The first to approximate the speed of light roughly was French physicist Armand Fizeau (1819-1896).
In 1849 Fizeau obtained a value for the speed of light that was about 5 percent too high.
Fizeau’s contemporary Jean Foucault (1819-1868) obtained the first accurate measurement (within 1 percent of the correct speed) in 1862.
The largest plant in the world is said to be the General Sherman Tree, a giant sequoia in Sequoia National Park, California. The tree is about 272 feet tall and more than 100 feet in circumference. It is about 3,500 years old.
Yes, at least since 1800. At that time, Philadelphia and Baltimore were the second and third-largest cities. Census estimates for 1986 placed Los Angeles and Chicago, respectively, in those ranks.
For drinking, washing, etc., an average American uses 168 gallons of water per day. The average American residence uses 107,000 gallons of water per year.
Balding occurs when hair follicles shrink and become less productive. Instead of the new hairs being cultivated to replace the ones that fall out naturally each day, they are allowed to remain embryonic, at the most, in a light, peach-fuzz stage. Probably some hormonal action triggers the follicles to behave this way, but it is…
The skin on the foot or palm of the hand wrinkles when exposed to water because it expands. The thick, hardened layers of skin swell as water is retained.
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.