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Some of these things that we didn't know 1. Q: Why are many coin banks shaped like pigs? A: Long ago, dishes and cookware in Europe were made of a dense orange clay called 'pygg'. When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars became known as 'pygg banks.' When an English potter misunderstood the word, he made a bank that resembled a pig.And it caught on.
2. Q: Did you ever wonder why dimes, quarters and half dollars have notches, while pennies and nickels do not? A: The US Mint began putting notches on the edges of coins containing gold and silver to discourage holders from shaving off small quantities of the precious metals. Dimes, quarters and half dollars are notched because they used to contain silver. Pennies and nickels aren't notched because the metals they contain are not valuable enough to shave.
3. Q: Why do men's clothes have buttons on the right while women's clothes have buttons on the left? A: When buttons were invented, they were very expensive and worn primarily by the rich. Because wealthy women were dressed by maids, dressmakers put the buttons on the maid's right! Since most people are right-handed, it is easier to push buttons on the right through holes on the left. And that's where women's buttons have remained since.
4. Q. Why do X's at the end of a letter signify kisses? A: In the Middle Ages, when many people were unable to read or write, documents were often signed using an X. Kissing the X represented an oath to fulfill obligations specified in the document. The X and the kiss eventually became synonymous.
5. Q: Why is shifting responsibility to someone else called 'passing the buck'? A: In card games, it was once customary to pass an item, called a buck, from player to player to indicate whose turn it was to deal. If a player did not wish to assume the responsibility, he would 'pass the buck' to the next player.
6. Q: Why do people clink their glasses before drinking a toast? A: It used to be common for someone to try to kill an enemy by offering him a poisoned drink. To prove to a guest that a drink was safe, it became customary for a guest to pour a small amount of his drink into the glass of the host. Both men would drink itsimultaneously. When a guest trusted his host, he would then just touch or clink the host's glass with his own.
7. Q: Why are people in the public eye said to be 'in the limelight'? A: Invented in 1825, limelight was used in lighthouses and stage lighting by burning a cylinder of lime which produced a brilliant light. In the theatre, performers on stage 'in the limelight' were seen by the audience to be the center of attention.
8. Q: Why do ships and aircraft in trouble use 'mayday' as their call for help? A: This comes from the French word m'aidez - meaning 'help me' â€" and is pronounced 'mayday.'9. Q: Why is someone who is feeling great 'on cloud nine'?A: Types of clouds are numbered according to the altitudes they attain, with nine being the highest cloud. If someone is said to be on cloud nine, that person is floating well above worldly cares.
10. Q: Why are zero scores in tennis called 'love'?
A: In France, where tennis first became popular, a big, round zero on the scoreboard looked like an egg and was called 'l'oeuf,' which is French for 'egg.' When tennis was introduced in the US, Americans pronounced it 'love.'
11. Q: In golf, where did the term 'Caddie' come from?
A. When Mary, later Queen of Scots, went to France as a young girl (for education & survival), Louis, King of France, learned that she loved the Scot game 'golf.' So he had the first golf course outside of Scotland built for her enjoyment. To make sure she was properly chaperoned (and guarded) while she played, Louis hired cadets from a military school to accompany her. Mary liked this a lot and when she returned to Scotland (not a very good idea in the long run), she took the practice with her. In French, the word cadet is pronounced 'ca-day' and the Scots changed it into 'caddie.' Now YOU know just about everything!
tiationalistically has 37 letters.
2) Book Without Letter "e" :
GADFY, written by Earnest Wright in 1939 is a 50,000+ word book, which doesn't contain a
single word with 'e' in it
3) Word without Vowel:
Rhythm
Sky
Fry
Cry
4) Human Brain:
Organ of body which has no sensation when cut.
5) Crocodile :
Only animal & reptile which sheds tear while eating.
6) No:of Alphabets, which SOUND AS WORDS :
They are
** **B* Bee *
** **C* Sea*
** **G** * Zee*
** ** I* Eye *
** ** Q* Queue*
** ** R* Are *
** ** S* Yes *
** **T* Tea* **
** ** U* You *
** ** Y* Why
Fascinating Animals, Birds, Trees :
1) SNAILS have 14175 teeth laid along 135 rows on their tongue.
2) A BUTTERFLY has 12,000 eyes.
3) DOLPHINS sleep with 1 eye open.
4) A BLUE WHALE can eat as much as 3 tones of food everyday, but at the same time can live without food for 6 months.
5) The EARTH has over 12,00,000 species of animals, 3,00,000 species of plants & 1,00,000 other species.
