"The shortest war on record, between Britain and Zanzibar in 1896, lasted just 38 mts."

The Anglo-Zanzibar War was fought between the United Kingdom and Zanzibar on 27 August 1896. The conflict lasted approximately 40 minutes[nb 1] and is the shortest war in history.[7] The immediate cause of the war was the death of the pro-British Sultan Hamad bin Thuwaini on 25 August 1896 and the subsequent succession of Sultan Khalid bin Barghash. The British authorities preferred Hamud bin Muhammed, who was more favourable to them, as Sultan. In accordance with a treaty signed in 1886, a condition for accession to the sultancy was that the candidate obtain the permission of the British Consul, and Khalid had not fulfilled this requirement. The British considered this a casus belli and sent an ultimatum to Khalid demanding that he order his forces to stand down and leave the palace. In response, Khalid called up his palace guard and barricaded himself inside the palace.

The ultimatum expired at 09:00 East Africa Time (EAT) on 27 August, by which time the British had gathered three cruisers, two gunships, 150 marines and sailors and 900 Zanzibaris in the harbour area. The Royal Navy contingent were under the command of Rear-Admiral Harry Rawson whilst their Zanzibaris were commanded by Brigadier-General Lloyd Mathews of the Zanzibar army. Around 2,800 Zanzibaris defended the palace; most were recruited from the civilian population, but they also included the Sultan's palace guard and several hundred of his servants and slaves. The defenders had several artillery pieces and machine guns which were set in front of the palace sighted at the British ships. A bombardment which was opened at 09:02 set the palace on fire and disabled the defending artillery. A small naval action took place with the British sinking a Zanzibari royal yacht and two smaller vessels, and some shots were fired ineffectually at the pro-British Zanzibari troops as they approached the palace. The flag at the palace was shot down and fire ceased at 09:40

Cassowary - Capable of Killing Humans

"CASSOWARY is one of the dangerous BIRDS that can kill a man or animal by tearing off with its dagger like claw."

The cassowary (genus Casuarius) is a very large flightless bird native to the tropical forests of New Guinea and nearby islands, and northeastern Australia.[2] The Southern Cassowary is the third tallest and second heaviest bird on the planet, smaller only than the Ostrich and Emu. Cassowaries feed mainly on fruits, though all species are truly omnivorous and will take a range of other plant food including shoots, grass seeds and fungi in addition to invertebrates and small vertebrates. Cassowaries are very shy, but when disturbed, they are capable of inflicting fatal injuries to dogs and children.

Dreamt - Interesting Word

The word "DREAMT" is the only common word in the English language that ends in "mt". 

Babies - Color Blindness

"All babies are color-blind when they are born."

Color blindness, a color vision deficiency, is the inability to perceive differences between some of the colors that others can distinguish. It is most often of genetic nature, but may also occur because of eye,nerve, or brain damage, or due to exposure to certain chemicals. The English chemist John Dalton published the first scientific paper on the subject in 1798, "Extraordinary facts relating to the vision of colours",[1] after the realization of his own color blindness; because of Dalton's work, the condition is sometimes called daltonism, although this term is now used for a type of color blindness calleddeuteranopia.

The normal human retina contains two kinds of light cells: the rod cells (active in low light) and the cone cells (active in normal daylight). Normally, there are three kinds of cones, each containing a different pigment. The cones are activated when the pigments absorb light. The absorption spectra of the cones differ; one is maximally sensitive to short wavelengths, one to medium wavelengths, and the third to long wavelengths (their peak sensitivities are in the blue, yellowish-green, and yellow regions of the spectrum, respectively). The absorption spectra of all three systems cover much of the visible spectrum, so it is not entirely accurate to refer to them as "blue", "green" and "red" receptors, especially because the "red" receptor actually has its peak sensitivity in the yellow.

Dice - Total Seven

"The numbers on opposite sides of a die always add up to seven."

A die (plural dice, from Old French dé, from Latin datum "something given or played") is a small polyhedral object, usually cubic, used for generating random numbers or other symbols. This makes dice suitable as gambling devices, especially for craps or sic bo, or for use in non-gambling tabletop games.

A traditional die is a cube (often with corners slightly rounded), marked on each of its six faces with a different number of circular patches or pits called pips. All of these pips have the same appearance within a pair, or larger set of dice, and are sized for ease of recognizing the pattern formed by the pips on a face. The design as a whole is aimed at each die providing one randomly determined integer, in the range from one to six, with each of those values being equally likely.

The invention of dicing is attributed to India by some accounts. Some of the earliest archaeological evidence of oblong gambling dice have been found in Harrapan sites such as Kalibangan, Lothal, Roparand surrounding areas dating back to the third millennium BCE, which were used for gambling.

