple" for any town or city. Therefore, to play New York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple. There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv,Â Â Israel.

Ohio
	There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is manmade.

Pitcairn Island
	The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn in Polynesia, at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km.

Rome
	The first city to reach a population of 1 million people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C. There is a city called Rome on every continent.

Siberia
	Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests. S.M.O.M.The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta ( S.M.O.M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 people less than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.

Sahara Desert
	In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt, which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island. There has been no rainfall there for two million years.

Spain
	Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits'.

St. Paul, Minnesota
	St.Paul, Minnesota, was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant who set up the first business there.

Roads
	Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A.: 1%, in Canada: 75% The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one-mile in every five must be straight. These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

United States' Waterfalls
	The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls.

TOP 8 PERFUMES

2008-11-02T02:09:00.000-08:00

Globally, the flavors and fragrances form a $17.8-billion industry of which the top five players are Givaudan, International Flavors & Fragrances, Firmenich, Symrise and Quest International.

These five companies have a substantial presence in the Indian market, along with competition from Indian F&F houses like SH Kelkar, Sachee Aromatics and Oriental Flavors & Fragrances. The Indian F&F market is estimated at around $225 million.

"The word 'perfume' comes from the Latin per fume 'through smoke'. One of the oldest uses of perfumes was in the form the burning of incense and aromatic herbs used in religious services, often the aromatic gums, frankincense and myrrh, gathered from trees.

The Egyptians were the first clan to use perfume followed by the ancient Chinese, Hindus, Israelites, Carthaginians, Arabs, Greeks, and Romans.

The Egyptians invented glass and perfume bottles were one of the first common uses for glass.

So which is the most expensive perfume brand available in the market? Which perfume bottle is adorned with a five-carat diamond? Read on to find out. . . (These perfumes have been ranked by www.perfumejuice.com.

1. Clive Christian's Imperial Majesty: Price $215,000
British designer Clive Christian's creation has recently been voted in the Guiness Book of World Records the most expensive perfume in the world. The 16.9-ounce perfume bottle is stuck into the 18-carat gold collar that is adorned with a five-carat diamond. Only five bottles are made annually, justifying the eye-popping price.

2. Clive Christian No. 1: Price $2,150 (2 oz.)
This perfume is an extravagant combination of Indian jasmine, mandarin and sandalwood. Its bottle is handmade from lead crystal, while the neck is 24-karat gold-plated sterling silver, set with a solitaire.

The stopper is designed after the original pattern granted by Queen Victoria.

3. Caron's Poivre: $2,000
The peppery unisex fragrance of Caron Poivre is a snip at $2,000 (for 2 oz).

This perfume is a concoction of lavender, jasmine, rose, Lily of the valley, carnation, cedar, sandalwood, Tonka and musk.

The maker of this perfume, Caron, is one of the last perfume houses to still have an in-house 'nose' (Monsieur Fraysse) -- also called a master perfumer.

4. Chanel No 5: Price $1,850
One of the world's most famous perfumes relies heavily on jasmine. It was the first fragrance from Parisian couturier, Gabrielle 'Coco' Chanel.

History has it that Chanel commissioned renowned perfumer Ernest Beaux to make six perfumes. They were labelled No. 1, No. 2, etc. through No. 6. Chanel liked No. 5 the most and that became the chosen formula.

Initially, this perfume was given to some of Chanel's clients for free at her boutique.

5. Baccarats Les Larmes Sacrees de Thebe: Price $1,700
Baccarat, better known as the maker of high-quality crystal, entered the fragrance business in the late 1990s with three limited-edition fragrances of its own.

Baccarats Les Larmes Sacrees de Thebe combines frankincense and myrrh. The perfume comes in exquisite Baccarat crystal bottles.

6. Annick Goutal's Eau d'Hadrien: Price $1,500
Annick Goutal is a European perfumer, former model and prize-winning pianist. Her Eau d'Hadrien is a fresh, citrus blend of Sicilian lemons, grapefruit and cypress.

7. Hermes' 24 Faubourg: Price $1,500
This women's perfume, which comes in 1-oz bottles, is made by French fashion house Hermes International.

Hermes started its fragrance line in 1951. Over the past 57 years, the company has created several fragrances for both men and women.

8. Jean Patou's Joy: Price $800
This is quite a popular fragrance among Hollywood stars. It comes in 1-oz bottles and is a heavy floral scent, based on the most precious rose and jasmine, created by French fashion designer Jean Patou.

Other Patou perfumes are Amour Amour, Adieu Sagesse and Que Sais Je.
But 'Joy' is the most well known one.

AMERICAN VOTING SYSTEM

2008-11-02T02:03:00.000-08:00

1. 80% of all votes in America are counted by only two companies: Diebold and ES&S.

2. There is no federal agency with regulatory authority or oversight of the US voting machine industry.

3. The vice-president of Diebold and the president of ES&S are brothers.

4. The chairman and CEO of Diebold is a major Bush campaign organizer and donor who wrote in 2003 that he was “committed to helping Ohio deliver its electoral votes to the president next year.”

5. 35% of ES&S is owned by Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, who became Senator based on votes counted by ES&S machines.

6. Republican Senator Chuck Hagel, a long-time friend of the Bush family, was caught lying about his ownership of ES&S by the Senate Ethics Committee.

7. Senator Chuck Hagel was on a short list of George W. Bush’s vice- presidential candidates.

8. ES&S is the largest voting machine manufacturer in the US and counts almost 60% of all US votes.

9. Diebold’s new touch screen voting machines have no paper trail of any votes. In other words, there is no way to verify that the data coming out of the machine is the same as what was legitimately put in by voters.

10. Diebold also makes ATMs, checkout scanners, and ticket machines, all of which log each transaction and can generate a paper trail.

11. Diebold is based in Ohio.

12. Diebold employs 5 convicted felons as developers. These are the people who write the voting machine computer code.

13. Diebold’s Senior Vice-President, Jeff Dean, was convicted of 23 counts of felony theft in the first degree.

14. Diebold Senior Vice-President Jeff Dean was convicted of planting back doors in his software and using a “high degree of sophistication” to evade detection over a period of 2 years.

15. None of the international election observers were allowed in the polls in Ohio.

16. California banned the use of Diebold machines because the security was so bad. Despite Diebold’s claims that the audit logs could not be hacked, a chimpanzee was able to do it! (See the movie at http://blackboxvoting.org/baxter/baxterVPR.mov.)

17. 30% of all US votes are carried out on unverifiable touch screen voting machines with no paper trail. 18. Bush’s Help America Vote Act of 2002 has as its goal to replace all machines with the new electronic touch screen systems with no paper trail.

19. All — not some — but all the voting machine errors detected and reported went in favor of Bush or Republican candidates.

20. Major statistical voting oddities (odds on the order of 250 million to 1!) — again always favoring Bush — have been mathematically demonstrated by experts.

Such amazing odds, the equivalent of statistical miracles these were. Was it God? or was it Diebold…?

A FEW AMAZING FACTS

2008-10-30T07:00:00.000-07:00

coco cola is green in color if it didnt add color

girrafes are dump

human bieng hav 649 muscles

ADIDAS- all day i dream about sports

new born kangaroos are only 2.5cm long

chimpazees are the costliest pet animals

camels milk never curdless

eye is the only body part which do not grow til death

NUMBER FACTS

2008-10-30T06:58:00.000-07:00

"One thousand" contains the letter A, but none of the words from one to nine hundred ninety-nine has an A.

"Forty" is the only number which has its letters in alphabetical order. "One" is the only number with its letters in reverse alphabetical order.

"Four" is the only number whose number of letters in the name equals the number.

FACTS ABOUT ENGLISH WORDS

2008-10-30T06:56:00.000-07:00

"Adcomsubordcomphibspac" is the longest acronym. It is a Navy term standing for Administrative Command, Amphibious Forces, Pacific Fleet Subordinate Command.

"feedback is the shortest wod which contains ABCDEF"

"Almost" is the longest commonly used word in the English language with all the letters in alphabetical order.

"Asthma" and "isthmi" are the only six-letter words that begin and end with a vowel and have no other vowels between.

"Canada" is an Indian word meaning "Big Village".

"Dreamt" is the only English word that ends in the letters "mt".

"Fickleheaded" and "fiddledeedee" are the longest words consisting only of letters in the first half of the alphabet.

"Fortnight" is a contraction of "fourteen nights." In the US "two weeks" is more commonly used.

"Kemo Sabe, meaning an all knowing one, is actually a mispronunciation by Native American of the Spanish phrase, Quien lo Sabe, meaning one who knows."

"Ma is as selfless as I am" can be read the same way backwards. If you take away all the spaces you can see that all the letters can be spelled out both ways.

UNKNOWN FACTS ABOUT HITLER

2008-10-25T23:10:00.000-07:00

Hitler never allows anyone to see him while he is naked or bathing. He refuses to use cologne or scents of any sort on his body

No matter how warm he feels, Hitler will never take off his coat in public

In 1923, Nazi press secretary Dr. Sedgwick tried to convince Hitler to get rid of his trademark mustache or grow it normally. Hitler answered: "Do not worry about my mustache. If it is not the fashion now, it will be later because I wear it!"

While dining with the others, Hitler will allow the conversation to linger on general topics, but after a couple of hours he will inevitably begin one of his many monologues. These speeches are flawless from start to finish because he rehearses them any time he gets a moment.

His favorite topics include: "When I was a soldier," "When I was in Vienna," "When I was in prison," and "When I was the leader in the early days of the party."

If Hitler begins speaking about Wagner and the opera, no one dares interrupt him. He will often sermonize on this topic until his audience falls asleep.

Hitler has no interest in sports or games of any kind and never exercised, except for an occasional walk.

