A FEW THINGS ABOUT... Pencils

Around 1560, an Italian couple named Simonio and Lyndiana Bernacotti made what are likely the first blueprints for the modern, wood-encased carpentry pencil. Their version was a flat, oval, more compact type of pencil. Their concept involved the hollowing out of a stick of juniper wood. Shortly thereafter, a superior technique was discovered: two wooden halves were carved, a graphite stick inserted, and the halves then glued together—essentially the same method in use to this day.

Here are a few more interesting things about PENCILS!...

(Click to enlarge)

Opening paragraph source: wikipedia

CELEBRITY FACTS #5

Kiera Knightley fell asleep at the premiere of her film...

Source | Source

CANADIAN FACTS #7 - A Beaver Dam In Alberta is so Huge it can be Seen From Space

Talk about busy as a beaver. These ones have been busy for over 40 years!
The massive 850-metre long (2,800 feet) dam was first spotted on satellite photos in 2007 - in Wood Buffalo National Park, about 190 kilometres (118 miles) northeast of Fort McMurray.

Most dams are reported to be anywhere from 30 to 300 feet at their longest, but this dam, almost 3000 feet, sprawls out in a birdlike kind of shape.

Thie says construction probably started around the mid-1970s, but that it clearly continues today.

Source(s): shared

RANDOM Math FACTS #5

2,520 is the smallest number that can be divided by...

Source

RANDOM FACT #38 - Over 230 TEETH Were Removed From a Teenage Boy in India...

Poor kid. That's a lot of teeth! And we complain when we have to remove one or two. 
Every major news site and more was carrying this story at the time in 2014...

Composite odontoma is a rare defect in humans in which a benign tumor forms in the mouth, generally as a result of the abnormal growth of a single tooth, causing additional teeth to form within the tumor. Most cases have been found in the upper jaw of patients. Unchecked growth of the tumor can make swallowing and eating difficult, and can also lead to grotesque facial swelling.

In most cases, surgery is required to remove the extra teeth and tumorous tissue. Prior to 2014, the maximum recorded number of teeth removed in such an operation was 37. However, in July 2014 Ashiq Gavai, a 17-year-old boy in India, suffered from an extreme case of composite odontoma in his lower jaw, which required the removal of more than 232 teeth altogether. The surgery was performed by Dr. Sunanda Dhiware, head of Mumbai's JJ Hospital's dental department in India.

Embed from Getty Images

According to the BBC, the teenager had been suffering for 18 months with this condition before travelling to the city from his village seeking help, after local doctors failed to identify the cause of the problem.
Doctors have described his condition as "very rare" and "a world record".

"At first, we couldn't cut it out so we had to use the basic chisel and hammer to take it out.
"Once we opened it, little pearl-like teeth started coming out, one-by-one. Initially, we were collecting them, they were really like small white pearls. But then we started to get tired. We counted 232 teeth," she added.

The surgery conducted involved two surgeons and two assistants.

Ashik now has 28 teeth.

Source(s): wikipedia | bbc

CURRENT FACT #3: Pizza is Delivered 21 FT. BENEATH THE SEA To This Lodge In the Atlantic Ocean

CELEBRITY FACTS #4 - Julia Roberts Taught Herself to Use Her Right Hand...

Talented girl in more ways than one!

FAST FACT #2

Buffalo Chicken Wings, an American classic, was said to have been accidentally invented back in 1964 when...

Source

CURRENT FACT #4: An INDIAN SPIRITUAL LEADER'S BODY Has Been Kept In a FREEZER SINCE 2014

FAST FACT #1

On opening day in 1937, the San Francisco Chronicle Newspaper referred to the Golden Gate bridge as...

