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FACT-OF-THE-DAY ARCHIVE
"Our life is what our thoughts make it."
- Marcus Aurelius

FEB 2010


Previous Archives

DATEFACT OF THE DAY
2/1/10     Any donations to Haiti relief efforts made this year (by Feb. 28, 2010) can be taken as a deduction against 2009 taxes. - Provided by IRS - via YouTube
2/2/10     Surfing, or heenalu, was invented thousands of years ago by the Polynesians who first settled Hawaii. Their boards weighed more than 150 pounds and measured up to twenty feet. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/3/10     Our collective weight is going up. The average American male has gained 17.1 pounds and the average American female has added 15.4 pounds since 1988. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/4/10     Drunk driving causes approximately one-third of all traffic fatalities in the United States. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/5/10     On Dec. 18, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went online. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/6/10     An estimated 1.8 percent of U.S. adults are underweight, due to poor nutrition or health conditions. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/7/10     The smallest dog on record was a matchbox-size Yorkshire Terrier. It was 2.5" tall at the shoulder, 3.5" from nose tip to tail, and weighed only 4 ounces. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/8/10     In 2007, China became the world's largest salt producer, surpassing the U.S. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/9/10     Wedding rings are often placed on the third finger of the left hand because ancient Egyptians believed the vein in that hand (which the Romans called the 'vein of love') ran directly to the heart. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/10/10     The heart beats more than 2.5 billion times in an average lifetime. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/11/10     Each year an average of 105 snow-producing storms affect the continental United States. A typical storm will have a snow-producing lifetime of two to five days and will bring snow to portions of several states. - Provided by National Snow and Ice Center
2/12/10     Based on National Climatic Data Center records, New York state is home to the snowiest cities in the United States: Syracuse averages 115 inches of snow per year, and Rochester averages 93 inches per year. However, several less populated areas around the country receive much more snow. For instance, Mount Washington, New Hampshire, has an average annual snowfall of 260 inches, and Valdez, Alaska, averages 326 inches annually. - Provided by National Snow and Ice Center
2/13/10     The most common cause of death for American women is heart disease, which causes just over 27% of all mortalities in females. Cancer ranks just below, causing 22% of female deaths. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/14/10     Roses are a traditional symbol of love and, depending on their color, can suggest different nuances of love. For example, red roses indicate passion and true love. Light pink suggests desire, passion, and energy; dark pink suggests gratitude. Yellow roses can mean friendship or jealousy. A lavender or thornless rose can mean love at first sight. White roses mean virtue or devotion. Some roses even combine colors to created more complicated meanings. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/15/10     The presidential faces on Mount Rushmore are as high as a five-story building, about 60' from chin to top of the head. The pupils of eyes are 4' across and the mouths are 18' wide. The carving took 14 years, from 1927-1941. The total cost was about $990,000. A total 450,000 tons of stone was removed. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/16/10     The smallest shark is the dwarf lantern shark, which is only seven inches long. The longest shark is the whale shark, which can grow to a whopping 50 feet long and weigh more than 40,000 pounds. These behemoths are usually gentle and get all their food by sifting small animals out of the water. - Provided by RandomHistory.com
2/17/10     The highest world temperature ever recorded was 136 degrees fahrenheit at El Azizia, Libya, on September 13, 1922. The lowest was minus 129 degrees fahrenheit at Vostok Station, Antarctica, on July 21, 1983. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/18/10     Commercial service on the first transcontinental telephone line in the United States began on January 25, 1915. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/19/10     The rainiest place in the world, with an average annual rainfall of 460 inches, is Mount Waialeale, Hawaii. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/20/10     On June 17, 1928, Amelia Earhart embarked on the first trans-Atlantic flight by a woman. She flew from Newfoundland to Wales in about 21 hours. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/21/10     The Washington Monument, dedicated in 1885, is a tapering shaft, or obelisk, of white marble, 555 feet in height and 55 feet square at base. Eight small windows, two on each side, are located at the 500-foot level. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/22/10     In 1977, the number of subscribers to cable television was 12.2 million, or 16.6% of households with televisions. By 2008, subscribers to cable television was 99.7 million, or 88.2% of households with televisions. (After 1998, satellite receivers included in total count.) - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/23/10     The first Olympic Winter Games were held in 1924, in Chamonix, France. In that first Olympic Winter Games, 16 nations participated, bringing 258 athletes (11 women, 247 men) to compete in 16 events. During the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games, many more athletes - approximately 2,500 - will compete in 15 sports and over 86 separate medal events. - Provided by Vancouver Organizing Committee
2/24/10     The Harvard University Library holds 15.8 million volumes, second in the U.S. only to the Library of Congress with 32.1 million volumes. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/25/10     Argentina is home to a number of mountains in its West: Aconcagua Mountain is the highest peak in the Western Hemisphere, with an altitude of 22,834 feet. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/26/10     Host country Greece won 47 medals, more than any other participating country, at the first modern summer Olympics in 1896. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/27/10     The iron framework of the Statue of Liberty was devised by French engineer Alexandre-Gustave Eiffel, who also built the Eiffel Tower in Paris. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009
2/28/10     In 2007, the Toyota Camary was the top-selling passenger car in the U.S. with 473,103 sold. - Provided by The World Almanac 2009


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