Interesting Facts About Sugar

• sugar was one of the first pharmaceutical ingredients used, as it still is today, to mask the bitter taste of medicines

• In 1899, the very first carton was used to pack sugar? This revolutionized the sugar business, greatly improving upon the crude wooden barrels from which sugar was originally scooped for customers.

• In the late 16th Century, a mere teaspoon of sugar cost the equivalent of five dollars in London

• Sugar is the only taste humans are born craving

• A can of Coke has 39 grams of sugar and a can of Pepsi has 41 grams of sugar. That is about seven teaspoons or 13 lumps of sugar per can!

• Lemons contain more sugar than Strawberries.

• When the sun explodes, it will compress itself and become so dense that a piece of it the size of a sugar cube will weigh the equivalent of 1 ton.

• The trick to curing hiccups is to get the nerves that regulate breathing synchronized by taking a teaspoon of granulated sugar.

• Sugar hardens asphalt. It slows the setting of ready-mixed concrete and glue.

• Sugar is used in leather tanning, printers' inks and dyes and even in textile sizing and finishing

• Chemical manufacturers use sugar to grow penicillin.

• 'Sure' and 'Sugar' are the only two words in the English language that are spelt 'su' and pronounced 'sh'

• Some people believe that dry swallowing 1 teaspoon of sugar can cure the hiccups.

• Sugar is 100% natural with no fat.

• Sugar is one of the oldest cooking ingredients, dating back to 326 BC.

• Sugar cane was introduced to the New World in 1493 by Christopher Columbus.

• In 2001, scientists discovered sugar in outer space.

• Before 1899, sugar was crudely sold from barrels. The sugar industry was revolutionized when it was first packed in cartons.

• Sugar has many uses outside of the kitchen: it's one of the most important components of medicine, it's used to slow down the setting of cement, it plays a role in leather tanning and paper dying, and prolongs the life of fresh cut flowers.

• sugar contains no additives or preservatives

• one teaspoon of sugar contains only 15 calories

• refined sugar is better for you than raw sugar

• In the 1500s, the cost of a teaspoon of sugar was equivalent to $5

• sugar makes a good preservative

• A grain of sugar under the microscope is a translucent crystal, reflecting light from its 14 facets like a jewel

• Candy Bar has the same amount of sugar as 10 apples.

• The average American consumes 175 pounds of sugar per year. That is 300,000 calories per year, 800 calories per day.

• Fruit drinks, fruit beverages, fruit punch contain anywhere from 1-40% of fruit juice but also contain loads of sugar and high-fructose corn syrup.Whether fresh squeezed or store-bought an 8 ounce glass of juice has 8 teaspoons of sugar.

• Sugar creates the demand for more sugar, which raises insulin levels. This signals the body to store fat.

• Sugar can even feed cancer cells.

• Sugars also trigger a mineral imbalance in the body. For example, chromium and zinc are often depleted when largeamounts of sugar are consumed.Depleted zinc makes your tastebuds become dull.

• Sucrose, dextrose, fructose, lactose, dextrin, maltose, monosaccharides,disaccharides and syrup are the other names of sugar

• Look at labels, even if it say NO Sugar, it still may have these other types of sugars.

• Sugar is also in canned vegetables, ketchup, salad dressing (tomato sauce cannot be sold as “catsup” if not sugared). That is why fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables are the best for you to eat.

• fruits are high in sugar. However, the best way to consume fruits without affecting your insulin level is to consume them in whole form, with skin on.

• Honey is the Substitute for Sugar.

• Stevia is also a great substitute for sugar. It does not affect insulin levels. It can be found in most health food stores.

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Interesting Facts About Swimming

• Swimming started in the 1st century.

• Over 50% of world-class swimmers suffer from shoulder pain.

• Swimming has been a part of the Olympics since 1896.

• Some people think swimming started when a person fell into the water and panicking, he started to swim in a way we call today dog paddle.

• Egyptians made a picture or symbol for swimming as far back as 2500 A.

• Peanuts are a source of energy for swimmers.

• Drags slow you down in swimming because they are not skin tight.

