Friday, April 27, 2018

Stuff You Didn't Know


 











You're gonna say "I didn't know that!"
... at least 5 times.





SCROLL

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



Amazon
  The Amazon rain forest produces more than 20% of 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, ice.), 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 ' BigVillage'.


Chicago

Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world. (Aha! I knew that!)



Detroit

 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, carries the designation M-1, so named 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.


Los Angeles
 
The full name of Los Angeles is: l 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 1930s 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, Israel .

  Ohio

      There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every one is man-made.


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, and has an area of two tennis courts. And, as of 2001, has a population of 80, 20 less people 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,Algeria, that 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%


Russia

The deepest hole ever drilled by man is the Kola Superdeep Borehole, in Russia. It reached a depth of 12,261 meters (about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles.) It was drilled for scientific research and gave up some unexpected discoveries, one of which was a huge deposit of hydrogen - so massive that the mud coming from the hole was boiling with it.


United States

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.


Waterfalls

The water of Angel Falls (the world's highest) inVenezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters.) They are 15 times higher than Niagara Falls .

cuzzin ricky



7 comments:

Nelson said...

The factoid about the Interstate system requiring 1 straight mile for every 5 miles is false. Interstates are not designed to serve as airstrips.

Anonymous said...

About, "You're gonna say, 'I didn't know that!'... at least 5 times"

Ron in Ohio Sez;
I knew all but one of those - "The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world Is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta

(S.M.O.M)". I had always thought it was Vatican City.

However, there are four inaccuracies on that list:

1) As a 12 year resident of Ohio and living on a man-made lake, I had heard this about Ohio not having any "natural lakes" and long ago decided to look into it. It ain't true! Ohio may not be anywhere near Minnesota's claim of "Land of 10,000 lakes
but it does have some "natural lakes" - The Ohio DNR @ https://water.ohiodnr.gov/portals/soilwater/pdf/planning/05_Natural_Lakes_in_Ohio_1991.pdf says;"There are 110 natural lakes in Ohio larger than five acres".

2) "Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan,carries the designation M-1, so named because it was the first paved road anywhere." - NOPE! Wrong again. It was first designated M-10 and wasn't changed to M-1 until after the John Lodge Expressway was built in the late 60's and was given the M-10 designation. It was also US-10 for awhile.

3) "Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world. - Not even close! The Polish cities of Łódź and Wroclaw are larger than Chicago. New York City, which everyone knows is larger than Chicago, has the largest Polish
population than any other U.S. city. Now, it's estimated that London has more Poles than even NYC. So,that moves Chicago to at least 5th place.

4) "The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight." NOT true says the Federal Highway Administration, "President Dwight D. Eisenhower fully supported the Interstate Highway System as vital to our economy, safety, relief of congestion, and defense. However, he didn't propose a one-out-of-five-mile rule, and Congress didn't include such a requirement in the 1956 Act. The one-out-of-five rule was not part of any later legislation either". I read somewhere that this rumor was started by Eisenhower being enamored with Hitler's Autobahn system.

Anonymous said...

Roger in Ohio concurs with Ron in Ohio regarding lakes in Ohio. Lake Erie not withstanding (technically not "within" Ohio boundaries), I lived several miles from Chippewa Lake in Medina County, a 324 acre natural lake, for 15 years.

Anonymous said...

Ron in Ohio Sez YUP! to Roger in Ohio:

Chippewa Lake is Ohio's 2nd largest "Natural Lake"
1. Aurora Pond, Portage County - 345 acres
2. Chippewa Lake, Medina County - 324 acres
3. Turkeyfoot Lake, Summit County - 318 acres

To put your former lake in contrast. We live above Apple Valley Lake in Knox County which is a man-made impoundment. It is a 511 acre lake. It's 3-1/4 miles long and has 9-1/2 miles of shoreline. It's where the "well heeled" of Columbus come to party, drink and generally raise hell every Summer weekend. I sure wish I had known that before moving here for the perceived "peace and quiet country life". Nothing like being awakened by aerial bombs and fireworks at 4 AM to get your blood stirring.

It is far from being the largest man-made lake in Ohio, that's Grand Lake St. Marys @ 13,500 acres.

Juice said...

Gotta love your reader commenters here at C&S. Fact checkers extraordinaire.

Unknown said...

"Chances that a road is unpaved:
... in the U.S.A = 1%;
... in Canada = 75%"

I'm not disputing this, but it reminds me of a story. Years ago I met a guy who ran a hunting lodge in Ontario, and he offered me a job there as a cook. When he gave me directions, he told me to drive to a town in Ontario, go to the general store, stock up on supplies, and then take the dirt road behind the store directly to his "resort". "How far up the road is it?", I asked. "156 miles", he replied.

Dan said...

I thought it was Texas that, discounting oxbow lakes formed by rivers rerouting, had no or only one natural lake. All others were reservoirs or stock tanks or similar.

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