The town of Enterprise houses the Boll Weevil Monument to acknowledge the role this destructive insect played in encouraging farmers to grow crops other than cotton.
The carrot family includes plants such as carrots, celery, dill, fennel and parsley. Few humans suffer from allergies to pollen produced by plants in this family since they are primarily insect-pollinated.
A recent Japanese study evaluated the correlation between month of birth and sensitization to aeroallergens. It found that allergy to japanese cedar pollen was significantly more prevalent in the children born between December and January than those born during the rest of the year.
The word "OK" probably originated from a deliberate misspelling of 'all correct' by a newspaper commentator. Check out www.npr.org for more info.
While 130 people disappeared on June 26, 1284---the summer solstice---Hamelin, Germany, did not have a written account of the 'pied piper' until 1556. Music is still not allowed within the city limits. Located nearby are collapsed caves called the Devil's Kitchens.
Tennessee is the 6th largest state in the country in numbers of 'H-2A' or 'argiculture guest workers.' More than 2,000 farm workers spread among 177 growers in 32 counties.
Nationwide, approx 50,000 people are bitten by snakes each year. Only 10-12 people die from snakebites in th eUS each year, and half of these are bitten by Western and Eastern Diamondback Rattlesnakes.
Silver Bullets Ranch in Shelbyville, TN, is a nonprofit organization providing safe, fun horseback riding experience to physically and mentally disable people of all ages.
The Roman physician Antistius performed one of the earliest forensic examinations on record, in 44 B.C., on Julius Caesar, documenting twetny-three wounds, including a final, fatal stab to the chest.
Tennessee is the second largest producer of goat meat in th United States.
Salamanders are amphibians, not reptiles.
In 1410, the Catholic church itself ordered an autopsy on Pope Alexander V, to determine whether his successor had poisoned him. NO evidence of this was found.
A moraine is a mound, ridge or any other distinct accumulation of unsorted, unstratified material or drift, depositied chiefly by direct action of glacier ice.
The Ryman Auditorium in Nashville, TN has presented performances since 1892.
When overheated or angry, a hippopotamus sweats red mucus from its skin.
James Cameron's 1997 movie Titanic won 11 Academy Awards including Best Picture.
Bike wrecks wreak more havoc on older riders. Middle-age bike riders die at nearly double the rate of children who ride bikes, possibly because more children wear helmits. Natural selection at work?
The southern pine beetle has been declared at epidemic proportions in 50 TN counties.
Striped convict clothing was a MA prison system policy, instituted in 1815. Repeat offenders wore different colored stripes from first-time offenders.
Eldon D. Wigton ("Dr. Eldoonie") is the world's fastest magician. He performed 225 different tricks within 2 minutes in Kilbourne, OH, on April 21, 1991. For the average hardwood tree cut for lumber, if we subtract from the original total wood volume tops, limbs and logging residue and what is lost as sawdust, slabs, edging, shaving and machining residues, we average 1/8th of the original volume is sold as lumber.
Gold leaf is pure gold that is hammered so thin that it can take 300,00 units to maek a stack 1 inch high. Average single gold leaf=0.0000035 inch (3.5 millionths of an inch.)
The Great Spangled Fritillary is a butterfly fond of ironweed, black-eyed susans and verbena nectar.
A large group/collection of hogs is called "a drift of hogs."
If you run a powerful magnet over "iron fortified" cereals, small filings would adhere to the magnet. Sometimes iron compounds are used instead of pure iron.
Glass is a very thick liquid. (why old glass is thicker on bottom)
Tornadoes create electrical interference on the same frequency as TV Channel 2.When the picture gets suddenly brighter, a tornado is within 20 miles.
Electroacoustics is concerned with the transductiion of acoutical to electrical energy and vice versa.
96 people were killed while working on the Hoover Dam project in the 1930s.
In 1999, the highest spring pollen count in Chattanooga, TN, was on April 7: 2,051 grains per cubic meter. Compare 1997, when the highest on April 3 read of 590 pollen grains/cubic meter.
Current estimates [Oak Ridge Health Studies, led by Patrick Lipford]say the Y-12 plant in Oak Ridge, TN, released 355,000 lbs of mercury to water and air between 1950-1983.
