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Things HURRICANES Have Sent FLYING!

November 12th 2008 09:47
flying cow
Hurricanes are unpredictable at the best of times, but who could have predicted these strange occurrences!

During one hurricane in the USA, witnesses noticed as a row of birds sitting on a branch had all their feathers blown off!

A young baby was found miles away from his home without a scratch on him.

In Iowa during 1962 a cow flew a full kilometre (about a half mile) during a tornado.

In the UK in 1703, a cow was discovered still alive in the uppermost branches of a tall tree. How you get a cow out of a tall tree I don't know!

In 1947 a multitude of fish were sent whipping along to land finally on a town in Louisiana - one witness included a wildlife biologist.

During an 1899 F4 tornado in Missouri, "three people, Miss Moorehouse, Mrs. Webster, and her son were caught up in the storm and carried nearly one-quarter mile. They were let down so gently that none of the three was seriously injured. Moorehouse described her incredible flight: 'I was conscious all the time I was flying through the air, and it seemed a long time. I seemed to be lifted up and whirled round and round, going up to a great height, at one time far above the church steeples, and seemed to be carried a long distance... As I was going through the air being whirled about at the sport of the storm, I saw a horse soaring and rotating about with me. It was a white horse and had a harness on. By the way it kicked and struggled as it was hurled about I knew it was alive. I prayed God that the horse might not come in contact with me, and it did not. I was mercifully landed upon the Earth unharmed, saved by a miracle."
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open book free image
Beatrix Potter of Peter Rabbit fame once received a letter from a 6 year old child who wrote of his disappointment with her latest tale, the Tale of Pigling Bland.

The author then wrote a letter of apology to the child explaining that even though she had been quite ill at the time, her publishers had twisted her arm into producing her annual Christmas book.

[ Click here to read more ]
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The Origins of the Humble TOOTHBRUSH!

October 2nd 2008 14:30
The toothbrush as we know it today was not invented until 1938. From around 3000 BC, people used anything from a 'chew stick' - a thin twig with a frayed end, to feathers, bones and porcupine quills to clean their teeth.

The bristle toothbrush, similar to the type used today, was invented in China in 1498. The bristles were actually made of coarse hairs taken from the back of a hog's neck and attached to a bamboo stick or bone.

[ Click here to read more ]
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computer mouse
This year the humble and much overlooked computer mouse turned 45 years old.

Douglas Engelbart at the Stanford Research Institute invented the first mouse in 1963. Looking more like a wooden box with a cord hanging out more than anything else, (pictured) the mouse was so named because it did look like it had the tail of a mouse running out of it.
1st first computer mouse
The 1st computer mouse.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Charles Darwin A DISGRACE!

July 16th 2008 10:30
young Charles Darwin
When Charles Darwin was growing up he was considered by his teachers to be quite a disgrace.

His school reports made mention of the fact that he cared little for study and only for shooting, riding and beetle collecting.

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Top Hats! A Menace To Society!!!

July 9th 2008 10:30
top hat
James Heatherington, the inventor of the top hat, introduced his design to the world in London during 1797.

Upon leaving the shop wearing his unusual headwear he was surrounded by a crowd of onlookers where some pushing and shoving ensued, resulting in women fainting and a young boy having his arm broken.

[ Click here to read more ]
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The Origin Of Rickshaws

June 23rd 2008 12:28
Rickshaws were invented in Japan by an American missionary back in 1869. Initially it was designed to transport his invalid wife around Yokohama, but eventually they caught on for other reasons.
rickshaw


The name of the man who invented them??

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TODAY Is LEAP DAY!!!

February 29th 2008 09:00
leaping frog
No it's not the day for leaping over lilyponds or frogs for that matter, instead it is the 29th of February, that strange 'extra' day that we receive once every four years when a 'Leap Year occurs'. So the date of February the 29th becomes known as Leap Day or Bissextile day.

So why do we have this phenomenon?

[ Click here to read more ]
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What Would You Make Of This!

February 23rd 2008 23:05
Charlie Chaplin
Here's a situation that could be considered laughable.

Charlie Chaplin once entered a competition and came away the winner of 3rd prize.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Levi's are NOT Really Jeans!

February 13th 2008 10:15
denim jeans
When Levi Strauss invented jeans during the late 1800's, he did not call his 'strange' pants denim jeans or even jeans at all.

Supposedly these strange trousers were originally made out of sailcloth and canvas for miners and prospectors to wear as they had been complaining about how their ordinary pants would stretch and split while on the job.

[ Click here to read more ]
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We've all heard the expression 'to turn a blind eye' but where did it really come from?

In short, Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson is the culprit responsible for today's common expression.

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Lady Randolph Churchill
Winston Churchill, the ex-wartime Prime Minister of Britain, was born in 1874, 8 months after a hurried wedding between his parents.

His mother, Lady Randolph Churchill, was considered to be a' real beauty', and tended to stray, even into the arms of King Edward VII of Denmark, an affair even his wife knew about.

[ Click here to read more ]
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I'LL BET YOU 50 WORDS To Be PRECISE!

January 10th 2008 21:08
book
The founder of Random House book publishing, Bennett Cerf once made a bet after 30 years in the company with a gentlemen by the name of Theodor Geisel, known better by his Nom-de-plume of Dr Seuss.

Cerf bet Geisel that he couldn't write a book with exactly 50 words in it.

[ Click here to read more ]
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Great Wall Of China

Most of us I'm sure have heard the tale that the Great Wall of China is the only man-made object visible from the surface of the moon, but is this rumour actually fact or simply fiction?

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