Historical, Astronomical, and Geographical Facts.

This page is dedicated to intresting Historical, Astronomical, and Geographical facts.

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Find social studies lesson plans that introduce students to the richness of history. It prepares them for the in depth US history lesson plans ahead of them in high school.

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History Information.

The second set of father-son presidents became a reality in the year 2000 as George W Bush was elected. The Bushes were the second father-son pair to hold office the first were the Adams.

The first synthetic human chromosome was constructed by US scientists in 1997.

Diet Coke was invented in 1982.

In 1980, a Las Vegas hospital suspended workers for betting on when patients would die.

In 1975 the first VCR went on sale to the public.

1973, Swedish confectionery salesman Roland Ohisson was buried in a coffin made entirely of chocolate.

1961 President John Kennedy formed the Peace Corps.

The Tiros 1 the first weather satelitte was launched from the United States on April 1st 1960.

The Barbi doll debuted on March 9 th 1959.

Spudnick 1 the first man-made object to circle the world was launched in 1957.

The first credit card was issued in 1951 by American Express.

The first human sex change was preformed in 1950 when the Danish doctor Christian Hamburger operated on a New Yorker named George Jargenson who changed his first name to Christine after the operation.

The FBI's most wanted list was started in 1950.

In 1937 the first social security payment was made.

In 1932 one year after the death of her husband the previous senator, Hattie Carway of Arkansas became the first woman elected to be a senator in the United States. She was also the first woman to preside over the senate in 1943.

On March 3 1931 "The Star Spangled Banner" was adopted as the United States national anthem.

In 1926 Robert Goddard launched the first liquid fueled rocket.

The first windsheild whiper was invented by Mary Anderson of Alabama USA in 1902.

The fist American subway system was built in Boston Massachuttes in 1897.

The shortest war in history was the 1896 war between England and Zanzibar which lasted 38 minutes. Zanzibar surrendered.

Shredded Wheat became the first ready to eat breakfast cereal in 1893.

Thomas Edison invented the talking doll in 1888.

August 1881 American humanitarians Clara Barton and Adolphus Solomons founded the National Red Cross.

In 1876 the first Trademarked product was a British beer that went by the name of Bass Pale Ale. This was also the year the first paper money was issued in the United States.

In 1871 William of Prussia was named the first german emperor.

The Scott Brothers marketed the first toilet paper roll in 1867.

Great Britain was the first country to issue postage stamps in 1840.

The first kindergarden was founded by Fredrick Froebel in Germany in 1837.

In 1829 a man by the name of Louis Braille came up with the idea for using dots to represent writen words for the blind. This came to be known as Braille. Shortly after (1892) the Braille Hall typwriter was invented by Frank Haven Hall.

In 1825 England the first Locamotive pulled passanger train was operated by George Stephenson.

The Bicycle was patented on June 26th 1819.

In 1796 Napoleon was only 26 when he took comand of the French army of Italy.

In 1785 the American Congressional Navy was formed. As of the first day they had 2 frigates, 2 brigs, and 3 scooners. Sailors earned $8.00 a month.

In the Great Fire of London in 1666, only six people were killed.

In 1666 London the first blood transfusion was preformed. Yet this was animal blood transfusion from one dog to another dog.

The thermometer was invented in 1607 by Galileo.

May 20th 1506 Christopher Columbus died in Spain.

The First hotdog or Frankfurter was said to be made in Frankfurter Germany in 1487.

In Germany Anne of Burgundy was the first woman to receive a dimond engagement ring from Maximillian the first in 1477.

The Deadliest Disease ever the Pneumonic form of the Black Death spread from 1347-1350.

The first spectacles were invented in 1280.

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Astronomical Facts.

Space is not a vacuum as there are atoms in space.

20000 pounds of space dust and other space debris fall on the Earth everyday. Some of these are mars rocks most of which have been found in antartica.

There are atleast 7,000 objects floating in space that are being tracked by Earth researchers. Only 5 % of these are satelites.

99% of our solar systems mass is concentrated in the sun. The sun also shrinks 5ft every hr. It's speculated that the sun's gravitational powers expand out further than even Pluto's orbit.

The Sun burns 9 million tons of gas a second.

Neptune's year is equal to 166 earth years.

The coldest place in the solar system is Triton which is Neptune's largest moon, which has a temp of -391degrees F just 69 degrees above absolute zero.

In 2006 Pluto was classified as a "Dwarf Planet".

Jupiter is the fastest rotating planet, which can complete one revolution in less than ten hours.

Uranus is the only planet that rotates on its side. The winter and summer seasons on this planet last 21 earth years each. This is a world of chill methane. This planet was discovered in 1781 by British Atronomist William Hershel.

Venus is the only planet that rotates clockwise. The lenth of a day on Venus (sunrise to set) is equal to 243 earth days, yet it's years are only 224 earth days (it's years are shorter than it's days).

The star Antares is 60,000 times larger than our sun.

Ceres is the name of the first ever asteroid to be discovered. It's also the biggest asteriod discovered so far.

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Geographical Facts.

Continents, States,and Cities.

On every continent there is a city called Rome.

About 50% of Americans live within 50 miles of their birth-place, this is called propinquity.

Us Highways which go north to south have odd numbers, while ones going east to west have even numbers (these numbers are in sequence).

Los Angeles's full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula --and can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.

Montreal is the largest French-speaking city in the Western Hemisphere.

Panama is the only place in the world were you can see the sun rise over the Pacific Ocean and set over the Atlantic Ocean.

Europe doesn't have any deserts it's the only continent without one.

Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not owned by any country. Antarctica is also the only continent that does not have land areas below sea level.

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Rivers, Lakes, and Oceans.

About 1/10th of the Earths surface is permanently covered in ice.

The oceans make up 70% of earths surface. The oceans also contain 97% of eaths water supply.

Lake Baikakal is the deepest lake in the world.

Salt is picked up from the soil of riverbeds by the fast flowing water and transfered to the ocean. When the ocean water evaporates the heavier salt stays in the ocean, and over the years the salt content continues to build.

There are now five Oceans recognized by the International Hydrographic Organization. The Atlantic Ocean, The Pacific Ocean, the Indian Ocean, The Artic Ocean, and the Southern Ocean. The Artic Ocean is the smallest of these 5. The strongest ocean current is the Agulhas current in the western part of the Indian Ocean it's speed is 6mph.

The Red Sea is red because of all the red algae in that area.

The Dead sea is not an ocean, it's a landlocked salt lake that is 45 miles long and 9 miles wide.

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Mountains, Deserts, and Rainforests.

The highest mountain in the Western Hemisphere is Mount Aconcagua in Argentina. It rises 22,834 feet above sea level.

The largest desert in the world, the Sahara, is 3,500,000 square miles.

The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the world's oxygen supply.

The greatest mountain range is the Mid-Ocean Ridge, extending 64,374 km from the Arctic Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean. The Atlantic Ocean is saltier than the Pacific Ocean.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.

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Find social studies lesson plans that introduce students to the richness of history. It prepares them for the in depth US history lesson plans ahead of them in high school.

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