With an increasing number of skilled individuals leaving the country for greener pastures, Pakistan might be on the brink of losing its brain capital.
According to a report provided by the Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment, more than ten million Pakistani citizens have bid-adieu to the country for better professional and financial opportunities.
Experts believe the field of engineering has taken the worst hit. “The field of engineering is the worst hit due to lack of development in the country,” said Chairman Pakistan Engineering Council (PEC) Javed Saleem Qureshi.
“There are almost no jobs in this field. That is the number one reason for engineers to leave the country,” he PEC chairman added.
With inflation rising and economic uncertainty gripping the country, more and more skilled professionals opt to leave Pakistan. Unemployment is another factor that forces professionals to exit the country.
In the last two years alone, some 884,000 young Pakistani have left the country, according to the official registrations at the bureau of emigration.
The record indicates more than 300,000 Pakistanis left the country in 2018. The figure soared to 500,000 this year. The data from the bureau shows a growing trend of what easily qualifies as the flight of human capital from the country. Most of these individuals are fresh graduates from local universities.
The document further shows that more than 29,000 highly educated Pakistanis decided to leave the country during this period. Similarly, over 17,000 highly trained and 369,000 skilled individuals left the country for jobs elsewhere in the world. Apart from skilled individuals, more than 340,000 from the labor force left the country.
Close examination of the figures provided by the bureau reveals about 10,000 engineers, 3,500 doctors, and 9,500 accountants traveled abroad for jobs during the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI) government’s tenure, which came into power with the promise of reducing unemployment in the country.
For engineers in Pakistan, the PEC chairman urged the government to create opportunities. “There are 276,000 registered engineers in Pakistan, out of which more than 60,000 are jobless,” he said. “Lack of development in the country leaves the engineers with no option but to leave the country,” he added.
Taking a potshot at the academic system in the country, the PEC chairman said: “Our system of education is deeply flawed. We need competent people to be in this field.”
In the last two years, 25,000 electricians, 3,000 teachers, 2,500 pharmacists, 500 nurses, and 13,000 Pakistanis skilled in the agriculture department left the country for foreign offerings.
Common destinations
Details provided by the Bureau of Emigration show Saudi Arabia as the most feasible destination for Pakistani workers. More than 5.3million moved to the kingdom for better opportunities. The United Arab Emirates took the second spot with 3.8million Pakistani citizens seeking better professional opportunities in the country. Similarly,
791, 000 left for Oman, 183,505 for Qatar, 171,428 for Bahrain, 183, 601 for Kuwait, 106,652 for Malaysia, 74, 624 for Iraq, 12,879 for Iran, and 13, 544 for Britain and about 6,000 left for the US.
Fleeing doctors
More than 25, 500 doctors were also forced to look for better opportunities outside Pakistan. The Chairman of the Young Doctor Association, Dr. Asfandyar, also blamed the flawed economic policies for the exodus. “Misplaced economic priorities are to be blamed for the exodus. The healthcare sector is in shambles,” he said. “The future of our young doctors is secure outside Pakistan,” he added. With public hospitals in a dismal state, he said it was tough to find jobs in the private sector. “The only way the government can prevent people from leaving the country is by improving the state of the healthcare sector,” Dr. Asfandyar said.
Officially registered individuals end up sending foreign currency back to Pakistan. According to the statistics issued by the overseas Pakistani Ministry, $ 19.9million foreign exchange during 2017-2018 while $ 21.8 million during 2018-2019.
According to the report, overseas Pakistanis dispatched $ 74.7 million in foreign exchange to Pakistan in the first four months of the current year.
You aren’t alone if you’re feeling worn down as 2018 comes to a close. It’s been a trying year when it comes to the world scene. A seemingly unending parade of summits, crises, protests, and conflicts dominated the news. Below is my list of the top ten world events of the year, listed in descending order. You may want to read what follows closely. Several of these stories will continue into 2019.
10. Democrats Win Back the House. Republicans and Democrats both came away from the November midterms elections with something to brag about. Democrats, though, secured the bigger victory. Republicans picked up two seats in the Senate, meaning they will continue to have the final say on President Donald Trump’s judicial and cabinet appointments. Democrats, by contrast, picked up forty seats on their way to regaining control of the House. It was the Democrats’ biggest seat gain since the iconic Watergate class of 1974, and it came because Democratic House candidates outpolled their Republican counterparts by a record eight percentage points. When the 116th Congress opens for business on January 3, Democrats will chair House committees and decide the agenda. Democrats likely won’t succeed very often in directly overturning Trump’s decisions, whether at home or abroad. That in most instances requires them to reach agreement with the Republican-controlled Senate and override a Trump veto. But they will be able to block him on issues requiring their consent, like funding for a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border. They will also use their oversight powers to highlight their disagreements with the White House, potentially putting public pressure on Trump to reverse course. So the biggest consequences of the 2018 elections have yet to be felt.
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9. Humanitarian Crises Deepen. Venezuela and Yemen were sad stories in 2017. Things only got worse in both countries in 2018. Over the past four years an estimated 2.3 million Venezuelans have fled the country; millions more have stayed behind and face grinding economic hardship. The cause of Venezuela’s collapse has been the mismanagement of the economy, first by Hugo Chávez, and then by Nicolás Maduro. Both men also attacked and dismantled Venezuela’s democratic institutions. Maduro won reelection in May in a rigged vote and shows no signs of retreating from policies that have brought Venezuela sky-rocketing inflation, water and electrical shortages, and growing rates of malnutrition. The Yemeni civil war entered its fourth year in 2018. Yemen now holds the dubious distinction of being the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. As many as fourteen thousand Yemenis have died in the fighting, and fifty thousand or more are thought to have died because of a war-induced famine. The horrifying photographs of emaciated Yemeni children have not persuaded either side to lay down their weapons. Meanwhile, humanitarian crises in the Central African Republic, Congo, Syria, and South Sudan, among other places, continue to grind on. It seems like ages since world leaders embraced the principle of a responsibility to protect.
8. Ethiopia Signs a Peace Deal with Eritrea. Not all news in 2018 was bad. In June, new Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed surprised the world by announcing he would accept a peace deal with Eritrea that had been gathering dust for eighteen years. The two countries fought a twelve-year long war that ended in 2000 with nearly eighty thousand dead. In July, Ahmad traveled to Asmara to meet Eritrean President Isaias Afwerki and sign the peace deal. Both countries have now reopened embassies in each other’s capitals, resumed commercial air traffic, and begun demilitarizing their joint border. Besides agreeing to peace, Ahmed instituted significant reforms at home, freeing political prisoners and ending Ethiopia’s state of emergency. Some experts hope that the peace deal might undermine Afwerki’s authoritarianism in Eritrea, which is sometimes dubbed “Africa’s North Korea.” Perhaps. What is clear is that Eritrea has moderated its foreign policy, signing peace accords with Somalia and Djibouti that ended long-running border disputes with the two countries. In response, the United Nations Security Council lifted an arms embargo on Eritrea. With some luck and smart political leadership, peace on the Horn of Africa could boost the region’s economic development as well.
7. Trump’s Summitry Alarms Friends and Delights Foes. Donald Trump campaigned pledging to do different things in foreign policy and to do them differently. His summit meetings in 2018 showed him to be a man of his word. He spent the G-7 summit in Quebec in June berating other leaders for their country’s trade policies, left the meeting before it ended, and tweeted from Air Force One that he wouldn’t sign the communique he had agreed to before he left. He then went to Singapore where after five hours of meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un he signed a vague, four hundred word communique and declared that “there is no longer a nuclear threat from North Korea,” despite abundant evidence to the contrary. At the NATO summit in July, Trump accused German Chancellor Angela Merkel of being “totally controlled” and “captive to Russia,” demanded an emergency session so he could push NATO members to spend more on defense, and suggested he might take the United States out of the alliance if he didn’t get his way. Days later at a joint press conference in Helsinki with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump seemingly rejected the unanimous assessment of the U.S. intelligence community that Russia had interfered in the 2016 election, triggering stinging bipartisan criticism back home. In November, Trump criticized French President Emmanuel Macron in a tweet as he was arriving in Paris for ceremonies to mark the centennial of the end of World War I, canceled a visit to an American military cemetery because of rain, and declined to attend a peace forum the French government hosted. Trump’s final summit meeting of the year, though, the G-20 summit in Buenos Aires, was uneventful. That prompted news stories speculating about why he hadn’t been disruptive.
