Become a Genius in a Year by Mike Rampton - Sample
Become a Genius In a Year: A Fact a Day to Become a Superbrain
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To Phoenix, the funniest, loveliest, most magnificent genius in the world. â M. R.
Hello. | am the worldâs most incrediBle genius.
I go by many names. Professor Intellect. Doctor Know-It-All. Captain Cleverbottom (I only used that one for a while â itâs silly). I donât like to boast, but being the worldâs most intelligent clever-clogs comes with huge responsibility. My brain is filled with so much knowledge that it would be unfair not to share it, plus Iâm slightly worried that there are so many facts inside my skull that if I donât share any of them it might explode. And I donât want to have to clean that up.
Therefore, Iâm offering you this year-long course âread one fact from this book every day, and in just 365 days youâll go from a regular person to a full-on intellectual powerhouse, and take your Genius-O-Meter from Low to woaH! There is a year of completely true, fascinating facts within these pages â mindblowing truths from the worlds of science, medicine, history, geography, and whatever itâs called when you look at sharks. (| DeFInIteLY know it, I just canât think of the word right now.)
Obviously as the worldâs foremost turbo-genius Iâm extremely busy doing things like having ideas for new types of helicopters, making up interesting dances, solving all the worldâs problems really easily and saying, âWell, actuallyâ whenever someone says anything wrong. I therefore gave the making of this book to some less spectacular minions â a hard-working illustrator who drew all the pictures and a lazy writer who probably wonât even read this bit! Any errors are CoMPleteLY their fault, because I am an incredible genius and never make misteaks.
Go forth and become as clever as Me (almost).
tHe ProFessor
MBe, PhD, VC, PGCe*
*Mighty Brainy Expert, Phenomenally Deep, Very Clever, Pretty Great and Completely Excellent Geography
JANUARY
1st: On this day in 1818, the novel Frankenstein by Mary Shelley was published, originally without her name on it. It is the story of a scientist who creates a monster in his laboratory.
7th: In 2007, the first iPhone was unveiled. It seems big and clunky now, but absolutely blew peopleâs minds.
22nd: Queen Victoria died on this day in 1901. She reigned for 64 years.
JANUARY
JANUARY
1st
There are 60 seconds in a minute, 60 minutes in an hour and 24 hours in a day â thatâs 86,400 seconds every day. In a 365-day year, thatâs 31,536,000 seconds. If itâs a leap year, with 366 days (and, OF COURSE, this book has 366 days in it), itâs 31,622,400 seconds.
eIther way, itâs aGes and you have no eXCuse not to finisH tHis book and BeCome a MagnifIcent GenIus.
2nd
Silly NICKNAMES
Here are 3 American sportspeople with household appliance nicknames . . .
Vinnie âThe Microwaveâ Johnson (basketball)Â William âThe Refrigeratorâ Perry (American football)
3rd
4th
There are about 20 quadrillion ants on Earth, which is about 2.5 million ants per person. You probably weigh more than 2.5 million ants, but youâre still outnumbered by them, 1 to, well . . . 2.5 million!
DIfferent ants aLl Have dIfferent tastes! some taste like Bacon, Lemon, vinegar, or nuts, soMe are sweet and some taste lIke soap!
SPACE TOILET
ACCIDENTS:
One small pee for man
Buzz Aldrin, the second person to walk on the moon, was also the first person to wet themselves on it. Astronauts generally wear diaper-like garments under their spacesuits, because itâs not like they can duck behind a crater for a poo or anything. Aldrin had a special bag that the pee was meant to go into, but it became detached on his climb to the lunar surface, so he spent his time on the moon with pee sloshing around in his boots.
ODD-SHAPED FLAGS
There are 195 national (and state) flags recognized by the United Nations, and 192 of them are rectangles. The flags of Switzerland and Vatican City are perfect squares, but a square is a type of rectangle, so that hardly counts!
The most unusual-shaped national flag in the world is the flag of Nepal. Itâs the only flag which is taller than it is wide, and consists of 2 differently shaped triangles stacked one on top of the other. One has a sun on it and the other has a sun and a moon â and until 1962, the sun and the moon had faces!
Switzerland
Nepal
Vatican City
aCe!
7th
Human beings are less complex than tomatoes. Human DNA (the information inside cells that instructs the body what to do) has about 20,000 genes in it. Tomato DNA has about 32,000 genes. Weâre cleverer though!
tHis book Is Better tHan anYthIng a tomatoâs ever wrItten! (ProBablY!)
Words that sound DISGUSTING but mean NICE THINGS
Poo-ey!
Bucolic (byoo-ka-lick):
This sounds like you have some sort of vomiting disease, but actually describes anything peaceful and pleasant in the countryside.
Pulchritudinous (puhl-kruh-too-duh-nuhs):
This sounds evil at best, but actually means beautiful.
Stalwart (stawl-wert):
This word sounds like, well, a kind of wart, but actually means loyal and hardworking. Not warty at all.
