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Haunting Places Sloss Furnaces Birmingham, Alabama

Founded in 1871—five years after the Civil War—and with it, the need for tons of pig iron to fix America's crumbling infrastructure. To satisfy the demand, Colonel James Withers Sloss started construction on Sloss Furnaces. A year later, the company opened its doors to hundreds of employees, according to its official website.

Although working on blast furnaces was an advanced job, it was also dangerous. That danger was soon realized as many workers started being incinerated in the furnaces and falling to their deaths.

Conditions only worsened in the early 1900s after a cruel foreman, James "Slag" Wormwood, took a job at Sloss.

According to Reader's Digest, Wormwood took dangerous risks in order to increase production. As a result, nearly 50 employees died on-site and many were involved in terrible accidents during his tenure. Allegedly, in retaliation, his workers tossed him into the furnace in 1906.

You can still tour the grounds today, if you dare. While there, you might just hear the voice of "Slag" telling his employees to "get back to work" along with other paranormal occurrences. Sloss even hosts a fright night every year around Halloween that's based heavily on the Slag story.

The Crying Lady in The Dakota | New York, New York

The Dakota, an apartment building in New York City, has been home to many rich and famous residents since it opened back in 1884. John Lennon and Yoko Ono moved into the building in 1973—and John was also assassinated outside the structure on December 8, 1980. Before his death, John claimed he saw a "crying lady ghost" roaming the halls. Then, after John died, Yoko, who still lives in the building, said she witnessed John's ghost sitting at his piano. Yoko says John told her: "Don't be afraid. I am still with you."

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The Bell Witch | Adams, Tennessee

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If you're a scary movie lover, you might actually know about the Bell Witch. The films An American Haunting and The Blair Witch Project are both based on the story.

Way back in the early 1800s, a man named John Bell moved his family to an area in Tennessee called Red River, which is now known as Adams, Tennessee. After they had settled in the new home, some peculiar things started happening. The Bell family began hearing some bizarre nosies, including dogs barking, chains rattling, rats chewing, and a woman whispering. Soon, that woman became known as the Bell Witch, and many people believe she's the ghost of a former neighbor of the Bell's—Kate Batts. Batts and the Bells had a dispute over land and she had sworn vengeance on the Bell family before she died. Later on, Bell died from poisoning—and it's rumored to be the work of the Bell Witch.

The Ghosts of the Crescent Hotel | Eureka Springs, Arkansas

Spend the night in the haunted Crescent Hotel in Eureka Springs, Arkansas, which opened in 1886.

(During construction, a worker named Michael was killed, and his ghost reportedly still haunts room 218). The hotel came under the ownership of known medical fraud Norman Baker in 1937, who fancied himself a doctor. He turned the hotel into the Baker Cancer Hospital, claiming to have the cure for the disease (he did not, obviously).

Patients who died under his care were buried right in the hotel's basement, which served as a makeshift morgue. He was arrested in 1940, but his patients' spirits are said to still remain. Since the hotel is still open, guests often say they see apparitions and hear noises during their stays. SyFy's Ghost Hunters even has footage of something moving in the basement. (more on page 7)

This Tidbits® is published by Falcon Prince Inc., a Minnesota Corporation, under licensing agreement with Tidbits® Media Inc., Montgomery, AL www.tidbitsmedia.com Tidbits® or the North Metro: Email: dean@realbits.com ● www.tidbitstwincities.com ● Phone: 763-218-0033

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hits three home runs in a row off of three consecutive pitches from three different pitchers. Only Babe Ruth had ever hit three homers in a World Series game, but he didn’t do it on consecutive at-bats.

▲ On Oct. 15, 1917, Mata Hari, the seductive female spy, is executed for espionage by a French firing squad. Mata Hari claimed to have been born in a sacred temple, but in reality, the exotic dancer was born Margaretha Geertruida Zelle in Holland.

