Do You Know? Strange Facts – April 2021: Here’s the latest collection of weird and wonderful facts to win friends and influence people:
Chimpanzees and Sign Language
Finland is surprisingly the world’s happiest country according to the 2019 “World Happiness Report”.
A study revealed drinking more coffee may significantly reduce the risk of developing gallstones.
Florida was the first part of the continental USA to be visited by Europeans. Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León thereupon gave it its name, meaning “flowery land”.
Washoe, the chimpanzee, was the first non-human to learn American sign language. She also passed on her knowledge to other chimpanzees.
One pint of donated blood can save up to three lives.
The smell of chocolate generally increases theta brain waves, which triggers relaxation.
The English words “I”, “we”, “two”, and “three” are among the most ancient, dating back ten of thousands of years.
The longest common English word without vowels is “rhythms”.
A group of giraffes is called a tower (see main image).
Hot Dogs Not Hamburgers
The Spanish word “esposas” means “wives” and “handcuffs”.
McDonald’s first menu items were hot dogs, not hamburgers.
California is the birthplace of the film industry, hippie counterculture, the internet and the personal computer.
When babies are born, they have no bacteria in their bodies.
Elvis Presley didn’t write any of his songs.
Tap water has a shelf-life of six months, after which chlorine dissipates and bacteria starts to grow.
Your First Kiss at 15?
The average age in the UK for a first kiss is 15.
In 15 years of conquest, Alexander The Great markedly never lost a battle.
Al Pacino was the first “face” on Facebook.
“Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia” is specifically the fear of long words.
Ronaldinho’s deal with Coca-Cola ended following images emerging of him sipping a Pepsi in a news conference.
Shakira’s music teacher rejected her from the school choir on account of them thinking her vibrato was too strong and she sounded like a goat!
People develop their first impressions of you in one-tenth of a second.
When Montenegro became independent from Yugoslavia, its Internet domain name went from .yu to .me.
Boring, Oregon and Dull, Scotland have been sister cities since 2012. In 2017, they also added Bland Shire, Australia to their “League of Extraordinary Communities”.
A Parliament of… What?
All the pandas in zoos and wildlife parks around the world are on loan from China.
In Greek mythology, redheads turned into vampires when they died.
A group of owls is called a Parliament.
In the UK, all horses, ponies and donkeys must have an equine passport.
Flowers can grow more quickly by listening to music.
We hope you enjoyed reading “Strange Facts – April 2021“. Click here for more from our Do You Know? series.
