Strange facts you might not know! David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand

Cats do not taste sweetness.

Whales still have hip bones.

The glue used on Israeli postage stamps is kosher.

The city of Austin,TX was originally named “Waterloo”.

The 50 tallest mountains on Earth are all located in Asia.

Winston Churchill’s mother was an American born in New York.

Bagpipes weren’t invented in Scotland, but in ancient Persia.

Michelangelo died in 1564, the same year Shakespeare was born.

The human bone most often broken is the clavicle (collar bone).

Marie Osmond goes by her middle name. Her actual first name is Olive.

Contrary to the widely held belief, there are no wild tigers in Africa.

Only one U.S. state has a state flag with a green background: Washington.

Geologists believe that about half the unmined gold in the world is in South Africa.

The toilet featured in Hitchcock’s “Psycho” was the first flushing toilet to appear on-screen.

Elephants are the only animal physically unable to jump. This is because of their enormous weight.

If the tracks on a typical compact disc ran in a straight line, they would travel for about three miles.

Abraham Lincoln wasn’t the only U.S. president with a “Gettysburg Address.” Dwight Eisenhower owned a farm in the Pennsylvania town.

The Latin phrase “libra pondo” was used in ancient Rome to indicate weight, which is why today the abbreviation for “pound” is “lb.”

Leatherback sea turtles have fleshy backward-pointing spines in their throats so that jellyfish, their favorite food, can be swallowed more easily.

Plastic bags take up less landfill space than paper bags. According to one study, two plastic bags take up 72 percent less landfill space than one paper bag.

Not only are all automobile taillights in the U.S. red, they’re a specific shade of red (with a specific color wavelength and intensity) mandated by the federal government.

Bridgestone Corporation, maker of the Bridgestone tires, is a Japanese company. The title is derived from founder Shojiro Ishibashi’s last name, which translates literally to “stone bridge”.

The number “five” is important to the Pentagon in many ways. Sure, it has five sides, but the building also has five stories, and the courtyard in the center encompasses an area of five ac

The fortune cookie was invented in the early 20th century by Makato Hagiwara, who designed the Japanese Tea Garden in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park. He intended the cookie to be a snack for people walking through the garden.

Despite its 6.5 million square feet of floor space, the Pentagon in Washington was constructed in such a way that no point in the building is more than seven minutes’ walk from any other point in the building.

Built in 1889, the Eiffel Tower was lambasted by Parisians for its industrial ugliness. The only thing that saved it from being demolished in 1909 was its potential use as a radio tower during World War I. Luckily, by the end of the War, it had won over enough hearts to stay.

This is True: Winston Churchill's Breakfast Menu.

Winston Churchill wrote his own breakfast menu - including whisky and a cigar - on his last official flight to the US. The breakfast menu on the 1954 BOAC flight was not to the Prime Minister's liking so he wrote one out himself. He requested a two-course meal to be brought on two trays, reports the Daily Telegraph. In his own hand, Churchill ordered: "1st Tray. Poached egg, Toast, Jam, Butter, Coffee and milk, Jug of cold milk, Cold Chicken or Meat. "2nd Tray. Grapefruit, Sugar Bowl, Glass orange squash (ice), Whisky soda." He then added: "Wash hands, cigar." The menu was kept by the air steward and the item is now being sold along with press cuttings from the trip. The menu is expected to fetch up to £1,500 when it is sold at Mullock's auctioneers in Ludlow, Shropshire, on St George's Day. Auctioneer Richard Westwood-Brookes said: "This is one of the most remarkable pieces of Churchill memorabilia we have seen. "It shows what a hearty breakfast he ate and it was all washed down with a whisky, after which he smoked a cigar. "It is the type of indulgence we've come to associate with Churchill and it reassuring to know he ate so well in his 80th year."

Earth Hour Around the World : 2009, Auckland, New Zealand

More than 3,400 cities worldwide have taken part in Earth Hour, turning off their lights for one hour at 2030 local time in protest against climate change.
New Zealand was one of the first countries to take part. In Wellington, revellers turned the event into a celebration with a candle-lit concert.

