In the spirit of the Holidays!

In the spirit of the holidays, here are some fun holiday facts:

*It is believed the Druids lit fires on Halloween (just like how we light candles inside pumpkins) to ward off evil spirits.

*The tradition of bobbing for apples and lighting candles inside pumpkins came from the Romans.

*In 1995, 35 million heart-shaped boxes of chocolate were sold for Valentine's Day.

*The world record for the most people kissed is held by Alfred Wolfram of Minnesota who kissed 11,030 people in 8 hours, at a festival in 1998.

*Wedding rings are worn on the fourth finger of your left hand because people used to believe that the vein in this finger goes directly to your heart.

*In Germany there are many different characters for Christmas. Nikolaus comes on December 5th and on December 24th when the actual opening of the gifts is happening ,they have been brought either by Knecht Ruprecht, Weihnachtsmann, or the Christkindl, (Christ child) wich is an angelic child dressed in a white and or golden dress much like a long nightgown. It has wings, and has usually a small horse or a donkey as a companion.

*In Yemen, children went from house to house, tins in hand, to collect wicks for the Chanukah Menorah.

*In Germany, the eighth and last night of Chanukah used to be very special. All the leftover wicks and oil were lit in giant bonfires. People sang songs and danced around the fire, often until the small hours of the night.

*"Silent Night" was first sung as part of a church service in Austria. A guitar was used because the church organ was so badly rusted it couldn't be played.

*Guatemalan adults do not exchange Christmas gifts until New Year's Day. Children get theirs (from the Christ Child) on Christmas morning.

*When distributing gifts in Holland, St. Nicholas is accompanied his servant, Black , who is responsible for actually dropping the presents down their recipients' chimneys He also punishes bad children by putting them in a bag and carrying them away to Spain.

*The popular Christmas song "Jingle Bells" was actually written for Thanksgiving. The song was composed in 1857 by James Pierpont, and was originally called "One Horse Open Sleigh".
Artificial Christmas trees have outsold real ones since 1991.

*Christmas has different meanings around the world; Christmas Eve in Japan is a good day to eat fried chicken and strawberry shortcake.

*Many of the traditions associated with Christmas (giving gifts, lighting a Yule log, singing carols, decorating an evergreen) date back to older religions.

*In 1647, the English parliament passed a law made Christmas illegal. The Puritan leader Oliver Cromwell, who considered feasting and revelry on what was supposed to be a holy day to be immoral, banned the Christmas festivities. The ban was lifted only when Cromwell lost power in 1660.

Fastinating Facts

• A duck's quake, doesn't echo. ( No one knows why this is)
  


• On Average, 100 people choke on ballpoint pens every year. ( This has taught me not to chew on ballpoint pens.. ever.)
  


• On average, people are more afraid of spiders than death.
  


• A snail can sleep for 3 years. ( I didn't even know snails slept!)
  


• Our eyes are always the same from birth, but our nose and ears keep growing.
  


• Typewriter, is the longest word that can be made using the letters only on one row of the keyboard.
  


• Butterflies taste with their feet.
  


• 90% of New York cabbies are recently arrived immigrants.
  


• 35 % of people that use personal ads for dating, are already married.

Strange Facts

• Every year, kids in North America spend close to half a billion dollars on chewing gum!
  


• One gallon of used motor oil can ruin approximately one million gallons of fresh water!
  


• Most dust particles in your house are made from dead skin! (Ew that's disgusting!)
  


• Men are 6 times more likely to be struck by lightning than women! (Sorry men, that's quite unfortunate)
  


• A toothpick is the object most often choked on by Americans! (Who would have known!)
  


• Some ribbon worms will eat themselves if they cant find any food! ( But then if they eat themselves, wouldn't they be dead? So in the end, is it worth it?)
  


• The average American/Canadian drinks about 600 sodas a year!
  


• Over 10,000 birds a year die from smashing into windows! (Those poor birds, couldn't even see what was coming.)
  


• Human thigh bones are stronger than concrete.
  


• The average person has over 1,460 dreams a year!
  


• Camels have three eyelids to protect themselves from blowing sand!
  


• The electric chair was invented by a dentist! (That's odd.)

Different Random Facts

• There are no clocks in Las Vegas Casinos. ( This must be so that no one can be looking at the time and that way they spend more of their time at the casinos... smarrttt.)



