Uncle John's Bathroom Reader Extraordinary Book of Facts: And Bizarre Information by Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society Read Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Bathroom Readers' Hysterical Society
it.
Fact: Whether or not a mother can detect the scent of a human depends on the animal’s sense of smell. Birds have a poor sense of smell and would never know from it whether a human had touched their nests.
Myth: Air fresheners remove offending odors from the air.
Fact: Not even close. Actually they either cover smells up with a stronger scent, or make your nose numb so you can’t smell the bad stuff. The only way you can get rid of odors is with expensive absorption agents like charcoal or silica gel.
Myth: Whales spout water.
Fact: Whales actually exhale air through their blowholes. This creates a mist or fog that looks like a waterspout.
The Sporting Life
The game of lacrosse is about 600 years old.
Most popular sport on earth: soccer. It is played by 100 million people in more than 50 countries.
In 2002 runner Tom Johnson ran an 80 kilometer race (about 50 miles) against a horse—and beat it by 10 seconds.
There are about 10 trillion ways to play the first 10 moves in a game of chess.
Sports celebrity to appear simultaneously on Time, Newsweek , and Sports Illustrated : the racehorse Secretariat, in 1973.
John McEnroe once tied his shoelaces seven times during a match at Wimbledon.
Oldest major U.S. sporting event: the Kentucky Derby, first held in 1875.
Fifteen runners started the first-ever Boston Marathon. Only 10 of them finished it.
In an average day Canada imports 822 hockey sticks from Russia.
A runner consumes about seven quarts of oxygen while running a 100-yard dash.
Horse jockeys are the only U.S. athletes legally allowed to bet on themselves.
Oldest American college sport still in existence: rowing.
In the United States, Frisbees outsell baseballs, basketballs, and footballs combined.
First announcer to say, “He shoots, he scores!” during a hockey game: Foster Hewitt, in 1933.
In pro Ping-Pong, if players use white balls, they can’t wear white shirts. They can’t see them.
Geography 101
Check a map: Reno, Nevada, is west of Los Angeles, California.
Westernmost state in the United States: Alaska. Easternmost: Alaska. (It crosses the international date line.)
Tallest mountain on Earth: Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, 31,800 feet from the ocean floor.
Highest town in the United States: Climax, Colorado, at 11,302 feet above sea level.
Moscow is closer to Washington, D.C., than Honolulu is.
Alaska alone has as much coastline as the rest of the United States.
Coney Island isn’t an island, but it used to be.
Three Mile Island is two and a half miles long.
Israel is one-fourth the size of Maine.
There were 30 more countries in the year 2005 than there were in 1990.
What’s special about Cadillac Mountain, Maine, in the winter? It’s the first place you can see the rising sun in the United States. In the warmer months, it’s Mars Hill in Maine.
There are eight time zones in North America.
World’s biggest desert: the Sahara, at 3.5 million square miles. The Gobi is number two at 500,000.
In an average minute, 20,900 gallons flow from the Amazon River into the sea.
Shortest river: the D River in Oregon. It’s 120 feet long.
Page of Sevens
7 Wonders of
the Ancient World
Great Pyramid of Cheops
at Giza, Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, Statue of Zeus
at Olympia, Temple of Artemis
at Ephesus, Mausoleum at
Halicarnassus, Colossus of
Rhodes, Pharos (Lighthouse)
of Alexandria
7 Liberal Arts
Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic,
Arithmetic, Geometry, Music,
Astronomy
7 Deadly Sins
Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth,
Avarice, Gluttony, Lust
7 Seas
Red, Adriatic, Black, Caspian,
Mediterranean, Persian Gulf,
Indian Ocean
7 Days of the Week
Sun’s day, Moon’s day, Tiw’s day,
Woden’s day, Thor’s day,
Frig’s day, Saturn’s day
7 Virtues
Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude,
Prudence, Justice, Temperance
7 Sages of Greece
Solon of Athens, Pittacus of
Mytilene, Bias of Priene,
Cleobulus of Lindus, Periande of
Corinth, Chilon of Sparta,
Thales of Miletus
7
Fact: Whether or not a mother can detect the scent of a human depends on the animal’s sense of smell. Birds have a poor sense of smell and would never know from it whether a human had touched their nests.
