1. In the ancient Roman calendar, the year began in March and July was the fifth month, which was why it was called Quintilis (meaning “fifth”). 2. It was renamed July in 44BC after Julius Caesar whose birthday fell in this month. 3. The ancient British called July “Heymonth” or […]
10 Facts
185 posts
1. Mycobacterium vaccae found in mud increase human serotonin levels, which may explain why playing in mud makes children happy. 2. Humans have been making huts and pottery from mud for about 30,000 years. 3. The band Mud had 14 UK Top 20 hits between 1973 and 1976, including three […]
1. The earliest known handwriting was on clay tablets in Mesopotamia around 3,300BC. 2. The ancient Greeks and Romans were the first to use joined-up (cursive) writing. 3. The US Declaration of Independence in 1776 was originally handwritten. 4. About 3,000 UK businesses use handwriting analysis as part of their […]
1. The avocado is also known as “avocado pear” or “alligator pear” but it’s not really a pear at all. 2. In the past year, 96.7 million kilos of avocados were consumed in the UK. 3. Sales here have almost tripled over the past five years. Over 6,000 avocados are […]
1. Mozambique is the only country with all five vowels, A, E, I, O, U in its name. 2. If country names were allowed in Scrabble, Mozambique would score more than any other country whose name is a single word. 3. Portuguese is still the official language of Mozambique. It […]
1. The only northern white rhinos left are Sudan’s daughter and granddaughter. 2. It is hoped that the sub-species can be saved from extinction by artificial insemination. 3. The earliest reference to a rhinoceros in English was in 1398. In ancient Greek it means “nose-horn”. 4. The abbreviation “rhino” only […]
1. A human brain weighs about 3.3lb (1.5kg) so accounts for about two per cent of body weight. 2. What used to be called the “grey matter” in our brains is composed of about 86 billion neurons (nerve cells); the “white matter” is axons and dendrites (nerve fibres). 3. The […]
1. 12 per cent of people always dream in black and white. Before colour TV, the figure was 85 per cent. 2. According to the Sleep Council, four out of five people complain of disturbed or inadequate sleep. 3. Sea otters have often been seen holding hands while they sleep. […]