▲ On Oct. 19, 1987, Black Monday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average experiences its largest-ever one-day percentage decline, plunging 22.6%. Unrelated world events compounded by computer-governed trading conspired to tank global markets.

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▲ On Oct. 24, 1901, schoolteacher Annie Edson Taylor becomes the first person to take the plunge over Niagara Falls in a barrel in an attention-getting stunt.

She reached the shore alive, if a bit battered. Taylor claimed she was in her 40s, but records later showed she was 63.

▲ On Oct. 17, 1931, gangster Al Capone is sentenced to 11 years in prison for tax evasion. Capone had avoided long stints in jail by bribing city officials and intimidating witnesses, and tax evasion was the only way federal agent Elliot Ness and “The Untouchables” could get him.

▲ On Oct. 21, 1967, in Washington, D.C., nearly 100,000 people gather to protest the war in Vietnam, and more than 50,000 later marched to the Pentagon.

Polls taken that summer showed that American support for the war had fallen below 50%.

▲ On Oct. 14, 1947, U.S. Air Force Capt. Chuck Yeager becomes the first person to fly faster than the speed of sound. His X-1 rocket plane was dropped from a B-29 aircraft, rocketed to 40,000 feet and exceeded 662 mph. ▲ On Oct. 16, 1958, Chevrolet begins to sell a cartruck hybrid that it calls the El Camino. The vehicle, a combination sedan-pickup truck built on a stationwagon platform, was discontinued two years later, but was brought back in 1964.

▲ On Oct. 22, 1975, Air Force Sgt. Leonard Matlovich, a decorated Vietnam War veteran, is given a “general” discharge after publicly declaring his homosexuality. Matlovic’s discharge was later upgraded to “honorable,” and he was buried with full military honors in 1988.

▲ On Oct. 20, 1968, American Dick Fosbury wins gold and sets an Olympic high-jump record when he clears 7 feet 4-1/4 inches at the Mexico City Games.

It was the international debut of his unique jumping style, known as the “Fosbury Flop.”

▲ On Oct. 23, 1989, 23 people are killed in a series of explosions sparked by an ethylene leak at a Phillips Petroleum plant in Pasadena, Texas. The blasts were caused by inadequate safety procedures.

(c) 2019 Hearst Communications, Inc. ▲ On Oct. 18, 1977, in the sixth game of the World All Rights Reserved Series, New York Yankees outfielder Reggie Jackson

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OCTOPUS (Continued)

• Some people call octopus appendages “tentacles”, but that is incorrect; they are actually “arms.” Arms have suckers along their entire length, while tentacles have suckers only at the tip. This means that octopuses have eight arms and no tentacles, but cuttlefish, nautiluses, and squids have eight arms and two tentacles.

• The muscles in the arms are more similar to the muscles in a human tongue than to the human bicep. An octopus can turn its arms into a rigid rod, and can also shorten them in length by up to 70%. Its arm muscles can resist the strength of a pull amounting to 100 times the weight of the octopus.

• Octopuses can taste with their entire bodies, most especially in their suckers.

The suckers can be folded in half and have such dexterity that they can untie a knotted string. When an octopus grabs a fish with the end of an arm, the arm does not deliver the fish directly to the mouth.

Instead, the fish is passed the length of the arm, from one sucker to the next, like moving down a conveyor belt.

• Three-fifths of the neurons of an octopus are located in their arms rather than their brains. When severed, an arm can carry on for several hours as if

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nothing is wrong. When an octopus loses part of an arm, it can regenerate it in as little as six weeks.

• Octopus eyes are strikingly similar to human eyes. However, there are differences: the octopus can see polarized light which humans cannot; it has wideangle panoramic views instead of seeing only what’s ahead of it; and each eye can swivel independently. Octopuses are able to keep their eyes in the same orientation regardless of their body position. Sensors keep the pupils balanced as the octopus moves, which allows it to see the same whether it is upside down or right-side up. It also has horizontal pupils, while humans have round ones.

