Random Facts

Hello, chickadees!

To make up for my long absence, here are twenty five random facts... one for each year that "O Canada" has been the national anthem... replacing 'The Maple Leaf Forever' and 'God Save theQueen' as the most widely recognized musical symbol of patriotism. (hee.. that was a bonus RF.. just cuz it's Canada Day, and I love you all!)

1. Money is not made out of paper: it’s made of cotton.
2. The Declaration of Independence was written on hemp paper.
3. The dot over the letter “i” is called a “tittle”
4. If you drop a raisin in a glass of fresh champagne will continuously bounce up and down from the bottom of the glass to the top.
5. 40% of McDonald’s profits come from the sales of Happy Meals.
6. 315 entries in Webster’s 1996 dictionary were misspelled.
7. The spot on 7Up comes from its inventor, who had red eyes. He was albino.
8. On average, 12 newborns are given to the wrong parents daily.
9. Chocolate affects a dog’s heart and nervous system; a few ounces can kill a small dog.
10. Orcas (killer whales) kill shark by torpedoing into the shark’s stomach from underneath, causing the shark to explode.
11. Most lipstick contains fish scales.
12. Donald Duck comics were banned in Finland because he doesn’t wear pants.
13. In the 1830s, ketchup was sold as medicine.
14. Upper and lower case letters are so named because when original print had to be set in individual letters, capital letters were stored in the top compartment of the case that also held the “lower case” letters.
15. Leonardo da Vinci could write with one hand while drawing with the other.
16. Due to the scarcity of metal during the Second World War, the Oscars given out during this period were made of wood.
17. There are no clocks in Las Vegas casinos.
18. It took da Vinci ten years to paint Mona Lisa’s lips.
19. A tiny amount of liquor on a scorpion will cause it to instantly go mad and sting itself to death. 20. If you are lying on your back and raising your legs slowly, you cannot sink in quicksand.
21. Celery has negative calories. Eating (chewing and digesting) a piece of celery burns more calories than the nutritional value of the celery provides you with.
22. Chewing gum while peeling onions will prevent you from crying.
23. The glue on Israeli postage stamps is certified kosher.
24. The Guinness Book fo Records holds the record for being the book most frequently stolen from public libraries.
25. Astronauts are not allowed to eat beans before they go into space because passing wind in a space suit can damage it.