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  • At the time of writing (20/07/03) the least popular numbers chosen in the National Lottery are: 36, 41, 46, 47, 48, 49. It has not escaped the attention of curiouser.co.uk that publication of this fact may lead to an increase in their popularity; the Oedipus Effect (not to be confused with the Oedipus Complex.)

    [Source: The Observer, 6 July 2003.]

  • The concept of zero was first propsed by the Arab mathematician and astronomer Muhammad Bin Ahmad in 967 AD. This enabled mathematicains to use numbers to reason as well as to count.
  • Franklin Delano Roosevelt suffered from Triskaidekaphobia (fear of the number 13).
  • Aibohphobia is the fear of palindromes.
  • In 1752 eleven days were days were skipped when the Julian Calendar was replaced by the Gregorian calendar. The anger people felt at losing eleven days from their lives resulted in a riot in London.
  • The chances of a randomly selected person being struck by lightning are approximately 1 in a million. Kevin Parent from Pennsylvania was struck three times in five years. It is a moot point as to whether he should consider himself unlucky to have been hit three times, or lucky to have suffered only minor injuries. One might consider that on average his luck was average. Having being stuck for a third time while walking with his three children, he told reporters: "I've been pretty lucky. The next one could kill me."

    [Source: http://www.ananova.com/news]

  • Oysters are transexuals - they change from one sex to another and back again depending on which is best for mating.

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