He paces frequently inside rooms, always to the same tune that he whistles to himself and always diagonally across the room, from corner to corner

Hitler’s handwriting is impeccable. When famous psychologist Carl Jung saw Hitler’s handwriting in 1937, he remarked: "Behind this handwriting I recognize the typical characteristics of a man with essentially feminine instinct."

Nearly every night Hitler will see a movie in his private theater, mainly foreign films that are banned to the German public. He loves comedies and will often laugh merrily at Jewish comedians. Hitler even liked a few Jewish singers, but after hearing them he would remark that it was too bad he or she wasn’t Aryan.

WEIRD FACTS FOR ANIMALS

2008-10-23T05:58:00.001-07:00

In Zion, Illinois there is a law that prohibits owners from giving a lit cigar to any of their domesticated animals.

While the law specifically names dogs and cats, it also applies to other kinds of pet such as hamsters rabbits and goldfish.

So no matter how much your goldfish shows you his big boggley eyes, you are by law, not allowed to fall for it and give him a lit cigar.

FACTS ABOUT WAR

2008-10-23T05:52:00.000-07:00

In 1997, the US maintained 13,750 nuclear warheads, 5,546 of them on ballistic missiles.

In 1998, the US spent more than $35 billion on its nuclear weapons programme.

In 1997, the US exported $15,6 billion in arms to developing countries, 54% of which went to non-democratic regimes.

Global spending on defence total more than $700 billion. Global spending on education is less than $100 billion.

Although the two-finger V for Victory sign is synonymous with Winston Churchill, it actually was the idea of a Belgian refugee in London, Victor De Laveleye.

Chemical and biological warfare have been used long before World War 1. During the Peloponnesian War in the 5th century BC, Spartans used sulphur and pitch to overcome the enemy. During ancient and medieval times, soldiers sometimes threw bodies of plague victims over the walls of besieged cities, or into water wells. During the French and Indian wars in North America (1689-1763), blankets used by smallpox victims were given to American Indians in the hope they would carry the disease.

A FEW WAR FACTS

2008-10-23T05:46:00.001-07:00

The NATO attack on Serbia in 1999 during the Kosovo war killed more animals than people.

The very first bomb that the Allies dropped on Berlin in World War II killed the only elephant in the Berlin Zoo.

There are 92 known cases of nuclear bombs lost at sea.

The first reference to a handgun was made in an order for iron bullets in 1326.

When killed in battle, Japanese officers were promoted to the next highest rank.

During the 1991 Gulf War, the Allies dropped more than 17,000 smart bombs and 210,000 dumb (unguided) bombs on Iraqi troops.

INTERESTING WAR FACTS

2008-10-23T05:41:00.000-07:00

The shortest war on record took place in 1896 when Zanzibar surrendered to Britain after 38 minutes.

The longest was the so-called 100-years war between Britain and France. It actually lasted 116 years, ending in 1453.

It was during the 100-years war that direct taxation on income was introduced, a British invention designed to finance the war with France.

Since 1495, no 25-year period has been without war.

Since 1815 there has been 210 interstate wars.

During the Battle of Waterloo, Lord Uxbridge had his horse shot from under him 9 times.

Chevy Chase was a battle that took place on the english-Scottish border in 1388.

The doors that cover US nuclear silos weigh 748 tons and opens in 19 seconds.

The first recorded revolution took place at around 2800 BC when people from the Sumerian city of Lagash overthrew bureaucrats who were lining their own pockets but kept raising taxes.

USE LESS MATH FACTS

2008-10-23T05:12:00.000-07:00

Q: What mathematical symbol did math whiz Ferdinand von Lindemann determine to be a transcendental number in 1882?
A: Pi.

Q: What do you call an angle more than 90 degrees and less than 180 degrees?
A: Obtuse.

Q: What's the top number of a fraction called?
A: The numerator.

Q: What Greek math whiz noticed that the morning star and evening star were one and the same, in 530 B.C.?
A: Pythagoras.

Q: What's a polygon with four unequal sides called?
A: A quadrilateral.

Q: What's a flat image that can be displayed in three dimensions?
A: A hologram.

Q: What number does "giga" stand for?
A: One billion.

Q: What digit did Arab mathematician al-Khwarizmi give to the West around 800 B/B.?
A: Zero.

Q: What word describes a number system with a base of two?
A: Binary.

Q: How many equal sides does an icosahedron have?
A: Twenty.

Q: What do mathematicians call a regular polygon with eight sides?
A: An octagon.

Q: What T-word is defined in geometry as "a straight line that touches a curve but continues on with crossing it"?
A: Tangent.

Q: What geometrical shape forms the hole that fits and allen wrench?
A: The hexagon.

Q: What number is an improper fraction always greater than?
A: One.

Q: What two letters are both symbols for 1,000?
A: K and M.

Q: What's short for "binary digit"?
A: Bit.

Q: What century did mathematicians first use plus and minus signs?
A: The sixteenth.

Q: What number, a one followed by 100 zeros, was first used by nine-year-old Milton Sirotta in 1940?
A: Googol.

Q: What handy mathematical instrument's days were numbered when the pocket calculator made the scene in the 1970s?
A: The Slide rule's.

TAJ MAHAL AND ITS MYSTERIOUS FACTS

2008-10-15T08:11:00.000-07:00

The Taj Mahal, located near the Indian city of Agra, is one of the world's greatest architectural treasures. The almost supernatural beauty of the Taj Mahal and its grounds transcends culture and history, and speaks with a voice of its own to visitors from all over the world of feelings that are common to all humanity.

There are two stories of how the Taj came to be.

The Taj's Love Story

It has been called the most beautiful temple in the world, despite the fact that it was built at the cost of much human life. The Taj Mahal is a real monument of one man's love for a woman. The story is a sad one, told many times. But it never hurts to tell it again.

In 1631, when his wife died in childbirth, the emperor Shah Jahan brought to Agra the most skilled craftsmen from all Asia and even Europe, to build the white marble mausoleum that is the Taj Mahal. He intended to build a black marble mausoleum for himself, and the link between the two was to be a silver bridge. This fantastic plan suffered a dramatic and permanent setback when the Shah himself died.

Its stunning architectural beauty is beyond description, particularly at dawn and at sunset when it seems to glow in the light. On a foggy morning, it looks as though the Taj is suspended in mid-air when viewed from across the Jamuna river.

This is, of course, an illusion. The Taj stands on a raised square platform with its four corners truncated, forming an unequal octagon. The architectural design uses the interlocking arabesque concept, in which each element stands on its own and perfectly integrates with the main structure. It uses the principles of self-replicating geometry and a symmetry of architectural elements.

If you don't want the huge crowds to distract you from your view, try arriving just as it opens or is about to close. A few minutes alone in the perpetually echoing inner sanctum will reward you far more than several hours spent on a guided tour. Especially if your tour guide is Murbat Singh, who makes it his job to find a new comic slant on the Taj story every time he tells it.

To really do the Taj Mahal justice, you should plan to spend at least a full day in the grounds, to see this stunning piece of architecture at dawn, midday, and at dusk. The colours and atmosphere of the gardens and the Taj itself constantly change throughout the day. Under moonlight the marble glows.

The Taj's Other Story

If you have ever visited the Taj Mahal then your guide probably told you that it was designed by Ustad Isa of Iran, and built by the Moghul Emperor, Shah Jahan, in memory of his wife Mumtaz Mahal. Indian children are taught that it was built in 22 years (1631 to 1653) by 20,000 artisans brought to India from all over the world.

This story has been challenged by Professor P.N. Oak, author of Taj Mahal: The True Story, who believes that the whole world has been duped. He claims that the Taj Mahal is not Queen Mumtaz Mahal's tomb, but an ancient Hindu temple palace of Lord Shiva (then known as Tejo Mahalaya), worshipped by the Rajputs of Agra city.

In the course of his research, Oak discovered that the Shiva temple palace had been usurped by Shah Jahan from then Maharaja of Jaipur, Jai Singh. Shah Jahan then remodelled the palace into his wife's memorial. In his own court chronicle, Badshahnama, Shah Jahan admits that an exceptionally beautiful grand mansion in Agra was taken from Jai Singh for Mumtaz's burial. The ex-Maharaja of Jaipur is said to retain in his secret collection two orders from Shah Jahan for the surrender of the Taj building.

The use of captured temples and mansions as a burial place for dead courtiers and royalty was a common practice among Muslim rulers. For example, Hamayun, Akbar, Etmud-ud-Daula and Safdarjung are all buried in such mansions.

Oak's inquiries begin with the name Taj Mahal. He says this term does not occur in any Moghul court papers or chronicles, even after Shah Jahan's time. The term 'Mahal' has never been used for a building in any of the Muslim countries, from Afghanistan to Algeria.

'The usual explanation that the term Taj Mahal derives from Mumtaz Mahal is illogical in at least two respects. Firstly, her name was never Mumtaz Mahal but Mumtaz-ul-Zamani,' he writes. 'Secondly, one cannot omit the first three letters from a woman's name to derive the remainder as the name for the building.'

Taj Mahal is, he claims, a corrupt version of Tejo-mahalaya, or the Shiva's Palace. Oak also says that the love story of Mumtaz and Shah Jahan is a fairy tale created by court sycophants, blundering historians and sloppy archaeologists. Not a single royal chronicle of Shah Jahan's time corroborates the love story.

Furthermore, Oak cites several documents suggesting that the Taj Mahal predates Shah Jahan's era:

Professor Marvin Miller of New York took samples from the riverside doorway of the Taj. Carbon dating tests revealed that the door was 300 years older than Shah Jahan.

European traveller Johan Albert Mandelslo, who visited Agra in 1638 (only seven years after Mumtaz's death), describes the life of the city in his memoirs, but makes no reference to the Taj Mahal being built.

The writings of Peter Mundy, an English visitor to Agra within a year of Mumtaz's death, also suggest that the Taj was a noteworthy building long well before Shah Jahan's time.

