Little Phoebe, banana eating, reindeer
December 12 is National Ding-a-Ling Day.
Absolutely pure gold is so soft that it can be molded with the hands.
Find out what's happening in Melrosefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
The United States government keeps its supply of silver at the US Military Academy at West Point , NY.
For two years, during the 1970's, Mattel marketed a doll called "Growing Up Skipper." Her breasts grew when her arm was turned.
Find out what's happening in Melrosefor free with the latest updates from Patch.
Although identified with Scotland, bagpipes are actually a very ancient instrument, introduced
into the British Isles by the Romans.
December 21 is National Crossword Puzzle Day.
In the game of craps, the slang term "Little Phoebe" refers to a roll of 5 on the dice.
Left-handed people are better at sports that require good spatial judgement and fast reaction, compared to right-handed people.
No high jumper has ever been able to stay off the ground for more than one second.
A pro volleyball player can spike the ball at 80 miles an hour.
December 24 is National Egg Nog Day.
Mait Lepik won the first banana-eating championship in Estonia in 1997 by eating ten bananas in three minutes. His secret was to save time by eating the skins as well. The world record for most bananas eaten in one hour is eighty-one.
In 1995, Emir Sultan ibn Mohammed ibn Saud al-Kebir gave $500,000 in prize money to Saudi Arabia's first beauty contest for camels, called "Miss Dromedary." Saudi Arabia also led the world in opening the first commercial dromedary dairy in Riyadh in 1986 selling camel milk at $2.30 a liter. One potential bonus from camel's milk is that cream made from it is supposedly one of the best ways to get rid of fleas. Just smear the milk on anyone else and the fleas will desert you for him or her. There's nothing a flea likes as much as camel's milk.
The Koala bear gets its name from from an Aborigine word meaning "no drink" because it gets all the moisture it needs from Eucalyptus leaves.
In 2001, the German Postal Service instituted training courses to teach dog psychology to postmen. This as in response to figures showing that every year in Germany over 3,000 postmen are bitten by dogs , resulting in 2,255 pairs of torn trousers, 12, 720 lost working days, $15 million of medical bills and 755 hospital stays.
December 27 is Make Cut Out Snowflakes Day.
Reindeer are prominent in our holiday music and images. They pull Santa's sleigh, have red noses, have names and fly. In North America reindeer are also called caribou. Their noses are specially designed to warm the air before it gets to their lungs. Reindeer hooves expand in the summer when the ground is soft and shrink in winter when ground is hard. Some sub-species have knees that make a clicking noise when they walk so the animals stay together in a blizzard. The name reindeer is of Norse origin ( from the old Norse word "hreinn" for deer) and nothing to do with the reins of the sled. The name "caribou" comes to us through the French, the Mi'kmag "galipu" meaning "snow shoveler".
Sources: www.corsinet.com/trivia, www.alltrivia.net; www.holidayinsights.com; encyclopedia of useless information by William Hartston; blog.nwf.org/2010/
