I thought I would share some of the fun facts that Eddy Thomas pulls from his "Random Access Memory" Bank in the novel The Reinvention of Edison Thomas. Author Jacqueline Houtman says in her author interview at the back of the book that she was very careful to double check fact check all the facts used in the book, just to be sure of accuracy. There are many more than the ones I've listed below here, these were just some of my favorites from the book:
"The loudest noise ever heard by human ears (in recorded history) was the eruption of the volcano Krakatoa in Indonesia on August 27, 1883. The sound was heard 3,000 miles away, and shock waves from the explosion circled the earth seven times."
*Krakatoa pictured above
"Even though tomatoes (Lycopersicon esculentum) are associated with Italian food, tomatoes are native to South America and were not introduced to Europe
until the early 1500s."
"Tooth enamel is the hardest substance in the body."
"Dry cleaning is not really dry. It uses a toxic liquid called perchloroethylene. A newer, more environmentally friendly method uses supercritical carbon dioxide."
"The male duck-billed platypus (Ornithorhynchus anatinus)
has poisonous spurs on its ankles."
Happy learning, y'all!
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