According to a law that was introduced in the year 1313, it is illegal to wear a suit of armor in the Houses of Parliament in the United Kingdom. This law is still in place today.
9th
AUSTRALIA is slightly wider than THE MOON.
Australiaisabout2,485 mi. wide, while the diameterofthemoonis around2,113mi.The moon is a spherical shape , though , soithas a lotmore surface area (about 14.7 million square miles ratherthan Australiaâs 2.97 million square miles) .
10th
There is a tiny unnamed island in Lake Yathkyed in Nunavut, Canada, which, as far as anyone can tell, is unique. Itâs an island in a lake, but the lake is on an island, and the island is in a bigger lake, which is on a bigger island, which is in an even bigger lake.
11th
In 2000 , the longest train ever was put together, measuring about 4.6 miles (about a 2-hour walk) and had 682 carriages pushed by 8 locomotives. In 2001, it made a 171-mile journey so the train covered almost 3% of its journeyâs distance before even starting its engines.
Lake Yathkyed
40 SECONDS
after 1:46 p.m. today you are 1 million seconds into the year. Itâs too soon to call yourself a super-genius just yet, but youâre warming up. Your brainâs stretching itself to expand into full-on intellectual mega-being territory.
13th
3 monarchs that ruled for LESS THAN A WEEKEND . . .
Louis XIX of France (1775â1844) was king for about 20 minutes on August 2, 1830. His father, Charles X, signed a document abdicating the throne following the French Revolution. Louis immediately abdicated on the same document, so he was only king between the two signatures.
LuĂs II of Portugal (1887â1908) was briefly king. His father, Carlos I, was assassinated on February 1, 1908, and LuĂs was also injured in the attack. He outlived his father, and was technically king for less than half an hour.
Louis Phillippe II (1838â1894) was king of the French â almost, but not quite the same as king of France âfrom February 24 to 26, 1848.
How to Milk a Cow
1. Clean the cowâs udder. You want your cow friend to have a clean udder and teats. Wash your hands too. And your bucket.
2. Grip the top of one teat between your thumb and index finger, trapping milk in it.
3. Now tighten your other fingers around the teat, pushing the milk out.
4. Once you get the hang of it, alternate your hands doing two teats at once.
5. Enjoy a delicious (yet unsettlingly) warm drink!
Make sure You ask PermIssIonmIlkIng the wronG Cow Can be uDderly disastrous!
15th
Instant Genius: SPIDERS
⢠There are about 43,000 different spider species on Earth. Most are venomous, but less than 30 speciesâ venom is deadly to humans.
⢠All spiders have 8 legs, and most have 8 eyes. Their bodies are split into two parts: the cephalothorax and abdomen .
⢠Instead of chewing, which they canât do, spiders grip food in their chelicerae (gripper-type structures near their mouths) and spit chemicals on it to make it soft.
16th
Rude-sounding airport codes
Every airport in the world has a three-letter name known as an International Air Transport Association (IATA) code. London Heathrowâs code is LHR; Los Angelesâ is LAX. Some, though, look and sound rude.
BUM: Butler Memorial Airport, Missouri, USA
PEE: Perm International Airport, Perm Krai, Russia
POO: Poços de Caldas Airport, Minas Gerais, Brazil
18th 17th
8 minutes
20 seconds
This is how long it takes light from the sun to travel the 93 million miles to Earth.
Identify countries by OUTLINE
Italy . . . looks like a boot!
Finland . . . looks like a rabbit!
South Africa . . . looks like a rhino!
20th
19th
6 Real
VIKINGS
with Insanely Cool Names
Gunnstein Berserksâ-Killer
Eric Bloodaxe
Harald Wartooth
Sigurd Snake-in-the-Eye
Ljot the Unwashed Eystein Foul-Fart
Scienceâs smelliest-sounding CHEMICALS
FARTOX: Also known as Earthcide and pentachloronitrobenzene, Fartox is a poison made to kill fungi, used mainly on golf courses.
BARF: The chemical Tetrakis[3,5bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]borate is an example of a non-coordinating ion known as BArF for short.
POO: Polonium monoxide, or PoO, is a rare, highly radioactive compound. Itâs only really of any interest to anyone because its chemical formula spells âpoo.â
| deFinIteLy understanD wHat alL tHese CHemIcaLs are and what tHey do, and theYâre not just here beCause theY have funny naMes, so donât even thInk that.
5 terrifyingly MASSIVE
INSECTS
1. The giant stick insect is the longest insect in the world, reaching up to 22 inches. It lives in Borneo and can hide perfectly among the leaves and branches in the jungle.
2. The Amazon rainforest is home to the nearly 7-inch-long Titan beetle, which has mandibles (jaws) strong enough to break a pencil in half and sharp enough to pierce human flesh.
3. The Goliath beetle, found in the rainforests of Africa, can lift up to 850 times its own weight. It weighs around 1.75 ounces, which is roughly the same as a chocolate bar.
4. The male Hercules beetle grows up to 7 inches long, but half of that can be made up of its fearsome-looking horns. It mainly uses these to fight other male Hercules beetles.
