Beyond Words

I’m getting weary on writing serious stuff so here are just some fun facts to think about on this Thursday:

• Each king on playing cards represents a real king in history:  Spades-King David, Clubs-Alexander the Great, Hearts-Charlemagne, and Diamonds-Cesar.
• Elephants are the only animals that can’t jump and they have no natural predators.
• Butterflies taste with their feet.
• Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.
• Multiplying 111,111,111 x 111,111,111 = 12,345,678,987,654,321.
• Thomas Edison was afraid of the dark.
• In every episode of Seinfeld there is a Superman somewhere.
• Months that begin on a Sunday will always have a “Friday the 13th.”
• If a star fish’s arm breaks off it grows a new one.
• The word “cemetery” comes from the Greek word “koimetirion,” which means dormitory.
• It is impossible to lick your elbow.
• A duck’s quack doesn’t echo, and no one knows why.

• A person can live without food for about a month, but only about a week without water.
• Giraffes have four stomachs and an octopus has three hearts.
• Why is a W called a double u and not a double v?
• Why are grades always A, B, C, D and F but never E?
• Earth is the only planet not named after a god.
• The fastest insect is the dragonfly, which can reach a speed of about 58 km per hour.
• When troops returned from civil war battles without any casualties, they would post “O Killed,” which later evolved into “O.K.” meaning all is good.
• The Civil War (or “The Battle between the States” as many in the south still call it) has more books written on then only one other subject:  Jesus.
• A statue with a soldier on a horse with two feet in the air means the soldier died in combat.  If the horse only has one foot in the air, the soldier died of injuries from combat.  If the horse has all four feet in the air the soldier died of natural causes.
• Skunks can accurately spray their smelly fluid as far as ten feet.
• Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
• Honey is the only food that does not spoil.
• There is a city called Rome on every continent.
• Hippos can easily outrun a human and are considered as one of the most dangerous animals around.
• All of Santa’s reindeer were female.  Males spend December without antlers.
• Pore patterns in human skin are as unique as fingerprints.
• Pill bugs/Roly-Polies are not insects and are cousins to lobsters.
• The roar of a lion can be heard from 5 miles away.
• Cheetahs can accelerate from 0 to 70 mph in just a few seconds and are the only big cats that don’t roar.
• Polar Bears skin and tongues are both black
• Birds are the only animals that have feathers but they have no teeth.
• Sharks and octopus don’t have bones.
• Of all the words in the English language, the word ’set’ has the most definitions.

And on that note, I’m now all set to set myself down with a set of snacks to see if all of these are dead set true or if they’re just a set of urban myths!   Ready, set, go!