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_Elsa_
_Elsa_ Posts: 37,045

I really enjoy doing Google searches for fun facts and I hope that you do too. I am starting a new message in each game community with the same discussion title. Please feel free to add fun facts and maybe, if I have time, I will post a message weekly.

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  • _Elsa_
    _Elsa_ Posts: 37,045

    March Forth and Do Something Day is a made-up holiday celebrated each year on March 4.

    The holiday encourages people to do something new that enriches their own lives or the lives of people in their community.

    March Fourth

    The name of this unofficial holiday plays on the words, march fourth, which when spoken out loud sounds like march forth - an expression used to convey action and moving forward.

    How to Celebrate?

    March forth and do something.

    Volunteer in your community.

    Start something that you have always wanted to do but have never had the chance to.

    You can read more here.   

     March 4, 2020 is ...

    64th day of the year. There are then 302 days left in 2020.

    10th Wednesday of 2020.

    on the 10th week of 2020 (using US standard week number calculation).

    74th day of Winter. There are 16 days left till Spring.

    Birthstone for this day: Aquamarine, Bloodstone & Jade

    This information came from here

    This Day in Music

    1967 - The Rolling Stones' Ruby Tuesday hits #1

    1972 -Badfinger's Day After Day is certified gold

    1976 - Hall & Oates, Rich Girl is recorded

    1978 - In the Top 5 songs on this day, Dan Hill's, Sometimes When We Touch at #3 is the only song not written by the Bee Gees

    This Day in Sports

    1913 - New York Yankees are the 1st team to train outside the US in Bermuda

    1967 - Worlds Ladies Figure Skating Champion in Vienna won by Peggy Fleming of the US

    1968 - Joe Frazier TKOs Buster Mathis in 11 for heavyweight boxing title

    1976 - San Francisco Giants are bought for $8 million by Bob Lurie & Bud Herseth

    All the above came from here.

  • _Elsa_
    _Elsa_ Posts: 37,045

    Superman didn't always fly. The original comic book Superman could leap tall buildings in a single bound. But then he had to come right back down to Earth—because he didn't fly. It wasn't until the 1940s, when animators for a new animated series decided it would be too difficult to routinely draw him bending his knees, that it was decided that Superman could take off into the air. Readers got to see smooth animation, and a superhero gained a new power.


    Bees sometimes sting other bees. Bees are notorious for their stings, but humans aren't the only ones who experience this pain in the neck (or the arm, or the leg…). In protecting their hives from outsiders, some "guard bees" will stay by the entrance and sniff the bees that come in, says Marianne Peso from the biology department of Macquarie University. If there's a rogue bee from another hive trying to steal some nectar, the guard bee will bite and even sting the intruder.


    Water makes different pouring sounds depending on its temperature. If you listen very closely, hot water and cold water sound slightly different when being poured. The heat changes the thickness, or viscosity, of the water, which changes the pitch of the sound it makes when it's poured. What we feel as heat comes from the molecules of the water moving faster. Cold water is thicker and therefore makes a slightly higher-pitched sound.

     All of the above came from here.

  • _Elsa_
    _Elsa_ Posts: 37,045

    Daylight Saving Time will begin at 2:00 AM on Sunday, March 8

    Don't forget to change your clock before going to sleep tonight! But what does it mean and why do we do it?

    The terms “spring forward” and “fall back” are used to describe a practice of changing standard time with the intention of “saving” (as in, making better use of) natural light. During daylight savings time (DST), clocks are turned ahead one hour, so that the sun rises later in the morning and sets later in the evening. The change is reversed in autumn.

    Originally enacted in the United States as a wartime conservation effort, observance of DST became federal law in 1918. (To dispel a common myth: It was not enacted for farmers—in fact, most farmers fought for its repeal.) While it was quickly repealed after the war ended, DST was observed nationally again during World War II. By 1966, some 100 million Americans were practicing some type of DST through their own local laws. In 1966, Congress acted to end the confusion and establish one consistent nationwide pattern. The Uniform Time Act of 1966 stated that DST would begin on the last Sunday of April and end on the last Sunday of October. (Any area that wanted to be exempt from DST could do so by passing a local ordinance. Hawaii and most of Arizona, for example, are exempt from DST.) By 2005, the Energy Policy Act established that DST begins each year on the second Sunday in March at 2:00am and that the changeover back to standard time (ST) occurs on the first Sunday in November at 2:00am.

