FACT OF THE DAY

Puffer fish
A puffer fish inflates its body with water into a spherical shape in order to defend itself. When the puffer fish is distended, it can barely move, but its spines and size make it practically impossible to attack. When it is lifted out of the water, it can still inflate with air as a defense. In Japan, the puffer fish is called fugu and the meat is considered a delicacy. However, puffer fish contain a highly toxic substance in the liver and intestines, so unless the preparation is done very carefully, the meat can be deadly; about 100 people die annually in Japan from eating puffer fish. The puffer fish is one of the few fish species that can blink and close its eyes. It also goes by the name swellfish or blowfish.

Co-op City
Co-op City, in the Bronx, New York, is the largest cooperative housing complex in the United States. It consists of 15,372 apartments and houses more than 60,000 residents. Co-op City opened on December 10, 1968 with the purpose of keeping middle-class people from moving out of the city and into the suburbs.

Clown
A clown is a character of pantomime and circus, known by the distinctive makeup and costume, ludicrous antics, and buffoonery. The earliest ancestors of the clown flourished in ancient Greece and Rome; they were bald-headed buffoons who performed in farces and mime, parodying the actions of more serious characters and sometimes pelting the spectators with nuts. The clown formed part of the acts of medieval minstrels and jugglers but was not considered a professional comic actor until the late Middle Ages when traveling entertainers imitated the antics of the court jesters. The traditional whiteface makeup of the clown was likely introduced by the character of Pierrot (or Pedrolino), the French clown with a bald head and flour-whitened face who first appeared during the latter part of the 17th century. Coulrophobia is the fear of clowns.

Pineapple
The pineapple is the safest kind of fruit to eat because its thick skin protects it from pesticides, bugs, and surface bacteria. Bananas and mangoes are also safe because of the thickness of their skins. Washing fruit helps eliminate pesticides, but some pesticide residue is absorbed into the flesh of the fruit or plant.

Equatorial Guinea
The small west-central African nation of Equatorial Guinea is the only African nation whose official language is Spanish.

Blood types
Blood typing is the classification of an individual's blood in terms of distinctive inherited antigenic characteristics associated with the red blood cells. Karl Landsteiner, an Austrian-American immunologist and pathologist, developed the ABO blood group system in 1901. Blood group identification has become indispensable in connection with blood transfusion, because the blood groups of recipient and donor must be the same or compatible. The ABO blood group system is broken down into four major groups: type A, type B, type O, and type AB. In the United States, the following population percentages correspond to each blood group: type O - 46%; type A - 40%; type B - 10%; type AB - 4%.

Atmosphere
Without the atmosphere, it would be impossible to live on earth. The atmosphere's layers form a "blanket" around the earth, protecting us from dangerous rays of the sun and from the cold of outer space. The atmosphere contains the air that we breathe, water vapor, and dust. Air contains carbon dioxide and nitrogen, vital for life, and water vapor forms the clouds that bring rain. The atmosphere is held in place by the pull of the earth's gravity and extends to about 1,250 miles above the earth.

Kites
The first flying machine was a kite, flown about 3000 years before people got into the air. A basic kite consists of a frame covered with material, launched and held in the air by the upward push of wind currents but controlled from the ground. The Chinese were flying kites long before the first recorded reference to a wooden bird kite in 500 BC. Kites through time have had religious significance, have been used to estimate distance, and helped Benjamin Franklin prove the electrical nature of lightning.


Contact lenses
A contact lens is an artificial lens designed to fit over the cornea of the eye in order to correct vision. The first contact lenses, invented in 1887 by Adolf Fick, were made of glass and were used to correct astigmatism. It was not until the development of sophisticated optical instruments and plastic materials in 1948 that the modern-day contact lens was invented by Kevin Tuohy.
Cullinan Diamond
Diamond is the world's hardest substance. The largest gem-quality diamond in the world is the Cullinan Diamond, found in 1905 at the Premier Diamond Mining Company in South Africa. In rough-cut form, the Cullinan Diamond weighed 3,106 carats. It has been cut into 9 large stones and over 100 smaller ones, some of which are among the British Crown Jewels.

Dead Sea
The Dead Sea is actually a landlocked salt lake between Israel and Jordan. Its name goes back to about 323 BC. The Dead Sea is the world's saltiest body of water. While no fish can survive in the salty waters, the Dead Sea is not in fact "dead," but contains salt-loving microorganisms that thrive in this environment. The shore of the Dead Sea is also the lowest dry point on the earth's land surface at about 1300 feet below sea level. Salt and other minerals are extracted from the Dead Sea in vast quantities for use in the chemical industry.