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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
Jordan Moore
Read between
April 16 - June 10, 2025
The Indo-European language family is the largest in the world, with 46% of the world speaking one of the languages. Most European languages, as well as Hindi, Iranian/Farsi, and others are in the family.
Grammar, rhetoric, and logic were the three ancient arts of Greek/classical discourse. Grammar involves the mechanics of a language, including syntax, morphology, and phonology. Rhetoric is the art of effective or persuasive speaking or writing, especially the exploitation of figures of speech and other compositional techniques. Logic is a system or set of principles underlying the arrangements of elements in a computer or electronic device to perform a specified task.
Punctuation only gradually made its way into writing. Many believe the Moabite Stone, which is dated to 840 BCE Jordan, was the first text to use punctuation. It features points between words and vertical strokes to mark the end of sections that might be comparable to biblical verses.
If you really don’t care about something, you “couldn’t care less,” not you “could care less.” The latter implies you still have some caring to do!
The Chinese languages, which include Mandarin and Cantonese, as well as Tibetan languages, are members of the Sino-Tibetan language family. More than 22% of the world speaks a Sino-Tibetan language.
The serial comma, the comma before “and” in a series—i.e., Jim, Jill, and Becky - is also known as the Oxford comma. Surprisingly, the University of Oxford Style Guide advises against its use. About 6% of the world speaks an Afro-Asiatic
Botox is actually a pretty toxic product. It’s produced by the bacterium Clostridium botulinum, which can cause botulism. Botox works by causing temporary paralysis in the affected area.
A “Rubenesque” body type refers to one, usually a woman, who is curvy. The term is derived from the paintings of the Dutch painter, Peter Paul Rubens (1577-1640), who depicted curvy women as erotic and desirable.
The Chanel brand of perfume was started by Gabrielle Bonheur "Coco" Chanel in France during the 1920s. During World War II, Chanel collaborated with and spied for the Germans.
The 1980 Summer Olympics in Moscow, the Soviet Union were the first to have an official mascot. ‘Misha the Bear’ greeted Olympians and viewers from around the world in Moscow.
An Australian cattle dog from Rochester, Victoria, Australia named Bluey is the longest-lived dog on record. Bluey lived 29 years, 160 days (June 7, 1910-November 14, 1939) before her owners had to euthanize her.
Each person’s fingerprints are unique, but for dogs, it's their nose prints. The furless part of a dog’s nose that contains the print is known as the rhinarium.
Although the ancient Egyptians didn’t name most of their breeds, their texts and reliefs show they had basenjis, salukis, and greyhounds.
Nine American towns have elected dogs as mayors. Cat lovers can rest easy, though, the town of Talkeetna, Alaska elected an honorary feline mayor who served for 20 years from 1997 to 2017.
Tired of political corruption, 100,000 residents of Sao Paulo, Brazil voted for a female black rhinoceros named Cacareco for city council in 1958. Although she won more votes than the other candidates, election officials ruled Cacareco ineligible.
“Two-up” is a traditional Australian gambling game that involves throwing two coins in the air and guessing heads or tails. It’s traditionally played on ANZAC Day (April 25).
The concept of zero seems so simple, but few pre-modern people developed it. The Indians were the first people to develop the zero as a written digit maybe in the 7th century CE but possibly earlier.
In geometry, a polygon is any shape that has a limited/finite number of straight lines that close together to form the shape. Triangles and squares are polygons, but circles are not because their lines are not straight.
If you multiple the number nine by any number, and add all the digits of the sum, you’ll always get nine. For instance, 127x9=1,143; 1+1+4+3=9. It’s true every time!
Economics is the study of the exchange of goods, services, and commodities. Although you don’t have to be a math whiz to be an economist, the study does require some algebra, calculus, and statistics.
The opposite sides of traditional dice always add up to seven. You can throw the dice as much as you want, but it’s always the case.
“Forty” is the only number that’s spelt in alphabetical order in English. Four is also the only number that has the same number of letters as the number itself.
A bibliophile is a person who loves to read and collect books. The book is derived from the Greek words biblio “book” and phile “love.”