    You can read more here.

  • _Elsa_
    _Elsa_ Posts: 37,045
    edited March 2020

    To help you navigate through the community a bit easier I have created a blog with some wonderful community links. To see the entire message view it HERE.

  • _Elsa_
    _Elsa_ Posts: 37,045

    How do bubbles form?

    A bubble is basically an extremely thin film of soapy water enclosing air that forms a hollow sphere with an iridescent surface.   The surface of water is made up of hundreds of water molecules that stick tightly together to each other because of inter-molecular forces and something that is called surface tension. This helps the water molecules to retain their shape and stay closely knit to one another. 

    Why are bubbles round?

    Bubbles are round because, just like balloons, they are what scientists call ‘minimal surface structures’. What this means is that bubbles hold the air enclosed inside them in the least possible surface area that they can. Out of all the geometric shapes such as cubes, or pyramids, the geometric form with the least surface area is a round sphere! So sadly, it isn’t possible to make square-shaped bubbles.

    Can you freeze bubbles?

    Since bubbles are made out of water, yes, they can freeze when exposed to temperatures below 32 degrees Fahrenheit, although the temperature would need to fall extremely quickly to freeze the bubble before it pops! If you’ve ever noticed that a thick liquid is frozen in a bowl, you might notice tiny round frozen bubbles on its surface proving that yes, bubbles can freeze!

     Most people inside a single bubble

    In March 2007, Sam Heath (“Sam The Bubble Man”) made a Guinness World Record when he enclosed 19 people inside a single giant bubble in Surrey, UK.

     Largest soap bubble ever made

    In October 2005, John Erck blew the world’s largest free-floating soap bubble. It was so huge in size that if it could be filled with water, it could have held 788 gallons of water and 13,627 baseballs would have fit inside of it!

    The above information came from here

    Why do bubbles pop?

    Other than being poked or landing on something sharp, bubbles pop when the water between the soap film surfaces evaporates. To note, when it’s cold, those molecules take longer to leave. If you blow a bubble on a calm winter day, a bubble can even freeze and last for several minutes before it wisps away. Also, the colder the outside temperature is, the higher a bubble might fly. That’s because the warm air from your breath is lighter than cold air.

     How do bubbles get their color?

    A bubble gets its color from light waves reflecting between the soap film’s outer and inner surfaces. The distance between the layers gets smaller as the water evaporates, making the colors change. Bubbles can also reflect what’s around them, like the faces peering at them.

     Why do bubbles stick together?

    Since a bubble tends to minimize its surface area, bubbles will join together to share one common wall. Three bubbles will meet at the center, always at an angle of 120 degrees. When bubbles are about the same size, they form perfect hexagons. Bees do the same thing when they build a beehive. Bees, like bubbles, are also very efficient with their spaces. They use the minimum amount of wax to create their spaces. There is a lot more to know about bubbles. Hopefully your amazing demonstration will get your students interested in learning more about the science of bubbles!

    These facts came from here

    Did you know that there is actually a National Bubble Week?

    National Bubble Week is observed next on Sunday, March 15th, 2020. It has been observed the first week of Spring since 2000. It originated in the year 2000 as a way to celebrate the start of spring. Because bubbles are such an iconic, fun outside toy, it’s only natural to use these floating spheres to usher in the season. This information came from here

     


    Bet you didn’t know that blowing bubbles can assist a child in strengthening and developing certain skills such as visual tracking, developing gross and fine motor skills and also speech and language development. If you want to learn more about this, you can read it here.  

  • _Elsa_
    _Elsa_ Posts: 37,045

    Are you superstitious? Do you avoid going under ladders? Do you throw salt over your shoulder? Do you believe that if you break a mirror you will have 7 years of bad luck? What about Friday 13? 