• Human vision can see clearly to the horizon but an octopus can see clearly only about 8 feet (2.5 m) away. Furthermore, humans can see in a full spectrum of color, whereas the octopus can see only in shades of black, white, and grey, making it all the more astonishing that its skin can change into so many colors that cannot even be detected by the colorblind octopus. Just as humans are either right-handed or left-handed, an octopus is either right-eyed or left-eyed.

• Scientists recently found that octopus skin contains the same light-sensitive proteins present in octopus eyes, meaning an octopus’s skin can sense and respond to light without information from the eyes or brain.

• Octopuses are expert at camouflage.

One researcher witnessed an octopus changing colors 177 times in a single hour. Their skin can change into complex patterns of spots, stripes, and blotches every place on the body except the suckers and the mouth opening. They can even produce “light shows” on the skin in moving patterns that imitate things like passing clouds, which gives the optical illusion of making it look like the octopus is moving when it’s really completely still. It can even control skin texture, while also altering its body shape, in order to mimic other creatures.

• Octopuses change color to indicate mood, with red generally indicating excitement while white denotes relaxation. An octopus presented with a puzzle or a problem undergoes rapid changes in color. The deadly blue ring octopus of Australia will send dozens of electric blue rings all over its body when it is feeling threatened.

• How do you tell a male from a female? Examine the tip of the third right arm. If it has suckers all the way to the tip, it’s female. If not, it’s a male. The tip of the third right arm on the male is kept carefully curled up because the tip is the organ that he places inside the female’s mantle opening in order to deliver a packet of sperm which she stores.

• How do you tell the age of an octopus?

You don’t. Growth rate depends on many factors including temperature of the water.

• Over the course of three weeks, a typical Giant Pacific octopus may lay as many as 100,000 eggs, each the size of a grain of rice, shaped like a teardrop, and carefully woven together with a glue-like secretion in a chain resembling braided onions. They hang from the roof and sides of the den, carefully guarded by their mother. They are fertilized by sperm that the father donates, and the mother stores in a gland until it’s needed.

• The ink squirted by an octopus acts as a smoke screen so it can get away from predators, but it also contains substances that affect the predator, including an enzyme that irritates the eyes and clogs the gills, and a hormone that affects circulation. The ink can also dull the attacker’s ability to smell and taste.

Scientists were befuddled to find that the ink also contains the “feel-good” hormone dopamine and theorize it may drug potential predators into complacency, while also sedating potential prey. If an octopus is unable to escape its own cloud of ink, it may die.

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ORIGINS By: Janet Spencer • In 1791, after the French Revolution overthrew the aristocracy and deposed the king, the first post-revolution French legislature convened. There were 745 members. As it happened, the liberal members were seated to the left of the speaker, and the conservative members were seated to the right. This is thought to be the origin of the terms “left wing” and “right wing.”

• When Andrew Jackson was president of the U.S. in the 1830s, a political cartoonist drew Jackson’s head on the body of a jackass. For the rest of his presidency, Jackson was dogged by this image. The donkey began to be used for other Democrats too, eventually coming to symbolize the entire party.

Later, cartoonist Thomas Nast drew an illustration depicting President Ulysses S. Grant’s scandal-plagued administration as a marauding elephant. Other cartoonists copied the idea and soon the elephant became the Republican symbol.

• A staple food on board a sailing ship was salt pork which did not spoil even without refrigeration. It could be fried or boiled, but resulted in leftover grease, called “slush.” This slush was collected and stored until the ship reached the next port, where there was a market for it. The money earned from selling it was set aside for buying items for the sailors, and was called the “slush fund.”

• In physics, a “quantum jump” is when an electron moves from one orbit within an atom to anther orbit. During this process, the atom either loses or gains a photon. A quantum jump is the smallest possible change that can take place within an atom, but it is a sudden change that cannot be anticipated. In science, a “quantum leap” defines a sudden, dramatic, and unanticipated advance in a field, usually coming from an unforeseen direction.