Oak also points out a number of design and architectural inconsistencies that support the belief that the Taj Mahal is a typical Hindu temple rather than a mausoleum.

Many rooms in the Taj Mahal have remained sealed since Shah Jahan's time, and are still inaccessible to the public. Oak asserts they contain a headless statue of Shiva and other objects commonly used for worship rituals in Hindu temples.

Fearing political backlash, Indira Gandhi's government tried to have Oak's book withdrawn from the bookstores, and threatened the Indian publisher of the first edition with dire consequences.

The only way to really validate or discredit Oak's research is to open the sealed rooms of the Taj Mahal, and allow international experts to investigate.

PHOTOS THAT SUPPORT OAK'S RESEARCH

THE TALLEST TREE

2008-10-15T00:48:00.000-07:00

The tallest tree is a gymnosperm 112 meters (367 feet, 6 in.), or five stories higher than the Statue of Liberty. It is a Mendocino Tree, a coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) found at Montgomery State Reserve near Ukiah, California, USA. It is estimated to be over 1000 years old. The tree was last measured in September 1998, and was also found to have a diameter of 3.14 m. (10 ft. 4 in.). It was declared the tallest tree in 1996.

The name of this plant " Sequoia sempervirens" is named after a First Nation American called Sequoyah, who invented the Cherokee alphabet.When Europeans first landed in North America, they found an industrious race of warrior people called Tsalagi living in what is now eastern Tennessee and the Carolinas. The whites called them "Cherokee." From this nation would come a man whose extraordinary abilities would greatly serve and protect his people. His name was Sequoyah..
At first, Sequoyah conceived of a pictographic language (similar to Chinese) where words or concepts are symbolized with graphics. He quickly realized that such a system would require a large number of symbols. When he worked, Sequoyah was harassed by those who did not appreciate what it would mean to the Tsalagi people. Sequoyah then began to experiment with a phonetic alphabet where symbols represented individual sounds rather than concepts or things. This was much more manageable. He set to work and discovered that there are 85 vowel and consonant sounds in the Tsalagi language. Sequoyah assigned a character to each of these. This was the core of the Tsalagi or Cherokee alphabet.

Although Sequoia sempervirens is currently the tallest tree, it is not the tallest tree in history. A Eucalyptus regnans at Mt. Baw Baw, Victoria, Australia, is believed to have measured 143 m.(470 ft.) in 1885. Formerly, another Australian eucalyptus, at Watts River, Victoria, almost certainly had been over 150 m. (492 ft.)

FACT NOT MENTIONED BY GREEKS ABOUT INDIAN RULERS

2008-09-21T04:02:00.000-07:00

Modern history tends to put Buddha around 500 B.C. This date apparently comes from the assumption that Chandragupta Maurya, Sandrocottus of the Greek records, was the contemporary of Alexander, who is known to invade India in 325 B.C.

However, the Greek chronicles are strangely silent on the names of Chanakya (Chandragupta's Guru) who managed to install the Maurya on the Magadha throne, Bindusar (his son) and even Ashoka (his grandson) whose empire extended far wider than that of Chandragupta. The empire of Chandragupta, also known as the Magadha empire, was very powerful and had a long history but is nowhere mentioned by the Greeks.

Even Buddha bhikkus and the flourishing religion of the Buddha are not mentioned in their literature. This imbroglio has been challenged by various scholars and is precisely summarized by K. Rajaram (in "A Peep into the Past History, Seminar Papers", Madras, 1982), "There are difficulties in calculating the date of the coronation of Asoka .. In the first instance, the very identification of Sandrokotus with Chandragupta Maurya is questioned. In the second one, the date of the death of the Buddha has not been fixed accurately and therefore, the date of Asoka based on it cannot be accurate." Indeed, the Sandrocottus of the Greeks was not a Maurya.

The Greek records mention Xandramas and Sandrocyptus as the kings immediately before and after Sandrocottus. These names in any way are not phonetically similar to Mahapadma Nanda and Bindusar, who were the predecessor and successor of Chandragupta Maurya, respectively.

However, if Sandrocottus refers to Chandragupta "Gupta", the Xandramas reckons to be his predecessor Chandrashree alias Chandramas and Sandrocyptus to be Samudragupta. The phonetic similarity becomes quite apparent and also, with the assistance of other evidence, confirms the identity of Sandrocottus to Chandragupta Gupta.

NUMERICAL FACTS ABOUT EIFFEL TOWER

2008-09-21T00:33:00.000-07:00

Built: 1887-1889 for 1889 Universal Exhibition and Centennial of the French Revolution.

Engineers : Maurice Koechlin and Emile Nouguier

Architect : Stephen Sauvestre

Contractor : Gustave Eiffel

Tower inaugurated: March 31, 1889

Number of Workers Killed during Construction: 1

Steps to Top: 1665 (Official Eiffel Tower Website)

Steps walkable by visitors 704 (Ground to 2nd floor)

Rivets: 2,500,000

Steel pieces: 18,038

Height: 300.51 meters (986 feet) (+/- 15 cm depending on temperature)

Height including television antenna: 320.755 meters (1052 feet)

Weight: 7,000 tons (1,000 tons removed during 1990's renovation)

Base: 412 feet square, although also noted as about 2.5 acres

Foundation Pressure: 58.26 to 64 psi (9000 psf)

Paint: 50 tons every 7 years

Paint Color: Dark Brown

Lighting : 352 projectors of 1000 watts

First TV transmission: 1957

First Radio Transmission: 1918

Maximum sway in wind: 12 cm

Visibility on a clear day: 67 kilometers (42 miles)

FACTS SOUROUNDING HOLLYWOOD

2008-09-21T00:26:00.000-07:00

The Hollywood Neighborhood was named after the Hollywood Theater which opened on July 17th, 1926 with the silent movie, "More Pay-Less Work".

The first Junior Rose Festival parade was held in June 1918

The Hollywood Neighborhood was the most popular automobile cruising destination in Oregon.

The trolley operated between 1906 and 1937 in the Hollywood District and was the 3rd largest electrical transport system in the U.S. during the 1930s.

The Banfield Highway was named after T.H. Banfield, a prominent Portland businessman.

FACTS ABOUT CANCER AND ITS DANGER SIGNS

2008-09-21T00:21:00.000-07:00

FACTS ABOUT CANCER.

7- DANGER SINGS OF CANCER.

SIMILARITIES BETWEEN SADDAM AND HITLER

2008-09-21T00:10:00.000-07:00

SADDAM IN ARABIC MEANS 'ALWAYS READY FOR WAR'.HITLER WROTE THE BOOK "MY STRUGGLE " WHILE SADDAM WROTE THE BOOK "OUR STRUGGLE".

GODMAN OSHO RAJNISH

2008-09-21T00:04:00.000-07:00

OSHO RAJNISH (1913 TO 1990) HAD 93 ROLLS ROYCE CARS WITH HIM. NOBODY HAD SO MANY CARS WITH HIM IN THE WORLD. FOR ONE OF HIS CARS,'BOLLYWOOD' HERO VINOD KHANNA WAS THE DRIVER . THE CHRISMATIC GODMAN OF INDIA WAS A VORACIOUS READER AND A FEARLESS SPEAKER . THOUSANDS OF HIS FOREIGN FOLLOWERS USED TO VISIT HIM ASHRAM IN PUNE EVERYDAY . HE ESTABLISHED 'RAJNISHPURAM' ON 64000 ACRES IN OREGON IN USA. IT IS BELIEVED THAT HE WAS POISONED SLOWLY TO DEATH AFTER BEING ARRESTED THERE . HE DIED IN INDIA .

FACT ABOUT NAPOLEON

2008-09-20T23:59:00.000-07:00

NAPOLEON WAS A SYMBOL OF COURAGE , BUT , HAD SUFFERED FROM AILUROPHOBIA,
THE FEAR OF CATS

FACTS ABOUT KINGS AND QUEENS

2008-09-20T10:47:00.000-07:00

King George I of England could not speak English. He was born and raised in Germany and never learned to speak English even though he was King from 1714 to 1727. He left the running of the country to his ministers thereby creating the first government cabinet.

Queen Anne had a transvestite cousin, Lord Cornbury, whom she assigned to be governor of New York and New Jersey. The colonists were not amused.

Anne Boleyn, Queen Elizabeth I's mother, had six fingers on one hand

In the Forteenth century, King Edward II reigned in England and was deposed, to be succeeded by his son, Edward III. The King was imprisoned in Berkeley Castle and instructions were that no one should harm him. When the decision was made to murder him, no mark was to be left on the body. A deer horn was inserted into his rectum and a red hot poker was placed inside that. His ghostly screams are said to be still heard in the castle.

Sir Walter Raliegh financed his trip to America to cultivate tobacco by betting Queen Elizabeth I that he could weigh the weight of smoke, which he did by placing two identical cigars on opposite sides of a scale, lighting one and making sure no ashes fell. The difference in the weight after the cigar was done was the weight of smoke and Raliegh was on his way to America.

Sir Thomas Crapper, attributed to inventing the flush toilet, was a nephew of Queen Elizabeth.

The French king Louis the XIV., also known as the Sun King, was with almost certainty not the son of Louis the XIII., but the son of the Danish nobleman Josiah Rantzau, who served in France as a general and marechal of France. Rantzau was very popular with the ladies on account of his great succes on the battlefields. It seems, that he was also a favorite of the French queen; and it is told, that he had to leave France when the boy Louis grew up, because the boy was the spitting image of Rantzau.

DO YOU KNOW

2008-09-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

America has 30.30% airports of the world & India has only 0.70%

The total surface area of the Earth is 197 million square miles.

The sunrays reached at the earth in 8 minutes & 3 seconds

The world’s population has increased 3.1 billion in last 40 years.

