Fancy That!

Facts to make you go“WOW!”

Una Marson was the BBC’s first black female radio presenter Pet owners can now buy doggles – sunglasses for dogs The world record for eating cheesecake is 11 pounds in nine minutes! The Great Wall of China is more than 2,300 years old and more than 13,170 miles long

◆ There are more than 1,800 chemical components in a cup of coffee.

◆ ONLY 55% OF UK PREGNANCIES ARE PLANNED.

◆ February’s birthstone amethyst was believed by the Ancient Greeks to protect the wearer from drunkenness.

◆ THE NETHERLANDS HAS CLOSED 19 PRISONS IN THE PAST FEW YEARS BECAUSE THEY’RE SO SHORT OF PEOPLE TO LOCK UP.

◆ The clock on the mantelpiece in longrunning play The Mousetrap is the only original prop from when the play opened in 1952.

WOW!

HARRODS USED TO SELL ELEPHANTS!

◆ The first TV set was made from an old hat box, bicycle lights, scissors, darning needles, a tea chest and sealing wax.

◆ A “COWBOY CUT” IS A RIB EYE STEAK ON THE BONE.

◆ DUFFLE COATS TAKE THEIR NAME FROM THE BELGIUM TOWN OF DUFFEL, WHERE THE WOOLLEN MATERIAL THEY’RE MADE FROM ORIGINATED.

◆ Boris Karloff was born William Pratt and grew up in Enfield.

◆ THE LION IN WINTER IS THE ONLY OSCAR-WINNING FILM WITH WINTER IN ITS TITLE.

◆ February is named after the Roman purification ritual Februa.

◆ Beijing has more public toilets than any other capital city.

WOW!

A YELLOW TRAFFIC LIGHT IN HO CHI MINH CITY, VIETNAM, MEANS DRIVE “FASTER”. ◆ BACCHUS WAS THE ROMAN GOD OF WINE AND JOY.

◆ There is a tunnel at Oamaru Harbour in New Zealand built especially to let penguins cross safely beneath the town from the sea to their breeding grounds on land.

◆ 56-YEAROLD ASTRONAUT PEGGY WHITSON IS THE OLDEST WOMAN IN SPACE.