When Ulysses S. Grant became the 18th president of the United States of America, he was a war hero. He had not only fought in, but won, some of the bloodiest battles in United States history. When we Americans voted for him, we thought we were getting a president who was bold, brave and brash, but here are some facts about this famous president that might surprise you.
West Point
Xu Xing, who USA Today has called “China’s real-life Indiana Jones”, uncovered specimens of this most unusal dinosaur in the fossil beds of Liaoning Province in northeastern China. Xu Xing works at the Institute of Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology in Beijing, China. In the January 23rd issue of the journal Nature, Xu and his colleagues discuss the possibility that this dinosaur is an early ancestor of birds.
There is something about ladybugs that makes us smile, and why shouldn’t we enjoy them? They are harmless to people, but are great for pest control. They are small. And the red and black colors are fun and happy. The only downside to ladybugs is their fall migration, during this time, it seems as if there are ladybugs everywhere, and when it comes to ladybugs, there is such a thing as to much of a good thing.
One of the greatest horror writers of all time wasn’t Stephen King, but rather Edgar Allen Poe. Poe didn’t write long novels but rather short stories that were so chilling that we remember the haunting lines years after we read the tale. Poe’s released his inner demons on paper, and the results are tales like The Tell-Tale Heart, The Pit and the Pendulum, and The Cask of Amontillado.
The first analysis of the genome sequence of the duck-billed platypus has been published revealing clues about genome organization during the early evolution of mammals. “At first glance, the platypus appears as if it was the result of an evolutionary accident,” said Dr. Francis S. Collins, director of NIH’s National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI). “But as weird as this animal looks, its genome sequence is priceless for understanding how fundamental mammalian biological processes have evolved.”
Image courtesy of NHGRI
Amazingly, there are only three fruits native to North America. Can you name them?
It is common knowledge that honey is an amazing thing. It is good for our bodies both inside and out. We smear it on our skin and hair to make them feel softer, we add it to tea to help ease a sore throat, we dip chicken nuggets in it so we can trick out taste buds into thinking we’re really eating candy. But you might not have known that honey was once used to preserve Dracula.
1 comment Admin | AmazingFacts, odd |
We never think of chocolate and famous military figures at the same time. We tend to think of chocolate as an indulgence, something to be savored as a reward for doing something spectacular or something we eat when we are stressed and need a quick pick me up. Apparently, Napoleon shared our addiction. According to legend, he always made sure that he had a piece of chocolate tucked into his pocket. Whenever he needed a quick pick me up, he ate it. Perhaps that is why so many chocolate deserts have the word Napoleon worked into their names.
Fashion Advice
Stuffing bits of chocolate into his pockets wasn’t the only thing that the leader of the French Revolution did that was a little bit different. You know the buttons that are on the end of the sleeves on sports coats, the ones near the cuff that don’t seem to have any purpose. You can thank Napoleon for those as well. He didn’t put the buttons on the jacket sleeves for decoration. He had them sewn onto the sleeves of his officer’s coats because he was repulsed by the men using their sleeves as handkerchiefs to wipe their noses, mouths, and brows. The buttons effectively stopped this behavior.
Josephine
Most people don’t realize that Napoleon married twice, both times to the same women. The first time he married his young bride, Josephine, was in 1796. Before this marriage Josephine was imprisoned and very nearly beheaded. Before their marriage Josephine went by her first name, Marie, but after the ceremony Napoleon started calling her by her second name, Josephine. The second time Napoleon married Josephine was just before he become the Emperor of France. The pair’s marriage was annulled when it became apparent that Josephine couldn’t have children. Josephine niece eventually became the Queen of Holland.
There are too many moments in Olympic history that you could categorize as “unfair”. Here is a glimpse at our top five greatest blunders in Olympic history.
1) 1976, 1980 & 1984 Summer Olympics - Let’s Trade Boycotts
The 1980 and 1984 boycotts left a lot of Olympic athletes on the sidelines, but these were not the only times boycotts have occured. In 1976, 26 countries boycotted the games in Montreal due to protests over Apartheid in South Africa .. the offending party was New Zealand who played Rugby in South Africa. Moreover, China boycotted the Olympics until 1984 because Taiwan was recognized as its own country.
By combining information from the camera’s blue-green, red and near-infrared color filters, scientists confirmed that material around the rim of Phobos’ largest surface feature, Stickney crater, appears bluer than the rest of Phobos. The impact that excavated the 9-kilometer (about 5.5 mile) in diameter Stickney crater is thought to have almost shattered the moon.
“Based on analogy with material on our own moon, the bluer color could mean that the material is fresher, or hasn’t been exposed to space as long as the rest of Phobos’ surface has,” Bridges said.
The new view shows landslides along the walls of Stickney and other large craters: Phobos’ striking surface grooves and crater chains; and craters hidden on the moon’s dark side illuminated by “Marsshine.”
“Marsshine” is sunlight reflected by Mars onto the moon. The phenomenon is similar to “Earthshine,” where Earth reflects sunlight that illuminates the dark side of our moon. Like Earth’s moon, Mars’ moons Phobos and Deimos are “tidally locked” on their planet, that is, they always present the same side to the planet they orbit.
These images are among several new HiRISE images being released at: http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/MRO/multimedia/20080409.html. The images include an anaglyph, or 3D view of Phobos that can be viewed with red-blue glasses.
The Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter flies at about 4,800 kilometers per hour (7,800 mph) between 250 to 316 kilometers (155 and 196 miles) above the surface of Mars.
