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1. Shoemakers are commonly called cobblers but correctly speaking a cobbler is a shoe repairmen. A shoemaker is a cordwainer - they also made leather bottles and harnesses.
2.The white part of your fingernail is called the lunula.
3.The working section of a piano is called the action.
4.The thin line of cloud that forms behind an aircraft at high altitudes is called a contrail.
5.The back of the human hand is the opisthenar.
6.The hairless area of roughened skin at the tip of a bear's snout is called the rhinarium.
7.Someone who uses as few words as possible when speaking is called pauciloquent.
8."Mobile" or "Cell"
What is correct: "mobile" phone or "cell" phone? Same thing. The word cell is short for cellular and has been used since Bell Laboratories set up the first wireless telephony system in 1947. It consisted of a network of low-powered transmitters, each placed to cover a small region or cell. The first public cell phone call was made on April 3, 1973 by Martin Cooper of Motorola. Commercial cell phones were introduced in Chicago in 1978 and in Europe in 1981. The first portable cell phone available to the public, the Motorola DynaTAC 8000X, was launched in 1984 and weighed 2 lbs. If you're surprised to learn that mobile telephony has been around so long, here's another surprise: Bell Laboratories invented the videophone in 1927.
9.Numbers
Most numbers on a phone keypad have letters assigned to them. For instance, the letters for the number 2 are a, b and c. But there are no letters assigned to the numbers 1 and 0. These numbers remain unassigned because they are so-called flag numbers, kept for special purposes such as emergency or operator services. Previously, Q and Z were not included on the keypad, meaning that you could not dial a word such as Quincy. Q is now assigned to the number 7, and Z to number 9.
10.t is believed that the fear for the number 13 stems from primitive man being unable to count past 12. Numbers beyond 12 do now have an individual and independent name but are a combination of the first 12 numbers. With 12 being the end of the line, 13 was moving into unknown territory.
In Norse mythology the 13th number led to the death of Baldur, the beloved of the gods. When the 12 gods gathered for a banquet in Valhalla, Loki gatecrashed the party, increasing the number to 13, which led to the death of Baldur. It also happens that in Tarot cards, 13 is called "Death."
11.Top 10 languages on the Internet
Language Number of users
1. English 452 million
2. Mandarin 321 million
3.Spanish 129 million
4. Japanese 94 million
5. French 73 million
6. Portuguese 73 million
7. German 65 million
8. Arabic 41 million
9. Russian 38 million
10. Korean 37 million
All others 258 million
12.It is widely proclaimed that April Fool's day originated in France in 1562, or thereabouts, when Pope Gregory replaced the Julian calender with the Gregorian calender in the Julian calender month of April. The day of introduction of the Gregorian calender was made the first day of January. Some people hadn't heard about the change in the date, so they continued to celebrate the New Year's Day, but it being 1st April. So, others called them "April fools." The fact is that Pope Gregory XIII ordered Thursday 4 October 1582 to be the last day of the Julian calendar. The next day was Friday 15 October. April Fool's Day is an April Fool's tale.
The April Fool's Day tradition in France includes poisson d'avril ("April's fish"), attempting to attach a paper fish to the victim's back without being noticed.
13.During the 6th Century, it was customary to congratulate people who sneezed because it was thought that they were expelling evil from their bodies. During the great plague of Europe, the Pope passed a law to say "God bless you" to one who sneezed.
There still are some weird laws on the books. In Washington state, it is against the law to boast that one's parents are rich. In Maryland, it's illegal to play Randy Newman's "Short People" on the radio. In Alabama it is illegal to play Dominoes on Sunday. And in Minneapolis, double-parkers can be put on a chain gang.
In 1313, King Edward II enacted that "You are forbidden from dying in parliament."
An old statute in Kentucky states that men who push their wives out of bed for inflicting their cold toes on them can be fined or jailed for a week. A 100-year-old law in Willowdale, Oregon makes it illegal to swear during sex. An odd law in Minnesota makes it illegal to hang male and female underwear on the same washing line. In Melbourne, Australia it is illegal for men to parade in strapless dresses - but they are allowed to cross-dress in anything with sleeves.
An old law in Russia allows a police officer to "beat a peeping tom soundly." In Texas, two categories of men are exempt from peeping tom charges: men over 50 and men with only one eye.
A pregnant woman can urinate anywhere she wishes, including a policeman's helmet, according to a London local by-law. But in Vermont, women require their husbands permission to wear false teeth.
In Virginia, horses of more than one year old are prohibited in a place of worship. In Tennessee, shooting any game other than whales from a moving automobile is against the law. In Normal, Oklahoma you could be sent to prison for "making an ugly face at a dog."
14.More than 20,000 brands of beer
15.2700 languages spoken in the world
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