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.
Labels: AMAZING FACTS, INTERESTING FACTS, STRANGE FACTS
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) !
Labels: INTERESTING FACTS, NUMERICAL FACTS
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.
Labels: FACTS ABOUT NAMES, INTERESTING FACTS
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.
Labels: INTERESTING FACTS, WAR FACTS