Ten Random Facts

Oily rags are the most common cause of spontaneous combustion.
Technology

In 1966, Elliot Handler, one of the co-founders of Mattel, Inc. and part of the Barbie doll empire, was the inventor of Hot Wheels®. Handler experimented with axles and rotating wheels being attached to tiny model cars. The innovative gravity-powered car he developed had special low-friction styrene wheels. Hot Wheels® have been clocked at speeds of up to 300 miles per hour.
People » Inventors

Because its tongue is too short for its beak, the toucan must juggle its food before swallowing it.
Animals

More than one million stray dogs and over 500,000 stray cats live in the New York City metropolitan area.
Animals

Before he landed the acting role of a lifetime as "The Fonz" on ABC's hit sitcom Happy Days (1974-1984), Henry Winkler worked for a time as a travel agent.
People

Napoleon Bonaparte loved white horses so much, he owned at least fifty.
People

About 24 percent of American adults say they have participated, at some time or another, in illegal gambling.
Statistics

When the female embryo is only six weeks old, it makes preparations for her motherhood by developing egg cells for future offspring. (When the baby girl is born, each of her ovaries carries about a million egg cells, all that she will ever have).
People

Mary Todd once dated both Abe Lincoln and Stephen Douglas. She chose Lincoln because he showed more promise, and she was right - he was good at everything but ducking.
People » Celebrities and Public Figures

There is no living descendant of William Shakespeare.
People

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