6) The fierce DINOSAUR was TYRANNOSAURS which has sixty long & sharp
teeth, used to attack & eat other dinosaurs.
7) DEMETRIO was a mammal like REPTILE with a snail on its back. This acted as a radiator to cool the body of the animal.
8) CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRD, that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger like claw.
9) The SWAN has over 25,000 feathers in its body.
10) OSTRICH eats pebbles to help digestion by grinding up the ingested food.
11) POLAR BEAR can look clumsy & slow but during chase on ice, can reach 25 miles / hr of speed.
12) KIWIS are the only birds, which hunt by sense of smell.
13) ELEPHANT teeth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.
14) OWL is the only bird, which can rotate its head to 270 degrees.
What are They :
1) If we say 'MUMMY', they come together & go apart when we say DADDY':
LIPS
2) What goes up & never comes down:
AGE
3) Patches over patches but no stitches:
CABBAGE
4) What is that we cannot see, but is always before you:
FUTURE
5) What goes up & down a hill, but never moves:
ROAD
6) You can never wet it:
SHADOW
7) What belongs to You, but used by your friends more often you do:
YOUR NAME
In 24 Hours Average Human:
1) HEART beats 1,03,689 times.
2) LUNGS respire 23,045 times.
3) BLOOD flows 16,80,000 miles.
4) NAILS grow 0.00007 inches
5) HAIR grows 0.01715 inches
6) Take 2.9 pounds WATER (including all liquids)
7) Take of 3.25 pounds FOOD.
8) Breathe 438 cubic feet AIR.
9) Lose 85.60, BODY TEMPERATURE.
10) Produce 1.43 pints SWEAT.
11) Speak 4,800 WORDS.
12) During SLEEP move 25.4 times
2) Book Without Letter "e" :
GADFY, written by Earnest Wright in 1939 is a 50,000+ word book, which doesn't contain a
single word with 'e' in it
3) Word without Vowel:
Rhythm
Sky
Fry
Cry
4) Human Brain:
Organ of body which has no sensation when cut.
5) Crocodile :
Only animal & reptile which sheds tear while eating.
6) No:of Alphabets, which SOUND AS WORDS :
They are
** **B* Bee *
** **C* Sea*
** **G** * Zee*
** ** I* Eye *
** ** Q* Queue*
** ** R* Are *
** ** S* Yes *
** **T* Tea* **
** ** U* You *
** ** Y* Why
Fascinating Animals, Birds, Trees :
1) SNAILS have 14175 teeth laid along 135 rows on their tongue.
2) A BUTTERFLY has 12,000 eyes.
3) DOLPHINS sleep with 1 eye open.
4) A BLUE WHALE can eat as much as 3 tones of food everyday, but at the same time can live without food for 6 months.
5) The EARTH has over 12,00,000 species of animals, 3,00,000 species of plants & 1,00,000 other species.
6) The fierce DINOSAUR was TYRANNOSAURS which has sixty long & sharp
teeth, used to attack & eat other dinosaurs.
7) DEMETRIO was a mammal like REPTILE with a snail on its back. This acted as a radiator to cool the body of the animal.
8) CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRD, that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger like claw.
9) The SWAN has over 25,000 feathers in its body.
10) OSTRICH eats pebbles to help digestion by grinding up the ingested food.
11) POLAR BEAR can look clumsy & slow but during chase on ice, can reach 25 miles / hr of speed.
12) KIWIS are the only birds, which hunt by sense of smell.
13) ELEPHANT teeth can weigh as much as 9 pounds.
14) OWL is the only bird, which can rotate its head to 270 degrees.
What are They :
1) If we say 'MUMMY', they come together & go apart when we say DADDY':
LIPS
2) What goes up & never comes down:
AGE
3) Patches over patches but no stitches:
CABBAGE
4) What is that we cannot see, but is always before you:
FUTURE
5) What goes up & down a hill, but never moves:
ROAD
6) You can never wet it:
SHADOW
7) What belongs to You, but used by your friends more often you do:
YOUR NAME
In 24 Hours Average Human:
1) HEART beats 1,03,689 times.
2) LUNGS respire 23,045 times.
3) BLOOD flows 16,80,000 miles.
4) NAILS grow 0.00007 inches
5) HAIR grows 0.01715 inches
6) Take 2.9 pounds WATER (including all liquids)
7) Take of 3.25 pounds FOOD.
8) Breathe 438 cubic feet AIR.
9) Lose 85.60, BODY TEMPERATURE.
10) Produce 1.43 pints SWEAT.
11) Speak 4,800 WORDS.
