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FACTS OF THE MONTH:
"February" comes from the Latin word Februare (to cleanse). Ancient Romans during this time of year performed religious rites to purge themselves of sin.
The distance between an alligator's eyes in inches is directly proportional to the alligator's length in feet.
Walt Disney's autograph looks nothing like the Disney logo.
Abraham Lincoln suffered from a terminal illness, a byproduct of which was his unusual height. Modern-day doctors studying reports on his condition suggest that, even if he hadn't been assassinated, he would've been dead within a year anyway.
The state with the warmest record low is, obviously, Hawaii: in 1979, at the highest point in the entire state, the temperature dropped to a frigid 12 above. While every state has reached 100 degrees at some point in its history, two states have never reached 101: Alaska, of course; and, again, Hawaii, which gives it the distinction of being the only state to have both the highest record low and the lowest record high.
In order for a native of Iceland to get a job in that country, he or she must be a high school graduate, with the ability to speak at least three languages.
The most commonly treated part of the body are the knees.
| "MEN, WOMEN, MARS, VENUS
STUFF" WEEK:
A woman's heart beats faster than a man's. In Ancient Greece, a woman's age was counted with their marriage date as the starting point. Supposedly, the wedding marked the start of a woman's real life. In pre-Ancient Athens, women were treated as inferiors, more important than domesticated animals only because men couldn't give birth. Male homosexuality was the 'in' thing, since that was considered the only way a man could love an 'equal'. Out of every 71 color-blind people, 70 of them are men. In medieval Japan, a woman caught alone in a room with a man other than her husband was immediately executed, regardless of the circumstances. In the early days of America, women worked in the same blue-collar jobs that men did, and earned the same pay. Eighty-five percent of Valentine's Day cards are purchased by women. |
| OLYMPICS WEEK:
In order for a sport to become an Olympic event, it must be practiced in at least 25 countries on three continents. France, Germany, Japan, Canada, Italy and the United States are the only countries that have hosted both Winter and Summer Games. France and the U.S. are the only ones to do each more than once. Until 1992, the Winter and Summer Olympics were held the same year. The Winter Games were switched to even-numbered non leap years in 1994 so that the International Olympic Committee, as well as the media, could concentrate solely on one Olympics without worrying about another one just a few months later. Because quarantine regulations would not allow horses into Australia for the 1956 Summer Olympics, the Equestrian events were held a few months earlier in Europe. A 1980 autopsy revealed that Poland's Stella Walsh, gold-medalist in the Women's 100-Meter Dash at the 1932 L.A. Olympics, was actually a man. Prior to the inception of the Winter Olympics in 1924, Ice Hockey and Figure Skating were events at the Summer Olympics. South America, Africa and Antarctica have never hosted the Olympics. In fact, they have been held in the Southern Hemisphere only once (1956, Australia). NBC has American broadcast rights to the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, and the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, as well as the 2006 Winter and 2008 Summer Games, the locations of which have not yet been determined. |
In the Middle Ages, chicken soup was considered an aphrodisiac.
In 1976, before over twenty witnesses, a Los Angeles secretary legally married a 50-pound rock.
Prior to 1863 use of the Postal Service was free.
Pluto, the Astrological sign for death, was directly above Dallas, Texas when John F. Kennedy was born.
Only 8% of engaged women are virgins.
Three times more people watched a 1973 Elvis concert than watched the 1969 moon landing.
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