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Showing posts from December, 2022

Fact 85: How many feet do snails have?

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Fact 85: How many feet do snails have? This is a very short fact because the answer is, one because they (the snail) moves on a muscle that works a bit like a foot and so that is there foot (that is also what the muscle is called) and they only have one. 

fact 84: How much would an adult Uk male weigh (hypothetically) with out a brain?

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fact 84: How much would an adult Uk male weigh (hypothetically) with out a brain? so lets just say hypothetically we removed a brain from an adult male how much would he weigh.  In order to work this out we first need to find out how much does an adult male brain from the uk weigh?  The answer is about 1.5 kg interestingly the average adult male (Uk) weighs about 85.4 kg. fact 84: How much would an adult Uk male weigh (hypothetically) with out a brain?  so lets just say hypothetically we did removed a brain from a Uk adult male how much would he weigh the answer is about 83.9 kg this is because 85.4 kg(the adult uk male) - 1.5kg (the adult uk male brain) = 83.9 kg

Fact 83: Where does Chicken Tikka Masala come from?

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Fact 83: Where does Chicken Tikka Masala come from? This answer surprised me, the answer is is Glasgow! This is the Glasgow in Scotland ( uk ) that is the home to where the Chicken Tikka Masala come from! 

Fact 82: What man-made artefact can be seen from the moon?

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Fact 82: What man-made artefact can be seen from the moon? This answer may surprise you especially if you thought it was The Great Wall of China because the truth is you can't even make out individual countries so there is noway you could make any man-made artefact or buildings from the moon. This is because the moon is very far-away so no man-made artefacts are visible at this scale! So the next time someone tells you that you can see The Great Wall Of China you can helpfully tell them they are wrong. National Geographic: "An artifact is an object made by a human being."

Fact 81: What was Horatio Nelson last words?

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Fact 81: What was Horatio Nelson last words? Horatio Nelson was born on 29 September 1758 and died on 21 October 1805 (aged only 47). Horatio Nelson is buried inside St Paul's Cathedral. People original thought Horatio Nelson final last words were "Kiss me Hardy" (now we do actually know that he said this however Horatio Nelson said something else just before he actually died and this was what he said "Drink,  drink. Fan, fan. Rub rub." Now, I will break this down for you, basically Nelson was asking for a drink (lemonade and watered down wine) he was asking his steward to fan him and he was asking Dr Scott, to massage his chest to ease the pain. 

Fact 80: On what eye did Horatio Nelson wear an eye patch?

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Fact 80: On what eye did Horatio Nelson wear an eye patch?  Horatio Nelson was born on 29 September 1758and died on 21 October 1805 (aged only 47). Horatio Nelson is buried inside St Paul's Cathedral. Horatio Nelson never wore an eye patch. There are conflicting debates by why he didn't some say Nelson was hiding his blindness and, others saw he could probably see a little bit in his right eye (the one thatwas injured). Horatio Nelson did however wear an eye-shade on his hat to protect his left eye from sun.  The idea that he wear an eye patch was only started after his death because it was well known at that point he has blind so people started drawing him with eye patches do made him seem more heroic and brave people to this day will look up and Nelson's column and claim they can see his eye patch on his right eye those people normally trying to sound clever because to be honest you can't really make out any distinctive detail on the statue.

fact 79: Who invented the christmas cracker in England?

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fact 79: who invented the Christmas cracker in England? The first Christmas cracker was invented by Tom Smith. Tom Smith born on 18 October 1823 an died on 13 March 1869. Tom Smith's shop was set up in the 1840s, Tom Smith first started mainly making wedding cakes, and then he went to Paris!    Tom Smith first got the idea when he saw a  sweet that was invented in France by sweet makers (confectioners) it was basically a chocolate-covered sugared almond wrapped in tissue paper this was called a bon bon. Thomas Smith saw one of these when he went to France (Paris) and decided to do the same thing in 1847 because he was a Baker and confectionery shop in London Goswell Road, Clerkenwell Road. The bon bon became very popular at Christmas.  Tom Smith added a little love moto inside the wrapper.   Unfortunately, I can't find any examples of the love mottos that were used.  Tom Smith did this to incentivize his customers to keep up year-round sales.  The sweet was later taken out in 1

Fact 78: How long did it take Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol?

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Fact 78: How long did it take Charles Dickens to write A Christmas Carol?  Charles Dickens was born on 7th February 1812 and  died on 9th June 1870. It literally took Charles Dickens only six weeks to write the whole of A Christmas Carol *novella* the is because Charles Dickens was having financial problems. Dickens almost certainly wrote the book on his hour long midnight walks around London because Dickens suffered from insomnia . The book was first published on December 19, 1843 by the London publishing company called Chapman & Hall. *a novella is longer than a short story however it is also shorter than a novel*

Fact 77: What happens to adult male reindeers antlers in winter?

