E = MC2 ? Yes, It’s Quiz Day.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Don’t worry, I’m not asking you to prove the theory of relativity or anything like that, although the ‘E’ does crop up in one of the questions.

But there are a few easy ones mixed in as well, so why not have a go?

If you get stuck you can, as always, find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1:  Was 1998 a leap year?

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Q.  2:  What (domestic) animal gives us the most by-products?

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Q.  3:  What city is known as the Paris of South America?

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Q.  4:  What does an ‘oologist’ (pronounced oo-all-o-gist) collect or study?

           a) shoe laces          b) stamps          c) bird eggs          d) rare coins

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Q.  5:  What’s the term for water induction process in plants?

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Q.  6:  In which American state is Cape Canaveral, a launching site for space travel?

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Q.  7:  This metal is the main element in Bronze and constitutes approximately 10% of Yellow Gold, what is it?

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Q.  8:  What does the ‘E’ represent in the equation  E = MC2?

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Q.  9:  Which bird turns its head upside down to eat?

    a) the stork        b) the albatross        c) the flamingo        d) the swan

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Q. 10:  LOT is the national airline of which country?

            a) Peru          b) Lithuania          c) Poland          d) Latvia

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Q. 11:  What are the two major groups of islands off the north-east coast of Scotland?

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Q. 12:  ‘Richard Hannay’ is the chief protagonist in what John Buchan novel?

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Q. 13:  What is the name of Caractacus Potts’ 12- cylinder, eight-litre, supercharged Paragon Panther?

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Q. 14:  As well as being the first woman mayor in England, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to qualify in which profession?

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Q. 15:  What general name is given to a female donkey?

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Q. 16:  What name is given to the natural grassland area of southern Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay?

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Q. 17:  According to legend, which creatures did Saint Patrick banish from Ireland?

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Q. 18:  What is an estate, large farm or ranch called in Spanish-speaking countries?

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Q. 19:  Who is the wizard in The Hobbit?

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Q. 20:  From which country does Samba dancing come?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  Was 1998 a leap year?

A.  1:  No.

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Q.  2:  What (domestic) animal gives us the most by-products?

A.  2:  The Pig.

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Q.  3:  What city is known as the Paris of South America?

A.  3:  Buenos Aires In Argentina.

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Q.  4:  What does an ‘oologist’ (pronounced oo-all-o-gist) collect or study?

           a) shoe laces          b) stamps          c) bird eggs          d) rare coins

A.  4:  The correct answer is c) bird eggs.

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Q.  5:  What’s the term for water induction process in plants

A.  5:  Osmosis.

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Q.  6:  In which American state is Cape Canaveral, a launching site for space travel?

A.  6:  It is in Florida.

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Q.  7:  This metal is the main element in Bronze and constitutes approximately 10% of Yellow Gold, what is it?

A.  7:  It is Copper.

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Q.  8:  What does the ‘E’ represent in the equation  E = MC2?

A.  8:  The ‘E’ represents ‘Energy’.

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Q.  9:  Which bird turns its head upside down to eat?

    a) the stork        b) the albatross        c) the flamingo        d) the swan

A.  9:  The correct answer is c) the flamingo.

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Q. 10:  LOT is the national airline of which country?

            a) Peru          b) Lithuania          c) Poland          d) Latvia

A. 10:  The correct answer is c) Poland.

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Q. 11:  What are the two major groups of islands off the north-east coast of Scotland?

A. 11:  They are the Orkney Islands and the Shetland Islands.

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Q. 12:  ‘Richard Hannay’ is the chief protagonist in what John Buchan novel?

A. 12:  The 39 Steps.

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Q. 13:  What is the name of Caractacus Potts’ 12- cylinder, eight-litre, supercharged Paragon Panther?

A. 13:  It is Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

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Q. 14:  As well as being the first woman mayor in England, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson was the first woman to qualify in which profession?

A. 14:  As a doctor.

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Q. 15:  What general name is given to a female donkey?