180 millions of Valentine’s Day cards are exchanged annually

4% of the total population drinks cold drink daily.

It’s impossible to sneeze with eyes open.

In Bangladesh, kids are punished and jailed for cheating in final exams.

It takes yard of sugarcane to make one sugar cube.

Half gallon water is required to cook macaroni.

Traffic lights were used even before the invention of cars.

A normal person laughs five times a day.

Every year in India, an approximate of 300 million tickets are sold.

FACTS THAT WILL INTEREST YOU

2008-09-20T10:35:00.000-07:00

Ketchup was earlier sold as medicine.

Canada is an Indian word meaning Big Village

A person generates 100 pound of red blood cells in his lifetime.

Rubber bands last longer in refrigerator.

There are 293 ways to make change for a dollar

Dreamt is the only word ending with ‘mt’.

Intelligent people are with more zinc and copper in their hair

69% Americans use Internet and only 5.5% of Indians.

Plastics take 500 years to break down.

INTERESTING FACTS

2008-09-20T10:32:00.000-07:00

Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a spacesuit damages them.

By raising your legs slowly and lying on your back, you cannot sink into quicksand

Lightning strikes the earth about 6,000 times per minute.

Lobsters have blue blood.

A man says average 4850 words in 24 hours.

The thumb nail grows the slowest and the middle nail the fastest

Chocolates can kill dogs

COLD FACT ABOUT NIAGARA

2008-09-20T10:29:00.001-07:00

In 1848, Niagara Falls had a break of half an hour because of an ice jam blocking the source river.

SOME STRANGE FACTS

2008-09-20T10:24:00.000-07:00

In 1962, the schools in Tanganyika closed because of an outbreak of contagious laughter that lasted for six months

In 1980, workers in a Las Vegas hospital were suspended. They had bet on which patient would die first.

In the 1800s, if anyone failed to die after committing a suicide, they had to face the death penalty

People are using glasses since last 700 years

People above the age of 100 in US increased from 4,000 in 1960 to 55,000 in 1995.

STRANGE FACTS ABOUT ANCIENT EGYPTIANS

2008-09-20T10:20:00.000-07:00

3000 years ago, most Egyptians died by the age of 30.

Ancient Egyptians used slabs of stones as pillows.

In Egypt, people shaved eyebrows on the death of their cats

NAMES AND BREEDS OF TIGERS

2008-09-20T10:07:00.000-07:00

Bengal tiger :

This species of tigers is also known as the Panthera tigris. It is mainly found in India, Nepal, Bhutan, Bangladesh and some parts of Myanmar. According to zoologists approximately 3000 of these are alive at present and so they figure on the list of endangered species.

White tiger :

This is not a separate sub-species, as such. They are like the regular tigers, with only a difference in their color. They are white in color and have blue eyes with a pink nose. Their stripes maybe brown or black in color.

Indo-Chinese tiger :

This sub-specie is scientifically known as Panthera tigris corbet. These tigers are mainly found in Thailand, south China, Myanmar, Cambodia, Vietnam and some parts of Malaysia. According to the numbers provided by zoologists there are no more than 1,800 of these tigers surviving in the wild, at present.

Sumatran tiger :

the scientific name for this subspecies is Panthera tigris sumatrae. It is found only on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. There are only about 500 of these tigers presently surviving. It is the second most endangered subspecies of tigers in the world.

South Chinese tiger :

This is also known as the Amoy tiger; and scientifically it is termed as the Panthera tigris amoyensis is also known as the Amoy tiger. This is a native subspecies of central and east China. There are presently not more than 40 of these tigers, and thus the subspecies is heading for extinction.

The Caspian tiger (Panthera tigris virgata) :

Was the native tiger species of Afghanistan, Iran, Turkey, Mongolia, and the Central Asiatic area of Russia

The Balinese tiger (Panthera tigris balica) :

Was the native subspecies of Bali.

The Javan tigers (Panthera tigris sondaica):

Was he native subspecies the Indonesian island of Java.

CONTROLLING THE NATURE

2008-09-19T00:51:00.000-07:00

Experts agree that the recently concluded Beijing Olympics was one of the spectacular and finest Olympics ever conducted. China had poured in billions of dollars for the different events by building world class stadiums ,sports arenas and also for the opening and closing ceremonies

But what lies unknown is the fact , China had actually taken the next giant leap in achieving the impossible - To control the nature !

Rains and thunderstorms had threatened the closing ceremony in the Beijing Olympics.Yet ,China remained unflustered by it , and went ahead in firing rain dispersal rockets from the ground and huge planes to cover a large area
Around 241 rocket shells were fired in nine rounds from Beijin,Tianjin and Hebei to disperse the rain clouds ,
It is also believed that around 1000 rain dispersal rockets were fired for the opening ceremony

It just goes to show the advancement of technology and the power man has gained in these centuries , and a force that makes nature fear him

The concept of weather and climate control by man , as discussed in novels like Are you Afraid of the Dark by Sidney Sheldon and State of Fear by Michael Crichton
are almost becoming a reality .

AMAZING,STRANGE,INTERSTING AND MYSTERIOUS FACTS BEHIND KOH-I-NOR DIAMOND

2008-09-18T10:42:00.005-07:00

According to some sources, the Koh-i-noor diamond was found in the Godavari river in central India 4,000 years ago. Tradition associated with it states that its owner will rule the world, but that to possess it is dangerous for any but a woman. This may have been a delicate piece of flattery to Queen Victoria, who once owned the gem.
The authentic history of this jewel begins in the 14 c. when it was reported to be in the possession of the rajas of Malwa. It later fell into the hands of Baber, who founded the Mogul dynasty in 1526.

During the next two centuries the diamond was one of the most prized items in the treasure of the Mogul emperors.

In 1939, Nadir Shah of Persia invaded India and all of the treasures of the Moguls fell into his hands except the great diamond. Nadir Shah was told by one of the emperor's harem women that the stone was hidden in the emperor's turban. The conqueror then invited the conquered to a feast and offered to exchange turbans as a gesture of friendship.

The emperor had no choice but to agree. Later, in the privacy of his tent, Nadir Shah unrolled the turban, the gem fell out, and Nadir is supposed to have exclaimed "Koh-i-noor", mountain of light.

The stone continued in the possession of the Persian dynasty, although many attempts were made to gain ownership of it. The Persian king was assassinated, and his son Shah Rukh, was deposed. In an effort to discover the whereabouts of the diamond Shah Rukh´s eyes were put out, and boiling pitch was poured on his head, but he refused steadfastly to reveal its hiding place. Later, a Persian king fled with it to the Sikh court, and Ranjit Singh, the Lion of the Punjab, took the stone and wore it as a decoration.

It was later placed in the Lahore treasury. After the Sikh wars, it was taken by the East India Company as part of the indemnity levied in 1849, and was subsequently presented to Queen Victoria at a sparkling levee marking the company's 250th anniversary.

The jewel was displayed at the Great Exhibition of 1851 where it was thought to display insufficient fire. It was decided to recut it from its original Indian form, and a member of the Amsterdam firm of Costar was called to London to cut the stone. A steam-driven cutting wheel was set up, and Prince Albert se the stone on the wheel, while the Duke of Wellington started it.

The cutting took 38 days, but did not add much to the stone's brilliance. It was rather believed that the historical value of the diamond was diminished by the cutting.

Queen Victoria continued to wear it as an ornament, then left it to Queen Alexandra, who wore it at Edward VII´s coronation. In 1911, the jewel was used in a crown made for Queen Mary, and in 1937, in another made to be worn by Queen Elizabeth at the coronation of her husband, King George VI in 1937. The Queen Mother's crown with the Koh-i-noor is in the Tower of London.

LARGEST DIAMOND

2008-09-18T10:42:00.004-07:00

The world's largest cut diamond is an unnamed Fancy Black, containing small red diamond crystals. It weighs 555.55 carats and was polished into 55 facets over several years and completed in June 2004. The repetitive use of the number five is culturally significant in the Islamic world, and was inspired by Ran Gorenstein (Belgium), who also commissioned this creation.

AMAZING,STRANGE AND INTERSTING FACTS ABOUT Christopher Columbus

2008-09-18T10:42:00.003-07:00

Christopher Columbus was born in Genoa, Italy in 1451. He loved the sea. He became a sailor when he was fifteen years old.

After many years and many travels, Columbus became an excellent sea captain. [He had many maps that showed that the earth was round. The maps showed that it was possible to sail west to get to the East.]

Columbus's maps showed that Japan was across the Atlantic Ocean, 2,700 miles away. Columbus did not know that his maps were wrong. Japan is really 12,200 miles to the west! And North and South America are in the way.

The city of Palos gave Columbus three ships: the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Queen Isabella gave Columbus money and ninety sailors.

Aug. 3 1492 Columbus and 90 men set sail to find an easier route to Asia for spice merchants. The expedition was sponsored by Queen Isabella of Spain, provided that Columbus would conquer some of the islands and mainland for Spain.

The three little ships sailed from Palos on August 3. First they stopped at the Canary Islands for more food and water. They left the Canaries on September 6.

The weather was good and the trip was easy. Columbus promised the sailors that they would all become rich. At first the sailors were excited. But day after day passed and they did not see land. The sailors became afraid.

After four weeks the sailors wanted to go back. They thought they would die if they didn't turn around.

At last, they saw some birds. They followed the birds. On the thirty-fifth day, two hours after midnight, a sailor on the Pinta shouted "Land!" He could see land by the light of the moon.

Oct. 12 the ships landed on the island of Guanahani (in the Caribbean Islands) which Columbus immediately christened San Salvador and claimed it for Spain. When they landed on what is now Cuba they thought it was Japan. After 3 subsequent voyages Columbus died rich and famous but not knowing that he had discovered lands that few people had imagined were there. (The continent was not even named after Columbus but an Italian explorer named Amerigo Vespucci).

