Tag Archives: Facts

Jigsaw Puzzle

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Jigsaw Puzzle

Get your brain whirring…

  • The jigsaw puzzle concept originated in the 1760s when European map makers glued maps on wood and cut them up into pieces.
  • Originally designed for children and educational purposes, jigsaw puzzles for adults didn’t appear until the 1900s.
  • Jigsaw puzzles originally weren’t interlocking, and the first interlocking jigsaw puzzle pieces were first produced in 1909.
  • Wooden jigsaw puzzles originally were cut individually, piece by piece, until presses and die cuts were used.
  • Jigsaw puzzles get there names by the original tool that was used to cut up the puzzle’s pieces, the jigsaw.

Jigsaw Puzzle, cakes, Sweets, Food, Half Done, Doodle Jigsaw Puzzles, Beverly, No. 605, 108 pieces, Ten Random Facts

  • Typically, modern jigsaw puzzles are enlarged versions of photographs or paintings glued onto cardboard.
  • Jigsaw puzzles typically are 300, 500,750 or 1000 pieces.
  • In 2011, the largest commercial jigsaw puzzle was produced and contained 32,256 pieces and measured 544 cm by 192 cm.
  • In the 1990s, the production of foam or wood three dimensional puzzles began, and have become quite popular.
  • Doing jigsaw puzzles regularly is said to help prevent Alezheimers, and also benefits the brain in other areas.
Bibliography:
Jigsaw Puzzle 14 January 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jigsaw_puzzle>
Williams, A n.d., Jigsaw Puzzles – A Brief History, MGC Puzzles, <http://www.mgcpuzzles.com/mgcpuzzles/puzzle_history/>

Leopard Seal

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Leopard Seal

Has spots, but not a leopard.

  • Leopard seals are the second largest seal species in Antarctica, ranging from 2.4 – 3.5 metres (8.4 – 11.7 feet) long and 200 to 600 kilograms (440 to 1,300 pounds) in weight.
  • Leopard seals are most common in the Southern Hemisphere, especially on the coast of Antarctica.
  • Leopard seals have a typical lifespan of 26 years or more.
  • Leopard seals have only a couple of predators – large sharks and killer whales (orcas).
  • Leopard seals have dark grey coloured backs, light grey coloured underside and black spotted, white skin necks.

Leopard Seal, Front, Ice Floe, National Geographic, Ten Random Facts

Leopard Seal
Image courtesy of National Geographic
  • Female leopard seals are generally larger than males.
  • Leopard seals don’t make many sounds, but sometimes makes grunting and growling noises.
  • Leopard seals don’t normally live in groups, except to mate.
  • A leopard seals diet includes krill, fish, penguins and sometimes other seals.
  • Leopard seals rarely attack people, even though they are considered quite dangerous, and the first recorded fatality was in 2003  in Antarctica.
Bibliography:
Leopard seal 30 January 2013 , Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leopard_seal>

Cluedo

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Cluedo

‘The Great Detective Game,’ Cluedo’s slogan.

  • Cluedo is a board game that requires the use of reasoning and logic skills and has a murder and mystery theme.
  • Cluedo was designed by Anthony Pratt, a successful musician, who thought of the game during World War II.
  • The game was first made in 1949 by Waddingtons who changed the name from ‘Murder’ (which the Pratt’s had called it) to ‘Cluedo’.
  • In North America, Cluedo is known as Clue and some of the character’s names are changed.
  • Cluedo was first designed to have 11 rooms, 10 characters and 9 weapons instead of the typical 9 rooms, 6 characters and six weapons.

Cluedo, Board, Cards, Reverend, Mr, Green, Rooms, Box, Weapons, Game, Ten Random Facts

  • Elva Pratt, Anthony’s wife, designed the original artwork for the Cluedo board.
  • ‘Cluedo’ is a combination of the word ‘clue’ and ‘ludo’, ‘ludo’ being Latin for ‘play’.
  • Although Cluedo was initially designed as a game, it has been turned into films, books and other types of media.
  • The murder victim of Cluedo is Dr Black, or Mr Boddy.
  • The typical weapons of Cluedo are the candlestick, dagger, revolver, lead pipe, wrench and the rope, however, Pratt’s original game included an axe, bomb, syringe and poison as well as some other interesting weapons.
Bibliography:
Cluedo 24 January 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cluedo>

Black Forest

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Black Forest

The forest isn’t black… It’s green!

  • The Black Forest is a forest of many trees on a mountain range in Baden-Württemberg, in South East Germany.
  • The Black Forest is situated on a layer of sandstone and contains mainly pine and fir trees.
  • The Black Forest is known as Schwarzwald in German, and was dubbed by the Romans as the “Black Forest”, due to its very dense growth of trees which makes it very dark in the forest.
  • The highest mountain in the Black Forest is Feldberg, 1, 493 meters (4,898 feet).
  • The Black Forest is the home of the giant earthworm, which hasn’t be discovered in any other region.

 Schwarzwald, Germany, Black Forest, Fir, Pine, Lanscape, View, Flickr, Ten Random Fact, Gerrit van Aaken

Black Forest
Image courtesy of Gerrit van Aaken/Flickr
  • Since the early 18th century, cuckoo clocks have been, and still are, a popular souvenir of the Black Forest.
  • In medieval times the Black Forest contained significant mines, some of which have been re-opened for public viewing.
  • The Black Forest is the home of many rivers including the Danube.
  • The Black Forest measures 150 km (93 miles) in length.
  • A cherry liquor from the Black Forest region was originally one of the significant ingredients in the world famous Black Forest cake, hence the name Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte – ‘Black Forest cherry torte’.
Bibliography:
Black Forest 26 January 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black_Forest>

African Daisy

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African Daisy

Don’t get dazy with daisies.

  • African daisies are flowering plants from the sunflower and daisy family, Calenduleae and include approximately 50 species.
  • African daisies are also known as South African, Cape or blue eyed daisies.
  • The scientific name of the African daisy is Osteospermum and all plants in this species are perennials although they do not like freezing conditions.
  • The scientific name of the African daisy, Osteospermum, comes from the Greek and Latin words ‘osteon’, meaning bone, and  ‘spermum’,  meaning seed.
  • African daisies have white, cream, pink, purple, mauve or yellow flowers

African Daisy, Cape, Pink, White, Ten Random Facts, Australia

  • The perennial African daisies, Osteospermum, are often confused with the annual, Dimorphotheca, which have a more orange and yellow flower colour range.
  • African daisies are native to Africa.
  • Some cultivars of the African daisy have fascinating spoon shaped petals.
  • African daisies thrive in sunny and warm habitats.
  • New species of the African daisy are still been discovered.
Bibliography:
Osteospermun 19 January 2013 , Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Osteospermum>

Wart

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Wart

An annoying virus…

  • Warts are a small, bump on the skin that are typically seen on people’s hands or feet.
  • There are more than five different types of warts including common, plantar, flat, mosaic and filiform warts.
  • Warts are contagious and enter one’s body through broken skin.
  • Warts often disappear after two months but in other cases they can take many years to leave.
  • Warts are started by contracting the human papillomavirus (HPV) through the skin.

Warts, Hand, Boy, Lots, Small, Medium, Finger, Back, Ten Random Facts

  • Salicylic acid is a commonly used for removing warts.
  • Warts sometimes regrow after being removed.
  • Toads may look like they have contagious warts, but they don’t and do not spread them either.
  • Girls typically get more warts than boys.
  • There are over 100 different types of the human papillomavirus (HPV), which is why warts are common.
Bibligraphy:
Wart 23 January 2013, Wikipedia, <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wart>
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