Do you know the 12 Diseases That Altered History? David Lim, Auckland, New Zealand

It's often taught that the course of history hinges upon great battles, both in war and among competing ideas. The stars are a few powerful individuals—presidents, monarchs, dictators—whose actions can shift a society's development one way or another. But some influential actors are nasty and ruthless—and microscopic. In his book Twelve Diseases That Changed Our World, Irwin Sherman, a professor emeritus of biology at the University of CaliforniaRiverside, describes how bacteria, parasites, and viruses have swept through cities and devastated populations, felled great leaders and thinkers, and in their wake transformed politics, public health, and economies. U.S.News & World Report spoke with Sherman about how 12 key diseases—smallpox, tuberculosis, syphilis, AIDS, influenza, bubonic plague, cholera, malaria, yellow fever, two noninfectious diseases (hemophilia and porphyria), and the plant disease behind the Irish Potato Famine—have altered history.

Sherman also answered our questions about how the threat of disease outbreaks is affecting our world today.

Smallpox. It's the only infectious disease that has been eradicated through vaccination. The medical science of vaccination was a direct result of the devastating effects of smallpox. Essentially, studies of immunity and vaccines emerged from studies of smallpox. That gives hope that other diseases, too, will be eradicated by similar means.

Tuberculosis. The struggle against TB stimulated some of the first quests for antibiotics. The disease most likely promoted pasteurization, which heats and kills TB and other pathogens that can contaminate milk. The infectious nature of tuberculosis also prompted the building of sanitariums, where people could be isolated and treated.

Syphilis. Once treated with heavy metals like mercury, which had devastating effects on patients, syphilis inspired the discovery of chemotherapeutic agents. The sexually transmitted disease prompted chemotherapy pioneer Paul Ehrlich to look for what he called a magic bullet, which turned out to be the drug salvorsan. The history of many drugs can be traced to Ehrlich's work with dye materials that stained not only fabrics but organisms as well, spurring him to look for drugs that could bind to and kill parasites.

HIV/AIDS. "You can't talk about infectious diseases without discussing AIDS," Sherman declares. While today's chemotherapy cocktails—when available—are effective at reducing the number of AIDS-related deaths, it's a disease that also can be controlled by what he calls the most difficult intervention: behavioral control. "It's also a disease that is modern and yet has its parallels with the past in the kind of reactions that populations have when there's an unforeseen epidemic," he says.

Influenza. Few diseases have had such widespread effects on the number of deaths in the modern world as the flu, which remains a major threat worldwide despite the existence of vaccines against it. The disease very likely influenced the course of World War I by sickening and killing soldiers and straining military healthcare systems. Some have suggested that President Wilson's negotiations during the Treaty of Versailles were affected by the influenza infection he had at the time.

Bubonic plague. Quarantine—the isolation of infected or potentially infected people as a way to stem the spread of disease—developed from Europeans' long and storied history with bubonic plague. Sherman notes parallels between popular reactions to the plague in medieval times and reactions to HIV/AIDS in the modern era. Fear and ignorance, anxiety, prejudice, isolation, and panic can all result from not understanding the nature of a disease, he says.

Cholera. Spread via paltry or nonexistent sewage systems and lack of clean water, cholera was—and still is—rampant in many parts of the world. But improvements in sanitation have reduced cholera's impact in a number of regions. The power of epidemiology allowed 19th-century English physician John Snow to deduce that the disease was present in the water, even though the bacterium wasn't identified until many years later.

Malaria. One of the most lethal infectious diseases in history, malaria causes over 300 million cases worldwide and up to 3 million deaths a year. It's one of the earliest examples of the importance of controlling vectors—animal or insect carriers (in this case, mosquitoes)—in preventing the transmission of disease. One of the reasons Europeans managed to colonize Africa, according to Sherman, was that they utilized quinine, an antimalarial drug derived from the bark of the cinchona tree.

Yellow fever. Although vanquished in some countries, this mosquito-borne disease hasn't been eradicated and probably never will be, says Sherman. The disease influenced the building of the Panama Canal, the Louisiana Purchase, and, in fact, the pre-World War II development of the southern United States. "The stereotypes of the lazy, drawling southerner and the energetic, bright northerner were typical characterizations due to disease or the absence of disease," Sherman says. "In the North, mosquitoes couldn't survive overwintering, so there wasn't yellow fever. In the South, on the other hand, you had a population that was either decimated or debilitated by the disease."

