The city of London, the capital of the United Kingdom, was founded by the Romans under the name Londinium.
Emperor Justinian bribed two Persian monks who were living in China to smuggle silkworm eggs to him in hallow bamboo canes. Thus, Constantinople began silk production around 550 AD. All the silk-producing caterpillars in Europe are descendants of these worms.
Rubik’s Cube®
A Hungarian by the name of Erno Rubik invented the Cube in the spring of 1974. He created it as a working model to help explain three-dimensional geometry, and this led to the creation of the world’s best-selling toy.
It’s hip to be square…at the peak of the Rubik’s cube craze, an estimated one-fifth of the world’s population had played the Cube.
Rubikcubism is an avant-garde artistic movement in which Rubik’s cubes are used as a medium to create art.
In May 2007, Thibaut Jacquinot of France became the first person to complete the Cube in less than 10 seconds in open competition. Erik Akkersdijk set the current world record for a single solve at the 2008 Czech Open with a time of 7.08 seconds.
In 1981, a seven-year-old Norwegian boy named Lars-Erik Anderson was one of the youngest Cube solvers.
Initially, Rubik considered variations of a 2 × 2 × 2 in cube, but concluded that the simplest and most workable model was the 3 × 3 × 3 in cube.
Rugby
Rugby balls have always been oval. The boys at Rugby School use inflated pigs bladders for the balls, which are, by nature, oval in shape.
Until 1877, international rugby teams had 20 players on each side, as opposed to 15.
The very first match at Twickenham Stadium took place in 1909, a stadium that can hold 74,000 spectators.
The School House team of 1839 was the first team to adopt a uniform. All the players wore red velvet caps during matches, which were attended by the Dowager, Queen Adelaide. The cap was eventually adopted by rugby clubs, then by England and then other Unions as a symbolic embodiment of national and international achievement.
A match between Whitby and Corby was forced to end prematurely in 1989 because the Corby players were too drunk to continue. The referee called a halt to proceedings seven minutes into the second half with Corby already trailing 80-0.
S
Saffron
Saffron, the most expensive spice in the world, is the stamen of the saffron crocus flower. Each saffron crocus flower has 3 stigmas and about 80,000 flowers (240,000). The stigmas are needed to make one pound of saffron. By the time saffron gets to retail stores, it retails for $600 to $2000 per pound.
The ancient Assyrians used saffron for medicinal purposes while the Greeks and Romans used it to scent baths. The saturated burnt orange color made it a common dye as well.
In 1444, any merchant caught selling adulterated saffron in Bavaria was burned alive.
Cheap “saffron” is often a hack version made from safflower, turmeric, or marigold.
Stay clear of the Meadow saffron, a poisonous plant unrelated to saffron.
Sahara Desert
The Sahara is the second largest desert in the world (Antarctica is the first) and occupies approximately 10% of Africa. The total area is more than 3,500,000 square miles. Temperatures can reach up to 122°F (50°C).
In the summer of 2008, archaeologists discovered the remains of a tiny woman and two children who were laid to rest on a bed of flowers 5,000 years ago in the Sahara. Their skeletons were found in a cemetery and provided clues to two civilizations that lived there when the region was moist, green, and fertile.
Hot, hot, heat! The Marathon des Sables, also known as Marathon of the Sands, is a six-day, 151-mile endurance race across the Sahara Desert in Morocco. In 2007, the race claimed the life of a 49-year-old French runner, Bernard Juke, who was discovered in his tent. He died of a heart attack.
Nomads make up the majority of people living in the Sahara Desert. The first nomads came to the region after domestic animals were introduced in the Sahara 7,000 years ago. Researchers believe that sheep and goats were brought by the Caspian culture of northern Africa.
The last thing on one’s mind would be working up a sweat in the desert…or so we thought. Dune boarding is a novel activity growing in popularity among sports adventure enthusiasts. It adheres to the principles of snowboarding but instead of snow, one carves on sand.
Saints
St. Simeon was called Stylites, meaning “pillar-dweller.” He was a fifthcentury Syrian saint who spent the last thirty years of his life sitting on top of a pillar 70 ft high.
They’re always after me lucky charms! St. Patrick was not actually Irish but British—most likely from modern-day Wales. He was only in Ireland after being kidnapped by Irish raiders. Upon escaping and becoming a priest and a bishop, Patrick eventually returned to Ireland as a missionary. He was made the patron saint of Ireland because of his success in converting the Irish.
