I Bet Ya Didn't Know

The ruffed grouse, before the winter's snows, develops a fringe of horn on each toe, which prevents the bird from sinking into the snow.

For a short time in 1967, the American Typers Association made a new punctuation mark that was a combination of the question mark and an exclamation point called an interrobang. It was rarely used and hasn't been seen since.

The Peace Memorial Museum in Zanzibar, constructed in 1925, has a huge ring protruding from its roof --- put there by its Mohammedan builders so that if an earthquake occurs, a guardian angel could lift the structure into the sky.

Mir Bahboob Ali Khan (1856-1911), 6th Nizam of Hyderabad and richest prince in India, never wore the same garment twice in his entire lifetime. His clothing, fashioned of fine white muslin, was worn once and then given to palace servants.

Baby boomerang: 18 million adults ages 18 to 34 live with their parents, up 42% since 1970.

A caiman, related to the alligator, has 80 teeth. When one wears down, a new one grows in its place. A caiman can go through 3,000 teeth in a lifetime.

There are more 25,000 McDonald's restaurants in over 115 countries.

Macy's Thanksgiving Parade drops more than 1,000 pounds of confetti, and the balloon figures are up to 5 stories high.

The first meal eaten on the moon by astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin was roasted turkey and all the trimmings!

91% of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Of the 300 million turkeys raised annually, 45 million are consumed at Thanksgiving.

The Mayflower's journey was financed by English merchants who hoped to profit by trading with the New World.

On Thanksgiving Day this year, Americans consumed 1.3 trillion calories.

Of the 300 million turkeys raised for consumption each year, one is sent to the White House for clemency. Each year, the President "pardons" the live turkey, which is sent to a farm to live out the rest of its days.

According to the FDA, a family of four can still celebrate Thanksgiving for as little as $50. Not bad at all -- of course then they spend $1,117 at the health club to work it all off.

December is the peak month for candle fires in the U.S. Nearly 13,000 fires occur annually, killing more than 150 Americans and causing more than $175 million in property damage.

Friday, December 6 is Scholastic's Read for 2003, the fourth annual global read-a-thon for kids. Last year, 7 million took part. At noon in each time zone, kids, parents, and teachers will begin reading together for 2003 seconds (about 33 minutes). Guest readers, including celebraties, will join in. For details visit www.scholastic.com/readfor2003.

The only desert in Canada is located in Osoyoos B.C.

Last July near Chippewa Falls, Wis., the mercury was north of 90 when a semi loaded with yeasty pizza dough burped blobs of the expanding stuff onto the highway. Crews used snowplows, shovels, and pitchforks to clear the 30-mile stretch.

In 1961, Henri Matisse's Painting "Le Bateau" hung upside down in New York's Museum of Modern Art. It remained so for 41 days until, after an estimated 116,000 people passed in front of it, someone noticed.

The hummigbird has a cleft tongue comprised of two blades which it manipulates like a pair of forceps to extract minute insects from flowers.

Primeval corn, from which our present-day corn is descended, had every kernel encased in its own capsule. It is still cultivated in Bolivia, where it is believed to have magic medicinal properties.

Mellia tessellata, a crab, defends itself by carrying in each claw a red sea anemone that delivers a powerful sting.

The greatest charioteer in all history, Anniceris, famed Greek chariot driver, could make 1,000 turns in an arena at full speed without deviating from the original track.

Andronicus Livius, a Roman actor of the 3rd century B.C., originated the art of pantomime because at the very height of his career, he lost the use of his voice.

Librarians report that in general 20% of the books on the shelf account for 80% of the library's total circulation.

Almost every hamster in the U.S. is descended from a single mother and her 12 offspring discovered in Syria and brought to this country in 1930.

Amharic, the language of Ethiopia, has an alphabet of 267 letters; the vowels alone are represented by 49 different characters.

The eyeball's lens grows throughout a persons life.

Avery County, N.C., specializes in one kind of Christmas tree: The Fraser fir, America's most popular Christmas tree.

Greyhounds have the best eyesight of any breed of dog.

The Coral Sea, Arabian Sea, South China Sea and the Caribbean are all more than one-million square miles in size and are considered the largest seas (excluding oceans) .

Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt served hot dogs and beer to King George VI in 1939. Not to be outdone, Queen Elizabeth II served hot dogs at a royal banquet for the American Bar Association. Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan also served hot dogs in the White House.

Leechee nuts are not nuts. They are dried fruit.

The large-mouth black bass is known by 44 different names. (...and doesn't answer to any of them!)

On Christmas TV shows, Santa and the elves come from central casting, but the reindeer come from Tom Scheib. The Milltown, Wis., reindeer farmer travels up to 6000 miles each year to deliver the hoofed "talent" for commercials, festivals, and morning TV shows.

Madame de Bourgogne (1457-1482), wife of Archduke Maximillian of Austria, thrown by her horse during a hunt, died of gangrene at the age of 25 because she was too modest to permit a physician to treat her injuries.

Walt Disney had originally suggested using the name Mortimer Mouse instead of Mickey Mouse.

Mackinaw City, Michigan had the only McDonald's in the world that closed for the winter, until it closed for good and was replaced with a Burger King that is open year round.

The trunk of the Thuya tree of the French Riviera is completely covered by green leaves.

The bar in the Hochreither Inn in Leonfelden, Austria, is built into an ancient stagecoach.