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Illustration by Arnie Bermudez
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Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, November 5, 2003
Things you always never wanted to know
Thinking that its parents were a camel and a leopard, the Europeans once called the animal a "camelopard." Today it's called a "giraffe."
The giraffe's blood pressure is two or three times that of a healthy man and may be the highest in the world. Because the giraffe has such a long neck - 10 to 12 feet - its heart needs tremendous force to pump blood through the carotid artery to the brain. The giraffe's heart is huge; it weighs 25 pounds, is two feet long, and has walls up to three inches thick.
The formidable-looking black rhinoceros, weighing over a ton, is considered the most easily tamed animal in Africa. Once penned, he becomes so gentle he will eat out of his keeper's hand, and will come on call to have his ear rubbed.
The largest painting in the world is the Battle of Gettysburg, painted in 1883 by Paul Philippoteaux and 16 assistants, who worked for two and a half years. It is 410 feet long, 70 feet high and weighs 11,792 pounds. In 1964, the painting was bought by Joe King of Winston-Salem, N.C.
In 1418, women's headgear was so tall that the doorways of the royal castle of Vincennes, France, had to be raised, on the orders of the queen, to allow the ladies of the court to pass through without ducking.
In 14th century France, Philip the Fair forbade dukes, counts, barons and their wives to own more than four garments; unmarried women could own only one dress, unless they were heiresses who had inherited castles. His edicts did not mention shoes, however, and they became a symbol of elegance. Named after its inventor, the "poulaine" was a shoe whose tip was as long as two feet for princes and noblemen, one foot for rich people of lower degree and only half a foot for common people. Such shoes proved a hazard among the French Crusaders at the battle of Nicopolis (1396) when they had to cut off the tips in order to run away.
In 1909, Annette Kellerman, the Australian swimming star, appeared on a Boston beach wearing a figure-fitting jersey bathing suit with sleeves shortened almost to her shoulders and trousers ending two inches above her knees. She was arrested for indecent exposure.
Ketchup once was sold as a patent medicine. In the 1830s it enjoyed a measure of popularity in the United States as "Dr. Miles' (sic) Compound Extract of Tomato."
To keep your feet warm, put on a hat. 80 percent of all body heat escapes through the head.
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