12) During SLEEP move 25.4 times
World’s First Digital Camera (1975): Created by Kodak's engineer Steve Sasson
1.jpg 15.19K 132 downloads
In December 1975, Kodak engineer Steve Sasson invented something that would, decades later, revolutionize photography: the world’s first digital camera. It was the size of a toaster, and captured black and white images at a resolution of 100×100 - or 0.01 megapixels in today’s marketing terminology. The images were stored on cassette tape, taking 23 seconds to write. The camera uses an ADC from Motorola, a bog-standard (for the 1970s) lens from a Kodak movie camera, and a CCD chip from Fairchild Semiconductor - the same technology that digital cameras still use today. To playback the images, a special computer and tape reader setup (pictured below) was built, outputting the grainy images on a standard TV. It took a further 23 seconds to read each image from tape.
World’s First Digital Camera
World's First Motel (1925): Motel InnWorld's First Motel
2.jpg 21.66K 92 downloads
Motel Inn in San Luis Obispo, California, is the world’s first motel. It was built in 1925 by LA architect Arthur Heineman, who coined the term motel meaning "motor hotel." Motel Inn was originally called the Milestone Mo-Tel. Back then, one night stay was $1.25. Heineman couldn’t afford the trademark registration fee, so his competitors were able to use the word "motel." The motel is still in operation today.
World's First Album Cover (1938): Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart
3.jpg 42.67K 76 downloads
Before Alex Steinweiss, then a 23-year-old designer, invented album covers in 1938 for Columbia Records, albums were sold in plain brown wrappers. The album "Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart" was the very first album cover in the world.
World's First Novel (1007): Tale of Genji
4.jpg 33.75K 65 downloads
More than a thousand years ago, on 1007, a Japanese court lady put the finishing touches on what is considered the world's first novel. Spanning 75 years, more than 350 characters, and brimming with romantic poems, the "Tale of Genji" tells the story of an emperor's son, his quest for love, and the many women he meets along the way. It is attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu.
World's First Web Server and Web Site (1990): a NeXT computer at CERN
5.jpg 18.46K 72 downloads
Info.cern.ch was the address of the world's first-ever web site and web server, running on a NeXT computer at CERN. The first web page address was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html, made by Tim Berners-Lee.
World's First Motorcycle (1885): Daimler's "riding car"
6.jpg 26.59K 72 downloads
The First Motorcycle was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt (Stuttgart) in 1885. It was essentially a motorised bicycle, although the inventors called their invention the Reitwagen ("riding car"). It was also the first petroleum-powered vehicle.
World's First X-Ray (1895): Röntgen's wife hand
7.jpg 19.81K 61 downloads
In 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, professor of physics the University of Wurburg in Germany, was doing experiments with electrical discharges in evacuated glass tubes. Late in 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen was alone at night doing his experiments, this time in the dark and noticed a glow was produced on the wall, which he knew was not caused by fluorescence or visible light. He named these new, unidentified rays 'X' or if you prefer; X-rays. After several months of playing with his discovery he noticed that objects place in the path of the rays cast shadows and created images on the wall. Soon after he used a photgraphic plate and had his wife, Frau Röntgen, place her hand in the path of the X-rays, creating the world's first X-ray picture. In 1901 Wilhelm Röntgen was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery.
World's First Computer Mouse (1964): by Douglas Engelbart
8.jpg 43.25K 77 downloads
The world's first computer mouse was made by Douglas Engelbart in 1964, it consisted of two gear-wheels positioned perpendicular to each other -- allowing movement on one axis. Ergonomic shape, great button placement -- and it's made of wood.
World's First Skyscraper (1885): Home Insurance Building in Chicago
9.jpg 52.81K 69 downloads
Considered to be the first skyscraper in the world due to the building's unique architecture and unique weight bearing frame, the Home Insurance Building was built in 1885 in Chicago, Illinois and demolished in 1931 to make way for the Field Building (now the LaSalle National Bank Building). It was the first building to use structural steel in its frame, but the majority of its structure was composed of cast and wrought iron. It was the first tall building to be supported, both inside and outside, by a fireproof metal frame. It had 10 stories and rose to a height of 138 feet (42 m) high.
World's First Concept Car (1938): Buick Y-Job
10.jpg 21.82K 67 downloads
Designed in 1938 by the famous General Motors designer Harley Earl, the Buick Y-Job is considered by most to be the first concept car. The car had power-operated hidden headlamps, "gunsight" hood ornament, wraparound bumpers, flush door handles, and prefigured styling cues used by Buick until the 1950s.
