Did You Know?

Common and little known facts about everything. Just for fun check it out.

The Beatles generally get the credit for starting the British Invasion in 1964. However, two British records scored the top spot on Billboard's Top 100 in 1962. Acker Bilk's "Stranger on the Shore" and The Tornadoes' "Telstar" were both one-hit wonders in the U.S.

Songwriters such as Smoky Robinson and the team of Holland, Dozier, Holland provided the fuel for artists that included the Miracles, the Temptations and Martha and the Vandellas. Under the hood, though, were the high-horsepower Funk Brothers, a collection of studio musicians who likely played on more hits than the combined totals of the Beatles, Rolling Stones, Beach Boys and Elvis Presley.

Though it's difficult to think of Hollywood without it, the first star appears on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on February 9, 1960.  The honor goes to Joanne Woodward.

On October 1, 1962,  Groucho Marx introduces the new host of The Tonight Show: Johnny Carson. His first guests are Joan Crawford, Rudy Vallee and The Phoenix Singers.

In 1967 Cookie Monster makes his official debut in an IBM commercial

On December 22, 1967,  The Graduate premieres. It would become one of the top 10 top-grossing films of the '60s.

Canadians say “sorry” so much that a law was passed in 2009 declaring that an apology can’t be used as evidence of admission to guilt.

Hershey’s Kisses are named that after the kissing sound the deposited chocolate makes as it falls from the machine on the conveyor belt.

A single strand of Spaghetti is called a “Spaghetto”.

If you cut down a cactus in Arizona, you’ll be penalized up to 25 years in jail. It is similar to cutting down a protected tree species.

Elvis was originally blonde. He started coloring his hair black for an edgier look. Sometimes, he would touch it up himself using shoe polish.

German Chocolate Cake is named after an American baker by the name of Samuel German.  It has no affiliation with the country of Germany.

Hanna-Barbera pitched The Flintstones to networks for 8 weeks before it was finally picked up. It became the first-ever animated show to air during primetime.

There’s no period in “Dr. Pepper”. It was removed because the old logo font made it look like “Di: Pepper”.

Although GPS is free for the world to use, it costs $2 million per day to operate. The money comes from American tax revenue.

The color red doesn’t really make bulls angry; they are color-blind.

Researches have found that flossing your teeth can help your memory. Flossing prevents gum disease, which prevents stiff blood vessels, which cause memory issues.

The unique smell of rain actually comes from plant oils, bacteria, and ozone.

Vanilla flavoring is sometimes made with the urine of beavers.

11% of people are left handed

August has the highest percentage of births

Unless food is mixed with saliva you can't taste it

The average person falls asleep in 7 minutes

A bear has 42 teeth

An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain

Lemons contain more sugar than strawberries

8% of people have an extra rib

85% of plant life is found in the ocean

Ralph Lauren's original name was Ralph Lifshitz

Rabbits like licorice

Hawaiian alphabet has 13 letters

'Topolino' is the name for Mickey Mouse Italy

A lobster's blood is colorless but when exposed to oxygen it turns blue

Armadillos have 4 babies at a time and are all the same sex

Reindeer like bananas

The longest recorded flight of a chicken was 13 seconds

Birds need gravity to swallow

The most commonly used letter in the alphabet is E

The 3 most common languages in the world are Mandarin Chinese, Spanish and English

M&M's chocolate stands for the initials for its inventors Mars and Murrie

You burn more calories eating celery than it contains (the more you eat the thinner you become)

The only continent with no active volcanoes is Australia

The longest street in the world is Yonge street in Toronto, Canada measuring 1,896 km (1,178 miles)

About 90% of the worlds population kisses

Coca-Cola originally contained cocaine

The Internet was originally called ARPANet (Advanced Research Projects Agency Network) designed by the US department of defense

Toilets use 35% of indoor water use

The fortune cookie was invented in San Francisco

Koalas sleep around 18 hours a day

The first Burger King was opened in Florida Miami in 1954

All insects have 6 legs

The croissant was invented in Austria

In eastern Africa you can buy beer brewed from bananas

African Grey Parrots have vocabularies of over 200 words

A giraffe can clean its ears with its 21 inch tongue

Australia was originally called New Holland

"Lonely Planet' for travelers is based in Melbourne Australia

The sentence "the quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog" uses every letter in the English alphabet

The Grand Canyon can hold around 900 trillion footballs

Your foot has 26 bones in it

The average human brain contains around 78% water

One nautical knot equates to 1.852 Kph (1.150 mph)

Goosebumps are meant to ward off predators.

Pineapple works as a natural meat tenderizer.

The feeling of getting lost inside a mall is known as the Gruen transfer.

The wood frog can hold its pee for up to eight months.

You lose up to 30 percent of your taste buds during flight.

Cotton candy was invented by a dentist.

Creedence Clearwater Revival has the most No. 2 Billboard hits—without ever hitting No. 1.

The dot over the lower case “i” or “j” is known as a “tittle.”

Chewing gum boosts concentration.

Sea otters hold hands when they sleep to keep from drifting apart.