The seven deadly sins—anger, covetousness, envy, gluttony, lust, pride, and sloth—are not enumerated in the Bible; they were first set forth by St. Thomas Aquinas.
St. Adrian Nicomedia is the patron saint of arms dealers. He is commonly represented armed, with an anvil in his hands or at his feet.
St. Anthony the Abbot is the patron saint of both pig herders and skin diseases. He is often depicted with a pig because pork fat was used as a treatment for skin ailments.
Saliva
A mouth can produce 1 liter of saliva a day.
There is no flavor to food without saliva. In order for a person to taste food, chemicals from the food must first dissolve in saliva, which can then be detected by receptors on taste buds.
Human saliva is 99.5% water while the remaining composition is comprised of electrolytes, mucus, antibacterial compounds, and various enzymes.
The dander zone…the cat allergy is caused by the protein in the cat’s saliva. When a cat grooms itself, it deposits this protein onto its fur, and the protein then may be transferred to upholstery and carpets.
Rabies is transmitted when the virus is present in the saliva of an infected animal and penetrates the skin through a bite.
Salmon
A female spring Chinook salmon can carry more than 4,000 eggs.
The oldest salmon fossil found is 50 million years old.
Salmon do not eat any food during the time they swim upstream to spawn.
The longest known trip ever taken by a salmon was a Chinook salmon that traveled 3,845 km (2,389 miles) upstream to spawn.
When salmon are swimming upstream, they can jump two yards into the air.
Salt
Salt is composed of two poisons: sodium and chlorine.
Adding a little salt to a grapefruit reduces the acidity and makes the grapefruit taste sweeter.
The City of Salt is an underground city in Wieliczka, Poland, carved completely out of solid salt. Beneath Wieliczka is one of the world’s largest salt mines, which, until recently, had been producing salt since medieval times. The mines span seven levels, the deepest of which is 1,000 ft below the surface. They also contain about 75 miles of passageways and chambers, plus 16 lakes.
In the U.S., only 6% of the salt used is for food; another 17% is used for de-icing streets and highways in the winter months.
In the early 19th century, salt was four times more expensive than beef on the frontier.
Salt lowers the temperature at which water freezes and melts. Pure water freezes and melts at 0°C. However, adding salt to water will lower its freezing point. A water with extreme salinity (such as the very salty lake waters at Death Valley, CA) may freeze and melt at temperatures as low as -20 to –30°C. This is why it is added to icy roads in order to melt the ice.
During the Roman Empire, Roman soldiers were issued salt, or, alternatively, a sum of money to buy salt, a salarium, from which the word “salary” is derived.
San Francisco
When the first mayor announced San Francisco as the new name of his town, only 469 residents lived t
here including Ohlone Indians, Americans, Spanish Californians, Hawaiians, Europeans, South Americans, and New Zealanders.
Some landmark films shot in San Francisco include The Maltese Falcon, Vertigo, The Birds, and The Graduate.
Blue note…denim jeans were invented in San Francisco for the Gold Rush. Miners were in need of durable, comfortable clothing.
“I Left My Heart In San Francisco” was written in 1954 by the gay couple, Douglass Cross and George Cory, though it was Tony Bennett’s version in 1962 which made the song famous.
Fortune cookies were invented in San Fran! The Japanese Hagiwara family invented “Chinese” fortune cookies at Chinatown’s Ross Alley fortune cookie factory to be served at Golden Gate Park’s Tea Garden.
Alcatraz is the Spanish word for “pelican.”
Santa Claus
The original Saint Nicholas of Myria was the patron saint of thieves.
Santa Claus’s workshop was first depicted by the cartoonist Thomas Nast in 1866.
Santa Claus goes by several aliases depending on where he is in the world. In China, he’s known as “Shengdan Laoren;” in the UK, “Father Christmas;” in France as “Pere Noel;” and in some Latin countries, he is called “El Niesus” or “Papa Noel.” During the Communist years of Russia, he was hailed as “Father Frost.”
In some countries, including Germany, it is said that the Baby Jesus is the bearer of gifts, not Santa.
The Canadian Postal System has an official address for Santa Claus where children can write to Santa and receive a response, no matter what language you speak or what country you are from. This address is: Santa Claus, North Pole, Canada HOH OHO.
Seafood
The giant clam of the South Seas, also known as tridacna gigas, can make one hundred gallons of chowder. It can reach giant lengths of over 4 ft and weigh in excess of 500 lbs.
The Japanese spider crab, Macrocheira kaempferi, is the largest known arthropod. Fully grown, it can boast a 13 ft leg span, a body size of up to 15 in, and a weight of up to 44 lbs. It is believed to have a life expectancy of up to 100 years and tastes incredible with butter.