6. #MeToo Movement Goes Global. The #MeToo movement took off in the United States last year in the wake of the sexual abuse allegations against Hollywood producer Harvey Weinstein. In 2018, the movement went global as millions came forward to share their stories. In Italy the movement became #QuellaVoltaChe (“that time when”), in Spain it is #YoTambien, in France it is #BalanceTonPorc (“squeal on your pig”), and in Arab-speaking countries it is #AnaKaman. According to analytics from Google, searches related to #MeToo and its variants remain high around the world, and the 2018 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded jointly to Congolese physician Denis Mukwege and Yazidi assault survivor Nadia Murad “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.” The precise form the #MeToo movement has taken and the success it has achieved have varied across countries and regions as legal, political, economic, and cultural conditions have differed. China, Russia, and sub-Saharan Africa are among the places where the effort to highlight and end sexual abuse and harassment hasn’t taken off. But elsewhere #MeToo has highlighted specific instances of abuse and harassment by powerful figures and ordinary people alike. The question now is whether the #MeToo movement will make a lasting difference. For that to happen, governments, businesses, organizations, and most important, people will all need to change.
5. The Murder of Jamal Khashoggi. On October 2 Saudi dissident and Washington Post columnist Jamal Khashoggi entered the Saudi consulate in Istanbul. He didn’t come out alive. In the weeks that followed, Saudi officials told various stories about what happened. What they hadn’t counted on was that Turkish intelligence had bugged the consulate and that Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan was willing to release what he knew to embarrass them. President Trump initially suggested the murder wasn’t America’s concern because “to the best of our knowledge, Khashoggi is not a United States citizen.” Congress took a different view, especially after the CIA concluded that Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman (MBS) had ordered Khashoggi’s murder. Trump repudiated that conclusion, releasing a statement saying “it could very well be that the Crown Prince had knowledge of this tragic event—maybe he did and maybe he didn’t!” The president said Riyadh’s commitment to spend more than a $100 billion on U.S. weapons systems and its importance as an ally justified his business-as-usual approach. But Saudi arm purchases actually are much smaller, and it’s questionable whether relying on MBS serves U.S. interests. He has shown a penchant for recklessness: he had many of his royal cousins arrested; championed Saudi Arabia’s ill-advised intervention in Yemen; detained Lebanon’s prime minister and temporarily forced him to resign; led the effort to impose an embargo on Qatar; and broke off diplomatic relations with Canada over a tweet. Saying that the Saudi relationship is too important to jeopardize only encourages further risk-taking.
4. The United States Leaves the Iran Nuclear Deal. Donald Trump vowed on the campaign trail to withdraw the United States from the Iran nuclear deal, formally known as the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). In May, Trump made good on his pledge, claiming it was a “one-sided deal that should have never, ever been made.” Trump took steps against the counsel of many of his advisers and of America’s closest allies. Secretary of Defense James Mattis was among the cabinet officers who argued that for all deal’s weaknesses it was better to stay in it. British, French, and German leaders flew to Washington to lobby for the United States to stay in the deal, pledging to act to address the deal’s shortcomings. No other country followed the United States out of the deal, even after the White House announced that it would sanction any firm that does business with Iran. Iran remains in compliance with the deal, and the other signatories are looking for ways to help Tehran ease the pain of U.S. economic pressure. Whether they will succeed and whether Iran will leave the deal if they don’t are two open questions. The Trump administration has suggested that its goal in Iran goes beyond shutting down its nuclear program. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says the administration “wants to restore democracy” in Iran. And even if the White House’s goals are more modest, its sanctions effort could trigger a transatlantic brawl if European firms become the target of U.S. penalties.
3. Dire Warnings About Climate Change Mount. The world’s climate is changing and human activity is the cause. Scientists have been telling us this for more than three decades and evidence backs them up. But these warnings haven’t led us to change our ways. The emission of the heat-trapping gases that produce climate change continues to rise globally. Now a sobering report released by the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2018 says we may have as few as twelve years to act or pass the point of no return. To judge by the powerful hurricanes, devastating wildfires, floods, and record-breaking heat in 2018 that climate change fueled, we won’t like the world we are heading toward. But neither the UN report, nor the freak weather events of 2018, nor the release of a U.S. government report outlining how much climate change will harm the U.S. economy has turned President Trump into a climate-change believer. His rebuttal to the National Climate Assessment Report was simple: “I don’t believe it.” The odds are good—very, very good—that scientists have a better handle on the future we face. But sadly, they don’t have the ability that an American president has to keep us from going there.
2. The Weakening of the West Worsens. For experts calling on America’s friends to step up as America steps down in world affairs, 2018 wasn’t a good year. Friend after friend faced domestic problems that made it hard for them to look, let alone act, beyond their borders. Hopes that the United Kingdom could orchestrate an orderly divorce from the European Union (EU) faded. While the two sides reached a deal, British Prime Minister Theresa May couldn’t persuade the House of Commons to endorse it. Whether Britain is headed toward a hard Brexit, a soft Brexit, or no Brexit at all is anyone’s guess. Across the English Channel, French President Emmanuel Macron saw his public approval ratings tumble into the mid-twenties in the face of the gilets-jaunes, or yellow-vest, protests. The sometimes violent demonstrations diminished Macron’s ability to push ahead with his ambitious plans to reform the French economy. Further south, Italian voters elected a populist coalition combining the anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the right-wing League. The new government is now fighting with Brussels over a draft budget that violates EU rules. Prime Minister Victor Orbán continued to dismantle Hungary’s democracy, and several other central European countries drifted in the same direction. Even Germany saw domestic turmoil. Chancellor Angela Merkel stepped down as head of the Christian Democratic Union after the party lost several critical state elections. Merkel’s protégé Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer, succeeded her. However, the chancellor no longer commands the authority at home or abroad she once did, raising fears that Europe has become leaderless.
1. Trump Triggers a Trade War and More. “I want tariffs,” Donald Trump told his advisers in July 2017. In 2018, he got his wish. In January the administration imposed tariffs on imported washing machines and solar panels. A bigger move came in March, though, when tariffs were slapped on imported steel and aluminum from friends and foes alike because they posed a national security threat. Trump subsequently imposed tariffs on $50 billion worth of Chinese imports, which by July he had raised to $250 billion. Despite tweeting that “Trade wars are good, and easy to win,” Trump’s tariffs had by year’s end hurt Americans more than helped them. The stock market sold off, the overall U.S. trade deficit widened, and America’s trading partners slapped retaliatory tariffs on U.S. exports, causing American farmers to lose overseas markets and leading some U.S. manufacturers cut jobs as higher input costs punished their bottom lines. Amidst this bad news, the administration had second thoughts about fighting trade wars across multiple fronts. In July, Trump struck a deal with the EU to hold off on imposing further tariffs while the two sides conducted new trade talks. In November, he struck a ninety-day trade truce with China. Trump’s tariffs, coupled with his repeated references to the EU as a “foe” and threats to impose tariffs on imported autos, left many Europeans wondering whether traditional transatlantic relations had changed for good. Meanwhile in Beijing, Chinese leaders hearing the talk in Washington about “strategic competitors” and reading Vice President Mike Pence’s tough speech on Chinese behavior were debating whether Trump was looking to do more than just reset the bilateral trade balance and instead seeking to contain China’s rise as a great power.
Other stories of note in 2018. In January, the Pentagon released a National Defense Strategy that said “great power competition—not terrorism—is now the primary focus of U.S. national security.” In February, South Korea hosted the Winter Olympics at PyeongChang. Russian President Vladimir Putin touted a new arsenal of weapons, including an intercontinental nuclear cruise missile, in March. John Bolton became President Trump’s third national security advisor in April. In May, the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem opened. Nikki Haley announced in June that the United States is pulling out of the UN Human Rights Council, calling it a “protector of human rights abusers, and a cesspool of political bias.” In July, the Japan-EU Economic Partnership Agreement was signed, creating the largest world’s largest free-bloc, covering 30 percent of global trade. In August, Apple became the first public company to achieve a market capitalization of $1 trillion. At the very last minute in September, Canada agreed to join with Mexico and the United States in revamping the North America Free Trade Agreement, now renamed the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement. In October, the United States informed Russia that it intended to withdraw from the Intermediate Nuclear Forces Treaty because Russia was violating the terms of the treaty. In November, Russia fired upon and then seized three Ukrainian naval vessels in the Sea of Azov, escalating tensions between Moscow and Kiev. In December, the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership, essentially the Trans-Pacific Partnership minus the United States, went into effect.
So that’s my top ten world events of 2018 plus some other events of note. You may have a different list or you might put these events in a different order. If so, let me know on Facebook or Twitter.
In a rare marriage scene, a man tied the knot with his girlfriend in an intensive care unit (ICU) after she attempted suicide as the man had allegedly refused her marriage proposal earlier, NDTV reported on Friday.
The man, however, escaped the scene right after the marriage. The incident took place in India’s Pune district where a woman consumed poison on November 27 following which she was rushed to the hospital.
