Facts About Bats - strangefacts

• More species of bats live in Texas than in any other part of the United States

• Tens of thousands of bats live in the Carlsbad Caverns in New Mexico

• The largest known colony of bats lives in Bracken Cave in Texas. Biologists estimate more than 20 million Mexican Free-Tail bats call this cave home

• In China, bats are considered good fortune

• Bats make up almost a fourth of all mammal species. Only the order of rodents has more

• Bats are the only mammals that can truly fly. Other mammals may glide and give the appearance of flight, such as squirrels and lemurs, but only bats possess powered flight and can hover, flap and soar

• The term "blind as a bat," is incorrect. Bats have perfectly acceptable eyesight, but the majority use echolocation while in flight, and hunting

• Male bats have the highest rate of homosexuality of any mammal

• Vampire bats use rivers to navigate

• Bat wings are made of two thin layers of skin stretched over the bat's arm and fingers. Bats have a thumb and four fingers, just like people

• When bats fly, they don't just flap up and down. If you watch them closely, it almost looks like they're pulling themselves through the air -- the movement is similar to the butterfly stroke in swimming

• When most of us think of bats, the Vampire Bat is one of the first to come to mind. Vampire bats don't really turn into Count Dracula, they rarely bite people and they rarely kill their prey

• Vampire bats prey mainly on cows, horses and other large mammals. They make a shallow wound with their razor-sharp teeth then they lick up the blood. Each bat only drinks about an ounce of blood each night

• Scientists have found evidence that bats have existed for 50 million years. Some scientists believe it may have been even longer

• Bats feed at night (they are "nocturnal") and spend the day sleeping in caves or in tree tops. The place where a bat sleeps is called its "roost"

• Caves aren't the only place that bats "hang out". Bats also sleep in trees, mines, under bridges, in bushes and even in old buildings or barns. Some tiny South American bats make tent-like shelters out of palm tree leaves

• During spring, bats return from migration or awaken from hibernation and the females begin having baby bats called "pups"
• Bats smell, hear, taste, feel and see just like people do. The term "blind as a bat" isn't really accurate. Bats have perfectly good eyes for seeing in the daylight. The problem is, they do most of their hunting at night

• There are a lot of different kinds of bats -- from the tiny bumblebee bat (which is the size of a jellybean and weighs less than a penny) to the huge Bismarck flying fox (with a wingspan as long as an average man)

• Bats are grouped into two main groups -- the large fruit eating bats (also known as "flying foxes" or "megabats") and the smaller bats ("microbats") who eat insects, blood, fish, lizards, birds and nectar

Facts About Harry Houdini - strangefacts

• Harry Houdini (1874-1926) The Great Houdini  is a name that will forever define the term "escape artist."

• As the Budapest-born, American-bred performer would so often proclaim, "No prison can hold me; no hand or leg irons or steel locks can shackle me. No ropes or chains can keep me from my freedom."

• The real name of  Harry Houdini was Erich Weiss

• There is no question that Houdini is the most famous magician in history. His name is synonymous with escapes; his ability to get out of seemingly impossible situations- and his knack for publicizing these events- made him a legend in his own time.

• The Houdini myth is about to be examined, and truth really is stranger than fiction!

• Houdini was born Erich Weiss on March 24, 1874. Though he claimed throughout his life that Appleton, Wisconsin was his birthplace

• He was really born in Budapest, Hungary. He was four years old when his family moved to America

• Houdini was small, standing a mere 5'5", with dark, wavy hair, dark gray eyes and a high-pitched voice

• Houdini was poorly educated. He was, however, extremely athletic and highly motivated to succeed

• According to an autobiographical pamphlet published by the magician in 1920, Houdini said that his favorite place was Hollywood, California and that his favorite song was Auld Lang Syne (the traditional New Year's Eve tune)
  

• Houdini became fascinated with magic after seeing Dr. Lynn, a traveling magician, as a young boy. He did not, as legend has it, run away with a circus, nor was he an apprentice to a locksmith

