Random Fact
Apple cider vinegar, is a type of vinegar made from cider or apple must and has a pale to medium amber color. Contrary to standard vinegar use, apple cider vinegar is more commonly taken as a drink mixed with honey for flavor. It is known to treat many different ailments including acne and arthritis, and is also known as a weight loss aid.
Random Fact — Camels
A camel can drink 25 gallons of water in 5-10 minutes. Cattle could not tolerate such a sudden dilution of the blood because their red blood cells would burst under the osmotic stress.
Brought to you by: Water Bottle Lanyard
Random Fact – Porterhouse Steak
Martin Morrison, owner of Martin Morrison’s Porterhouse in New York City, is credited with coming up with the name porterhouse steak around 1814. The main customers at his establishment were sailors. One late evening with no beef left except for the short loin roasting piece, Morrison served a sailor a broiled slice of it. The sailor enjoyed the steak so much that he ordered nothing else and Martin Morrison’s Porterhouse began to specialize in the small loin steak. The word porterhouse originally referred to an establishment where porter (a very dark sweet ale) and sometimes steaks and other meals were sold.
Random Fact – Niagara Falls
Niagara Falls lies on the border between Ontario, Canada, and New York state, United States. It is divided into two sections, the American Falls (176 feet high with 150,000 gallons of water flowing over per second) and the Canadian Horseshoe Falls (167 feet high with 600,000 gallons of water flowing over per second). The first person to perform a high-wire stunt there was the French acrobat known as “Blondin,” in 1859. The first person to go over Niagara Falls in a barrel was 62-year-old school teacher Annie Edson Taylor in 1901. As of 2006, sixteen people have been known to go over Niagara Falls and eleven have survived.
Random Fact – Halloween
Halloween, celebrated on October 31, can be traced back to Samhain, the ancient Celtic harvest festival honoring the Lord of the Dead. Observed on November 1 in the British Isles and parts of France, Samhain also marked the beginning of the Celtic New Year. Because it was a time of transition between the old and the new, the Celts believed that the souls of those who had died during the previous year gathered to travel together to the land of the dead. It was also a time when those who had died in years past returned to visit their homes. November 1 was considered the end of the summer period, the date on which the herds were returned from pasture and land tenures were renewed. People lit bonfires to scare away evil spirits and “sacrificed” fruits and vegetables, hoping to appease the spirits of the deceased. Sometimes people disguised themselves in masks and costumes so that the visiting spirits would not recognize them. Charms, spells, and predictions of the future were all part of the eve of Samhain. In the old Celtic calendar, that last evening of October was “old-year’s night,” the night of all witches.
Random Fact
An awe-inspiring image was sent back to earth on this day in 1995. In its exploration of our universe, the Hubble Space Telescope sighted and photographed the birth of a star. The image of the Eagle Nebula’s towering mass expanding and taking shape forever reminds us of the power and majestic life of the universe.
Random Fact
Biceps are muscles that have two heads—the large flexor muscle of the front of the upper arm and the large flexor muscle of the back of the upper leg. The first is called the biceps brachii and the second is the biceps femoris, both parts of the human muscular system. The action of the biceps brachii flexes the arm at the elbow and shoulder and supinates the forearm—turns the palm forward or upward. To raise your hand, the biceps in the front of your upper arm contracts and pulls up the bones of your forearm. The biceps femoris is one of the hamstring muscles at the back of the thigh. This muscle extends the thigh, rotates it outward, and flexes the leg at the knee. The term biceps is from Latin bis, “two,” and caput, “head”.
Random Fact
Until 1883, every locality in America set its own time preference. Standard Time was adopted in the United States and Canada on this day, and the resulting time zone system made life a lot simpler for everyone who would eventually travel from coast to coast, by telephone or airplane.
Random Fact
Betelgeuse is a reddish star in the constellation Orion — on the eastern shoulder of the hunter — and one of the brightest stars in space. It is a cool red supergiant and it changes in brightness and size. Its name is derived from the Arabic word bat al-shauzâ, which means “the giant’s shoulder.” The star is approximately 310 light-years from Earth. Betelgeuse is one of the largest stars known and its diameter varies between 430 and 625 times the diameter of the Sun. Betelgeuse was the first star to have its diameter measured by an interferometer.
Random Fact
On this day in 1806, a young Army officer named Zebulon Montgomery Pike sighted a high mountain and decided to climb it. He had to abandon his attempt however, because of extreme weather conditions and the lack of suitable supplies for his men. Pikes Peak in Colorado, however, still bears his name.