Did you know?

• This is captivating! This year we are having 4 unusual dates...1/1/11; 11/1/11; 1/11/11; and 11/11/11 and that’s not all! Take the last 2 digits of the year you were born, add the age you will be this year and the result will be 111 for everyone this year. October will have five Mondays and five Saturdays: This only happens after every 823 years and these particular years are known as “moneybags.” • Khagendra Thapa Magar is a 19-years-old Nepali and was born in October 14, 1992. Guinness World Record crowned him the smallest person in the world on October 2010 after he celebrated his 18th birthday. Thapa Magar is only 0.67 meters tall (2 feet) and weighs only 5kg. • The Australian billy goat plum contains 100 times more vitamin C than an orange. • A frog’s tongue grows from the front of its mouth, which makes it easier to catch flies. • Were you aware that when a female fish sees a male fish blowing bubbles, it means he’s ready for breeding? It’s true. • When you crack a whip, it makes a loud noise because the tip is actually moving faster than the speed of sound! • The shark is immune to all known diseases? And shark’s skeleton is made of cartilage - it has no bones. • Bill Gates’ first business was Traff-O-Data, a company that created machines which recorded the number of cars passing a given point on a road. • The wick of a trick candle has small amounts of magnesium in them. When you light the candle, you are also lighting the magnesium. When someone tries to blow out the flame, the magnesium inside the wick continues to burn and, in just a split second (or two or three), relights the wick. • STASI, the East German secret police organization, devised a devilishly clever way to prevent someone from giving them the slip during the Cold War: they managed to synthesize the scent of a female dog in heat, which they applied to the shoes of the person under surveillance. Then they simply had a male dog follow the scent. • Alkali metals such as sodium, potassium, rubidium, caesium and francium are extremely reactive elements; just putting them in water can result in an explosion! They are carefully stored in oil to prevent this from happening. • Avoid chewing gum in Singapore. It is illegal. • While still in England be careful with a stamp that bears the image of the Queen. Placing it upside down is a punishable offense. • Clothes that are dried outside DO smell better because of a process called photolysis. What happens is this: sunlight breaks down compounds in the laundry that cause odor, such as perspiration and body oils. • The word “karate” means “empty hand.”The word “samba” means “to rub navels together.” jamiefrings@yahoo.com