Facts for Friday

It's Friday! What better time to learn a bunch of facts?

Several species of turtles can live to be over a hundred years of age including the American Box Turtle. (Source)

Mars has a very thin atmosphere, mostly carbon dioxide, and dust storms can cover the whole planet for months at a time. (Source)

Ancient Egyptians knew how to cure meat and preserve food using natron, sodium bicarbonate, also used in the mummification process. (Source)


The Top Five Moneymaking Films of All time (To date) are: itanic (1997) [$1,835m], The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003) [$1,129m], Jurassic Park [$920m], Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006) [$1,060m], and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (2001) [$968,657,891]. When adjusted for inflation, Gone With The Wind remains the highest grossing [$1,4 billion and growing], followed by Star Wars and Sound of Music. (Source)

There are 18 species of penguins. The largest of these is the Emperor penguin. (Source)

The word "cappuccino" comes from the 16th century Capuchin order of friars, whose hoods were called cappuccinos. A cappuccino is a coffee topped with steamed milk. (Source)

The highest percentage of natural redheads in the world is in Scotland (13%), followed closely by Ireland with 10%. In the US, about 2% of the population are natural redheads. (Source)

Male lions are the only cats with manes - a trait of which the origin and purpose has divided scientists. (Source)

All swans in England are the property of the queen or king (Source)

The brain is soft and gelatinous - its consistency is something between jelly and cooked pasta. (Source)

The avocado has the most calories of any fruit. (Source)

Marconi sent the first official west-to-east wireless ( radio) message across the Atlantic Ocean from Table Head, Cape Breton Island (Nova Scotia) in 1902.. (Source)

The simple ham sandwich is still the most popular sandwich in the US, and in second place is the BLT. (Source)