6/30/14

Fact of the Week: June 30, 2014

There are an estimated 7,100 languages spoken worldwide. About 80% of them are spoken by less than 100,000 people. However, about 50 of those languages are only spoken by 1 person!

Cite: World factbook (CIA)

6/23/14

Fact of the Week: July 7, 2014

The world birth rate is: 18.7 births/1,000 population. This rate brakes down to about 255 worldwide births per minute or 4.3 births every second (2014 est.)

Cite: World Factbook, CIA

Fact of the Week: June 23, 2014

Barn Owls (Tyto alba), and at least eight other genera of owl, have asymmetrical openings to their ears, meaning one ear is higher than the other. A sound coming from above will seem slightly louder in the ear with the higher opening.

Cite: https://www.stanford.edu/group/stanfordbirds/text/essays/How_Owls_Hunt.html

6/15/14

Fact of the Week: June 15, 2014

In the 1920's and 1930's a movement to combine both Father's day and Mother's day into a Parent's day arose. However due to the Depression and later on an increased in commercial marketing to buy presents on these two events, momentum for Parent's day dwindled. Although in 1994 congress passed a national Parent's Day that occurs on the fourth Sunday of July. 

Cite: 

6/10/14

Fact of the Week: June 10, 2014

On June 10, 1752, Benjamin Franklin famously flew a kite during a thunderstorm to collect a charge in a Leyden jar when it was struck by lightning, enabling him to demonstrate the electrical nature of lightning.
Cite: History.com

6/4/14

Fact of the Week: June 4, 2014

Commuting to work by bike had the largest percentage increase of any form of commuting, from the years 2000 to 2008-2012 census data.  It increased from about 488,000 bike commuters to 786,000.

Cite: http://www.census.gov/hhes/commuting/