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 Fact 77: What happens to adult male reindeers antlers in winter? First things first, antlers are large branches of bone however horns are often curved and pointy bone with a strong coating of keratin. human fingernails contain keratin more more specificall (just) the  nail plate is made of  keratin. The nail plat is the bit  in between the nail edge known as the free edge and the fingernail moon at the start of the fingernails this is known as the lunula, lunula is Latin for little moon.  Now back to the actual fact! Fact 77: What happens to adult male reindeers antlers in winter? The short answer is the male reindeers antlers fall off. This is the slightly longer version! In order for male reindeers to first start growing antlers they need to have enough testosterone for the antlers to fully grow. After their antler are fully grown they will be shedding in November and December (one or the other not both) and regrow in February as antler nubs (very small points on their heads). This

Fact 76: Can reindeers eat carrots?

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Fact 76: Can reindeers eat carrots? No is the short answer. The slightly longer version is no because reindeers don't have any incisor teeth on their upper jaw , incisor teeth.   Incisors teeth are the four front teeth humans have on both the upper and lower jaw these are used to bite into food because reindeers don't have any upper incisor teeth instead they have what is called a Dental pad this means they would struggle to bite into a carrot and reindeers would also struggle to digest a carrot. Carrots are also not apart of a reindeers natural diet. Reindeers can however eat Christmas trees, christmas trees are also a great source of enrichment.  This is according to Berlin Zoo (in Germany), reindeers and other animals including Elephants at Berlin Zoo are fed unsold Christmas trees.  Reindeers enjoy eat the christmas trees. Reindeers also enjoy play with the christmas trees by lifting the christmas tree with there antlers and throwing them on the ground. 

Fact 75: How many teeth do adult reindeers have?

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Fact 75: How many teeth do adult reindeers have? Adult Male and female reindeers  have a impressive 34 teeth. Male adult reindeers are called Male bulls and female adult reindeers are called cows.

Fact 74: When did It's a wonderful life premiere in usa and in the uk?

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Fact 74: When did It's a wonderful life premiere in usa and in the uk? The film was directed by Frank Capra (born: May 18, 1897 died:3 September 1991). The film was inspired by a short book called The Greatest Gift this was written by Philip Van Doren Stern ( born:10 September 1900 died:31 July 1984), who also self-published the book. The USA premiered the film, It's a wonderful life, on the 20th December 1946 (76 years ago today)! The film was later premiered in the uk surprisingly, it was premiered on the 6th April 1947 (London). 

Fact 73: who wrote T'was night before christmas?

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Fact 73: who wrote T'was night before christmas? The answer is Clement Clarke Moore (July 15 1779-July 10 1863) who Originally published the poem 23 December 1823 under the title A Visit from St. Nicholas. Also later published as  and T'was night before christmas also know as The Night Before Christmas.  However Clement Clarke Moore had originally written the poem for the enjoyment of his children for Christmas in 1822.  The poem A Visit from St. Nicholas was anonymously published in 1823 in aTroy newspaper. Clement Clarke Moore claimed authorship of A Visit from St. Nicholas in 1844. 

Fact 72: Do some reindeer have a red nose?

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Fact 72: Do some reindeer have a red nose? Now this answer will definitely surprise you, because I was flabbergasted (surprised) to know that the answer is sort of yes  Some reindeers noses  look/have a slightly dark redsh pinky tint because basically some,  however   not all   are actually visible,  this is as a result of reindeer having alot of blood vessels in their noses because blood plays a role in regulating body temperature . I have found out that the blood vessels help the reindeer smell and, that the blood vessels warm  the nose which also warms the brain (warm blood = warm brain because the warm blood goes to the brain). This is because all  the blood vessels in the nose creates thermal energy, 75°F (= 23.889°C)  and so the blood vessels are able to keep the brain and body warm by warming the cold air coming into the nose and cooling warm air coming out of the nose this keeps the body and brain warm which helps with smell (as well as other things like thinking, eating, mov

fact 71: How tall are adult male reindeer?

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fact 71: How tall are adult male reindeer? The Answer is 3.9 feet at shoulder height. The weight of an male adult reindeer ear is 250 kg to put this in to perspective, a Male alligator also weigh about 250 kg.

Fact 70: When was the first ginger bread person made?

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Fact 70: When was the first ginger bread person made? This answer may surprise you to know that the first and earliest ginger bread shaped people was made in England in the 16th-century. They were made for Queen Elizabeth I for her guests to enjoy, because Queen Elizabeth I had the ginger bread person, designed to look like the guest that the biscuit was intended for. Basically the guests had to eat something that looked slightly like them!  We don't entirely know  why ginger bread people are associated with Christmas however it is likely that because gingerbreads and ginger bread people, were originally considered a delicacy and only for special occasions it is not completely surprising that is just naturally probably got picked up as a Christmas tradition at some point (date unknown).

