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EDITION #1305 This issue 5ยข
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The Largest Rodent Ever

Used News Wildlife

Friday September 19, 2003

The largest rodent ever was a giant guinea pig as big as a buffalo, which lived in South America eight million years ago, researchers say this week in the journal Science.

More than twice as heavy as the previous record holder, it was more than 10 times the size of today's largest living rodent, the South American Capybara. This giant rodent grazed on grasses, which it must have eaten in large ...

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Did You Know

  • Airports that are at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

  • Canada is an Indian word meaning Big Village.

  • An earthquake on December 16, 1811 caused parts of the Mississippi River to flow backwards.

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Latest Posts

Sunday September 21, 2003

Famous for his magical illusions and stunts in America, but not all Londoners are impressed by David Blaine's bid to spend 40 days without food in a glass box suspended from a crane in the centre of the English capital. Shortly after the American began his stunt he was pelted with eggs, taunted with the smell of fish and chips and woken up by a man banging on a drum. ...

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Tuesday September 16, 2003

The people in a remote Italian village walled up their local Priest in the parish church to prevent him from leaving. Fr. Emilio Succhiella became a 'prisoner of love' after Capuchin Franciscans decided to withdraw from Trasacco, in the mountainous Abruzzo region near Rome, after 428 years of service.

Protesting villagers took the unusual step after they had unsuccessfully appealed to the Order ...

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  • Airports that are at higher altitudes require a longer airstrip due to lower air density.

  • Each year there are more than 40,000 toilet related injuries in the United States.

  • During World War II, Uncle Bens was the exclusive supplier of rice to the U.S. Armed Forces.

Quips

This afternoon there will be a meeting in the South and North ends of the church. Children will be baptized at both ends.

Filed Under: Church Notices


Sign seen in a bar: "Those drinking to forget, please pay in advance."

Filed Under: Signs


The Senior Choir invites any member of the congregation who enjoys sinning, to join the Choir.

Filed Under: Church Notices


Fun Book Titles

  • My Years in a Lunatic Asylum
    - by I. M. Nutty

  • School Meals
    - by R. E. Volting

  • Neck Exercises
    - by G. Rarff

  • Peek-a-Boo!
    - by I. C. Hugh

  • The Barber of Seville
    - by Aaron Floor

View More: Book Titles

Good Question

  • Why do you need a drivers license to buy liquor when you can't drink and drive?

  • Why does an inspiring sight like a sunrise always have to take place at such an inconvenient time?

  • Do steam rollers really roll steam?

Filed Under: Good Question

World Firsts

  • The 1st recorded race meet in England happens at Roodee Fields, Chester.

    Friday February 9, 1540

  • Filed Under: → Sports


  • The 1st successful United States educational magazine "Academician", starts publishing in New York City.

    Saturday February 7, 1818

  • Filed Under: → Education


  • New Jersey issues its 1st U.S. railroad charter. The proprietors included the famous inventor John Stevens.

    Monday February 6, 1815

  • Filed Under: → Travel Section


Events

  • A father and son in Alabama were killed when they crashed into each other in a head-on collision. Jeffrey Morris Brasher and his son Austin Blaine Brasher of Bankston, Alabama, died early Saturday morning.

    Jeffrey Brasher was driving a 2006 Ford pickup and his son was driving a 2004 Chevrolet truck when they collided on a highway head-on, said Alabama State Trooper Jonathon Appling.

    Saturday February 18, 2017

  • Filed Under: → Deaths


  • The man known as the 'Crocodile Hunter' died after his chest was punctured by a stingray barb while diving off Australia's northeast coast. The 44 year-old colourful personality was filming a documentary about the Great Barrier Reef when tragedy struck.

    According to friend and colleague, John Stainton, Steve Irwin swam too close to the ray while he was diving off his boat "Croc One" near Batt Reef, northeast of Port Douglas.

    Monday September 4, 2006

  • Filed Under: → Deaths


  • Relatives of a 91-year-old Ohio woman who died this week are giving her the last word with a sassy, occasionally profane obituary that starts with the basics, "I was born. I lived. I died.", and instructs people to "Wait the appropriate amount of time" before trying to claim her stuff.

    They wrote it in Jean Oddi's perspective, recapping the people important to her, adventures she had and her favorite activities, including playing cards and teaching her granddaughter "dirty songs".

    Thursday February 23, 2017

  • Filed Under: → Deaths


  • When there is no enemy within, the enemies outside cannot hurt you.
    - African Proverb

  • Indecision is like a stepchild. If he does not wash his hands, he is called dirty, if he does, he is wasting water.
    - African Proverb

  • When elephants fight, it is the grass who suffers.
    - African Proverb

World Firsts

  • The first storm warnings for ships was issued by English Admiral, Robert Ritzroy.

    Wednesday February 6, 1861

  • Filed Under: → Travel Section


  • "Monopoly" the board game goes on sale for the 1st time.

    Wednesday February 6, 1935

  • Filed Under: → Business & Industry


  • Astronomical Society of Pacific holds its 1st meeting in San Francisco.

    Thursday February 7, 1889

  • Filed Under: → Science


View More: → World Firsts

Wise Words

  • Listen or thy tongue will keep thee deaf.
    - American Indian Proverb

  • Indecision is like a stepchild. If he does not wash his hands, he is called dirty, if he does, he is wasting water.
    - African Proverb

  • When the mouth stumbles, it is worse than the foot.
    - African Proverb

Filed Under: Wise Words

Good Question

  • Can you repeat the part after "Listen very carefully"?

  • You know how most packages say "Open here". What is the protocol if the package says, "Open somewhere else"?

  • Have you ever imagined a world with no hypothetical situations?

Filed Under: → Good Question