A man was made to marry his girlfriend at a hospital in Pune's Chakan yesterday. The girl was admitted there after she attempted suicide when the man allegedly refused to marry her. The man however managed to escape from the hospital soon after the wedding
While digging deeper into the matter, the police communicated that it was an attempt to suicide after the patient’s marriage proposal was rejected.
The woman later filed a case of rape against her absconding lover. In her complaint, she had claimed that Suraj Nalavade had forced her to have a physical relationship with him. However, when she proposed him for marriage he allegedly refused, saying that she belongs to a lower caste, police said.
According to law enforcement officials, a first information report (FIR) has been registered against Nalwade — under IPC section 376 (punishment for rape).
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A video circulating on Whatsapp caused a social media uproar on Thursday night. The private, intimate video was being shared around as actor Fatima Sohail’s ‘leaked’ video.
This made Twitterati come up with all sorts of theories in connection to the domestic violence case Sohail had filed against former husband and actor Mohsin Abbas Haider. While some felt sorry for Sohail, others lauded Haider for having made the ‘right’ decision.
On Friday night, Sohail took to Instagram to rubbish all the hearsay, terming the video inappropriate and fake. She also said that she has lodged a complaint to the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) to investigate the matter.BeFunky-collage (4)“An inappropriate video is trending falsely with my name recently. I have nothing to do with this video and surprisingly the lady in the video does not even resemble me,” she wrote.
Sohail then went onto say that she had filed a complaint with the Federal Investigation Agency and as per their forensic report, the video shows someone else.
“I have taken a legal action and filed a complaint with the FIA, and as per their forensic report this is some other lady. We are now investigating and will soon share who circulated this video and tried to defame me.”
iPiccy-collageThe starlet also shared a copy of the complaint. “I am disgusted to know how low someone can stoop. These people should be taught a lesson so they think a hundred times before accusing someone!” she said.
Sohail also added another post appreciating the efforts of FIA, in order to help resolve the issue.
“Thank God we have units like FIA cyber crime. In fact, what would I have done without such a reputable and strong cyber crime support to validate my claims?” She concluded.
9-year-old Laurent Simons is all set to become the youngest person to complete a graduation degree. The little genius, who is half Belgian and half Dutch, will complete his degree in electrical engineering in December from Eindhoven University of Technology (TUE).
According to a report by The Telegraph, Laurent has an IQ of at least 145. In fact, the prodigy managed to complete his high school studies at the mere age of eight in just 18 months.
Reportedly, he even became the youngest-ever university student when he joined the graduation course earlier this year.
In an interview to CNN, Laurent's father, Alexander Simons, revealed that the nine-year-old plans to get enrolled for a PhD program in electrical engineering and along with that he wants to pursue a degree in medicine.
He further revealed that many prestigious universities around the world want to enroll Laurent. While there are many options to consider, Laurent's parents want to find a balance. They told CNN, "We don't want him to get too serious. He does whatever he likes. We need to find a balance between being a child and his talents."
The Education Director of electrical engineering at TUE, Sjoerd Hulshof said in a statement "Laurent is the fastest student we have ever had here. Not only is he hyper intelligent but also a very sympathetic boy."
Laurent's mother, Lydia told CNN that it was his grandparents who first noticed that he was special. "They noticed something very special about Laurent," she said.
With this achievement, Laurent Simons will take the title of the World's Youngest Graduate from Michael Kearney next month when he graduates. Michael graduated from University of Alabana at the age of ten.
After what seemed like endless delays and setbacks, Lahore’s Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) project finally reaches completion as test runs begin on the 27 kilometre track. The trains, which successfully ran from Ali Town to Dera Gajran have been approved by project administration prior to OLMT’s inauguration in early December
“Chief Minister Usman Buzdar, will attend the Orange Line inaugural function and inspect and green-light the trains himself,” said an Orange Line administration member. “The trains will initially run on diesel and complete trials with all their components before opening to the public,” he added.
According to sources, the OLMT management also met with representatives of the transport department to discuss train fares. As per details of the meeting, OLMT fares are expected to range between Rs 30 to 40 to match the Metro Bus fares and remain economical for the public.
“It appears that the Punjab government will have to pay subsidy for Orange Line too, because if the fares are set higher it is expected that a much lesser number of people will choose to travel on the new trains and rather opt for other, more economical means of transport,” the source revealed.
Considering the passenger turnout, the Orange Line Metro Train (OLMT) management is apprehensive about pricing the fares more than the already functioning Metro Buses. According to careful estimates, the Orange Line trains are likely to facilitate some 3.5 hundred thousand passengers daily and make multiple rounds from 5 am to 12 am. If the train fares are priced considerably higher than the Metro Buses, the management believes the new trains may fall out of the reach of the average person as an economical means of transport.
As per details, the trains will continue test runs for a period of three months after inauguration, before they’re ready to welcome passengers commercially. For its initial phase, the train has been supplied with 60 Megawatts of electricity from eight grid stations, as previously said by General Manager Mass Transit Authority, Ozair Shah.
The 27 stations set up for the Orange Line Metro Train, including Raiwind, Multan Road, Mc Leord Road, Lahore Railway Station and GT Road, will also offer its passengers digitized ticketing services to add convenience to their daily commute. One of the two companies shortlisted by the Orange Line project for the Operation and Maintenance of the trains will be finalized in the coming days and will begin servicing the vehicles.
According to government sources, so far a sum of $ 1.31 billion has been invested in the Orange Line Metro Train Project, while more money is required for the trains to be functional in the course of the next few months. “A summary of the remaining finances has been forwarded to the Department of Finance and once all remaining electrical and technical works and the three month trial is completed, the trains will be ready for the people of Lahore,” the source told The Express Tribune.
Praises continue to pour in for Pakistan and Prime Minister Imran Khan for opening the Kartarpur Corridor between Pakistan and India to facilitate Sikh Yatrees.
In what was defined as a historic moment in Pakistan’s history and for the relations between Islamabad and New Delhi, many hailed the move.
Hailing the initiative, UK Sikhs conferred 'Lifetime achievement' award upon PM Imran and the US State Department welcomed the opening of the Kartarpur Corridor, termed it as a positive example.
Brushing all of that aside, the Indian media continues to blame Pakistan and its prime minister for every transgression between the two countries.
Indian politician and columnists Sudheendra Kulkarni also question the Indian media’s attitude towards its neighbour.
“My Sikh neighbours in Mumbai set up a ‘langar’ to celebrate Guru Nanak today They were happy when I said I’ll be going Kartarpur Sahib soon. But they asked, “Why are our TV channels blaming Pakistan all the time? Imran Khan has made good arrangements.” Good Q,” he tweeted.
My Sikh neighbors in #Mumbai set up a ‘langar’ to celebrate #GuruNanak550 tday
They were v happy when I said I’ll be going #KartarpurSahib soon
But they asked, “Why are our TV channels blaming #Pakistan all the time? @ImranKhanPTI has made good arrangements.”
Good Q.
PM Imran inaugurated the extended Gurdwara Darbar Sahib and the Kartarpur Corridor on November 9.
Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, situated in Kartarpur, is the second holiest place for the Sikh community. This is 120 km away from Lahore and situated in a small village of Kotheypind at the bank of River Ravi — at a distance of only four km from Pakistan-India border.
According to the agreement reached between Pakistan and India, 5,000 Sikh yatris (pilgrims) will be allowed to visit the Gurdwara through the Corridor.
A Sydney man has been charged for punching and stomping on a heavily pregnant woman unprovoked, in what was described as an "Islamophobic" attack by a leading Australian Islamic association.
Shocking security camera footage showed a man approaching a table of three women wearing headscarves as they chatted at a cafe in the city´s west on Wednesday.
Seemingly without provocation, the 43-year-old suspect is seen lunging over the table to attack a 31-year-old woman, who police said is 38 weeks pregnant.
After several frenzied punches, the woman fell to the ground and was stamped on, before bystanders wrestled the assailant away.
Police said a suspect has been charged with "assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray" and denied bail.
A heavily pregnant Muslim woman was brutally attacked, repeatedly punched and stomped in the head by a man in a #Sydney cafe.
The Police say the attacker was screaming anti-#Islam slurs at the women who were all wearing head scarves.#Australia #Islamophobia #Parramatta #Hijab
They declined to comment on the attacker´s motives, but left open the possibility of additional charges being laid against him.
The Australian Federation of Islamic Councils (AFIC) said on Thursday the man was heard "yelling anti-Islamic hate speech at the victim and her friends."
"This was clearly a racist and Islamophobic attack and we expect it to be treated as such," said AFIC president Rateb Jneid.
"If it were not for the brave actions of these members of the community in stopping the assault the victim may very well have sustained much more serious injuries," said police inspector Luke Sywenkyj.
The woman was taken to hospital following the attack and discharged, the police said on Friday.
