Monday, January 11, 2010

71. Today (January 11) is the day Amelia Earhart, in 1935, flew solo from California to Hawaii. Thanks to Teri Schamp-Bjerede for that!

72. Saladin's cousin built Rabadh Castle in Ajloun (in Jordan) as part of a chain of castles that stood against the Crusaders. It guarded the Jordan River Valley and the Ajloun iron mines. They used a system of pigeons and bonfires to send messages from Damascus to Cairo in just one day. Who needs email?

73. There is only one species of squirrel that lives in Jordan (the Persian squirrel), and it's only in one little area in the north.

74. Aloe vera can be effective against psoriasis.

75. Certain species of grasshoppers turn into locusts when their population increases to a specific point.

76. Quince tea is a folk remedy for coughs (and it is reasonably effective). This is what I give the kids -- with honey in it. Quince has more pectin than any other fruit, and the pectin coats your throat (as does the honey).

77. The Griffon vulture does not have a sense of smell -- it locates carrion by sight.

78. The Palestinian sunbird (well, okay, the male) is a lovely, iridescent blue-green. The female is grey.

79. Grey can be a first name as well as a color.

80. Jordan's national bird is the Sinai rosefinch.

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