• In reality, he turned to magic at age 17 as an alternative to factory work. He teamed up with Jack Hayman, a fellow magic enthusiast, to form the Houdini Brothers

• Surprising as it may seem, Houdini was not an instant success. For the first five years, he tried every type of magic, from card manipulations (billed as the "King of Cards") to illusions and run-of-the-mill box escapes

• In 1896, ready to give up, he actually ran a newspaper ad offering to sell all of his magic and secrets for $20. There were no takers

• His one big success was the Needle Trick, a grisly effect involving the swallowing of dozens of needles and thread, then the regurgitation of the thread with all the needles neatly threaded on. This effect would be a cornerstone of his act throughout his life

• During a visit to a psychiatrist friend in Nova Scotia in 1896, Houdini saw his first strait jacket. Rather than be shocked by it, he was inspired to create an act around escaping from it. And Houdini didn't just escape from a strait jacket- he did it hanging upside down from his ankles, suspended yards above the ground

• The 1953 movie Houdini starring Tony Curtis and Janet Leigh did much to create the commonly-held belief that Houdini died onstage attempting to perform the Water Torture Cell illusion

• The sad truth is that Houdini was in the middle of a U.S. tour in the fall of 1926 when he and Bess began to experience severe stomach discomfort. A performer to the core, Houdini refused medical treatment, because that would have meant missing some shows. Quite possibly Houdini was suffering from the onset of appendicitis, and his own stubborn refusal to see a doctor might have spelled his doom. Houdini was tired, and unusually accident-prone

• Both Houdini's New York and Los Angeles homes were said to be haunted by his ghostly spirit. The New York townhouse still stands at 278 W. 113th Street (it was recently offered for sale); Houdini's "HH" initials are set in mosaic tile on the bathroom floor. His Los Angeles home at 2350 Laurel Canyon burned many years after his death, but the site is still rumored to be visited by ghostly apparitions

• For ten years, Bess presided over annual well-publicized séances held on October 31, the anniversary of Houdini's death. Though she stopped participating in 1938, séances to contact Houdini continued

Facts About Meteorites - strangefacts

• A meteorite is bits of the outer space that enter the earth surface surviving the impact. They are chunks and are no bigger than particles of dust and sand

• When in the outer space they are known as meteoroids but once when they enter the earth surface they are called meteors

• A meteor is a bright streak of light in the sky, popularly known as the shooting star or falling star, which is produced by the entry of a small meteoroid into the Earth's atmosphere

• Meteoroids move very fast. Some enter the Earth's atmosphere at as much as 130,000 miles per hour

• Meteorites contain the oldest known rocks in our solar system

• They also contain 'pre-solar grains', which are minerals that formed around other stars probably billions of years before our solar system was born

• Up to 4 billion meteoroids fall to Earth everyday

• But most of them are too tiny to do any noticeable harm

• In 2004, a 30-foot-wide meteoroid hit the atmosphere over Antarctica, leaving 2 million pounds of dust in its wake

• That was enough to seed rain clouds and affect climate all the way on the other side of the planet

• More than 24,000 meteorites are known to have landed on Earth, but only 34 are believed to have originated on Mars

• Meteorites are named for the locale, region, or nearby town in which the "fall" occurred

• Although the fusion crust may be warm or hot immediately after impact, the inside of the meteorite is still deep frozen from eons in cold space

• For years, the standard price for meteoritic material was $1/lb. Now, many meteorites are worth as much as gold!

