Living Former Presidents

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Image:Pres38-42.jpg

There have been only three periods when five former American presidents were alive at the same time:

  • March 4, 1861-Jan. 18, 1862: Martin Van Buren, John Tyler, Millard Fillmore, Franklin Pierce, James Buchanan
  • Jan. 20, 1993-April 22, 1994: Richard Nixon, Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush
  • Jan. 20, 2001-June 5, 2004: Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, George H.W. Bush, Bill Clinton

Herbert Hoover lived for 31 years after leaving office; James Polk lasted only three months.

| History · Trivia

Riddle of the Sphinx

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:GreatSphinx1867.jpg

For most of its history, Egypt’s Great Sphinx lay buried up to its neck in sand. This photo was taken in 1867; the sphinx wasn’t fully dug out until 1925.

Strangely, we know very little about it. It’s one of the world’s largest statues, but no one knows who built it, or when, or whose likeness it bears. We’re not even sure what it is — we call it a sphinx, but we borrow that term from Greek mythology. A true sphinx would have the head of a woman.

No one knows what the ancient Egyptians called it, but its Arabic name, Abu al-Hôl, translates as “Father of Terror.” Maybe we should cover it up again.

| History

National Statistics Per Capita

Large countries get the most attention, but the picture changes when you adjust for size:

  • Highest GDP: United States
  • Highest GDP per capita: Luxembourg
  • Largest military: China
  • Largest military per capita: Vatican City
  • Most expensive military: United States
  • Most expensive military per capita: Israel
  • Most Olympic medals: United States
  • Most Olympic medals per capita: Australia
  • Most Cannes Palmes d’Or: United States
  • Most Cannes Palmes d’Or per capita: Denmark
  • Most Nobel Prizes: United States
  • Most Nobel Prizes per capita: Iceland
  • Most startup companies: United States
  • Most startup companies per capita: Israel
| Society

Left-Handedness and Age

Twelve percent of American 20-year-olds are left-handed, but only 5 percent of 50-year-olds and fewer than 1 percent of people over 80.

Does this mean that more lefties are being born today? Or that older generations were forced to switch hands? Or that southpaws die sooner? No one knows.

| Oddities · Trivia

Rongorongo

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Moai_Rano_raraku.jpg

Statues aren’t the only mystery on Easter Island. Tablets found on the island bear a mysterious script, known as rongorongo, that has never been successfully deciphered.

Some scholars have pointed out similarities between the strange characters and the prehistoric script of the Indus Valley in India, 6,000 miles away, but others dispute this.

The islanders themselves give eager and varying accounts to archaeologists and historians, and perhaps they themselves don’t know. Some say that rongorongo means peace-peace, and that the documents record treaties, perhaps with visitors to the island.

So far, none of the attempts at translation have withstood peer review.

| Language · Oddities