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Some more items of interest . . .
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Fact:
The offspring of a polar bear and a grizzle bear is known as a pizzly bear. It is also known as a grolar bear, zebra bear, grizzlar, polizzly and nanulak.
Polar/brown bear hybrid at Osnabrück Zoo
Such a cross is a rare hybrid that has occurred both in captivity and in the wild. In 2006, the occurrence of this hybrid in nature was confirmed by testing the DNA of a unique-looking bear that had been shot near Sachs Harbour, Northwest Territories, on Banks Island in the Canadian Arctic. The number of confirmed hybrids has since risen to eight, all of them descending from the same female polar bear.
Possible wild-bred polar bear–grizzly bear hybrids have been reported and shot in the past, but DNA tests were not available to verify the bears' ancestry.
Experts believe that polar-grizzly bear hybrids or on the increase in that polar bears are moving south the escape the effects of global warming, and grizzly bears are moving north.
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Fact:
During Hitler’s years in power, Mein Kampf was given away free to every newly-wed couple.
Begun in 1924, while Adolf Hitler was in Landsberg prison for the beer hall putsch, his failed attempt to overthrow the Weimar Republic, Mein Kampf (My Struggle) was written with the assistance of Rudolf Hess and consists of two volumes, published in 1925 and 1926, respectively. In it Hitler describes the process by which he became antisemitic and outlines his political ideology and future plans for Germany.
After slow initial sales, the book became a bestseller in Germany following Hitler's rise to power in 1933. Free copies of Mein Kampf were given to every newlywed couple, and later to every soldier stationed on the front. By the time of Hitler’s death in 1945, about 10 million copies were in circulation.
After Hitler's death, copyright of Mein Kampf passed to the state government of Bavaria, which refused to allow any copying or printing of the book in Germany. In 2016, following the expiration of the copyright held by the Bavarian state government, Mein Kampf was republished in Germany for the first time since 1945, which prompted public debate and divided reactions from Jewish groups.
BTW:
Hitler originally wanted to call his forthcoming book Viereinhalb Jahre (des Kampfes) gegen Lüge, Dummheit und Feigheit (Four and a Half Years [of Struggle] Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice). Max Amann, head of the Franz Eher Verlag and Hitler's publisher, is said to have suggested the much shorter "Mein Kampf" ("My Struggle").
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Fact:
The most common street name in the US is Second Street.
According to the US Department of Commerce, the twenty most common street names and the number of nationwide occurrences are:
1. Second (10,866)
2. Third (10,131)
3. First (9,898)
4. Fourth (9,190)
5. Park (8,926)
6. Fifth (8,186)
7. Main (7,644)
8. Sixth (7,283)
9. Oak (6,946)
10. Seventh (6,377)
11. Pine (6,170)
12. Maple (6,103)
13. Cedar (5,644)
14. Eighth (5,524)
15. Elm (5,233)
16. View (5,202)
17. Washington (4,974)
18. Ninth (4,908)
19. Lake (4,901)
20. Hill (4,877)
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Fact:
Most clams start off as male but half of them turn female when older.
A very topical factlet, there is no record of clams competing in sporting events or whether this an issue.
Clams are hermaphrodites, which means they can be both male and female. They practice consecutive sexuality, so if in a season one of them acts as male, in the following season it will be the female. The one who performs the function of female, releases between five and eight million ovules into the sea; depending of the time of year. On the other hand, the male releases two thousand six hundred million spermatozoa, which fuse with the cells spread by the female, forming the eggs.
Don’t take my word for it, click on:
Also:
Giant clams are hermaphroditic, producing both eggs and sperm. A fully-grown giant clam can release over 500 million eggs in one go. As they cannot fertilise themselves, they reproduce through broadcast spawning. When an egg is release, this triggers nearby giant clams to swell their mantles and contract their adductor muscles. This causes the clams to fill with water containing broadcasted sperm and eggs.
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Fact:
The oldest animal ever found was a 405 year-old Icelandic clam. It was killed by researchers trying to determine its age.
Ming (1499–2006) was the name given to a specimen of the ocean quahog that was dredged off the coast of Iceland in 2006. It was named Ming after the dynasty that was ruling in China when it was first born (born?). Its age was calculated by counting annual growth lines in the shell. Ming was the oldest individual (non-colonial) animal ever discovered whose age could be precisely determined. Originally thought to be 405 years old, Ming was later determined to be 507 years old.
The sex of the clam is unknown as its reproductive state was recorded as "spent".
The research was carried out by researchers from Bangor University. Ming’s long life came to an end in 2006 when the British researchers – unaware of the animal’s exceptional age – froze him/her, killing it.
Obviously Ming did not have a lovely time the day he/she went to Bangor.
Ming’s left valve
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Fact:
The Carlton Tavern in England is both new and 100 years old.
Carlton Tavern in Kilburn, London, built in 1921, was the only building in the street to survive the German bombing during World War II. The building was noted for its unaltered 1920s interiors and tiled exterior, and was on the verge of being awarded the protected Grade II status from Historic England.
The Carlton Tavern prior to demolition.
It was demolished by the owners in 2015 to make way for a block of luxury flats. The demolition took place without a permit, the demolition application having been turned down by the city council. During Easter, the owners (who had knowledge of the imminent heritage listing) asked Patsy Lord, the then-manager of the Carlton Tavern, to vacate the pub for a few days because they needed to take an inventory. When she returned two days later, she found a pile of bricks and broken glass where the building used to be.
The developers thought they could get away with the infraction with a slap on the wrist and a fine, but not so. The city council ordered the developers to rebuild the pub “brick by brick”.
Thankfully, the preservation society English Heritage had surveyed the pub, making records of the layout, tiles and other original details so that full architectural information was available, but many remained skeptical that the pub could be rebuilt exactly as it was before demolition.
Six years later, when the Carlton Tavern reopened, it became simultaneously brand-new and a hundred years old.
The recreated tavern.
According to Tom Trees for the new owners:
"They've done an amazing job at rebuilding it as it was. A lot of people have come in and said what a beautiful old building and they don't believe us when we say it's brand new. We feel we're getting the best of both worlds. We're getting a brand new pub with brand new electrics and wiring; and plumbing, but we're getting the charm and beauty of this heritage pub.”
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