The only things that are taxed in Ile de Sein, France, are dogs.
Category: Travel and Geography
Canadian Tickets
In parts of Canada, a police officer may give you a ticket when you haven’t done anything wrong. These are called “positive tickets” and are a way of thanking citizens for doing good deeds.
Books in the Library of Congress
There are 72,466,926 books in the Library of Congress on 327 miles (526 km) of bookshelves.
The New York Public Library
If you stretched out all the shelves in the New York Public Library, they would extend eighty miles (128 km). The books most often requested at this library are about drugs, witchcraft, astrology and Shakespeare.
Repulsive Bird
The turkey vulture is a bird that repels threatening animals in a unique way. The bird throws up in the enemy’s face.
Quail in China
Some people in China use live quail in the winter as hand warmers.
Elaborate Wooden Spoons
It was once the custom in Wales that young men’s hands should be kept busy when they came courting. Therefore, they were required to carve spoons for their young ladies’ parents. Some of the wooden spoons were very ornate with birds carved into the handles and links of wooden chain extending from the end of the handles.
Fashion in Greenland
For a while in Greenland it was fashionable for women to paint their faces blue and yellow.
Greenland is a fascinating place, especially if you like cold temperatures. The average daytime high in the summer is 45 degrees Fahrenheit or 7 degrees Celsius. Three-quarters of Greenland, the largest island in the world, is permanently covered by a thick sheet of ice. Although it is definitely not a green paradise, 55,000 people call it home.
Fire Alarms
There are more fire alarms in New York City every year than in the whole country of Japan.
Liechtenstein’s Army
Liechtenstein used to have the world’s smallest army. There was one soldier. He served his country until his death at age 95. Then the country no longer had an army.
Three Thousand Traffic Accidents
During one weekend in September 1991 in South Korea, there were over three thousand traffic accidents causing injuries.
Elephants in Thailand
Life of a domestic elephant in Thailand: School begins at age three. The elephant is introduced to two boys who will learn with it. The boys are called mahouts. For the next six years they learn all about working with each other to get wood out of the jungle. For the next fifty years, the elephant and the mahouts are employed by the timber industry. The reason there are two men for one elephant, is that should something happen to one of the men, the other will be able to continue working with the elephant. Then, at age 59, the elephant is retired, and gets to graze freely in the forest for the next forty years or so. The mahouts, if still alive, continue to visit the elephant in the forest every few days.
Americans vs World Population
One of every 22 people in the world is an American. One out of every five is Chinese. There are almost five Chinese people for every American.
World population: 7.4 billion
US population: 325 million
China population: 1.38 billion
More children in China are learning English than in America.
The US State of Franklin
One of the United States used to be called Franklin. The name was changed in 1796 to Tennessee.
Philadelphia Population
By 1790, the population of Philadelphia, the largest city in America, had grown to 42,444.
By comparison, the current population New York City, now the largest city in the United States, is 8.48 million.
Philadelphia skyline
Kanawha
There used to be a state in America named Kanawha. It was later renamed West Virginia.
Elevations
The place with the highest elevation and the place with the lowest elevation in America are both in California. Mt. Whitney and Death Valley are only 100 miles (161 km) apart.
Modesto
You might wonder how Modesto, California got its name. The founders of the town were unwilling to have the place named after themselves, they were modest.