Hemophilia and porphyria. As genetic blood disorders, hemophilia and porphyria had serious effects on the crowned heads of Europe. According to Sherman, the rise of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco can be traced to the lack of an heir to the throne because of hemophilia. Another example is the collapse of the Romanov dynasty in Russia, which was due to hemophilia in the family. The czar was debilitated and couldn't take over, setting the stage for the rise of the Bolsheviks.

Many of the British monarchs were unable to manage their kingdoms because of porphyria, which can cause a variety of mental problems, like hallucination, paranoia, and anxiety. Some describe George III's treatment of his American subjects, which helped to trigger the American Revolution, as being in part affected by his porphyric attacks.

Potato blight (cause of the Irish Potato Famine). Sherman expanded the range of maladies to indicate to readers that diseases affect not only humans but also sometimes what we eat. Potato blight had a profound impact because it devastated a staple food that fed much of Ireland in the mid-1800s. Other plant diseases could have similarly far-reaching consequences today, says Sherman. Many agricultural economies focus on a particular crop, so a single disease could be a big threat—and a major historic force. The Irish famine influenced America by generating an influx of Irish immigrants to U.S. cities; those newcomers expanded the Democratic Party, participated in the development of labor unions, and molded the nation's character in numerous other ways.

Top Ten Craziest Leaders in History (Auckland, New Zealand)

Throughout history, we have witnessed the rise and fall of countless rulers. Many of them did a really admirable job that their names are written in countless history books. Others still linger in our consciousness today not because of their delightful contributions to mankind but their crazy, twisted ways.

“Crazy” is a very vague word. It can refer to someone mentally ill, utterly evil or just plain ridiculous. Whatever your definition of this word is, here are the top ten craziest leaders in world history.

10. KIM JONG IL (North Korea)

For many people, his name suits him well. Kim Jong Il is really as ill as any leader can get. The current ruler of North Korea, he succeeded his father and the founder of North Korea, Kim Il-sung. He did not just replace his father, he proclaimed himself “Eternal President.” He has been consistently criticized by many contemporary leaders and international organizations for his lack of commitment to make the peninsula free of nuclear weapons.

The country also holds large concentration camps where 50,000 people including women and children who are accused of political crimes are being held. Violations of human rights are being reported left and right — murdering babies and enslaving inmates.

While his country is suffering, he enjoys a very luxurious lifestyle. He boasts North Korea’s finest wine cellar, containing 10,000 bottles of expensive wine. He also purchases bottles of Hennessy Cognac worth $700,000 every year. He had also spent more than $20 million on 200 Mercedes Benz S500 sedans added to the country’s pile of 7,000 Mercedes. He is also a huge movie fan with a collection of over 20,000 tapes.

Craziest quote: “National defense is the sacred duty of the young and all other people. “

Craziest moment: He showed off his country’s nuclear power by conducting two rounds of missile tests on July 5, 2006. The tests received immense negative reactions from the international community. But hey, it actually worked for him! Haha. Clever.

9. CHARLES VI THE FOOLISH (France)

Some people think they are fragile. Some people think they are transparent. But no person in his right mind would think that he is made of glass. Charles VI the Foolish was driven mad by a tragic incident called “Ball of the Burned,” where countless knights and ladies got roasted to death. The king’s life was spared by the heroic Duchess of Berry. Since then, the king became very extremely violent, lashing out at any person who came near him.

Then, he started believing that he was made of glass. He had thick iron bars inserted into his clothes to avoid “shattering.” And because his movements were restricted because of his “fragile nature,” he completely forgot about hygiene. He became so filthy that his body was infested with lice, pushing his wife Isabeau to embark upon lengthy affairs one after another. His reign was regarded as the lowest point of the history of France.

