Trivia
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Minus 40 degrees Celcius is the same as minus 40 degrees
Fahrenheit.
When the Indonesian island of Krakatoa erupted on
27 August 1883 it hurled rocks 55 km (34 miles) into the atmosphere.
It also destroyed 163 native villages.
A London Transport double-decker bus can lean an amazing
32 degrees from upright without falling over.
The most polluted lake in the world is Lake Krachay
in the Chelyabinsk province of Russia. It has accumulated 120 million
curies of radioactivity and absorbed 100 times more strontium 90
and caesium 137 than was released at Chernobyl in 1986. If a person
stood at the edge of the lake he or she would be dead in an hour.
The pollution came from a nearby soviet nuclear facility, which
was shut down in 1990.
Around 45 000 thunderstorms occur throughout the world
every day. That's five every second!
The Atlantic swordfish can swim at an incredible 109
km/h (68 mhp), which means it can cover 91 metres (100 yards) in
only three seconds.
The speed of sound varies with altitude and at sea
level is 1 224 km/h (761 mph), but at 10 700 metres (35 000 ft)
it is 159 km/h (99 mph) slower.
On 10 September 1621 King James of England 'sold'
Canada or Nova Scotia to Sir William Alexander for one Scottish
penny.
In 1999 around 90 000 trees in Paris were fitted with
tiny glass and carbon-fibre microchips. This is so the city's tree
surgeons can analyse the trees' health and precisely identify which
trees are in need of treatment. About 1 200 trees in Paris die annually
due to pollution, dehydration and other causes.
The world's oldest known mother is 65-year old Satyabhama
Mahapatra, who gave birth to her first child in 2003. Satyabhama
is a retired indian schoolteacher.
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