Interesting Facts About Nile River

• The Nile is famous as the longest river in the world. The river got its name from the Greek word Neilos, which means valley. The Nile floods the lands in Egypt, leaving behind black sediment. That's why the ancient Egyptians named the river Ar, meaning black and "Rivers of Life".

• The River Nile is about 6,670 km (4,160 miles) in length and is the longest river in Africa and in the world. Although it is generally associated with Egypt, only 22% of the Nile’s course runs through that country.

• The River Nile runs through Egypt, creating a fertile green valley across the dessert.

• It was by the banks that one of the oldest civilizations in the world began. The ancient Egyptians lived and farmed along the Nile, using the soil to produce food for themselves and their animals.

• The Nile and its tributaries flow through 10 distinct African nations: Ethiopia, Sudan, Egypt, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo (formerly Zaire), Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Eritrea and Burundi.

• The vast river system of the Nile includes two main tributaries: the White Nile (so named for its milky, silt-filled appearance), and the Blue Nile, which joins the White Nile in Sudan on its way to the sea.

• The source of the White Nile is the springs of Mount Bigugu in Rwanda. The source of the Blue Nile is Sakala Springs above Lake Tana in Ethiopia, which contributes to more than 50 percent of the river’s flow. The water’s volume from the Blue Nile increases tremendously in the monsoon season, from July to September.

• The Nile flows south to north, beginning in the highlands of Ethiopia and Rwanda heading toward the Mediterranean Sea at Alexandria, Egypt.

• Around 5000 B.C., the first great Egyptian civilization was founded in the northern Nile Valley. The Egyptians came to rely heavily on the Nile and its annual summer floods for irrigation, agriculture and transportation.

• The ancient Egyptians worshiped the Nile as one of their gods (the god Hapi) and made sacrifices solely for the Nile’s sake.

• The first dams were built on the Nile in 1861 in order to raise the river levels for easier navigation and increased irrigation. Major dams on the Nile today include Aswan Dam, Roseries Dam, Sennar Dam and Owen Falls Dam.

• Today the Nile remains a vital pathway that is essential to millions of African farmers. Egypt still imports 40 percent of its grain by means of the Nile.

• The entire Nile River Delta is estimated to drain an area of 1,293,000 square miles. This area is so vast that is has a number of different climate areas. North, in Egypt and Sudan, rainfall is sparse. More to the south, in and around Ethiopia, rainfall is heavy, contributing to the floodwaters that rush downstream and eventually create the wonderfully fertile soil that supports so much of life in Egypt and Sudan. Dams, the most notable being the Aswan High Dam, have been built along the route to prevent massive flooding of populated areas.

• The Nile River Delta is home to many species of animals, including crocodiles, turtles, baboons, wildebeest, and more than 300 species of birds, including fishing eagles, ibis, and the Nile Valley Sunbird.

• The people who lived along the Nile in ancient times used the river for agriculture and transportation. That hasn't changed, although the methods of agriculture and transportation have. Steam ships are still used in Egypt and Sudan, to transport goods.

• Only 22% of the river passes through Egypt, the other countries through which Nile passes are Sudan, Burundi, Ethiopia, Zaire, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda and Tanzania.

• The cities that Nile flows past are Cairo, Khartoum, Gondokoro, Aswan, Karnak, Thebes and the town of Alexandria.

• The source of the river is debatable since it is commonly known that the source of the river is Lake Victoria, which is the biggest lake in Africa, but it is observed that on the northern side of the lake there is a waterfall called Ripon Falls, which has a small opening and seemingly that is where the water in the River Nile comes from but then this cannot be held as the ultimate truth since there are many rivers that flow into Lake Victoria therefore which one of these or if all of them are the sources of The Nile. Presently River Kagera and its tributary, which is called Ruvubu whose headwaters are in Burundi, are considered to be the source of the River Nile.

• Nile also played an important in the building if the famous Pyramids since the blocks of stone, which were used to make these pyramids, were actually transported from the source to the site with the help of Nile.

• Its average discharge is 3.1 million litres (680,000 gallons) per second.

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Interesting Facts About Michael Phelps

• Michael Fred Phelps (born June 30, 1985) is an American swimmer and 14-time Olympic gold medalist (the most by any Olympian), who currently holds seven world records in swimming.

• Michael Phelps holds the record for the most gold medals won at a single Olympics; a total of eight, surpassing Mark Spitz

• Michael Phelps comes from a broken home in Baltimore. His policeman father Fred and school teacher mother Debbie separated when he was only seven. Elder sister Whitney, also a swimmer, has written that she used the swimming pool as a refuge from the yelling.

• When he was 10, Phelps attended the 1996 Olympic Trials to support sister Whitney. She finished sixth in the 200m butterfly final and failed to make the team. The family cried in the stands. Whitney's career was cut short by four herniated discs.