• The shorter your hair is the more chance you have for swimming faster because there is less friction.

• Swimming can be done for competition and it is helpful in survival.
  

• An hour of vigorous swimming will burn up to 650 calories. It burns off more calories than walking or biking.

• Swimming strengthens the heart and lungs

• Swimming works out all of the body’s major muscles

• Swimming help reduce stress

• Water’s buoyancy make swimming the ideal exercise for physical therapy and rehabilitation or for anyone seeking a low-impact exercise.

• Swimming is a great cardiovascular exercise because you are moving against the water’s resistance, which is over ten times that of the air.

• You can swim for exercise no matter what your age. Some people teach their infants and toddlers how to swim so that they will learn to love and respect the water at a very early age. I also know people well into their eighties who swim regularly to stay in shape.

• An estimated 65 thousand people in the United States alone do not know how to swim. Many of them learned as young children but never go to a pool, lake, river, or ocean anymore and have forgotten how to swim over the years. Others were never taught and continue to avoid the activity altogether. It was once thought that knowing how to swim was important for safety reasons, but now it is pretty much left up to the individual.

• Swimming in extremely cold water can be very dangerous. People with heart conditions or other ailments, as well as elderly people, should avoid swimming in water that is too cold. Cold water cools down the human body 25 times faster that cold air does, so swimming in water that is below about 15 degrees Celsius should never be undertaken. This can lead to thermal shock, hypothermia, and eventual death.

• Swimming is also a very safe form of exercise because it is considered to be low impact and easy on the bones and joints. You can do exercises in the water using floats and weights and enjoy a good workout without worrying about serious injury. This is especially true if you have arthritis or other types of physical limitations.

• It really is true that you shouldn't swim for about an hour after eating. This is primarily because your body is digesting your food and you may get a cramp during the time right after you eat. Allow your body to rest after eating and then go into the water.

• Swimming is a good way to lose weight. This form of exercise will stimulate your entire body and could lead to an increase in metabolism over time. If you are trying to lose weight, swim for at least twenty minutes three or four times each week.

• Going swimming is very relaxing and has been compared to yoga and meditation in terms of its soothing effect on the mind and body.

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Interesting Facts About Antarctica

• Antarctica is the coldest continent on earth, as the lowest temperature recorded here was -89o C. On an average, it is 17 degrees colder than Arctic in the north.

• It is the driest continent on earth, as it hardly receives 2 inches of rainfall annually. The ‘Dry valley’ region on the continent is supposed to be bereft of rainfall since 2 million years.

• The continent of Antarctica is buried under 1 mile of ice sheet and snow. If the ice melts, the continent would spring back 500 m, in around 1000 years.

• If Antarctica's ice sheets melt, the level of the world’s oceans would rise by 60 to 65 meters (200 - 210 ft).

• Antarctica is the ideal place to find meteorites, as they are easily visible on the white sheets of ice. They do not get covered by vegetation and even get trapped into the ice.

• Antarctica is one and a half times the size of United States.

• At the deepest point, the ice in Antarctica is around 3 - 4 km thick.

• The largest animal living on the continent is midge, which measure less than a half inch long.

• Antarctica is the windiest continent on earth. It experiences frequent wind storms, which at times speed over 300 knots at the sea coast.

• The water of the Antarctica is so cold that nothing can rot here.

• Owing to the chilly water in Antarctica, codfish have antifreeze in their blood to save them from freezing.

• The ice cap at Antarctic contains 29 million cubic kilometers of ice. This constitutes nearly 90% of all the ice on the planet and between 60 - 70% of all of the fresh water in the world.

• Only 0.4 percent of Antarctica is not covered by ice.

• Antarctica is the highest continent in elevation.

• Snow and ice cover almost the entirety of the continent. It is estimated that the level of the sea would rise by as much as 200 feet if all the ice in Antarctica were to melt.

• The ice stretches across right up to the ocean, where it is called an Ice Shelf. The Ross Ice Shelf, which is the largest sized ice shelf, covers 208,000 square miles, is larger in size than Texas.

