This week, Tidbits has “s’more” than enough facts about one of our favorite treats – the marshmallow! • Did you know that marshmallows grow on trees? Well, sort of, anyway. There really is a marshmallow plant found in Europe, Asia, and North Africa. It’s a beautiful flowering plant that’s covered in white flowers, but it’s the roots and sap that provide the real benefit. For centuries, dating back to Ancient Egypt and Greece, people used these parts of the marshmallow plant for its therapeutic properties — to heal wounds, to soothe throat inflammation, and relieve coughs. The sap […]
TIDBITS® Turns up the record
by Kathy Wolfe Turn up the volume as Tidbits releases these facts on records, from 78s to LPs, 45s, CDs, and digital music. • A vinyl record take its name from its composition of polyvinyl chloride, or PVC. Most of PVC, 57%, consists of chlorine, with the other 43% derived from crude oil. • Beginning in the late 1890s, records were made of shellac, a rather heavy, brittle material. These 10-inch (25 cm) records were called “78s,” due to the number of rotations per minute. Recording duration per side was three to five minutes. During World War II, the War […]
“M” PARTS – BEAUTIFUL BODY –
– BEAUTIFUL BODY – How many of these body parts beginning with the letter “M” are you familiar with? Tidbits invites you to “get physical” to test your knowledge. • The malleolus and the malleus might sound similar, but they’re in no way related. The malleolus is the bone that sticks out on either side of the ankle joint, providing stability to the joint. The bone on the inner side of the ankle is at the lower end of the tibia, while the one on the outer side is formed by the lower end of the fibula. The malleus is […]
Darth Vader Facts
• Of all the Star Wars characters, it’s Darth Vader who earns the most money from his likeness being used for merchandise, including Halloween costumes, figurines, coffee mugs, and toasters that burn the likeness of Darth Vader into the bread. • Only four people knew of the surprise ending in “The Empire Strikes Back” where Darth Vader reveals he is Luke’s father: George Lucas, Mark Hamill, James Earl Jones, and director Irwin Kershner. George Lucas told Prowse to deliver the line: “Obi-Wan Killed your father!” which was later dubbed over by James Earl Jones. Even the people on set or […]
TIDBITS® Listens To The Voice
by Janet Spencer Where would civilization be if not for the human voice? Come along with Tidbits as we learn to talk! IT’S A FACT • A baby in the womb can recognize their mother’s voice by 25 weeks of development. Babies prefer their mother’s voice over all others when they’re born. VOICE FACTS • The human voice originates from the larynx, a small organ made of cartilage and flesh in our throats. It’s also called the voice box. It sits on top of the windpipe. Inside are two flaps of skin called the vocal cords. To speak, sing, or […]
Belly Button – BEAUTIFUL BODY –
– BEAUTIFUL BODY – • The belly button is the remnant of the place where the umbilical cord connects a baby to the placenta. The word “umbilical” springs from the Latin word meaning middle or center, originally referring to a scroll’s ornamental end. • Every mammal with a placenta also has a belly button: elephants, dolphins, bats. Some mammals may have a very faint belly button, including the platypus, which lays an egg, and marsupials, where the cord falls off while the baby is still in the pouch. • Birds and reptiles, while not being mammals, also have a faint […]
THE HINDENBURG
It was floating over Manhattan just minutes before it burst into flames and crashed to the ground. This week, Tidbits focuses on the Hindenburg, the massive airship that met a fiery end 87 years ago this week. • Construction began on the Hindenburg in 1931 by the German-based Zeppelin Company. Some of the airship’s parts were salvaged from a British airship that had crashed in October, 1930. • The airship was named for the late Paul von Hindenburg, who had been Germany’s president from 1925 to 1934. The Nazis had wanted to name the ship after Hitler, but […]
TIDBITS® Studies Australian animals
by Kathy Wolfe More than 80% of Australia’s animals are found nowhere else in the world. Travel with Tidbits to learn more about creatures from down under. • Of the estimated 330 species of marsupials in the world, about two-thirds live in Australia. This order of mammals has a pouch on the female’s abdomen to carry the young. The females give birth just a month after conception. The endangered marsupial Tasmanian Devil is only found in Australia’s Tasmanian wilderness and national parks. Looney Tunes’ Tasmanian Devil gives us the impression that they are wild and vicious creatures ready to tear […]
Lungs – BEAUTIFUL BODY –
– BEAUTIFUL BODY – Take a deep breath and soak up these facts on the human body’s lungs, the most important organs in the respiratory system. • The lungs are responsible for extracting oxygen from the air we breathe and transferring it to the bloodstream, where it is sent to the cells. The lungs also remove carbon dioxide as a waste gas through exhaling. When we inhale, air travels down the throat, through the larynx, and into the trachea. The trachea has two air passages, or bronchial tubes, with one leading to the left lung and one to the right. […]
Cops & Donuts
• The New York Times once said, “No profession is as closely identified with food as police work is with doughnuts.” The correlation between doughnuts and cops began long ago. What started as a simple convenience grew into a symbiotic relationship. Here’s the story of how that happened. • Often, police are on duty overnight while most citizens are asleep and nearly all businesses are closed. Nighttime food options were limited in the days before gas station convenience stores became common. All-night restaurants and fast food joints such as Denny’s, IHOP, McDonalds, and Taco Bell were not yet on the […]