8. IVAN THE TERRIBLE (Russia)

Ivan IV was the first ruler of Russia to take the title of Tsar. Also known as Ivan the Terrible, this ruler is one of the most vicious mass murderers ever to live. In 1570, strongly believing that the elite of the city of Novgorod was planning to defect to Poland. he led an army and built walls around the city so that people could not escape. He would release his wrath by forcing 500 to 1000 people to be gathered and had them tortured and massacred in front of him and his son. This would happen every single day. In 1581, his daughter-in-law had a miscarriage after she was beaten by Ivan for wearing immodest clothes. This caused his son to engage in a heated argument with him. You wouldn’t want to argue with Ivan.

So what happened with the son? Let’s just say that he didn’t come out of the room alive after being stricken by his dad with a pointed staff.

Craziest quote: “To shave the beard was a sin that the blood of all the martyrs could not cleanse.’“

Craziest moment: The daily massacre of Novgorod.

7. ADOLF HITLER (Germany)

Adolf Hitler’s rise was a nightmare to the rest of the world. To many, this all-powerful Fuehrer was the incarnation of evil. Compared with him, other leaders like Franco and Mussolini looked novices when it comes to bringing terror to the world. Humanity sank to the abyss when he rose to power. His policies and ambitions of racial subjugation and territorial conquest had brought too much destruction and death to tens of millions of people. He ordered the Holocaust, the most well-known genocide in history, killing more than six million Jews just for being Jewish. Even with that fact alone, it is clear how sick and crazy this ruler was.

Craziest quote: “I do not see why man should not be just as cruel as nature.”

Craziest moment: The Holocaust.

6. JOSEF STALIN (Soviet Union)

Josef Stalin was the General Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. During his reign, Ukraine suffered from a widespread famine. It was so great that many had considered it to be an act of genocide on the part of the government. The total number killed in that period alone is said to have reached 10 million. The famine was not caused by any natural disaster or economic crisis. It was caused by direct administrative and political decisions. Stalin also ordered the killings of any person who was considered an enemy of the state. All in all, the total number of casualties that Stalin’s reign produces ranges from 10 million to 60 million. Others claim it was even more. His spot on this list is not because of any mental illness but sheer cruelty.

Craziest quote: “Death is the solution to all problems. No man - no problem.”

Craziest moment: The famine he imposed on Ukraine was sick enough. But it was just the tip of the iceberg.

5. POL POT (Cambodia)

Prime Minister of Cambodia from 1976 to 1979 and leader of the Khmer Rouge, Pol Pot is Southeast Asia’s version of Mao, Hitler or Stalin. Pol Pot almost completely ruined Cambodia’s culture by murdering the intellectuals in the country. Those who were just wearing glasses would be murdered. He had his own people massacred at a rate twice as fast as Hitler’s Nazi killed Jews. And it wasn’t just simple murders. He allotted and set up killing fields were people would be tortured then murdered.

During his reign, disease spread and starvation continued to send people to their agonizing death. Cambodians were living in absolute horror day and night. All these killed two million Cambodians. That’s one-third of the country’s population. Yes, Stalin, Mao and Hitler ordered the killings of much more people but given a longer term, Pol Pot would have exceeded their records.

Craziest quote: “I want you to know that everything I did, I did for my country.” Pffft. My ass.
Craziest moment: Every single moment of his reign.

4. VLAD THE IMPALER (Wallachia)

Vlad the Impaler, more popularly known as Dracula, was a prince known for killing people by impalement. But it wasn’t just impalement he was fond of. He also used several other forms of torture including disembowelment, flaying, burning, strangulation and boiling. The prince tortured thousands of people as he feasted while being surrounded by impaled corpses on stakes. He ordered the killing of every person in the city of Amlas. That’s around 20,000 people including women and children. He liked cutting off noses and ears, too.

He was particularly mad at boyars because it had been a pattern in history that boyars overthrew the ruling prince. Because of that and the fact that his father was assassinated by a boyar, he invited the boyars to his home and after a feast, he had the old ones impaled and the young ones enslaved. Once, he also invited the poor and sick of Wallachia to his home in Tirgiviste for a feast. After everyone ate and drank, he had the entire hall set on fire, killing everyone in it.

