- Scientists say tears tell you the reason for someone crying. If the first drop comes from the right eye, it’s tears of joy. Otherwise, it’s because of pain.
- In the UK in 2019, renewable energy generated more electricity than fossil fuels for the first time ever. Also, did you know Norway gets 0% electricity from coal? And Germany has installed 1 kW of renewable capacity per person in the last decade?
a) (Climate change is the biggest global issue of our time, but there are some things to feel positive about!) - The longest reigning monarch ever was Louis XIV of France. He ruled for 72 years, 110 days. Exhausting.
- Marie Curie was the first person ever to win TWO Nobel Prizes – one for physics in 1903, the other for chemistry in 1911 for her work on radioactivity.
- King Henry VIII of England had servants called “Grooms of Stool”, who wiped him clean after he visited the toilet. Gross.
- 0.5% of the male population are descended from Genghis Khan. (Scientists did a study in 2003 showing that about 16 million dudes share a Y chromosome with the famous Emperor.)
- Iceland, the Faroe Islands, and the Isle of Man all have claims to having the oldest parliament in history, all of which were founded in the 9th and 10th centuries.
- Russia is the most forested country in the world, with 815 million hectares.
- China is the world’s most populous country, with around 1.4 billion people living there.
- The youngest person to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize is Malala Yousafzai (aged just 17 in 2014), for her work as a child rights activist and champion of girls’ right to education.
