Neat "stuff", I didn't know that!

You're going to say
"I didn't know that!" at least 5 times.
Really neat stuff here:


Alaska

 More than half of the coastline of the 

entire United States is in Alaska .




Amazon

 The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20%

of the world's oxygen supply.
The Amazon River pushes so much water into the Atlantic Ocean that,
more than one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river,
one can dip fresh water out of the ocean.
The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater
than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined
and three times the flow of all rivers in the United States .



Antarctica

 Antarctica is the only land on our planet 

that is not owned by any country.

Ninety percent of the world's ice covers Antarctica .

This ice also represents seventy percent

of all the fresh water in the world.

As strange as it sounds, however, 

Antarctica is essentially a desert;

the average yearly total precipitation is about two inches.

Although covered with ice 

(all but 0.4% of it, ice.), 

Antarctica is the driest place on the planet, 

with an absolute humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

Brazil

 Brazil got its name from the nut, 

not the other way around.




Canada

 Canada has more lakes than the rest 

of the world combined.
Canada is an Indian word meaning 'Big Village '.



Chicago

 Next to Warsaw , Chicago has the largest 

Polish population in the world.


Detroit

 Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan, 

carries the designation M-1,
so named because it was the
first paved road anywhere.



Damascus , Syria

 Damascus, Syria, was flourishing 

a couple of thousand years
before Rome was founded in 753 BC,
making it the oldest continuously
inhabited city in existence.



Istanbul , Turkey

 Istanbul, Turkey, is the only city 

in the world
located on two continents.



Los Angeles

 Los Angeles ' full name is:

El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciuncula
-- and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.



New York City

 The term 'The Big Apple' was coined

by touring jazz musicians of the 1930s
who used the slang expression
'apple' for any town or city.

Therefore, to play New York City
is to play the big time - The Big Apple.

There are more Irish in New York City
than in Dublin, Ireland ;
more Italians in New York City
than in Rome, Italy ;
and more Jews in New York City
than in Tel Aviv, Israel ..




Ohio

 There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, 

every one is manmade.



Pitcairn Island

 The smallest island with country status is 

Pitcairn in Polynesia,
at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km.


Rome

The first city to reach a population
of 1 million people was Rome, Italy
in 133 B.C.
There is a city called Rome on every continent.


Siberia

 Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

S.M.O.M.

 The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M).

It is located in the city of Rome, Italy ,
has an area of two tennis courts
and, as of 2001, has a population of 80
-- 20 less people than the Vatican ...
It is a sovereign entity under international law,
just as the Vatican is.




Sahara Desert

 In the Sahara Desert, 

there is a town named Tidikelt, Algeria,
which did not receive a drop of rain for ten years.  Technically though, the driest place on Earth  is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island.  There has been no rainfall there for two million years.


Spain

 Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits'.

St. Paul , Minnesota

 St. Paul , Minnesota , was originally called Pig's Eye after a man named Pierre 'Pig's Eye' Parrant who set up the first business there.

Roads

 Chances that a road is unpaved:

in the US.A. . = 1%;
in Canada = ...75%



Russia

 The deepest hole ever drilled by man is the 

Kola Superdeep Borehole, in Russia .
It reached a depth of 12,261 meters (about 40,226 feet or 7.62 miles) It was drilled for scientific research and gave up some unexpected discoveries, one of which was a huge deposit of hydrogen - so massive that the mud coming from the hole was boiling with it.



United States

 The Eisenhower interstate system 

requires that one mile in every 

five must be straight.

These straight sections are 

usable as airstrips in times of 

war or other emergencies.

Waterfalls

 The water of Angel Falls 

(the world's highest) in Venezuela
drops 3,212 feet (979 meters).
They are 15 times higher 

than Niagara Falls ...

I have always said, 
you should learn something new every day. Unfortunately, many of us are at that age where what we learn today, we forget tomorrow.

1/22/2012