Geography and Space-Page 2

Bizarre Fact #51:
Did you know...
Soil that is heated by geysers are now making it possible to produce bananas in Iceland.

Bizarre Fact #52:
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Some asteroids have other asteroids orbiting them.

Bizarre Fact #53:
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St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called Pigs Eye after a man named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant who set up the first business there.

Bizarre Fact #54:
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Stalks of sugar cane can reach up to 30 feet.

Bizarre Fact #55:
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Tasmania is said to have the cleanest air in the world.

Bizarre Fact #56:
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Thailand used to be called Siam.

Bizarre Fact #57:
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The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M.). It is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of 80, 20 less people than the Vatican. It is a sovereign entity under international law, just as the Vatican is.

Bizarre Fact #58:
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The age of a saguaro cactus is calculated by its height.

Bizarre Fact #59:
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The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply.

Bizarre Fact #60:
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The Angel Falls in Venezuela were named after an American pilot, Jimmy Angel, whose plane got stuck on top of the mountain while searching for gold.

Bizarre Fact #61:
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The Apollo 17 crew were the last men on the moon.

Bizarre Fact #62:
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The bark of an older redwood tree is fireproof. Also the redwoods extremely high water content reduces the tree's susceptibility to fire.

Bizarre Fact #63:
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The Chihuahua Desert is the largest desert in North America, and is over 200,000 square miles.

Bizarre Fact #64:
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The city of Seoul has been the capital city of Korea for more than 600 years.

Bizarre Fact #65:
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The city of Tokyo was originally called Edo.

Bizarre Fact #66:
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The country of Bolivia is named after a fighter Simon Bolivar.

Bizarre Fact #67:
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The country of Fiji is made up of 332 islands.

Bizarre Fact #68:
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The country of Fiji is made up of 332 islands.

Bizarre Fact #69:
Did you know...
The Dead Sea has been sinking for last several years.

Bizarre Fact #70:
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The deepest mine in the world is the East Rand mine, which goes to a depth of about 3,585 metres.

Bizarre Fact #71:
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The deepest point on the Earth's surface is in the Pacific Ocean located in the Marianas trench. This point is called the "Challenger Deep" and is 35,818 feet deep.

Bizarre Fact #72:
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The driest place on earth is Calama, in the Atacama Desert in Chile.

Bizarre Fact #73:
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The Earth's rain forest are home to about 75% of all known species of plant and animal life.

Bizarre Fact #74:
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The highest point in France is Mont Blanc, located in the Alps.

Bizarre Fact #75:
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The Huang He (Yellow River) in China is also called "China's sorrow." This is because it overflows its banks, and has caused many destructions. One of the biggest floods was in 1887, where approximately one million people died in China because of the flood.

Bizarre Fact #76:
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The largest coral reef in the world is the Great Barrier Reef located in Australia. The reef is approximately 2023 kilometers long.

Bizarre Fact #77:
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The largest volcano known is on Mars: Olympus Mons, 370 miles wide and 79,000 feet high, is almost three times higher than Mount Everest.

Bizarre Fact #78:
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The longest freshwater shoreline in the world is located in the state of Michigan.

Bizarre Fact #79:
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The meaning of Siberia is "sleeping land."

Bizarre Fact #80:
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The oil that is found in poison ivy is called "urushiol."

Bizarre Fact #81:
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The only married couple to fly together in space were Jan Davis and Mark Lee, who flew aboard the Endeavor space shuttle from Sept 12-20, 1992.

Bizarre Fact #82:
Did you know...
The planet Venus spins opposite to the other planets in the solar system.

Bizarre Fact #83:
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The Rainbow Bridge is the world's largest natural bridge. It is located at the base of Navajo Mountain, Utah and is as long as a football field.

Bizarre Fact #84:
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The Red Cross is called the Red Crescent in Arab countries.

Bizarre Fact #85:
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The Sea of Tranquility on the moon is deeper than the highest mountain on Earth.

Bizarre Fact #86:
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The sun is approximately 149 million kilometres from the earth.

Bizarre Fact #87:
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The sun is approximately 75% hydrogen, 25% helium by mass.

Bizarre Fact #88:
Did you know...
The sun shrinks five feet every hour.

Bizarre Fact #89:
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The tallest tree recorded is located in Humboldt Redwoods State Park, California. It is a coast redwood and has been measured at 117 metres high.

Bizarre Fact #90:
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The thickness of the Arctic ice sheet is on average 10 feet. There are some areas that are thick as 65 feet.

Bizarre Fact #91:
Did you know...
The Tonle Sap River in Cambodia flows north for almost half the year and then south for the rest of the year.

Bizarre Fact #92:
Did you know...
The U.S. paid Russia $7.2 million for Alaska in 1867.

Bizarre Fact #93:
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The word "America" comes from the European explorer "Amerigo Vespucci.

Bizarre Fact #94:
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The word "comet" comes from the Greek word "kometes" meaning long hair and referring to the tail.

Bizarre Fact #95:
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The word Thailand means "land of the free."

Bizarre Fact #96:
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The word tulip comes from the Turkish word for turban.

Bizarre Fact #97:
Did you know...
The world's cleanest air is in Tasmania.

Bizarre Fact #98:
Did you know...
The world's highest capital is La Paz, which is the capital of Bolivia. The capital is located about 12,000 feet above sea level.

Bizarre Fact #99:
Did you know...
The world's highest tide is in the Bay of Fundy located in Nova Scotia, Canada.

Bizarre Fact #100:
Did you know...
The world's worst earthquake occurred in the Eastern Mediterranean in July 1201, killing over one million people that were predominately in Egypt and Syria.