The Big Book of Facts

Description

Informative and Fun! Trivial and Important! Fun Facts and Profound Facts! A treat of science and history facts and compelling stories that will inform and entertain! From astonishing, amazing and surprising science and history facts to the little-known stories hidden inside bigger science and historical events, The Big Book of Facts is a fascinating tour through the human body, the environment, atomic physics, and technology, as well as social, political, and cultural history. You'll learn about the world through absorbing stories and interesting tidbits such as ... • Babies start laughing at just a few weeks old; there are ten discernible types of laughter; and laughter spurs our appetite for food. • Though Shakespeare mentioned Valentine's Day in "Hamlet," sending paper cards to a beloved wasn't a fad until the eighteenth century, and by the 1840s, insulting Valentine cards also became common. • Like fingerprints, every tongue on Earth has a unique print. • The U.S. Postal Service's history, the Pony Express, ... and the short-lived (but legal) practice of mailing children. • The prevalence of handwashing through history, the invention of toilet paper in the 1400s, and Sir John Harington's invention of the flushable toilet for Queen Elizabeth I. • Though they are all differently shaped by virtue of being an assembly of water droplets, there are ten basic kinds of clouds. • A basic and quick history of cash in America, including Alexander Hamilton and the Bank of the United States, Benjamin Franklin's efforts to thwart counterfeiting, $100,000 bills, and the fact that more than 85% of the world's money is digital only. • Government agencies in the U.S. and France both agree that the measure of a second is determined by how long it takes a cesium atom to vibrate just over nine billion times. • The history of children's games such as hide-and-seek, blindman's bluff, and jacks that date back to the ancient Greeks and Romans. • And much, much more. An absorbing guide to history and science, this feast of facts and compelling stories recounts the physics and science that control the universe and the revolutionary ideas, acts, and inventions that changed the world. Engrossing, engaging, and enlightening, The Big Book of Facts is a resource for discovering scientific principles, history-makers, and the fun oddities that make up our world. Wide-ranging and fact-filled with nearly 160 illustrations, this information-rich tome also includes a helpful bibliography and an extensive index for those scrambling for more information. Cover Half Title Title Page About the Author Dedication Copyright Table of Contents Dedication Table of Contents Photo Sources Introduction History American History Hey, Can I Borrow a Stamp? Did You Know? A Penny Saved, Part I You’ve Got My Vote! Flippin’ Burgers Can You Hear Me OKay? A Penny Saved, Part II Chugga-Chugga-Choo-Choo Read All About It! Jigsaw Houses Born Here Sit. Down. Stay in the Oval Office Animals My Dinner with Fido One Potato, Two Potatoooooo The Bear Facts about Fire My Dinner with Fido, Redux British History The Royal Family, Part I Stick a Fork in It The Royal Family, Part II Go Directly to Jail British and American History I Love You, I Hate You The Write Stuff Canadian History A Moving Event Culture Don’t Smile, Don’t Say “Cheese” Go Wash Your Hands It’s No Barrel of Laughs Brush Up on This Hobby Such a Card! Tomato, Tomahto Cooking with Color This Part’s Got Legs And the Kangaroos Win It! Get a Room! Games People Play Turn Your Radio On Seven Places You Can’t (or Shouldn’t) Go I’ll Drink to That! Who Wears Short Shorts? I Hereby Resolve To Suck It Up, Buttercup Wherefore Art Thou, Oscar? The Club You Can’t Belong To Match Those Numbers Pretty for the Potty I Love the Knight Life General History This and That and Random Facts Historymakers The Beothuk The Story of Charley Parkhurst What’s Going on Out There? Funeral for a Leader Stagecoach Mary One Lump or Two? Going to the Chapel He’s My Brother Step Right Up! A Black Man in the White House An Athlete and a Hero Annnnnd, They’re Off! Crunch, Crunch, Crunch The Legend of Watkuweis Working for Peanuts World Culture Pickles and Christmas Things, Part I Pickles and Christmas Things, Part II Facts about Food The Last Thing Science Animals This Is a Job for Supercritter! Animals You Don’t Want to Pet Did You Know? (Part I) Aww, Rats! Did You Know? (Part II) The Once-a-Year Swarm That Darn Watchamacallit Biology Toot, Toot, Tootsies, Hello! It’s What’s Inside That Counts Stick Out Your Tongue and Say “Ahhhh” Did You Know …? Yo Mama! Hurts So Good? What Makes You Tick? The Monster Within I’m So Blue Humans Are So Weird! Ha Ha Ha Ha! *Snort* The Final Frontier Biology and Botany Sure, What Could It Hurt? Botany What a Fun Guy! Eat Your Veggies and Fruit… 241 Mow, Mow, Mow Your Lawn The Ivy in the Living Room and Other Plants How Does Your Garden Grow? Chemistry Weird Medical Cures from Times Gone By Gimme a Little Shake I Can Make It Myself! Go BOOM! This Means War! Choose Yer Poison Of Monsters and Men The Environment The Summer That Never Happened Abraham Lincoln, Environmentalist How’s the Weather Down Under? “Fall” and Other Seasonal Things Did You Know? It Looks Like an Elephant General Science The Firsts This and That and Random Facts Did You Know….? Is It Real? Math How Long Has This Been Going On? Did You Know…? Physics Ice, Ice, Baby Anybody Got the Time? The Color Black Turn Up the Heat The Science of Making a Snowman How to Survive an Atomic Bomb Blast Rube Goldberg Color My World Physics & Math Just a Sec Space The Best Dressed Man (on the Moon) Garbage in the Galaxy Falling Forever Technology It’s No Flash in the Pan! An Orchestra of One Did You Know…? Don’t Put That in Your Mouth! First Computers and Other Tech Forgettables Put a Little Song in Your Hand It’s a Date! TV or Not TV? Further Reading Index