Geography and Space-Page 6

Geography and Space

Bizarre Fact #251:
Did you know...
The volume of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next eight largest rivers in the world combined.

Bizarre Fact #252:
Did you know...
The world's largest democracy is India, with a much larger population than the United States and pretty good turn-out in elections, although it also has lots of election violence. Democracy is the fastest-spreading form of government worldwide.

Bizarre Fact #253:
Did you know...
There are 3,900 islands in the country Japan, the country of islands.

Bizarre Fact #254:
Did you know...
There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin, Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome, Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Bizarre Fact #255:
Did you know...
There are more people in New York City (7,895,563) than there are in the states of Alaska, Vermont, Wyoming, South Dakota, New Hampshire, Nevada, Idaho, Utah, Hawaii, Delaware, and New Mexico combined.

Bizarre Fact #256:
Did you know...
There are more psycho-analysts per capita in Buenos Aires than any other place in the world.

Bizarre Fact #257:
Did you know...
There are only three world capitals that begin with the letter "O" in English: Ottawa, Canada; Oslo, Norway; and Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Bizarre Fact #258:
Did you know...
There is a prison in Ossining, New York named "Sing Sing."

Bizarre Fact #259:
Did you know...
There is a resort town in New Mexico called "Truth or Consequences."

Bizarre Fact #260:
Did you know...
Toronto’s original name was York, but it had another name long before that. The area near the shores of Lake Ontario was called "the meeting place" by the Ojibway of Southern Ontario. Their word: Toronto.

Bizarre Fact #261:
Did you know...
US Route 66 ran from Chicago to Los Angeles, approximating the course of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe, a railroad which, we might mention, no longer goes to any of those three towns.

Bizarre Fact #262:
Did you know...
Using satellite-surveying techniques, scientists have determined that Los Angeles, California is moving east. At a rate estimated to be about one-fifth on an inch per year, the city is moving closer to the San Gabriel Mountains.

Bizarre Fact #263:
Did you know...
West Virginia consists of those counties of Virginia which refused to secede from the Union at the start of the Civil War. Maine used to be part of Massachusetts. The original colonies made all kinds of land claims for the frontier west of them.

Bizarre Fact #264:
Did you know...
When the Eiffel Tower was built in 1884, Parisians referred to it as "the tragic lamppost" and nearly universally hated it.

Bizarre Fact #265:
Did you know...
Without any greenhouse effect, Earth would be cold and lifeless with an average temperature of 0.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

Bizarre Fact #266:
Did you know...
Zanzibar is known as "Spice Island."

Bizarre Fact #267:
Did you know...
Zion, Illinois - located on the shores of Lake Michigan north of Chicago - was founded by the followers of John Alexander Dowie, whose Christian Catholic Church disapproved of pharmacies, doctors, theaters or dance halls. Smoking, drinking and the eating of pork also was prohibited in town.

Bizarre Fact #268:
Did you know...
Astronomers once believed a planet named Vulcan existed between Mercury and the Sun.

Bizarre Fact #269:
Did you know...
Every 238 years, the orbits of Neptune and Pluto change making Neptune at times the farthest planet from the sun.

Bizarre Fact #270:
Did you know...
In the early 1700's, Siberia became a place of exile for many criminals and political extremists.

Bizarre Fact #271:
Did you know...
Moscow was founded in 1147 by Yury Dolgoruky.

Bizarre Fact #272:
Did you know...
Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish population in the world.

Bizarre Fact #273:
Did you know...
The country of Fiji is made up of 332 islands.

Bizarre Fact #274:
Did you know...
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 #275:
Did you know...
The highest point in France is Mont Blanc, located in the Alps.

Bizarre Fact #276:
Did you know...
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 #277:
Did you know...
When explorers first arrived in Venezuela, they were reminded of Venice. They named the country "Little Venice", which translated into Spanish is Venezuela.