• During the Middle Ages in London, punishments meted out for various infractions often involved being

put to death. There was an area outside the city limits specifically designated for public executions, where the bodies would be left on display as a deterrent to others.

As the city grew, new neighborhoods were constructed, fields were cultivated, hunting preserves set aside, but the execution ground was left untouched.

It was claimed by no man, and became known as “no man’s land.” The military later picked up on this term to describe the strip of land between warring factions, where certain death awaited anyone who ventured forth.

• The Dutch word “kajutes” means “cabin.” During the Middle Ages, thieves lived in secret locations in the forest, inhabiting their “kajutes.” When a group of bandits lived together in one encampment, they were said to be “in kajutes” which became our “cahoots.”

• Draco was a lawmaker in Athens around 700 B.C. He was the first person to actually write down all the laws. He didn’t create the laws; he just recorded them for the first time, setting them down on the record. Once they were in writing, many Greek citizens were appalled to see how awful the system of punishment was, where debtors were turned into slaves and petty thievery was punishable by death. As copies of the laws circulated, dissatisfaction grew, until eventually the whole system was thrown out and a new set of more civil rules was instigated.

Although Draco did not create the rules, we still site his name when pointing to needlessly harsh punishment, or “draconian” rules.

• Offal means “off fall” and denotes organs and other extraneous body parts that “fall off” during the butchering of an animal.

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The Veteran’s Post

by Freddy Groves

Drunk Pathologist Missed Illnesses

and not have it show up on tests. He was rehired by the VA in 2016, then suspended again in 2017 for working while impaired. He managed to keep from having alcohol detected in his system by using a chemical that doesn’t show up in standard alcohol tests. It does show up, apparently, on a breathalyzer, as it did when he was picked up for drunk driving in 2018.

Among other sins, he entered false information into patient records that indicated another pathologist had agreed with his findings. In one case, the veteran had prostate cancer; the pathologist said he didn’t, and the veteran died. As many as 15 deaths could be the result of his errors.

In addition to manslaughter, he faces charges of mail fraud, wire fraud and making false statements. Reviews of his work showed an error rate of 8.8% -- the national average is 0.7%.

The trial was to start October, but his attorneys requested an extension. It’s now set for September 2020. He could face 524 years in prison along with a $7.75 million fine.

How dare he plead not guilty!

A pathologist at a Department of Veterans Affairs hospital in Arkansas has been charged with three counts of manslaughter after he altered lab results that showed he had misdiagnosed illnesses that led to the deaths of three veterans. A review of his work last summer revealed over 3,000 mistakes in his findings over the years. He was eventually fired after being suspended two years in a row for being intoxicated at work.

How on earth did someone like this continue to work at the VA? In 2015 it was reported that he was drunk at work and a test showed his blood alcohol level at was .396. He was suspended and went into a treatment program, where he apparently learned how to stay drunk (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.

Page 4

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Although you rarely think about your liver, this vital organ is constantly working to keep your body in good working order. Because October is National Liver Awareness Month, Tidbits is bringing you up to date on your liver’s functions and how to keep it healthy.

• The liver is a wedge-shaped organ, reddish-brown in color. It’s the largest glandular organ of the body, weighing around 3.3 lbs. (1.5 kg), the heaviest internal organ.

The liver is about 6 inches (15 cm) wide. You can find your liver in the right upper quadrant of your abdominal cavity, to the right of your stomach, overlying your gall bladder.

• It’s estimated that the liver performs around 500 functions in your body, with about 200 of those performing simultaneously. If it were to stop functioning for a single day, you would die!

• The three main functions of the liver are storing fuel, filtering harmful toxins from the blood, and producing bile that helps the body digest food. When food is eaten, the digestive system immediately starts breaking it down into small pieces. Nutrients from the food, such as sugars, amino acids, vitamins, and minerals, enter the bloodstream and travel to the liver, which will process and deliver them according to what the body needs.