World's First MP3 Player (1998): MPMan 32MB
11.jpg 9.76K 68 downloads
Released in 1998, the Eiger Labs MPMan was the world's first MP3 player, boasting 32MB of internal memory -- expandable to 64MB. Available in F10 or F20 models, the latter boasting SmartMedia compatibility, this player set you back a mere $69 + shipping. It measures a slim 91 x 70 x 16.5 mm.]
World's First Crossword (1913): Arthur Wynne's Invention
12.jpg 38.73K 66 downloads
In 1913, Arthur Wynne had the job of devising the weekly puzzle page for Fun, the eight-page comic section of the New York World, a major newspaper of the time. When he devised what he called a Word-cross for the Christmas edition, published on 21 December, he could have no idea that he would be starting a worldwide craze.
World's First Microprocessor (1971): Intel 4004
13.jpg 21.19K 68 downloads
In November, 1971, a company called Intel publicly introduced the world's first single chip microprocessor, the Intel 4004 (U.S. Patent #3,821,715), invented by Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Stan Mazor. After the invention of integrated circuits revolutionized computer design, the only place to go was down -- in size that is. The Intel 4004 chip took the integrated circuit down one step further by placing all the parts that made a computer think (i.e. central processing unit, memory, input and output controls) on one small chip. Programming intelligence into inanimate objects had now become possible.
World's First Magazine (1731): The Gentleman's Magazine
14.jpg 114.8K 69 downloads
The Gentleman's Magazine, first published in 1731, in London, is considered to have been the first magazine. Edward Cave, who edited The Gentleman's Magazine under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term "magazine", on the analogy of a military storehouse of varied materiel, originally derived from the Arabic makazin "storehouses". It ceased publication in September, 1907.
World's First Photograph (1826): "View from the Window at Le Gras"
15.jpg 31.65K 93 downloads
Centuries of advances in chemistry and optics, including the invention of the camera obscura, set the stage for the world’s first photograph. In 1826, French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, took that photograph, titled View from the Window at Le Gras at his family’s country home. Niépce produced his photo—a view of a courtyard and outbuildings seen from the house’s upstairs window—by exposing a bitumen-coated plate in a camera obscura for several hours on his windowsill.
1.jpg 15.19K 132 downloadsIn December 1975, Kodak engineer Steve Sasson invented something that would, decades later, revolutionize photography: the world’s first digital camera. It was the size of a toaster, and captured black and white images at a resolution of 100×100 - or 0.01 megapixels in today’s marketing terminology. The images were stored on cassette tape, taking 23 seconds to write. The camera uses an ADC from Motorola, a bog-standard (for the 1970s) lens from a Kodak movie camera, and a CCD chip from Fairchild Semiconductor - the same technology that digital cameras still use today. To playback the images, a special computer and tape reader setup (pictured below) was built, outputting the grainy images on a standard TV. It took a further 23 seconds to read each image from tape.
World’s First Digital Camera
World's First Motel (1925): Motel InnWorld's First Motel
2.jpg 21.66K 92 downloadsMotel Inn in San Luis Obispo, California, is the world’s first motel. It was built in 1925 by LA architect Arthur Heineman, who coined the term motel meaning "motor hotel." Motel Inn was originally called the Milestone Mo-Tel. Back then, one night stay was $1.25. Heineman couldn’t afford the trademark registration fee, so his competitors were able to use the word "motel." The motel is still in operation today.
World's First Album Cover (1938): Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart
3.jpg 42.67K 76 downloadsBefore Alex Steinweiss, then a 23-year-old designer, invented album covers in 1938 for Columbia Records, albums were sold in plain brown wrappers. The album "Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart" was the very first album cover in the world.
World's First Novel (1007): Tale of Genji
4.jpg 33.75K 65 downloadsMore than a thousand years ago, on 1007, a Japanese court lady put the finishing touches on what is considered the world's first novel. Spanning 75 years, more than 350 characters, and brimming with romantic poems, the "Tale of Genji" tells the story of an emperor's son, his quest for love, and the many women he meets along the way. It is attributed to the Japanese noblewoman Murasaki Shikibu.
World's First Web Server and Web Site (1990): a NeXT computer at CERN
5.jpg 18.46K 72 downloadsInfo.cern.ch was the address of the world's first-ever web site and web server, running on a NeXT computer at CERN. The first web page address was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html, made by Tim Berners-Lee.
World's First Motorcycle (1885): Daimler's "riding car"
6.jpg 26.59K 72 downloadsThe First Motorcycle was designed and built by the German inventors Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach in Bad Cannstatt (Stuttgart) in 1885. It was essentially a motorised bicycle, although the inventors called their invention the Reitwagen ("riding car"). It was also the first petroleum-powered vehicle.
