Fast Facts
March 31, 2006
- The ancient Greeks were the first to use bed springs. They fashioned them out of braided leather thongs and hung them between opposite sides of the bed.
In the early 15th century, scholars in China compiled an encyclopedia comprising 11,095 volumes.
During pregnancy, the uterus expands to 500 times its normal size.
The average woman’s thighs are 1 1/2 inches larger in circumference than the average man’s.
The month of July is named after Julius Caesar. The month of August is named after Augustus Caesar.
The famous goldfish-swallowing fad was started at Harvard University in 1938 by a student who downed a fish on a lark, and was then challenged to perform the same feat in public. Hundreds of students witnessed the performance, and the fad caught on. The first goldfish-swallowing record was set the following year by a student from Middlesex College, who downed 67 live goldfish. In 1967, the fad was revived just long enough for a St. Joseph’s College undergrad to consume 199 hapless fish.
When Harvard College was founded in 1636, it was surrounded by a tall stockade to keep out prowling wolves and hostile Indians.
In Wilton, Maine, there is a cannery that imports and cans only dandelion greens.
