The First Book of Factoids | Page 2

the King was not allowed by the British government to
address the British people and the Empire through the BBC.
The government's constitutional experts wrote:
"If the King disregarded it, constitutional monarchy would cease to
exist. The King is bound to accept and act upon the advice of his
ministers ... for the King to broadcast in disregard of that advice would
be appealing over the heads of his constitutional advisers. "The last
time when this happened in English history was when Charles I raised
His Standard at the beginning of the Civil War on 22 August 1642."
Edward abdicated from the throne on 11 December 1936, making a
different speech.
After having abdicated the throne, in exile, not allowed to return on
pain of losing their allowance, the couple visited Adolf Hitler in 1937.
Simpson was thrilled to be "entertained by Herr Hitler" but there is no
proof of further contacts with the Nazi regime with the exception of a
telegram from Edward to Hitler, urging peace. Edward was later
appointed Governor of the Bahamas. Recently released FBI files
identify Simpson as a Nazi sympathizer, though. The FBI suspected her
of having an affair with a leading Nazi and spied on her.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/em/-/1/hi/uk/2706889.stm
Abraham
Abraham, the son of Terah, Noah's descendent, and brother of Nahor
and Haran, first appears in the Bible in Genesis 11:27. He may have
been born in Ur, in today's Iraq, near Nasiryah, around 4000 years ago.
His brother, Nahor, definitely was born in Ur and, having fathered Lot,
also died in Ur Kasdim (Ur of the Chaldeans). Ur was the capital of
S(h)umer but the Kasdim - Khaldeans - did not make it to Ur until 1300
years after the birth of Abraham. Why do the Bible call it Ur Kasdim?
Abraham's family are described as pastoral nomads. Wandering
shepherds rarely pitch their tents, proverbial or not, next to
metropolises. Terah left Ur only to settle near yet another city, Harran,
on the current border between Turkey and Syria. He spent the next 60
years of his life there. Harran is 1200 kilometers off the beaten path to
Canaan (today's Israel and Palestine). Why such a diversion?

Scholars suggest that Ur is actually Urfa in Turkey - about 30
kilometers away from Harran. It boasts a cave where Abraham is said
to have been born. SOURCE: Bruce Feiler, Abraham: A Journey to the
Heart of Three Faiths and Walking the Bible: A Journey By Land
Through the Five Books of Moses.
http://www.ot-studies.com/Documents/Ur.htm
http://members.aol.com/mfuprojects/abrahambirth.html
Ants
There are 11,000 species of ants. The oldest ant fossil is more than 90
million years old. Ants are closely related to bees and wasps. They are
so numerous that in some habitats - the Amazon forest, for instance -
their combined weight is four times the combined weight of all other
animals in the area. Ants have brains. The main nerve - similar to our
spine - runs along the bottom of the ant's body. Ants smell, taste and
touch with their antennas. Their cylinder-like heart pumps colorless
blood throughout their body.
Ants digest only liquid food or food rendered liquid with their digestive
juices. Ants share digested food with each other. They can carry 15-20
times their body weight.
Only the colony's queen breeds. Unfertilized eggs develop into males.
The queen also lives much longer - up to 10 years, compared to worker
ants which survive on average 50-150 days and up to 2 years in the
tropics.
Some ant varieties create no nests. Instead, worker ants link their legs
to form a living fabric on which the queen resides and performs her
functions.
http://www.lingolex.com/ants.htm
http://ant.edb.miyakyo-u.ac.jp/INTRODUCTION/Gakken79E/Page_02
.html

Appendix
The appendix is located at the beginning of the large intestine. Many
types of animals have it, including rabbits and rodents. It contains gut
associated lymphoid tissue (GALT) involved in recognizing foreign
antigens in ingested food. The appendix is also helpful in the
maturation of certain white blood cells (B lymphocytes) and antibodies
(Immunoglobulin, or IgA). Molecules manufactured in the appendix

serve as "traffic guides" and direct lymphocytes to other parts of the
body. The appendix is not, therefore, useless, as most people think. It is
part of the immune system. The GALT disappears after age 60, though.
The appendix has additional functions. Endocrine cells appear in the
appendix of the human fetus and produce biogenic amines and peptide
hormones, both instrumental in maintaining bodily homeostasis.
Finally, the appendix is used to replace the "sphincter muscle" in
urinary a bladder surgically reconstructed from intestinal tissue (after
removal of the original bladder). It also replaces removed ureters,
leading urine from the kidney to the bladder.
http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health/digest/summary/append/
http://kidshealth.org/parent/infections/stomach/appendicitis.html
http://www.merck.com/pubs/mmanual/section3/chapter25/25e.htm
Armenian Genocide
The Armenian massacres in Turkey started in the 19th century and
continued well after the Armenian genocide of 1915 in which some
600,000