FastFacts
February 28, 2006
- Horse-racing regulations state that no race horse’s name may contain more than 18 letters because names that are too long would be cumbersome on racing sheets. Apostrophes, hyphens and spaces between words count as letters.
A male spider’s penis is located at the end of one of its legs.
The rickshaw was invented by an American. Rev. Jonathan Scobie, a Baptist minister living in Yokohama, Japan, built the first model in 1869 to transport his invalid wife through the city streets. Copies were made by the minister’s parishioners, and soon the rickshaw became a standard mode of transportation in the Orient.
A fireplace is called a “”mantelpiece”” because at one time, people hung their coats (or mantels) over the fireplace to dry them.
Cattle branding in the United States did not originate in the West. It began in Connecticut in the mid-19th century, when farmers were required by law to mark all their pigs.
John Bunyan, author of “”Pilgrim’s Progress,”” wrote most of his famous book while in jail. He was imprisoned for 12 years for preaching without a license.
Magical symbols drawn by Roman soldiers on shields to repel the evil eye became the basis for European heraldic designs during the Middle Ages.
Tibetans drink tea made of salt and rancid yak butter. Tibetan women carry a special instrument with metal blades for cleaning their ears and picking their nose.
According to the Population Council, people overwhelmingly tend to marry partners who live near them.
There is a disease called ichthyosis that turns the skin scaly like a fish.
Most precious gems are actually colorless. Their color comes from impurities in the stone that act as pigmenting agents.
Until the 20th century, dogs’ teeth were used as money by Solomon Island natives.
In 1939, Hollywood film companies produced an average of two motion pictures every day.
