Fast facts


Arizona Daily Wildcat
Friday, November 5, 2004

Things you always never wanted to know

  • An average snake requires 50 hours to fully digest a frog, start to finish.

  • The junk mail Americans receive in one day could produce enough energy to heat 250,000 homes.

  • The Boston Nation, a newspaper published in Ohio during the mid-19th century, had pages 7 1/2 feet long and 5 1/2 feet wide. It required two people to hold the paper in proper reading position.

  • Alex Trebek, the host of "Jeopardy!" won seven spelling bees and four science fair championships as a kid.

  • The language of Taki, spoken in parts of French Guinea, consists of only 340 words. It is not taught at the UA, nor does it currently fulfill second language requirements.

  • "Lesbian Seagull" singer Engelbert Humperdinck's real name isn't Engelbert Humperdinck! It's Arnold Dorsey. He switched it to Engelbert Humperdinck.

  • Babar the Elephant's wife's name is Celeste.

  • On Aug. 21, 1986, a tremendous explosion of carbon dioxide occurred in Lake Nyos, west of Cameroon. The dissolved carbon dioxide naturally seeping from springs beneath the lake was trapped in the deep water by high hydrostatic pressure, and once CO2 saturation was reached, an avalanche process triggered, resulting in an explosive overturn of the entire lake. The estimated 100 million cubic meters of CO2 that was released, being heavier than air, swept through and killed more than 1,700 people and livestock in settlements up to 25 kilometers away by suffocation.

  • The Egyptian pyramids were once faced completely with marble. The Parthenon was once painted.

  • Apples are a member of the rose family.

  • If all the water were drained from a 160-pound man, the corpse would weigh 64 pounds.