The people who lived on the island were the Arawak. They called their island Guahanal

The Arawaks came to see the large ships and the sailors. They were amazed at the sailors' strange clothes. They were amazed at the beards on the sailors' faces.

The Arawaks thought the ships and the men had sailed down from the sky. They brought the sailors presents, food, and parrots.

Columbus and his men gave presents to the Arawaks, too. He tried to ask them if this island was part of Japan. "They could only use sign language. Columbus thought that he was in the Indies. He called the people Indians.

Columbus named the island San Salvador. He claimed San Salvador for the King and Queen of Spain. He did not ask the Arawaks if they would like to belong to Spain.

Columbus sailed to other islands. He left forty sailors on the island of Hispaniola. He returned home to Spain with just two ships. He took home many things to show Queen Isabella. He brought parrots, pearls, gold, and six "Indians."

When the two little ships returned, the people in Spain were very, very excited. As the ships came into the port of Palos, cannons thundered, church bells clanged, and people cheered.

Many sailors wanted to go with Columbus on his next trip. They thought they would find gold and become rich. The next year Columbus sailed again. This time he had seventeen ships and fifteen hundred men.

He sailed to other islands, and to Honduras, the coast of Florida, Venezuela, and Panama.

Americans remember Columbus in many ways. Places are named for him, such as the District of Columbia; Columbus, Ohio; and Columbia, South Carolina. Columbia is a nickname for the United States in several songs. Columbia University is named for Columbus. Hundreds of schools are named for him. There is a famous statue of Columbus at Columbus Circle in New York.

1792 a ceremony organized by the Society of St. Tammany, or Colombian Order was held in New York City honoring Columbus and the 300th anniversary of the landing.

GENGIS KHAN AND THE REST HISTORY

2008-09-18T10:42:00.002-07:00

Genghis Khan was the official title of a Mongol warrior named Temujin, a 13th century ruler who founded an empire that included parts of China, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe. After a childhood of violence and enslavement, Temujin became a powerful tribal chieftan. By 1206 he had unified rival clans and taken the title Genghis Khan (or Chinggis Khan), meaning "universal ruler." Over the next three decades he led a constant military campaign that ravaged vast areas and subjugated millions of people, earning him a reputation in the history books as a brutal monster. His successful military tactics included quick cavalry attacks and novel methods of siege warfare, and he is famous for adapting his methods to meet new challenges. In recent years his image in the West as a warmonger has been tempered somewhat with the acknowledgment that under his rule there was a beneficial transfer of culture and technology as his armies moved through Asia, the Middle East and Europe. An able administrator, Genghis Khan established an empire that lasted more than 150 years after his death. Over time his empire was divided and weakened and most of his conquests were lost; his last ruling descendant, Amil Khan of Bukhara, was deposed by Soviet forces in 1920.

INTERSTING AND AMAZING FACTS ABOUT ALEXANDER THE GREAT

2008-09-18T10:42:00.001-07:00

Born around July 20, 356 B.C

Son of King Philip II of Macedon and Olympias, daughter of King Neoptolemus I of Epirus. Olympias was not the only wife of Philip and there was much conflict between Alexander's parents.

Tutored by Leonidas (possibly his uncle) and the great Greek philosopher Aristotle.

During his youth, Alexander tamed the wild horse Bucephalus. Later, when his beloved horse died, Alexander renamed a city in India for Bucephalus

In 340 B.C., while father Philip went off to fight rebels, Alexander was made regent in Macedonia. During Alexander's regency, the Maedi of northen Macedonia revolted. Alexander put down the revolt and renamed their city Alexandroupolis.

In 336 B.C. his father Philip was assassinated, and Alexander the Great became ruler of Macedonia.

Had several rivals executed in order to secure the throne.

Alexander the Great had three wives: Roxane, Statiera, and Parysatis.

Children: Herakles, son of Alexander's mistress Barsine, and Alexander IV, son of Roxane. Both children were killed before they reached adulthood.

One of the legends about Alexander the Great is that when he was in Gordium, in Turkey, in 333 B.C., he undid the Gordian Knot which had been tied by the legendary King Midas. The prophecy about the Gordian knot was that the person who untied it would rule all of Asia. Alexander the Great is said to have undone the knot by slashing through it wilth a sword.

In 323 B.C. Alexander the Great returned to Babylonia where he became ill suddenly, and died at age 33. The cause of his death is unknown. It could have been disease or posion.

AMAZING,STRANGE AND INTERESTING FACTS ABOUT WHITE HOUSE

2008-09-18T10:42:00.000-07:00

There are 132 rooms, 35 bathrooms, and 6 levels in the Residence. There are also 412 doors, 147 windows, 28 fireplaces, 8 staircases, and 3 elevators. With 55,000 square feet of space, it is one of the largest houses in the United States

The White House has a movie theater, swimming pool, bowling lane, jogging track, and a tennis court.

Presidential Firsts while in office... President James Polk (1845-49) was the first President to have his photograph taken... President Theodore Roosevelt (1901-09) was not only the first President to ride in an automobile, but also the first President to travel outside the country when he visited Panama... President Franklin Roosevelt (1933-45) was the first President to ride in an airplane.

John Adams is said to have held the first fireworks display at the White House.

With five full-time chefs, the White House kitchen is able to serve dinner to as many as 140 guests and hors d'oeuvres to more than 1,000.

The White House requires 570 gallons of paint to cover its outside surface.

George Bush invited tennis champions to play with him on the White House tennis courts.

John F. Kennedy's young son, John Jr., used to hide under the president's desk. John Jr. called the desk "my house."

Franklin D. Roosevelt got permission to build a swimming pool and a movie theater in the White House.

Rutherford B. Hayes had the first telephone installed in the White House. Alexander Graham Bell, the inventor of the telephone, gave Hayes personal instructions on how to use it.

STRANGE FACTS BEHIND MOUNT EVEREST

2008-09-18T07:04:00.000-07:00

No one realized that MOUNT EVEREST was the tallest until 1856.

The official height of Mount Everest is 8848 meters or 29,029 feet, which is based on a 1954 ground-based measurement. However, in 1999, a National Geographic Society satellite-based measurement indicated that Mount Everest was about 2 meters (6 feet) taller.

Mount Everest is not standing still. Due to massive geological forces, it is rising at the rate of almost 1 centimeter (1/3 inch) per year - and moving northeast at about 6 centimeters (2 inches) per year.

In 1953, Edmund Hillary and Tenzing Norgay became the first humans to scale Mount Everest. Some say two climbers accomplished this feat in 1924, but the evidence is weak.

More than 2,200 people have reached the summit, but over 200 climbers died.A blind person, a one-legged person, a 15 year old, and a 70 year old have successfully made it to the top. And other adventurers have skied, snowboarded and hang glided down the mountain.

Climbing Mount Everest is not cheap. Commercial expeditions can cost climbers $60,000 to $75,00 each.

Don't call the mountain "Mount Everest" in Tibet or Nepal. That's British coinage. Tibetans refer to it as Chomolungma and Nepalese call it Sagarmatha.

FACTS ABOUT MARATHION CHEATERS

2008-09-18T06:34:00.000-07:00

Marathon in Berlin is 26 miles long and it was apparently too long for thirty three runners who decided to take a shortcut by riding the subway. They obviously forgot the computer chips they were wearing, which automatically record their time every three miles. They were of course disqualified and their times were removed from the scoreboard.

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT HUMAN BRAIN

2008-09-18T05:28:00.002-07:00

The human brains consists of more than 100 billion neurons (nerve cells) through which the brain's commands are sent in the form of electric pulses. These pulses travel at more than 400 km/h (250 mph), creating enough electricity to power a lightbulb. The brain consumes more energy than any other organ, burning up a whopping one-fifth of the food we take in.

It is estimated that the mental capacity of a 100-year old human with perfect memory could be represented by computer with 10 to the power of 15 bits (one petabit). At the current rate of computer chip development, that figure can be reached in about 35 years. However, that represents just memory capacity, not the extremely complex processes of thought creation and emotions.

One-quarter of the brains in used to control the eye. We actually see with our brains, with the eyes basically being cameras.

STRANGE FACTS

2008-09-18T05:28:00.001-07:00

1)Cockroaches can live for 9 days after their head has been cut off.

2)The world's largest amphibian is the giant salamander. It can grow up to 5 ft. in length.

3)The first coast-to-coast telephone line was established in 1914.

4)A car traveling 100 mph would take more than 29 million years to reach the nearest star.

5)In Cleveland, Ohio it is illegal to catch mice without a hunting license.

AMAZING AND STRANGE FACTS OF CRAYONS

2008-09-18T05:28:00.000-07:00

More than 100 billion crayons have been produced so far. The first crayons consisted of a mixture of charcoal and oil. In the early 1900s, cousins Edwin Binney and Harold Smith developed a nontoxic wax crayon. Binney's wife, Alice, attached the French word for chalk, craie, with "ola," from oily, to form the Crayola name. Their first box of Crayola crayons were sold for a nickel in 1903.

The first Crayola crayons came in a box of eight colours: black, blue, brown, green, orange, purple, red and yellow. By 1957, 40 new colours were introduced. Today there are more than 120 crayon colours, including Atomic Tangerine, Blizzard Blue, Mango Tango, Outrageous Orange, Laser Lemon, Screamin' Green and Shocking Pink. Over 5 billion crayons are produced each year.

TITANIC 2

2008-09-18T00:27:00.005-07:00

There's a fake trailer of Titanic 2 going round on the internet, called 'Titanic 2: Jack's Back' or 'Titanic 2: The Surface'. It's an excellent made mashup with different clips from different movies. The story goes that Leonardo DiCaprio comes back from his watery grave with the help of modern science. It's hilarious, do a search on Google and watch the Titanic 2 trailer.