• The falling snow is what forms the ice, since it does not melt when it falls. And every year, as more snow collects, the snow below gets compressed into ice. It is said that 70 percent of the Earth’s fresh water is contained in the ice of Antarctica.

• Antarctica is the driest, windiest, and coldest continent. The lowest recorded temperature in the world, -128 degrees F, was in Antarctica at the Russian Vostok Station.

• Antarctica is divided into two areas, East Antarctica and West Antarctica. East Antarctica, covering 7,770,000 sq km, which is the largest part of the continent, is a high plateau, covered with ice. West Antarctica, covering 6,475,000 sq km, comprises of an archipelago made up of mountainous islands, each of which are connected by ice. The two parts of the continent are divided by a mountain range.

• Antarctica has two active volcanoes, which are known. There could be more, however, these are the only two that have their peaks above the surface of the ice. Mount Erebus is the highest of them, which is located on the Ross Ice Shelf, in East Antarctica.

• There is very limited plant life in Antarctica, consisting mostly of moss and lichen, as well as some floating plants in the seas inland. The mite is the largest land living animal of Antarctica, being just big enough to be seen without using a microscope. It manages to survive by producing chemicals that are akin to the anti-freeze used in cars in the winter.

• Comprising of 80 percent of the bird population, penguins are the most common birds in Antarctica. While some of them live on land, others live on the ice floes. The Emperor penguin, for instance, never comes into the land, spending almost its whole life out in the ocean. The female Emperor lays her eggs on ice floes, where they are incubated by the male.

• The marine mammals that exist in Antarctica mostly comprise of seals and whales, with the tooth whale and the baleen whale being the two chief types of whales. The sperm whale and the killer whale are the two types of tooth whales, while the baleen whales are blue whales, humpback whales, and occasionally minke whales.

• Antarctica has no native or indigenous population. However, these days, a few thousand people live there in the summer in weather and research stations. Only a few scientists stay back for the winter there.

• Antarctica is considered to be the best laboratory on Earth, and scientists from all parts of the world converge here to study various things, such as: what consequences climate change will have on Earth; the unique organisms that inhabit this unspoiled ecosystem; and clues about the universe’s origins.

• If Antarctica's ice sheets melted, every one of the worlds oceans would rise by 60 to 65 metres

• Antarctica is pushed into the earth by the weight of its ice sheets. If they melted, it would "spring back" about 500m (1 625 ft). Scotland and Scandinavia are still rebounding today after the last ice age - at the rate of half a meter a century in the Northern Baltic - the fastest place.

• The cold and dry conditions in the "Dry Valleys" region of Antarctica are so close to those on Mars that NASA did testing there for the Viking mission. It has not rained in the dry valleys for at least 2 million years.

• One of the biggest icebergs ever (maybe the biggest) broke free from the Ross ice shelf in Antarctica in 2000.It was 295km long and 37km wide, with a surface area of 11,000 sq km (4,250 square miles) above water - and 10 times bigger below. Its size is equivalent to that of the Bahamas, or Connecticut.

• During the feeding season in Antarctica, a full grown blue whale eats about 4 million krill (shrimp-like creatures) per day , that's 4 tons - every day for 6 months. What they eat daily would feed a human for 4 years!

• Antarctic fish have lived at between +2°C and -2°C for 5 million years (-2°C is the freezing point of sea water, below zero because of the salt).

• The freezer at your house runs at about -20°C. The mean summer temperature on the great East Antarctica icecap is -30°C and mean winter temperature around -60°C. The lowest ever temperature recorded was at the Russian Vostok station: - 89.6°C

• When the Antarctic sea-ice begins to expand at the beginning of winter, it advances by around 40,000 square miles (100,000 square kilometres) per day, and eventually doubles the size of Antarctica, adding up to an extra 20 million square kilometres of ice around the land mass. That's 1.5 USA's, 2 Australia's or 50 UK's worth of ice.

• Snow falling at the South Pole takes about 100 000 years to "flow" to the coast of Antarctica before it drops off the end as part of an iceberg.

• The Antarctic ice cap has 29 million cubic kilometres of ice. This is 90% of all the ice on the planet and between 60 and 70 % of all of the world's fresh water. Only about 0.4 percent of Antarctica is not covered by ice.