• Meteorites have been used by unsuspecting finders as blacksmith anvils, dog bowls, or to prop up machinery or autos

• Meteorites often contain minerals not found on Earth

• Meteorite falls often knock out power and anything electrical in the area. This may be due to the EMP, or electromagnetic pulse, of the fast-moving meteor

• Meteorites have been found on the Moon and Mars

• They are called meteoroids when they are in space. When they enters the atmosphere, impact pressure causes the body to heat up and emit light, thus forming a fireball, also known as a meteor or shooting star

• Meteorites that are recovered after being observed as they transited the atmosphere or impacted the Earth are called falls. The other meteorites are known as finds

• As of mid-2006, there are approximately 1,050 witnessed falls having specimens in the world's collections

• In contrast, there are over 31,000 well-documented meteorite finds Meteorites are broadly categorized into three types- stony, iron and stony-iron

Facts About Tsunami - strangefacts

• Tsunami is a Japanese word. "Tsu" translates to harbor and "nami" to wave. When a body of water is rapidly displaced, a series of waves are created

• In the 1940s, an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale gave rise to a tsunami

• A "megatsunami" is caused by large landslides. The displaced water mass moves under the effect of gravity

• If an earthquake takes place near a body of water, it means that a tsunami will follow in a short time

• If the water along the shoreline recedes dramatically and exposes usually submerged areas it should be inferred that this is the trough of the tsunami and a crest will follow after a few seconds or minutes

• Some large animals like elephants hear the noise of the tsunami and move in the opposite direction towards inland

• Computer models can also foresee tsunami arrival and impact depending upon knowledge of the event that caused it and the shape of the oceanbed

• Where tsunami is happening there is a loud roar similar to a train or aircraft

• The maximum death toll due to tsunami has been 283,000 in 2004 in the Indian Ocean

• These waves are usually 10 meters high. The rapid displacement of the body of water takes place due to volcanic eruptions, earthquakes, underwater explosions, large meteorite impacts, mass movements above or under water,nuclear weapons testing in seas
  

• The second largest death toll has been 100,000 in 1755 in Portugal, Morocco and the United Kingdom

• The third largest death toll due to sunami is 70,000 in 1908 in Italy

• At the deepest point in the ocean, Tsunamis can have a speed of 600 mph. Close to the shore, this speed reduces to 30 to 40 mph

• If the waves range from 40 meters to more than 100 meters, they are called as a "megatsunami"

• When they reach land, they acquire more height due to the force of impact. They are also called as "iminami" or "wave of purification"

• If you feel an earthquake in the Pacific Coast area, turn on your battery-powered radio to learn if there is a tsunami warning. If you hear a tsunami warning, and they say to evacuate, do this immediately

• Hawai is the state at greatest risk for a tsunami. They get about one a year, with a damaging tsunami happening about every seven years

• Alaska is also at high risk. California, Oregon and Washington experience a damaging tsunami about every 18 years

• 1964, an Alaskan earthquake generated a tsunami with waves between 10 and 20 feet high along parts of the California, Oregon and Washington coasts

• In 1946, a tsunami with waves of 20 to 32 feet crashed into Hilo, Hawaii, flooding the downtown area WNZUJT6QJGP2

Facts About Alligators - strangefacts

• Lorne Green had one of his nipples bitten off by an alligator while host of Lorne Green's Wild Kingdom

• There are only two countries on earth that have alligators: the United States and China

• Although alligators have heavy bodies and slow metabolisms, they are capable of short bursts of speed that can exceed 30 miles per hour, though this could more properly be classified as a short fast lunge rather than a dash

• Alligators are opportunistic feeders, eating almost anything they can catch

• While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families, and are as distinct from one another as humans are from gorillas

• One generally reliable rule to distinguish between alligators and crocodiles is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped

• The East Alligator River in Australia's Northern Territory contains crocodiles, not alligators

• In Arkansas, alligators may not be kept in bathtubs

• Alligators in the wild are believed to live 35 - 50 years. In captivity their lifespan may be significantly longer, perhaps 60-80 years. Currently, there are no scientific methods of analyzing an alligators age while it is alive

• The longest recorded length for an alligator is 19' 2'. This animal was trapped in the early 1900's in the State of Louisiana. Most wild alligators do not get above 13 feet in length, and may weigh 600 pounds or more
  
