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Fastfacts: Things you always never wanted to know
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Illustration by Arnie Bermudez
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Arizona Daily Wildcat
Monday, August 23, 2004
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Swede Birger Pellas grew the longest moustache ever recorded. On Feb. 3, 1989, it measured 9 feet and 4 inches.
An American sailor named Cummings made a name for himself in the early 19th century for the bravado he showed in swallowing more than 30 knives. Some re-emerged through "normal bodily functions," but when he died in 1809, after one knife punctured his stomach lining, an autopsy revealed that 14 blades were still in his stomach.
Fish tapeworms can grow up to 33 feet long, lying curled up in your small intestines, where they can survive for up to 13 years.
Among the Dieri, an Australian aborigine tribe, widows apply a layer of white clay to their skin and are not allowed to speak until the clay has peeled off, sometimes months later.
Dolphins can carry on two conversations at once. They whistle and make clicking noises, and are able to convey independent messages in both mediums at once. Each dolphin has a distinctive "signature whistle" to identify itself to other members in its pod, and can also stun prey with intense bursts of sound.
Ancient Greek historian Herodotus reported that it was customary in Babylon to place sick people in the street to allow passers-by to offer medical advice.
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