Surely many people have heard about Central Park in New York, but did you know how huge it is? Its area is 34.1 square kilometers, which is twice the area of the Principality of Monaco and ten times the size of the Vatican. On the territory of the park there is a rather large artificial lake — Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Resevoir, now named after the first Lady of the United States. New Yorkers have been drinking water from this reservoir for almost two centuries. Around him there is a treadmill, on which Jacqueline Kennedy, Bill Clinton, and Madonna ran at one time, and who just did not.
It turns out that healthy tulips are only «boring» colors. Variegated tulips are infected with a virus that leads to an interesting mutation. The virus «breaks» the genes responsible for the coloring of the infected flower, which leads to the appearance of stripes, streaks and patterns on the petals of the tulip. The bulb affected by the virus becomes stunted and weak, so it may not bloom.
The place that St. Petersburg now occupies was once literally the bottom — the bottom of the Littoral Sea. By geological standards, it was quite recently — only 8,000-4,000 years ago. And the Pulkovo Heights — three hills on the southern outskirts of the city — were the shore of this sea, and not heights at all. The sea got its name in honor of the snails of the species Littorina littorea, which in boiled form are considered a French delicacy, and used to be common inhabitants of this area.
In 2000, the ABBA group was offered to reunite after a long break in concert activities. The contract implied a series of one hundred concerts, for each of which each of the four band members would be paid $2.5 million, that is, in total we are talking about a billion dollars. The group refused.
Currently, there are several localities where it is prohibited by law to die. One of them was the village of Lancharon in Spain — the problem was the lack of places in the cemetery. In 1999, the mayor issued a law prohibiting local residents from dying until the Lanharon administration finds funds to expand the cemetery. Rumor has it that new places have not appeared until now.
About 7 billion male chickens are killed industrially every year in the world. This happens a few days after hatching, as soon as it is possible to determine the sex — males will not lay eggs, and therefore are not needed in such quantities. This is called «culling chickens» — it is usually done by grinding [maceration] or strangulation. The remains, ground into flour, are used for fertilizers and cat food.
They tried to make Mozart out of Ludwig van Beethoven. When little Ludwig discovered his musical abilities, Mozart was very popular in Europe, and many parents dreamed of raising musical prodigies. Although the pedagogical methods of Johann van Beethoven, the father of the family, deserve criticism, yet, apparently, they brought results.
Bulgarian pepper contains much more vitamin C than an orange, and the more mature the pepper — which means more red — the more vitamin. In a bowl of chopped red pepper, vitamin C is three times more than in the same amount of orange.
Inhaling dust on the moon is extremely dangerous for life, because it is not the same dust that occurs on Earth. The particles of lunar dust are very sharp, they are not susceptible to destruction and are the smallest fragments of meteorites. If inhaled, they can destroy up to 90% of lung and brain tissues within one day.
There is a Roche drug Ro15-4513 in the world that has the effect of instant sobering up: a person's consciousness becomes clear regardless of how much he has drunk. However, the drug will never be allowed for free sale in pharmacies. Doctors fear that people will use the medicine uncontrollably. The active substance does not remove alcohol from the body, but only normalizes the general condition.