    Very little is known about the origins of the day's notoriety. Some historians believe that the superstitions surrounding it arose in the late 19th century. The first documented mention of the day can be found in a biography of Italian composer Gioachino Rossini, who died on a Friday 13th. A 1907 book, Friday the Thirteenth, by American businessman Thomas Lawson, may have further perpetuated the superstition. Others believe that the myth has Biblical origins. Jesus was crucified on a Friday, and there were 13 guests at the Last Supper the night before his crucifixion. Another account suggests that the day has been associated with misfortune since 1307 when on a Friday the 13th, the French king gave the orders to arrest hundreds of Knights Templar.

    Yet, the Fear is Very Real... The fear of Friday the 13th is also called friggatriskaidekaphobia or paraskevidekatriaphobia. Experts say that friggatriskaidekaphobia affects millions of people and estimate that businesses, especially airlines, suffer from severe losses on Friday the 13th.

    Triskaidekaphobia, or the fear of the number 13, is even more widespread. So much so that many high-rise buildings, hotels, and hospitals skip the 13th floor and many airports do not have gates numbered 13. In many parts of the world, having 13 people at the dinner table is considered bad luck.

    Alfred Hitchcock was born on the 13th. The master of suspense was born on August 13, 1899 – so Friday, August 13, 1999 would have been his 100th birthday. He made his directorial debut in 1922 with a movie called Number 13. Unfortunately, the film was doomed from the start and never got off the ground due to financial troubles. Other celebrities and well-known personalities born on a Friday the 13th include actors Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen; novelist and playwright, Samuel Beckett; and former President of Cuba, Fidel Castro. The Day Inspired One of the Highest Grossing Film Series

    The commercially successful Friday the 13th enterprise includes 12 horror movies, a television series, and several books that focus on curses and superstitions. Even though the films and the television series consistently received negative reviews from critics, they have a huge following. The mask worn by the key character in the films, Jason Voorhees, is one of the most known images in popular culture.

    You can read more info here

    Taylor Swift thinks of 13 as her lucky number and has some connections with Friday the 13th: "I was born on the 13th. I turned 13 on Friday the 13th. My first album went gold in 13 weeks. My first #1 song had a 13-second intro," she told MTV in 2009.

    Stephen King’s triskaidekaphobia – The number 13 and Friday the 13th in particular, scares even the horror master himself. He wrote an article about it for the New York Times in 1984 and you can read it here.

    Mark Twain was allegedly once invited to be the 13th guest at a dinner party. As the story goes, he went to the dinner despite a superstitious friend's warning. Twain reportedly said, "It was bad luck. They only had food for 12."

    In his No. 1 hit song "Superstition," Stevie Wonder sings: "Thirteen-month-old baby, broke the lookin' glass. Seven years of bad luck, good things in your past. When you believe in things that you don't understand, then you suffer. Superstition ain't the way."

    In some Spanish-speaking countries, Tuesday (Martes) the 13th is considered bad luck. Tuesday is feared because it is the day of the week associated with the Roman god of war, Mars. There is a cautionary saying: "On Tuesdays, don't get married, don't take a trip and don't leave your home."

    Founded in 1882 by Capt. William Fowler, The Thirteen Club of New York was a group of skeptics who defied superstitions by hosting dinner parties on Friday the 13th. At the first dinner, the 13 members performed such unlucky feats as passing under a ladder. They dined on 13 courses, the first by the light of 13 candles. The devil-may-care group tipped over salt containers on the table but were forbidden from tossing any of the spilled granules over their shoulders. The small club evolved into a national organization that boasted such members Grover Cleveland and Theodore Roosevelt, according to the New York Historical Society.

    You can read more here.

    In some countries, Tuesday the 13th is the unlucky day, not Friday the 13th.  In Spain and Spanish speaking countries, it's Tuesday the 13th that gets people wound up. Martes, Tuesday in Spanish, comes from the Roman god of war, Mars, forever tying the day to violence, death and bloodshed. In conjunction, Constantinople supposedly fell on a Tuesday during the Fourth Crusade. And then Ottoman Turks supposedly claimed the city on a Tuesday more than 200 years later.

     Please follow this link to read more about superstitions: 13 Superstitions From Around the World

  • paul5473
    paul5473 Posts: 469

    Love this post @Elsa great work as per usual! Love all the interesting facts and a great read!

  • [Deleted User]
    [Deleted User] Posts: 3

    Newbie

    @Elsa Thanks for the fun facts I like learning something new every day :)

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