3. IDI AMIN (Uganda)

This Ugandan ruler executed 9000 soldiers from his own army during his first year of power. That’s two-thirds of the entire army force of the country. Who in his right mind would incapacitate his OWN military force? In 1975, he smugly declared himself to be “President for life.” That same year, he also staged a publicity stunt for the media, forcing white residents of the country’s capital city Kampala to carry him while he was sitting on a throne.

He also forced them to recite a loyalty oath and kneel before him. He also had the decapitation of the country’s political prisoners and broadcast the entire event on TV. He specified that the victims should be in white so everyone could easily see the blood.

Aside from that, he announced that he had defeated the British and wanted him to be called the “Conqueror of the British Empire.” How crazy is that?

Craziest quote: “I am the hero of Africa.“ Really, now?
Craziest moment: In 1972, he expelled 40,000 to 80,000 Pakistanis and Indians from the country after claiming that he had received “a message from God” in a dream.

2. SAPARMURAT “TURKMENBASHI” NIYAZOV (Turkmenistan)

Saparmurat Niyazov was the epitome of a deranged narcissist. First, he adopted the name “Turkmenbashi,” which literally means “leader of all ethnic Turkmen.” Next, like Amin, he declared himself “President for Life.” Then, he changed Turkmenistan into the unique country that it is now.

He changed the name of the airport in Asgabat, the capital city, to Turkmenbashi. He also replaced the name of the port city of Krasnovodsk to Turkmenbashi. Not only that, he also changed the name of many schools and streets to Turkmenbashi. A 670-pound meteorite came landing in the country; it was named Turkmenbashi. And believe it or not, he even renamed the month of January to, yep, Turkmenbashi. Gee, why are you not surprised?

He also ordered that his face be used as the logo of TV stations and appear on every bottle of vodka as well as every watch and clock in the country.

Apart from his self-aggrandizing changes, he also did several head-spinning, mind-blowing measures. In 2004, he had giant ice palace built in the middle of Karakum, the hottest desert in central Asia. The palace also included a bizarre zoo with penguins. Here are some more:

• He banned opera and ballet.
• Young men were forbidden to grow beard and long hair.
• News readers were prohibited to wear make-up.
• Libraries were ordered shut because, as Turkmenbashi cited, an average Turkmen does not read books.
• Listening to recorded music and radio was also banned, as well as lip-synching. Run for your life Ashlee Simpson!

Craziest quote: “Let the life of every Turkmen be as beautiful as our melons,”

Craziest moment: In 1994, he established a national holiday in honor of a melon. Today, the second Sunday of August is Turkmenistan’s National Melon Day.

1. CALIGULA (Ancient Rome)

Caligula loved his horse so much that he would give it jeweled necklaces and marbled stable complete with furniture and own servants. He also had a temple built and made his horse the priest of that temple.

He also had an insatiable sexual appetite. Particularly attracted to young women, he even committed incest with his three sisters.

In his first year of reign, he attended a wedding and ended up running off with the bride. He married her and divorced her after a few days. He also had intimate relations with men including Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, his sister Drusilla’s husband. Later, he forced Drusilla to marry him. Drusilla got pregnant but Caligula couldn’t wait to see his son so he disemboweled her to pluck the fetus from her womb. The next year, he had Lepidus murdered.

Caligula also demanded that he be honored and worshiped as a god. He erected a golden statue of his image and had it dressed the same way as he was every single freakin’ day. He also made himself believe that he was as great, if not greater than Jupiter. The actor Apelles was once asked who was greater between Jupiter and Caligula. If you’re wondering what Apelles’s answer was, well, Caligula had him chopped to pieces with a whip and praised his voice while he groaned. That wasn’t a pretty answer, no?

Craziest quote: To his senators, “My horse can do a better job than many of you men!”

Craziest moment: He proposed that his horse be one of the senators. Some claim that it wasn’t a proposal. He actually made his horse one of his senators.
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Yes, the world is filled with crazy people. Some of them, we should be thankful for. To name some — Vincent Van Gogh, Virginia Woolf, etc. On the other hand, some will be remembered as utterly vicious and just plain crazy. You know which side the ten leaders above belong.