STRANGE FACTS ABOUT MOVIES

2008-09-18T00:27:00.004-07:00

The largest movie theatre in the world, Radio City Music Hall in New York, opened in 1932 - it seats almost 6,000 people.

The longest movie in the world according to Guiness World Records is The Cure for Insomnia, directed by John Henry Timmis IV. Released in 1987, the running time is 5220 minutes (87 hours).

The first film animation was "Humorous Phases of Funny Faces" made in 1906 by American J. Stuart Blacton.

In 1919, 18-year-old Walt Disney teamed up with Ub Iwerks, to produce a series of cartoons entitled "Alice in Cartoonland."

The Walt Disney company was founded in 1923, and in 1927 Walt came up with the idea for an animated mouse called Mortimer Mouse. His wife Lillian convinced him to change it to Mickey Mouse.

In 1937 Disney won a special Oscar for the first full-length animation: "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs."

Bill Hanna and Joe Barbera, created Tom and Jerry in 1939.

The first Best Picture Oscar for an animation was awarded in 1991 for Disney's Beauty and the Beast.

Mel Blanc, who played the voice of Bugs Bunny, was allergic to carrots.

Jack Mercer was the voice of Popeye the Sailor for 45 years.

The video recording machine was invented by the Ampex corporation of California in 1956. The first video recorder, the Ampex VR1000, stood 1,1 m (3 ft 3 in) high and weighed as much as a small car: 665 kg (1,466 lb).

The home video recorder was introduced in 1972 by Philips of the Netherlands.

Japanese company JVC introduced the VHS system in 1976.

About 80% of VCRs are made by Japanese companies.

The first pop video was Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen, released in 1975.

On average, a movie makes about 5 times more from its video sales than ticket takings.

About one quarter of movie videos sold are animations.

In the 1926 film version of Don Juan actor Lionel Barrymore set the record for the most kisses ever in a single film. Barrymore embraced Mary Astor and Estelle Taylor 127 times.

The longest kiss in a movie is in Andy Warhol's Kiss. Rufus Collins and Naomi Levine kissed for the entire 50 minutes of the movie.

The first porn movie was the 1908 Fench film al'Ecu d'or oula bonne auberge.

The first movie to use sound was "The Jazz Singer," released in 1927: the first words, spoken by Al Jolson, were: "Wait a minute, you ain't heard nothing yet."

The 1967 Russian movie War and Peace had 120,000 extras. The South Korean movie Monster Wang-magwi from the same year featured 157,000 extras. The 1945 German movie Kolberg had 187,000 and the movie with the most extras, the 1982 British movie Gandhi, featured 300,000 extras.

TRUE FACTS ABOUT TITANIC

2008-09-18T00:27:00.003-07:00

The Titanic was designed to hold 32 lifeboats, though only 20 were on board; White Star management was concerned that too many boats would sully the aesthetic beauty of the ship.

Survivors were rescued by the Carpathia, which was 58 miles southeast of Titanic when it received the distress call.

Titanic boasted electric elevators, a swimming pool, a squash court, a Turkish Bath, and a gymnasium with a mechanical horse and mechanical camel.

The wreckage of Titanic was located in 1985, 12,500 feet down, about 350 miles (531 km) southeast of Newfoundland, Canada

A first class (parlor suite) ticket on Titanic cost $4,350, which translates into $90,000 in 2006 USD.

Lillian Gertrud Asplund, the last American survivor of the Titanic tragedy, died in Massachusetts on May 6, 2006, at age 99. Her mother and a brother also survived, but her father and three other brothers perished.

Two other survivors live in England.

Eleanor Shuman, who was the inspiration for Kate Winslet's Rose, died on March 7, 1998, at age 87.

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT TV SETS

2008-09-18T00:27:00.002-07:00

Scottish inventor John Logie Baird gave the first public demonstration of television in 1926 in Soho, London. Ten years later there were only 100 TV sets in the world.

Today there are more than 1,5 billion TV sets in use.

China has the most TV sets (300 million).

US citizens watch the most TV. By age 65, an American would have watched the equivalent of 9 years uninterrupted screening, viewing more than 20,000 TV commercials per year.

In the US there are more TV sets than telephones.

The first TV interview was made with Irish actress Peggy O'Neil in April 1930.

The first daily broadcast was started by the BBC in November 1936.

The first TV commercial was a 20-second ad for a Bulova clock, broadcasted by WNBT, New York during a game between the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Philadelphia Phillies in July 1941.Bulova paid $9 for that first TV spot. Bulova also was the first watch in space.

The first regular TV soap was DuMont TV's A Woman to Remember, which began its run in February 1947.

The first televised sporting event was a Japanese elementary school baseball game, broadcast in September 1931.

The world's first TV news helicopter was introduced by KTLA Channel 5 in Los Angeles on 4 July 1958.

IDIOTIC AND USELESS FACTS ABOUT MOVIES

2008-09-18T00:27:00.001-07:00

In the film, 'Titanic', when Jack walks through the french doors for dinner with Rose and her family, a camera man's reflection can be seen on the glass.

During one scene in 'The Sound of Music', an orange box can be clearly seen stamped with the words 'Produce of Israel'. The film was set in 1938, ten years before Israel was founded.

Some of the chariot racers in 'Ben Hur' were seen to be wearing wristwatches.

In the 1985 movie, 'Falling in Love', a reflection of the camera can be seen in a mirror.

Esteemed actor Richard Harris was seen wearing an elastoplast on his neck when playing King Arthur in the film 'Camelot'

Edward G Robinson's character in 'The Last Gangster' gets sent to Alcatraz in 1927. This was probably not as bad a sentence as you might imagine since the prison wasn't opened there until 1934.

In one scene from this movie a young boy who is nothing to do with the film is scene moving across the set. Later, when this was discovered, no-one knew who he was and rumours started to spread about a possible haunting.

Television ariels can clearly be seen on the roofs of Victorian London in the comedy, 'The Wrong Box'.

A red London bus can be seen in the background of one of the battle scenes from the Arthurian legend film, 'Excalibur'.

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT ACTORS NAMES

2008-09-18T00:27:00.000-07:00

Nicolas Cage started life as Nicholas Coppola, but changed it to disassociate himself with famous film director Uncle Francis Ford Coppola. The name 'Cage' came from the comic book character 'Luke Cage'.

Red Buttons was originally known as Aaron Chwatt. The idea for his new name came from his hair colour and the 48 buttons on his bellboy's uniform.

Bette Davis started out as Ruth Davis but changed to Bette after Balzac's cousin Bette

The Phantom of the Opera star was once called Michael Dumble-Smith. The unsurprising desire for a name change was concluded after he saw a passing Crawford's buscuit lorry.

The former Roy Scherer became Rock Hudson after his agent searched the globe for an alternative, coming up with an amalgamation of the Hudson River and the Rock of Gibraltar.

Orginally Susan Weaver, Sigourney picked out her unusual new name from a character in the novel, The Great Gatsby.

Oprah is actually a typo. Her parents wanted to use the biblical name Orpah, but the midwife couldn't spell so it became Oprah.

Friends star Luke Perry was originally Coy Luther Perry but changed to Luke after the character in his favourite movie, Cool Hand Luke.

Originally Doris Von Kappellof, Doris followed the wise advice of band leader Barney Rapp and changed her name. She used to sing the song 'Day after Day' for him.

Born Frank Cooper, his agent persuaded him to change to Gary after the agent's home town - Gary, Indiana.

INTRESTING,IDOITIC,AMAZING FACTS ABOUT LAS VEGAS

2008-09-17T04:50:00.000-07:00

When Paul Anka first played Vegas he was too young to be allowed in the casino.

Bugsy Siegel named his casino the Flamingo after the long legs of his showgirl girlfriend.

In Nevada it is mandatory that video slot machines pay a minimum of 75 percent on average.

Vegas Vic, the enormous neon cowboy that towers over Fremont Street, is the world's largest mechanical neon sign.

Howard Hughes stayed at the Desert Inn for so long that he was asked to leave. He bought the hotel.

Camels were used as pack animals in Nevada as late as 1870.

Over 39.2 million people visit Las Vegas each year.

Seventeen of the 20 biggest hotels in the U.S. are in Las Vegas.

NUMERICAL FACTS ABOUT LAS VEGAS

2008-09-17T04:48:00.000-07:00

Year first casino was licensed 1931

Current number of licensed gambling places in Las Vegas 1701

Approximate number of Las Vegas city residents 500,000

Approximate number of Clark County residents 1,500,000

Number of slot machines in the city 197,144

Annual visitors to Las Vegas, in millions 36.7

Percentage of visitors from Southern California 25

Percentage of visitors who say they come to Vegas mainly to gamble 5

Percent of visitors who end up gambling during their stay 87

Hours per day average visitor spends gambling 3.9

Annual state gaming revenue, in billions of dollars 9

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT HOCKEY'S UNSUNG HERO DHYAN CHAND

2008-09-17T04:42:00.000-07:00

Won three gold medals in Olympic games; awarded the Padma Bhushan in 1956

Arguably the greatest player the game of hockey has ever produced, Dhyan Chand's genius transcended national boundaries and created myths abound of his phenomenal abilities.

Once a lowly sepoy in the British Indian Army, Dhyan Chand's wizardry with the hockey stick caught the attention of his seniors and soon earned him a place in the Indian national team. Representing India in three Olympics, Dhyan Chand mesmerized the world audience with his audacious jugglery and leadership qualities.

At the 1932 Los Angeles Olympics, when India thrashed the U. S. by 24 goals to one, Dhyan Chand and his brother Roop Singh wreaked havoc in the opposition defence, each scoring eight goals. Four years later, at the Berlin Games, Dhyan Chand was again in the thick of action when India drubbed the hosts by a huge margin in the final.