• In November 2004, at the age of 19, Michael Phelps was arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol in Salisbury, Maryland. He pleaded guilty to driving while impaired the following month and was granted probation before judgment and ordered to serve 18 months probation, fined $250, obligated to speak to high school students about drinking and driving and had to attend a Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) meeting.

• Michael Phelps started swimming at the age of five. As a kid, Michael was diagnosed with Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder (ADHD). At the age seven, he started swimming partly because he could release all that extra energy in the pool. At first, Michael was scared to even put his face in the water but before long he was swimming competitively. When he was 11,Michael Phelps met his long-time swimming coach, Bob Bowman, who knew right away that Phelps had what it took to be an exceptional athlete.

• Michael Phelps made history by qualifying for the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia, when he was just 15-years-old. By qualifying for the 2000 Olympics, Michael Phelps became the youngest member of the US Olympic team since 1932. Phelps finished fifth in the 200 meter butterfly and shattered the 15-16 National Age Group record. Five months after the Olympics,Phelps became the youngest world record holder in history by setting a new record in the 200 meter butterfly at the World Championships in Japan.

• When Australian swimmer Ian Thorpe said he did not think anyone could win eight races at a single Olympics, Phelps memorized the quote to motivate him for Beijing. He hung a poster of Ian Crocker above his bed after his team mate beat him at the 2003 world championships, to help motivate him for Athens.

• Overall, Phelps has won 16 Olympic medals: six gold and two bronze at Athens in 2004, and eight gold at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. In winning these medals, he has twice equaled Soviet gymnast Alexander Dityatin's record of eight medals (of any type) at a single Olympics (Dityatin: Moscow 1980; Phelps: Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008). Out of his eight gold medals from Beijing, five were won in individual events, tying the record for individual gold medals at a single Games originally set by Eric Heiden in the 1980 Winter Olympics and equaled by Vitaly Scherbo at the 1992 Summer Games. Phelps ranks second in total career Olympic medals, after Soviet gymnast Larissa Latynina, who won a total of 18 medals (nine gold) spanning three Olympic Games.

• Michael Phelps received the 2004 Sullivan Award.

• Michael Phelps is the proud holder of 27 U.S. National Titles.

• Michael Phelps is the first male swimmer to break two world record in separate events in the same day.

• Michael Phelps is 6'4" tall and weighs 200 pounds.

• Michael Phelps' nicknames are "MP" and "Gomer".

• Michael Phelps needs to wolf down a lot of calories to have the energy for all his swimming. For breakfast, he often eats two egg-and-cheese sandwiches, a bowl of grits, a large omelet and a tall stack of chocolate chip pancakes.

• Michael Phelps comes from a family of swimmers. His sister, Hilary, swam for the University of Richmond and his sister, Whitney, swam at the 1996 Olympic Swimming Trials.

• Michael Phelps is sponsored by Visa, Speedo, PowerBar, At&T Wireless, Omega and Kellogg's.

• Micahel Phelps listens to hip hop and rap to help him get focused before a race, downloading tracks on his MP3 player. Among his favourites is American rapper Young Jeezy.

• Michael Phelps attends the University of Michigan, studying sports marketing and management.

• Phelps' international titles, along with his various world records, have resulted in him being awarded the World Swimmer of the Year Award in 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007 and American Swimmer of the Year Award in 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2006, and 2007. Phelps has won a total of 48 career medals thus far: 40 gold, six silvers and two bronze. This includes all of theChampionships in which he has competed: The Olympics, the World Championships, and the Pan Pacific Championships.

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Interesting Facts About Pencils

• A pencil will write in zero gravity, upside down, and under water!

• More than 14 billion pencils are produced in the world every year - enough to circle the globe 62 times.

• One pencil will draw a line 70 miles long.

• Pencils don't really contain lead.That gray matter is graphite and clay.

• Two billion pencils are made in the United States each year.

• The pencil was invented more than 400 years ago, in 1565.

• Famous novelists Ernest Hemingway and JohnSteinbeck used pencils to write their books.

• Pencils didn't have erasers on them until 100 years ago because teachers felt they would encourage children to make mistakes.

• It would cost $50 in labor and materials for a person to make a 10-cent pencil.

• One million pencils are used annually on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange.

• The average pencil can be sharpened 17 times, write 45,000 words or draw a line 35 miles long.

• A good-size tree will make about 300,000 pencils.

• In 1908 A.C. Steward developed a press that could imprint round pencils.

• Seeing a pencil in your dream indicates that you are making a temporary impact in a situation. It may also suggest that a relationship may not last long.

• Dreaming that you are sharpening a pencil, suggests that you need to be more flexible in your way of thinking.

• More than 2 billion pencils are used in the United States every year, and most of them have erasers! However, most pencils sold in Europe do not have erasers!

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