The oblong or cubical dice (akṣa) is the precursor of the more primitive vibhīṣaka—small, hard nuts drawn randomly to obtain factors of a certain integer. Early references to the dicing can be found in theṚg Veda (c. early 2nd millennium BCE) as well as the newer Atharva Veda (c. late 2nd millennium ~ early 1st millennium BCE). It is also mentioned in the great Hindu epic, the Mahabharata, whereYudhisthira plays a game of dice against the Kauravas for the northern kingdom of Hastinapura.

Number Fact with 1!

"The number 111,111,111 multiplied by itself will result in the number 12,345,678,987,654,321."

Finger Nail - Slow & Fastest

The nail of our middle finger grows the fastest and the nail of our thumb grows. slowest.

Rice Paper - Not from Rice

"Rice paper isn't made from rice but from a small tree which grows in Taiwan."

In Europe, around the 1900s, a paperlike substance was originally known as rice paper, due to the mistaken notion that it is made from rice. In fact, it consists of the pith of a small tree, Tetrapanax papyrifer, the rice paper plant. 

The plant grows in the swampy forests of Taiwan, and is also cultivated as ornamental plant.[citation needed] In order to produce the paper, the boughs are boiled and freed from bark. 

The cylindrical core of pith is rolled on a hard flat surface against a knife, by which it is cut into thin sheets of a fine ivory-like texture.

Onion - Water in Eyes

"Running cold water over the onion and the knife will keep you from crying when you cut it, because water neutralizes the chemical that makes you cry."

Onion is a term used for many plants in the genus Allium. They are known by the common name "onion" but, used without qualifiers, it usually refers to Allium cepa. Allium cepa is also known as the 'garden onion' or 'bulb' onion.

It is thought that bulbs from the onion family have been used as a food source for millennia. In Bronze Age settlements, traces of onion remains were found alongside fig and date stones dating back to 5000 BC.[5] 

However, it is not clear if these were cultivated onions. Archaeological and literary evidence such as the Book of Numbers 11:5 suggests cultivation probably took place around two thousand years later in ancient Egypt, at the same time that leeks and garlic were cultivated. Workers who built the Egyptian pyramids may have been fed radishes and onions.[5]

Human Body - Joint Less Bone

"The only joint less bone in your body is the hyoid bone in your throat."

The hyoid bone (lingual bone) (Latin os hyoideum) is a horseshoe shaped bone situated in the anterior midline of the neck between the chin and the thyroid cartilage. At rest, it lies at the level of the base of the mandible in the front and the third cervical vertebra behind.It is the only bone in the human skeleton not articulated to any other bone. It is kept suspended in position by muscles and ligaments. The hyoid bone provides attachment to the muscles of the floor of the mouth and the tongue above, the larynx below, and the epiglottis and pharynx behind.

Elephants - Can't Jump

"Elephants are the only animals that cannot jump."

Elephants are large land mammals of the order Proboscidea and the family Elephantidae. There are three living species: the African Bush Elephant, the African Forest Elephant and the Asian Elephant (also known as the Indian Elephant). Other species have become extinct since the last ice age, the Mammoths, dwarf forms of which may have survived as late as 2,000 BC,[1] being the best-known of these. They were once classified along with other thick skinned animals in a now invalid order, Pachydermata.

Reptile - Eating Food - sheds tears

"CROCODILE: Only animal & reptile which sheds tear while eating….."

A crocodile is any species belonging to the family Crocodylidae (sometimes classified instead as the subfamily Crocodylinae). The word crocodile comes from the Ancient Greek κροκόδīλος (crocodiilos) "lizard", used in the phrase ho crocodiilos ho potámios, "the lizard of the [Nile] river" to refer to crocodiles in the current English sense.

Book Without Letter 'E'....

"GADFY, written by Earnest Wright in 1939 is a 50,000+ word book, which doesn’t contain a single word with 'E'".

Ernest Vincent Wright (1873?–1939) was an American author. His most famous work is Gadsby, "A Story of Over 50,000 Words", which, except for the introduction and a note at the end, did not use the lettere. Every word was properly spelled and all narration was grammatically correct. Wright's passing away at 66 was within days or months of publication of Gadsby.

Navy Seal's formation....

"The Navy SEAL’s were formed in 1962."

The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land Forces, commonly known as the Navy SEALs, are the Special Operations Forces of the United States Navy, employed in direct action and special reconnaissance operations. SEALs are also capable of employing unconventional warfare, foreign internal defense, counter-terrorism, and other missions.

The Navy Underwater Demolition Teams (UDTs) were a precursor to the current Navy SEALs. The Under-Water Demolition Teams began training in June 1943 at Fort Pierce, Florida in preparation for the D-Day invasion. In World War II, UDT's saw action at Normandy and at various locations in the South Pacific.

