Debrain - Amazing facts, random facts, interesting facts

Flu, Swine

The first H1N1 ’swine flu’ virus was isolated in a pig in 1930
Before 2009, there was approximately one human Swine Flu infection every 1-2 years in the USA. In 2009, it became a global pandaemic
You cannot contract swine flu from eating properly cooked pork or pork products
The normal flu vaccination received earlier this year are not effective in preventing swine flu
In Australia, 1 in 10 work leave associated with illness is due to influenza

John Hancock was the only one of fifty signers of the Declaration of Independence who actually signed it on July 4

In highschool, Barack was known as Barry and was part of the “Choom gang”
Obama won a Grammy Award in 2006 for Best Spoken Word Recording for the audio version of his book; Dreams From My Father
Obama’s family home in Chicago has 4 fireplaces
He worked in Baskin-Robbins as a teenager
Obama experimented with drugs and admitted that back in his early years he tried marijuana and cocaine but was not proud of it
Barack is a smoker but does not drink alcohol
One of Obama’s favourite books is ‘Where Wild Things Lie’
He was born in Honolulu, Hawaii but went to live in Indonesia with his mum when his parents divorced. There he was introduced to dog meat, snake meat, and roasted grasshopper
Obama used to love wearing sweaters. Now you only see him in a suit and tie
An advertisement for the assasination of Obama made its way into a newspaper before being quickly taken off

George W Bush was a cheerleader
He graduated from Yale University with a low C average
George W Bush became the first American president to enter the office after being convicted of a crime
Bush has been arrested for stealing a Christmas wreath
George W Bush had never left the United States until he became president
As governor of Texas, he was responsible for more executions than any other American governor

In the United States between 1975 - 1995, there were only four states without earthquakes: Florida, Iowa, North Dakota, Winconsin
Alaska is the most earthquake prone zone in the world
Earthquakes also occur on the moon (”moonquakes”)
The world’s deadlist earthquake was in central China in 1556, killing 830,000 people
On the Richter scale, 1.0 is equivalent to a construction site blast while 5.0 is equivalent to the Nagasaki atomic bomb. The Indian Ocean earthquake in 2004 stood at 9.3

The Mayans had a weapon called the “hornet bomb” which was an actual hornet’s nest thrown at enemies
In ancient Mexico (Tenochtitlan), a ritual ball game known as tlachtli was often played in which the losers were sacrificied to the Gods
Many English words came from the Mexicans: tomatoes, chocolate and avocado
Mexico introduced chocolate, corn and chilli to the world. The Aztecs loved chocholate
The Chihuahua was named after a Mexican state
Texas was actually once a Mexican state
The official name of Mexico is Estados Unidos Mexicanos (United Mexican States

During World War I, the language of the Choctaw Indians was used to encode messages,
But that in World War II, the language of the Navajo Indians was used. The Navajo language was considered by the Japanese to be an “unbreakable” code.
During the battle of Iwo Jima, Navajo code-talkers sent and received over 800 messages without any errors and without computers. There were only 6 of them!

In 1992, a New Mexico jury awarded $2.9 million in damages to Stella Liebeck after she spilt a cup of coffee on her lap, burning herself. Thus begins the annual Stella Awards

California has more people than the entire population of Canada combined
California grows more than 30% of the nations food supply
1 in 5 Californians are born overseas
In 1994, California became home to more than a third of USA’s immigrant population
The Lake Shrine/Ashram in California has some of the only Ghandi’s ashes allowed outside India
The Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco has enough steel wires in its cables to circle the earth at the equator 3.5 times

James Bond Casino Royale is actually based on Ian Flemming’s first Bond novel
There have been seven American Bond Girls, four English , three French, two Swedish and one each from Japan, Malaysia, Switzerland , Italy, and Poland
Bond was born in Germany
Roger Moore was the oldest Bond actor at 58
The Bond franchise has raked in almost $4 billion dollars
Sean Connery’s wife doubled for actress Mie Hama in a water-dive scene for You Only Live Twice