Fact of the day time again The longest word in the English language is pneumonoultramicroscopicsilicovolcanoconiosis, a type of lung disease. I’d have problems pronouncing it let alone spelling it

What mammals can fly? Bats are the only mammals that are able to fly. The “flying squirrel” can only do what the gliding opposum does – glide for short distances.

Penelope It depends on, well, your definition of word. The one with over 189,000 letters is insane. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Longest_word_in_English

Giraffes are 30 times more likely to get hit by lightning than people. True, there are only five well-documented fatal lightning strikes on giraffes between 1996 and 2010. But due to the population of the species being just 140,000 during this time, it makes for about 0.003 lightning deaths per thousand giraffes each year. This is 30 times the equivalent fatality rate for humans.

Cats, Giraffes, And Camels all have one thing In common. They walk in a… very specific way. According to Purina: ”[Cats’] walking sequence is both right feet first, followed by both left feet, so they move half of their body forward at once. “Camels and giraffes are the only other animals to walk this way.” That isn’t the only peculiarity when it comes to the way that cats walk, though. Catster said: “Typically, cats move the front and back legs on each side together when walking. “Each paw hits the ground at a different point in the stride, which is known as a four-beat gait. Most of the cat’s weight is centered on the front paws while walking.” Additionally, that dainty little pitter-patter walk that cats do is due to them walking on their toes, as opposed to their whole feet the way that we do.

FACT: i am holding out hope that Hannah finds her way here to build on her factual legacy. 💗

The fear of long words is called Hippopotomonstrosesquippedaliophobia. The 36-letter word was first used by the Roman poet Horace in the first century BCE to criticise those writers with an unreasonable penchant for long words. It was American poet Aimee Nezheukumatathil, possibly afraid of their own surname, who coined the term how we know it in 2000.

Fact of the day

HannahW

KaraZor-El

Back by popular demand …

Fact Of The Day (for Independence Day) … Abraham Lincoln (6’ 4”) was the tallest U.S. President in American history. The shortest was James Madison, who was only 5’ 4”.

AshleighB

HannahW

The hat made him tall he was only 4ft 🙂

Penelope

Water might not be wet. This is because most scientists define wetness as a liquid’s ability to maintain contact with a solid surface, meaning that water itself is not wet, but can make other objects wet.

Sapio

Penelope Well, when I walk in the rain, the water does a darned good job of making my clothes and hair wet.

Penelope

The largest piece of fossilised dinosaur poo discovered is over 30cm long and over two litres in volume. Believed to be a Tyrannosaurus rex turd, the fossilised dung (also named a ‘coprolite’) is helping scientists better understand what the dinosaur ate.

BJade

Sapio

Technically your clothes and hair aren’t wet, they’re covered in water droplets. A little like

Why you need chemicals like detergent or soap to wash things, otherwise the water sit on surfaces and doesn’t get them as wet, or react with other objects as effectively. Like the difference of a wet wipe (which is a different chemical) and weting a tissue (which will quickly dry up)

Sapio

BJade So what does water actually get wet?
It attracts to certain materials like glass, which is why a glass graduated cylinder has a positive meniscus.

BJade

Sapio

It’s like the difference between a pencil and ink. Both make a mark on the paper, but the pencil is only on the surface and can be rubbed off, while the ink wets the paper, becoming a part of it, and can’t be removed.

So water can get a surface wet, but on a chemical and micro level it’s only on the surface, not internally

Falcons_11D

Today, July 6, 1189, King Richard I (The Lionheart) was crowned King of England upon the death of King Henry II.

Thought the Brits on TH would like to know that fact of the day.

BJade

😮 King Richard manage to spend enough time here to actually get crowned 😂 (I know he did really)

He was born in England, where he spent his childhood; before becoming king, however, he lived most of his adult life in the Duchy of Aquitaine, in the southwest of France. Following his accession, he spent very little time, perhaps as little as six months, in England. Most of his reign was spent on Crusade, in captivity, or actively defending his lands in France.

Penelope

Chainsaws were first invented for childbirth. It was developed in Scotland in the late 18th Century to help aid and speed up the process of symphysiotomy (widening the pubic cartilage) and removal of disease-laden bone during childbirth. It wasn’t until the start of the 20th Century that we started using chainsaws for woodchopping.

Elara

Penelope that’s terrifying
I assume very small…

BJade

Few facts forvThe British Grand Prix

It was first held by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1926, has been held annually since 1948 and has been a round of the FIA Formula One World Championship every year since 1950 (holding the first ever race of the championship).

It has been held at:
Brooklands 1926–1927
Silverstone 1948–1954
Aintree and Silverstone 1955–1960 (alternating yearly)
Aintree 1961–1962
Silverstone and Brands Hatch 1963–1986 (alternating yearly)
Silverstone 1987–present (contracted until 2034)

Donington Park has also held a race as European GP (1993)

Falcons_11D

Historical Facts - July 7th.

1753 - Parliament grants Jews British citizenship.

1801 - Haiti declares it’s independence from France.

1928 - Sliced bread is first sold in Missouri.

1898 - USA formally annexes Hawaii. Eighty yeans later Hawaii becomes the 50th. state

Sapio

Falcons_11D I’m not great on history, but didn’t Hawaii become a state in 1959, 61 years after being annexed?

Falcons_11D

Sapio

Yes, you are correct. I’m not good with math. I miscalculated the years between annexation and statehood.

Thanks for your correction.

Penelope

Mount Everest isn’t the tallest mountain on Earth. Mauna Kea and Mauna Loa in Hawaii, the twin volcanoes, are taller than Mount Everest due to 4.2km of their heights being submerged underwater. The twin volcanoes measure a staggering 10.2km in total, compared to Everest’s paltry 4.6km.

Penelope

A cloud weighs around a million tonnes. A cloud typically has a volume of around 1km3 and a density of around 1.003kg per m3 – that’s a density that’s around 0.4 per cent lower than the air surrounding it

Falcons_11D

1776 - The Declaration of Independence is read to American troops by George Washington in New York.

1816 - Argentina declares it’s independence from Spain.

1877 - First Winbleton Lawn Tennis tournament began. It was a men’s only tournament.

1900 - Commonwealth of Australia established by British Parliament.

1947 - HRM King George VI announced the engagement of his daughter Princess Elizabeth to Philip Montebatten.

Miki

Hippopotamuses can fly
Scientists have proved that when running at top speed their feet are all off of the ground for a split second so are technically airborne

Sapio

Miki That’s really interesting. When I first read hippos can fly, I was picturing them overhead. But this will do.😃

Elara

Miki which is funny because I don’t think they actually swim