Origin of word Intel....

"The name ‘Intel’ stems from the company’s former name,

‘Integrated Electronics’"

Intel was founded in 1968 by Gordon E. Moore (a chemist and physicist) and Robert Noyce (a physicist and co-inventor of the integrated circuit) when they left Fairchild Semiconductor. A number of other Fairchild employees also went on to participate in other Silicon Valley companies. Intel's third employee was Andy Grove, a chemical engineer, who ran the company through much of the 1980s and the high-growth 1990s.

Ever Sold Auction

"The most expensive book or manuscript ever sold at an auction was “The Codex Hammer”, a notebook belonging to Leonardo da Vinci. It sold for $30.8 million."

The Codex Leicester is a collection of largely scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci. The codex is named after Thomas Coke, later created Earl of Leicester, who purchased it in 1717. Of Leonardo's 30 scientific journals, the Codex may be the most famous of all.The Codex provides a rare insight into the inquiring mind of the definitive Renaissance artist, scientist and thinker as well as an exceptional illustration of the link between art and science and the creativity of the scientific process.

The manuscript does not take the form of a single linear script, but is rather a mixture of Leonardo's observations and theories on astronomy; the properties of water, rocks, and fossils; air, and celestial light. The Codex was purchased in 1980 by wealthy industrialist, art collector, and philanthropist Armand Hammer from the Leicester estate, and renamed the Codex Hammer. In 1994, Bill Gates bought it at auction for US$30.8 million, making it the most expensive book ever, and renamed it the Codex Leicester.

Middle Part of the Nose - Called As....

'The name for the middle part of the nose (the part that separates the nostrils) is called a “COLUMELLA”.'

The visible part of the human nose is the protruding part of the face that bears the nostrils. The shape of the nose is determined by the ethmoid bone and thenasal septum, which consists mostly of cartilage and which separates the nostrils. The nose has an area of specialised cells which are responsible for smelling (part of the olfactory system). Another function of the nose is the conditioning of inhaled air, warming it and making it more humid.

Hairs inside the nose prevent large particles from entering the lungs. Sneezing is usually caused by foreign particles irritating the nasal mucosa, but can more rarely be caused by sudden exposure to bright light (called the photic sneeze reflex) or touching the external auditory canal. Sneezing is a means of transmitting infections because it creates aerosols in which the droplets can harbour microbes.

Minarets of Taj Mahal

"The minarets of the Taj Mahal in India are angled at 88 degrees outwards so that they would not collapse into the structure should an earthquake occur."

The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Ottoman, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles. In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."

The four detached minarets springing from the plinth of the Taj Mahal measure 138 feet high and stand like sentries nobly keeping guard.
They were built out of plumb, slanting so that if they were to topple, they would fall not towards the Taj, but away from the building, protecting the tomb from harm. They also form a visual framework to the Taj proper and enhance the symmetry of the building.

Microwave Oven - Accidental Invention

"The microwave was invented after a researcher walked by a radar tube and a chocolate bar melted in his pocket."

Cooking food with microwaves was discovered accidentally in the 1940s. Percy Spencer, a self-taught engineer, was building magnetrons for radar sets with the company Raytheon. He was working on an active radar set when he noticed that a peanut chocolate bar he had in his pocket started to melt. The radar had melted his candy bar with microwaves. The first food to be deliberately cooked with Spencer's microwave was popcorn, and the second was an egg, which exploded in the face of one of the experimenters.

A microwave oven, or a microwave, is a kitchen appliance that cooks or heats food by dielectric heating. This is accomplished by using microwave radiation to heat water and other polarized molecules within the food.

Rain Speed

"Rain falls at 11kmph (7mph)."

Rain is liquid precipitation. On Earth, it is the condensation of atmospheric water vapor into drops heavy enough to fall, often making it to the surface.Rain is also known or suspected on other worlds. On Titan, infrequent methane rain is thought to carve that moon's numerous surface channels. On Venus, sulfuric acid virga evaporates 25 km from the surface. There is likely to be rain of various compositions in the upper atmospheres of the gas giants, as well as precipitation of liquid neon and helium in the deep atmospheres.

Rain plays a role in the hydrologic cycle in which moisture from the oceans evaporates, condenses into drops, precipitates (falls) from the sky, and eventually returns to the ocean via rivers and streams to repeat the cycle again. The water vapor from plant respiration also contributes to the moisture in the atmosphere.

Seven Continents of the World

"The names of all the continents end with the same letter that they start with."

A continent is one of several large landmasses on Earth. They are generally identified by convention rather than any strict criteria, with seven regions commonly regarded as continents – they are (from largest in size to smallest): Asia, Africa, North America, South America, Antarctica, Europe, and Australia.^[1]