Timbits2Toonies

Today, adherents of the Bahá’í Faith gather for spiritual renewal in the Feast of Perfection. At last count, North America was home to 618 roller coasters. Sharks never become ill, as they are immune to all known diseases. Teflon is the slipperiest substance in the world. The soft tissue between a shark’s teeth is called a slow swimmer.  60,000 taxis ply the streets of Mexico City every day. A two-kilo bag of sugar contains ten million grains.  Per capita, the French have more pets than any other people on Earth. At sea level, a cubic metre of air weighs one kilo. The United States will inch its way into the Metric System. The Pork & Beans War broke out in 1838 when New Brunswickers and Maniacs clashed. The most commonly recycled product on the planet is the automobile. There are places in the Atacama Desert where it has never rained. Althaiophobia its the irrational fear of marshmallows. The difference between the Boy Scouts ...

On this date in 2003, the final Volkswagen Beetle ever, rolled out the doors in Mexico. The year 2018 has 53 Mondays. This will not happen again until 2024.  A group of soap bubbles is called foam.  55 gumshoes work in Newfoundland & Labrador, 220 in Nova Scotia and 1,250 in Alberta. I’ve never been a billionaire but I have a premonition that I’d be good at it.  Today in 1962, the 7,821 kilometre Trans-Canada Highway officially opened. Retailers sell 200 million bottles of soap bubbles annually.  75 people work as security guards in Nunavut.  A dill pickle slush costs $1.49 before 10a at 3,557 Sonic Drive-Ins in 45 of the United States.  The pen is mightier than the sword, said no one ever, after being attacked by a sword.  In North America, Monday is the least rainy day of the week.  Celebrated since 1980, this is Independence Day for 270,002 citizens of Vanuatu. Entertaining and amusing Earthlings fo...

Today in 1958, the National Aeronautics Space Administration was created by the USA. Jungles resemble rainforests but the former has fewer trees and more sunlight. Garfield the Cat turns 40 today. He has fans in 110 countries, in 2,200 newspapers. Contrary to widespread belief, unicorns cannot fly.   A light year is the same as a regular year but with half the calories. Today is the International Day of the Tiger. 3 Yemenis sued NASA for trespassing-they proved inheritance of Mars from ancient ancestors. A person with 20/20 eyesight can see between 2,000 and 2,500 stars at a time. 168 is the number of stars on Canada's Walk of Fame. When the moon is full, it belches. When Skylab crashed into Western Australia, NASA received a AUD$400 fine for littering. The mixture of soda and lime gives all mirrors a greenish hue. An elephant's sleep cycle is two hours a day. Introduced in 1849, the first bowler hat cost 12 shillings. Cosmonaut Yuri G...

A 142-nation safety survey ranks Venezuela last. Rwandans feel safer than Canuks.  Zucchini is the only fruit that starts with the letter ‘Z’. A barrel of oil contains 159 litres. The US consumes 1.85 billion barrels a day. The largest olive is the donkey variety; the smallest type is called ‘the bullet’. When he finally cracked, Humpty Dumpty splashed 7 grams of protein. Polish Buddhists practise 16th Century ‘Three Lights Meditation’ in more than 40 cities. Coal supplies power to 40% of Americans.  Skeeters kill 750,000 annually. Humans rank second, killing 432,000 people a year. Humpty Dumpty is  Boule Boule in French and Lille Trille in Norwegian and Swedish. Confuse coal miners by showing them two shovels and then telling them to take their pick. Sumatran Rhinoceri, of which 275 are estimated to be alive, is the only rhino with two horns. Britons burn three trillion litres of peat a year, sourced from the Baltic States and ...

Today in 1940, Bugs Bunny débuted on the silver screen. The Red Sea is one of four named for colours. Cooked carrots provide more nutritive value than when eaten raw. Since the Middle Ages, Finns observe this day as National Sleepy Head Day. My neighbour was arrested for walking in someone else’s sleep.  Closed to the public, behind Mt. Rushmore is a secret room, home to the Hall of Records. Queen Victoria coined the word ‘photo’ in 1860. In 1943 the USMC made Bugs Bunny an honourary Master Sergeant. Enossophobes deal with the irrational fear of being criticized. A clumsy tourist attacked me with a camera once—I still have flashbacks. Centurion comedian Bob Hope died on this date in 2003. Purple ranks second as the world’s favourite colour.  3.6% of Europeans are allergic to carrots. The ninth most often portrayed personality on the planet is Bugs Bunny. Boldly be a splash of colour in a black-and-white world. English is an ...