• The Mona Lisa has no eyebrows. ( It was the style in the Renaissance to shave them off. Well the style has changed.. I don't think any person would shave their eyebrows.. unless it was a dare.)



• The most popular name in the world is Muhammad.



• Tablecloths were orginally meant to serve as towels to wipe your mouth and hands during the meal. (That doesn't sound like very good table manners to me.)



• In Iceland, tipping at a resturant is considered an insult!



• Forest fires move faster uphill then downhill. (So what exactly does this mean?)



• Most lipsticks contain fish scales. (This makes me think twice before wearing lipstick.)



• The first product to contain a barcode was Wrigley's gum!



• Porcupines actually float in water.



• "The quick brown fox jumps over a lazy dog". This sentence uses every letter of the alphabet!

Crime and Law

Did YOU know....

• In Cleveland, Ohio it's illegal to catch a mouse without a hunting license?
  


• Two-thirds of the world's executions occur in China? (Now what does that tell us about China?)
  


• Duelling is legal in Paraguay only if both parties are registered blood donors?
  


• You're 66 times more likely to be prosecuted in the USA as in France?
  


• In September 2004, a Minnesota state trooper issued a speeding ticket to a motorcyclist who was clocked at 205 mph? (That is an ubsurd speed for a motorcyclist. I can't believe he didn't crash or would have the courage to ride that fast anyway.)
  


• In Scotland, children as young as 8 can be guilty of crimes? (Now really what type of crimes could 8 year old's be commiting? Riding their bikes on the wrong side of the sidewalk?)
  


• Donald Duck comics were once banned from Finland because Donald doesn't wear pants? (He's a duck, ducks don't wear clothes anyways. Get Real...)
  


• Bubblegum is forbidden in Singapore? (Why would anyone ban Bubblegum! That's crazy!)
  


• Drunk drivers in Taiwan can choose their penalty? (Now does that really sound all that fair? I don't think so...)
  


• In ancient Egypt, killing a cat was a crime punishable by death? (Cats musts have been sacred to the ancient Egyptians)
  


• A person's chances of being mugged in London are much higher than in New York City?
  


• On average, each day about 20 banks are robbed in the world?

Unsual United States

Did you know that.....

• At the top of a skyscraper in New York, it is possible to see snow falling compared to the rain that people on the ground see. ( This is something that would be pretty exciting to experience!)
  


• The most popular trip activity to Americans is shopping.


• The only living coral reefs are in the Florida Keys.
  


• The state of Maryland has no natural lakes.
  


• George W. Bush and John Kerry are related. ( Hmmmm... interesting...)
  


• Alaska's state motto is "North to the Future".
  


• Al Gore and Tommy Lee Jones were roommates at Harvard.
  


• The first phonebook was published in New Haven, Connecticut with 50 names. It was only a page.
  


• American's throw away 44 Million newspapers a day. ( What a waste! If you don't want them don't get them!)
  


• The twin towers of the World Trade Center had 208 elevators.
  


• The average number of tornadoes each year is 800.
  


• New York was the first capital of the US.
  


• Maryland is home to 10 different kinds of bats. ( Never ever knew that!!!!)
  


• American's gamble more money each year than they spend on groceries. (I really don't think thats such a good thing.)

Animal Facts

*No two zebras have the same striped pattern. (Who would ever take the time to study zebra strips?)

*An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.


*Hummingbirds are the only birds that can fly backwards.


*The longest recorded life span of a tapeworm was 35 years!


*A cockroach can live up to nine days without it's head before it starves to death.


*The flea can jump up to 350 times its body length. For a human, that would be equivalent to jumping the length of a entire football field.


*The catfish has over 27,000 taste buds.


* A cat's urine glows under a black light. (I wonder who thought this one up)


* The female mite creates her own husband from scratch. She lays eggs that turn into adults without needing to be fertilised. The mother then copulates with her sons within three of four days of laying the eggs, after which the sons die rather quickly. ( Now what if this could happen with humans.. we could all create our ideal husbands!!! :)


* SNAILS have 14175 teeth laid along 135 rows on their tongue. ( Who has time to count these things out!?)

*Cats have over one hundred vocal sounds, while dogs only have about ten.

*A dog can hear sounds 250 yards away. ( If only we had ears like dogs.. oh the things we could hear... )

Did you know..

The total weight of all the worlds ants is more than the total weight of all the people?

Dolphins sleep with one eye open?

A grizzly bear give birth while in their winter sleep?