Myth: Air fresheners remove offending odors from the air.
Fact: Not even close. Actually they either cover smells up with a stronger scent, or make your nose numb so you can’t smell the bad stuff. The only way you can get rid of odors is with expensive absorption agents like charcoal or silica gel.
Myth: Whales spout water.
Fact: Whales actually exhale air through their blowholes. This creates a mist or fog that looks like a waterspout.
The Sporting Life
The game of lacrosse is about 600 years old.
Most popular sport on earth: soccer. It is played by 100 million people in more than 50 countries.
In 2002 runner Tom Johnson ran an 80 kilometer race (about 50 miles) against a horse—and beat it by 10 seconds.
There are about 10 trillion ways to play the first 10 moves in a game of chess.
Sports celebrity to appear simultaneously on Time, Newsweek , and Sports Illustrated : the racehorse Secretariat, in 1973.
John McEnroe once tied his shoelaces seven times during a match at Wimbledon.
Oldest major U.S. sporting event: the Kentucky Derby, first held in 1875.
Fifteen runners started the first-ever Boston Marathon. Only 10 of them finished it.
In an average day Canada imports 822 hockey sticks from Russia.
A runner consumes about seven quarts of oxygen while running a 100-yard dash.
Horse jockeys are the only U.S. athletes legally allowed to bet on themselves.
Oldest American college sport still in existence: rowing.
In the United States, Frisbees outsell baseballs, basketballs, and footballs combined.
First announcer to say, “He shoots, he scores!” during a hockey game: Foster Hewitt, in 1933.
In pro Ping-Pong, if players use white balls, they can’t wear white shirts. They can’t see them.
Geography 101
Check a map: Reno, Nevada, is west of Los Angeles, California.
Westernmost state in the United States: Alaska. Easternmost: Alaska. (It crosses the international date line.)
Tallest mountain on Earth: Hawaii’s Mauna Kea, 31,800 feet from the ocean floor.
Highest town in the United States: Climax, Colorado, at 11,302 feet above sea level.
Moscow is closer to Washington, D.C., than Honolulu is.
Alaska alone has as much coastline as the rest of the United States.
Coney Island isn’t an island, but it used to be.
Three Mile Island is two and a half miles long.
Israel is one-fourth the size of Maine.
There were 30 more countries in the year 2005 than there were in 1990.
What’s special about Cadillac Mountain, Maine, in the winter? It’s the first place you can see the rising sun in the United States. In the warmer months, it’s Mars Hill in Maine.
There are eight time zones in North America.
World’s biggest desert: the Sahara, at 3.5 million square miles. The Gobi is number two at 500,000.
In an average minute, 20,900 gallons flow from the Amazon River into the sea.
Shortest river: the D River in Oregon. It’s 120 feet long.
Page of Sevens
7 Wonders of
the Ancient World
Great Pyramid of Cheops
at Giza, Hanging Gardens of
Babylon, Statue of Zeus
at Olympia, Temple of Artemis
at Ephesus, Mausoleum at
Halicarnassus, Colossus of
Rhodes, Pharos (Lighthouse)
of Alexandria
7 Liberal Arts
Grammar, Rhetoric, Logic,
Arithmetic, Geometry, Music,
Astronomy
7 Deadly Sins
Pride, Envy, Wrath, Sloth,
Avarice, Gluttony, Lust
7 Seas
Red, Adriatic, Black, Caspian,
Mediterranean, Persian Gulf,
Indian Ocean
7 Days of the Week
Sun’s day, Moon’s day, Tiw’s day,
Woden’s day, Thor’s day,
Frig’s day, Saturn’s day
7 Virtues
Faith, Hope, Charity, Fortitude,
Prudence, Justice, Temperance
7 Sages of Greece
Solon of Athens, Pittacus of
Mytilene, Bias of Priene,
Cleobulus of Lindus, Periande of
Corinth, Chilon of Sparta,
Thales of Miletus
7
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