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

DEC 2020


Previous Archives

DATE FACT OF THE DAY
12/1/20      Holiday retailers use music to attract potential shoppers. For example, if shoppers like the type of music retailers are playing, they will be more likely to enter the store and like the products. Additionally, the slower the tempo of the music, the slower people will walk through the store, and the more they will buy. A faster tempo will encourage shoppers to walk faster and, consequently, they won’t buy as much. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/2/20      The Oscar Wilde Memorial Bookshop was founded in 1967 in New York City and was the first gay bookstore in the world. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/3/20      The World Health Organization purports that ageism may be more common than racism or sexism around the world. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/4/20      The price of tiger bone has skyrocketed. It is estimated to be $140–$370 per kilogram, depending on the size of the bone. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/5/20      Birth control can affect a woman’s sense of smell, which can influence whom she is attracted to. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/6/20      Most tornadoes in the Southern Hemisphere rotate clockwise. Most tornadoes in the Northern Hemisphere rotate counterclockwise. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/7/20      Women’s make-up in ancient Rome was made of a wide variety of ingredients, including lead, olive oil, saffron, and the sweat of gladiators! Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/8/20      The first country to hyperinflate in the 21st century is Zimbabwe. In 2008, a loaf of bread cost 1.6 trillion Zimbabwe dollars. Officials in Zimbabwe blamed it on rising global food prices and international sanctions. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/9/20      Dolphins can kill sharks with their noses. They may even circle around a shark to coordinate an attack. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/10/20      In 1814, a mysterious explosion at a London brewery created a destructive wave of beer that destroyed two houses and killed eight people. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/11/20      In the 1960s, the United States spent large sums of money to build schools, streets, houses, a hospital, and 2 tuna canneries to assist in improving the living conditions of the American Samoa islands. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/12/20      When archeologists discovered early evidence of our human ancestors' hunting activities, it became clear that adding meat to the diet meant big changes for early Homo sapiens. For example, skeleton size increased soon after, suggesting meat was important for evolution. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/13/20      In medieval Europe, leeches were commonly used to treat babies’ illnesses. For example, leeches were placed on a baby’s windpipe for croup. Additionally, teething babies were commonly purged or bled. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/14/20      The United Nations passed the "Convention on the Law of the Sea" in 1994 and is now the recognized governing body in all legal matters concerning the world's oceans. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/15/20      The world’s largest pearl was discovered by a Filipino diver in the Palawan Sea in 1934. Known as the “Pearl of Lao Tzu,” or “Pearl of Allah,” the gem weighs 14 pounds (6.35 kg) and measures 9.5 inches (24 cm) long and 5.5 inches (.4 cm) in diameter. It has a value of over US$40 million. It is believed to be 600 years old. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/16/20      A binary communication system, or binary code, the basis for all computer language and programming, was first proposed by G.W. Leibniz in the 17th century. George Boole and Alan Turing, among others, later developed the idea for programming computers. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/17/20      Scholars note that Catholicism spread largely because of the work of Roman road-builders. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/18/20      Only 44% of Cameroon's population has access to safe drinking water, and bottled water is by far the safest water option in the country. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/19/20      Opossums got their name from the word "aposoum," a term that means "white beast" in the language of the Algonquin, a Native American tribe in the northeast United States. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/20/20      Egyptian, Indo-European, and Meso-American cultures all had sun-worship religions. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/21/20      While it seems counterintuitive, Earth is actually closest to the sun in winter even though winter solstice is the shortest day of the year. This year the closest moment was on January 5, 2020 at a distance of 91,398,199 mi. The next closest moment will be on January 2, 2021 at a distance of 91,399,454 mi.
12/22/20      While the winter solstice is the shortest day of the year, seasonal lag means that the coldest period usually follows the solstice by a few weeks. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/23/20      German-born American illustrator Thomas Nast (1840-1902) helped create the modern version of Santa as jolly, chubby, and dressed mainly in red. Coca-Cola further solidified his image in the mainstream media in 1931 when they used him in their advertising. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/24/20      In the mid 1800s, poet Thomas Nash wrote a poem that famously placed Santa's home in the North Pole, even though the original saint lived in Turkey. Nash most likely chose the North Pole because, at the time, there were several scientific explorations to the North Pole, a region that was seen as a type of fantasy land, mysterious and just out of reach. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/25/20      Santa's list of "naughty" and "nice" children has its roots in Belgium and the Netherlands where their version of Santa Claus, Sinterklaas, kept a similar list. The Norse god Odin kept two ravens that would listen at people's chimneys to find out who was good or bad. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/26/20      Puritan Oliver Cromwell outlawed Christmas celebrations and carols in England from 1649-1660. The only celebrations allowed were sermons and prayers. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/27/20      There are two competing claims as to which president was the first to place a Christmas tree in the White House. Some scholars say President Franklin Pierce did in 1856; others say President Benjamin Harrison brought in the first tree in 1889. President Coolidge started the White House lighting ceremony in 1923. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/28/20      President Teddy Roosevelt, an environmentalist, banned Christmas trees from the White House in 1901. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/29/20      The first printed reference to a Christmas tree was in 1531 in Germany. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/30/20      Snow appears white because snow is a bunch of individual ice crystals arranged together. When light hits snow, it bounces all around the ice crystals and the “color” of all the frequencies in the visible spectrum combined in equal measure is white. While white is the color we see in snow, individual ice crystals are actually translucent. Provided by FactRetriever.com
12/31/20      The worst death toll in the United States for a winter storm occurred in The Great Blizzard of 1888 in the Northeast. Over March 11–14, the blizzard dropped between 40–50 inches of snow in parts of New York, New Jersey, Connecticut, and Massachusetts. It blocked roads and wiped out telephone, telegraph, and rail service for days. It was responsible for over 400 deaths (200 in New York alone) and sank 200 ships. New York and Boston created the first underground subway system partly in response to the massive 1888 storm and the gridlock it created. Provided by FactRetriever.com


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