White pine weighs 1800 lbs per cord and emits heat equivalent to 94 gallons of fuel oil. Yellow birch weighs 3500 lbs and emits 160 equivalent gallons.
A trifecta happens when one names the first, second & third place winners of a horse race, all in the right order.
Despite vaccinations, the polio virus still strikes >100,000 children every year.
A dark ring forms at the edge of a coffee spill due to evaporation along the rim's greater surface area. Evaporation draws fluid from the center to the edge.
Running through rain will keep you 30-50% drier than walking the same distance.--source=Mulching Maggots
Ailanthus altissima, also called Tree-of-Heaven, is native to China.
During a human sneeze, air leaves the nose at about 100 mph.
In 1847, the Capitol became the first building in Washington to benefit from experiments conducted with gas lighting. A gas chandelier hung in the middle of the Senate chamber.
German Gottlieb Daimler is credited with inventing the motorcycle in 1885.
The highest surface wind ever recorded was on Mount Washington, NH, at an elevation of 6288 ft. On April 12,1934, its wind was 231 miles/hour.
Soogie-moogee is a slang term for a mixture containing soda used for cleaning paintwork and woodwork on boats.
The Society of Earthbound Extraterrestrials is headquartered in Berkeley, CA 94704.
Phrenophobia is a "morbid fear of having to think or a morbid fear of losing one's mind."
3371 Family Dollar Stores exist in 39 of the United States, with 157 stores in TN in 1999.
Medium tactical vehicles, 2.5 to 7-ton off-road capacity trucks, are used in approximately 60% of all military missions.
For abdominal pains, seek aid from Erasmus on his saint day, June 2nd. He was disembowelled by Romans.
In 1902, Dr. Morse purchased 64 acres of Chimney Rock Mountain. Chimney Rock Park, NC, now over 1000 acres, is still owned by the Morse family.
Each year, 300,000 - 400,000 Americans die from sudden cardiac death; SDC is a rapid heart rhythm problem.
A healthy red blood cell count for a woman is about 5 million parts/milliliter, while white cells range between 5 thousand & 10K part/ml.
The Von Hippel Lindau gene contained a kidney tumor suppressor.
1.9 billion lbs of copper are used annually (1997) in electrical & electronic products.
An estimated 1 million 5th grader students from > 39,000 classrooms participated in the 8th annual Arbor Day Poster Contest.
Alabama ranked 5th nationally for personal bankruptcy.
An anatomy class in Elizabethton, TN, is in the doghouse with school authorities. Students used dissected cat cadavers in a Nativity scene.(Dec 1999)
TN leads the nation in Rx drug use. The average Tennesseean visited a pharmacy once a month in 1998.----I know I did!
Identical twins have differences in their fingerprints, which, though subtle, experts can discern.
Nearly 1/2 the US population now (1999) lives within 5 miles of a Walgreens.
Nearly 1 of every 4 private label disposable cameras sold in the USA is Walgreens brand.
Intel's 1st sucessful product was the 1103 dynamic random access memory(the world's first DRAM)in 1970.BR>
F. Scott Fitzgerald, Ernest Hemingway, Thomas Wolfe, Ring Lardner, James Jones, Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings & Alan Paton used the same esteemed editor: Maxwell Evarts Perkins.
Walt Disney was born Dec 5, 1901. (Then his corporation consumed the world.)
Ohio has produced more presidents--8--than any other state except Virginia. Harrison, Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Harrison, McKinley, Taft & Harding.
Steel-shafted golf clubs were approved as legal tender by the US Golf Association in 1924.
Procynn lotor is TN's official wild animal. (raccoon)
The basic unit of the brain is a neuron. At birth the brain has the max # of neurons-20 to 200 billion.
The average weight of human skin is 5.6 lbs.
"Fermi degenerate gas" = state of matter where atoms act like waves, not like individual particles. If fermions were cooled further, then scientists would have atomic superconductors where electricity flows without resistance.
David Harp has taught over 175,000 people to play the harmonica.
John R. Commons (1862-1945) is known as the "spiritual father" of Social Security.
The swift fox is the rarest wild dog in North America. Vulpes velox is very nonaggressive & small.