A recent report by researchers at Charles Sturt University found Islamophobia in Australia was "a continuous phenomenon" and women wearing a headscarf are especially at risk.
Of 113 female victims who reported being physically intimidated or harassed, researchers found 96 percent were wearing a headscarf.
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The Rahbar Committee — a conglomerate of opposition parties — on Tuesday called off road blockades and anti-government sit-ins being held in various parts of the country as part of its ‘Plan B’ to force the government to quit, saying the blockades were causing “inconvenience to the public”.
The decision was announced by JUI-F leader Akram Durrani, the convener of the committee. PML-N’s Ahsan Iqbal, PPP’s Farhatullah Babar and Mian Iftikhar Hussain of ANP among other leaders of opposition parties attended the meeting.
Addressing a news conference following the meeting, Durrani said the JUI-F activists would remove barriers from all sit-in sites tonight. “Opposition parties, from now on, will hold rallies at district level throughout the country,” he announced.
He said the decision was taken owing to difficulties being faced by the masses and local traders.
“The committee has also suggested calling an all parties conference (APC) at the earliest,” said the JUI-F leader. “It has endorsed our policy of mounting pressure on the government,” he added.
Durrani said the future course of action with regards to opposition’s protest rallies would emerge in the next few days. “Writing is on the wall… [Prime Minister] Imran Khan will have to go home now,” he maintained.
He said there would be no need of any other plans after just-concluded ‘Plan B’ to topple the government.
Farhatullah Babar, speaking on the occasion, said his party completely agreed with Durrani’s views. “We are satisfied with Akram Durrani’s clarification on holding dialogue with Chaudhry brothers – Shujaat Hussain and Pervaiz Elahi of PML-Q,” he remarked.
Ahsan Iqbal said sending the government packing without wasting any more time was necessary to ensure protection of all segments of the society. “We will raise public issues in our protest demonstrations at district level,” he said.
“A democratically elected government through free and fair elections in 2020 is the only solution to the country’s woes,” said the PML-N leader.
Mian Iftikhar slammed the government over its alleged double standards, saying the rulers were holding talks with the opposition by forming one negotiating committee after the other during ‘Azadi March’, but changed its tone as soon as the sit-in ended in the federal capital.
The ANP leader also criticised the government over its alleged mistreatment of ailing former president Asif Zardari in prison.
An 11-year-old Pakistani boy has set a new Guinness World record by identifying the most number of countries in one minute.
Karachi’s Aima'az Ali Abro set the record last month by identifying most countries from their outline in one minute.
“The most countries identified from their outline in one minute is 57 and was achieved by Aima'az Ali Abro (Pakistan) in Karachi, Pakistan, on October 8, 2019,” a post by Guinness World records website stated.
Ali, who has left the people surprised with his extra ordinary skills, is a resident of Karachi's North Nazimabad area.
After setting the Guinness World Record, the boy is determined to win Nobel prize too.
Jennifer Lopez thought about quitting the showbiz industry early into her career.
The 'Hustlers' actress admits there was a time where she considered leaving her music and acting career behind because of all the "hurtful" comments she was receiving.
She said: "It's funny, from the beginning, I've been really picked out and plagued with that. Lots of stories, lots of lies, lots of things where you're trying to figure out, 'How did this happen? How did I become that person?' What I've learned is that none of it matters. And it doesn't really bother me anymore. I've learned that I know who I am, I know what I do, I know I'm a good person, I know I'm just out here working my ass off and trying to fulfil myself creatively. There was a time in my life when it was such a big part and it was so hurtful and so hard that you think, 'I don't want to do this anymore, I don't want to be the person on the cover of the magazine every week for two and a half years, I don't. This is crazy. Why me?'"
And Jennifer, 50, credits 'American Idol' for keeping her going.
She added to The Hollywood Reporter for their Actress Roundtable, she added: "I think honestly 'American Idol' helped with that a lot. Of all the things that I've done in my career, people actually just seeing me talk about how much I love music and how much I love people and how much of a girl's girl I am and how much of a crier I am - things shifted."
The word "sneeze" came about through a misspelling of the original word "fneze" or "fnese."
man sneezing
"Sneeze" is definitely a silly-sounding word. But it's not quite as silly-sounding as "fneze" or "fnese," which is how this bodily function was once spelled. According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the word "sneeze" originates from the Middle English word "fnese" and came about due to a "misreading or misprinting" of the original term. The dictionary writes that despite that, the word sneeze was "later adopted because it sounded appropriate."
2Benjamin Franklin only received two years of formal education.
franklin statue in massachusetts
After spending just two years at the Boston Latin School as well as a private academy while he was young, Benjamin Franklin left formal education behind to work at his family's candle and soap-making business before becoming an apprentice at his brother's printing shop.
However, Franklin continued his education independently by reading whatever books, essays, and articles he could get his hands on. His studious ways not only helped him become a revered writer, politician, and inventor, but also allowed him to earn honorary degrees from Harvard, Yale, Oxford, the College of William and Mary, and the University of St. Andrews.
3Whether or not you dream in black and white depends on whether you watched black-and-white television.
woman sleeping in her bed, health questions after 40
If your dreams look more vintage than HD, there's a high chance you grew up watching black-and-white television. According to one 2008 study published in the journal Conscious Cognition, most people born after the year 1983 said they almost never dream in black and white, whereas people born in the year 1953 and earlier said they dream in black and white about a quarter of the time. Overall, 12 percent of people dream entirely in black and white, leading the researchers to suggest that "true greyscale dreams occur only in people with black and white media experience."
4The word "unfriend" was first used in 1659.
social media changes after 40
When you disconnect with someone on social media, you might say that you've "unfriended" them. The now-common word was even the New Oxford American Dictionary Word of the Year in 2009. But it turns out that "unfriend" is much older than you might expect. According to The Globe and Mail, the word "unbefriended" is cited several times in the Oxford English Dictionary beginning in 1629. But it wasn't until 1659 that Thomas Fuller used the word as we know it today. In his book The Appeal of Injured Innocence, Fuller wrote, "I hope, sir, that we are not mutually Unfriended by this Difference which hath happened betwixt us."
5It's against the law to die in the town of Longyearbyen, Norway.
snow on pine tree National Geographic bee questions
according to IFL Science, "Even if you've lived [in Longyearbyen, Norway] all your life, if you are terminally ill, you will be flown off the island to live out the rest of your days. If you do happen to die suddenly in Longyearbyen, your body will be buried elsewhere."
That's because, in 1950, it was discovered that bodies in the local cemetery in Longyearbyen were not decomposing as usual because there was so much permafrost in the area. That meant that viruses could survive in the human remains and eventually infect those living nearby when the ground thawed each year.
6There are a ton of misspellings on the Stanley Cup.
stankley cup for national hockey league, amazing facts
Winning the Stanley Cup is the ultimate goal for anyone in the National Hockey League. And if you do win it, you'll have your name etched onto the trophy itself. Unfortunately, whoever is responsible for that task has committed plenty of errors over the years, including accidentally spelling the Toronto Maple Leafs as "TORONTO MAPLE LEAES" and the Boston Bruins as "BQSTQN BRUINS." Hall of Fame goaltender Jacques Plante won the Stanley Cup for five consecutive years and his name is spelled differently each time, according to the NHL.
7NASA thinks it's detected the first "marsquake."
mars opposition {best of 2018}
Earthquakes are expected in many places on Earth, but it turns out they can happen on other planets as well—although they're obviously not called "earthquakes." On April 6, 2019, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory recorded a tremor that they believe was a "marsquake," making it the first quake recorded outside of either the Earth or the Moon.
8If you were to write out every number (one, two, three, etc.), you wouldn't use the letter "b" until you reached one billion.
a bunch of numbers, number on the table, most common street names
u'll have to trust us on this one: If you spelled out every number, you'd get all the way to one billion before you'd need the second letter in the alphabet.
9Casu Marzu cheese is purposely infested with maggots.
cheese plate ways we're unhealthy
If you ever come across maggot-infested food (yuck!), the best course of action is usually to throw the item into the trash as quickly as possible. However, those who make Casu Marzu cheese welcome the fly larva. With a name that literally translates to "rotten cheese," the Sardinian delicacy starts as Pecorino Sardo. But, instead of being soaked in brine, it's left out so that Piophila casei cheese flies can lay their eggs inside of it. The larva eventually hatches from the eggs and eats the cheese, which produces enzymes that lead to fermentation and decomposition in what will become the Casu Marzu.
I Love Cheese describes it by saying that it's a "highly pungent, super soft cheese that oozes tears ('lagrima'), and fittingly so, as it tends to burn on the tongue."
