Billion Facts, Mysteries & Curiosities

Following table shows basic information about 237 countries listed and identified by United Nations (UN).  Table represents country’s ISO Country Code (Abbreviation), IDD Country Code for Long Distance Calls, Population, Area and GDP as of November 2011.

You Gotta Have Fiber!
Over the centuries, paper has been made from a wide variety of materials — wood pulp, rice, water plants, cotton, even old clothes! But no matter what you use to make paper — you need “fiber.” Today’s paper fiber comes mainly from two sources — pulpwood logs and recycled paper products. In fact, much of the paper we use every day is a blend of new and recycled fiber.

From Log to Pulp…
Much of the paper produced in Idaho is made from “waste” — the tree parts from logging and sawmill operations that can’t be made into lumber. After harvesting, trees are cut into logs and are transported to the mill. At the mill, a debarker removes the bark from each log. The log is cut into boards of varying sizes. The wood that’s left over is then converted into wood chips, about the size of corn flakes (though not as tasty in milk!).

The wood chips are then put into “pulp digesters” where they are broken down by steam and chemicals into a gloppy pudding of cellulose fibers and other wood components. In another process, the chemicals, wood resins, and wood lignin (sort of a natural glue in the wood) are removed. The cellulose fibers are cleaned and screened many times to get them ready to be made into paper.

From Pulp to Paper…
The paper pulp (from wood chips, recycled paper, or both) is fed into the paper-making machine. A pump sprays a thin layer of the liquid paper pulp onto a moving wire screen. This screen can be up to 20 feet wide, and can travel at speeds of 60 miles per hour. That’s fast paper!

As the pulp is carried along by the screen, the water in it drops away, and the cellulose fibers become matted together, forming paper. While the paper is still damp, it is fed through a series of heated rollers which press it and dry it. The paper is then spooled into huge rolls, cut into various sizes, and converted into paper products.

From Paper to More Paper…
Recycling paper helps make sure we get the most out of every tree we use and it helps keep paper from clogging up our landfills. Each time paper is recycled, the cellulose fibers get shorter, until eventually the paper won’t hold together. That’s why most “recycled” papers contain some new paper fibers mixed in with the old.

The President of the United States has been assassinated by a gunman in Dallas, Texas. John F Kennedy was hit in the head and throat when three shots were fired at his open-topped car. The presidential motorcade was travelling through the main business area of the city. Texas Governor John Connally was also seriously injured when one of the unknown sniper’s bullets hit him in the back. The men were accompanied by their wives, who were both uninjured.

Vice-president Lyndon Johnson – who was following in a different car – has been sworn in as the new US leader. The presidential party was driving from Dallas airport to the city centre when witnesses said shots were fired from the window of a building overlooking the road. The president collapsed into Jackie Kennedy’s arms, who was heard to cry “Oh no”. Seconds later Governor Connally was also hit. Dallas Times Herald photographer Bob Jackson was in the motorcade close behind the Democrat leader’s car and heard the shots as it entered Dealey Plaza. “As I looked up I saw a rifle being pulled back from a window – it might have been resting on the windowsill – I didn’t see a man,” he said.

Mr Kennedy’s limousine was driven at speed to Parklands Hospital immediately after the shooting. The president was alive when he was admitted, but died at 1400 local time (1900 GMT) – 35 minutes after being shot. Police and Secret Service agents stormed the School Book Depository building moments after the shots were fired and recovered a rifle with a telescopic sight, said to be the assassination weapon. The mood of shock in the US was echoed by Senator Mike Mansfield in an emergency forum of the senate. “This is terrible – I cannot find words,” he said.

 

In Context
A little under an hour after the shooting, a policeman approached Lee Harvey Oswald, believing he recognised his description. The policeman was shot dead. Oswald was arrested almost immediately under suspicion of murder. Shortly afterwards, he was also charged with the assassination of President Kennedy. The suspect was never tried as he was shot dead himself two days later by nightclub owner Jack Ruby. The Warren Report, commissioned to investigate the president’s death, concluded he had been killed by shots fired by Mr Oswald from the School Book Depository building. But conspiracy enthusiasts quickly turned the assassination into one of the most disputed events in modern history, with theories ranging from claims it was an elaborately staged suicide to the driver being the murderer.