A. 15:  A Jenny.

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Q. 16:  What name is given to the natural grassland area of southern Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay?

A. 16:  The Pampas.

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Q. 17:  According to legend, which creatures did Saint Patrick banish from Ireland?

A. 17:  Snakes.

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Q. 18:  What is an estate, large farm or ranch called in Spanish-speaking countries?

A. 18:  It is called a Hacienda.

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Q. 19:  Who is the wizard in The Hobbit?

A. 19:  Gandalf.

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Q. 20:  From which country does Samba dancing come?

A. 20:  Brazil.

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This Quiz Is A Gas – Well The First Question Is.

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Hi it’s quiz day again.

The usual mixture of subjects including geography, history, science and nature, so something for everyone perhaps.

And remember, as always, if you get stuck, you can find the answers waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay down below, but please NO cheating!

Enjoy and good luck.

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Q.  1:  Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?

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Q.  2:  What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?

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Q.  3:  Every year around this time the President of the US pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA., to live out its days, but which President is believed to have been the first to start this annual tradition?

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Q.  4:  What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)

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Q.  5:  What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?

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Q.  6:  Who was the first American President of the United States?

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Q.  7:  Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?

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Q.  8:  Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)

            a)  Australia         b)  Iceland         c)  Syria         d)  Uruguay         e)  Vietnam

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Q.  9:  And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)

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Q. 10:  In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?

            a)  1924            b)  1927            c)  1931            d)  1935

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Q. 11:  What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?

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Q. 12:  In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?

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Q. 13:  When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?

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Q. 14:  What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?

            a)  Hair            b) Trees            c)  Teeth            d)  Plants

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Q. 15:  What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)

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Q. 16:  Which is the largest planet in the solar system?

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Q. 17:  Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?

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Q. 18:  Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?

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Q. 19:  Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?

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Q. 20:  Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?

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ANSWERS

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Q.  1:  Which gas is the main element in the air that we breathe?

A.  1:  Nitrogen. (By volume, dry air contains 78.09% nitrogen, 20.95% oxygen, 0.93% argon, 0.039% carbon dioxide, and small amounts of other gases.)

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Q.  2:  What is the link between the females of the following: Antelope, Deer, Hamster, Mouse, and Squirrel?

A.  2:  They are all called ‘Doe’.

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Q.  3:  Every year around this time the President of the US pardons a turkey and it goes to a public farm called Frying Pan Park, Herndon, VA., to live out its days, but which President is believed to have been the first to start this annual tradition?

A.  3:  President Harry Truman in 1947.

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Q.  4:  What do the terms ‘NASA’ and ‘ESA’ stand for? (A point for each correct answer.)

A.  4:  NASA is the North American Space Agency and ESA is the European Space Agency.

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Q.  5:  What type of creature is a ‘gadwall’?

A.  5:  A duck.

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Q.  6:  Who was the first American President of the United States?

A.  6:  The first President of the United States, born in the United States after July 4th, 1776, and therefore American, was Martin Van Buren (born in 1782).

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Q.  7:  Which physical property allows a needle to float on water?

A.  7:  Surface tension.

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Q.  8:  Name the Capitals of the following countries. (A point for each correct answer.)

            a)  Australia         b)  Iceland         c)  Syria                d)  Uruguay         e)  Vietnam

A.  8:  The correct answers are

            a) Canberra         b) Reykjavík       c) Damascus        d) Montevideo        e) Hanoi

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Q.  9:  And a related question, which country has three Capital cities? (A point for the correct answer and a bonus point for each one you name correctly.)

A.  9:  South Africa – Pretoria (executive),  Bloemfontein (judicial) and Cape Town (legislative).

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Q. 10:  In what year did the first Macy’s Thanksgiving/Christmas parade take place?

            a)  1924            b)  1927            c)  1931            d)  1935

A. 10:  The correct answer is a) 1924.

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Q. 11:  What is represented by the chemical symbol ‘Sn’?