Lobsters actually come in an array of colors—blue, light yellow, greenish-brown, gray, dusty orange, calico, and some even have spots. Despite its original coloring, a lobster always turns red when cooked.
An average oyster filters over 50 gallons of water each day by sucking it in and spitting it back out again. This action allows the oyster to gather food particles from the water while filtering out things like gold, mercury, arsenic, and lead.
The scallop is a hermaphrodite. The shell contains both the female and the male gonad, but it is quite normal for the hermaphrodite scallop to fertilize with other scallops.
Sex
Beauty marks were originally used to cover scars left by a 17th century smallpox epidemic. As the epidemic subsided, women continued to use beauty marks to acknowledge courtiers. A mark near the mouth beckoned a willingness to flirt whereas one on the right cheek signified she was already married. One on the left cheek indicated engagement and one near the corner of the eye gave the green light to a red-hot night.
On a high note…around 2,300 BC, the ancient Sumerians used one of the earliest forms of contraceptives. Balls of opium were inserted into the vagina and not only would it protect them from impregnation, but it got them high as well.
In Greek mythology, Priapus was the god of fertility and male genitilia. He was best known for his huge, permanently erect penis, which gave rise to the medical term “priapism,” a painful condition where the erect penis does not return to its normal state within four hours.
The 1933 film Ecstasy, starring Hedy Lamarr, was the first film to show a woman/couple having an orgasm during sex.
52% of Icelanders own a vibrator.
In Japan, the age of consent is 13.
In a recent US study, 29% of American men report having 15 or more female sexual partners in a lifetime. Only 9% percent of women report having sex with 15 or more men.
The Sex Pistols
The group only released just one studio album in the short span of their career. The remaining seven were a combination of live albums, compilations, and a movie soundtrack.
The group was so controversial that band members and fans became victims of physical attacks.
The band was first known as “The Strand,” then “The Swankers” before it evolved to The Sex Pistols.
In the film Sid and Nancy, Gary Oldman lost so much weight to play Sid Vicious that he ended up hospitalized.
John Lydon—more commonly known as Johnny Rotten—appeared as a defendant on Judge Judy in 1997. A former tour/session drummer Robert Williams filed a suit against Lydon for $5,000 in unpaid fees and civil battery. The case was dismissed.
The remaining members of the punk band refused to attend their own induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, claiming in a handwritten note that the institution was “urine in wine.”
Silk
5,500 silkworms are needed to produce 2.2 lbs (1 kg) of raw silk.
Silk are the fibers that silkworms produce to make their cocoons. Silkworms are not actually worms but silk-producing larvae or caterpillars that belong to several species of moths.
The silk-making process was invented by the Chinese thousands of years ago. They produce approximately half of the silk made in the entire world.
The fluffy white cocoon spun by a silkworm is one long continuous silk filament that when unwound can span as long as 1,600 yards.
The finest silk comes from the silkworms produced by the Bombyx mori moth, which cannot fly or see. One moth will lay approximately 500 eggs over a 4-6 day period and dies shortly thereafter. These eggs are very tiny, about as big as the point of a pin.
It takes silk from more than 2,000 cocoons to produce a single kimono.
Singapore
The U.S. is 15,000 times larger than Singapore, which is one of the 20 smallest countries in the world. The total land area of the country is only 682.7 square kilometers.
Is it a small world after all? Next to Monaco, Singapore is the most densely populated country in the world. There are 6,430 people per square kilometer.
“Singlish” is a regional Singaporean language, which combines English with the odd phrase of Chinese, Malay, and even Tamil.
Singaporeans give birth more in October than any other month of the year.
Jurong Bird Park is the world’s highest man-made waterfall, standing at 30 meters.
Skin
A square inch of skin on the human hand has 72 feet of nerves.
An average person’s skin weighs twice as much as his brain.
A person has shed 40 lbs of skin by the age of 70.
The skin can release as much as three gallons of sweat a day in hot weather.
70% of the dust in a home consists of shed human skin.
Sky
In 1867, scientist John Tyndall first discovered why the sky is blue. When a flashlight is shone through clean filtered air, the beam cannot be seen. With normal air, it can. He concluded that one sees the light beams because the air is full of particles that disperse the light. Because the microscopic dust particles floating in the air scatter blue light more than red and yellow, the sky looks blue.
The Utterly, Completely, and Totally Useless Fact-O-Pedia Page 16