Today in 1758, the British captured the Fortress of Louisboug—the capital of New France—seizing control of the Gulf of St. Lawrence. A collective of racoons is called a nursery. There are only four colours of passport covers. Nine nations possess 15,000 nuclear weapons, ready to launch at a moment’s notice. When space aliens return to their home planets, the first question asked is, “Where on Earth have you been?” Since 1965, this is Independence Day for the 311,739 revellers who live in The Maldives. Unlike most mammals, bears see the world in colour.  Italy has been ruled by 66 governments since World War Two. Kraft introduced processed cheese singles in 1950. The result of crossing a bear with a harp is a bear-faced lyre. Britain and France account for 73% of the EU’s credit card fraud. More than half of 280,208 Tahitians are members of the Mahoi Protestant Church.   The plural form of ‘offspring’ is ‘offspring’.  The t...

Californians are less likely to barbecue on Tuesday than any other day of the week. Today in 1963, Nova Scotia's Ambassador of Sail, Bluenose II, was launched in Lunenburg. A group of ferrets is called a business. In 1547, bagpipes were introduced onto the battlefield as a weapon of war. Two decades before national health care, the old lady who swallowed the fly  did so in 1947. In 1853, Mr. Christie began making g-o-o-d cookies in Toronto. The short-link radio technology Bluetooth was initiated in 1989 in Sweden. Americophbics struggle with the irrational fear of all things American. Mexico’s Avocado Belt provides 45% of the world’s alligator pears.  Lock, stock and barrel, it was 1794 when the old woman who lives in the shoe moved in with her tribe of tots. In 17th Century New England, the term Blue Law was coined—blue meaning strict or pure. The burn point of avocado oil is 271°C. 900,000 folks in Fiji tune into Radio Australi...

Belgian priest Father Georges Lemaître postulated The Big Bang Theory in 1927. It was a black day in July-the Detroit Riot-began today in 1967. 43 died, 342 injured 1,400 buildings burnt. Trans-Canada Air began flights to the UK, carrying mail and military personnel, on this date in 1943. As a child, Narendra Modi, India’s 14th Prime Minister, helped his father sell tea. The first satellite to orbit Earth was the moon. More than 13,500 Canadians have served in Afghanistan since 2002--lest we forget. There are 20 fields of veterinary dentistry.  Jack and Jill first went up the hill in the 1760s. Americans fill prescriptions at any of 67,000 pharmacies. Panamanians identify dental care as a ‘route canal’.  Today in 1974, the Bank of Canada hiked the lending rate to 9.4%. Forbes  fingers Xi, Putin, Trump and Merkel as Earth's most powerful people. Germany and France are the world’s leading producers of biodiesel.  Louis XV g...

McDonalds hands out 1.8 million straws a day at its 1,361 restaurants in the UK and Ireland. Japanese and Koreans are the majority of tourists to the US Commonwealth of Saipan. In 60 years of exploration, spacecraft have visited all eight planets in the Solar System. Pork accounts for 51% of meat production in the EU’s abattoirs.  Pigs born without legs are called groundhogs. To divulge secrets, the phrase ‘spill the beans’ entered the lexicon in 1902. Dinner is served in Buenos Aires at 9 o’clock in the evening. The average lifespan is 15 years for a thatched roof. 945,000 cows graze on Canada’s 10,952 dairy farms. Lysol-flavoured jelly beans were a huge fail. Papua New Guinea and Queensland are home to the endangered Tree-kangaroo.  Buckwheat contains all eight essential amino acids.  Since 1900, El Niño has made 26 recorded appearances. Strawberries contain only one ingredient. Ministry of Beans Memo #91: before scali...