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

APR 2018


Previous Archives

DATE FACT OF THE DAY
4/1/18      The first spring flowers are typically lilacs, irises, lilies, tulips, daffodils, and dandelions. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/2/18      Holidays that occur in spring include Easter, Passover, April Fool's Day, Earth Day, Arbor Day, Mother's Day, Father's Day, Cinco De Mayo, and Holi (festival of colors in India). - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/3/18      In the late 1800s, peddlers acted as early recyclers. They would carry sacks of reusable items in their wagons to sell to general stores. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/4/18      The concept of a hate crime emerged in the late 1970s in the United States. Hate crime legislation became a widespread phenomenon in the 1980s, when various state lawmakers began classifying racially motivated crimes as a distinct form of crime. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/5/18      According to the FBI, more than 70% of serial killers experienced problems related to substance abuse. While only a few serial killers were actually addicted to alcohol and substances, many of them encountered them in their youth. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/6/18      Every 40 seconds, a child goes missing in the U.S. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/7/18      Approximately 75% of fatal crashes occurring between midnight and 3am involve alcohol. Additionally, there are spikes in DUIs at 7:00 p.m. and 3:00pm, which are the end of happy hour and lunch time, respectively. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/8/18      If you spread out an adult human's brain, it would be about the size of a pillowcase. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/9/18      If Pope Gregory XIII would not have established the Gregorian calendar, which most of the world now observes, in 1582, then every 128 years the vernal equinox would have come a full calendar day earlier, eventually putting Easter in midwinter. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/10/18      Modern spring break began in 1936 when a swimming coach at Colgate University brought his team to Fort Lauderdale to train. An annual swimming competition soon followed--as well as the swimmers' less aquatic friends. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/11/18      The first cat in space was a French cat named Felicette (a.k.a. "Astrocat") In 1963, France blasted the cat into outer space. Electrodes implanted in her brains sent neurological signals back to Earth. She survived the trip. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/12/18      The life span of giant pandas in the wild is approximately 20 years. Captive pandas may live to be 25-30 years old. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/13/18      All dogs can be traced back 40 million years ago to a weasel-like animal called the Miacis which dwelled in trees and dens. The Miacis later evolved into the Tomarctus, a direct forbear of the genus Canis, which includes the wolf and jackal as well as the dog. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/14/18      Guinea Pigs are not pigs but, rather, rodents. They are also not from Guinea; they originated in the Andes. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/15/18      Bears can run up to 40 miles per hour, fast enough to catch a running horse. The fastest known human alive today is Usain Bolt, who can run 27mph. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/16/18      Horses, zebras, and asses (as well as other equids) belong to the Order Perissodactyla, which is Greek from "odd-numbered finger or toe." - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/17/18      Many children with autism have a reduced sensitivity to pain but may be extra sensitive to sound, touch, or other sensory stimulation-which may contribute to a reluctance to being cuddled or hugged. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/18/18      The Code of Hammurabi (1800 B.C.) includes a law that punishes fraudulent wine sellers: They were to be drowned in a river. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/19/18      According to the World Water Development Report (WWDR), many girls in developing countries cannot attend school because they are responsible for gathering domestic water. Additionally, schools lack separate toilet facilities. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/20/18      India is the birthplace of chess. The original word for "chess" is the Sanskrit chaturanga, meaning "four members of an army"-which were mostly likely elephants, horses, chariots, and foot soldiers. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/21/18      Scientists estimate that there were over 1,000 different species of non-avian dinosaurs and over 500 distinct genera. They speculate there are many still undiscovered dinosaurs and that there may be as many as 1,850 genera. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/22/18      In rare instances, some spider bites can cause blood disorders. For example, the brown recluse venom may cause red blood cells to burst. This can lead to other symptoms, such as acute kidney injury and jaundice. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/23/18      Penguins are one of about 40 species of flightless birds. Other flightless birds include rheas, cassowaries, kiwis, ostriches, and emus. Most flightless birds live in the Southern Hemisphere. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/24/18      While jellyfish do not have a brain, they have an elementary nervous system with receptors that detect light, vibrations, and chemicals in the water. These abilities, along with the sense of gravity, allow the jellyfish to orient and guide itself in the water. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/25/18      Sperm whales can dive as deep as two miles into the water, and their bodies have unique physiological adaptations to allow them to survive the intense cold and crushing pressure of these dives. They can limit circulation to the brain and other organs, slow the heart to 10 beats per minute to conserve oxygen, and collapse the lungs and rib cage to withstand pressure. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/26/18      In 2012, scientists discovered that a primary reason penguins can swim so fast is that they have a special "bubble boost." When penguins fluff their feathers, they release bubbles that reduce the density of the water around them. The bubbles act as lubrication that decreases water viscosity, similar to competitive swimsuits. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/27/18      The largest crab in the world is the giant Japanese Spider Crab, which can measure up to 13 feet across. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/28/18      Because sharks very rarely get cancer, scientists study their cartilage in the hopes of finding a cure for the disease. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/29/18      In eighteenth-century opera seria (serious opera), the main singers would stand in ballet's third position, with bent, bowlegged knees and heels together, with one ankle in front of the other. They remained in that position the entire song. - Provided by FactRetriever.com
4/30/18      UFOs were initially called "flying saucers," but the more neutral phrase "unidentified flying objects," or UFOs, was later coined by the U.S. Air Force in 1953 to include shapes other than "saucers" or "discs." - Provided by FactRetriever.com


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2012
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2011
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