Fact 69: Has the river Thames ever frozen over?

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Fact 69: Has the river Thames ever frozen over? The short answer is yes basically between 1600-1814 the river froze over a multiple times however we don't exactly know how many times, however what we do know is that this was not unusual for the River Thames to freeze over for up to two months at a time in 1600-1814 . It was so cold it was nicknamed the, Little Ice Age.   

Fact 68: How big is the worlds Largest Christmas bauble hanging ornament?

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Fact 68: How big is the worlds Largest Christmas bauble hanging ornament? The bauble weighs 1,100 kg, to put this into perspective the average weight of an adult male in the uk in kg, is 85.4 kg.  1,100 kg - 85.4 kg = 1 014.6 kg so this bauble weighs 1 014.6 kilograms (one thousand fourteen and six tenths kg) more than the average male adult in the uk.  The actual hight is 4.68 m (15.35433 feet) it is or was hanging in The Dubai Mall. The Mall (shopping centre) was given the record in 2018 or it was published 2018 by the, Guinness World Records. In christmas 2021 the bauble was hanging up so there is a good chance it is in 2022, but I honestly don't know sorry. 

Fact 67: why are turkeys called turkeys? (the bird)

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Fact 67: why are turkeys called turkeys? This is slightly more complicated than I thought it would be so I will try and do my best! Basically the reason is because turkeys the thing we the British, eat at Christmas, looks like another bird, called guinea fowl, also called, (nicknamed) Turkey hen and, Turkeys cock (stop giggling it is not funny 😂).  Guinea fowl are actually from Africa however Britain came to call the guinea fowl the turkey-cock or turkey-hen because we got the guinea fowl from the Turks. So basically when the America's (then known as the New World) had a bird that looked slightly similar (if you close your eyes and forget what they both look like because personally I can't see much similarity). The British people decided to call it a Turkey because it looked slightly like the guinea fowl so Americans decided to call it the turkey as well. The wild Turkeys scientific name is Meleagris gallopavo the scientific name for a domestic Turkey is Meleagris gallopavo d

Fact 66: Why do we eat Turkey on Christmas Day in the uk?

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Fact 66: Why do we eat Turkey on Christmas Day in the uk? The reason is because Henry VIII (1491-1547) basically decided that Turkey should be a Christmas tradition. This is because the British Empire discovered America (the New World) and Turkeys are from America so Turkeys became popular because they were being shipped over from America to Britain for people to eat. The 16th-century farmer  and English poet Thomas Tusser (1524 – 3 May 1580) wrote down that by 1573 Turkeys were commonly served in England for Christmas dinner. Queen Victoria played a massive part in keeping the tradition of eating Turkeys at Christmas going to day by reopening training with America (USA) this made Turkeys more popular because there were again more of them. Edward VII also popularised eating Turkeys at Christmas dinner and made it fashionable.

Fact 65: Why are mince pies called mince pies?

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Fact 65: Why are mince pies called mince pies? The reason is because they originally were made with the mince meat being mutton (sheep), beef, rabbit, pork and game birds (turkeys, chickens, quail, pheasant etc) as mince because Mincemeat was originally the easiest ways to preserving meat. Mince pies date back to Middle Ages however they have changed alot. In 1413 King Henry V (5th) was served mince pie made with a bird mince, spices with boiled eggs and spices, which were rare, expensive  and extravagant ingredients for April 9 1413 (his coronation). Putting mince meat in mince pies was either faded out or just stopped sometime in the late victorian era. Today the mince pies is filled with a mixture of dried fruit such as currants, raisins and figs, this is mixed with fresh thinly chopped brambley apple and orange zest and lemon juice and spices, the spices are cinnamon, cloves, ginger and nutmeg with sugar this is called Mincemeat and used to fill mince pies. Mince pies recipe The w

Fact 64: What is the most common type of christmas tree in the uk?

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Fact 64: What is the most common type of christmas tree in the uk? The most common and popular tree to be used as a (cut) Christmas tree in homes in the uk is the Nordmann Fir (Abies nordmanniana). The Nordmann Fir is a very popular and commonly used tree because it last for around 5 weeks and looks like a Christmas tree should look like because the shape is pointy and the needles are dark green. The most popular sizes for a Nordmann Fir Christmas tree for a uk house is around 5foot or 6foot tall because they are much easier to decorate and fit easily in a room. It takes ten years for the Nordmann Fir tree to be 6 foot tall. 

Fact 63: How tall was the worlds tallest cut Christmas tree?

