By Tara Yilmaz
There's a little bit of this and a little bit of that in this collection of random facts from “Did You Know?” As part two of our trivia series, you'll learn more facts about history, delectable treats, iconic fashions, the English language, physical limitations, terrifying facts about space, oceanography wonders and science, too.
→ Did you know Pittsburgh native Andy Warhol’s drawing “Flowers” became a muse for fashion designer Christian Louboutin? The first shoe to be decorated with Louboutin’s signature red sole was actually a prototype which had a flower buckle inspired by the Warhol drawing.
→ Did you know the last letter added to the English alphabet was 'J'? The letter dates back to 1524, and before that the letter 'i' was used for both the 'i' and 'j' sounds. This reminds me of the 1989 film "Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade" when Jones' father Henry Jones Sr., played by actor Sean Connery is shot by Nazi bad guy Donovan and the only way to save his
life is for Indiana Jones to obtain the Holy Grail which has healing powers. Along the way to obtaining the grail, Indiana must solve cryptic riddles. Indiana surpasses the first challenge but upon the second he was faced with revealing the name of the “One True God.” He correctly states the name “Jehovah” but misspells it on his first try. While lying on the cold ground Henry Jones Sr. says, “But in the Latin alphabet, "Jehovah" begins with an "I".
→ Did you know even in his afterlife William Shakespeare displays wit? Buried in 1616, in the English village of Stratford-upon-Avon, the playwright was said to write his tombstone inscription which reads: “Good friend, for Jesus’ sake forebeare, to dig the dust enclosed heare; Bleste be the man that spares these stones, and curst be he that moves my bones.”
→ Did you know people don’t sneeze in their sleep? According to medicalnewstoday.com, a person may wake up and sneeze at night, but it is not possible to sneeze during sleep. Sleep causes paralysis of the reflex muscle contraction, meaning the relevant muscles become inactive. Other physical limitations include not being able to lick your elbow or trying to hum if you hold your nose.
→ Did you know the “once you pop, you can’t stop” Pringles chip shape has a name? The saddle shape of a Pringles chip is known in math as a hyperbolic paraboloid. Pringles were made in this shape because it allows the chips to be stacked easily and kept in place during packaging.
→ Did you know there’s a giant black hole hurtling through space at five million miles per hour? The Hubble Space Telescope located a black hole in 2017 that is being manipulated by gravitational waves. The black hole is capable of devouring anything in its path. It is predicted to eventually break free of its galaxy to begin to roam the universe. The anomaly weighs as much as 1 billion suns and has reached speeds of roughly 5 million miles per hour. Good news, the black hole is estimated to be 8 billion light years from Earth.
→ Did you know black holes exist in the ocean, too? Mathematically referred to as ocean eddies or maelstroms, these wonders are the counterparts to the black holes in space. For centuries, these powerful natural phenomena have struck fear into the hearts of seamen and been the subject of pirate lore. Large enough to swallow whole ships, a maelstrom is a strong rotational current that’s created when weather conditions align. It’s the perfect recipe for destruction when currents collide and create a circular vortex.