10Queen Elizabeth II invented a new breed of dog.
royal corgis puppy
It's a well-known fact that Queen Elizabeth II is a fan of dogs, particularly one breed: corgis. She got her first corgi when she was seven years old after meeting those that belonged to the children of the Marquess of Bath. She's also credited with the introduction of the "dorgi," a corgi-dachshund cross.
Over her lifetime, the royal has had more than 30 pet corgis, all of whom were descendants of a dog named Susan, who the then-princess received as a gift for her 18th birthday in 1944. Sadly, Willow, the Queen's last corgi, passed away in 2018 and the aging monarch will not be getting any new dogs because she doesn't want to leave any behind when she passes away.
11"Witzelsucht" is a condition that causes people to have an uncontrollable urge to make jokes.
woman laughing on gold background, funniest words
Comedians, clowns, and comics like to make people laugh. But for people with witzelsucht, telling silly stories and making groan-worthy puns is an uncontrollable impulse. According to a 2016 article published in The Journal of Neuropsychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, patients with the condition can't resist "excessive and often inappropriate joking and facetious humor" as well as "a childish or silly excitement."
12There are 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) insects alive at any time.
fly on car windshield, wd40 uses
Unfortunately for anyone who's afraid of bugs, the creepy (yet crucial) critters certainly hold their own population-wise. There are around 900,000 known species of insects on Earth and an estimated 10 quintillion (10,000,000,000,000,000,000) of them alive at any given time.
13In Medieval Europe, a moment was exactly 90 seconds.
hour glass pouring sand, amazing facts
If you were whisked back in time to Medieval Europe and someone asked you if you had a free moment, you'd better be sure that you had 90 seconds available before saying yes. That's because, as late as the early 19th century, a moment was exactly 1/40th of an hour long.
14Ben & Jerry's was going to be a bagel company but the equipment was too expensive.
ben & jerry's ice cream factory in waterbury vermont, iconic state photos
These days, Ben & Jerry's may be a beloved brand that offers all kinds of ice cream, but when Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield first started their business in the late 1970s, it was originally going to be a bagel company. However, the cost of the necessary equipment was too high, so they instead decided to take a $5 ice cream course that was being offered at Penn State. And the rest, as they say, is delicious dessert history.
15In Back to the Future, the time machine was originally an old fridge.
screen shot from back to the future part II, feel old
IMDB/Universal Pictures
When you watch 1985's Back to the Future, you'll see that the main character, Marty McFly (Michael J. Fox) travels back to the '50s in a DeLorean car that's been turned into a time machine. And while the DeLorean became a signature part of the film, we have to wonder what the movie would have been like if the producers had gone with their original concept, which was to make the time machine an old refrigerator.
According to HuffPost, "Ultimately, it was determined that it probably was not a good idea to use a refrigerator in such a manner as kids might want to re-enact the scene." Parents everywhere are grateful.
16"Overmorrow" is the day after tomorrow.
calendar things to throw away
You can accurately refer to the day after tomorrow as "overmorrow." For example, you might say, "We're leaving on vacation overmorrow."
17Stephen Hawking once hosted a party for time travelers but didn't send the invitations until after the fact.
stephen hawking
In 2009, renowned theoretical physicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking decided to throw a party, but none of his guests showed up. However, they weren't being rude. It turns out that they didn't receive an invitation for the event until well after the fact—which was the plan… to test time travel.
Hawking explained in 2012 to Ars Technica, "I gave a party for time-travelers, but I didn't send out the invitations until after the party. I sat there a long time, but no one came."
18Birth control for men exists.
breast cancer prevention, birth control Amazing Facts
Taking birth control is not just for women. In 2016, scientists announced that they had developed an injectable male contraceptive that was found to be 96 percent effective in the men who used it. Using the hormones progestogen (which affects sperm production) and testosterone (which reduces the effects of the progestogen), the treatment could help equalize the burden of control between the sexes.
19World War I boosted the bra market.
bras in drawer
During the First World War, the U.S. War Industries Board asked American women to forgo their corsets—which required significant amounts of metal to construct, according to NPR. Instead, they were expected to switch to the less-demanding bra. The ladies did their part for the cause, freeing up to 28,000 tons of metal—enough to build two battleships—and changing female fashion from that moment forward.
20Eating pistachios can help reduce erectile dysfunction.
nuts Amazing Facts
For a 2011 Turkish study published in the International Journal of Impotence Research, 17 men with erectile dysfunction were given 100 grams of pistachios to eat for lunch every day for three weeks. The subjects were then measured on the International Index of Erectile Function—and the pistachios proved to improve blood flow and the dilation of blood vessels. Hey, it's certainly a cheaper option than Viagra!
21Caterpillars turn into soup before becoming butterflies.
cocoon Amazing Facts
We all know that caterpillars create a cocoon in which they transform into beautiful butterflies, but what actually goes on inside that cocoon is pretty gross: The insect actually "digests itself, releasing enzymes to dissolve all of its tissues," as Scientific American explains. Once it's fully disintegrated (excluding some "imaginal discs"), it then begins "the rapid cell division required to form the wings, antennae, legs, eyes, genitals, and all the other features of an adult butterfly or moth."
22The oldest still-operating amusement park in the world opened in Denmark in 1583.
old roller coaster, amazing facts
The Guinness World Records lists Bakken in Klampenborg, Denmark, as the oldest still-operating amusement park in the world. The park, which opened in 1583, features more than 150 attractions, including a wooden roller coaster that was built in 1932.
According to the records book, Bakken wasn't totally unique in its time. "In medieval Europe, most major cities featured what is the origin of the amusement park: the pleasure gardens," they write. "These gardens featured live entertainment, fireworks, dancing, games, and some primitive amusement rides."
23Penguins used to be almost seven feet tall.
penguin coming for you Amazing Facts
Researchers from the La Plata Museum in Argentina found fossils in the Antarctic of a "colossus penguin," measuring six feet, eight inches in height. According to the researchers, the larger penguins would have been able to dive underwater for 40 minutes at a time!
24Nicolas Cage and Jake Gyllenhaal could've been Aragon and Frodo in The Lord of the Rings.
nicolas cage hollywood stars who lost it, celebrity grandparents
It may be hard to imagine anyone else as Frodo or Aragorn in The Lord of the Rings film franchise, but before Elijah Wood and Viggo Mortensen nabbed the coveted roles, many famous actors were considered. For example, Nicolas Cage was offered the role of Aragorn but turned it down, telling Newsweek, "There were different things going on in my life at the time that precluded me from being able to travel and be away from home for three years."
And Jake Gyllenhaal might have been Frodo, but he bombed the audition for one not-so-small reason. "I remember auditioning for The Lord of the Rings and going in and not being told that I needed a British accent. I really do remember [director] Peter Jackson saying to me, 'You know that you have to do this in a British accent?'" he recalled to The Hollywood Reporter. "We heard back it was literally one of the worst auditions."
25And Sean Connery turned down the role of Gandalf.
Sean Connery Amazing Facts
The wise wizard of The Lord of the Rings almost had a bit of a 007 vibe. Sean Connery was originally offered the role that Ian McKellen would make into a classic but turned it down—despite the offer of a 15 percent stake in the franchise's box office profits.
26Notre Dame's 180,000 rooftop bees survived the 2019 fire.
Notre Dame Cathedral Paris Tourist Traps
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When a massive fire destroyed a large part of Paris' Notre-Dame cathedral in April 2019, almost 200,000 bees that were set up with homes on the roof survived the blaze. The hives were built in 2013 as a part of a city-wide initiative to increase the bee population.
"Right after the fire I looked at the drone pictures and saw the hives weren't burnt but there was no way of knowing if the bees had survived," Nicolas Geant, Notre Dame's resident beekeeper, told CNN. "Now I know there's activity; it's a huge relief!"
27The Olympic games were originally a religious festival.
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These days, the Olympics represent the ultimate achievement for many of the world's top athletes. But when the prestigious games first started in Ancient Greece in 776 B.C., they were part of a religious festival in honor of Zeus, the father of Greek gods and goddesses. The athletes were all male citizens from every corner of the Greek world, according to the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
28Humans move their eyes more 100,000 times a day.
Eye of a black woman shot large macro - Image
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If your eyes tend to feel tired at the end of the day, it's because they do a ton of work. Humans generally move their eyes around three times a second, which is more than 100,000 times every single day.
29One Brazilian island has so many venomous snakes that the government banned visitors.
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The government of Brazil has banned tourists from visiting Ilha de Queimada Grande, an island that has the highest concentration of venomous snakes in the world. By some estimates, there's one snake for every square meter.
The island is crawling with thousands of golden lancehead vipers. And when these snakes strike, their venom can kill the victim in under an hour. So yes, you're better off vacationing elsewhere!