• Antarctica has a peculiar group of fish called the ice fish. These have no haemoglobin. The temperature is very low and oxygen dissolves better in cold temperatures, so there's no need. They just have a larger volume of clear blood instead and this gives them an unusually ghostly white color, particularly their gills. They have antifreeze in their blood so they don't accidentally get frozen solid!

• The largest land animal in Antarctica is an insect, a wingless midge, Belgica antarctica, less than 1.3cm long.

• Samples of ice known as ice cores are regularly drilled through the ice in Antarctica by scientists. They are removed as a long cylinder of ice that gives an indication of the past going back tens of thousands of years. The properties of the ice, of dust trapped in the ice, and even of air bubbles trapped in the ice give valuable information about the earth's climate at various times in the past. Now you know exactly where you can get a drink of water that was frozen during the life of Christ.

• Antarctica is the coldest and windiest of all the continents.

• To the surprise of many, Antarctica is also the driest of all the continents receiving a mere sprinkling of rain and snow once or twice a year.

• 3. Antarctica gets its name from the Greek language. In a bit of deviousness, the term because it means opposite the Arctic.

• The continent was discovered in 1820 by a Russian expedition, but was not further explored to any serious extent for another 100 years.

• No permanent human residents are known to have ever lived on the continent and even today only temporary scientific communities exist.

• 6. Antarctica, not the Sahara Desert, is technically the biggest desert in the world, but the desert is ice instead of snow.

• 7. The ice sheet covering the continent is approximately 1.6 miles thick on average and holds 90 percent of the fresh water on the planet in the form of ice.

• The ice sheet was melting dramatically. In 2002, over 1,000 square miles broke off the continent. In recent years, unusual amounts of snow fall have resulted in a thickening of the ice contrary to global warming concerns.

• The continent is the only natural habitat of the Emperor Penguin, immortalized in the movie March of the Penguins. The penguin, however, also is found on the shoreline of some southern continents from time to time.

• The continent has no government and is not owned by any country. Many countries have claimed the continent at one time or another. Currently, a treaty exists that grants the continent its independence from any such claims.

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Interesting Facts About Coca Cola

• Coca-Cola's original formula included extracts of the African kola nut and coca leaves, both strong stimulants. It was one of those patent medicines sold in the 1800's that actually contained traces of cocaine. By 1903, the use of cocaine was so controversial that the Coca-Cola Company decided to only use "spent coca leaves". It also stopped advertising Coca-Cola as a cure for headaches and other ills.

• Coca-Cola and the Olympic Games began their association in the Summer of 1928.

• When World War II began, the company's use of sugar in the manufacturing of syrup for civilian consumption was restricted to 50% of its pre-war average due to rationing. The rationing ended in August, 1947.

• If all the Coca-Cola ever produced to this point were to gush from "Old Faithful" at its normal rate of 15,000 gallons every hour, the geyser would flow continually for over 1,685 years! Another way of putting that fact---if the geyser had been continually erupting since 313 A.D., it would just be running out about now!

• In Brazil, a local bottler makes 3-day trips up the Amazon River to deliver Coca-Cola to remote locations!

• The slogan "Good to the Last Drop" was first used by the Coca-Cola Company in 1908. It later became the slogan for Maxwell House coffee.

• Cuba and Panama were the first two countries to bottle Coca-Cola outside of the U.S.

• Coca-Cola trucks travel over 1,000,000 miles a day to supply consumers with soft drinks!

• The greater Mexico City bottler produces the greatest volume of any Coca-Cola bottler on the globe.

• Coca-Cola was first shipped in used whiskey kegs and barrels, but they were painted red to give them a distinctive mark. The color red has been associated with the product ever since.

• It took 58 years--until 1944--to sell the first billion gallons of Coca-Cola syrup. Today, that billion gallon mark falls approximately every 7-1/2 months!

• Coca-Cola products are now sold in approximately 200 countries and their logo is written in over 80 languages!

• Coca-Cola is the world's most recognizable trademark---recognized by 94% of the world's population!