The origin of the word “cocktail” is debated. Some believe it came from the Nahuatl word for flower, xochitl, while others think it comes from the rooster tails that were once served as garnishes with drinks.
A whip needs to travel faster than the speed of sound to make the cracking noise. That means a whip goes 767 miles per hour when it’s cracked.
A “humming” sound of unknown origin has plagued Taos, New Mexico for decades. Strangely, though, only 2% of the population can apparently hear this noise.
The once quite popular benzodiazepine, Valium, was named for the Latin word vale, which means “goodnight.” Valium is known to put people out for the night.
Heroin was marketed and sold as a cough suppressant in the US from 1898 until 1924. Congress realized that heroin did stop coughs, but it turned users into junkies.
71% of the Earth’s surface is covered by water, with over 96% of that in the oceans. Combined with the water underground and in the atmosphere, all of Earth’s water would cover 332,500,000 cubic miles.
“Brackish water” refers to a body of water that has more salinity (salt) than freshwater, but less salt than seawater. Any body of water with a salt content of greater than 30% is considered to be salt water.
Lake Baikal in Siberia is the largest freshwater lake in the world by volume, comprising 23% of the world’s freshwater. But Lake Superior in the US and Canada is the largest in surface area, covering 31,700 square miles.
The Jupiter moons of Ganymede, Europa, and Callisto, and the Saturn moons of Enceladus and Titan are all thought to have oceans beneath their surfaces.
It seems counterintuitive, but in certain circumstances hot water freezes faster than cold water. Tanzanian game warden Erasto Bartholomeo Mpemba first noted this so-called “Mpemba effect” in 1963, although the precise parameters under which it occurs remain unresolved, and some scientists dismiss it as a scientific fallacy.
The pH scale is essentially based on the purity of water. A pH level below seven is acidic, while a pH above seven is a base. Seven is the pH level of pure water.
A fish’s age can be determined by counting rings on its scales or those on its ear bones, which are known as otoliths. These are similar to the rings on trees.
Crème Puff the cat was born on August 3, 1967, and passed away on August 5, 2005, at the age of 38, making her the oldest cat on record. She had only one owner, Jake Perry.
If you own a bunch of cats, then you have a clowder on your hands. The term “clowder” is only used to describe groups of domestic cats.
There are actually measures of time less than a second. A Planck time is the period it takes light to travel one Planck in a vacuum or 5.39×10−44 seconds.
A malapropism is the incorrect use of a word in place of a word with a similar sound.
According to a study in 2015, there are about three trillion trees on Earth, which comes to about 420 trees per person. Forests cover about 30% of the Earth’s surface.
“Forest bathing” is a form of natural mental health therapy where a person simply spends time in forests. The activity is officially sanctioned by the Japanese government, which calls it shinrin-yoku.
Since the Earth is a sphere, depictions of it on flat maps result in the poles being depicted abnormally large. This type of map is called the Mercator projection.
The exact time when the Digital Revolution began is open to debate, but many point to the creation of Apple Incorporated in 1976 as the start.
Extrasensory perception (ESP) refers to senses or “powers” that are not proven, qualified, or quantified by accepted science. These can include - telepathy, psychometry, clairvoyance, and precognition or retrocognition.
ESP is generally included in the wider subject of “parapsychology.” Parapsychology studies also include ghost sightings and other elements of the supernatural.
The CIA became involved in ESP experiments in 1978 by working with the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) on the Stargate Project. The project was shut down in 1995.
You may be surprised to learn that the first electric cars were invented in the late 1800s and that by the early 1900s, about
There were several species of humans or homo. Homo habilis was the first member of the homo genus to emerge, living from about 2.3 million years ago to 1.65 million years ago.
From about 40,000 to 35,000 years ago, Paleolithic people began developing extensive and intricate cave art. The best-known example is the Lascaux Cave in France.
Homo floresiensis is named for the island of Flores, Indonesia where all known remains were found. These people, who lived until about 50,000 years ago, were only about 3’7” tall!