30Montana has a super toxic lake.
berkeley pit lake in montana, amazing facts
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If you're looking for a place to go swimming in Montana, avoid Berkeley Pit at all costs. This super toxic lake opened in 1955 as a copper mine, which operated until 1982. Now, the lake is a mix of chemicals and heavy metals, such as copper, arsenic, cadmium, iron, and zinc.
To understand just how toxic the lake is, know that in 1995, a flock of geese settled near the pit. Within a few days, their insides had been charred and some 340 birds were found dead, according to the Washington Post. Yikes!
31The world's largest plane is wider than two football fields.
plane window hole flying facts
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The largest plane in the world is the Stratolaunch. With a 385-foot wingspan and six engines, the plane made its maiden voyage over the Mojave Desert on April 13, 2019. In the future, the Stratolaunch is expected to be used as a stratospheric launch platform for space rockets.
32Hippos produce a natural skin moisturizer and sunblock.
bad puns hippo
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Hippopotamuses spend their days under the blazing hot sun, which means their skin could really start to feel the effects of sun damage if they didn't do anything about it. Fortunately, the creatures produce an oily substance that acts as both a natural moisturizer and a sunblock. The secretion, known as "hippo sweat," contains microscopic structures that scatter light and protect the animals from burns.
33The word "Pez" comes from the German word for peppermint.
pez candy company sign
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Eduard Haas III first invented Pez candy in Vienna, Austria, in 1927, as an alternative to smoking. And when it came to naming his tiny treats, which were originally a minty flavor, he looked to the German word "pfefferminz," which means peppermint. He took the "p" from the first syllable, the "e" from the middle syllable, and the "z" from the last syllable to form the word "Pez."
34Apples, pears, peaches, plums, strawberries, cherries, and almonds all belong to the rose family.
fruit basket with apples, pears, cherries
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While it might not shock you to find out that fruits such as apples, pears, peaches, strawberries, cherries, and plums are related, you might be surprised by the fact that they're also related to almonds. And you'll probably be amazed to discover that they all belong to the rose family Rosaceae, which includes more than 2,500 species in more than 90 genera.
35Ocean-dwelling species are disappearing twice as quickly as land animals.
bottom of the ocean National Geographic bee questions
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Climate change is wreaking all kinds of havoc on our planet, including altering habitats, threatening the creatures that live in them. And while every organism on Earth will be affected in one way or another, a 2019 study published in the journal Nature found that species that live in the ocean are disappearing twice as fast as those who spend their time on land. That's because they can't adapt to or escape the rising water temperatures effectively.
36The African bush elephant only sleeps for two hours per day.
two african bush elephants in the water, amazing facts
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The African Bush Elephant holds the Guinness World Record for being the mammal that requires the least amount of sleep per day. When researchers at South Africa's University of Witwatersrand conducted a field study on the giant creatures, they found that the elephants, who sleep standing up, snooze multiple times throughout the day. However, those four or five naps only add up to two hours in total.
37It's a myth that we only use 10 percent of our brains.
brainwaves, EGG scan, random fun facts
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In the 2014 film Lucy, Morgan Freeman's character says, "It is estimated most human beings only use 10 percent of the brain's capacity. Imagine if we could access 100 percent." But this estimation is merely a myth.
"Unless you have a traumatic brain injury or other neurological disorder, you already have access to 100 percent of your brain," writes science journalist Jane C. Hu for Slate. "Your brain is available all the time, even when you're sleeping. Even the most basic functions of your brain use more than 10 percent—your hindbrain and cerebellum, which control automatic bodily functions like breathing and balance, make up 12 percent of your brain, and you definitely need those just to stay alive."
38Four U.S. Presidents have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.
Ronald Reagan Craziest U.S. Presidents
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You might be surprised to find a politician as a Sports Illustrated cover star, but that has happened multiple times in the publication's history. In fact, four presidents have appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated: John F. Kennedy (with his wife, Jackie), Gerald Ford, Ronald Reagan (twice), and Bill Clinton.
39It's illegal to kill Bigfoot in British Columbia.
Bigfoot Warning Sign - Bigfoot Festival
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We still don't have any definitive proof that Sasquatch is out there, but if you do happen to come across one, while you're in Canada, you may not kill it.
"It has long been rumored that a previous governor of [British Columbia] declared that killing a Sasquatch is illegal," according to British Columbia Magazine. The magazine notes that "the laws of British Columbia do declare that wildlife is owned by the government and can't be hunted without a specific license. For your own protection, it's probably best to let Bigfoot go if he crosses your path."
40Scientists created a 3D-printed heart using a patient's own cells.
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In 2019, researchers from Tel Aviv University successfully 3D-printed a human heart using a patient's own cells. Biological materials were reportedly used to "completely match the immunological, cellular, biochemical, and anatomical properties of the patient," the lead researcher said in a statement. "People have managed to 3D-print the structure of a heart in the past, but not with cells or with blood vessels. Our results demonstrate the potential of our approach for engineering personalized tissue and organ replacement in the future."
41Canada's national parks are bigger than many countries.
nahanni national park reserve in the northwest territories of canada, amazing facts
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Canada is famous for its abundant natural landscape and stunning scenery. But it may surprise you to find out that the northern land's national parks are so massive that they're actually bigger than the total area of many other countries. For instance, either Albania or Israel could fit inside the 11,602 square miles that make up the Nahanni National Park Reserve in the Northwest Territories. Denmark or Switzerland could fit inside the 17,300-square-mile Wood Buffalo National Park, which reaches into both Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
43The oldest bookstore that is still in operation was established in 1732.
bookstore featuring best-selling novels
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Shops that sell the written word are becoming increasingly rare these days. However, Bertrand Bookstore in Lisbon, Portugal, will hopefully stand the test of time. The shop, which is now part of a nationwide chain that includes 47 other stores around the country, was opened in 1732 and is the oldest operating bookstore in the world.
43Gmail was originally called Garfield Mail (as in the cartoon cat).
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Introduced by Google in 2004, Gmail is currently one of the most popular email services in the world. But back in the late 1990s, Gmail was something very different. The original Gmail was a feature offered to fans of Garfield, the snarky cartoon cat. Described as "e-mail with attitude" and available via gmail.garfield.com, users received an address suffix that ended in "@catsrule.garfield.com," according to Gizmodo.
44Barnacle geese jump off cliffs when they're just a day old.
barnacle geese in finland, amazing facts
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In order to keep their babies safe from predators, barnacle geese make their nests on hard-to-reach cliffs that are hundreds of feet high. However, the mother geese can't provide their babies with food in the nest and the newborn birds need to eat within 36 hours of hatching. Therefore, the goslings, who still cannot fly, have to leave their perch, which means jumping from staggering heights when they're just a day old.
While some of the little geese don't survive the ordeal, David Cabot, an adjunct professor at Ireland's University of Cork, told National Geographic that the chicks are usually able to make the jump due to the fact that "they are light and fluffy, often appearing to bounce off rocks as they fall."
45Octopuses lay 56,000 eggs at a time.
octopus close up in a tank, useless facts
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These eight-legged sea creatures lay a staggering 56,000 eggs at one time. Each egg—which biologist Jim Cosgrove describes as "a gleaming white tear-drop about the size of a grain of rice"—comes out on its own, then is gathered up along with all of the other eggs and kept in a protective braid-like den until they're ready to hatch.
46Space smells like a Nascar race—a mix of hot metal, diesel fumes, and barbecue.
International Space Station {Spider Facts}
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If you were ever able to use your sniffer in space, you'd discover that it smells like a mixture of hot metal, diesel fumes, and barbecue. That's all thanks to compounds called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons that emanate from dying stars. According to Louis Allamandola, the founder and director of the Astrophysics and Astrochemistry Lab at NASA Ames Research Center, the stinky molecules "seem to be all over the universe… And they float around forever," he told Popular Science.
47The largest book ever weighs more than 3,000 pounds.
Self Help Books
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Avid readers won't be intimidated by a hefty novel, but they'll still surely be impressed by what's been deemed the largest book ever. Weighing more than 3,000 pounds and measuring 16.40 feet by 26.44 feet with 429 pages inside, the book, which is titled This the Prophet Mohamed, was created in 2012 by 50 people working together in the United Arab Emirates.
48Autological words are words that describe themselves—like short, unhyphenated, and word.
open dictionary in a library
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Words are capable of doing all kinds of quirky things, including some terms that are autological, which means that they describe themselves. Take "short," for example, which describes something that is small and is a small word itself. Or "unhyphenated" which is, in fact, spelled without a hyphen. And when you use the word "word," it is definitely a word. Other autological words include English, noun, cutesy, suffixed, prefix, polysyllabic, and buzzword.
49The world's smallest wasp is tinier than most one-cell amoebas.
wasp nest in the corner of home, amazing facts
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The Megaphragma mymaripenne wasp has muscles, guts, wings, eyes, a brain, and genitals. However, this teeny-tiny insect—which is the smallest wasp in the world and the third smallest insect in the world—measures around 200 micrometers, which is a fifth of a millimeter and smaller than many one-cell amoebas.