• If all the vending machines in the United States were stacked one ontop another, the pile would be over 450 miles high!

• The consumption of Coca-Cola Classic in the U.S. exceeds each of the following: bottled water, juices, powdered drinks, wine and distilled spirits

• There are 7,000 Coca-Cola products consumed worldwide every single second!

• More than 5 billion bottles of Coca-Cola were consumed by military personnel during WWII

• Diet Coke is known as Coca-Cola Light in most countries outside of the U.S. and Canada. It is the most popular diet cola worldwide.

• The name of the flavour base included in the secret formula for 'Coca-Cola' is referred to as 7X.

• Only a few people know the secret formula for 'Coca-Cola'. Concentrate for 'Coca-Cola' is made in a number of centralised production facilities, and is exported to all countries in the world that bottle 'Coca-Cola'.

• 'Coca-Cola' was invented on May 8, 1886 by Dr John Styth Pemberton, a pharmacist, in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. It first went on sale in Jacob's Pharmacy, Atlanta, Georgia.

• The type of print used for the 'Coca-Cola' logo is called "Spencerian Script".

• 'Coca-Cola' was first sold in Australia in 1937 and in New Zealand in 1939.

• If all the 'Coca-Cola' ever produced was poured into the famous contour bottles and placed end to end, they would stretch to the moon and back 1045 times.

• The first two countries to bottle 'Coca-Cola' after it was introduced in the United States were Cuba and Panama.

• There are nearly 10,450 soft drinks from The Coca-Cola Company consumed every second of every day.

• In its first year, servings of 'Coca-Cola' amounted to less than 10 a day. Today one billion servings are consumed every day!

• If all the 'Coca-Cola' ever produced were in regular sized bottles, there would be over 4 trillion bottles. If these were stacked on a football field the total would make a mountain over 325 miles high. This is more than 60 times taller than Mount Everest, the highest mountain in the world.

• 'Coca-Cola' first came to Asia after the turn of the century when it was introduced in the Philippines. Local bottling operations began soon after in both the Philippines and China.

• The longest 'Coca-Cola' distribution route is in Australia - 2,186 miles from Perth, Western Australia to the north of the state!

• Although 'Coca-Cola' is enjoyed ice-cold around the world, in Hong Kong it is sometimes served hot as a remedy for colds!

• If all the 'Coca-Cola' ever produced were flowing over Niagra falls at its normal rate of 1.5 million gallons per second instead of water, the falls would flow for 38 hours and 46 minutes!

• The Northern Territory has the highest per capita consumption rate of 'Coca-Cola' in the world - 529.7 for total 'Coca-Cola' Company products.

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Interesting Facts About Vatican City

• The Vatican is the world's smallest fully independent nation-state.

• city has its own telephone system, post office, gardens, astronomical observatory, radio station, banking system, and pharmacy, as well as a contingent of Swiss Guards responsible for the personal safety of the pope.

• The most interesting building is St. Peter's Basilica which was built during the 4th century and rebuilt in the 16th. It was built over the tomb of St. Peter the Apostle.
  

• There is still monarchy in Vatican City though it is not hereditary and is ruled by whoever becomes the Bishop of Rome, that is the Pope who is elected.

• The economy of the place is dependent on the printing industry, production of coins, postage stamps and financial activities. It is absolutely non-commercial and the economy is largely supported by the annual tax collected from the Roman Catholic dioceses all over the world. The sale of coins and postage stamps of Vatican City also earns it quite an amount of revenue. It is also a tourist place.

• There is no agricultural activity in the state as such.

• The literacy percentage is hundred percent and the languages spoken by the people of Vatican City are Latin, Italian, French and English.

• The ethnic groups that reside in the state are Italians, Swiss and many other nationalities from all over the world. There is not one nationality from which people reside there.

• The total land area of the state is approximately 0.44 square km and when compared in terms of land area it is only 0.7 times bigger than The Mall in Washington, DC.

• It is a landlocked country and does not have a coastline.

• There are no natural hazards to Vatican City

• It is an urban area and the population of the place is approximately 932. The growth rate of population is approximately 1.15%.