Tardigrade, microscopic moss dweller, is called water bear or a moss piglet, withstands pressure of 6 thousand atmospheres, 882000 lb/square inch. In its "tun" it dehydrates and rolls up, a state where it exists for >a century.
The Gulf of Mexico's "DEAD ZONE" always measures >6K square miles. Gulf water has "hypoxia," or oxygen depletion, from the Mississippi River with its nitrogen-rich fresh water. Fertilizers are often nitrogen-based.
Caprio & Klingebiel-1996-study found the cost of resolution cost of the U.S. thrift industry bailout in the 1980s at just over 3% of gross domestic product (GDP.)
Do not eat shellfish that are not covered by water at high tide, warns the Army Survival Manual FM21-76.
Rheology is the study of matter able to deform and flow. (Rather like studying a woman's opinions?)
Recused is Middle English term to disqualify oneself as judge in a particular case.
What 3 letter, 1 syllable word becomes a 4 letter, 3 syllable word if you add just 1 letter to the end?
Agatha Christie was born Sept 15, 1890. (Nowthat's historical preservation. wahaha)
Arch Rock Trail off Newfound Gap Road, in the Smokies, is an easy 2.5 miles hike.
Heinz Co has a giant Private Pickle. The enormous, sunglasses-wearing, costumed soldier introduces at-risk communities to better tasting condiments, I guess.
National's new LMV321 "silicon dust" analog operational amplifier has 50 transistors squeezed into a chip about the size of a grain of coarse-ground pepper.
Jerry Garcia died on August 9, 1995.
On August 6, 1926, Gertrude Ederle became the 1st woman to swim the English Channel, beating the world record, held by a man, by more than 2 hours.
During 60 yrs of Merck research (1934-94), Merck scientists synthesized & screened about 250,000 compounds. 1995-98 they began using combinatorial chemistry & screened >4.5M compounds.
Nitroreductase enzymes in spinach eat, digest & transform explosives like TNT. Biotechnology called Environmentally Benign Digestion Process by Battelle Corporation.
The term "Spaceship Earth" was coined by American Buckminster Fuller (1895-1983) as an analogy of the need for self-contained technology.
The US national flower is the rose, adopted Oct 7.2986.
The DNA helix measures 80 billionths of an inch wide.
The Central Identification Lab, Hawaii, houses blood samples from all current US military personnel in cold storage(for future DNA tests.)--from The Gene School website
West Palm Beach, FL: DNA proved that a suspect poached female white-tailed deer out of season. Evidence showed the animals' diet and territory.
Hershey's Milk Chocolate Bar was introduced in 1899, Hershey's syrup in 1926, and KitKat in 1970.
Consumption per capita of confections in the US was 24.9 lbs/person in 1997.
Rohm & Hass developed a molt acclerating compound (MAC) targeting caterpillar's cells. The hormones cause premature molting, starving the insects.
Smokey Bear was created by illustrator Albert Staehle Aug. 9, 1944. Smokey's slogan, "Only you can prevent forest fires," was coined in 1947.
A group of jellyfish is called a brood or smuck.
The Florida softshell turtle, with its webbed limbs, can outswim a trout.
There are 336 dimples on a golf ball.
Breast milk (thick & oily cream) from the Hooded Seal contains 61% fat.
Kool-Aid is the official soft drink of Nebraska by a chemist (Perkins)in Hastings. 17 gallons/second are drunk during summer months.
An arrdvelocipede is a 3-wheeled handcar, 150 lbs, also called an Irish mail. Looks like a bike with a sidecar.
The speed of light is normally 186,000 miles per second. Imagine circling the world 7 times in the blink of an eye.
The Texas Audubon Society is auctioning the right to name a new Brazilian bird species. (in 1999)
DNA fingerprinting has proven that whale meat sold in Osaka, Japan, IS from an endangered species.
On Feb. 5, 1925, Ben Darwin demonstrated the improbable strength of his hair, pulling a 2-and-1/2-ton automobile a block along Broadway.
Kurt Russell (Escape from New York) began his acting career at age 10, signed to a 10 yr contract with Walt Disney. In the early 1970s, he played minor league professional baseball.
Kentucky espects to re-elect Gov. Patton, the state's 1st re-election in 200 years.
