Quotes

According to the BBC, these are things we did not know last year. Brussels sprouts have three times as much vitamin C as oranges. The heat generated by a laptop, and the knees-together pose needed to balance it, can damage a man's fertility. Brazilians are the nationality most likely to read spam. Plastic surgery dates back to 600BC and the first nose job was in 1000AD. Yoda was based on Albert Einstein. Desert locusts can travel 120 miles in 24 hours. And reports of UFOs have dwindled since the late 1990s. In the UK, sightings have gone from about 30 a week to almost zero; it's a trend echoed in the US and Norway. Freak conditions above Everest can cause the sky to "fall in". An analysis of weather patterns in May 1996, by University of Toronto researchers, said eight people died when the stratosphere sank to the level of the summit. More than one billion birds crash into buildings in the US every year. Mirrored office blocks are a particular hazard. Continuing in this cheery vein, more than 1.2 million people die in traffic accidents worldwide each year. The first was Bridget Driscoll, knocked down by a car travelling at 12mph in London on 17 August 1896. The coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death, and warned: "This must never happen again."


source: Things We Did Not Know Last Year At This Time (2005) tags: Knowledge

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