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FACTS OF THE MONTH:
"January" comes from Janus, a Roman god with two faces. One looked into the past, the other the future.
Afghanistan is the only country that begins with an 'A' but does not end with an 'a'.
Former "Today Show" host Deborah Norville can play the accordian.
| from TERRA
NOT-SO-FIRMA WEEK:
On the average, there is at least one 8.0 or higher earthquake somewhere on the earth every year. A result of the Titanic's sinking was the formation of the International Ice Patrol. As a result, no other ship has sunk by an iceberg since then. The only active volcano in Antarctica spurts gold crystals when it erupts, although not enough to bother collecting. Very strong updrafts catch the water as it flows over the cliffs of Koolau Falls in Hawaii and blows the water back where it came from, giving the appearance that the water is flowing up the falls. The air at the end of the day is dustier than at the beginning of the day, making the setting sun redder than the rising sun. The Tonle Sap, a Cambodian river, flows north half of the year and south the other half. Mount Everest is the highest mountain on Earth, but it's not the tallest. Everest is only about 17,000 feet tall, part of a plateau already 12,000 feet above sea level, giving Everest a measurement 29,000 feet above sea level. The tallest mountain is the entire Big Island of Hawaii. Its tallest peak, Mauna Kea, is 13,784 feet above sea level. The other 18,000 feet sits below sea level on the ocean floor, making Mauna Kea over 31,000 feet tall. |
If five U.S. Senators had voted differently, the Panama Canal would have been built in Nicaragua.
Twenty-one of the first twenty-three Americans in space were either eldest or only children.
During World War II, no German was allowed to call his horse 'Adolf'.
A bowling pin only has to tilt 7.5 degrees to fall down.
After 20,000 games, the Harlem Globetrotters' record is 19,668-332, a winning percentage of .983.
West Virginia is the only state without a natural lake.
In America the golf term for making a hole three shots below par is a 'double eagle'. In Europe and Japan it's called an 'albatross'.
The cruise ship Queen Elizabeth 2 gets six inches to the gallon.
| MOMENTS IN NFL HISTORY:
1898: The Morgan Athletic Club was formed in Chicago. After various owners, name changes and location shifts, that organization still exists in the NFL today as the Arizona Cardinals. 1932: The first NFL playoff game is held when the Chicago Bears and Portsmouth Spartans finish with identical winning percentages. Due to a blizzard the game is moved indoors to Chicago Stadium, the Bears winning 9-0 on an 80-yard field. One of the additions made for this game still in use today are the midfield hash marks. 1940: The first championship game to be broadcast on network radio was also the most lopsided, as the Chicago Bears defeated Washington 73-0. 1946: The Cleveland Rams move to Los Angeles, becoming the NFL's first West Coast team. 1952: The Dallas Texans, the NFL's first team in the Lone Star State, begins play. They finish the year 1-11 and promptly fold, giving the Texans the distinction of being the NFL's last defunct team. 1960: The second and third pro football teams in Dallas begin play. The NFL's Dallas Cowboys finished their first season with an 0-11-1 record. The new AFL's Dallas Texans went 8-6 their first year. Three years later the team moved to Kansas City, and still exist today as the Chiefs. 1978: Dallas defeated Denver 27-10 in Super Bowl XII, the first championship game to be held indoors, at the Louisiana Superdome. It was also the first single program of any kind to be viewed by over 100,000,000 people. |
The engineer in charge of designing the Galveston Seawall is also the author of Roberts' Rules of Order.
Pennsylvania was the first colony to legalize witchcraft.
Mongolia is the largest landlocked country.
Giraffes have no vocal cords.
Four people portrayed Darth Vader in the "Star Wars" movies: The guy in the outfit, the James Earl Jones voice, the actor portraying Anakin Skywalker, and the guy doing the breathing.
The four most-watched Super Bowls, including the most recent, all aired on NBC.
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