• Some of those nutrients are stored in a form that the body can draw from for quick energy. The remainder are used to produce important chemicals needed by the body.

• The liver is a storehouse for sugar, delivering it when the body needs it. The sugar is stored as glycogen, and the liver breaks this compound down to form glucose, which is used as fuel for the body’s energy.

• One of the liver’s tasks is to convert sugar into fat. It’s the only organ that can actually break down sugar. Too much sugar makes too much fat, which can result in fatty liver disease. Sugar-filled soda in particular has been linked to this condition.

• A healthy liver is always protecting the body, detecting and destroying harmful bacteria, germs, and viruses. The liver contains the body’s largest group of immune cells known as phagocytes that devour toxic particles.

• If the liver’s ability to rid the body of toxins is damaged, those toxins build up and can affect sleep, mood, and behavior. Anxiety, muscle spasms, sluggish speech, lack of focus, and shakiness may result • At any given time, there is about 1 pint (0.47 liter) of blood in your liver, about 13% of the body’s supply.

• Bile is produced by the liver to aid in digestion, particularly fat. It’s a thick, greenishyellow fluid made in the liver, but stored in the gall bladder. If you’ve eaten an especially fatty meal, the store of bile is used to break down the fats for digestion.

• All kinds of toxins are prepared for removal by the liver, including drugs, such as penicillin, Tylenol, or Advil, but also alcohol, damaged cells, and old hormones.

• As red blood cells break down in the body, the liver helps get rid of the resulting waste product called bilirubin. A normal liver filters out the bilirubin, but when the liver isn’t functioning properly, bilirubin builds up in the body, creating jaundice, which turns the skin and the whites of the eyes yellow. Newborns frequently have jaundice because their livers aren’t quite developed, and sometimes have difficulties filtering out the bilirubin.

• The liver also plays a role in helping your blood clot normally by secreting enzymes and chemicals necessary to form clots and stop bleeding. For those with mild liver disease, it takes a long time for bleeding to stop, but those with severe damage bleed easily and often, as tthe blood is unable to clot. In people with advanced cirrhosis, serious bleeding is the most common cause of death.

• The liver is the only organ with the amazing ability to regenerate itself when part of it is damaged or removed. Donors can donate part of their liver and the remaining portion will grow back, and the donated part grows to fit the recipient’s body. As much as 75% of the liver can be removed without destroying it. Unlike other transplant procedures, a donor doesn’t even need to be related to someone to give up part of the liver.

• What foods does your liver like?

Foods that are high in fiber help your liver work at optimal levels. Vegetables also keep it healthy. Foods that are high in saturated fat can be detrimental to liver function, and continued consumption can lead to inflammation.

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THE HUMAN LIVER (Continued from Pg 6) • Liver damage prevents the proper processing of nutrients. Amino acids are not built into useful proteins, and vitamins aren’t distributed as needed. A person might notice the symptom of excessive fatigue.

• You can seriously damage your liver by taking too much medicine.

Acetaminophen can be found in upwards of 600 medications, including Tylenol and cold and cough remedies. It’s alarming to think that an overdose of Tylenol can destroy half of a person’s liver cells in less than a week!

Adults shouldn’t exceed a 4,000-milligram limit per day.

• Cirrhosis of the liver is primarily is the result of excess alcohol intake, and is one of the Top Ten causes of death in the world. One in 5 heavy drinkers will get cirrhosis, a scarring of the liver that is irreversible. As the prolonged use of alcohol reduces the liver’s ability to regenerate new cells, the liver loses its

Haunting (Continued from Pg 2) The south may seem like a great gathering place for haunting spirits, but Minnesota nice has it's fair share of scare. Here are a few well known spots where you may get shocked by what you spot.

Washington St. Bridge / Mpls Built in the latter half of the 1960s and connecting the East and West bank campuses of the University of Minnesota.