A. 11:  ‘Sn’ is the chemical symbol for Tin.

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Q. 12:  In Roman Mythology, who was the messenger of the Gods?

A. 12:  Mercury.

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Q. 13:  When is the next leap year that will begin on a Friday?

A. 13:  2016. (It’s easier than you think, any leap year starting on Friday, January 1, should be divisible by 28, such as 1932, 1960, 1988, or 2044.

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Q. 14:  What does a ‘dendrologist’ study?

            a)  Hair            b) Trees            c)  Teeth            d)  Plants

A. 14:  The correct answer is b)  trees.

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Q. 15:  What two famous Shakespearean characters appear in the phonetic alphabet? (A point for each one you name correctly.)

A. 15:  Romeo and Juliet.

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Q. 16:  Which is the largest planet in the solar system?

A. 16:  Jupiter.

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Q. 17:  Which English scientist discovered Sodium, Potassium, Barium, Calcium, Magnesium, and designed a famous lamp?

A. 17:  Sir Humphrey Davy.

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Q. 18:  Where would you find an ‘ISBN’ number?

A. 18:  On a book.

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Q. 19:  Which city was sacked by the Visigoths in 410 and the Vandals in 455?

A. 19:  Rome.

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Q. 20:  Who was going like ‘a bat out of hell’ in the late 1970s?

A. 20:  Meat Loaf.

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Significant Number Factoid Friday – Today The Number Had To Be 1776

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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Hello everyone.

And a very happy Fourth of July to everyone, particularly my American friends.

Independence Day again, and no sign of invading spaceships so I’m assuming its safe to do another number factoid.

And what else could it be today other than 1776, the year America became an independent nation.

Here we go.

Enjoy

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And where else to start but with….

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American Revolutionary War

• On January 1^st, 1776 Gen George Washington hoisted the Continental Union Flag. The same day the town of Norfolk, Virginia, was destroyed by the combined actions of the British Royal Navy and occupying Patriot forces.
• On Jan 5^th the Assembly of New Hampshire adopts its 1st state constitution.
• On January 10^th Thomas Paine published his pamphlet Common Sense “written by an Englishman” in Philadelphia arguing for independence from British rule in what were then the Thirteen Colonies.

• On Jan 16^th the Continental Congress approves enlistment of free blacks.
• On February 27^th Scottish North Carolina Loyalists charge across Moore’s Creek bridge near Wilmington to attack what they mistakenly believed to be a small force of rebels. Several loyalist leaders are killed in the ensuing battle. The patriot victory virtually ended all British authority in the province.
• On March 2^nd and 3^rd the American Continental Navy and Marines made a successful assault on Nassau, Bahamas, and in the Battle of the Rice Boats, American Patriots resisted the Royal Navy on the Savannah River effectively ending British control over the Province of Georgia.
• On March 4^th American Patriots capture Dorchester Heights thereby dominating the port of Boston, Massachusetts. Threatened by the Patriot cannons on Dorchester Heights, the British evacuate Boston on March 17^th.
• On April 12^th the Royal Colony of North Carolina produced the Halifax Resolves making it the first British colony officially to authorize its Continental Congress delegates to vote for independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• On May 4^th Rhode Island became the first American colony to renounce allegiance to King George III of Great Britain.
• On June 7^th Richard Henry Lee of Virginia proposed to the Second Continental Congress (meeting in Philadelphia) that “these united colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent states.”
• On June 11^th the Continental Congress appointed a Committee of Five to draft a Declaration of Independence.

• On June 12^th the Virginia Declaration of Rights by George Mason was adopted by the Virginia Convention of Delegates and three days later on June 15^th the Delaware General Assembly voted to suspend government under the British Crown.
• On July 2^nd the final (despite minor revisions) U.S. Declaration of Independence was written. The Continental Congress passed the Lee Resolution.
• And as we all know, on July 4^th the United States Declared Independence: The Continental Congress ratified the declaration by the United States of its independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain.
• On July 8^th the Liberty Bell rang in Philadelphia for the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence and the following day an angry mob in New York City toppled the equestrian statue of George III of Great Britain in Bowling Green.