Such was Dhyan Chand's virtuosity that people actually refused to believe what they have seen with their naked eyes. They broke his stick in Holland to check if there was a magnet inside and in Japan they decided it was glue.

In Vienna Sports Club, there stands a statue of Dhyan Chand with four hands and four sticks.

Dhyan Chand was conferred the Padma Bhushan, India's third highest civilian award, in 1956. The 'National Sports Day' in India is observed on his birthday.

Adolf Hitler was very much impressed by his performance. Hitler purportedly offered to make Dhyan Chand a Field Marshal in the German army. But Chand refused to join. In the pre-Olympic matches, Chand scored 59 of India`s 175 goals and 11 of 38 in the Olympics. He continued to play till the age 42, even after World War II. In 22 matches against East Africa, he hit a total of 61 goals. In the year 1948 , Dhyan Chand took retirment from the sport. Dhyan Chand earned a diploma in coaching from the National Institute of Sports in Patiala , in Punjab after the first innings of his life. But person like Dhyan Chand to whom the traits were innate, however he found it difficult to coach those things.

FACTS ABOUT ASS(DONKEY)

2008-09-17T04:09:00.000-07:00

Donkeys kill more people annually than plane crashes

The donkey is a herbivorous animal and the smallest member of the horse family.

Ass is the correct term for the animal known as the donkey, burro, or jackstock. The young of a donkey is called a foal. A young male is a colt and a young female a filly. The correct name for a female donkey is jennet and the correct name for a male donkey is jack.

A mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse. A hinny is the offspring of a male horse and a female donkey.

There are three categories of donkeys. Miniatures are 36 inches and under. Standards are between 36 and 54 inches. Mammoths are over 54 inches. All measured to the shoulder.

Donkeys originated in the African Desert and are a descendant of the African Wild Ass. The African Wild Ass is one of the most endangered animals in the world.

Wild donkeys, called burros, live in desert plains, where they can survive on little food and water for long periods.

The weight of donkeys ranges up to 570 pounds. They have gray to reddish brown hair, long ears and small feet, with sharp hooves.

Donkeys are very affectionate animals and enjoy the companionship of people. Donkeys need companions or they will become very depressed.

Donkeys can live for 25 to 35 years of age. However, donkeys in third world countries seldom live over 10 years.

Jennies are pregnant for one full year and usually give birth one foal. Twins are very rare.

Donkeys are used as guard animals for goats and sheep against the threat of coyote attack. They are also used to protect cows while calving. The coyote is the only natural threat to donkeys. Donkeys therefore do not like any canines.

Donkeys can easily carry 30% of their body weight in live load and 20% in dead weight.

The donkey's favorite pastime is rolling.

Miniature donkeys (36 inches and under) are native to the Mediterranean Islands of Sicily and Sardinia. They have been extensively bred in the United States and are almost extinct in the land of their origin. The breed is called the Miniature Mediterranean Donkey.

The rare French Poitou donkey is characterized by a huge head and ears and very thick, shaggy curled black coat. The Poitou can stand 56 to 60 inches high.

George Washington owned the first donkeys born in the United States.

Spanish explorers during the 1600 brought many standard donkeys to the Americas as pack animals.

Donkey’s milk was once valued as a medicine and was given to premature babies and sick children and to people suffering from tuberculosis. Donkey’s milk contains more sugar and protein than cow’s milk and less fat.

AMAZING FACTS ABOUT PAPER

2008-09-17T04:02:00.000-07:00

The United States and Canada are the world's largest producers of paper and paper products . The next largest are Finland, Japan, and Sweden, who produce significant amounts of wood pulp and newsprint.

The U.S. consumption of paper and paperboard in 1999 was approximately 354 kilograms (about 800 pounds) per person.

In 1997 the total world paper and paperboard production was 299,044 metric tons. It would take about 200,000 Volkswagen Beetle cars to equal this weight.

In the last 20 years, the combined usage of today's top ten paper users has increased from 92 million tons to 208 million, which is a growth of 126%. So the use of computers is not slowing the amount paper we use.

The paper industry is the 4th largest contributor to greenhouse gas emissions among United States manufacturing industries, and contributes 9% of the manufacturing sector's carbon emissions.

If the United States cut office paper use by just 10% it would prevent the emission of 1.6 million tons of greenhouse gases -- the equivalent of taking 280,000 cars off the road.

BIRTH PLACE OF COCONUT

2008-09-17T04:00:00.000-07:00

The coconut most likely originated somewhere around New Guinea in the Pacific Ocean, but long ago became distributed throughout the Pacific from Southeast Asia to Africa. It may have reached the Pacific coast of Central or South America before Columbus reached America, but was introduced to the Caribbean from Africa by Europeans

AMAZING AND USELESS FACTS ABOUT COCONUTS

2008-09-17T03:56:00.000-07:00

Falling coconuts kill 150 people every year - 10 times the number of people killed by sharks.

Coconut oil was the world's leading vegetable oil until soybean oil took over in the 1960s.

There are more than 20 billion coconuts produced each year.

Coconut juice or coconut water is the liquid inside a coconut. Coconut milk is produced by steeping grated coconut in hot water then straining; coconut cream is coconut milk cooked down until it thickens, or grated coconut steeped in hot milk instead of water.

One cup of unsweetened shredded coconut has about 25 grams fat and 280 calories.

The liquid inside young coconuts can be used as a substitute for blood plasma

ISOLATED TOWN

2008-09-17T03:46:00.000-07:00

A small, uninhabited town in Texas has been sold on the internet auction site, eBay, to a buyer in Italy for a little over $3m. The town, called Albert, is about 100km (62 miles) outside San Antonio and features a schoolhouse, a dancehall and a bar.

Albert, a 13-acre town about 50 miles north of San Antonio with a resident population of four, is in the Texas Hill Country. The town's current owner, Bobby Cave, said he was checking the identity of the buyer, to confirm the deal. He added he had several other serious bids should the sale fall through.

Mr Cave, 47, an estate agent, said he sold the land after three-and-a-half years as he was ready to move on to his next project. "I bought it with the intention of creating a little family camping venue where people could come out and drink and enjoy local live music," he told PA news agency.

He said the town's population consisted of himself and groundsman at weekends. The winning buyer will take over an icehouse created from the frame of the old general store, a pavilion, an 85-year-old dance hall, a tractor shed and a three-bedroom house, together with peach and pecan orchards.

AMAZING CRICKET FACTS

2008-09-17T03:40:00.000-07:00

Hanif Mohammed (Pakistan) batted for 16 hours and 10 minutes - nearly 3 full days - against the West Indies, scoring 337*.

Sourav Ganguly is the only cricketer to have won four successive Man of the Match awards in One-day Internationals.

The first Test match began on 15 March 1877 and had a timeless format with four balls per over. It ended on 19 March 1877 with Australia winning by 45 runs.

The first Twenty20 international was between Australia and New Zealand in 2005.

The Test match between England and South Africa at Durban in 1939 was finally abandoned as a draw on the tenth day because England players had to catch their ship home.

The First Test between Young Sri Lanka and Young England at Columbo in 1987 was held up when a large iguana crept across the wicket.

Pakistan Railways beat Dera Ismail Khan by an innings and 851 runs in 1964. In reply to the railways 910 for 6 declared, Dera Ismail Khan were bowled out 32 and 27.

Sussex batsman H.J. Heygate was given out in a match with Somerset in 1919 because he didnOt reach the crease within two minutes of the fall of the previous wicket. Poor Heygate was crippled with rheumatism

CRICKET FACTS

2008-09-17T03:38:00.000-07:00

No one has completed an innings at the score of 228!

South Africans were the first to introduce TV run outs!

Graham Yallop, in 1978 was the first man to wear a helmet!

Wasim Akram is the first (an only?) man to perform a hat-trick in both one days and tests!

England and Australia played the first ever one day international at Melbourne in 1971!

Sachin Tendulkar was the first victim of the third umpire. In the Test match!

Hollywood actor Russell Crowe is Martin Crowe's cousin!

COLORED EGGS

2008-09-13T04:35:00.000-07:00

Persians first began using colored eggs to celebrate spring in 3,000 B.C. 13th century Macedonians were the first Christians on record to use colored eggs in Easter celebrations. Crusaders returning from the Middle East spread the custom of coloring eggs, and Europeans began to use them to celebrate Easter and other warm weather holidays.

FAWN THE IMMORTAL COW

2008-09-13T04:33:00.001-07:00

An American cow called Fawn was not afraid of flying. In May 1963, she was swept up by a tornado and carried half a mile, only to land safely in another farmer's field. Five years later, another tornado carried her over a bus. She survived this too, and lived to the ripe old age of 25.

HORSE AND ZEBRA FACTS

2008-09-13T04:25:00.000-07:00

A female seahorse lets her husband store her babies inside his stomach!

Sea horses pull themselves around with their chins leading them.

Male zebras are called stallions. Zebras usually travel in herds.

No two zebras have stripes that are exactly alike.

Zebras enemies include hyenas, wild dogs, and lions.

A horse will respond to your emotions/feelings mainly because they are very sensitive animals. Example: if you are angry / frustrated the horse will be frustrated also. But if you are happy and smiling the horse should be good in your lesson or ride.

There are approximately 75,000,000 horses in the world.

It's not only zebra's fur that is striped, their skin is also striped

All racehorses in the U.S. celebrate their birthday on January 1st.

A full grown horse's intestines are approximately 89 feet long.

If a horse rests it head on your shoulder it means the horse trusts you.

When you hold your hand out to a horse and the horse comes over and blows out warm air onto the palm of your hand it normally means that the horse wants to be friends with you.

ANIMAL FACTS

2008-09-13T04:19:00.000-07:00

The stonefish, which lives off the coast of Australia, is the most poisonous fish in the world.

Octopuses have 3 hearts.

