Facts For Curious Minds
"I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious."
Albert Einstein
In our September 2025 Blog, Gail Kingwell described CALL as a Community of Curious Minds.
In October 2025, Val Carter discussed Curiosity - The Spark of Healthy Aging.
These articles attest to the value of being curious throughout life, and particularly in our later years.
To satisfy our continued interest in learning, each week we will post Facts for Curious Minds. We will endeavour to provide an accurate reference as the source of the information.
Some of these facts may be amusing. Others might be considered trivial but that will depend on your individual interest in the subject. And perhaps some might provoke further research or conversation -- out of curiosity!
The question is posed every Sunday on our Facebook page. The answers and the sources of information are provided in this article.
ANSWERS & SOURCES
Feb 15. Which notable Canadian Olympians do you remember?
Feb 8. Which Canadian city was the first to host the Winter Olympics?
Feb 1. Who was the first person to be pictured on a coin?
Jan 25. Which novel has a sentence that is over 800 words?
Jan 18. Which has more bones -- a cat or a human?
Jan 11. How much does a typical cumulus cloud weigh?
Jan 4. Which country has more cats per person than any other country in the world?
Which country has more cats per person than any other country in the world?
A. New Zealand has more cats per person than any other country in the world. (Weird but True! Washington D.C.; National Geographic Kids, 2014.)
- Cats are one of the most beloved and widespread pets globally, with their population exceeding one billion.
- 68% of New Zealand households own a cat - higher than any other country.
- Approximately 50% of Americans have a pet in their home: a cat or a dog (or both).
Pet Secure
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How much does a typical cumulus cloud weigh?
A typical cumulus cloud weighs around a million tonnes.
A cloud typically has a volume of around 1 cubic kilometre and a density that's around 0.4 percent lower than the air surrounding it; this is why clouds are able to float.
Science Focus
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Which has more bones - a cat or a human?
A cat has 230 bones in its body. A human has 206. A cat has no collarbone, so it can fit through any opening the size of its head.
Clutton-Brock, Juliet. Cat. New York, NY: DK Publishing, Inc. 2004.
97 Interesting Cat Facts That Will Surprise You.
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Which novel has a sentence that is over 800 words?
Victor Hugo’s novel Les Miserable contains a sentence that is 823 words long.
Bizarre English Language Facts." Fact Retriever. June 25, 2018. Accessed January 9, 2020.
This is NOT the longest sentence - check Wikipedia for some exceptionally long sentences in print.
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Who was the first person to be pictured on a coin?
Alexander the Great was the first person to be pictured on a coin. Although he died at the young age of 32, he created an empire that stretched from Greece to India. The coin continued to be minted long after his death - a symbol of military dominance. If you find one it could be worth as little as $500 or as much as $30,000.
Weird but True! Ripped from the Headlines. National Geographic, 2004.
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Which Canadian city was the first to host the Winter Olympics?
Calgary hosted the XV Winter Olympics in 1988.
Montreal hosted the Summer Olympics in 1976.
Calgary 88 Olympics
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Which notable Canadian Olympians do you remember?
Notable Canadian Olympians include:
Charles Hamelin, who won 6 Olympic medals in short track speed skating, and
Cindy Klassen, also with 6 medals in long track speed skating.
Penny Oleksiak, 6 medals in swimming
Tessa Virtue and Scott Moir are the most decorated ice dance skaters in Olympic history with five medals - between 2010 and 2018 Winter Olympics.
Guinness World Records.
Clara Hughes has the distinction of winning medals in both the Summer and Winter Olympics.
You might recall others as personal favourites; perhaps because they were from Calgary.
Or you might have admiration for an athlete such as Joannie Rochette, figure skater who won the bronze medal at the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver. Her mother died shortly after arriving in the City and Joannie chose to compete in her honour.
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