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Fact 63: How tall was the worlds tallest cut Christmas tree? I have checked this on the Guinness World Records website this is Reliable. The worlds tallest cut Christmas tree was 221 feet (67.36 m) this is according to the Guinness World Records it was a Douglas fir (Pseudotsga menziesii)  it stood at Northgate Shopping Center, Seattle, Washington, USA in December 1950 .  Wikipedia said it was the: "Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree." "The tree, usually a Norway spruce 69 to 100 feet (21–30 m) tall, has been a national tradition each year since 1933. The 2022 Christmas Tree Lighting took place on November 30, 2022, and the tree will remain on display until mid-January 2023." The Southern Living (magazine) said "New York City is no longer home to America's tallest Christmas tree. In 2021, that honor started to belong to Enid, Oklahoma, which is actually the world's tallest Christmas tree. At 140 feet, Enid's towering Christmas tree in 2021 stood 75 p

Fact 62: How many letters do the Royal Mail deliver around Christmas?

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Fact 62: How many letters do the Royal Mail deliver around Christmas? The Royal Mail roughly calculate that they deliver about 150 million cards each year at Christmas time. It is also roughly calculated that homes  on average send and receive between 16 and 17 cards at Christmas. 

fact 61: What is the most popular christmas songs?

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fact 61: What is the most popular christmas songs? The most popular christmas songs is: It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas by Michael Bublé from 2011 The second most popular christmas song is Last Christmas by Wham! (George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley) from  1984 This is all according to Googles list from today.

Fact 60: How much wrapping paper does Britain bin?

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Fact 60: How much wrapping paper does Britain bin? The Answer is approximately (about) 108 million rolls each year at Christmas. Britain also ues 40 million rolls of sticky tape each year at Christmas (I would imagine 40 million rolls is also the same amount that is bined). 

Fact 59: Which British Royal delivered the first Christmas speech broadcast?

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Fact 59: which British Royal delivered the first Christmas speech broadcast? This may surprise you to know, that the first British Royal (king or Queen) to deliver the christmas speech (broadcast) was King George V in 1932. (V is a roman numerals meaning 5)  Roman numerals fact: the Romans had no simple for zero because the Romans who created and used Roman numerals start counting from one ( I,II,III,IV,V... ) so didn’t need a symbol to represent zero. Interestingly the Roman numeral for 4 is IV because Jupiter in Latin is IVPPITER so they cut the front off and created a new number however the clocks were and are an exception because they were exemped by the  Roman Empire from writing or welding IV because putting the start of Jupiter's name upside down on a clock was considered a bad thing to do so on clocks 4 is written as IIII not IV.  The letter J wasn't invented until later infact William Shakespeare's play Romeo and Juliet was originally written as Romeo and Iuliet wi

Fact 58: What day do the Royal family open their Christmas presents on?

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Fact 58: What day do the Royal family open their Christmas presents on?   This may surprise you to know that the Royal family open their Christmas present on the 24th of December because it is a tradition introduced by Prince Albert (they also do it to honor Prince Albert) because he was German and opening presents on the 24th of December is a German tradition. This tradition only started in the Victorian era the Royal family started doing it in 1841(on the 24th December) soon after Prince Albert and Queen Victoria got married. 

Fact 57: Did Santa always wear red?

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Fact 57: Did Santa always wear red? This may surprise you to know that the suit used to be green and tanned and sometimes blue it changed to red with the help of coca cola. Now this is not completely true because st Nick (the person santer is based on / inspired by) wore red. St Nick was a real person and he was a bishop and bishops in the 3rd (the century St Nick is from) century wore red. There are paintings of him wearing red that predate green, blue and tan paintings. So yes it was involved in the marketing but they just popularised the old original colour of santa.  

Fact 56: Who brought the Christmas tree to England?

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Fact 56: Who brought the Christmas tree to England? A Lot of people think it is prince Albert (husband of Queen victoria) This is not the case as the royal family already had German connections and relatives.  However Prince Albert made them more popular and imported them to England to sell to people. The person who introduced christmas trees to the uk was queen Charlotte the queen consort of king George III (queen Charlotte was born and from Germany).

Fact 55: Was jingle bells originally a Christmas song?

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Fact 55: Was jingle bells originally a Christmas song? Jingle bells is a song written by James Lord Pierpont (an American songwriter). The song was written in 1822–1893 and published in autumn of 1857 originally for thanksgiving 27th day of October 1857 (the president was Ulysses S. Grant). The original title was” The One Horse Open Sleigh” (because it about a horse with an open (no roof) sleigh) this name was copyrighted on September 16th 1857 the name was changed by  in 1859 only 2 years later by Oliver Ditson who first published the song in 1857, in the Oliver Ditson and Company (a major music publishing company in america).