Tuesday Trivia

.

People! Trivia about people!!

MALES

In Old English, human men were referred to as wer, while the term man was used to describe humanity as a whole. During the thirteenth century, man gradually replaced wer as the term for an adult human male while also maintaining its use as an expression for the entire human species.

The word “boy” has been in recorded use since 1154 A.D. as a descriptive term for a male child. The exact etymology of the word is unclear, but it is believed to have descended from the Anglo-Saxon word boia, meaning servant or farm worker.

While both boys’ and girls’ voices will change during puberty, the change in a boy’s voice is dramatic, sometimes dropping a whole octave in tone. Males in other species develop a deeper voice to attract females and intimidate other males, and scientists believe the change in the male human voice evolved for the same reasons.

The “Adam’s apple,” or laryngeal prominence in the neck, is a feature primarily unique to adult men and is a result of the growth of the larynx during puberty. The term is derived from the Biblical account of Adam eating the forbidden fruit in the Garden of Eden.

For approximately the first six weeks after conception, all human embryos develop as a default female child, primarily taking genetic information from the mother’s DNA. After the sixth week of development, if the embryo is male, the SRY gene on the Y chromosome will begin to produce androgens, primarily testosterone, that encourage the development of male characteristics and inhibit the further development of female characteristics.

The biological symbol for the male sex, a circle with a small arrow protruding from it, is also the symbol for the planet Mars. The two components of the symbol are designed to represent the shield and spear of Mars, the Roman god of war.

FEMALES

The English word “girl” was initially used to describe a young person of either sex. It was not until the beginning of the sixteenth century that the term was used specifically to describe a female child.

While the population of males is slightly greater than females worldwide (98.6 women for every 100 men), there are roughly four million more women than men in the U.S. In the age 85-and-older category, there are more than twice as many women as men currently living in the U.S.

Worldwide, women are nearly twice as likely to be blind or visually impaired as men. Experts attribute this difference to the greater longevity of women (leading to more age-related visual impairment) and specific eye diseases that are intrinsically more common in women such as dry eye syndrome and Fuch’s Dystrophy.

The earliest recorded female physician was Merit Ptah, a doctor in ancient Egypt who lived around 2700 B.C. Many historians believe she is the first woman recorded by name in the history of all of the sciences.

The biological sign for the female sex, a circle placed on top of a small cross, is also the symbol for the planet Venus. The symbol is believed to be a stylized representation of the Roman goddess Venus’ hand mirror.

The most common cause of death for American women is heart disease, which causes just over 27% of all mortalities in females. Cancer ranks just below, causing 22% of female deaths.

BABIES

A baby recognizes its mother's voice at birth, but it takes 14 days to recognize its father's voice.

When born, the baby's head is one quarter the size of the rest of its body.

The typical cost of raising a child in the United States for the first year of life is $7,000 (not including medical costs).

Only 3-4 percent of babies actually arrive on their due date!

The old wives tale birth prediction states you should suspend a wedding ring on a string over the pregnant woman's hand. The direction it swings will determine the gender.

The average child share his/her birthday with 9 million other people.

.