MAN'S PAL

Dog ,man's best pal for 30000 years: They are not just man's best friend,but dogs are the oldest pals too, says a new study. In their study a team at Arizona University claims that dogs have been man's best friend for at least 30000 years-in fact,the canines were domesticated before any other animal. Researchers have based their findings on an analysis of two skulls unearthed in separate digs-first an ancient dog skull found in Siberia dating back 33000 years and then a similar find in Belgium.

POPCORN

Researchers have found evidence that suggests communities living along the coast of Peru were eating popcorns some 6700 years ago,about 1000 years earlier than previously predicted.They arrived at this conclusion after unearthing corn husks,stalks,cobs and tassels (pollen-producing flowers on corn) dating 6700 to 3000 years ago,at Paredones and Huaca Prieta,two sites on Peru's northern coast.

"The evidence was unearthed during the past three years" study researcher Dolores Piperno told Life science. The characteristics of the corncobs suggest that the sites ancient inhabitants prepared and ate corn in several ways, including making corn flour and pop corn.The researcher also found corn micro-fossils containing starch grains and phytoliths which are microscopic particles formed by plants and mainly composed of silicon dioxide. The Peruvian popcorn is the oldest macro-fossil evidence for popcorn in South America.

Electric Theatre

Mount Road Post Office in Chennai was built in 1900 by Warwick Major as Electric Theatre,the first ever cinema house in South India. This building was bought in by Post and Telegraphs Department. For many years it housed Mount Road Post Office.

Chepauk palace

Muhammad Ali Wallajah (1749-1795),the first soveriegn ruler of the Carnatic,built the Chepauk palace in 1768. The original complex with two blocks was spread across 121 acres extended upto Pycrofts Road,Triplicane,Chennai.

100 YEARS OF NATIONAL ANTHEM

India's National Anthem turns 100 today. Rabindtanath Tagore's Jana Gana Mana was first performed on 27th December,1911 at the Calcutta Session of the Indian National Congress.On January 24,1950,it was adoted as the National Anthem. What we know as our National Anthem is only the first of five verses composed by Tagore.
There are several renderings of the full song,including some by great artists like D.K.Pattammal,Bhimsen Joshi,Dr.Balamurali Krishna,Pandit.Jasraj,Lata Mangeshkar-in their trademark style.
The song has had its share of controversy. Since it was composed by Gurudev at the time of King George V'S Coronation Durbar,there was some debate over whether it was in praise of Indian Mother Lnad or to welcome the Emperor. Of course,since Tagore translated the song as Morning Song of India,that controversy was put to rest soon.

STUDDED TOILET

First,Japan gave the world high-tech toilets. Now a crystal toilet-studded with more than 72000 pieces of Swarovski cut crystal and valued at over $100000. Toilet manufacturer INAX teamed up with the Austrian jeweller to create the ornate fixture,which is on display in a showroom in the posh Ginza shopping district,an effort to draw more customers in a year fraught with economic gloom and natural disaster. In a nod to traditional belief,the sparkling toilet was created to please the "God of toilets",said Kazuo Sumimiya,Director of the showroom for the Lixil Interior Fixture company of which INAX is a part."In japan we believe a deity exists in the toilet.That's why keeping toilet clean and taking good care of it have been a Japanese custom since long ago," he added.

SHORTEST WOMAN

Jyoti Amge of Nagpur is celebrating her 18th birthday by winning the title of World's shortest woman from the Guinness World Records.Guinness representative measured Amge at 62.8 cms(24.7 inches) tall,7 cms(2.76 inches) shorter than the 22 year old American who held the title since September. It is not Amge's first Guinness record,until Friday(16/12/2011) she was considered the World's shortest teenager,but on turning 18 qualified for the new title.
Guinness says in a statement,Amge has grown less than 1 cm(0.4 inch) in the last two years and will grow no more due to a form of dwarfism called Achondroplasia.
The previous holder of the World's shortest living woman was 69.49 cms tall Bridgette Jordon,from the US State of Illinois.

RARE COIN

A rare 1787 gold Brasher Doubloon, which was sold for $ 7.4 million,is one of the highest prices ever paid for a gold coin. The coin was purchased by a Wall street Investment Firm.

INCREDIBLE MONKEY

A Capuchin monkey has earned a reputation as an artist with his paintings sold to buyers in Europe and Israel for hundreds of dollars. The white capped capuchin,nick named "Pockets Warhol" uses his tail,hands,feet and of course a brush to daub canvases with his own unique artistic stylings at Story Book Farm, a primate sanctuary. Pockets has become a money-spinning machine for bosses at the home of primates,with his paintings selling as mech as pound 250 each. He's not the tidiest of artists and his paintings could at best described as "abstract" or "experimental". The monkey was introduced to painting by Story Book's volunteers,a year ago.

World's oldest bed.

Archaeologists claim to have uncovered the earliest evidence of preserved bedding and the use of insect-repelling plants by cavemen who slept on them 77000 years ago. An international team,led by Lyn wadley at University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg,says it has discovered the bedding made from compacted stems and leaves at a rock shelter in South Africa. At least three different layers at the Sibudu site contained bed remains,left by people who slept there between 38000 and 77000 years ago.The leaves contained insecticide chemicals that would have kept mosquitoes at bay.