50Peas are a popular pizza topping in Brazil.
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People in North America are fairly faithful to pepperoni pizza, but in Brazil, you'll be able to find pizza with green peas on it. And in Germany, you'll find pizza topped with seafood, such as canned tuna.
51Foreign accent syndrome is an actual disorder.
Women Talking Amazing Facts
This speech disorder, which can occur after traumatic brain injury or stroke, is when a person's way of speaking shifts from a native accent to a foreign one. Among the cases identified are American English to British English, Japanese to Korean, British English to French, and Spanish to Hungarian.
52There was a third Apple founder.
Apple Steve Jobs Amazing Facts
While the duo of Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak have become tech industry legends, there was another guy in the garage when Apple was founded: Ronald Wayne, who had a 10 percent stake in the company at the time. He acted as "adult supervision" of the project (he was 42 at the time). Wayne ended up selling his stake for $800—it would have been worth around $35 billion today.
53Pi was almost legally defined as 3.2.
United States Capitol Building Civic Studies
Legislators in Indiana came close to legally redefining the value of pi—the beloved number that begins with 3.14 and continues on forever—as the much more simple 3.2. The reason for doing so is long and a bit jargony, but suffice it to say that while the bill got surprisingly far in the legislature, passing in the state's House of Representatives, it was stopped by the time it got to the Senate.
54Whispering is bad for your voice.
Amazing Facts
It might seem like whispering can help you preserve your vocal cords, whether you've got laryngitis or are auditioning for American Idol. But researchers have found the opposite to be true. A 2006 study published in the Journal of Voice used a fiber-optic scope on 100 subjects while they counted from one to 10 (first in a normal voice, then a whisper). Researchers found that 69 of them put more strain on their vocal cords when they whispered.
55Humming is good for your sinuses.
Woman Blowing Nose {Benefits of Crying}
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On the other hand, humming, while annoying to the people around you trying to do work, is a good way to fight off sinus infections. Since keeping air flowing steadily between nasal cavities and sinuses is the key to preventing infection, humming is an ideal way to keep your sinuses healthy. One 2002 study published in The American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine found that humming resulted in a 15-fold increase in nasal nitric oxide in the airflow.
56Ravens can learn to speak better than parrots.
Raven Amazing Facts
Parrots have the reputation as the most talkative birds in the animal kingdom, but ravens could hold their own in a debate any day. In captivity, the animals can be trained to mimic human speech, saying basic words like "hello" and "hi" and even coughing like a person. Note: It's not clear if they can be taught to say "nevermore."
57Poe originally wanted "The Raven" to be a parrot.
Two parrots outside Amazing Facts
In fact, Edgar Allan Poe had originally written his poem to feature a parrot, rather than the gloomy raven.
58The Easter Island heads have torsos.
Easter Island Heads Amazing Facts
You know the heads of the Easter Island figures, but often overlooked is the fact that they also have bodies. Archaeologists at the University of California, Los Angeles have developed the Easter Island Statue Project to dig deeper into these Pacific Island icons and explore what's below the surface. The answer? Full-bodies statues measuring as much as 33 feet high.
59The cities with the most single women per capita are in the Carolinas.
woman standing at cafe Amazing Facts
Straight guys looking to improve their dating odds should head to the Carolinas, where the three cities with the largest ratios of single women to men in the U.S. are, according to Citylab. Specifically, Burlington, North Carolina (with 1,185 single women for every 1,000 men), Florence, South Carolina (with 1,212), and Greenville, South Carolina (with 1,227 single women per 1,000 guys—the highest ratio in the country).
60The city with the most single men per capita is in California.
man hiking selfie Being Single in your thirties Amazing Facts
Conversely, ladies looking to land a man should head west, where the city with the highest proportion of single-guys-to-girls can be found: Hanford-Corcoran, California has a whopping 1,859 single guys per 1,000 single women.
61Hummingbirds can fly backwards.
humming bird Amazing Facts
As if these animals weren't already cool enough—with their ability to beat their wings 80 times per second—they can also move forward and backward with the same speed and efficiency. Scientists studying the phenomenon filmed the fast birds as they moved toward a feed. The researchers blasted air, pushing the bird backward and leading it to adjust its direction with ease.
62Judy Blume is one of the most banned authors in the U.S.
Judy Blume Amazing Facts
The author of numerous children's classics has found herself on the list of most frequently challenged books in school libraries, according to the American Library Association. Five of Blume's books made the list of most challenged books of the 1990s: Forever; Blubber; Deenie; Are You There, God? It's Me Margaret; and Tiger Eyes.
63The smell of fresh-cut grass is a smell of distress.
Beef grass pasture Amazing Facts
The best part of mowing the lawn is that pleasing, herbal scent of fresh-cut grass, but that's not a pleasant smell for the grass. Researchers have determined that the scent is a chemical compound given off by plants in anguish. They give off a similar odor when attacked by caterpillars or other predatory insects.
64Pride and Prejudice was originally titled First Impressions.
Pride and Prejudice Amazing Facts
Here's one of our favorite amazing facts for literary lovers. Not quite as catchy, but certainly less of a mouthful, this original title of the Jane Austen classic was rejected by publishers. Following a rewrite and title change, it sold like gangbusters.
65In the Peanuts comic strip, Peppermint Patty's real name was Patricia Reichardt.
peppermint patty from charlie brown peanuts, amazing facts
IMDB/CBS
Along with Charlie Brown and Snoopy, Peppermint Patty is one of the most recognizable characters from the classic Peanuts comic strip. But have you ever thought about her strangely sweet name? No, her first name isn't Peppermint and her last name isn't Patty—the candy-like moniker is her nickname. The fictional character's real name is Patricia Reichardt.
66Fergie once voiced Charlie Brown's sister Sally.
Fergie Amazing Facts
You knew Black Eyed Peas' Fergie was multitalented, but you may not have realized that she also was part of the Peanuts universe. In the 1980s, long before taking off as a pop star, she voiced the character of Charlie Brown's sister Sally in two TV specials and the 1984 season of The Charlie Brown and Snoopy Show.
67One man who urinated in a reservoir ruined 8 million gallons of water.
weight loss motivation Amazing Facts
In 2011, one 21-year-old man thought it would be funny to urinate in the city reservoir of Portland, Oregon. His little gag ended up requiring the city to get rid of 8 million gallons of the treated drinking water as a result.
68In Japan, it's considered good luck for sumo wrestlers to make your baby cry.
Sumo Wrestler with Child Amazing Facts
There is actually a competition at the annual Nakizumo festival, going back four centuries, in which sumo wrestlers make babies cry. The longer the wail, the better for the kid's health and fortune.
69The "X" in airport codes is just a filler.
LAX sign Amazing Facts
When three-letter airport codes became standard throughout the world, the many airports that had been just using a two-letter code simply added an "X" to their code—which explains where LAX, PDX, and others come from.
70Nutella was invented to extend chocolate rations.
nutella Amazing Facts
The delicious chocolate-hazelnut spread known as Nutella came about due to the restrictions made on chocolate consumption during the Second World War. A resourceful Italian pastry chef realized he could get more out of the limited chocolate available by mixing it with hazelnuts. First marketed as a solid block, he struck gold with the creamy form, which he dubbed "Supercrema" in 1951.
71Fear of young people is known as "ephebiphobia."
Amazing Facts
Ephebiphobia may seem like a silly condition, but according to sociologists and psychologists, it's surprisingly widespread and can show itself in a wide range of ways, from the "in my day…" tut-tutting about teenagers' behavior to restricting our own children's activities.
It is also a condition long-experienced by society's adults. One professor studying the subject in 2009 pointed to a quote from Plato: "What is happening to our young people? They disrespect their elders, they disobey their parents. They ignore the law. They riot in the streets, inflamed with wild notions. Their morals are decaying. What is to become of them?"
72Sex is dangerous for flies.
flies Amazing Facts
When certain types of flies mate, they emit a sound that catches the attention of predatory bats, so they only copulate briefly.
73The world's longest man-made beach is in Mississippi.
gulf coast mississippi beach, amazing facts
Shutterstock
The next time you plan a beach vacation, you might want to forget about Florida and California and head to Mississippi instead. That's because the Mississippi Gulf Coast is the world's longest man-made beach. At 26-miles long, the beach boasts stunning white sand from Biloxi all the way to Henderson Point.
