Things I Learned: 8/25/11

I’m still learning things, but I’m changing the rules because:

           

1. It’s my project.

2. I can’t count (If you’ve trained with me, you know this) and therefore have no idea if I’ve actually learned enough things to account for the time between my last list and now.

            

3. As you all probably know, I have ADHD. Is it reasonable to ask an ADHD kid to restrict herself to learning a single new thing a day (or to ask her to remember to write down that single new thing)? Hell no.

So here’s some stuff I learned. Enjoy it.

-Multisport started in Mission Bay, CA where the San Diego Track Club started swimming before and after their run workouts.

-James Bond (the fictional one) is named after a real ornithologist. And he’s “007” because that was the number of the bus Ian Fleming took to the local bar.

-The dictionary definition of dork is: 1.) a dull, slow-witted or socially inept person; 2.) a penis.

-One theory of the origins of tennis scoring says that the scores were based on a clock face that was used on the court. Each point was worth a quarter of the clock face (15, 30, 45, 60). The first player to reach 60 won, but to make it so that a player would have to win by more than one point, they introduce “deuce,” changed the 45 to a 40 and awarded 10 points for each point after deuce.

-The origin of the term “love” for zero in tennis may come from the French term l’oeuf (the egg) or from the belief that players have “love for each other” at the start of the match when both scores are at zero.

-Potato chips were invented in Saratoga Springs, NY by a chef named George Crum, who sent the chips to a diner complaining that his French fries were too thick.

-The first cows brought to America landed at what is now Vaughan Woods Memorial State Park in South Berwick, ME.

-In MA, it’s illegal to frighten a pigeon.

-In Waterville, ME, it’s illegal to blow your nose in public.

-Potatoes come from Peru.

- Glenn Burke, an outfielder for the LA Dodgers, invented the high five in 1977. Burke was also the first Major League Baseball player to come out (after he retired in 1980).

-August is admit you’re happy month.

-Cigüeña means stork in Spanish.

-August 13 was national lefthanders day

-After the BP oil spill oil evaporated and ended up in clouds…and then it rained oil (or at least hydrocarbons).

-If a rat’s whisker is stimulated for 4 minutes following a stroke, the blood will seek alternate routes around the blockage, therefore preventing brain damage.

-El Paso, Texas and Antarctica were right next to each other before Pangaea broke apart.

-You can tell the age of freshwater mussels by counting the rings on their shells. (Confession: I may have known this.)

-Friday, August 26 is national dog day.

-Lager is fermented for longer and at lower temperatures than ale.

-Greater flamingos enhance their pink color using carotenoid pigments secreted by a preening gland on their butts.

-Flamingos have salt glands that enable them to excrete excess salt.

-Flamingos are filter feeders: They submerge their heads upside down, using their upper bills as ladles and their tongues as pistons that pump water (and food) into their bills and squirt water out.

-Flamingos stand on one leg to stay warm.

-Flamingos show “handedness.” When they curve their neck behind them (to stay warm), most curve to the right, but some (the left-neckers) curve to the left.

-Flamingo chicks are more likely to survive if they are surrounded by chicks born on the same day.