• Crocodiles and alligators open their jaws differently. The jaws of the crocodile are hinged to open the top jaw, while alligators open their bottom

• Alligators and crocodiles jaws are hinged the same. Both animals hinge their jaws on the bottom, the top jaw is simply an extension of the skull

• Alligators are not immune to snake poison. However, they do have extremely tough skin, and an armored back protected by bony plates called scutes

• It is possible that this protection may prevent a snake's fangs from penetrating the skin

• Although the tail of the alligator is considered the prime cut, all the meat of the alligator is edible

• Alligators are slow moving animals when they are out of the water

• Alligators can run at speeds of up to 20 miles per hour. However that speed can only be maintained for a very short distance

• The alligator is an amazing reptile, having survived almost unchanged since the time of the dinosaurs. Having been hunted almost to the brink of extinction, this reptile has made an amazing comeback in recent years, inhabiting almost every body of water in Florida

• The relationship between alligators and man dates back thousands of years. The first human residents of Florida hunted the alligator for its hide and meat

• The teeth of an alligator were believed to be a magical ward against snakebites, as alligators were thought to be immune to the bite of poisonous snakes

Facts About Crocodiles - strangefacts

• One generally reliable rule to distinguish between alligators and crocodiles is that alligators have U-shaped heads, while crocodiles are V-shaped

• Steve Irwin's body was fed to crocodiles at his request

• The first-known contraceptive was crocodile dung, used by Egyptians in 2000 BC

• To escape the grip of a crocodile's jaws, push your thumbs into its eyeballs. It will let you go instantly

• Research has shown that crocodiles really do shed tears during a meal

• Crocodile and kangaroo tail, as well as the webbed toes of a hippopotamus are all on the menu at the Beijing zoo's restaurant

• While alligators are often confused with crocodiles, they belong to two quite separate taxonomic families, and are as distinct from one another as humans are from gorillas

• The East Alligator River in Australia's Northern Territory contains crocodiles, not alligators

• An adult crocodile can go two years without eating

• The crocodiles have a four-chambered heart like in birds (their closest relatives) and mammals, for an active life. Still, when diving, the heart behaves like a three-chambered reptilian heart, enabling them to stay more underwater

• They can achieve speeds of up to 70 mph over short distances and will eat human beings if given the chance

• Their jaws are studded with 64 to 68 large teeth and they read a length of 16-19 feet

• The American crocodile, sometimes known as the American alligator, is less likely to kill human beings but is still a dangerous wild animal

• Unlike other crocodiles they have a more rounded body and tail that gives them a distinctive appearance

• The black caiman is the largest crocodile, reaching as much as 20 feet in length. In addition to their black skin, Caimans have menacing red eyes

• They live mainly in the Amazon and eat animals ranging from small rodents up to deer

• Most species of crocodiles can be found in Africa and in regions of Asia. Parts of Australia are also known for their crocodiles

•  Some travel a fair distance, as they are good at both running and swimming. They sometimes stray into inhabited areas where they can pose a threat to small animals, children, and adults

Facts About Komodo Dragon - strangefacts

• Unlike the other different types of lizards, Komodo dragons maintain a single mate throughout their lifetime

• Komodo can run at about 11 miles an hour

• It is the only lizard that hunts and kills prey larger than its body and bigger than what it can swallow whole

• To avoid being eaten by larger Komodo dragons, youngsters often roll in their own feces so that they give out a foul smell that the adult Komodos avoid

• Komodo dragons can live to be 50 years old

• The Komodo dragon is the world's heaviest lizard, weighing 150 pounds or more

• Although, babies can be born only through mating of a male and a female, there are instances when babies were born from a single Komodo without mating between individuals of different gender

• Though named as dragons, Komodo dragons are lizards. They are the heaviest lizards on Earth that can weigh upto 150 pounds and can grow as long as 3 meters

