Fact of the Week Archive
Week of December 8, 2008
Potatoes, sweet potatoes and yams are botanically unrelated.
Week of December 1, 2008
There are more insects in 10 square feet of a rain forest than there are people in Manhattan.
Week of November 24, 2008
The OHIO STATE BUCKEYES defeated the michigan wolverines on Saturday, November 24, 42-7, for the 5th-straight time -- the BUCKEYES' longest streak in the 105-year history of this rivalry. This season, the wolverines (3-9, 2-6) lost the most games in school history, missed a bowl trip for the first time in 34 years and had their first losing season in 41 years. This also marked the largest victory margin between these hated rivals since Woody Hayes was prowling and growling on the sidelines in a 50-14 rout of michigan in 1968. In this game, Hayes went for a 2-point conversion late in the game, despite the score. When asked why he went for 2 instead of kicking the extra point, he famously said, "because I couldn't go for three!"
Week of November 17, 2008
What is the world's most valuable comic book? Action Comics #1 (1938), introducing Superman. The cover price? 10 cents. The approximate value today, for a copy in mint condition? $600,000.
Week of November 10, 2008
Why do cats always seem so cool?
Cats don't sweat (They can't - they don't have sweat glands).
Week of November 3, 2008
The first New York City Marathon was held in Central Park in 1970. 127 runners paid the $1 entry fee to the New York Road Runners to participate in a 26.2-mile race that looped several times within the Park. Just fifty-five runners crossed the finish line. The race has grown into the world's largest marathon with nearly 38,000 runners crossing the finish line this year. Participants now run through all five of the city's boroughs, but the iconic finish line remains in the Park.
Week of October 27, 2008
According to the United States Weather Service, 1-day forecasts are right 75% of the time. So check the weather on Explorer mornings and prepare accordingly!
Week of October 20, 2008
Ryan Bonfiglio, 30, broke a Guinness World Record by doing 1,000 push-ups (in sets of 25) in 20 minutes and 50 seconds. The old record was held by Jack LaLanne, set in 1956. Bonfiglio, an All-Ivy League wrestler for Princeton in 1998, also set another record in 2004, executing 507 pull-ups in one hour.
Week of October 13, 2008
According to the Container Recycling Institute, an estimated 2,937,000,000 (yes, that's almost 3 billion!) bottles of non-sparkling water were sold in New York City last year, nearly all of them plastic. That's nearly 200 bottles per year for every man, woman and child. Stacked end-to-end, the bottles New Yorkers throw away each year would reach the moon.
Week of October 6, 2008
The Emmy Award, given out to reward excellence in the television industry, was originally called the "Immy." It is named after TV camera "imaging" tubes.
Week of September 29, 2008
Americans generate an extra 5 million tons of trash between Thanksgiving and New Year's.
Week of September 22, 2008
According to the prize in my Cracker Jack box from the last game at Yankee Stadium, a typical pencil can write 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long! Incidentally, Yankee Stadium, which opened in 1923, was the 3rd oldest ballpark. Boston's Fenway Park opened in 1912 and Chicago's Wrigley Field opened in 1914.
Week of September 15, 2008
New York City was briefly the capital of the United States from 1789 to 1790.
Week of September 8, 2008
(Welcome back! We hope you had a great summer and are ready to hit the park!!!)
The average person swallows 295 times while eating a single meal.
(Bonus fact!): Americans consume 100 pounds of chocolate every second.
Week of June 23, 2008
(The last one of the 2007-2008 school year! See you in the fall!)
The average price of gas in the United States in 1949?
27¢ per gallon.
Week of June 16, 2008
Burger King's original name was Insta Burger King.
Week of June 9, 2008
Temperatures in New York City have approached 100° F this week. The highest temperature ever recorded at the South Pole? 8° F.
Week of June 2, 2008
Flies are the only flying insects that have two wings; all others have four. Also, the housefly's taste buds are in its feet.
Week of May 26, 2008
Can you spare a quarter? There are more than 16,400 parking meters in Manhattan.
Week of May 19, 2008
The largest fruit crop on Earth are grapes (bananas are #2).
Week of May 12, 2008
Americans recycled just 33 percent of the 250 million tons of garbage they created in 2006, according to the Environmental Protection Agency. In comparison, Sweden recycles more than 85% of its yearly waste. Beyond newspapers, cans and bottles, you can probably recycle more than you think. Visit Earth 911 for the rules in your area and before you toss something in the trash, think about how it could find new life as another product -- or even with another owner.
Week of May 5, 2008
Hamsters get their name from Hamstern, a German word that means "to hoard."
Week of April 28, 2008
SpongeBob SquarePants was originally going to be "Spongeboy," but that name was already trademarked.
Week of April 21, 2008
Designed for Prospect Park in 1910, the Tennis House, which overlooks the Long Meadow, was originally a shelter and locker room for the era's popular sport of Lawn Tennis.
(Bonus fact!): The Long Meadow (nearly a mile long!) is thought to be the longest stretch of unbroken meadow in any U.S. park.
Week of April 14, 2008
Some male songbirds sing more than 2,000 times each day.
Week of April 7, 2008
An infrasonic sound is one that is too low for humans to hear.
What? INFRASONIC SOUND!!!
Week of March 31, 2008
A regulation baseball has exactly 108 stitches.
Happy Opening Day!