• The form of government there is ecclesiastical and there are no administrative divisions perse.

• The living standard and income of a worker is not much below comparison to an Italian worker, in fact it is comparable.

• There are not many roadways; most of them are only streets and lanes.

• Railways can traverse a maximum of 0.86 km.

• The flag of Vatican City has two bands of yellow, which are vertical and white, in the center of which are the crossed keys of Saint Peter and papal miter.

• The head of the State lives in The Lateran Place where the Lateran Treaty was signed.

• Much before Christianity arrived the place was considered sacred and people were not allowed to stay here.

• It is a great cultural hub from earlier times and artists like Michelangelo, Boticelli and Bernini stayed here and enhanced the already rich culture of Vatican City. There are museums and libraries that are of great intellectual and historical importance.

• Since it is a small state with a small population the crime rate is much higher than Italy and approximately 90% of the cases remain unsolved.

• The transport and communication system of Vatican City is well developed.

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Interesting Facts About Nails

• Nails grow faster in the summer than in the winter.

• Men’s nails grow faster than women’s (except during pregnancy and later in life when growth increases).

• The nails on the hand you write with grow faster.

• The longer the finger, the faster your nail grows.

• After an illness, your nail growth increases.

• Malnutrition, crash dieting or eating disorders can affect your nails.

• Your nail growth rate is affected by condition, hormone imbalance and aging.

• Nail disorders make up about 10 percent of all skin conditions.

• The condition and color your nails may indicate an underlying condition/illness, so it is important to remove nail polish and check your nails periodically, particularly before your annual checkup so your doctor can examine your nails for signs of anything.

• Color or shape changes, swelling of the skin around the nails, white lines, ridges or dents in the nail that don’t go away or nail pain are things that you may want to discuss with a physician.

• The nail plates are dead cells and contrary to the popular belief, they don't breathe. So they don't require oxygen. However, the nail beds and the cuticles are live cells and they do need oxygen, vitamins and minerals.

• Nails don't sweat. The nail bed does not have sweat glands, so it can't perspire. It is the skin around the nails that gets sweaty.

• Nails grow at the rate of 0.1 mm daily (or 1 cm in every 100 days). So, for a finger nail to regrow completely, it takes between 4 and 6 months. For toe nails, the period of complete regrow is 12 to 18 months.

• Men's nails grow faster than women's nails.

• Finger nails for both genders grow faster than toe nails.

• Toe nails are about twice thicker than finger nails.

• The fastest growing nail is on the middle finger. The slowest – on the thumbnail.

• When nails are freshly cut, they grow faster than nails that are not cut often. That is why it takes so much time to grow nails longer than an inch (breaking nails is excluded).

• Seasons and weather also affect nail growth. Nails grow faster in warm climates and during daytime, than in cold climates and at night.

• Nails grow faster on young people than on old people. Also nails grow much faster during pregnancy.

• Nails grow at different speeds on both hands. If you are right-handed, the nails on your right hand will grow faster than the nails on your left hand and vice versa.

• Light trauma, like typing on a computer stimulates nail growth. Well, this kind of trauma looks more like a massage actually.

• Cutting your nails after dark is bad luck. Although this is pure superstition, there is enough logic in it – if you cut your nails when there is not enough light, you can injure yourself.
• Nails reflect your health status.

• Some mammals, for example elephants, have 5 nails on each of the their front legs and most often only 4 nails per hind leg.

• It is a myth that hair and nails will continue to grow for several days after death. This is an optical illusion and is due to the fact that the skin shrinks, thus making it look as if the hair and nails are growing.

• Nails are very tough (compared to skin of course) but even they will be dissolved in about 4 days, if you put them in Coke because Coke is highly corrosive.

• Nail manicure is a very ancient activity. There is evidence that even 4,000 years ago it was known to our predecessors.

• The longest finger nail ever recorded was that of an Indian guy and it was 48 inches long.

• If you don't drink enough water, this is bad for your health anyway but you might have never expected that it leads to dry nails as well.

• A hang nail is painful because you have ripped open the edge of the living nail root.

• Male guitar players often leave the nails on their playing hand uncut and use them for playing as well.

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