Don’t knock the weather. If it didn’t change once in a while, nine tenths of the people couldn’t start a conversation.
~Kin Hubbard~
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Awesome Facts About Everything11
A Brewery in Canada Makes Beer Using Water from 20,000-Year-Old Icebergs
Everyone wants their beer to be cool and refreshing, but one Canadian brewery also wants their beer to be as pure as possible. That's why Quidi Vidi Brewery in Newfoundland and Labrador harvests water directly from icebergs that are up to 20,000 years old and float down the area's Iceberg Alley. According to NPR, "The ice formed tens of thousands of years ago from compacted snow … [which] means there are no minerals and lots of tiny bubbles trapped inside. It gives the golden beer a special, very light taste."
12
The Slinky Was Created by Accident
Inventor Richard James, a naval engineer, was trying to create a spring that could help stabilize equipment on boats in choppy waters. However, his spring's ability to move seemingly on its own proved more interesting and became the prototype for the Slinky in 1943.
13
At Any Given Moment, There Are Approximately 2,000 Thunderstorms Happening on Earth
Some areas of the planet experience extreme weather more often than others. But at any given time there are an estimated 2,000 thunderstorms happening in different locations on Earth, according to the National Severe Storms Laboratory.
Annually, there are about 16 million thunderstorms across the globe and around 100,000 of them occur somewhere in the United States.
14
Michelangelo Hated Painting the Sistine Chapel and Wrote a Poem About It
There are plenty of stories about how painting the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel was quite literally a pain for Michelangelo—the artist had to be in an incredibly awkward position to complete the work of art. He supposedly hated the task so much that he wrote a poem about it.
The sonnet, which was originally written in his native Italian in 1509, has been translated by American poet Gail Mazur. Here's a sample: "My stomach's squashed under my chin, my beard's pointing at heaven, my brain's crushed in a casket, my breast twists like a harpy's."
15
A Million Earths Would Fit Inside the Sun
If the sun were hollow, you could fit a million Earths inside it, according to Cornell's Ask an Astronomer. That's because the sun has a radius 100 times that of the Earth!
16
The Letter Z Was Removed from the Alphabet for 200 Years
It's hard to imagine an alphabet that doesn't include A, Z, and every other letter in between. However, around 300 BC, the Roman censor Appius Claudius Caecus had Z removed from the alphabet due to the fact that it wasn't used that much. The letter S was also nixed and the letter G was added. It took another 200 years for Z to make its way back to the end of the alphabet.
17
The National Hot Dog and Sausage Council Ruled that Hot Dogs Aren't Sandwiches
There are plenty of debates when it comes to what actually constitutes a sandwich. Is it anything that's surrounded by something bread-like? What does that mean for tacos, burritos, hamburgers, and hot dogs?
While you can argue about the first three all you want, the National Hot Dog and Sausage Council (NHDSC) made an official ruling when it comes to hot dogs: They deemed that hot dogs are not sandwiches. "Limiting a hot dog's significance by saying it's 'just a sandwich' is like calling the Dalai Lama 'just a guy,'" said Janet Riley, the president of the NHDSC.
18
A Coffee Taster Had His Tongue Insured for £10 Million
Gennaro Pelliccia doesn't just appreciate a good cup of coffee—he's a professional coffee taster who works for England's Costa Coffee company. His discerning tongue is so key to his job that he was able to insure it for a whopping £10 million ($11.3 million) with Lloyd's of London. "My tongue and my ability to perceive different aromas are very important to my work," Pelliccia told the Lifestyle Inquirer.
19
The Chills You Get When Listening to Music Are Caused by Your Brain Releasing Dopamine
Some songs affect you more than others, pumping you up with energy or making you cry ugly tears. And then there are tunes that give you the chills. When that happens, it's due to the fact that your brain reacts to the stimulation by releasing dopamine, which is a neurotransmitter that causes pleasure.
20
More People Tuned Into Prince Charles and Princess Diana's Wedding Than for the Friends, Cheers, Seinfeld, and M*A*S*H finales combined
Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's wedding amassed nearly 30 million viewers in the U.S. The 2019 Super Bowl brought in more than 98 million viewers. But Prince Charles and the late Princess Diana had 750 million people worldwide tune in to see them wed!
21
There are 10 Different Ways to Pronounce the Letters "Ough"
No matter how you utter "ough," there's a good chance you're saying it properly. That's because there are 10 different ways to pronounce the widely versatile sound depending on how it's being used. For instance, in "rough" it has an "uff" sound, while in "plough" it's more like "ow." In "through" it's more like "ew" and in "though" it's like "oh." And now you know!
22
The Word for Black Belt in Japanese Translates to "First Step"
We might think of people with black belts as experts in martial arts who have endured years of rigorous training. But the word used for the ranking in Japanese, "shodan," can be broken down and translated to "first step."
23
The World's Largest Pumpkin Weighs More Than a Sports Car
In 2016, Belgian native Mathias Willemijns set a new world record for growing the biggest pumpkin. The massive pumpkin weighed in at 2,624.6 pounds—that's 129.6 pounds more than an Alfa Romeo 4C sports car.
24
"Natiform" Is a Term for Something That Looks Like a Bum
It's always helpful to have a proper word to accurately describe what you see. And thankfully, if you spot something that looks like a bum, you can use the term "natiform," which refers to anything that happens to resemble buttocks. So instead of calling a person a butthead, you can call them a natiform-head and really throw them for a loop.
25
Doctors Who Play Video Games More Than Three Hours a Week Make Fewer Operating Room Errors
Doctors who work in the operating room may want to start playing video games. A study published in the Archives of Surgery found that doctors who played video games for more than three hours each week made 37 percent fewer surgical errors than those who didn't. They also performed 27 percent faster and scored 42 percent better on a the test of surgical skills.
According to the researchers, this supports earlier findings that video games can improve "fine motor skills, eye-hand coordination, visual attention, depth perception, and computer competency."
26
The Average American Woman Owns Seven Pairs of Jeans and Only Wears Four
How many pairs of denim do you own? And how many do you actually wear? According to a national poll featured in ShopSmart, the average American woman owns seven pairs of jeans. However, despite the fact that 85 percent of women typically wear jeans at least once a week, they only tend to wear four pairs on a regular basis.
27
Dolly Parton Lost a Dolly Parton Lookalike Contest
Dolly Parton entered herself into a Dolly Parton lookalike contest for drag queens in 2012 and didn't even win first place!
28
An NFL Referee Can Also Get a Super Bowl Ring
NFL players aren't the only ones who can take home a Super Bowl ring. Referees who have earned the honor of officiating the sport's biggest annual game are also recognized with the coveted pieces of jewelry.
According to Fox Sports, "The officials get Super Bowl rings just like the players do. They aren't as big as the players' rings, but they are still valuable pieces of jewelry. These rings mean the world to the officials and they wear them with such pride."
29
The Lines on the Inside of Your Wrist Have a Name
If you look at the skin on the inside of your wrists, you'll see a few lines that become deep creases when you bend your hand inwards. These grooves have a name—rasceta—in case you ever find a need to refer to them.
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Good morning Boomers everywhere and welcome to a brand new week!
We have a beautiful sunny, cool day going on here. Walking at the park was chilly because of a very strong wind, but far from being intolerable.
Still spending my days trying to exercise/work out and stay active in some way, just to stay healthy and strong, and keep my joints from seizing up and giving in to rigor mortise.
It's all too easy for me to give in to my impulsive desire to sit on my laptop and serf and game.
Anyway I hope your coming week is a good one, and a safe one.
joe
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