• On August 2^nd most of the American colonies ratify the Declaration of Independence.
• On August 15^th the first Hessian troops land on Staten Island to join British forces.
• On August 27^th in the Battle of Long Island, Washington’s troops were routed in Brooklyn by British under William Howe.
• On September 1^st the Cherokee Nation was invaded by 6,000 patriot troops from Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina begins. The troops destroyed thirty-six Cherokee towns.
• On September 7^th saw the world’s first submarine attack when the American submersible craft Turtle attempted to attach a time bomb to the hull of British Admiral Richard Howe’s flagship HMS Eagle in New York Harbor.
• On September 11^th an abortive peace conference took place between British and Americans on Staten Island.
• On September 15^th British troops landed on Manhattan at Kips Bay.
• On September 16^th in the Battle of Harlem Heights, the Continental Army under Washington are victorious against the British on Manhattan.
• On September 22^nd the British hanged spy Nathan Hale in New York City for espionage.
• The following month, on October 11^th on Lake Champlain near Valcour Island, a British fleet led by Sir Guy Carleton defeated 15 American gunboats commanded by Brigadier General Benedict Arnold. Although nearly all of Arnold’s ships are destroyed, the two day-long battle gave Patriot forces enough time to prepare defenses of New York City.
• On October 18^th in the Battle of Pell’s Point, forces of the American Continental Army resisted a British and Hessian force in The Bronx, whilst on October 28 in the Battle of White Plains, British forces attacked and captured Chatterton Hill from the Americans.
• On October 26^th Benjamin Franklin departed from America for France on a mission to seek French support for the American Revolution.

• The last day of that month, October 31^st saw King George III make his first speech before British Parliament since the Declaration of Independence that summer, in which in perhaps the understatement of the year, told the British Parliament that all was not going well for Britain in the war with the United States.
• On November 16^th Hessian mercenaries under Lieutenant General Wilhelm von Knyphausen captured Fort Washington from the American Continentals. The captain of the American navy ship Andrew Doria fired a salute to the Dutch flag on Fort Orange and Johannes de Graaff answers with eleven gun shots.
• On December 7^th the Marquis de Lafayette attempted to enter the American military as a major general.
• And on December 21^st the Royal Colony of North Carolina reorganizes into the State of North Carolina after adopting its own constitution. Richard Caswell becomes the first governor of the newly formed state.
• On December 23^rd Thomas Paine, living with Washington’s troops, began publishing The American Crisis, containing the stirring phrase, “These are the times that try men’s souls.”
• At Christmas 1776, Gen. George Washington ordered the first issue of The Crisis to be read to his troops on Christmas Eve, then at 6 p.m. all 2600 of them march to McKonkey’s Ferry, crossed the Delaware River and land on the Jersey bank at 3 a.m.
• And finally December 26^th saw the Battle of Trenton, in which Washington’s troops surprised and defeated the 1500 Hessian troops under the command of Col. Johann Rall outside Trenton, taking 948 prisoners while suffering only 5 wounded.

 

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In other things and other places in 1776

• The year 1776 was a leap year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar and a leap year starting on Friday of the 11-day slower Julian calendar.
• In Roman Numerals 1776 is written as MDCCLXXVI.
• On January 2^nd Austria ended interrogation torture
• On February 17^th Edward Gibbon published the first volume of his famous work, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire.

• On March 9^th Scottish economist Adam Smith published The Wealth of Nations in London.
• On March 28^th Juan Bautista de Anza found the site for the Presidio of San Francisco.
• On April 15^th the Duchess of Kingston was found guilty of bigamy.
• On May 1^st Adam Weishaupt founded the Illuminati in Ingolstadt, Bavaria.
• On June 17^th Lt. Jose Joaquin Moraga leads a band of colonists from Monterey Presidio, landing on June 29^th and constructing the Mission Dolores of the new Presidio of San Francisco.
• On July 12^th Captain James Cook sets off from Plymouth, England, in HMS Resolution on his third voyage, to the Pacific Ocean and Arctic, which would turn out to be fatal.

