Fast Facts
Arizona Daily Wildcat
Wednesday, November 2, 2005
Things you've always never wanted to know
When female wasps return to the colony after foraging, they may initiate aggressive encounters with males and stuff them headfirst into empty nest cells. Cornell University researchers who observed the behavior call it "male-stuffing," and believe it contributes to the colony's fitness by making more food available to larvae.
A 15th anniversary is called a quindecennial.
In 1940, silver coins fell from the skies on to the town of Gorky, Russia. A tornado had lifted up an old money chest and dropped the coins it contained as the wind carried it along.
The marquees of the 50 largest casinos and hotels in Las Vegas use enough electricity to run more than a thousand average U.S. homes.
A quality, fully faceted round brilliant diamond has at least 58 facets. These are important for the maximum sparkle and brilliance of the stone.
The word "peach" was once used as a slang term for informing against or betraying an accomplice.
Animal Crackers are not really crackers, but cookies that were imported to the U.S. from England in the late 1800s. Barnum's circuslike boxes were designed with a string handle so that they could be hung on a Christmas tree.
A Scottish term for someone who is sullen or bad-tempered is "dorty."
In the famous Parker Brothers game Monopoly, the space on which a player has the greatest statistical chance of landing is Illinois Avenue. This is followed by the B&O Railroad, Free Parking, Tennessee Avenue, New York Avenue and Reading Railroad.
A 15-pound turkey typically has about 70 percent white meat and 30 percent dark meat.
It only snows about 2 inches per year over most of Antarctica.
The coldest temperature ever recorded on Earth was -128.6 degrees Fahrenheit in Antarctica.
In his autobiography, comedian Bob Hope acknowledged the importance of having good writers. He wrote, "I was in this crowded elevator, and this little old lady turned around and stared in my face. 'Bob Hope,' she said, 'say something cute.' So of course I said, 'Avocado.' It's pretty hard to say something cute unless you have your cute writers right beside you."
A thousand tons of meteor dust fall to earth every day.