Wednesday, January 24, 2018

Greetings Infomaniacs,

Today's fun facts are about bicycles! I am a big fan of bike-riding, even though I am a bit uncoordinated. Growing up, it took me a while to learn how to ride a bike, but you should see me now. As long as I have a helmet, and not too many obstacles in my way, and everything is mostly flat, I'm unstoppable!

Enjoy!

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine."

HINT: (1939- ), second-longest serving Australian Prime Minister after Sir Robert Menzies.

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RANDOM TIDBITS
In 1817, Karl von Drais, a German baron, invented a horseless carriage that would help him get around faster. The two-wheeled, pedal-less device was propelled by pushing your feet against the ground, The machine became known as the "draisine," and led to the creation of the modern-day bicycle.

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The term "bicycle" was not introduced until the 1860s, when it was coined in France to describe a new kind of two-wheeler with a mechanical drive.

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Orville and Wilbur Wright, the brothers who built the first flying airplane, operated a small bike repair shop in Dayton, Ohio. They used their workshop to build the 1903 Wright Flyer.

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Fred A. Birchmore, 25, circled the globe by bicycle in 1935. The entire trip, through Europe, Asia, and the United States, covered forty thousand miles. He pedaled about 25,000 miles. The rest was traveled by boat. He wore out seven sets of tires.

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Americans use their bicycles for less than one percent of all urban trips. Europeans bike in cities a lot more often - in Italy 5 percent of all trips are on bicycle, 30 percent in the Netherlands, and seven out of eight Dutch people over age 15 have a bike.

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Bicycle Moto Cross (BMX), an extreme style of bicycle track racing, became a sport in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, China. Maris Strombergs, of Latvia, received the gold medal for Men's BMX, and Anne-Caroline Chausson, from France, took home the gold in the first Women's BMX Olympic event.




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*** Weekly Mind-Scrambler ***
You see a boat filled with people. It has not sunk, and no one has jumped off, but when you look again you don't see a single person on the boat. Why?

Submit your answer by clicking: TheDailyTease

Answer will be posted in Friday's Trivia Today. Good Luck! If your name appears in Friday's newsletter, EMAIL MICHELE your complete name and address to be shipped your prize.

Be sure to put "Winner" in the subject line.

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WHO SAID IT?
QUOTE: "The bicycle is a curious vehicle. Its passenger is its engine."

ANSWER: John Howard.