The bridge has two decks, the bottom for vehicles and the top for pedestrians and cyclists.

The bridge is something of a hotspot for suicides and is now said to be haunted by the spirits of those who jumped to their death including professor John Berryman who committed suicide there in 1972. Students crossing the bridge say they often hear phantom footsteps at night and feel as though someone is watching them from the shadows.

The Fitzgerald Theater, St Paul The Fitzgerald Theater in St. Paul, long been considered one of the most haunted places in Minnesota, has various unexplained phenomenon consistently reported, and most are pinned on a former stagehand known only as Ben.

ability to break down toxins.

• Ten percent of the liver is made up of fat. If the fat content exceeds that 10%, the condition is known as fatty liver, or hepatic steatosis, which contributes to Type 2 diabetes. Although heavy use of alcohol makes a person more likely to get it, you can get it if you don’t drink a lot. Contributors are obesity, high blood pressure, malnourishment, high levels of bad cholesterol, and excess belly fat.

• There are several different varieties of the liver infection hepatitis. Hepatitis A and E are the result of eating food or drinking water that is contaminated with the virus. Poor cleanliness during food preparation is a major cause. It usually takes about two months to recover. Hepatitis B, C, and D are spread through blood and bodily fluids. The B variety usually goes away after several months, but in some cases, it can lead to cirrhosis and liver cancer.

Hepatitis C is one of the most common blood borne viral infections in the U.S., with treatment usually lasting up to 16 weeks. More than 3 million Americans are living with HCV. Ben is thought to have died in the theater in the 1940s and apparently has been hanging around ever since!

His shadow is often spotted moving in the workings of the stage and cold spots generated near an old boarded up entrance.

Staff say they hear Ben dropping empty beer bottles.

Considered pretty harmless for the most part, he did however almost kill two workers when he dropped a massive chunk of plaster on them from an overhead catwalk! Thankfully, they managed to jump out of the way at the last minute!

The Wardens Home in Stillwater Over the years there have been thirteen different wardens from Stillwater State Prison who have occupied this house.

However, the one resident who seems to have decided to stick around is Warden Henry Wolfer’s daughter.

The story goes that Gertrude had just given birth to a son when she died suddenly of appendicitis. The little boy was sent to live with the warden up until the Wolfer’s moved out in 1914.

It seems that Gertrude may have gone with her son to his grandfather’s house, but she did not leave when he did. In fact, from 1914 until the present day there have been persistent reports of a lady wandering the rooms of the house in search of her infant son.

Sometimes she is seen looking out of the windows and at other times a cradle in the upstairs bedroom rocks on its own!

SENIOR NEWS LINE

By Matilda Charles

Estimated Increase in Social Security Grab your calculator. Those in the know are making an educated guess about the amount of our Social Security increase for 2020. The Senior Citizens League estimates that the increase will be 1.6%, below the raise we got last year. This will mean an average net gain of $23.40 per month for those receiving the average $1,460 per month benefit. In 2019, that benefit amount netted an increase of $40.90 per month.

The Social Security Administration will come out later with the final number, but the Senior Citizens League has used the Consumer Price Index for 2019 up to the end of the third quarter for its calculations.

9

At the same time, says the Senior Citizens League, our Medicare Part B premium is expected to go from $135.50 to $144.30 per month. Doing the math, that nets the average benefit recipient an extra $14.60 per month. Some of us, however, are protected: If the Part B premium goes up more than the increased Social Security amount, the Part B premium will be adjusted to make sure there isn’t a net loss.

What about our other expenses though? If we have a drug policy or a supplemental Medicare plan, chances are that the two of those will see increases that exceed the extra $14.60 per month. Then there’s the small matter of the price of fresh vegetables, beef, fish, eggs, dairy and cereal. Based on the Consumer Price Index, expect an increase in those prices, even before we get to 2020. Those of us who pay rent generally see an annual increase, too. Is there any chance the landlord will skip a year?

