Author: Lisa Mungovan

Iowa is about as far from the ocean as you can get, but that’s where a great white shark showed up last year. Luckily, it was made out of snow. Artist Carlos Maldonado sculpted the 5 1/2-foot-tall shark from a pile of snow, then painted it with acrylics to make it more life-like.

It’s summer in Australia right now, but animals have adapted ways to stay cool. Wombats retreat underground, koalas hide in the trees, and echidnas blow snot bubbles. Researchers found that when they blow bubbles out of their nose, the snot bubble bursts and wets the nose-tip. Then the evaporating moisture, cools their blood.

Did you receive any gift cards, as holiday presents? Don’t let them get lost or forgotten. Every year, billions of dollars in gift cards go unspent. Today is Use Your Gift Card Day, so start spending! You can even shop online. Gather up old cards too, because they’re good for at least 5 years.

It’s Winnie the Pooh Day! A A Milne’s books about the lovable bear, Piglet, Tigger, and friends, were inspired by a black bear at the London Zoo named Winnie. Christopher Robin, the author’s son, loved to visit him! It’s also Thesaurus Day, a wonderful, fantastic, magnificent, phenomenal tool, to give you synonyms for words.

If you’ve ever been to San Francisco California, you’ve seen the very, very, very steep hills. Before cars were invented, horses often fell over, trying to pull carriages up the streets. So 152 years ago, Andrew Smith Hallidie patented cable cars. Cars run on a railway, pulled by ropes overhead. Happy Cable Car Day!

Did you make any New Year’s resolutions? If you promised yourself you would change something in your life, and it’s working, congratulations! If you’ve failed, don’t worry about it, because it’s Ditch New Year’s Resolutions Day. Be proud of your broken resolutions for today. You can start fresh again tomorrow.

On this day in 17 oh 6, Benjamin Franklin was born. Did you know he invented swim flippers when he was 12? That’s why today is Kid Inventors’ Day. Kids also invented popsicles, ear muffs, the trampoline, and Braille. Have you ever invented anything? Start writing all your ideas down. You might have the next great invention!

At 116 years old, the oldest woman in the world is officially Sister Inah Canabarro Lucas. The Brazilian nun has the records to prove her age, but a woman in China may be even older. According to local documents, Qui Chaishi is 124 years old! She loves eating pumpkin porridge with lard on top.

A new kind of toilet paper in Japan, is made from used diapers. The cities of Shibushi and Osaki started a program to separate disposable diapers from the waste stream. 98 tons of material was sanitized, bleached, and shredded, then mixed with recycled paper, creating 30,000 poop-free rolls of toilet paper.

Much of the United States is about to experience bitter cold. Wind chills may bring temperatures to 40° below zero in North Dakota, and Texas will be 20 degrees colder than average. Air that normally circulates over the Arctic Circle, is dipping south, giving us a taste of the North Pole. Dress in lots of layers!