Did You Know?

Did you know that the Guinness Book of Records was invented to settle an argument!

In May 1951, then managing director of the Guinness Breweries, Irishman Sir Hugh Beaver, went out bird shooting party in County Wexford, Ireland and ended up in an argument about which was the fastest game bird in Europe.

Refusing to let the matter rest he found no book to refer to for an answer. Realising that others must have similar arguments, particularly in pubs, he decided that a book supplying the answers to both the bird question and others was required.

Another Guinness employee recommended brothers Ross & Norris McWhirter to assist him as they had achieved a reputation at the time, of being excellent fact-finders. A few years later in 1954 the brothers had eventually compiled a book known as "The Guinness Book of Records" and printed out 1000 copies to be given away for free.

However, the book became a British best-seller by Christmas 1955. Beaver remarked that "It was a marketing give away—it wasn't supposed to be a money maker". In 1956 it was then launched in North America and sold 70,000 copies, before the full extent of its popularity was realised and the decision was made to produce a new, updated version every year from then on.

General (By Kavitha)

1. MOPED is the short term for 'Motorized Pedaling'.
2. JEEP is a vehicle with unique Gear system. It was invented during World War II (1939-1945). It was named 'General Purpose Vehicle (GP)'.GP was changed into JEEP later.
3. BUS is the short term for 'Omnibus' that means everybody.
4. FORTNIGHT comes from 'Fourteen Nights' (Two Weeks).
5. DRAWING ROOM was actually a 'withdrawing room' where people withdrew after Dinner. Later the prefix 'with' was dropped..
6. AG-MARK, which some products bear, stems from 'Agricultural Marketing'.
7. JOURNAL is a diary that tells about 'Journey for a day' during each Day's business.
8. QUEUE comes from 'Queen's Quest'. Long back a long row of people as waiting to see the Queen. Someone made the comment Queen's Quest..
9. TIPS come from 'To Insure Prompt Service'. In olden days to get Prompt service from servants in an inn, travelers used to drop coins in a Box on which was written 'To Insure Prompt Service'. This gave rise to the custom of Tips.
10. The strongest muscle in the body is the tongue.
11. POP MUSIC is 'Popular Music' shortened.
12. You can't kill yourself by holding your breath.
13. It is impossible to lick your elbow.
14. It is physically impossible for pigs to look up into the sky.
15. A snail can sleep for three years.
16. A crocodile cannot stick its tongue out.
17. All polar bears are left handed.
18. Elephants are the only animals that can't jump.
19. Rats multiply so quickly that in 18 months, two rats could have over million descendants.
20. In the last 4000 years, no new animals have been domesticated.
21. Shakespeare invented the word 'assassination' and 'bump'.
22. The "sixth sick sheik's sixth sheep's sick" is said to be the toughest tongue twister in the English language.
24. Horse Statue in a Park

• If a statue of a person in the park on a horse has both front legs in the air, the person died in battle.
• If the horse has one front leg in the air, the person died as a result of wounds received in battle
• If the horse has all four legs on the ground, the person died of natural causes.

25. What do bullet proof vests, fire escapes, windshield wipers and laser printers all have in common?Ans. - All invented by women.
26. The human heart creates enough pressure when it pumps out to the body to squirt blood 30 feet.