To see all the things the SCL is doing for us, go online to seniorsleague. org. (c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.

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Page 7

(c) 2019 King Features Synd., Inc.

● There are lots of sports fans out there, and a lot of sports to enjoy: football, basketball, soccer, baseball, hockey ... olive oil wrestling? OK, maybe there aren’t a lot of oiled wrestling events here in America, but in Turkey it’s the national sport. Kirkpinar, as it’s known there, has been popular since the Ottoman Empire. The Turkish town of Edirne has been hosting the annual tournament since 1361.

● Pope Benedict IX held the office three different times.

● When the Barbie doll was first introduced in 1959, it was described in The New York Times as a “crushing bomb.” So much for early reviews. Since then, more than a billion Barbies have been sold in more than 150 countries. Mattel, the doll’s maker, claims that more than 100 dolls are sold every minute of every day.

● It took between 75,000 and 80,000 workers to build the Panama Canal, linking the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans across the Isthmus of Panama.

● You might be surprised to learn that in the 19th century, ice accounted for more shipping than any other commodity except cotton.

● In the naming of American states, there are some that never quite made it. It’s interesting to speculate about the possibilities, though. For instance, if you currently reside in the state of Kentucky or parts of Tennessee, but for the whimsy of fate, you could be a Transylvanian. Some people once wanted to take parts of Texas and Oklahoma to create the great state of Texlahoma (perhaps displaying a slight lack of imagination). When the Mormon church settled out west, Brigham Young petitioned to have the state of Deseret created, and the land he suggested make up the state included present-day Utah, almost all of Nevada and Arizona, a sizable chunk of California and bits of five other states. Long Island, in New York, even had designs on statehood at one time.

● Next time you’re in Tinseltown, remember that it is unlawful to herd more than 3,000 sheep at a time down Hollywood Boulevard.

● The blue whale is the largest animal known to have ever existed. The marine mammal is so large, in fact, that a grown man could swim through its largest blood vessels.

out to 54-proof gargle.

by: Samantha Weaver

● If you use Listerine to freshen your breath, you might be interested to know that its original formula is 26.9% alcohol by volume -- that comes

● It was 19th-century American social reformer and statesman Frederick Douglass who made the following sage observation: “Those who profess to favor freedom and yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing the ground.”

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• The plural of octopus is not actually “octopi”, because “octopus” derives from the Greek words meaning “eight foot,” and the plural ending “-i” is Latin. The true Greek plural would be “octopodes” but the standard English word is “octopuses.”

• There are about 250 species of octopus known so far. The largest is the Giant Pacific octopus which inhabits the northern Pacific Ocean off the United States up to Alaska and around Japan. The suckers on their arms are three inches (7.6 cm) in diameter. Each sucker can lift 30 pounds (13.6 kg), and there are about 1,600 suckers altogether, divided between the eight arms.

• The largest octopus ever found was a Giant Pacific octopus that weighed 600 pounds (272 kg) with an arm span of 32 feet (9.7 m).

• The Giant Pacific octopus is also among the longest-lived species, but still usually only reaches the age of three or four years.

• The smallest octopus is the Octopus wolfi found in shallow waters of the western Pacific.

It is smaller than an inch (2.5 cm) long and weighs less than an ounce.

• An octopus has three hearts. Two of the three hearts pump blood to the gills, while the third circulates blood to the rest of the body.

• A human has one brain with four distinct lobes, with each lobe in charge of a different function. An octopus has nine brains with up to 75 different lobes. They use one central brain to control the nervous system and a small brain in each arm to control movement.

• Octopuses have no skeleton, but they do have powerful jaws, a parrot-like beak, and venomous saliva.

OCTOPUS FACTS

Come along with Tidbits as we admire the amazing world of octopuses!

by Janet Spencer

TIDBITS® ADMIRES THE OCTOPUS

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