World's First X-Ray (1895): Röntgen's wife hand
7.jpg 19.81K 61 downloadsIn 1895 Wilhelm Conrad Röntgen, professor of physics the University of Wurburg in Germany, was doing experiments with electrical discharges in evacuated glass tubes. Late in 1895 Wilhelm Röntgen was alone at night doing his experiments, this time in the dark and noticed a glow was produced on the wall, which he knew was not caused by fluorescence or visible light. He named these new, unidentified rays 'X' or if you prefer; X-rays. After several months of playing with his discovery he noticed that objects place in the path of the rays cast shadows and created images on the wall. Soon after he used a photgraphic plate and had his wife, Frau Röntgen, place her hand in the path of the X-rays, creating the world's first X-ray picture. In 1901 Wilhelm Röntgen was awarded the very first Nobel Prize in Physics for this discovery.
World's First Computer Mouse (1964): by Douglas Engelbart
8.jpg 43.25K 77 downloadsThe world's first computer mouse was made by Douglas Engelbart in 1964, it consisted of two gear-wheels positioned perpendicular to each other -- allowing movement on one axis. Ergonomic shape, great button placement -- and it's made of wood.
World's First Skyscraper (1885): Home Insurance Building in Chicago
9.jpg 52.81K 69 downloadsConsidered to be the first skyscraper in the world due to the building's unique architecture and unique weight bearing frame, the Home Insurance Building was built in 1885 in Chicago, Illinois and demolished in 1931 to make way for the Field Building (now the LaSalle National Bank Building). It was the first building to use structural steel in its frame, but the majority of its structure was composed of cast and wrought iron. It was the first tall building to be supported, both inside and outside, by a fireproof metal frame. It had 10 stories and rose to a height of 138 feet (42 m) high.
World's First Concept Car (1938): Buick Y-Job
10.jpg 21.82K 67 downloadsDesigned in 1938 by the famous General Motors designer Harley Earl, the Buick Y-Job is considered by most to be the first concept car. The car had power-operated hidden headlamps, "gunsight" hood ornament, wraparound bumpers, flush door handles, and prefigured styling cues used by Buick until the 1950s.
World's First MP3 Player (1998): MPMan 32MB
11.jpg 9.76K 68 downloadsReleased in 1998, the Eiger Labs MPMan was the world's first MP3 player, boasting 32MB of internal memory -- expandable to 64MB. Available in F10 or F20 models, the latter boasting SmartMedia compatibility, this player set you back a mere $69 + shipping. It measures a slim 91 x 70 x 16.5 mm.]
World's First Crossword (1913): Arthur Wynne's Invention
12.jpg 38.73K 66 downloadsIn 1913, Arthur Wynne had the job of devising the weekly puzzle page for Fun, the eight-page comic section of the New York World, a major newspaper of the time. When he devised what he called a Word-cross for the Christmas edition, published on 21 December, he could have no idea that he would be starting a worldwide craze.
World's First Microprocessor (1971): Intel 4004
13.jpg 21.19K 68 downloadsIn November, 1971, a company called Intel publicly introduced the world's first single chip microprocessor, the Intel 4004 (U.S. Patent #3,821,715), invented by Intel engineers Federico Faggin, Ted Hoff, and Stan Mazor. After the invention of integrated circuits revolutionized computer design, the only place to go was down -- in size that is. The Intel 4004 chip took the integrated circuit down one step further by placing all the parts that made a computer think (i.e. central processing unit, memory, input and output controls) on one small chip. Programming intelligence into inanimate objects had now become possible.
World's First Magazine (1731): The Gentleman's Magazine
14.jpg 114.8K 69 downloadsThe Gentleman's Magazine, first published in 1731, in London, is considered to have been the first magazine. Edward Cave, who edited The Gentleman's Magazine under the pen name "Sylvanus Urban", was the first to use the term "magazine", on the analogy of a military storehouse of varied materiel, originally derived from the Arabic makazin "storehouses". It ceased publication in September, 1907.
World's First Photograph (1826): "View from the Window at Le Gras"
15.jpg 31.65K 93 downloadsCenturies of advances in chemistry and optics, including the invention of the camera obscura, set the stage for the world’s first photograph. In 1826, French scientist Joseph Nicéphore Niépce, took that photograph, titled View from the Window at Le Gras at his family’s country home. Niépce produced his photo—a view of a courtyard and outbuildings seen from the house’s upstairs window—by exposing a bitumen-coated plate in a camera obscura for several hours on his windowsill.