An interesting article on BBC News called “100 things we didn’t know this time last year” is a fabulously funny look (and serious) at 100 news items in the news over the past year that we probably didn’t know last year, but if we had been paying attention, we might have learned something new. And that is a big IF.
Here are some highlights from their list:
…5. Nicole Kidman is scared of butterflies. “I jump out of planes, I could be covered in cockroaches, I do all sorts of things, but I just don’t like the feel of butterflies’ bodies,” she says…8. Devout Orthodox Jews are three times as likely to jaywalk as other people, according to an Israeli survey reported in the New Scientist. The researchers say it’s possibly because religious people have less fear of death…19. The = sign was invented by 16th Century Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde, who was fed up with writing “is equal to” in his equations. He chose the two lines because “noe 2 thynges can be moare equalle”…20. The Queen has never been on a computer, she told Bill Gates as she awarded him an honorary knighthood…23. In America it’s possible to subpoena a dog…32. “Restaurant” is the most mis-spelled word in search engines…36. The average employee spends 14 working days a year on personal e-mails, phone calls and web browsing, outside official breaks, according to employment analysts Captor…38. Nasa boss Michael Griffin has seven university degrees: a bachelor’s degree, a PhD, and five masters degrees…53. It takes 75kg of raw materials to make a mobile phone…65. Actor James Doohan, who played Scotty, had a hand in creating the Klingon language that was used in the movies, and which Shakespeare plays were subsequently translated into…66. The hotter it is, the more difficult it is for aeroplanes to take off. Air passengers in Nevada, where temperatures have reached 120F, have been told they can’t fly…67. Giant squid eat each other – especially during sex…71. Jimi Hendrix pretended to be gay to be discharged from the US Army…74. It takes a gallon of oil to make three fake fur coats…78. One in 18 people has a third nipple…88. A single “mother” spud from southern Peru gave rise to all the varieties of potato eaten today, scientists have learned…92. You are 176 times more likely to be murdered than to win the UK National Lottery…98. Nettles growing on land where bodies are buried will reach a foot higher than those growing elsewhere…100. Musical instrument shops must pay an annual royalty to cover shoppers who perform a recognisable riff before they buy, thereby making a “public performance”.
I’m going to think about making a list of 100 things I learned this year that I didn’t know last year, but then, the majority of things on this list are things I didn’t know of until today, so that takes care of 90 items on the list. 😉
Still, if you are brave, why not blog about 100 things you learned this year you didn’t know last year and let the world know that you are a learning and growing individual. And then I can make up the last 10 items on my list by reading yours.
Happy New Year!
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