1 A shark has 0 bones in its body. Instead, their skeletal system is comprised ofcartilage, like what humans have in our ears, joints, on our ribs, and in our airways. While they do still have a skeletal system, it is just made of a different material than most animals. Cartilage is comprised of cells called chondrocytes, which create the cartilaginous material in our bodies that is rich in protein and elastin fibers. It is extremely resilient and has elastic properties, making it strong and flexible.
2 In 2015, a silver coin with Superman on the head side was made, which is legal tender in Canada. There were only 350,000 produced.
3 The words are already on the picture.
4 Albino animals look the way they do because of a lack of melanin in their skin. The opposite condition (caused by too much melanin in the skin) is known as melanism.
5 There are twice as many pyramids in Sudan then there are in Egypt. Sudan has somewhere between 200 to 255 pyramids, while Egypt is home to just 118 to 138 of them.
6 Petrichor is a term that refers to the odor released into the air when rain falls on dry soil or rock.
7There are over 3,500 species of mosquitoes. The estimated number of total mosquitoes in the world is in the quadrillions. They have killed more people than any other animal. It is estimated that mosquitoes kill more people worldwide in five minutes than sharks do in a whole year. They cause at least 2.7 million deaths every year, and about 500 million cases of mosquito-borne diseases occur annually (90% which occur in Africa).
8 This famous American landmark didn’t get its name from the mountain on which it is built, nor is it named
after the man who sculpted it (John Gutzon de la Mothe Borglum) or any of the people depicted on it. Its
namesake was a New York lawyer. In 1884, an attorney named Charles Edward Rushmore visited the
Black Hills area and, according to the National Parks site, Rushmore asked a local guide what the name
of the mountain was. The guide replied, “We will name it now, and name it Rushmore.” And, somehow,
that name stuck. An off-hand comment ended up giving the monument its permanent name.
9 Dogs have been banned from Antarctica since April 1994 because of the concern that dogs might spread diseases to seals.
10 The entire world’s population could fit in the state of Texas if it were as densely populated at New York City.
11 At age 32 (when he died), Alexander the Great had conquered and created the largest land-based
empire the world has ever seen. It stretched from the Balkans to Pakistan. In 323 BC, he
became ill and, after 12 days of excruciating pain, he seemingly passed away. However, his
corpse didn’t show any signs of rot or decomposition for a whole six days. Modern-day scientists
believe Alexander suffered from the neurological disorder Guillain-Barré Syndrome. They
believe that when he “died” he was actually just paralyzed and mentally aware. Basically, he was
horrifically buried alive!
12 Thanksgiving hasn’t always been held on the fourth Thursday of November. It was held on several
different dates until Abraham Lincoln declared that it would henceforth be held the fourth
Thursday in November of every year in 1863. This day was honored by every subsequent
president until FDR moved it to the third Thursday of November in 1939 to extend
the Christmas season. After many complaints, he moved it back to the fourth Thursday
two years later, and that’s when we celebrate it today.