5. New Zealandâs giant wÄtÄ, which looks like a massive cricket, is the heaviest known insect. One was found that weighed 2.5 ounces. Thatâs more than a lot of hamsters weigh.
JANUARY 22nd
How to find WATER in the DESERT
⢠Look for signs of animals or plants. If you can hear birds or see them circling, theyâre probably above water. Big leafy plants need lots to survive, and plants often have dew on them in the mornings, which you can wipe up with a cloth and squeeze into a bottle.
⢠Try not to get too hot and thirsty. Climbing up high will give you a good vantage point to look for water, but also make you sweaty and exhausted. Itâs a real balancing act.
⢠Look for shady spots where water might have gathered and not dried. Dry riverbeds often have water just below the surface â try digging a hole about 12 inches deep and seeing if the sand feels wet. If so, make the hole wider and leave it for a while for water to gather. If not, move on!
Donât drInk the water from insiDe a Cactus unless you realLy Like BeinG sIck.
23rd
⢠If you do find water, boil it before drinking. Sure, youâre already hot, but this will clean out any nastiness and stop you pooing yourself inside-out.
The biggest tire manufacturer in the world is also, in some ways, the smallest. LEGOÂŽ makes more tires than anyone else â 380 million per year. Theyâre not very big, and arenât much use on a real vehicle, but thatâs still an awful lot of tires.
25th 24th
Embrace the Impossible: SECRET 6
1. Lift your right foot off the floor and make clockwise circles with it.
2. Now point with your right finger and draw a number 6 in the air. If your foot doesnât change direction, youâve performed a miracle. | wiLl Give you a mIllIon doLlars iF you Manage thIs.
(| wIll not realLy Give you a mIllIon doLlars).
Mathematically, itâs likely that every drop of water you have ever drunk contains at least 1 molecule that was drunk and peed out by a Tyrannosaurus rex.
JANUARY
26th
Every species on Earth has a scientific name (humans are Homo sapiens). Sometimes they are rather unimaginative:
Sometimes a third word is added for a subspecies, and it just gets silly:
⢠The western lowland gorilla: Gorilla gorilla gorilla
⢠Plains bison: Bison bison bison
27th
Geography
Genius: STONEHENGE
⢠Located in Salisbury, UK.
⢠A circle of standing stones and stone structures built over a period of almost a thousand years, from about 2500 BCE to 1600 BCE.
⢠Nobody knows its exact purpose, but people are buried under it, and the arrangement of some of the stones lines up perfectly with the sun as though itâs some kind of calendar.
⢠The heaviest stones weigh 48,500 pounds, making the whole thing an incredible and baffling feat of prehistoric engineering.
NAME THAT MUSTACHE
Not all mustaches are the same â thereâs a world of difference between the tache of a 1930s film star and a leather-clad biker.
The Horseshoe 29th
Instant Genius: MAMMOTHS
⢠Before they became extinct, mammoths lived all over Europe, Asia, Africa, and North America, snuffling around covered in shaggy fur.
⢠Mammothsâ tusks grew as long as about 15 feet. They used them to dig through the snow looking for food. The age of a mammoth can be determined by looking at rings in its tusks, like a big hairy tree.
⢠While mammoths looked a lot like hairier elephants, there were some additional differences. They had smaller ears, for instance, in order to preserve body heat. They also had a lump on their backs which might have been used to store fat like a camelâs hump.
The Chevron
The Handlebar The Pencil
The Walrus
JANUARY 30th
You know what isnât fun? Being struck by lightning. However, one man was struck by lightning on 7 different occasions. Roy C. Sullivan (1912â1983), a park ranger in Virginia spent a lot of time outdoors in an area that gets a lot of storms and earned the nickname âThe Human Lightning Rod.â
On 5 of those occasions his hair was set on fire. As if that wasnât enough, he also got attacked by bears about 20 times.
an extraorDinary mInd requires an extraorDinary pet!
If you like DOGS, youâll love . . .
Fennec foxes.
Found in North Africa, the fennec fox is the smallest fox species in the world, but it has massive silly cute ears. A group of them is called a âskulk,â which is fun to say.
Maned
wolves. Not actually a wolf
â itâs a bad name â the maned wolf is a canine that lives in South America, eating an omnivorous diet including huge amounts of a fruit called the wolf apple (not actually an apple â itâs a bad name!).
Dholes. This Asian dog looks less like a dog and more like a bad drawing of a fox that came to life. Rather than pee to mark its territory, as dogs do, it just pees when it needs to, sometimes balancing on its front legs to do so.
FEBRUARY
4th: Walt Disneyâs first full-length animated film, Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs , was released in cinemas on this date in 1938.
11th: On this day in 1990, South African political activist Nelson Mandela was released from prison after 27 years. He was later elected as president and won the Nobel Peace Prize.
13th: Pilot Chuck Yeager, born on this day in 1923, was the first person to travel faster than the speed of sound.
FEBRUARY
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