Week of March 24, 2008
What is nikhedonia? The feeling of pleasure one gets from anticipating victory.
Week of March 17, 2008
Cereal trivia -- Cap'n Crunch's full name is Horatio Magellan Crunch.
Week of March 10, 2008
Every year, the Central Park Conservancy recycles thousands of tons of grass clippings, wood chips and leaves into compost to make the park more beautiful for all of us. It's true!
Week of March 3, 2008
Do you know why canned herring are called sardines? The canning process was developed in Sardinia.
Week of February 25, 2008
2008 is a leap year, this February has five Fridays and the month begins and ends on a Friday. The most recent year in which February comprised five Fridays was in 1980; the next occurrence will be in 2036.
Week of February 18, 2008
Do you know how many hairs are on your head? If you're blonde, about 150,000; brunette, 100,000; redhead, 60,000.
Week of February 11, 2008
A leaky faucet can waste 20 gallons of water a day, enough to fill more than 200 soda cans! It's easy to rush out of the bathroom without turning the water off all the way; do your part at home AND at school by making sure to give faucets a good twist.
Week of February 4, 2008
At 5:51 a.m. EST on August 27, 2003, Mars passed within 34,646,488 miles of Earth -- the closest it has come to our planet in 73,000 years.
Week of January 28, 2008
New York City is experiencing a rare winter so far, with just a trace of snowfall the entire month of January. The last time we had less than one inch of snow in January was 1998.
We have not seen only a trace of January snow since 1933.
Week of January 21, 2008
An ant's sense of smell is almost as good as a dog's.
Week of January 14, 2008
The original name of New York's Park Avenue?
4th Avenue (until they built Central Park).
Week of January 7, 2008
The answer cube inside a Magic 8-Ball is a 20-sided icosahedron.
Week of December 17, 2007
Central Park has 8 waterfalls and they are all manmade. They are just New York City water pipes and can be turned on and off to maintain them throughout the year.
See you in 2008 - HAPPY HOLIDAYS!!!
Week of December 10, 2007
Every day, 100 million aluminum cans are burned in incinerators, dumped into landfills or thrown out as litter. That's more than 3 million pounds! Many items in school lunchrooms are used only once and many kids do not separate all of their trash. By not doing this, it is a waste of landfill space and a waste of energy necessary to make new products. Take a minute to separate your trash according to your school's rules. Materials that are often recycled include paper, cardboard, milk cartons, aluminum cans and plastic and glass bottles. If it's clean, aluminum foil can be recycled, too. (If your cafeteria doesn't recycle, talk to your principal about starting a recycling program at your school!) Also, pack your lunch in a lunch box or other reusable container instead of using a fresh paper bag every day.
Week of December 3, 2007
All spiders are carnivores (meat eaters). They eat insects, worms, bugs and even other spiders. Many of the common garden spiders build a new web everyday.
Week of November 26, 2007
The house where Thomas Jefferson wrote much of the Declaration of Independence was torn down and replaced with a hamburger stand.
Week of November 19, 2007
The OHIO STATE BUCKEYES defeated the michigan wolverines on Saturday, November 17, 14-3, to win its third Big Ten Title in a row -- earning the last two outright for the first time since 1954-55. The BUCKEYES have won four straight over michigan for the first time since 1960-63. OHIO STATE held michigan to 91 yards of total offense, the first time the wolverines failed to reach 100 yards since 1962. And last, head coach Jim Tressel became the first OHIO STATE coach to beat michigan six times in seven years.
Week of November 12, 2007
The bones of a pigeon weigh less than its feathers.
(Bonus fact!): Most hummingbirds weigh less than a penny.
Week of November 5, 2007
More than half of the energy that goes into a computer is wasted. Computers and other equipment (such as copy machines and printers) often stay on all day and even all night. But they shouldn't. Turn them off after school or any time they won't be used for a while. This is safe, even for computers. (Take a stand at your school, but be sure to get any permission you might need before you turn off equipment yourself). If it's not convenient or practical to turn off your whole computer (or if you're not allowed to), you can still save a lot of energy by switching off the monitor anytime you're not using it. Monitors come back on quickly, and your work is still waiting for you - right where you left it.
Week of October 29, 2007
The nine most-used words in the English language are:
and, be, it, of, the, will, I, have & you.
Week of October 22, 2007
Russell "Rock Bottom" Byars, a 43-year-old engineer from Franklin, PA, tossed a stone that skipped 51 times on the Allegheny River (it travelled an estimated 250 feet!), setting a new Guinness World Record for stone skipping. The previous record was held by Kurt "Mountain Man" Steiner (see our Fact of the Week Archive).
Week of October 15, 2007
Prospect Park is 526 acres and was designed by famed Central Park architects Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux. Prospect Park is also home to the last remaining natural forest in Brooklyn.
Week of October 8, 2007
Comic book fact: Superman is 6'2" but Clark Kent is only 5'11" (he slouches).
Week of October 1, 2007
Alexander Graham Bell insisted the best way to answer the phone was by saying "Ahoy!"
Week of September 24, 2007
When Heinz ketchup leaves the bottle, it travels at a rate of 25 miles per year.
Week of September 17, 2007
(Welcome back! We hope you had a great summer and are ready to hit the park!!!)
U.S. hens lay enough eggs in a year to circle the equator 100 times.