A goldfish can live up to 40 years.

A starfish doesn't have a brain.

BIGGEST SKELETON

2008-09-12T22:26:00.000-07:00

Ok. That might be a slight exaggeration. I'm sure there are some dinosaur skeletons that are larger. But you have to admit... this is pretty darn big. Measuring over 55 feet long, this skeleton (made out of polystyrene and resin) was created by Algerian-born French artist Adel Abdessemed. It was last displayed at the St. Johannes Evangelist church in Berlin, Germany. Who knows where it will end up next?

10 BASIC UNKNOWN FACTS

2008-09-12T22:20:00.000-07:00

1. If you are struck by lightning, your skin will be heated to 28,000 degrees Centigrade, hotter than the surface of the Sun.

2. If you trace your family tree back 25 generations, you will have 33,554,432 direct ancestors – assuming no incest was involved.

3. The average distance between the stars in the sky is 20 million miles.

4. It would take a modern spaceship 70,000 years to get to the nearest star to earth.

5. An asteroid wiped out every single dinosaur in the world, but not a single species of toad or salamander was affected. No one knows why, nor why the crocodiles and tortoises survived.

6. If you dug a well to the centre of the Earth, and dropped a brick in it, it would take 45 minutes to get to the bottom – 4,000 miles down.

7. Your body sheds 10 billion flakes of skin every day.

8. The Earth weighs 6,500 million million million tons.

9. Honey is the only food consumed by humans that doesn’t go off.

10. A donkey can sink into quicksand but a mule can’t.

collection of amazing facts

2008-09-11T09:54:00.000-07:00

Almost half the newspapers in the world are published in the United States and Canada!

Skepticisms is the longest word that alternates hands when typing!

One ragweed plant can release as many as one billion grains of pollen!

Over 2500 left handed people a year are killed from using products made for right handed people!

There are more than 10 million bricks in the Empire State Building!

The sun is 330,330 times larger than the earth!

The longest recorded flight of a chicken is 13 seconds!

Cat urine glows under a black-light!

Ancient Egyptians slept on pillows made of stone!

The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year!

HOW DID GOOGLE AND YAHOO GOT ITS NAMES

2008-09-11T09:09:00.000-07:00

Google, the Internet search company founded in September 1998. by Larry Page & Sergey Brin, got it's name from the word Googol, which represents number 1 followed with hundred zeros after it.

Yahoo the complex internet organism has complicated name. Word "Yahoo" is shortcut for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Oracle". It was coined by PhD candidates at Stanford University: David Filo and Jerry Yang.

FACTS ABOUT MYSPACE

2008-09-11T09:08:00.000-07:00

MySpace was founded by former Friendster members Chris Dewolfe and Tom Anderson in 2003. They saw opportunity to beat Friendster with more options and less restrictions for social network users. MySpace was purchased in 2005 for $580 million by Rupert Murdoch creator of a media empire that includes 20th Century Fox and the Fox television stations. MySpace has more than 40 billion page views a month. Google paid $900 million to be MySpace's search provider. MySpace runs on Microsoft .NET Framework, operating under Windows 2003 server and applications written in C# for ASP.NET.

FACTS ABOUT FACEBOOK

2008-09-11T09:05:00.000-07:00

Facebook was originally named TheFaceBook and it was developed by Harvard student Mark Zuckerberg. The first use of the FaceBook was on the Harvard campus and it was limited only to Harvard students. Soon the FaceBook spread like wild fire around the other major U.S. Universities. Mark Zuckerberg dropped the Harvard and pursued his facebook dream to become one of the 4th most-trafficked websites in the world with more than 90 million active users. The FaceBook website is built on PHP-MySQL technology and it is probably the most popular PHP website ever built. Interesting fact is that the facebook.com domain was purchased for $200,000 and FaceBook has more than 24 million photos uploaded daily.

Invention Of Zero

2008-09-11T09:03:00.000-07:00

zero was invented in India by Indian mathematicians dating as early as 5th century. They widely used it in calculations, astronomy and astrology. Zero was spread by Arabians to the Europe and there on it was spread all over. Before this, all Europeans used roman numerical which were difficult to calculate on as they were in the form of Symbols, lengthy and had limits.

THE OLYMPIC LOGO AND ITS SECRET

2008-09-11T09:00:00.000-07:00

The Official Olympic Flag

Created by Pierre de Coubertin in 1914, the Olympic flag contains five interconnected rings on a white background. The five rings symbolize the five significant continents and are interconnected to symbolize the friendship to be gained from these international competitions. The rings, from left to right, are blue, yellow, black, green, and red. The colors were chosen because at least one of them appeared on the flag of every country in the world. The Olympic flag was first flown during the 1920 Olympic Games.

EGG WALK

2008-09-11T06:47:00.000-07:00

A Chinese man has managed to pull a car while walking on eggs without breaking a single egg.Not only did he pull the car 20 metres, he actually did it with his ears!

The 38-year-old probably has the strangest talent ever seen, but he sure drew a big crowd while he was pulling the car in Dehui, Jinli.The onlookers were astonished by the man's performance. Zhang says he started learning the stunt when he was only 8 years old. Another amazing thing this Chinese can do is pick up a 25 kg bicycle with his mouth while, of course, standing on eggs.We can't figure out what his talents are good for, but they sure are amazing.

COLDEST AND HOTEST PLACE ON EARTH

2008-09-11T06:41:00.001-07:00

1. What is the hottest place on Earth?

Count one wrong if you guessed Death Valley in California. True enough on many days. But El Azizia in Libya recorded a temperature of 136 degrees Fahrenheit (57.8 Celsius) on Sept. 13, 1922 -- the hottest ever measured. In Death Valley, it got up to 134 Fahrenheit on July 10, 1913.

2. WHAT IS coldest place around here?

Far and away, the coldest temperature ever measured on Earth was -129 Fahrenheit (-89 Celsius) at Vostok, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983.

COUNT THE F'S

2008-09-11T06:36:00.001-07:00

Just do it - don't cheat!!!!!!!!!!!!
Try this ..
This will blow your mind...!
Just do it - don't cheat!!!!!!! !!!!!

Try this its actually quite good. But don't cheat! Count the number of F's in the following text in 15 seconds:

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

Managed it?

Scroll down only after you have counted them! OK?

How many?

Three?

(You r definitely male!!!)

Wrong, there are six - no joke!

Read again!

FINISHED FILES ARE THE RESULT OF YEARS OF SCIENTIFIC STUDY COMBINED WITH THE EXPERIENCE OF YEARS

The reasoning is further down... The MALE brain cannot process the word "OF". Incredible or what?

Anyone who counts all six F's on the first go has a brain of a Female You can test this by asking a Guy/Girl near you to work it out.

TALLEST RIDEABLE MOTORCYCLE

2008-09-11T06:30:00.000-07:00

Gregory Dunham (USA) has constructed a rideable motorcycle that is 3.429 m (11 ft 3 in) tall to the top of handlebars, 6.187 m (20 ft 4 in) long and weighs 2.948 tonnes (6,500 lb). It is powered by a 8.2 litre (502 cu in) V8 engine and has tyres that are 1.88 m (74 in) tall.

NOIDA TOWER

2008-08-10T06:59:00.000-07:00

Noida: Noida, a city east of New Delhi, has selected architect Hafeez Contractor's proposal of a 710 m, 135 storey tower in its city centre. The project, if approved by all relevant agencies, has the potential to become one of the world's tallest structures.

It will be a joint partnership between Noida Development Authority and another investor. It can be a foreign or an Indian real estate developer.
The project will cost around Rs 4,000 crore out of which Rs 2,500 crore will be spend on building the main tower.

Local officials said the building in Noida would be 710 metres (2,330ft) tall - 202 metres higher than Taiwan's Taipei 101, the current tallest building on the planet.

The skyscraper, said to have been designed to resemble the peaks of the Himalayas, is scheduled to be open for business by 2013.

It will contain a 50-floor five-star hotel, a 40-storey glass atrium and 370,000 sq metres (4m sq ft) of shopping centres.

IN 24 HOURS

2008-07-03T04:16:00.000-07:00

1) HEART beats 1,03,689 times.

2) LUNGS respire 23,045 times.

3) BLOOD flows 16,80,000 miles.

4) NAILS grow 0.00007 inches

5) HAIR grows 0.01715 inches

6) Take 2.9 pounds WATER (including all liquids)

7) Take of 3.25 pounds FOOD.

8) Breathe 438 cubic feet AIR.

9) Lose 85.60, BODY TEMPERATURE.

10)Produce 1.43 pints SWEAT.

11)Speak 4,800 WORDS.

12)During SLEEP move 25.4 times

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Fascinating Animals, Birds, Trees:

2008-07-02T19:44:00.000-07:00

1) SNAILS have 14175 teeth laid along 135 rows on their tongue.

2) A BUTTERFLY has 12,000 eyes.

3) DOLPHINS sleep with 1 eye open.

4) A BLUE WHALE can eat as much as 3 tones of food everyday, but at the same time can live without food for 6 months.

5) The EARTH has over 12,00,000 species of animals, 3,00,000 species of plants & 1,00,000 other species.

6) The fierce DINOSAUR was TYRANNOSAURS which has sixty long & sharp
teeth, used to attack & eat other dinosaurs.

7) DEMETRIO was a mammal like REPTILE with a snail on its back. This acted as a radiator to cool the body of the animal.

8) CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRD, that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger like claw.

9) The SWAN has over 25,000 feathers in its body.

10) OSTRICH eats pebbles to help digestion by grinding up the ingested food.

11) POLAR BEAR can look clumsy & slow but during chase on ice, can reach 25 miles / hr of speed.

12) KIWIS are the only birds, which hunt by sense of smell.

13) ELEPHANT teeth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.

14) OWL is the only bird, which can rotate its head to 270 degrees.

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