Source

RANDOM FACT #37 - A Chicken Once Lived WITHOUT its HEAD - for 18 Months

Talk about a miracle! Many of you may remember this unbelievable story. The whole thing was intriguing right from the get go. Why did the owner of the chicken screwed up the slaughter? It was not like it was his first time. And after realizing his mistake, why didn't he correct it and finish off the chicken - like most farmers would have likely done. Maybe it was meant to be? We've sure learnt a thing or two since then about the brain and brainstem function - at least in chickens anyways...

Mike the Headless Chicken (April 20, 1945 – March 17, 1947), also known as Miracle Mike, was a Wyandotte chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off. Although the story was thought by many to be a hoax, the bird's owner took him to the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah to establish the facts.

CANADIAN FACTS #6 -There's a DRINK Served Up in the YUKON Garnished with a DEHYDRATED TOE

The origins of the recipe dates back to the 1920s prohibition era when, according to legend, a Dawson City rum-runner named Louie Linken and his brother Otto, ran into an awful blizzard during one of their cross-border deliveries. In an effort to help direct his dog team, Louie stepped off the sled and into some icy overflow - soaking his foot thoroughly.

CELEBRITY FACTS #3 - James Doohan Lost a Finger in the D-Day Invasion

CELEBRITY FACTS #2 - TOM CRUISE was Awarded With his Own Special Day Named After Him

October 10, 2006, was declared "Tom Cruise Day" in Japan

Tom's love and close association with Japan was so strong that he was awarded with his own day.

Cruise's film, The Last Samurai, grossed $117 million more in Japan than it did in the U.S.
The actor has spent endless hours researching his role in the movie – a movie which focused on Japanese culture and tradition. The actor has visited the nation more than any other major movie star and spends hours on end with fans in the country.

Source | Source

.

CANADIAN Facts #5 - It Rained GEESE in Manitoba Once

CELEBRITY FACTS #1 - George Foreman's 5 Sons are all Named GEORGE

George Jr., George III (“Monk”), George IV (“Big Wheel”), George V (“Red”), and George VI (“Little Joey”).

Foreman has 12 children all together: five sons and seven daughters. He once told CBN in an interview on fatherhood: “I named all my sons George Edward Foreman. And I tell people, ‘If you’re going to get hit as many times as I’ve been hit by Mohammad Ali, Joe Frazier, Ken Norton, Evander Holyfield– you’re not going to remember many names.”

Source

RANDOM FACT #36 - The DEADLIEST SCHOOL DISASTER in American History Killed HUNDREDS - Most of Them Children

In the mid-1930s, the Great Depression was in full swing, but the London school district was one of the richest in America. A 1930 oil find in Rusk County had boosted the local economy and educational spending grew with it. The London School, a large structure of steel and concrete, was constructed in 1932 at a cost of $1 million (roughly $17.6 million today). The London Wildcats (a play on the term "wildcatter", for an oil prospector) played football in the first stadium in the state to have electric lights.

CANADIAN FACTS #4 - TORONTO Has More NICKNAMES Than Any Other Canadian Place

CANADIAN Facts #3 - The PAINT ROLLER was Invented by Canadian Norman Breakey

The basic device was invented in 1940 by the Canadian Norman Breakey (born 1891- died aft. 1940). Breakey was never able to produce his invention in large enough numbers to profit from it before others made small changes to the paint roller's design and were able to market it as their own invention.

One of the others was Richard Croxton Adams who held the first U.S. patent on the paint roller. He claimed to have developed it in his basement workshop in 1940 while working for the Sherwin-Williams Paint Company.

Source

RANDOM FACT #35 - The CIA Once Used a Bugged Cat to Spy on the Russians...

Everyone likes to eavesdrop on everyone else but at what lengths are willing to go through?
Thanks to some (partially) declassified documents in 2001 from the CIA's Science and Technology Directorate, one can get an idea of just how far. Back in the 60s, the CIA attempted to train a surgically altered cat, wired with transmitting and control devices, to become a mobile, eavesdropping platform...

RANDOM FACT #34 - A 100-YEAR-OLD 'Lifehack' For Cleaning Inside Bottles Used SAND