Random Facts: 2018
2018 will celebrate the centenary of the end of fighting in the First World War. 2018 will also be celebrated as the 250th anniversary of the first circus, in London in 1768. In… Continue reading
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Random Facts: Snow
The study of snow and ice is known as “cryology”. The Oxford English Dictionary includes 337 words with “snow” in their definition, so you could say English has 337 words for snow from… Continue reading
Random Facts: Bananas
The word “banana” came to us from Spanish or Portuguese and was first seen in English in 1597. The scientific name for a banana is “musa sapientum” which means “fruit of the wise… Continue reading
Random Facts: Austria
The feast day of St Leopold III, Margrave of Austria from 1095-1136, who was canonised in 1485 and became a patron saint of Austria, is 15 November. Margrave was the title given in… Continue reading
Random Facts: Diabetes
“Diabetes” is the Greek word for “siphon”. It refers to the copious urine flow when the disease is uncontrolled. Sir Frederick Banting (1891-1941) in 1923, was one of the discoverers of insulin for… Continue reading
Random Facts: Whales
Herman Melville’s ‘Moby Dick‘ was based on an albino whale known as Mocha Dick which was seen off the coast of Chile in the early 19th century. The call of a blue whale… Continue reading
Random Facts: Eyes
By far the most common eye colour in the world is brown but in the UK blue is now most common. When awake, you blink about 12 times a minute on average which… Continue reading
Random Facts: Sloths
All sloths have three toes on each of their hind legs. Two-toed sloths and three-toed sloths differ in the number of fingers on their front limbs. Three-toed sloths are called Bradypus (slowfooted), two-toed… Continue reading
Random Facts: Eggs
The average hen lays 300-325 eggs a year. The world’s largest omelette weighed 14,225lb 6oz. It was made by a team of 55 people in Portugal in 2012 and used 145,000 eggs. In… Continue reading
