What is the apple of one’s eye?
The apple of one’s eye is the pupil, which was likened to an apple because, in the ninth century, it was believed to be a solid round mass.
Started in 1891 by President Theodore Roosevelt, the national system of forest reserves now consists of 154 forests administered by the Department of Agriculture’s Forest Service. The total area of the reserves is over 343,000 square miles.
A cosmic year is the length of time it takes the sun to complete one revolution around the center of the Milky Way galaxy. A cosmic year is about 225 million earth years. The sun is between 20 and 21 cosmic years old.
Named for the patron saint of sailors, Saint Elmo’s fire is actually discharges of electricity that occur during storms. These discharges are seen as blue or bluish white lights at the tips of masts and bowsprits of ships at sea, as well as on church steeples and building spires on land.
Assuming that the heart beats at least once a second, by the time a person is 70, his or her heart will have beat at least 2.8 billion times.
It is not New York, Chicago, or Los Angeles. It is Juneau, Alaska, which covers 3,108 square miles. Los Angeles, in contrast, covers only 458.2 square miles.
Goose bumps are a vestige from the days when humans were covered with hair. When it got cold, the hairs stood on end, creating a trap for air and providing insulation. The hairs have long since disappeared, but in the places where they used to be, the skin still bristles, trying to get warm.