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Trikki
02-28-2006, 08:57 AM
Alaska

More than half of the coastline of the entire United
States is in Alaska.


Amazon

The Amazon rainforest produces more than 20% the
world's oxygen supply. The Amazon River pushes so
much water into the Atlantic Ocean that, more than
one hundred miles at sea off the mouth of the river,
one can dip fresh water out of the ocean. The volume
of water in the Amazon river is greater than the next
eight largest rivers in the world combined and three
times the flow of all rivers in the United States.

Antarctica

Antarctica is the only land on our planet that is not
owned by any country. Ninety percent of the world's
ice covers Antarctica. This ice also represents
seventy percent of all the fresh water in the world.
As strange as it sounds, however, Antarctica is
essentially a desert. The average yearly total
precipitation is about two inches. Although covered
with ice (all but 0.4% of it, i.e.), Antarctica is
the driest place on the planet, with an absolute
humidity lower than the Gobi desert.

Brazil

Brazil got its name from the nut, not the other way
around.

Canada

Canada has more lakes than the rest of the world
combined. Canada is an Indian word meaning
"Big Village."

Chicago

Next to Warsaw, Chicago has the largest Polish
population in the world.

Detroit

Woodward Avenue in Detroit, Michigan carries the
designation M-1, named so because it was the first
paved road anywhere.

Damascus, Syria

Damascus, Syria, was flourishing a couple of thousand
years before Rome was founded in 753 BC, making it
the oldest continuously inhabited city in existence.

Istanbul, Turkey

Istanbul, Turkey is the only city in the world located
on two continents.

Los Angeles

Los Angeles's full name is El Pueblo de Nuestra
Senora la Reina de los Angeles de Porciuncula --and
can be abbreviated to 3.63% of its size: L.A.

New York City

The term "The Big Apple" was coined by touring jazz
musicians of the 1930's who used the slang _expression
"apple" for any town or city. Therefore, to play New
York City is to play the big time - The Big Apple.
There are more Irish in New York City than in Dublin,
Ireland; more Italians in New York City than in Rome,
Italy; and more Jews in New York City than in Tel
Aviv, Israel.

Ohio

There are no natural lakes in the state of Ohio, every
one is manmade.

Pitcairn Island

The smallest island with country status is Pitcairn
in Polynesia, at just 1.75 sq. miles/4,53 sq. km.

Rome

The first city to reach a population of 1 million
people was Rome, Italy in 133 B.C. There is a city
called Rome on every continent.

Siberia

Siberia contains more than 25% of the world's forests.

S.M.O.M.

The actual smallest sovereign entity in the world is
the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (S.M.O.M.). It
is located in the city of Rome, Italy, has an area of
two tennis courts, and as of 2001 has a population of
80, 20 less people than the Vatican. It is a
sovereign entity under international law, just as the
Vatican is.

Sahara Desert

In the Sahara Desert, there is a town named Tidikelt,
which did not receive a drop of rain for ten
years. Technically though, the driest place on Earth
is in the valleys of the Antarctic near Ross Island.
There has been no rainfall there for two million years.

Spain

Spain literally means 'the land of rabbits.'

St. Paul Minnesota

St. Paul, Minnesota was originally called Pigs Eye after
a man named Pierre "Pig's Eye" Parrant who set up the
first business there.

Roads

Chances that a road is unpaved in the U.S.A.: 1%, in
Canada: 75%.

Texas

The deepest hole ever made in the world is in Texas. It
is as deep as 20 empire state buildings but only 3
inches wide.

United States

The Eisenhower interstate system requires that one-mile
in every five must be straight. These straight sections
are usable as airstrips in times of war or other
emergencies.

Waterfalls

The water of Angel Falls (the World's highest) in
Venezuela drops 3,212 feet (979 meters). They are
15 times higher than Niagara Falls.

Snopes this. :spade

:devil

Cloudwalker21
02-28-2006, 09:15 AM
The Amazon one and the Eisenhower one are feasible even if this happens to not be true (does not really sound like it was made up on the spot). Eisenhower was a wartime president for the most part, and even if he was allied with the Russians during the war, he probably (with good reason) mistrusted Stalin from the get go, even before the cold war officially started. Not to mention the fact that the UK got bombed.

Gandaar
02-28-2006, 11:12 AM
Additional information.... the Interstate highway system was designed and intended to allow the rapid movement of troops and equipment across the United States. There's a reason that the roadbed of an Interstate highway is 12 inches deep, with sand, gravel, concrete and asphalt in some places.

This is to allow the movement of heavy equipment... like tanks and other battlefield equipment.

The citizens of the United Stated enjoy the benefits of high speed roadways because of the needs of the military.

giena
02-28-2006, 11:18 AM
If you really want to know about the Eisenhower Highway System, check this link --> http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/ndhs.htm