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The Grampound Times

Edition 43

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As far as I am personally concerned the answer to the occasionally asked question “Did You Know” is always no, but the list of facts offered is always interesting and amusing. So here we go again with the same question,

Did You Know?.....

• The oldest Post Office in the world is at Sanquhar, Nedd Valley , Scotland , and has been operating since the year 1712.

• Galapagos Tortoises can weigh up to 550 lbs and live up to about 150 years.

• 74 Babies are born every hour in Great Britain.

• Shakespeare actually wrote 38 plays.

• Fresh water crocodiles in Australia can exist for about 2 years without eating.

• 38% of prison inmates cannot read.

• The tallest man in the world today lives in India and is 7ft. 8ins. Tall.

• Polo was first played in Persia 600 B.C.

• The Eiffel Tower gets painted every 7 years with 50 tonnes of brown paint.

• British Citizens make about 20 million overseas holiday trips a year.

• There are 27 million cars in this country.

• Jade is stronger than steel.

• Marco Polo brought back noodles to Italy from his travels in China.

• Fire insurance was introduced after the Great Fire of London in 1666.

• The Inuit word parka actually means coat made from a fur pelt.

• Ants do not sleep.

• Koala Bears sleep for about 20 hours a day.

• Mice can sing, something like a canary’s trill, but is too high a frequency for us to hear.

• Concrete and ballbearings were first used in Rome during Nero’s rule.

Many thanks BETTY for another incredible list of mind boggling facts!