Page 52 - Best of the Month

Greek statues have small penises because the Greeks considered large ones to be gross and comical!

If you’ve ever seen ancient Greek statues, you may wonder about the size of men’s penises back then. If the statues are accurate, ancient Greek men were not well endowed. Are these true representations though and if so, are they true of all ancient Greek men?

While today, men would prefer to have a large penis. This was not the case in ancient Greece. Experts have actually studied ancient Greek genitalia extensively. Back then, in highbrow culture, large penises were actually considered grotesque, comic or both. The Greeks actually desired small, thin penises. Hence, this ideal small representation on their statues.

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There's a ladder on the side of a Jerusalem temple that has remained there since the 18th century!

It's known as the immovable ladder because it is understood that no cleric of the six ecumenical Christian order may move, rearrange or alter it without the consent of all six orders. The ladder is made of cedar wood and it was first mentioned in 1757; it has remained on the side of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher since at least then.

The ladder has some symbolism. Pope Paul VI ordered in 1964 that the ladder will remain in place until the Catholic Church and the Orthodox Church reach a state of ecumenism, That is, when both churches reunite as one.

Despite the moniker, though, the ladder has been moved a couple of times. Once in 1997, it went missing for weeks and it was thought that it was moved on a prank. In 2009 it was moved to the side against another window for a short period of time.

Read more about it at the source.

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Bats represent 20% of all mammals!

Bats get a bad reputation. Due to their nocturnal nature and their association with vampires, some people may be afraid of them. And since they can fly, thye may be mistaken for birds. Bats are actually fairly harmless mammals though. They actually make up 20% of all mammal species worldwide. There are about 1,240 species.

These are divided into two suborders: The largely fruit-eating megabats and the echolocating microbats. As noted before, bats are fairly harmless. Seventy percent of them are insectivores Most of the rest are fruit-eaters, and a few feed on animals, such as the fish-eating bat. And vampire bats do in fact drink the blood of animals.

These 1,240 species are scattered throughout the world. They perform vital ecological functions such as pollinating flowers and dispersing seeds. They are also important in eating insects and reducing the need of pesticides. So all in all, bats are helpful creatures.

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The Blanket Octopus rips off the Portuguese Man O'War's tentacles and uses them for defensive purposes

The blanket octopus is a type of octopus that occupies shallow waters in subtropical and tropical oceans. They are called this because of the long, transparent webs that connect the dorsal and dorsolateral arms of the adult females.

Unlike most species of animals, the females are much larger than the males. They can reach 2 meters in length while the males are only a few centimeters long. The male dies shortly after mating and the female carries nearly 100,000 eggs at the base of her dorsal arm.

The blanket octopus is immune to the poison of the Portuguese Man O’War. This allows the males and immature females to rip off the man o’war’s tentacles and use them for defensive purposes. The females also unfurl their net-like membranes to increase their apparent size.

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George Washington's mom was terrified of lightning because she saw a girl get struck by it and die!

Mary Ball Washington was the mother of the first president of the United States, George Washington. According to which historian you talk to, Mary was either a wonderful woman or an unpleasant, vulgar lady. Either way, she bore one of the most important men in this country’s history, so she did something right.

One interesting thing about Mary is that she was terrified of lightning. One Sunday afternoon, Mary was hosting church guests at her house for dinner. She was pregnant with George at the time. A thunderstorm started and a bolt of lightning traveled down the chimney and struck a young girl who was at the dinner.

The electric current fused the fork and knife that the girl was holding together and she died. Mary herself was somewhat shocked by the electric force. She was also greatly disturbed by the incident. From then on, she was extremely frightened of lightning and would try to hide whenever it occurred. As years passed, her fears got worse.

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