Did You Know (Weird Stuff Your Kids May Get a Kick Out Of)?

Yesterday was a nice beach day for us. We went over to St Pete Beach and enjoyed the sun and surf. The Spring Break crowd had already left, so we had most of the place to ourselves. We happened to pass by the 1920s era Don Cesar Hotel...the gaudiest, strangest looking "pink wedding-cake-like" structure I've ever seen. The hotel, like many grand hotels, has a history of opulence and a time period where it was almost razed. Did you know it takes 12,000 gallons of pink paint to cover the entire structure? Your average home takes about 15. My 10 year old son happened to tell me that...how did he know that? Turns out, he has a treasure trove of other interesting facts he loves to throw at me, so I thought I'd share some of them today. Who knew?



Did you know....?

• 93-95% of greeting cards are bought by women.

• The Brooklyn accent saying words such as "dese, dem and dose" came from the original Dutch settlers. Who has a typical Brooklyn accent? Well, Bugs Bunny of course.

• The last Canadian dollar bill was issued in 1989. It was replaced by the dollar coin, the "loonie" after the loon bird that is engraved on it.

• Your kitchen sponge has more bacteria in it than your toilet (another reason to change out your sponge everyday; I wash ours in the daily wash or you can use your dishwasher).

• There are 6,800 languages in the world, but experts think half will be extinct by the end of this century.

• Gelatin, an important ingredient in Jello, marshmallows and Gummi Bears, is made from cow or pig bones, hooves and connective tissue.

• All cats and most dogs cannot taste sugar.

• Women actually fart three times more than men..they are just more discrete about it.

• Antiobiotics have no effect on viruses, just bacteria. Remember that the next time you go to your pediatrician and demand an antibiotic just because your kid has a virus. This is why we also have so many antibiotic-resistant bacterial strains out there...overuse of antibiotics.

• Men carried purses long before women did.

• In public restrooms, the first stall is typically the cleanest because it's the least likely to be used.

• A "jiffy" is an actual unit of time, being 1/100th of a second.

• Only 22% of people say they would risk their life to save their husband or wife. But 85% say they would risk their life to save their pet.

• The chicken is the closest living relative to the T-rex dinosaur.

• Corn does not grow in the wild, nor was it ever growing in the wild; humans domesticated it by mixing two different types of wild grasses. So really, humans "invented" corn.

• Most lipsticks contain fish scales.

• One in every four Americans has appeared on TV.

• More money is spent on gardening than any other hobby.

• It is impossible to lick your elbow.

• 40% of McDonalds' profits comes from Happy Meals.

• Flushing the toilet with the lid open will cause minute particles of water droplets...from the toilet...to float around your bathroom, and potentially settle on your toothbrush and whatever else you have sitting out. We keep the lids closed in our house.
  

• Marilyn Monroe had six toes on one foot.

• A person will die from lack of sleep sooner than from starvation. You will die in about 10 days without sleep but can last a few weeks without food.

And on that note, I will end here. Many of these facts came from my son's Bathroom Reader Series books by Uncle John. I'll admit, I've even glanced at a few. If you're ever looking for a birthday gift for a 9 to 10 year old..this is it. Do you have any strange and interesting facts to share?