I Didn’t Know That

A friend sent me this in an email:

   You're gonna  say "I didn't know that!" at least 5  times.

  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 U.S.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.

But,  give it a shot anyway.

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Today, Kathy’s mother and I went to see Jack and Jill. I know, I’ve already seen it, but it was great and I enjoyed it even more this time. We then went to Publix for some groceries, where I lost Grace for a few minutes – not really, she was in Publix, but I couldn’t find her.

I met my sister-in-law Rose, my brother-in-law Don, my nephew Bob, my niece Donn and three of my great nieces (Marisa, Sarah and Krysta) at the famous Marietta Diner. If you remember, Esther and I and I alone at there last summer. What a great (and too huge) meal they serve. I’ll try to get some pictures downloaded tomorrow.

My brother Ray comes tomorrow. I’m really lookihng forward to that.

Until next time…