Random Shocking Facts

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Well, post some random surprising facts here.

Here is some of mine

1.) The Spanish speaking population of the United States exceeds that of Spain itself, making the US the third largest Spanish speaking country after Mexico and Colombia ! !!
2.) If you travelled from one end of Russia to the other, you will travel halfway around the world
3.) China is only in one time zone
4.) The US Embassy in Iraq covers more territory then Monaco!
5.) If you travel from the Northern Mariana Islands to the US Virgin Islands, you will travel halfway around the world, while still on American territory
6.) The Pacific has half of the world's water, is the deepest ocean in the world and the largest, and covers one third of the area of Planet Earth
7. The highest settlement in the world is at 16,140 feet(5,255 meters), in Tibet
8. The highest railroad in the world is the Tibet railway which tops out at 16,640 feet, (5,572 meters)

Anyway those are just surprising geographical facts..

norway has 4,5 million people
usa has 5 million norwegians and norwegian descendants.

ireland has 4,5 million people
usa has 40 million irish and irish descendants.

* After suffering heavy losses during the airborne assault and capture of Crete, Hitler never again committed his airborne troops to large-scale operations and they were instead used as ground infantry.
*Amongst the methods of transport used by the 2nd Polish Corps fighting the battle of Monte Cassino was a brown bear called Wojtek who helped to move boxes of ammunition.
*80% of Soviet males born in 1923 didn't survive World War 2.

In Spain, they also speak Basque, Catalan and, in Mallorca, a language called Mallorquin, a variant of Catalan.

Don't forget Galician and Asturian.

* The U.S. is the main source of water pollution due to the excrement of farm animals.
* According to recent studies, 70% of the world’s marine species are at risk of extinction.
* Animals raised for food currently generate between 15 and 20% of methane emissions globally.
* Scientists are aiming for lab-grown meat. This means that a single cell taken from an animal could produce in theory the world’s annual meat supply.
* Fish farming has been developed to replace the wild fish stocks that are even lower. Ironically, these farmed fish are fed wild fish thus depleting the oceans even more.
* Every ton of recycled office paper saves 380 gallons of oil. 50 million tons of paper are consumed annually by Americans, more than 850 million trees being cut down.
* It takes 5 pounds of wild ocean fish to produce a single pound of farmed saltwater fish or shrimp.
* Numerous species are going extinct and, by 2100, extinction may reach one third of all species now living. Not only will these animals be forever lost, but the loss of many ingredients for today’s medicine. This is produced in tropical forests and means for producers the sum of 30 billion dollars a year.

From 1850 to 1861 US Marshals were responsible for enforcing the Fugitive Slave Act by tracking down fugitive slaves and returning them to their masters.

From 1960 to 1965 US Marshals were responsible for maintaining order during desegregation, including providing security for James Meredith when he attended the University of Mississippi in 1962.

The circumference of the earth is about 25,000 miles. The width of Russia is NOT 12,500 miles. Nowhere near that. Your surprising geographical facts are not all facts.

ruveyn

Contiguous mainland only
Westernmost point — near Lavry, Pskov Oblast (57°33'N) / (27°19'E)
Easternmost point — Chukotka Autonomous Okrug (66°04'N) / (169°40'W)

Total Distance = 3870 standard miles
Earth Circumference = 24,901.55 standard miles ( Along the Equator)

Meanwhile, back in the USA

Contiguous mainland only
Westernmost point — Cape Alava, Washington (48°9'N) / (124°43'W)
Easternmost point - West Quoddy Head, Maine (44°55'N) / (66°57'W)

Total Distance = 5942 standard miles

Earth Circumference = 24,901.55 standard miles ( Along the Equator)

Both of the above calculations are "straight line" measurements

Perhaps Richie can help me figure out the Longitudinal Distance

The USSR Distance looks to be at least 50% larger if traveling on land.

"OH Richie"

*If you burp upside-down vomit comes out.

*4558 years is a long time in certain time frames.

*I don't know where the dog is at the moment.

random - yes.
shocking - depends on your predisposition.

Muons only have a half life of 2.2 x 10^-6 seconds.

This annoys me.

The isle of Sein has a culmination which is said to be about 5 m (16 feet) high.
It's quite flat actually.

There are more English-speakers in China than in America.

Henry Ford corresponded with Adolph Hiltler.

Hitler got the idea of the Volkswagen from the Model T.

During WWII both England and Germany fielded jet fighters.

A digital computer was used by England to de-crypt German secret messages.