74There's a mammal that mates for 14 hours straight until it dies.
antechinus Amazing Facts
The antechinus, a small, mouse-like mammal in Australia, kills itself for sex. When the males of the species hit their first mating season, they mate for as many as 14 hours straight with as many females as they can encounter. Ultimately though, the animal's fur falls off, he bleeds internally, and his immune system fails, causing him to die. "By the end of the mating season, physically disintegrating males may run around frantically searching for last mating opportunities," Diana Fisher from the University of Queensland told National Geographic. "By that time, females are, not surprisingly, avoiding them."
75When eagles flirt, they also flirt with death.
American bald eagle Amazing Facts
Courtship between eagles can be rather death-defying. As New York's Department of Environmental Conservation puts it, "The pair soars high in the sky, begins a dive, and interlocks talons while descending in a series of somersaults." But it usually all works out, with the two producing one or two offspring each year.
76After Roosevelt's teddy bears, toy companies tried to create a William Taft stuffed animal.
Teddy Bears Valentine's Day Amazing Facts
President Teddy Roosevelt's legacy includes the beloved and ubiquitous teddy bear toy. Trying to replicate its success, a toy company created "Billy Possum," the marsupial that was served at a banquet following his election. It served as an anti-Teddy symbol, and was featured in songs, picture books, and more—but it never took off like the bear.
77AOL was once responsible for half of all the CDs produced.
cds compact discs
When AOL was giving away internet via CDs in the mail, spending some $300 million to produce and mail them during its peak in the 1990s, the early online giant was producing a whopping 50 percent of all CDs being made in the world.
78The original seven dwarves had even stranger names.
Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Amazing Facts
Wikimedia Commons
Though the seven dwarves of Snow White have pretty goofy names, originally, Disney had considered even odder monikers for the pint-sized miners: Chesty, Tubby, Burpy, Deafy, Hickey, Wheezy, and, awfully enough, Awful.
79Botox affects your emotions.
stop judging women over 40 Amazing Facts
You know that Botox can reduce wrinkles by paralyzing parts of your face, but the changes aren't just cosmetic: It has also been found to make it harder for those using it to identify emotions as deeply as those who don't. A 2011 study published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science found that Botoxed women were less able to identify the emotions felt by those in photographs than the people who did not use Botox.
80Cicadas expand and contract their exoskeletons.
Cicadas Amazing Facts
You know that near-deafening chirp that cicadas create? It's done by essentially expanding and contracting their exoskeleton really fast, about 300 times a second.
A study on the creature described it this way: "If your body were like that of a cicada … you would have a thick set of muscles on either side of your torso that would allow you to cave in your chest so far that all your ribs would buckle inward one at a time into a deformed position. Releasing the muscle would allow your ribs to snap back to their regular shape and then pulling the muscle again would repeat this."
81Some rocks are natural solar panels and can convert light into electricity.
Geologist with Rock in Lab Planet Earth Facts
Shutterstock
Solar panels are becoming an increasingly popular way to harness energy. And it turns out, they also exist in nature, too. In 2019, Peking University's Anhuai Lu discovered electric currents on the surface of certain desert rocks that have thin coatings of iron and manganese. According to IFL Science, "The weaker the light, the less current, demonstrating the coatings are turning the photons into moving electrons. The coatings are also quite stable, so generation probably lasts all day."
82"Shivviness" is a word for the uncomfortable feeling of wearing new underwear.
female underwear, amazing facts
Shutterstock
If you're the kind of person who needs a little time to get used to a fresh pair of panties, boxers, or briefs, then you can add "shivviness" to your vocabulary. This word refers to the uncomfortable feeling of wearing new underwear.
83Ulysses was once banned in four countries.
Ulysses Amazing Facts
Though now considered one of the greatest books ever written, James Joyce's Ulysses was once banned in the United States, Canada, Ireland, and England, due to its sexually explicit content, leading the British director of public prosecutions to call it a "filthy book."
84The author of The Da Vinci Code was a failed pop star.
The Da Vinci Code Amazing Facts
Before he wrote blockbuster thrillers about religious history, Dan Brown worked as a songwriter and pop singer in Los Angeles. One of his albums was Angels & Demons, using some of the same design elements in the liner notes that he would use in his novel of the same title six years later.
85James Patterson coined the "Toys R Us Kids" jingle.
James Patterson Amazing Facts
Before he got into writing massive-selling thrillers, James Patterson worked for advertising firm J. Walter Thompson, where he is credited with coming up with the jingle "I'm a Toys R Us Kid." With earworms like that, he worked his way up to creative director in no time.
86Columbus thought he saw mermaids.
manatee Amazing Facts
During his travels, in 1493, Christopher Columbus believed he saw mermaids in the ocean, which he described as "not half as beautiful as they are painted," History.com. More than likely, he had simply spotted manatees in the water—not quite as beautiful.
87Truman Show Delusion is a real disorder.
Jim Carrey
Also known as Truman Syndrome, this is the belief in which "the patient believes that he is being filmed and that the films are being broadcast for the entertainment of others," according to the researchers who first coined the affliction.
88Male platypuses are venomous.
platypus Amazing Facts
They may look silly and harmless, but platypuses can be dangerous—at least certain ones. The males come equipped with sharp stingers on the heels of their rear feet that can add some extra pain to a kick via venom. This venom has been found to resemble that in animals such as snakes, starfish, and spiders—though it's an odd thing to find in mammals.
89Female platypuses lay eggs.
platypus 2 Amazing Facts
Did we mention these are mammals? Despite that, these odd duck-billed creatures lay eggs, like a reptile or bird might, making it an intriguing example of evolution at work.
90Janis Joplin left $2,500 to her friends for a funeral party.
janis joplin celebrity deaths
Wikimedia Commons
Janis Joplin set aside $2,500 in her will "so my friends can have a ball after I'm gone." They did just that at her wake, held at the Lion's Share in San Anselmo, California.
91There's a basketball court in the Supreme Court Building.
basketball chris cuomo Amazing Facts
Dubbed "The Highest Court in the Land," this basketball court, on the fifth floor of the Supreme Court Building, is not open to the public and not open on court day. But it has hosted the likes of Byron White and Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
92Ray Bradbury wrote the screenplay for Moby Dick.
Moby Dick Amazing Facts
The man had many talents. In addition to his popular short stories and classic novels like Fahrenheit 451, Bradbury also penned the screenplay for the 1956 film Moby Dick, directed by John Huston. It was not a pleasant process though; Bradbury called it "eight long months of agonizing work, subconscious work."
93The FBI investigated the song "Louie, Louie."
FBI agent Amazing Facts
We all know the chorus to The Kingsmen classic version of "Louie, Louie," but that's about it. And for the FBI, that was a problem. The organization, concerned it might contain indecent lyrics, spent several years investigating what exactly the song said—playing it backward, at different speeds, and otherwise—and whether it was suitable to play on the radio. They eventually gave up when they determined it was "indecipherable."
94Snakes have two reproductive organs.
viper snake
Shutterstock
Called "himipenes," these two reproductive organs only work one at a time.
95Tug of war used to be an Olympic event.
Tug of War Amazing Facts
This even existed all the way up until 1920. Now, it's been relegated to field days and family reunions.
96The biggest bat colony is in Texas.
Bracken Cave Texas Amazing Facts
If you're creeped out by bats, stay away from Bracken Cave, Texas. This location, about 20 miles outside of downtown San Antonio, hosts the largest bat colony—consisting of more than 15 million Mexican free-tailed bats that pack onto cave walls, with as many as 500 per square foot when they are pups.
97Shakespeare disappeared from history from the year 1585 to 1592.
Shakespeare wax figure
Shutterstock
Despite the fact that William Shakespeare lived hundreds of years ago, we still know many details about his life. But one thing we don't know is what he was up to between the years 1585, when the baptism of his twins was recorded, and 1592, when playwright Robert Greene wrote in a pamphlet that Shakespeare was an "upstart crow"—and that's because the writer left no historical records during that time.
History.com explains that historians have speculated that during those seven years he may have "worked as a schoolteacher, studied law, traveled across continental Europe or joined an acting troupe." There's also a 17th century account that Shakespeare "fled his hometown after poaching deer from a local politician's estate."
98"Twelve plus one" is an anagram of "eleven plus two."
Confused Woman Amazing Facts
Check for yourself. It's true!
99The Mona Lisa has the highest insurance value for a painting in history.
BPFPDX Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci.
Alamy
In 1962, the painting was assessed at $100 million. If you adjust that for inflation, the value today would be around $780 million. That means it has the highest insurance value for a painting in history, according to the Guinness World Records.
100Barry Manilow wrote State Farm's "Like a Good Neighbor" jingle.
Barry Manilow Amazing Facts
While best known for tunes like "Mandy" and "Copacabana," Barry Manilow was a prolific writer of ad jingles for Band-Aid, Stridex, KFC, and, most famously, that perennial ditty for State Farm insurance. And for more hilarious jingles, check out these 30 Funniest Jokes Found in TV Commercials.
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