Trivia

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The longest distance covered in a rope slide is 1 746.5 metres (5 730 ft). Lance-Corporal Peter Baldwin of the British Royal Marines and Stu Leggett of the Canadian School of Rescue Training slid from the summit of Mt Gibraltar, Alberta, Canada, down to ground level on 31 August 1994. During the descent they reached speeds of up to 160 km/h (100 mph).

Lightning can have temperatures of up to 30 000 degrees Celcius.

A koala bear has two thumbs on each hand.

The largest ever kidnap ransom amounted to $206 million or £134 million. The sum was payed by two Hong Kong businessmen, Walter Kwok and Victor Li, to gangster Cheung Tze-keung in return for their freedom after they were kidnapped separately in 1996 and 1997 respectively. Cheung was executed in China on 5 December 1998.

The average person takes 7 163 baths in their lifetime.

A large kangaroo can jump up to nine metres (30 ft) at a time.

The dinosaur noises in Jurassic Park came from the noises of elephants, geese and horses slowed down.

Only the male nightingale can sing.

The queen of the black garden ant fedes partly on its own wing muscles.

Chutti, the make-up unique to the Inidan Kathakali dance-theatre tradition, is built up using rice paste and paper and can extend 15 cm (6 inches) from the face.