Trivia and Amazing Facts 13-10-08

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• WHAT USED TO STAND AT THE SITE OF THE EMPIRE STATE BUILDING? Until 1929, the Waldorf-Astoria stood at the south west corner of Thirty-fourth Street and Fifth Avenue. On October 1st of that year, demolition of the famous hotel began, and on May 1, 1931, the Empire State Building opened on the space. In the same year, the Waldorf reopened at its current address between Forty-ninth and Fiftieth Streets on Park Avenue.

• HOW MANY TIME ZONES ARE THERE IN CHINA? Only one. Although the country covers 3,691,521 square miles and geographically could be in five different zones, the government requires the clocks throughout the nation to conform to those in the capital (Beijing).

• Feel no pain! German researchers have discovered that coughing during an injection can lessen the pain of the needle stick. According to Taras Usichenko, author of a study on the phenomenon, the trick causes a sudden, temporary rise in pressure in the chest and spinal canal, inhibiting the pain-conducting structures of the spinal cord.

• The term "classroom" didn't come into use in the United States until after 1865.

• The Japanese gave us the term "honcho," meaning big shot. Hancho means "squad commander" in Japanese.

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