I thought it would be fun for everyone to post any random facts they know (or something you Googled or whatever). It can be about anything as long as it's HP-appropriate. One player posts one fact. I'll start:

The Icelandic word for computer is tölva. It was coined in the '60s and is a combination of the words tala (to count) and völva (prophetess).

Since I'm on a kitten research binge,

Kittens, even newborn kittens can purr! 

I knew of kittens being able to purr but I thought this developed when they were about 3-5 weeks old. That's the age range that I normally find kittens around the farm, as the moms are very good at hiding their little purr nuggets in our barn. I really found this out last night while I was bottle feeding my little beans, one of them after I fed it and sat it back on its heating pad started to purr oh so quietly! Too cute. :) 

purr nuggets, I loooove that!  

In the spirit of kitten facts: kittens can be right-pawed or left-pawed (like humans!)

Reykjavik is believed to be the first permanent settlement in Iceland, established aroun AD 874. However, urban development only began in the late 18th century.

20% of office coffee mugs contain fecal matter

(I'm not going to even ask)

The Indian Ocean's average depth is 12,990 feet

Studies suggest that approximately 10% of the world is left handed.

The cracking sound a bullwhip makes when properly wielded is, in fact, a small sonic boom. The end of the whip, known as the "cracker", moves faster than the speed of sound, thus creating a sonic boom. The whip is probably the first human invention to break the sound barrier.

The Earth rotates in about 24 hours. Therefore, if you were to hang above the surface of the Earth at the equator without moving, you would see 25,000 miles pass by in 24 hours, at a speed of 25000/24 or just over 1000 miles per hour.

Greenland Ranch, California, with 134°F on July 10, 1913, holds the record for the highest temperature ever officially recorded in the United States. This station is located in barren Death Valley which is about 140 mi long and 4–16 mi wide and runs north and south in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada.

Thomas Edison was widely known as the world's most prolific inventor. He held a total of 1,093 U.S. patents (1,084 utility patents and 9 design patents). In 2003, he was passed by Japanese inventor Shunpei Yamazaki.

Some fungi create zombies and then control their minds... see here:

The tropical fungus Ophiocordyceps infects ants’ central nervous systems. By the time the fungi been in the insect bodies for nine days, they have complete control over the host’s movements. They force the ants to climb trees, then convulse and fall into the cool, moist soil below, where fungi thrive. Once there, the fungus waits until exactly solar noon to force the ant to bite a leaf and kill it. 

The majority of the world's vanilla is the V. planifolia species, more commonly known as Bourbon vanilla (after the former name of Réunion, Île Bourbon) or Madagascar vanilla, which is produced in Madagascar and neighboring islands in the southwestern Indian Ocean, and in Indonesia.

1. Nintendo trademarked the phrase “It’s on like Donkey Kong” in 2010.

Lester B. Pearson (a Canadian scholar, soldier, prime minister, statesman, and diplomat) won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1957 for organizing the UN Emergency Force to resolve the Suez Canal crisis.

Samsung tests phone durability with a butt shaped robot

Queen Latifah's real name is Dana Elaine Owens.

Africa is the only continent with land in all four hemispheres

Scientists have found the reason why our body temperature is 98.6° Fahrenheit (37°C). Apparently it's the perfect balance, as it's warm enough to prevent fungal infection but not so hot that we need to eat nonstop to maintain our metabolism.

Early romans used to use porcupine quills as toothpicks

In 1977, President Jimmy Carter, in his first day in office, fulfilled a campaign promise by granting unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War by fleeing the country or by failing to register.