FACT-OF-THE-DAY ARCHIVE
"Our life is what our thoughts make it."
- Marcus Aurelius
DEC 2015

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DATE FACT OF THE DAY 12/1/15      In Morrisville, Pennsylvania, it is illegal for a woman to wear cosmetics without a permit. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/2/15      Saturn is the least dense planet in the solar system, and if there were a body of water large enough to hold Saturn, the planet would float. In contrast, Earth and Mercury would sink the fastest. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/3/15      During the worst years of the Depression (1933-1934), the overall jobless rate was 25% (1 out of 4 people) with another 25% taking wage cuts or working part time. The gross national product fell by almost 50%. It was not until 1941, when WWII was underway, that unemployment officially fell back below 10%. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/4/15      The first possible influenza epidemic may have occurred in Europe as early as 1173. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/5/15      Over 83% of adults who stuttered as children said they had been teased or bullied. Approximately 71% said that bullying happened at least once a week. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/6/15      In 1879, Swiss Rodolphe Lindt discovered conching, an essential process in refining chocolate. He discovered it by accident when his assistant left a machine running all night. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/7/15      The December 7, 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor was directly responsible for the United States' entry into World War II. More than 2,400 of Hawaii's soldiers and residents died in the attack. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/8/15      Dalmatians are completely white at birth. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/9/15      Some wealthy Roman women often wore wigs made from the blond hair of foreign slaves. Slaves could also dye a woman's hair blond or red by blowing powder onto it. Slaves could be tortured for a styling hair poorly. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/10/15      To Have and Have Not (1945) is the only instance when a Nobel prize-winning author (Ernest Hemingway) was adapted for the screen by another Nobel-winning author (William Faulkner). - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/11/15      The first Hollywood movie star is arguably Mary Pickford (1893-1979), who along with Charlie Chaplin, Douglas Fairbanks, and D.W. Griffith formed United Artists Corp (1919). At the peak of her popularity, she made a record-breaking $10,000 a week (over $196,000 in 2008 USD). - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/12/15      In ancient China, mirrors were believed to protect their owners from evil, making hidden spirits visible and revealing the secrets of the future. A person who had been scared by a ghost could be healed by looking in the mirror. Mirrors were often hung on the ceilings of burial chambers. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/13/15      Scientists believe that more than 43 million tons of dust falls over the U.S. every year. Indoor air usually contains about twice as much dust as the air outside. That's a million microscopic particles in a cubic inch of air. About 2,000 dust mites can live happily on one ounce of carpet dust. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/14/15      In December 1982, Apple became the first personal company to reach $1 billion in annual sales. To celebrate, it threw a Billion Dollar Party for employees. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/15/15      While awake, a human brain can generate enough energy to power a light bulb (between 10-23 watts). - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/16/15      Whales belong to the order cetacean, meaning they are mammals that are fully adapted to aquatic life. Like dolphins and porpoises, whales are believed to have descended from land animals that returned to the water roughly 50 million years ago after living millions of years on land. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/17/15      A 2010 study found that children in families who live near freeways are twice as likely to have autism as kids who live farther away from freeways. Scientists believe the increased risk is due to exposure to pollutants given off by freeway traffic. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/18/15      At its height in A.D. 117, the Roman Empire stretched from Portugal in the West to Syria in the east, and from Britain in the North to the North African deserts across the Mediterranean. It covered 2.3 million miles (two-thirds the size of the U.S.) and had a population of 120 million people. During the Middle Ages, Rome had perhaps no more than 13,000 residents. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/19/15      A bat that dies while roosting will continue to hang upside until something shakes it loose. Most bats rest, sleep, mate, and give birth upside down. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/20/15      Unlike other planets, Venus has no craters on its surface smaller than 1.25 miles across. Because the atmosphere is so dense, smaller asteroids are crushed to powder before they reach the surface of the planet, leaving no smaller craters. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/21/15      The characters which make up Japan's name mean "sun origin" and its flag depicts the rising sun. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/22/15      Skull and Bones is the most prestigious of Yale University's senior societies. Its members have included William Howard Taft, William F. Buckley, George H.W. Bush, John Kerry, and George W. Bush. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/23/15      Because the KKK was a powerful political force, Truman was encouraged to join the organization. According to some accounts, he was inducted, though he was "never active." Other accounts claim that though he gave the KKK a $10 membership fee, he demanded it back and was never inducted or initiated. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/24/15      Soccer was introduced to Italians in the late 1800s by the British, but it was not until the 1930s under Mussolini that the sport took off on an international level. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/25/15      The busiest shopping day of the year is not Black Friday, but the Saturday before Christmas. The busiest online shopping day takes place on the Monday or Tuesday a week or two before the week of Christmas - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/26/15      Almost four-fifths of Italy is either mountainous or hilly. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/27/15      Burger King's Triple Whopper with cheese has an amazing 1,230 calories. Hardies Monster Thickburger has 1,420 calories and 2,770 milligrams of sodium. Carl's Jr.'s Double Six hamburger has 1,520 calories and 111 grams of fat. Most people need only 44-66 grams of fat per day, and most of them should come from sources like nuts, fish, and olive oil. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/28/15      Over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics in 2007. This number is less than 1% of the 159 million self-reported episodes of drunk driving in that year. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/29/15      Ninety percent of all hurricane deaths result from storm surges, which can reach over 20 feet high and extend nearly 100 miles. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/30/15      During the nine months between conception and birth, a baby's weight increases by 3,000 million times. Between birth and the end of its second year, an infant will have quadrupled in size. - Provided by RandomHistory.com 12/31/15      One in three teenagers has experienced violence in a dating relationship. - Provided by RandomHistory.com

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