Mary Mallon (1855-1938) was Typhoid Mary, a New York City cook. She was found responsible for 3 deaths & 51 cases of typhoid fever. She died of a stroke in an isolation center on North Brother Island.
The 1st chemical weapons disposal facility built on Russian soil with American assistance will be near Shchuch'ye in Siberia. 1,000 miles east of Moscow, Schuch'ye contains 5,400 metric tons of chemical agents.
Legend contends that the use of silver stain on stained glass windows resulted from a glazier's coat button accidentally dropped into a kiln. The accredited glazier, James of Ulm (Italy) was beatified after his death, but he was born 100 yrs after the practice appeared in th early 1300s in York.
Hot cross buns were historically baked only on Good Friday. Commoners dried & saved a bun because they believed even a few crumbs from a bread baked on Good Friday would cure any ailment. In the 1700s, the Swedish cavalry rode moose when they charged their enemies. The average moose is 6 ft high at the shoulder, has antlers 5 ft wide, and weighs about a ton.
The macadamia nut is the only cultivated food plant that Australia has given the world. 1857 trees were discovered by botanists von Mueller & Walter Hill.
The clavicle is a (paired) short bone. The clavicle is also more frequently fractured than any other bone.
A prarie oyster is a raw egg in spirits.
In 1930 Jimmy Dewar of St. Louis invented a new yellow dessert. He sought a name & found "Twinkle Toe Shoes" and christened his snacks Twinkies.
Carl Ripken, Jr., endorses an MBNA credit card with his picture taken the night before he broke Lou Gehrig's record of 2,131 consecutive games played. More than 15,000 customers carry a Carl Ripken, Jr., card in addition to the 28,000 who carry an MBNA Orioles card.
The average pack-a-day smoker will consume about 1/2 a cup of tar in one year.
The annual swimsuit issue of Sports Illustrated sells 16 times more copies than other issues, on newstands. Total circulation: about 5 million copies.
For the average adult, foot length equals the height of the head.
J. E. Hanger was the 1st Civil War amputee on June 3, 1861, in Philippi, WV. (A Confederate) He invented an artificial limb & started a company.
Proctalgia Fugax means severe anal pain.
Kelly Services, Inc. is headquartered on 999 West Big Beaver Rd in Michigan.
The average American could eat a different breakfast cereal every morning for a year without eating the same brand twice.
In 1728, John Bartram planned & laid out the 1st botanical garden (5 to 6 acres) in Philadelphia, PA.
The deadliest demise for the average fighter pilot: car accidents.
The Green Crab has invaded the northwest coast of North America. Females lay up to 200,000 eggs per year. Green crabs are omnivorous. They destroyed the East coast's soft-shell clam industry in the early 1990s. El Nino aided their dispersal by sending warm currents up the coastline.
A dairy cow must eat 3lbs of food to make 1lb of cheese.
Lightning can burn between 200,000 & 300,000 amperes.
Until mid-20th century, mail from areas with disease outbreaks were "disinfected."
The Graceland Museum reports (on average) that it receives 2 letters a day addressed to Elvis.
A single silkworm cocoon can have a strand of silk up to 2-1/5 miles in length.
The average ten-gallon hat holds 3/4 of a gallon.
Cheaper airplane fares happen Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Saturdays.
On Sept 30, 1998, Dr.s in Lyon, France, performed a ground-breaking operation. They transplanted a hand-and-forearm onto a man who'd been an amputee for 14 years. He has a 50% chance of retaining the limb.
Avalon LLama Trek is located in Swannanoa, North Caroloina, USA. Llamas carry packs while humans hike in the enchanted Appalachian Mountains. Contact # 704-299-7155 for 1,2 & 3 day trips.
Anna Ruby Falls, a double waterfall, cascades 153 ft in northern Georgia & marks the junction of Curtis & York Creeks.
The Thai baht was devalued and caused an economic crisis in July 1997 called "the Asian Flu." Symptoms of "bahtulism" still abound in the region today.
Sending someone a tansy tells that special someone that you
The average bath-sized natural sponge is 50 years old when it's harvested.
Only the female mosquito bites humans.
Pepsi-Cola began in 1898.
