13 Australia Is The Only Continent Without An Active Volcano
This particular fact is open to interpretation. Australia is a very old continent with many volcanoes, all of which are now dormant or extinct. So that would mean that it is the only continent without any active volcanoes. Even Antarctica has active volcanoes, with the most recent eruption occurring in 2012.
Now remember I said it was open to interpretation? There are several reasons for that. Firstly a few volcanoes in Australia, although they are regarded as dormant, erupted around 4500 years ago. That might seem like a long time, but geologically that is an extremely small time period. Secondly, New Zealand has active volcanoes, and it is regarded as being part of the Australian continent. To add to the confusion, some of the territories owned by Australia have erupted in recent years. As recently as 2013 to be precise.
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14 Queen Elizabeth II Doesn’t Have A Passport
Queen Elizabeth II doesn’t have a passport. All people, presidents, prime ministers and other diplomats require a passport while travelling overseas, but not Queen Elizabeth II. The reason she does not need a passport is because all British passports are issued in her name, so hence one for her is not required. She is the most widely travelled head of state in history having visited 116 countries over her 60 year reign. The Queen also doesn’t need a drivers licence for the same reason.
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Speaking of the Queen..
15 Queen Elizabeth II Is A Qualified Mechanic
If you ever happen to be driving through London and break down near Buckingham Palace who would you call? Well you could try your luck and just knock on the palace doors and ask Queen Elizabeth II if she can help you.
That’s correct. Queen Elizabeth II is a qualified mechanic. She earned the qualification while she was a princess during the Second World War. It was part of her duty towards the war effort. During the war she was also a military truck driver.
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Keeping with the royal theme for just a moment longer
16 The United States Has Had One Queen During It’s Independence
The first and only Queen to rule in any of the United States territory was Queen Lydia Liliuokalani who was queen of the Hawaiian Islands. Queen Liliuokalani also has the distinction of being the last reigning monarch of Hawaii.
She ruled from 1891 until 1893 when American and European settlers formed a Committee of Safety and planned to overthrow the Kingdom, depose the monarchy, and seek annexation from the US. In 1893 US Marines entered Honolulu under orders of neutrality to prevent violence. She was deposed temporarily and hoped that the US would restore her to the throne at a later date. It was not to be. In 1894 the Republic Of Hawaii was proclaimed and four years later Hawaii was incorporated into the United States of America.
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17 The Difference Between Poison, Venom & Toxins
Poison, venom and toxins are completely different things. Toxins are substances that are produced naturally, like bacteria that cause illness and infection. Venom is usually injected by an animal and is harmless if ingested. Poisons are man made substances that are dangerous if ingested or injected.
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18 Benjamin Franklin Has Inventions That Are Still In Use Today
Benjamin Franklin is often only thought of as a US revolutionary leader during the war of independence. But he was also a prolific writer, statesman, inventor and scientist. He conducted important studies in electricity, weather and Atlantic ocean currents.
Some of his inventions are still in wide use today. These include bifocal spectacles, lightening rods and flexible urinary catheters. But probably the most amazing thing about his work in science was that he never patented any of his inventions. In his autobiography he makes mention of this. “… as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”
Could you imagine any inventor today being so generous with their work?
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19 Argentina Has A Crazy Radio Station, Literally
There’s a radio station in Argentina that is broadcast from a mental institution in Buenos Aires, and interviews the patients. It’s called “Crazy Radio” and has 12 million listeners.
It appears to help the patients too. Most patients who participate in the program are later released and don’t require re-admittance. They are now planning on a television program.
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20 Do You Know What Letter Doesn’t Appear On The Periodic Table Of Elements?
Of all of the letters that don’t appear on the periodic table of elements you would think it would be one of the least used letters such as Q, X or Z but they are there. The letter J is the only letter that does not appear anywhere on the periodic table of elements.
It is worth noting that the letter Q does not appear in any official element name. Only temporary elements such as ununquadium use this letter. When the element is actually discovered, its discoverer gets the opportunity to name the element. So it could very well have a different name.
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21 Gandhi Never Won A Nobel Peace Prize
Although Hitler was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize probably the most peaceful person to ever live was nominated 5 times and never won. Mahatma Gandhi was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize in 1937, 1938, 1939, 1947 and finally in 1948 just before his death. The rules of the Nobel Prize exclude posthumous awards, so the Nobel committee decided that year there would be no prize as there was “no suitable living candidate.”
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22 Why Is A Bakers Dozen 13?
Have you ever wondered why a bakers dozen is 13? It goes back centruies to when bread was often the only source of food available. Penalties were harsh for bakers who short changed their customers. To beat this bakers gave 13 pieces of bread so that way they couldn’t be accused of cheating their customers. This is generally the most accepted origin of a bakers dozen, but there are others that could possibly be true.
Another possible origin of a bakers dozen being 13 is because of how a baker bakes the bread. Because of the shape of a bakers tray, often being a 3 by 2 rectangle, the configuration of how they would bake in a 4, 5, 4 pattern meant that there would be corners that would cool or heat faster than the rest. This is important to ensure uniformity when baking. But the only thing that this theory fails to allow for is why would the baker still sell 13 loaves, when they could have baked 12 trays and ended up with 13 dozens?
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23 Between The Two World Wars Germany’s Money Was Worthless
Before the Great Depression Germany’s money wasn’t worth the paper it was printed on. But why? It goes back to World War 1. Germany was forced to pay reparations to the allies worth $132 billion. They didn’t have that money in gold reserves and to try and compensate they printed more money. This began a vicious cycle of needing more money and thus printing more money. A loaf of bread would come to cost millions or marks and people resorted to a barter system to make ends meet. Things got so bad that the mark was losing millions of dollars value in a single day. People would use the money for wallpaper and burn it as firewood as it was cheaper to burn the money than buy the wood. The depreciation is known as hyper inflation and Zimbabwe is one of the most recent examples of this happening.
The hyper inflation of 1922-23 in Germany and the subsequent Great Depression which hit Germany harder than almost any other country in the world aided in the rise of Adolf Hitler and the National Socialists German Workers Party in 1933.
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24 Origin Of The Phrase Drawn And Quartered
Have you ever heard of the phrase drawn and quartered and wondered where it came from? It’s actually a form of medieval punishment that kills the condemned. What they did was tie the 4 limbs of a person to 4 horses and make them go in different directions pulling the person apart and quartering them.
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25 Only 30% Of Those On The Hindenburg Were Killed When It Burst Into Flames
One of the most tragic peace time events of the 20th century was the Hindenburg disaster. On Thursday, May 6, 1937 the German passenger airship, the Hindengurg was attempting to dock with its mooring mast at Lakehurst Naval Air Station, New Jersey when it caught fire. The airship was filled with hydrogen, which is a lighter than air gas and is extremely flammable. The entire airship burned in only 32 to 37 seconds.
With the amount and speed of the flames progression it might surprise you to learn that only a third of the passengers lost their lives. The Hindenburg carried a total of 36 passengers and 61 crew members, of which 62 survived the flames. Only one person on the ground lost their life.
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