Hearing Health House

· Vatican City is actually the smallest country in the world at only 0.2 miles wide.

· The heart of a shrimp is located in its head. Weird, yet kind of cool.

· Slugs have not one, not two, not three... but four noses. They don't work like human noses do, exactly. Instead, they sense chemicals, sounds, lights, and more.

· It takes 70 different pieces of wood to make up a violin, explaining why some of them are so expensive (one even sold for $16 million).

· All clownfish are born male. They have the ability to change their sex later on.

· A group of porcupines is called a prickle. How fitting. The animal is also known as a quill pig in Latin.

· Abraham Lincoln, who was famously tall at 6'4", was also a successful competitive wrestler.

· The famous Sesame Street character Cookie Monster’s real name is Sid.

· If you play tennis at Wimbledon, swearing is not allowed. Therefore, judges have to learn swear words in different languages in order to enforce the rules.

· Mushrooms can glow in the dark. In fact, there are more than 70 varieties of mushrooms that do this.

· Dolphins literally sleep with one eye open because only one of their brain hemispheres sleeps at a time. The left eye closes when the right half of the brain sleeps, and vice versa.

· Dogs have a dominant paw like humans have a dominant left or right hand. Can you tell if your dog is left-pawed or right-pawed?

· If it takes you a while to fall asleep at night, then you may be surprised to learn that most people are able to fall asleep in just seven minutes.

· The first vacuum cleaners were horse-drawn. The horse-drawn buggy would announce to all your neighbors that you were having a special treatment done. Great advertising!

· Alfred Hitchcock was scared of eggs. Let's be thankful he didn't create a horror film about eggs.

· Crows can recognize human faces and remember them for their entire lives. They've also been known to leave gifts for humans.

· You probably know that snails are slow creatures, but did you know that they also take the longest naps? One nap can last up to three years!

· Although less common than earthquakes, the moon actually has moonquakes, too. That's right. Moonquakes. Pretty much everyone is interested in space, so this is always a good fact to pull out.

· You actually lose a large percentage of your taste buds while on an airplane. This might explain a lot about those less-than-stellar in-flight meals, or why you find yourself craving the saltiest foods while in the sky.

· Bees can sting other bees — usually if they feel threatened or are protecting their territory. In other words, you're not the only one who's scared of getting stung.

· I’m sure you know that tigers have striped fur. But did you know that they actually have striped skin, as well?

· Not only are sea lions totally adorable, but they're also very musical. They are the only animal that can clap to a beat.

· Like humans, koalas actually have unique individual fingerprints. If you place a koala and human finger print side by side, they're actually pretty hard to differentiate.

· You know that everyone's fingerprints are different, but did you know that the same is true of everyone's tongue print?

· It may feel a lot longer, but the average person spends two weeks of their life sitting at traffic lights.

· The Hollywood sign in Los Angeles once said "Hollywoodland," but was changed in 1949.

· The most expensive film ever made was Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides, which cost 378 million dollars to create. For reference, the average budget for a big studio movie is around $65 million.

· It took Leo Tolstoy six years to write his novel War and Peace. Hopefully it doesn't take you that long to read it.

· Do you know that Tennessee has more caves than any other location in the United States? Tennessee is home to 10,000 known caves and caverns. A cavern is a series of interconnecting caves, often with stalagmites and stalactites (another conversation starter).

· Just like human babies suck their thumbs, baby elephants sometimes suck on their trunks. They can also stand within 20 minutes of birth (though they can't see for a while, and instead sense their mothers through sound and smell).