• On July 21^st Mozart’s Serenade No. 7 (the “Haffner”) is first performed in Salzburg, Austria.
• On July 29^th Francisco Silvestre Vélez de Escalante, Francisco Atanasio Domínguez, and eight other Spaniards set out from Santa Fe on an eighteen-hundred mile trek through the American Southwest. They were the first Europeans to explore the vast region between the Rockies and the Sierras.
• On September 6^th a hurricane hit Guadeloupe, killing more than 6000 people.
• On September 24^th the first of the now very famous St Leger horse races were held at Doncaster, England.
• On October 7^th Crown Prince Paul of Russia married Sophie Marie Dorothea of Württemberg.
• On October 9^th Father Francisco Palou founded the Mission San Francisco de Asis in what is now San Francisco, California.
• On October 18^th in a New York bar decorated with a bird tail, a customer orders “cock tail”.
• On December 5^th the first US fraternity, Phi Beta Kappa (William & Mary College), is formed.

• The Standard Practice for Conditioning and Testing Textiles is Active Standard ASTM D1776
• The Standard Specification for Eye Protective Devices for Paintball Sports is Active Standard ASTM F1776.
• MTE M-1776 is a Surge Protective Device
• P1776 is the code for solenoid stuck in low/reverse which is a fairly common problem and can be prevented most of the time by keeping the fluid clean.
• The 1776 Premier Program offers a venue for highly-committed, elite players to receive professional, year-round coaching and to seek competition at the highest levels of US Youth Soccer.

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Further Fabulously Fascinating Facts From Fasab!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

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I don’t know what it is about the letter ‘F’ but it seems to lend itself better to alliteration than any of the others – if your blog is called Fasab, that is 🙂 

Anyhow, here we go with another selection of those fabulously fascinating facts.

Enjoy.

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To manufacture a new car approximately 148,000 liters of water is needed.

 

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In 1985, a pregnant women was falsely accused of shoplifting a basketball

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The study of twins is known as gemellology

 

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Dalmatian puppies do not have any spots on them when they are born.

They actually develop them as they get older

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At the equator the Earth spins at about 1,038 miles per hour

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In World War II, the German submarine U-1206 was sunk by a malfunctioning toilet

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As a defense mechanism, the North American Opossum closes its eyes and becomes totally limp.

Basically it plays dead, hence the term ‘playing possum’.

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Approximately 18 billion disposable diapers end up in landfills each year.

These diapers can takes as long as 500 years to finally decompose

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Only one out of every three people wash their hands when leaving a public bathroom

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The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one mile in every five must be straight.

These straight sections are usable as airstrips in times of war or other emergencies.

 

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Two objects have struck the earth with enough force to destroy a whole city.

Each object, one in 1908 and again in 1947, struck regions of Siberia.

Not one human being was hurt either time

Tunguska asteroid strike 1908

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When Scott Paper Co. first started manufacturing toilet paper

they did not put their name on the product because of embarrassment

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Ian Fleming named his character “James Bond” after real-life ornithologist and author

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A Canadian, Troy Hurtubise, spent $100,000 and almost went bankrupt

building a RoboCop style suit so that he could withstand a bear attack

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The big toe is the foot reflexology pressure point for the head

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In November 1999, two women were killed by a lightning bolt.

The underwire located in their bras acted as a electrical conductors,

and when the lightning bolt hit the bra they left burn marks on their chest

 

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Average life span of a major league baseball: 7 pitches.

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Every U.S. bill regardless of denomination costs just 4 cents to make

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The average day is actually 23 hours, 56 minutes and 4.09 seconds.

We have a leap year every four years to make up for this shortfall

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Approximately 10.5 gallons of water is used in a dishwasher.

Washing the dishes by hand can use up to 20 gallons of water

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