• These are natives of the Indonesian islands of Komodo, Rinca, Flores, and Gili Motang. Komodo dragon habitat is characteristically hot and dry. The environment in which they thrive is acknowledged to be one of the toughest in the world

• Komodo dragons have a large, flat head, a rounded snout and a long, muscular tail. They move on four strong but bowed legs
  
• Males fight with each other to mate with females. During this battle of dominance, males grapple with one another upon their hind legs. The winner then rubs his chin on the female or may scratch or lick her back

• Mating takes place sometime between May and August. A female lays eggs in the month of September. A female can lay up to 20 eggs at a time

• Komodo dragons can live up to 30 years. Despite their long life and the fact that it is the most efficient predator of the Indonesian islands, Komodo dragons are enlisted as endangered species

• The reasons behind this plight of the mighty lizard are hunting and destruction of their natural habitat by human beings. Read more on komodo dragons deserve our protection

• Komodo dragons are carnivores (meat eaters) and will devour any animal they are capable of dismembering and gulping down

•  Although they are for the most part scavengers, they do capture live prey, including deer, pigs, birds, even young dragons

• The young can escape by climbing trees, because the much-heavier adults cannot climb

•  Komodo dragons are good swimmers and have been reported hunting in the surf for fish and birds

• Komodo dragons are formidable predators, since even one bite can be lethal. The bacteria that live in the dragon's saliva are so virulent that wounds often will not heal

• Even if the victim gets away, it usually dies from infection in a few days. The dragon's reputation as a human eater is well deserved; it does not seem to fear humans and many attacks and deaths have been reported

Facts About Chocolate - strangefacts

• First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt ate three chocolate-covered garlic balls every morning

• For people that are lactose intolerant, chocolate aids in helping milk digest easier

• In China, people eat a bar of chocolate for every 1,000 chocolate bars eaten by the BritishThe Dalai Lama has a weakness for chocolate chip cookies

• Approximately 71% of American chocolate eaters prefer to eat milk chocolate

• Eating chocolate three times a month helps people live longer as opposed to people who overeat chocolate or do not eat chocolate at all

• In October 1973, Swedish sweet maker Roland Ohisson of Falkenberg was buried in a coffin made of nothing but chocolate

• Adolf Hitler loved chocolate cake very much

• In the 1960 movie "Psycho" by Alfred Hitchcock, chocolate syrup was used to show the blood in the shower scene

• Singer Chaka Khan came out with a line of chocolates called "Chakalates."

• The last thing Elvis Presley ate before he died was four scoops of ice cream and 6 chocolate chip cookies

• The most popular gift that teachers receive in the United States from their students is chocolate

• The 17th-century French Cardinal Mazarin never traveled without his personal chocolate-maker

• King Louis XIV of France established in his court the position of “Royal Chocolate Maker to the King.”
• Every second, Americans collectively eat one hundred pounds of chocolate

• Some people believe that people who have diabetes can’t have chocolate or sweets. Part of that is true. People with diabetes can have sweets, but have to limit their intake

• The world's first chocolate candy was produced in 1828 by Dutch chocolate-maker Conrad J. Van Houten. He pressed the fat from roasted cacao beans to produce cocoa butter, to which he added cocoa powder and sugar

• Per a national survey, 80 percent of U.S. teachers in grades kindergarten through eighth grade have received chocolate as a gift from their students

• The most Ferrero Rocher chocolates eaten in one minute is seven and was achieved by Jim Lyngvild (Denmark)

• According to Men's Health magazine, the worst drink in American is a milkshake containing 2,010 calories -- equivalent to eating 68 strips of bacon or 30 chocolate chip cookies

• Certain foods can boost your sex drive and the list includes - lean meat, Grains, Watermelon, Pumpkin Seeds, Almonds, Bananas, Strawberries, Mangos, Avocado, Chilies, Basil, Cardamom, Figs, Pepper, Champagne, Oysters, Chocolate, Truffles, Caviar and Whipped Cream