Fascinating Facts ~Page 20~

Death: It is impossible to commit suicide by holding one's breath. At worst, the person who tries this will eventually lose consciousness. The lungs will then start to breathe again automatically.

Babies and Birth: There are recorded cases of babies that have been delivered through the rectum. In rare instances, blockage of the mother's vaginal orifice may force an unborn child into the rectal area and the baby must be expelled through the anus. A nineteenth-century British doctor named Payne cited the case of a thirty-three-year-old woman who gave birth in this manner. Dr. Payne, seeing that the child was located near the rectum, anesthetized the mother and delivered the child by forceps with little hemorrhage and an easy removal of the placenta.

U.S. History: During the American revolution, more inhabitants of the American colonies fought for the British than for the Continental Army.

The Sea: The Pacific Ocean encloses an area larger than all the land surfaces of the earth put together.

Names: Muhammad is the most common name in the world.

Medicine: In 1374 at Aix-la-Chapelle during the siege of the Black Death, a thousand men, women, and children lost all control, joined hands, and danced in the streets, shrieking and maiming each other until they all died of wounds or fatigue.

Laws: American Native Indians do not have to pay tax on their land.

Animals: The frigate bird can fly at a speed of 260 miles per hour. The snail moves at a rate of 0.000362005 miles per hour. The fastest animal on four legs is the cheetah, which races 70 miles per hour over short distances and can accelerate to 45 miles per hour in two seconds. An elephant, despite its ponderous appearance, can do 25 miles per hour on an open stretch, and a charging rhino has been clocked at 30. The fastest of all fish in the sea is the swordfish, streaming forward at 68 miles per hours. Man's best speed in the water is 4.1 miles per hour; the maximum speed at which human being can run on land is 24 miles per hour.

War & Weapons: Karate, generally considered a Japanese martial art, did not come to Japan until 1916. Prior to this time it was practiced solely by the Okinawa islanders, who had developed it centuries earlier as a means of weaponless defense "against" the Japanese.

Language: What is called a "French kiss" in England and America is known as an "English kiss" in France.

Marriage & Divorce: It takes one day to get a divorce in the Dominican Republic.

Games & Hobbies: Modern playing cards were derived from the tarot fortune-telling deck. The original tarot was divided into two sections, the major arcane (dropped from the modern deck) and the minor arcane. The minor arcane was composed of four suits: cups, wands, coins, and swords. In the modern deck these became the hearts, clubs, diamonds, and spades. Similarly, the early tarot had kings, queens, and knights (jacks), plus a page who has been eliminated from contemporary decks.

Transportation & Travel: There is 1 mile of railroad track in Belgium for every 1 1/2 square miles of land.

Psychology: Studies done by the Psychology Department of DePauw University show that the principal reason people lie is to avoid punishment.

Manners & Customs: When ancient Egyptian priests held a banquet, a large mummy was often carried into the feast chamber and propped up at the table where all the priests could see it, a reminder that even while at pleasure, death was ever near.

Inventions: The first plastic ever invented was celluloid, which is still used to make billiard balls. It came into use in 1868, when cellulose nitrate was first combined with natural camphor in a laboratory. At the time it was regarded as a mere curiosity.

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