In the 12th century Geraldus Cambrensis reports that the kings of Clan Conaill continue to be inaugurated in the high style of their ancestors--by public copulation with a white mare.
17 tons of gold are used every year in the United States to make wedding rings.
Amazing Grace was written in 1779.
LASIK stands for laser in-situ karatomileusis. LASIK is an eye operation for severe myopia. A flap is cut in the cornea which allows the laser to incise the back of the eye. Recovery is faster than traditional RK surgery.
The TN Hooker is a crochet guild which focuses its efforts upon SEC team afghans.
What word in the English language uses the same ONE vowel SIX times?
The average female armadillo gives birth to 4 identical babies all coming from a single egg.
Commercial nuclear power generators discharge 5 metric tons of used uranium each day.
Cultivated plants can pollinate weeds and give them unusual traits. Outcrossing occurs when a genetically-engineered plant pollinates a weed cousin, making the weed stronger. (Usually herbicide-resistant.)
Chevron Oil company played killer whale calls while dismantling 4 oil platforms offshore at Santa Barbara, CA. The whale calls kept away undersea creatures.
SPAM was born in 1937 in Minnesota.
The average mink coat is made from 50 dead minks.
Tsantsa are shrunken human heads created, usually in 1 week, by Jivaro Amazon Indians. Taxidermists in Panama manufactured fake tsantsas, for tourists, with unclaimed
On an average manufacturing day,
My mamaw could power Atlanta.
Mercury enriched lithium.
Y-12 released 36,000 kilograms of uranium into the air from 1944-1995.
Girls were found more sensitive to radioactive iodine than boys.
Anime Weekend Atlanta was GREAT!!! Couldn't've asked, begged or bribed a better, FIRST convention experience. Everyone on earth (who's intelligent & kind-hearted Waaaaaayyy deep) should attend next year!!
Sidney Hillman (1887-1946) was the first president of the Amalgamated Clothing Workers of America. In 1914 he established the system of arbitration in universal use today.
Are-a
Dane physicists have slowed it down to 38mph (miles per hour.)
Viagra gift certificates are now available.
Kudzu is a vine native to ASIA. We imported this virulent green monster! First introduced in 1876, average kudzu vines grow a foot a day.
Lightning burns six times hotter than the surface of the sun.
The post office punched holes in envelops and left them for hours in railway boxcars filled with burning sulfur fumes.
have hostile thoughts towards them.
INDIVISIBILITY
hospital dead and by defrauding morgues. Misshapen ears and the presence
of nostril hair indicate forgeries.
HEAD-HUNTER SITE
the largest percentage, 30%, of plain M&Ms are dark brown.
The Jonesboro, TN, Storytelling Festival
for 1998 happens OCT 3-5.
For info call (423)753-2171.
YU~N'WIYA'
"the real people" because Cherokee hated/disliked the Iroquois
YUN'WI GUANHI'TA
means the Long Man
TLA'NUWA'
TSUSGINA'I
USUNHI'YI
DIGA'KATI'YI
TSISTU'YI
GALUN'LATI
Apalachee Indians fought de Soto's invasion. Later, when the conquistador's men found crossing the northern mountains very difficult, they named the place the Appalachian Mountains.
If a hunter forgot the proper prayers to the game, a Cherokee would build a small, 4-log fire. Called "fire in the path," the act symbolized the hunter's debt to the life that kept him alive.
Lightning-scarred wood (from a tree-especially sycamore) is still considered powerful medicine by Cherokees following traditional religious practices. Lightning introduced fire to the world before humans existed.
The golden eagle is the war eagle of the Cherokee.
The Red Wolf spent a generation in captivity before its re-introduction to the Cherokee Mountains (ie Great Smoky National Park) in the 1990s. They were the most endangered mammal in North America.
was Spear-Finger, a woman clad in stone who fed on human livers
ghost country where spirits dwell
means Darkening Land
place of setting them free; the Tuskasege River was where they'd release prisoners of war
rabbit place
realm beyond the stone arch of the sky
WILD POTATO ANI'-GATGE'WI'
WOLF ANI'-WA'YA
PAINT ANI-WA'DI
BIRD ANI-TSI'SKWA
LONG HAIR ANI-GILA'HI
BLUE ANI'-SAHA'NI
